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Meta has been buying chips from NVIDIA and AMD for years. Now it also makes its own so as not to fall short

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Meta has not thrown in the towel with its MTIA (Meta Training and Inference Accelerators) chips. And although they didn’t have it all on their sidestopping depending on NVIDIA is a very juicy candy to jump to conclusions. For that very reason, They have presented a roadmap of four new chips with which the company intends to accelerate both its content recommendation systems and its generative AI capabilities. The first chip is now operational; The other three will arrive before the end of 2027. Below are all the details. Dependence. For years, Meta has relied almost entirely on NVIDIA and AMD to power its data centers. The development of our own silicon is complicated, but if it is achieved, it can be a very successful financial and strategic bet in these times. According to statements According to its vice president of engineering, Yee Jiun Song, designing its own chips allows the company to “eliminate what we don’t need,” which directly translates into cost reduction. Added to this is greater independence from possible price variations or supply restrictions. Which is exactly what you have announced. The four new chips are the MTIA 300, 400, 450 and 500. Each one has a different use: The MTIA 300 is already in production and is intended to train the algorithms that decide what content Facebook and Instagram users see. The MTIA 400 (known internally as Iris) has completed laboratory testing and is en route to data centers. Meta claims that it offers performance “competitive with leading commercial products,” according to its official statement. The MTIA 450 (Arke) will double the high-bandwidth memory compared to the 400 and is scheduled for early 2027. The MTIA 500 (Astrid), the most advanced, will arrive in mid-2027 and will incorporate, according to the company, improvements in low-precision data processing. The chips are manufactured by TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor producer, and have been developed in collaboration with Broadcom on the RISC-V open architecture. The rhythm is the most striking thing. What’s unusual is not just that Meta makes its own chips, but the speed at which it plans to do so. The usual cycle in the industry is one or two years between generations. Meta aims to release new versions every six months. “The pace of AI evolution is so fast that we always want to have the most advanced chip available when we need it,” counted Song. This accelerated cadence is possible, according to the company, thanks to a modular design that allows components to be reused between generations. ANDthis does not replace NVIDIA. It is important not to lose sight of the context. Meta remains one of the largest buyers of GPUs on the market. just a few weeks ago signed multi-million dollar agreements with NVIDIA and AMD to supply chips for the next few years, and has also reached an agreement to rent computing capacity on Google chips, as share Wired. MTIA chips are designed for specific and internal tasks (inference and recommendation systems), not for training large language models, so this strategy is complementary to your chip plans with NVIDIA or AMD. Nor should we forget that Meta recently had to abandon its most ambitious training chip, known internally as Olympus, after the project became complicated in the design phase, according to counted The Information. Susan Li, CFO of Meta, confirmed at a Morgan Stanley event that the company still has the goal of developing processors capable of training models, but without giving more details. And now what. The real test of this bet will come when the chips are deployed at scale. The challenge at the moment is to guarantee HBM memory supply before a RAM crisis that is affecting the entire technology sector. Song himself recognized to CNBC that the company “is absolutely concerned” about it, although it stated that they have assured supply for their current plans. In the long term, we will see if Meta can achieve something similar to what Google did with its TPUs. Cover image | Mariia Shalabaieva and Goal In Xataka | OpenClaw has caused a real media earthquake in China. The Government has prevented its officials from using it

that short people cannot be police officers

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For much of the 20th century, height requirements in Spanish police forces were inherited from models designed for parades, controlling public order on horseback, and an intimidating physical image as a symbol of authority. Those scales were set at a time when police work was much less technical and professionalized than today, and they were barely revised for decades. Requirements of the past. Yes, they were times when the police forces in Spain and in much of Europe dragged access criteria born in a context very different from the current one, when authority was associated with presence and police models drew directly from military structures of the 20th century. The minimum height was then consolidated as an automatic filter that was barely revised over time, even when the police function evolved towards increasingly technical, legal and citizen-friendly tasks. Starting in the 1990s and, above all, in the last two decades, this requirement began to be questioned in courts, parliaments and administrative reforms due to its discriminatory nature and its poor relationship with the actual performance of police work, which led to its progressive elimination in many European countries and, more recently, in Spanish state bodies. Andalusia now reaches that turning point after many years of delay. End of a legacy filter. Thus, as of February 22, Andalusia will leave behind one of the most discussed requirements for access to the Local Police: the minimum height. The new decree that regulates entry, promotion, mobility and training eliminates a physical bar that for decades excluded fully qualified applicants, aligning the Andalusian local police with European practice and with other State bodies that had already abandoned that criterion. The decision is based on a clear premise: prioritizing talent, preparation and vocation over a fixed body condition that says little about the actual performance of police work. Real equality. The standard is not limited to deleting a requirement, but rather introduces conciliation measures for applicants in a maternity situation, avoiding disadvantages during the selection process and reinforcing the principle of equal opportunities. The message it’s explicit: access must evaluate capabilities and merits, not penalize personal circumstances or perpetuate barriers that are not directly related to the police function. The reinforced model. The decree redefines initial training and places it under the leadership of the Institute of Emergencies and Public Security of Andalusia, together with accredited municipal schools and the possibility of approving courses from other entities. The entry course is strictly linked to the training phase, with a minimum charge of 650 hourswhile staff internships are separated and developed under municipal supervision. In addition, the way is opened for trainee personnel to carry regulatory weapons, once again equating them to other state bodies. Unified calls. Plus: one of the keys to change is the possibility of unified callsthrough an agreement with the city councils, to centralize and streamline selective processes. The grading system “is reorganized into modules that require balanced excellence, age groups are eliminated in physical tests and an agility circuit is incorporated, already present in other models.” The syllabi are updated and the psychotechnics are divided into two phases, one during the opposition and another in the admission course, with professional endorsement. That the short ones can too. On the whole, the reform corrects a grievance that had gone on for too long: preventing access by a question of height when the profession requires judgment, preparation, endurance and commitment to public service. With this decree, Andalusia not only modernizes its Local Police, but also sends a symbolic and practical signal to thousands of applicants: the uniform will no longer depend on how tall you are, but on what you know and how you are prepared to serve. Image | Preopol In Xataka | We have the most armored and encrypted DNI in our history. The problem is that we are using it wrong. In Xataka | We have the most armored and encrypted DNI in our history. The problem is that we are using it wrong.

This new short is inspired by his science fiction work

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The comics and animation of the eighties are the key aesthetics of a project that, if all goes well, will see the light of day soon and that comes with a label well known to Spanish fans: that of Alfonso Azpirithe much-missed artist who gave visual form to the great successes of the Golden Age of Spanish soft in games for dynamicTopo and other companies. His unmistakable style is part of the DNA of a very promising project: ‘Love Story’ The origin. To trace the origin of this idea we must go back to a tiny science fiction story written by Carlos Buiza (an essential figure in the development of Spanish science fiction in the sixties as co-creator of the magazine Nueva Dimensión) and which was illustrated by Azpiri still taking his first steps, in 1972. Buiza had already obtained some fame with a story, ‘El asfalto’, which Chicho Ibáñez Serrador adapted in an episode of ‘Stories to keep you awake‘ which achieved notable relevance. In 1972, Buiza published ‘Love Story’ in an issue of ‘Triunfo’ magazine dedicated to science fiction, along with an illustrated header of an Azpiri still far from his days of fame but in whose lines the future genius was already guessed. Later, Azpiri would transform the story into a comic, which appeared on the author’s compilation album ‘Pesadillas’, published in 1985. The influences. ‘Historia de amor’ will become a short film directed by Jose Luis Quirós and David Díaz-Guerra, but it takes a leap in its visual references from the seventies, focusing on a style more typical of the eighties, when Azpiri, already in full command of his art, published comics such as ‘Lorna’, ‘Mot’, ‘Nightmares’ or ‘The Vagabonds of Infinity’. The authors also mention authors of the time such as Moebius or Frank Miller, and animes such as ‘Ghost in the Shell’, ‘Evangelion’ and ‘Cowboy Bebop’ as key influences. What is it about? AZ, a dreamy alien on a barren planet, Polkj, is kidnapped by humans. But he wants to discover the secrets of the universe, life and love before they experiment on him. The connection that arises with humans clashes with the objective of these invaders: that AZ be infected with a virus that will exterminate his species and allow humans to escape from a dying planet Earth. Who is behind. ‘Love Story’ is co-directed by José Luis Quirós and David Díaz-Guerra. The first has been twice nominated and winner of the Goya Prize, and is behind very personal works, such as ‘The tower of time’. Next to him is the Runik Animation studio, which has collaborated in the making of films such as ‘Planet 51’, ‘Catch the Flag’, ‘Fantastic Beasts’, ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Pacific Rim’. As for Díaz-Guerra, this is his first short film as a director, but he has experience as a screenwriter and, significantly, as a theoretical physicist, which guarantees a very stimulating approach to the science fiction that is a core part of the short. How will it be done? The short will use 3D animation as a basis for modeling and lighting, working in real time with Unreal Engine. There will be motion capture to reduce costs and, finally, traditional animation sequences for selected moments. All of this will be combined with selected sequences drawn with watercolors, in search of a style with a nostalgic touch that goes back to Azpiri’s comics. How much and for when. The estimated budget of the project, according to what the creators of ‘Love Story’ tell us, is 50,000 euros, of which they already have 10%. There is a long road ahead of searching for financing to reach the planned goal of releasing in the fourth quarter of 2026. At this moment, Runik Animation, together with producer Juan Nieto and Nvidia (which collaborates by providing hardware to the team) are in the initial phase of developing the script and storyboards. In Xataka | 30 years of ‘Navy Moves’, when Dinamic made the best game of the year in the entire world

If the question is whether we can have a cheap electric car in the short term, Skoda’s answer is clear: “no”

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The cheap electric car is, at the moment, a mythological being. At least if we want it to offer us the same autonomy performance as a combustion car. And that variable continues to be what puts manufacturers back when they have to electrify their access versions. The last to make it clear: Skoda. “That’s for sure”. These are the words of Klaus Zellmer, CEO of Skoda, who has confirmed that “we will not electrify our basic models, such as the Fabia, the Kamiq or the Scala” in an interview with Automobilwoche. He then noted that they will keep them as mild hybrid models but “we will not launch them as purely electric vehicles, that’s for sure.” Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? What Zellmer is not clear about, he explains in the interview, is that there is enough potential customer to make this cheap electric car a sufficiently profitable product. “But…”. The “buts” are the big problem with the low-cost electric car. And that big but is, without a doubt, autonomy. Yesterday we explained that an electric car can be much cheaper than a combustion one if the type of use accompanies it. This “cheaper” is more pronounced in cities where electric cars gain in consumption, in the price of electricity compared to fuel and maintenance (due to having a lower risk of breakdowns). The problem is that when the driver wants to go on a long trip he has to accept some discomfort. And not everyone is willing to do so. Does it make little sense to define your purchase by two long trips a year? Maybe, but here each one must evaluate How much is your time and money worth? Many people are still not compensated. The strategy. For now, we know that Skoda will have its own version of a 25,000 euro electric car but it will not be released below this price. That is, he will have a brother Volkswagen ID.2 either Pole ID but he will not put on the market a brother of the Volkswagen ID.1the electric version that the German company will have in the range of 20,000 euros. The movement makes a lot of sense. The Volkswagen Group uses the pull of the Volkswagen brand to champion the electrification of the automobile conglomerate. Launching an electric Skoda would force it to place it below its German brother due to the positioning of both companies in the market and they do not believe that there is sufficient demand to keep two models alive. There is another detail to take into account, Renault has demonstrated with the Five that can sell many units of an electric car for between 25,000 and 30,000 euros. But it has done so with a very strong commitment to design and care, positioning it as a perfect car for the urban environment but also positioning it as the second beautiful, practical and cheap car in a home. sell a lot. This is what a manufacturer needs if they want amortize the investment in an electric car low price. And the profit margins have narrowed in that segment given that the price of the battery continues to represent a very high cost in relation to the final price of the vehicle. To this we must add the safety obligations of the European Union, which have also made the survival of this type of automobile difficult. Although the price of the battery has been falling (and is expected to continue doing so in the futureThe truth is that making a low-priced electric car profitable is very complicated. It is necessary to adapt production lines, have an adequate supply of batteries and, if you want to achieve maximum performance in autonomy and behavior, design your own platform. That is why some manufacturers have chosen to share platforms (like Volkswagen and Ford) or renew cars that were becoming obsolete with a profound update to reposition them in the market as a new car, trying to amortize the initial investment, as in the case of the Dacia Spring. Run before walking. What they defend at Skoda is that the transition has been done too quickly and that it is impossible for manufacturers to meet the given deadlines. We may more or less agree with this statement but the truth is that the public is not buying electric cars at the expected rate. And those cars worth between 20,000 and 25,000 euros are testimonials. In fact, of the 10 best-selling electric cars in Europeonly the Renault 5… and the Skoda Elroq are sold for less than 30,000 euros. Of course, for now the threats of multimillion-dollar fines remain. first with a term that ends in 2027. Those who exceed an average of 93.6 gr/km of CO2 in their fleet sold since 2025 will be punished with a fine of 95 euros per gram of CO2 exceeded and car sold. That is, if the fleet of cars sold is one million and the average has been exceeded by one gram/km of CO2, we are talking about a fine of 95 million euros. In 2030, that limit should be cut in half, leaving virtually everything that not be an electrified carthat’s why at Skoda they talk about maintaining their access models “until the end of the decade.” From there, 2035 should be the year in which cars with combustion engines will not be sold. Something that is in the air at night pressure from big manufacturers and countries like Germany o Italy with a large automobile related industry. Photo | Skoda In Xataka | Denmark wants to make the electric car its only path. And it has done so by punishing those who buy cheap gasoline cars

In this map we can see the countries in which cannibalism is technically legal. It falls very short

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He cannibalism It is one of the stars of horror cinema, but also of the most cases Morbose of serial murderers. Some of the most rugged (if you haven’t seen ‘Dahmer‘, in Netflix, it is very good) They have inspired films and series. And although we might think that it is illegal to be associated with serial killers And it may seem to us A prehistoric actwe would be wrong. At least, in much of the world. The act of eating the neighbor. Eate for each other It is something that has been present for millennia. Some societies enemies ate as supremacist actsreligious or simply to obtain nutrients. In other situations, it is the despair that leads us to cannibalism. Currently, we know that it is nonsense because We don’t have too many nutrients. Now, cannibalism continues to exist. It is associated with erotic fantasies that involve eating or being eaten as part of a sex Jeffrey Dahmer either Dorángel Vargas They ate parts of their victims as an act of extreme possession and cannibal acts have also been performed as part of magical rites, such as Red Zwazulu-Natal dismantled in 2017 In South Africa. We have cannibalism stigmatized for a good reason, but a few years ago this Map by Reddit in which it was stated that there were countries in which cannibalism was legal. The image problem? Well, it falls very short. A mess. That cannibalism is technically legal in some places does not imply that it is … legal. And the keyword is “technically.” In them, and in many others, cannibalism is not explicitly prohibited by any specific law. Does not appear in the Criminal Code or in the Constitution and, For example in SpainWhen cannibalism is mentioned, it is done in the context of animal protection against cannibal practices of its species. But of course, although there is no explicit criminalization, the acts to be performed to eat human flesh do constitute a crime. The murder, the damage to the neighbor, the manipulation of human remains or the illegal exhumation are acts pursued by the law. Therefore, although we can think that there is a legal vacuum, if we want to eat the neighbor, we will have to make a crime that, usually, is persecuted. In fact, a Armin Meiwesthe ‘Canibal de Rotiburg’, He was condemned for homicidenot by cannibalism (the victim was supposedly consented, but died in the process). Legal vacuum. We entered an extremely rugged gray area here with two cases that were given in Europe not so long ago. In 2010, the Norwegian artist Alexander Selvik He ate himself. Specifically, he consumed remains of his hip extracted surgically to prepare a dish that ate as part of an artistic project. A year later, in the Netherlands, there were two television presenters who They ate fragments of their own flesh and on the other in a live program. Both cases were investigated, but since cannibalism is not a crime, as was under its will and no other crime were damaged by law, No charges were presented. What there was was a debate about ethics and the limits of art. Requests. Of course, sporadic movements have been given for politicians to study if it would be worth including cannibalism as a crime in itself. In Spain, although some voice has been manifested to legislate, no serious request has been recorded. In the United Kingdom, a citizen petition for cannibalism was included as a specific crime. After six months, the platform record 38 firms of the necessary 10,000. In the petition, they detailed the following: “Canibalism is potentially dangerous and we believe that it is a little ethical act that should constitute a crime, even if the person whose flesh and/or part of the body and/or organ is being consumed has given its consent. There should be a minimum mandatory penalty of five years in prison for committing said crime.” Asterisks. In Papua New Guinea has been mentioned as illegal Sometimes and in the Central African Republic It was missing due to social contexts such as war conflicts. It remains a gray area and that, in some cases, is an implicit activity in others that are considered punishable. For example, in Canada it is not typified as autonomous crime, but the Criminal Code sanctions “Any outrageous interference with a human body or human remains.” And then there is the case of the United States. Although a rule similar to the rest is followed in the country (there is no specific prohibition, but performing cannibalism implies acts that are crime), There is a state in which The law is mentioned cannibalism expressly, penalizing it With up to 14 years in jail. It doesn’t matter if consumed with or without consent and does not only imply direct consumption: in 2024 the law was modified so that it is also punished if another person is supplied. There is only something that would free you if you eat the neighbor in Idaho: that it is a case of extreme survival. It means that what it means (it has not been given the case, until now). Image | The XXVIII terror house of ‘The Simpsons‘ In Xataka | A person has made Media Spain hook the most horrendous crimes: Clara Tiscar and ‘Criminopathy’

Tesla has launched in China a Model and L. It is the most Chinese (and logic) bet that could do in the short term

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After months in which he has signed up for a Tesla Model and smallsomething cheaper to boost sales in Europe and press the competition for price, Tesla has surprised us with quite the opposite: a tesla model and longer. Only for China. And it makes all the meaning. The new Tesla Model Ylthat is, the elongated body version of the well -known electric SUV, increases the 150 millimeter wheelbase and its height in another 44 millimeters. A six -seater configuration is adopted (2+2+2) Therefore, a third row of seats is added that has been somewhat controversial. But it is also provided with heating and ventilation to the seats, electrical plates and integrated speakers. They are small improvements to increase the comfort of the passengers that are in tune with the bets of the L versions that the rivals usually offer in China. A category of vehicles that are based on three fundamental pillars: more space and more comfort for passengers. And that, curiously, they are transverse to all types of sizes. Purely Chinese With the presentation of Tesla Model YL, the opinions between criticism and public have been divided as usually happens with Elon Musk’s company. In Hybrids and electric They point out that some media qualify the third row like “going mounted in a convertible”given the little size between the head of the passenger and the roof. They ensure that the space that is free in the legs for a 1.70 -meter person is minimal and that it is an emergency solution for adults. In social networks a whole debate has been mounted following some images in which the same adult is seen sitting in the third row of seats. In one of them You see how it has a lot of free height between the head and the roof and ensures that it measures almost 1.90 meters. In another image it is observed as, with the trunk open, that same adult I would have serious problems traveling comfortably. Personally, I am inclined to think that the second option is the real but that does not mean that Tesla’s bet is bad. Yes, there are rivals that have a third row of more comfortable or practical seats. We have verified it in the Hyundai ioniq 9 or his brother, the KIA EV9. However, they are cars created from scratch with this intention in mind. Tesla is adding a third row of seats with a body L to improve the versatility of the car but, above all, with the intention of improving the comfort of the second row. That third row is an emergency solution and the really interesting is in a second row of a 2+2 configuration car with two good seats with all the comforts desired by a passenger. And in China the bodies L are usual. These cars are versions with longer bodies, with more wheelbase to generate a greater interior space. Europe has tired of selling this type of cars and Audi there, for example, demonstrates that the phenomenon is transverse to the size of the vehicle. The Germans have sold in China the Audi a3 l But also in those cars that, for European standards, already seem huge and do not need more interior space. Example? An Audi A8 L. To get an idea, this last car can exceed 5.19 meters to some endless 5.32 meters or impressive 5.45 meters. The latter refer to Audi A8 l horch. But the most interesting is in its interior seats with resting function or the possibility of adding a fridge in the central compartment, among other possibilities within the company’s customization program. Obviously, we talk here about a luxury car that Tesla does not intend to match but the company’s movement clearly points to proposing an experience in the cabin that is very sought in the Chinese car, transforming the interior into a kind of lounge with more space where feeling as comfortable as possible. Keep in mind that the great Chinese metropolis are huge and that the paths can languish for many minutes before the driver reaches his destination. This has made Chinese cars (and Europeans who want to sell there) have thrown into the arms of the screens and connectivity. But also that very wide rear seats are prioritized. Even sacrificing a good part of the trunk where Chinese cars tend to lose in front of the rivals. This happens because, despite its enormous sizes, in China the car is a Priority urban vehicle. It is rare that you travel with them since the distances are so long and the trains so competitive that either it is traveling in high speed or by plane. That is, cars are spaces with wheels where it is about giving the highest comfort to the client (another good example is the rise of their luxury minorities). And that is why the L -bodies L versions do not seek to have a third row of very comfortable seats. It is about prioritizing central seats in a 2+2+2 configuration and, in the best case, add a third emergency option. That is what Tesla has done. Photo | Tesla In Xataka | Tesla wants to keep certain accidents of accidents with her cars. A judge will decide if they should be made public

Instagram and Tiktok advertising has become short videos of people talking to a microphone. There is a reason: clippers

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You enter Tiktok and Instagram and you start seeing ads that (no longer) surprisingly have a great similarity to each other despite promoting a very different product: a startup, a podcast, an application or an event. The key, as the Wall Street Journalis the way to viralize content that these platforms have, which has resulted in the emergence of a figure to earn money working online, Clippers. Mom, I want to be older clipper. The Clippers They are editors who take the long contents of platforms such as YouTube, Twitch or Spotify and make them short viralizable content in Tiktok, Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts at the request (or not) of its creators. They also do the same with promotional videos of companies that want to increase the visibility of a specific product. Getting an attractive and effective video is not simple, but there is an ingredient that is almost always present, subtitles. There is Influencers farms and of clicksso there are also advertisements. You don’t have to have a big account. Nor generate videos to upload them to the corporate account of a client: companies pay in many cases because these editors upload videos to small accounts, but that also manage the contents thanks to FUncionation of algorithms. In addition, in the face of more advanced edition work, a clipper You can use online or free and powerful editing tools such as Capcut. There are even specialized platforms. WHOP is a platform for selling digital products and putting communities in contact. A kind of “app store for creators”. Before the rise of Tiktok, Shorts and Reels, the company identified that short clips were a bomb as viral advertising format, and created Whoop Clips, an ecosystem to contact brands and creators with Clippers. This activity is also promoted on websites such as Clipthis, YT Jobs or even In Reddit. There are also simple ads published as Tiktok videos. The explosion of these videos leads entrepreneurs as Pieter Levels (@levelsio) to offer video tools made with AI which generate subtitles using the Capcut subtitles API. In his day, Levels already said that All marketing around its apps and services would move to Tiktok After getting impressive results. Examples of 1x robot clips, Cluelly and the Smartphones nothing manufacturer The business model. According to the campaign, in whop between $ 0.50 and 5 dollars. He Wall Street Journal Speech reduces the maximum figure to about 2 dollars, dating examples such as Kanoah Cunningham, a former financial sector worker who now leads an eight team Clipperswith what generates monthly between $ 20,000 and $ 30,000 per month. Another case on the same line is that of Nathan Resnick, which pays $ 15,000 per month to about 50 clippers. Unlike what happens on platforms such as Fiver or Upwork, where a client pays an editor A fixed price for a final jobin whop there can be hundreds of Clippers making videos of the same ad and then upload it to small accounts. Only those who manage to obtain a considerable number of visits manage to make money. For others it will be lost time, so there is a strong incentive to optimize creations. The key to having a successful clip, according to Cunningham, is “building a story.” The numbers that explain the phenomenon. The brands, instead of paying an influencer for a video, manage to generate hundreds of clips and millions of low cost views. Roy Lee, founder of the Startup Cluely, states that “you are stupid if you are making a podcast of an hour and only public it in a channel.” His reasons to say it: 800,000 visits a day on Instagram and Tiktok. Max Peterson, who directs a clips market in Discord, directed a Tiktok campaign for the series’Adults‘which achieved 12 million visits in total. Peterson also says that a budget of $ 40,000, 1x technologies, the company after a Advanced humanoid robothe achieved 500 million total visits on the product on Tiktok. Yes, but. That the brands themselves want to see their video in hundreds of channels does not mean that Tiktok or Instagram will not mark it as stolen or copied content of others. So Clippers They have to work well how they cut their “creations” so that they do not eliminate their videos. Another problem of the practice of mass virality is that the veracity of the clips suffers at the will of the editor. According to Cunningham, it is often lie in the subtitles or a different meaning is given to the video looking for more visits. Image | EACH and Alpha film co In Xataka | A disturbing reality makes its way on social networks: we no longer use them to connect with friends

A ‘short circuit’ in the brain

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We all take for granted that music is a universal source of pleasure. We use it to encourage, concentrate, celebrate or cope with a break. But, on the other hand, there is a small percentage of the population for which to listen to their ‘favorite’ song is as exciting as hearing the white noise of a signal without a sign. And it is not that they have bad taste or are weird, but that they suffer specific musical anhedonia. A recent review article Posted by researchers from the University of Barcelona and the University of McGill deepens why some people are immune to the charms of music. And the answer is not in his ears, but in a peculiar disconnection in the ‘circuits’ of his brain. The idea that someone does not like music may sound strange. However, researchers through tools such as Barcelona musical reward questionnaire (BMRQ) He has identified a group of people who, despite having a perfect audition and enjoying other pleasure sources such as food, money or sex, are completely indifferent to any song. This condition has been baptized as Specific Musical Anhedonia. These people can recognize whether a song is sad or cheerful, but they feel absolutely anything. They do not experience chills, their skin is not bristling or feeling the impulse to move to the rhythm of music. For them music is simply one more sound. With nothing more background. Studies have shown that these people have no problem feeling pleasure in general. By offering these patients rewards such as money, their brains and physiological responses such as sweating or heart rate, they responded as expected. And totally equal to the reaction presented by music lovers. But when listening to a song that this abysmal difference of emotion was presented. It is not an ear problem, it is a “wiring” problem The problem is in the reward system. We have all humans in our brain, and it is the responsible for feeling pleasure When eating chocolate, having sex or seeking security. This is where the classic animal experiment appears, where a mouse can have an electrode right in the area of this reward system and a button in front that by pressing it throws a download. Such is pleasure, that the mouse will not hesitate to be pressing it repeatedly to have that same feeling again and again, as if it were an orgasm. And this is where this investigation has been focused. Using one functional magnetic resonance (FMRI), the researchers observed what happened in these people’s brain while listening to music. With this test you can easily see the parts of the brain that are stimulated when receiving a stimulus. The results were revealing. When music sounded, its auditory bark (the part of the brain that processes the sound) They were activated normally. However, the Accumbens nucleus, a key region of the brain reward circuit, remained completely inactive. It is the center of pleasure, which lights up when we eat chocolate, we won a bet or fall in love. But in these patients, no stimulus appeared with music and remained dark. The problem, therefore, is not in the pieces, but in the wiring, which is what is known as brain tracks. The investigation specifically indicates a functional and structural disconnection between the auditory cortex (specifically in the upper right temporary turn) and the Accumbens nucleus. It is like having a plug and bulb that work perfectly, but the cable that UNE is damaged or directly does not exist. You can have a genetic component. A recent study with twins has thrown more firewood on the fire, demonstrating that sensitivity to musical reward has a genetic component of up to 54%. And most importantly: these genes are, for the most part, independent of those who regulate musical perception or the general ability to feel pleasure. This reinforces the idea that enjoying music is a different and specific biological capacity. Interestingly, there is also the opposite phenomenon: the Musicophilia. An exacerbated passion already obsessive for music. Different cases of people who, after a stroke or an operation have been documented, developed a compulsive desire to listen to music, something that was previously indifferent to them. This shows that specific brain circuits can both cancel and enhance our emotional connection with music. Images | Marcela Laskoski Weermeijer Robina Clem Onojaghuo In Xataka | The artificial skin that feels heat and cuts is already real. It is the first big step for robots to look more like us

The summers are so short in Finland that he has accepted a guest to enjoy the beaches: kilos of poop

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A few months ago, the Finnish nation was proclaimed for the eighth time the country Happy on the planet. Then we saw that nothing is perfect, because while it happened, the United States landed to prepare them next Battle for the Arctic. And between one thing and another, summer has reached its beaches. As always, it will not be very long, and this year is accompanied by an exorbitant amount of excrement. Brief and disputed. I told this week The New York Times. In a country where summer lasts just two months and the sun becomes a scarce good, every warm day is almost like a miracle. Helsinki, like the rest of the country, lives those weeks with intensity: crowded beaches, whole bicycle families and citizens anxious to take advantage of temperatures that in any other place would seem soft, but that exceed historical records here. However, in that space of evasion an unexpected intruder has appeared: the Barnaclas geeseRobust and gregarious birds that have colonized parks, avenues and, above all, the beaches of the capital. His MASIV PRESENCEA (more than 5,000 accounted for in the area last summer) has transformed the outdoor life into a constant surveillance exercise, where walkers must measure each step so as not to sink into excrements that accumulate in surprising quantities. The daily excrement. The problem, although an anecdotal in appearance, directly affects the enjoyment of a summer that the Finns consider sacred. On the beaches, before extending the towel you have to Check the groundVolley players pray not to land Bruces in a brown puddle, and parents watch with anguish that their young children do not confuse manure with sand or grass. The Times told That, in the parks, the lawn is upholstered with feces that are embedded in the soles, and in the central avenues the geese cross pedestrians with the same naturalness as the beatles very Beatles in Abbey Road. The figures illustrate the magnitude of the challenge: on some beaches, maintenance personnel collect more than 20 kg of excrement per daya volume that requires whole crews of seasonal workers, multiplied in the last decade. Failed innovations. For years, the Helsinki City Council has tested methods To contain the plague. They tried to mix the stool with the sand, but the water ended up contaminated. They used recordings of sea eagles to scare birds, but the geese got used to it soon. It was even studied to hire trained dogs, as other cities do, although they were too expensive and little available. The Great hope This summer was a machine designed by the maintenance team itself. A kind of sieve with wheels, similar to a manual corteped, which had to separate the feces from the sand. The problem? In practice it was Heavy and ineffective In humid soils, and ended up relegated to a warehouse. In the end, the most reliable resource remains the most rudimentary: shovel, gum gloves and infinite patience. Inevitable coexistence. The battle against geese, however, is limited by legislation and Finnish ethics: urban hunting or mass sacrifice is not allowed, such as in Canada or California, where transfers or culeing. In Helsinki, geese are not only a nuisance, but already part of the summer landscape, inserted in the urban imaginary and the daily routine of its inhabitants. In fact, the workers who collect the manure find a certain serenity in the repetitive task (although the smell persecutes them later). The reality is that, in a country where summer is too short to waste it, the Finns seem to accept this uncomfortable invasion as a price to pay to enjoy its beaches. With humor and stoicism, they have assumed that between the sun, water and sand there will always be a third guest: the omnipresent goose … and its inevitable trace. Image | JIP In Xataka | Finland is the happiest country in the world. And is also preparing thoroughly for the most unhappy end: war In Xataka | Finland has found a cheap way to store energy all winter: a tower of 2,000 tons of sand

“I don’t know if I want my children to see short videos and are not able to see something more than 15 minutes”

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The arrival of the new short videos formats driven by platforms such as Tiktok or Instagram has dragged YouTube and other social networks to adopt the same content format Based on the infinity scroll. That change has generated a growing concern among the pioneers themselves in online video. Steve Chen, co -founder of YouTube, has shown his doubts as a father and user with respect to this format of short fast consumption videos that Pop for all attention of the user. “I think Tiktok is entertainment, but it’s pure entertainment,” Chen said. Use and throw content. Within the framework of A talk with students From the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the YouTube co -founder was not fully comfortable with the idea that their young children grow up watching videos of a few seconds. “I do not know if I want my children to see short format content as their only form of entertainment, and that they are not able to see something that lasts more than 15 minutes,” Chen, father of two children confessed, answering the questions of Stanford’s students. These statements show a growing concern among parents: children are digital native, but that does not guarantee that they develop skills or have the necessary tools for the responsible consumption of content served in Infinite Scroll Format demanding of constant attention. The child’s attention capacity. Chen also insisted on an argument that has become frequent among researchers: excess short content can alter the capacity to concentrate, especially among the youngestaccording to published by The Guardian. “The shortest format content is equivalent to lower attention capacity,” Chen said in his response. This type of highly visual videos were described by the engineer as a simple entertainment that does not necessarily provide educational or formative value, but with a high risk of affecting The attention capacity and to the cognitive development of the youngest when exposed to increasingly brief and addictive stimuli. Screen time control. One of the situations that most disturb Chen is the role of algorithms in foster digital addiction. As explained by the founder of YouTube, many platforms depend economically that users, including children, spend as long as possible connected. “It is a delicate balance between what attracts user attention and what generates more income, compared to what is really useful,” he warned. Faced with this risk, Chen openly suggested that technology should “consider limiting the daily use time of these applications, according to the age of users.” Extended concern. Steve Chen is not the only leader in the digital field that has ruled on the risks of the doomscrolling. Sam Altman, who premiered paternity in February, was also worried about The first podcast OpenAI for the impact of social networks In younger users. “I am worried about children in technology. I think that short videos inject dopamine; it seems that children’s brain development is deeply affecting,” said Openai’s founder. In that same idea, the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of the Super Survents coincides ‘The anxious generation’ and professor at the University of New York, which in different interventions has warned sharply: “Social networks are seriously damaging children in the western world,” in statements collected by Business Insider. The expert has also warned that “the destruction of human care worldwide could be an even greater cost for humanity than the epidemic of mental health and health problems.” Try to put doors to the field. Steve Chen mentioned in his talk, that some parents try to prevent their children from watching short videos “with vibrant colors and addictive eyes”, preferring longer, although less exciting formats. The reason is clear: it is sought to prevent minors from developing an early dependence on fast and instant content, difficult to reverse as they grow. That is why parents expose them to content with a more resting rate. “If they are not exposed to the short format content immediately, then they maintain satisfaction with that other type of content they are watching (with longer videos),” said the co -founder. In Xataka | How to recover the concentration that social networks and multitars have taken us Image | Wikimedia Commons (Taiwán Plus), Unspash (Albert Oliveira)

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