John Deere had been preventing farmers from repairing their tractors for years. Now he will have to pay them 99 million dollars

A modern tractor is a computer on wheels: GPS, sensors, telemetry and proprietary software. Buying it costs a lot more money than a normal car, but until now not even that made the farmer its real owner. John Deere has agreed to pay $99 million to close a class action lawsuit in the United States which accused him of monopolizing the repairs of his machinery, forcing thousands of farmers to depend on authorized workshops with inflated prices and waiting times that could ruin an entire harvest. Why is it important. This agreement is not just about tractors. It is the most visible case of a battle that affects phones, cars, appliances and consoles: that of right to repair what you have bought. If a manufacturer can software block access to the guts of a product you already own, ownership becomes a mere pantomime. What John Deere has done with its tractors, Apple has long done with its iPhones and Tesla with its cars. What has happened. The lawsuit was filed in 2022. Farmers Alleged Deere Purposely Restricted Access to Its Diagnostic Softwareforcing them to go to dealerships that charged artificially high prices. Deere has not admitted wrongdoing, but has accepted the following: Create a $99 million fund to compensate those affected who have paid reparations since 2018. Open to farmers and independent workshops the diagnostic tools that until now only their dealers had. Allow diagnostics and reprogramming in offline mode before the end of 2026. Between the lines. The figure of 99 million is not coincidental. Deere has chosen to stay a million short of nine figures, a classic psychological trick to make it sound less serious in the headlines. But the estimated real damages are much higher: the overpricing in repairs has cost farmers between 190 and 387 million, and total losses could reach 4.2 billion. The fund will be distributed among around 200,000 farmers. Each one will receive a symbolic amount. They cost less than $500 each. Yes, but. John Deere has committed to opening up its repair tools, but only for ten years. After that period, nothing prevents you from turning off the tap again. The company already promised to improve access to repairs in 2023 and, according to the plaintiffs, it failed to keep its word. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission, the US regulator, keeps another lawsuit open against Deere by the same pattern of behavior. So this soap opera will have more chapters. The big question. The case of tractors is the tip of the iceberg of something that affects us all. A modern tractor, an electric car or a smart thermostat share the same logic: the software inside can turn the owner into a user with permission from the manufacturer. What has been decided in a US court about agricultural machinery will end up defining the limits of ownership in the digital age. Also in Europe. In Xataka | Every summer fires devastate Spain. There is a common culprit that goes unnoticed: old tractors Featured image | Randy Fath

call the only ship that has been repairing them for more than a decade

That an underwater cable breaks (or someone cut it) can happen anywhere. There is amazing ships dedicated to deployment and repair of this critical infrastructure in our hyperconnected world. However, when it happens in Africa there is only one ship that can answer the call at any time. Is called Leon Thevenin and has been in operation for more than forty years. The ship. As they say in Rest of WorldIn the world there are 62 cable repair ships that are always available, but in Africa there is only one. The Léon Thévenin is part of the fleet of Orange Marinea subsidiary of the French operator Orange, and for thirteen years has been in charge of all repairs from Ghana to Madagascar. It is 107 meters long and the crew that operates it is 60 people. It also features a remote submarine and a small work boat. According to the official ship record, It is capable of making repairs in extreme weather conditions, in both deep and shallow water. African cables. In this map We can see that the continent is surrounded by countless cables that provide connections to both its inhabitants and data centers and ground stations. Among the most notable is the ‘Peace Cable’ connecting Singapore to Kenyathe West African cable system and the Alphabet Equiano that go from Portugal to South Africa. The cable also stands out 2Africa which with its 45,000 kilometers is the longest in the world; It connects from the United Kingdom, goes all the way around the African continent and ends in India. And there are many more. Accidents. Cables deteriorate, they can also be damaged after storms or if a ship drops anchor and drags it. Many times the cuts are intentional, but they usually occur in other places in increased geopolitical tension like Taiwan either the baltic sea. In March 2024, much of the west and center of the continent was left without connection due to simultaneous failures in several cables. The Léon Thévenin was in charge of returning connectivity to millions of people. It has not been the only case. In recent years the ship has been having a lot of work because the Congo Canyona huge underwater canyon that extends 280 kilometers into the Atlantic, is suffering many landslides that have affected several cables. A great responsibility. It is estimated that 99% of the world’s internet traffic travels over submarine cables. If a cable breaks, it can leave millions of people without connectivity. Furthermore, in the age of AI, connectivity is even more important because it connects the infrastructure that makes it work. The price to pay for the Léon Thévenin crew is spending very little time with his family. Sometimes they rest for a month, the problem is that if a breakage occurs they are the only ones who answer the call. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | The submarine cables belonged to the teleoperators, and now the big technology companies are controlling them

Repairing scratches with Mercadona’s hair lacquer is as effective as it is not recommended

A small one in the front bumper. Another in the right rear wing. And one who did not give importance at the driver’s door and now bothers you. Small friction and damage In the body without much importance. No, at least, to call insurance, however they reduce the image of our car. Because who likes to have the car as a new one always has in those little taps, in some frictions that seemed of little entity, some notches for which they end up suffering. Here we collect some tricks to remove the lighter damage. A small without importance That is what we usually think when these types of small shocks or blows that end up leaving our cars full of notches that at first seemed to go unnoticed. To solve it there are a good number of small tricks and homemade solutions that multiply through social networks. Some more or less recommended. The first thing to consider is the depth of the scratch. If this is deep and has crossed more than one paint layer, it is best to go to a professional if you want to eliminate the same Without leaving a mark. It will be necessary to paint the area and it is essential to use the same tone as in the rest of the body so that it is not striking or obvious that something happened there. When rubbing is not deep, there are various recommendations. From Xataka We propose to get a Specific product for this task. Ha of various types. Some include a simple suede to remove the excesses of the product but others also with polisher and polisher To leave everything as new. Although this, we point out, we believe it is the best option, there are some homemade tricks that can be useful in a timely manner but that are not recommended when you want to make intensive use of them. One that has gone viral on social networks is to apply Mercadona lacquer. The idea is apply hair lacquer on the body and pass a microfiber cloth. The rubbing should disappear but the damage is done and is only a cosmetic improvement that reduces its visibility. Juliwheels on Instagram (More than 350,000 followers) Explain the process and close with a resounding “Flip how it looks.” The problem is that this type of lacquer can contain chemicals that damage the body of the car and, therefore, kill the brightness of the paint or in the worst case to cause its fall. It is not something that will happen with a single punctual application but they are risks that are being repeated in time. These types of tricks, such as using an antigrase product or Vinegar for car wheelsThey usually have little aesthetic route but, in addition, they usually damage the protective layers of the vehicle itself, putting its aesthetics at risk over time. There are multitude of similar cases. It is about applying a slight layer of olive oil, sodium bicarbonate or removing alcohol and, subsequently, conscientiously clean the surface. All of them, as we said, are remedies to get out of the way. The same can happen if we apply toothpaste, which is used as a puller when rubbing it against the surface. This last remedy, for example, is also usually used to polish the headlights of the car, something that works aesthetically but can cause dispersions in the beam of light and, therefore, worsen visibility. Photo | Volodymyr Dobrovolskyy and Mercadona In Xataka | A simple circle painted on the save lives of motorists: the project that praises the DGT but that only Catalonia tests

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