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The Social Security reform has opened the door to working longer. Early retirement will remain half closed

May 29, 2026 by usatoday24

Social Security is pushing those who can continue working to delay their retirement as much as possible, but it resists modifying one of the most discussed rules of the system: the penalty in the pension of those who they retire earlyeven when they accumulate more than 40 years listed. The flexible retirement reform contemplated in the Royal Decree 416/2026 will come into force on August 28, launching the Government’s strategy to extend working life of workers and contain pension spending. What changes with the reform. The new flexible retirement regulation seeks to encourage more people to extend your working life as much as possible voluntarily and can make part of their pension compatible with a salary, something that current regulations did not allow. The idea is not to force anyone to continue working beyond the legal retirement age, but rather offer more incentives so that those who can and want to do so, keep working. The person who is already retired, instead of stopping working completely, can do so part-time. In exchange, they will receive a salary for their work and a supplement to the proportional part of the pension. In this way, someone retired can obtain a higher income while still active, and will receive 100% of their pension again when they stop working. That is, if someone retired receive a pension of 1,000 euros, and for working 32 hours a week (80% of a full day) they will pay you a salary of 1,000 euros, your pension will be cut in that proportion, but the sum of salary (1,000 euros) and pension (200 euros) will provide you with greater monthly income. The current regulations force you to choose between working or receiving the pension. Put obstacles to early retirement. The demographic pyramid in Spain, in which there are fewer and fewer young people to maintain the pension system and a longer life expectancy, has forced successive governments to take measures to maximize working life of employees to continue contributing. This has led to the extension of the retirement age, which has been progressively delayed since 2011 to go from 65 to 67 years in 2027. The other measure approved in the pension reform of 2024 to discourage early retirement is to apply some reducing coefficients to the retirement pension, so that the more you anticipate retirement, the less pension you receive in return. Contribute 40 years without reward. One of the problems posed by the application of reducing coefficients is that those workers who already exceed the maximum limit of years of contributions necessary to access ordinary retirement at age 65 (38 years and six months or more by 2027), will not be able to retire early. without penalizing themand end up getting paid a lower pension than other workers with fewer years of contributions. This group has already organized under the association Asjubi40 and different political groups with representation in Congress have carried out proposals to eliminate this grievance to workers with long contribution periods when they want to advance their retirements. As and how he published The Independentvoluntary early retirees bear an average reduction coefficient of 11.36% and receive an average pension of 2,002.58 euros per month, after retiring at an average age of 63 years and two months. In the case of involuntary early retirement, the average reduction rises to 18.9%, the average pension stands at 2,100.42 euros per month and the average retirement age drops to 61 years and ten months. The unaffordable cost of stopping working. The reason given by the Government for not eliminating these reducing coefficients It’s simple: removing those penalties would be expensive. The Executive estimates an additional cost of 3,358 million euros per year for Social Security if the reducing coefficients are eliminated for those who retire early after having contributed 40 years or more. Of that figure, 1,345 million would correspond to voluntary early retirement, and 2,013 million would correspond to those retired involuntarily, that is, those who have been affected by ERE, business closures, force majeure or other cases considered by the General Law of Social Security. Social Security cannot assume it. Although Spain is registering record numbers in terms of number of members. It closed 2025 with a budget deficit of 5.58 billion euros. Once again, we are facing a record to be treated of the smallest deficit of the last 14 years, as as highlighted The Confidential. But it is a deficit, after all. However, the incorporation of contributions such as the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI), has contributedIn 2026 alone, 1,162.23 million euros will be added to the Social Security Reserve Fund, which reached a total amount of 15,267 million euros last March. In Xataka | From the “Great Resignation” to the “Great Early Retirement”: the labor market loses the experience of those over 55 years of age Image | Pexels (Joaquin Carfagna)

The world wants to verify the age of children so that they do not access social networks. Children’s solution: paint a mustache

May 5, 2026 by usatoday24

The United Kingdom presume to have one of the strictest legislations in the world when it comes to protecting minors from social networks. The curious thing is that young people are managing to demonstrate that age verification technology has a unique Achilles heel: an eyebrow pencil. Look, I have a mustache. The British country has been forcing platforms to implement age verification measures in accordance with its Online Safety Act for months. However, a recent study from the NGO Internet Matters reveals that the limits imposed by these platforms are surprisingly easy to overcome. In fact, one of the methods is especially striking, because some children simply use an eyebrow pencil to paint a mustache and thus look older than they really are. Children 1 – Machines 0. This agency surveyed 1,000 children and parents in the United Kingdom and although it showed positive effects after activating these measures, it also made it clear that many children saw these systems as an easy obstacle to overcome rather than as a way to keep them safe. 46% of minors believe that the measures are easy to overcome. Only 17% believe that they are very difficult to avoid, while 19% say they do not know. Source: Internet Matters. Cheating machines is trivial. 46% of the children surveyed indicated that These age verification systems are easy to overcomeand only 17% found them difficult to avoid. There are several methods to overcome these systems, but most are simple. For example, using video game characters like ‘Death Stranding’ to show them in front of cameras trying to verify their age. Also show IDs of other people when asked, or simply use false birth dates. (At least) One in three skips the controls. But not everyone uses these methods: although the aforementioned 46% say that it is easy to overcome these systems and another 17% say that they are neither easy nor difficult, “only” 32% admit to having used some technique to overcome them. Of course, it is one thing that only 32% admit it and quite another that these figures are representative taking into account that they are confessing that they are doing something that they should not do. Methods vary, but many use fake birth dates or log in with their parents’ or siblings’ accounts. Complicit parents. The effectiveness of the Online Safety Act depends largely on the family environment, with data suggesting that at least a quarter of parents are uncooperative. The study indicates that 26% of parents have allowed their children to ignore or overcome these age verification systems, and in fact 17% admit have actively helped their children to evade these controls while 9% simply turn a blind eye. It’s not that big of a deal. Many parents justify this “help” by indicating that they understand the risks of their children accessing these platforms, but prefer to supervise the use of services such as TikTok or video games themselves. The idea: allow your children to bypass restrictions to play with friends or stream, but theoretically under your supervision. The failure of putting doors to the field. It’s not just that age verification systems are easy to overcome: The thing is that they do not eliminate risks completely either. In the Internet Matters study, almost half of the minors surveyed (49%) indicated that they had recently encountered toxic material on the Internet. This makes it clear that even children who do not try to bypass these controls still encounter inappropriate content. There are those who advocate going further and push for the end of online anonymity. Image | Jeremiah Lawrence In Xataka | The EU has just ready its app to verify age on the internet. And Ursula von der Leyen warns: “There are no more excuses”

why the silent user is the big winner of social networks

April 28, 2026 by usatoday24

A few years ago social networks were used as authentic repositories of information, with many publications throughout the day and maximum interaction. Nowadays it is not unusual to see Instagram profiles completely empty of posts and reserved only for stories or even on X people who publish absolutely nothing, but have a really old account. And it’s not that they are dead accounts, but that their owners are just “watching”. A paradigm shift. The technology industry has been selling us the need to have a presence on social networks to participate in the collective trend and with the aim of staying behind. But for science, these people who just watch without participating are actually the most intelligent and have received the name ‘lurking’. For a long time, this attitude was attributed to a lack of commitment, but the reality is that lukers We represent the vast majority of users on the Internet, who only prefer silent consumption without entering into controversies or commenting on anything at all. In this way, our opinions remain in our minds and are not materialized by putting an answer on X or a comment on YouTube on a video. Why does it happen? Here a key study from Frontier in Psychology has analyzed the psychological mechanisms behind this technological retreat and points to four critical factors: Seeing the lives of others generates pressure that inhibits the desire we may have to share our own life or our concerns. Concern for privacy, since a publication can easily be misinterpreted without context and expose itself to unnecessary controversy. The pressure to generate social interaction in the comment box of different platforms is something that can deplete our energy reserves. There is an excess of interactive stimuli that causes the brain to not be able to process more. Consumption without exposure. Not all those who remain silent do so for fear of entering into a controversy, but for many, it is a matter of efficiency. Here, according to a job from Computers in Human Behavior, the motivations for consuming content such as watching a tutorial on YouTube or reading a thread on X are totally different from those for participating. Here the user seeks mere usefulness for their daily life, making reading comments help to contextualize a news item without having to enter the mire of discussion. In this way, the user feels that they are up to date with all the news that may surround them, but without having to type a single word. The dark side. The problem is that these attitudes indicate that the level of toxicity on social networks is quite high, which is why this ‘defense mechanism’ is activated in which a user does not leave because they do not want to lose connection with the world, but they ‘turn off’ their microphone. In the end it is a selective withdrawal in which you continue to see what is happening, but the noise is not allowed to directly affect the user. Images | freepik In Xataka | Snapchat has almost 1 billion users and invented the king format of the Internet. He still doesn’t know how to make money with it

Three months ago Australia banned social media for those under 16 years of age. It is already investigating possible breaches

April 1, 2026 by usatoday24

Just three months ago, Australia launched one of the most ambitious regulations that have been proposed so far on social networks and minors. The measure came into force on December 10, 2025 with a clear message: force platforms to prevent those under 16 years of age from having accounts and give families back part of the control over the digital lives of the youngest. From the first moment it was presented as a pioneering initiative, but something important was also assumed from the beginning: applying it was not going to be easy. The first doubts. The rule has already entered its most delicate phase, checking whether it is really being applied as planned. The eSafety regulator has opened the first formal review and has put platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube under scrutiny. The agency speaks of “significant concerns” and points to failures in control mechanisms. It also points out that current systems are not effectively preventing those below that threshold from continuing to open new accounts. How minors are sneaking in. The report goes beyond a general warning and focuses on very specific failures in the control systems. It has been detected that there are not enough safeguards to prevent users under the permitted age from creating new accounts, but also something more striking: some platforms allow the verification processes to be repeated until the user manages to pass them. Also in certain cases, these profiles are invited to demonstrate that they meet the age requirement even after having indicated that they do not, which shows inconsistencies in the application of controls. A problem that was already anticipated. The difficulties in applying the rule have not arisen now, they were already on the table from day one. When the law came into force, The Australian Government itself admitted that its implementation would not be perfect, and the first signs pointed in that direction. According to ABC, Some minors managed to bypass the verification systems with basic tricks, such as altering their appearance in facial controls. The outlet itself also warned that parents and older siblings could help some children get around the restrictions, an early sign that the challenge was not just in passing the law, but in making it really work. What is at stake for the platformss. The investigation opened by eSafety does not remain a diagnosis, it opens the door to possible sanctions if it is demonstrated that companies have not taken reasonable measures to prevent minors affected by the rule from having an account. Reuters points out that The fines can reach 49.5 million Australian dollars and affect the aforementioned services and platforms. The regulator has already begun collecting evidence and hopes to close at least part of its investigations by mid-year, which places technology companies in a scenario in which non-compliance is no longer just a reputational risk. The Spanish mirror. What is happening in Australia helps to put into context a debate that has also gained weight in Spain, although here it is at a different point. Peter Sánchez announced in February that The Government wants to prohibit access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age within a broader package of measures on age verification, traceability of hate and responsibility of technology managers. The key difference is that that ban has not come into force and is not being enforced. Still, the Australian case offers a useful reference to anticipate what kind of challenges may appear when such a measure moves from political announcement to actual implementation. Images | cottonbro studio In Xataka | “What the hell is happening with Lidl Spain?”: Germans are speechless at the chain’s comic surrealism

We thought that the great challenge of veganism was vitamin B12. A study suggests that social relationships are

March 13, 2026 by usatoday24

Whatever there is taken the step to veganismfor whatever reasons, knows that the most difficult thing is not to give up cheese or meat, but to face Christmas dinner with the family or the Sunday barbecue with friends, since food is an event with a great social component. In this way, when someone decides to radically change consumption habits in a predominantly omnivorous worldnot only changes the plate, but also social relations. Now science has determined the tactics these people develop in order to survive social frictions. The data. The study, published in September 2025is not limited to conducting a survey among vegan people to analyze the impact on their social relationships. What they did was exhaustive field work between 2017 and 2022, combining in-depth interviews, observation and netnography, which is the analysis of the behavior of online communities. where debates arise about it. The goal here was none other than to understand exactly where and how everyday interactions are “broken.” And above all how they tried to compensate in an almost innate way. Social fractures. The researchers here identified that tensions in a social relationship do not arise from a simple difference of opinion about the most ethical diet, but from what they have called “relational fractures”, which are divided into three very clear areas: Co-execution: The simple act of cooking with another person, such as a partner, or sharing a meal becomes logistically complex. What was once a fluid ritual now requires planning, separate pans, and constant negotiation to arrive at a common dish. Co-learning: Family traditions, like inheriting grandma’s secret meatball recipe, are short-circuited. This means that the exchange of culinary knowledge between omnivores and vegans often comes to a standstill. Activities that may be everyday activities, such as going shopping or choosing a restaurant with other people, become logistical minefields where one has to balance one’s ethical needs with the preferences of others to choose, for example, a restaurant with a menu that suits everyone. Survival kit. So, if relationships fracture, how do vegans avoid becoming isolated? The researchers here discovered that, to maintain social peace and navigate these turbulent waters, vegans develop four specific “relational competencies” that sometimes appear without them realizing it, which we see below. Decoding. This is the ability to “analyze,” meaning vegans learn to anticipate how others will react to their diet and evaluate whether the environment is safe, hostile, or simply curious. Depending on the impression you have, your behavior will adapt to the environment by being more or less open with the topic. Disengagement. The second pillar is to deliberately separate food from social interaction, as it means that one will eat their vegan plate while another eats animal products, prioritizing company and conversation over dietary friction. Chameleon effect. The third adaptation consists of integrating so as not to attract attention in the group. This may mean, for example, bringing food from home to a social gathering or ordering a basic salad at a steakhouse without comment, all to prevent veganism from becoming the central topic of conversation of the evening. Abandonment. The last adaptation that has been detected in some vegans is where they directly give up different shared plans, such as stopping going to certain restaurants or social events. Even, in extreme cases, a distancing has been detected in an interpersonal relationship, since it becomes toxic due to the tensions that are generated. It is not born from nothing. One of the researchers has been exploring “morality in markets” for years and this led her to talk about indigenous and animal consumption practices. In this way, veganism is something that has been scrutinized for a long time in different studiessince it is not just about choosing what to eat, but it is an ethical stance that the omnivorous environment often perceives as a challenge to its own social and cultural customs. The big conclusion that can be drawn from all this is that the transition to a plant-based diet does not only require learning to read nutritional labels or discovering new recipes, but also requires a profound social and emotional re-education.. The long-term success of a vegan lifestyle depends as much on resilience at the supermarket as it does diplomacy at the dining table. Images | Anna Pelzer Xataka | Protein powder has become the star accessory of modern wellness. Nutritionists have something to say

How to link Apple Music or Spotify to TikTok to save the music you discover in the social network’s videos there

March 12, 2026 by usatoday24

Let’s tell you how to link Apple Music or Spotify to TikTokand thus be able to save the music you find in the videos in your music library. When you do this, the service you choose will become the one TikTok uses by default. The operation is simple. Once you have linked them, when you are watching TikTok and a video with a song appears, an indicator will appear that tells you what the topic is. Then, by clicking on the name you can open it directly in your music streaming application. Link Apple Music or Spotify to TikTok The first thing you have to do is enter TikTok and click on the options button to open the side tab. When you do it, click on the option Settings and privacy to enter the social network settings. Once you are in the TikTok settings, go to the section Content and screen. in here, click on the section Music that will appear to you. Within the Music section, click on the option Link within the option of Add to music app. You will go to a screen where you will be able choose the default music app to add songs from TikTok. Here, you can click on one of them, the one you use. When you choose one of the options, you will go to the application or website of this music service, and you will be able to accept that you connect to TikTok and both services are linked. TikTok will be able to see data from your account and perform actions for you, such as adding songs. Add TikTok music to Spotify Once you have linked a streaming service, simply browse as normal. When there is a song in a TikTok video, you will see that there is an indicator of the topic it containsand you can click on it. You can also click on the round icon at the bottom right. When you click on the song nameyou will go to a screen where you can have your information, the publications that use it, and options to use it yourself or save it to favorites. Here, you will also have a button to add it to Spotify or Apple Musicdepending on which one you have chosen. This will add the song to your playlist of songs you like on Apple Music or Spotify, the one created when you “Like” any of the songs. In Xataka Basics | Alternatives to TikTok: the main social video networks to go to if you are thinking of changing

Madrid and Barcelona have built an entire social and business life with the AVE. They are finding out what happens when it fails

February 6, 2026 by usatoday24

The Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line has collapsed. The trains do not arrive on time and no one pays their compensation, Adif has asked the companies to withdraw last-minute services, airlift prices have skyrocketed and there are companies working at half throttle because the goods do not arrive. A social and economic backbone of the country has been fractured. A Russian roulette. Taking a high-speed train between Madrid and Barcelona is, right now, Russian roulette if what you want is to arrive on time for an appointment. The link between the two most important cities in Spain has been broken via train and a round trip in the day is almost impossible. It is the result of a hasty revision of the train tracks, a direct consequence of the fateful Adamuz train accident (Córdoba) and the continuous warnings of the train drivers. Actions that have diluted the “high speed” concept between Madrid and Barcelona. What has happened? Since last January 18 An Iryo train derailed near Adamuz (Córdoba) and collided with another Renfe train that was traveling in the opposite direction, leaving 45 dead, Adif has been facing criticism about the track maintenance. In the case of Madrid-Barcelona, the consequences were soon seen: speed limitations. Between confusing messages, Adif ended up imposing temporary speed restrictions at numerous points on the line, especially between Madrid and Zaragoza. Later, 300 km/h returned. But it didn’t last long because speed was reduced once again. The role of machinists. Since then, travelers between Madrid and Barcelona have been reporting severe delays, with trains taking more than four hours to reach their destination. As they explained to us Xataka From the SEMAF union, train drivers have the power to reduce speed if they consider it essential for the safety and comfort of travelers. They must notify the line controllers and put it in writing in a report. In addition, on each journey a document is filled out specifying the problems that have been found on the line. A train driver, who preferred to remain anonymous, corroborated this version to Xataka and made it clear that for months they have been traveling at a speed lower than the maximum speed allowed on the line and, especially, between Madrid and Zaragoza. Likewise, he pointed out that they have been complaining for months about the vibrations suffered by the trains but that they had not received a response until now. Adif’s role. Although unions and drivers claim to have been complaining about this situation for months, it was not until January when Adif appears to have taken more far-reaching measures. The road manager is doing an exhaustive review of the roads based on the continuous complaints from workers. These inspection and repair works, when necessary, are delaying travel times. The company has asked Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo to assume that trips will be extended to three hours (and they just pointed out that these travel times will extend until December) but has also asked them to eliminate the last services of the day to have more time for their performances. Collapsed by land and air. The result is a collapsed train line. The trains are not arriving on time nor in the three hours indicated by Adif (instead of the usual 150 minutes). And the problem for those passengers, who throw in the towel with punctuality, is that The companies are not responsible for compensation either. for delays, pointing out that they are the result of a problem beyond their control and that, therefore, they do not fall within the refund policies. At the same time, demand on flights has skyrocketed. Without the possibility of getting there and back within the day by train or for fear of doubling the usual travel time, travelers have turned to airlines. And the result is full flights and skyrocketing prices. After some bills will reach 300 euros, Iberia has reached its Air Bridge at 99 euros per trip. Vueling has also increased its frequencies. And the road alternative did not improve the situation either. Only in BlaBlaCar has an increase in demand of 130% been recorded, in data provided to The Newspapercompared to the previous year. Car rental companies do not seem to have been left behind either, since The Ombudsman has asked the CNMC to analyze whether illegalities have been incurred by skyrocketing prices for car rentals and plane tickets. And problems for companies. Companies in both cities have not only had to see meetings canceled or postponed these days. Some of them are having problems having their raw materials. In The Vanguard They include the case of some of them. Inovyn, in Martorell (Barcelona) had to send its 300 employees home earlier this week because they did not have the basic materials to produce plastic. “In normal situations we receive one train a day loaded with dichloromethane, a material with which we manufacture many of our compounds, but in the last ten days we have received only one train,” they explain to the newspaper. They explain that 18% of the goods that arrive at the port of Barcelona are sent to their destination by train. Those that use international gauges are stopped due to works in the Rubí tunnel and those that use the Iberian gauge circulate at night and in dribs and drabs. and in The Country They explain that the city’s port is becoming isolated, with an 80% drop in products coming from Germany, France or Poland by train. The road alternative is not working either. The AP-7 already there is enormous congestion since road tolls were lifted but, furthermore, there are not enough trucks to be a complete alternative given the volume of goods that move along the railways. Added to this are problems derived from the latest storms and the increase in traffic derived from a Rodalies service that has not been back to normal for more than ten days. Photo | Phil Richards In Xataka | Spain wants its AVE trains to travel at 350 … Read more

2,300 years ago Plato already knew what to do with social networks

February 4, 2026 by usatoday24

“This invention will produce forgetfulness in those who learn it, because they will not exercise their memory: they will trust in the external, not in themselves.” These words are not from a neuroscientist talking about artificial intelligence, nor from a politician regulating social networks. They are from Thamus, king of Egypt, who 2,300 years ago, in Plato’s ‘Phaedrus’, argued that any technology that helps remember ends up weakening. He was talking, of course, about writing. But, curiously, the arguments are so current and relevant that they could have been stated today: banning social mediaFor example. And this is the interesting thing. What was Plato’s argument? The quote, as I say, is from the end of the Phaedrus. There appears the call ‘myth of Theuth and Thamus‘: the god Theuth presents writing as a fantastic technology that would improve memory and Thamus, in contrast, responds that what will improve is forgetting. Although it is usually brought up in the context of classical disputes about whether writing is good or bad, the truth is that the good Plato’s argument is a little more subtle: what he is interested in confronting is rather the difference between internalized and practical knowledge, on the one hand; and the knowledge that, even though it is easily available (thanks to writing), has not left a mark on the subject. That is, Plato does not contest writing. He was, rather, describing a pattern: each cognitive technology reconfigures the skills we practice and those we don’t (and therefore let atrophy). ‘Cognitive offloading’. That is the ‘word’ that, from certain areas of cognitive science, is used to download mental work. They can be using notes, to-do lists, calendars, GPSs or search engines… it doesn’t matter, the phenomenon is very similar to what Plato commented on. The available evidence tells us that, in effect, there is a trade-off: Using these systems improves immediate performance (as Theuth argued), but can reduce deep learning (as de Thamus argued). And it makes sense. When we know that something will be accessible, the tendency is memorize its content less and dedicate those resources to memorizing where to find it. In other words, it changes what we do with those resources we have to try to make their use as efficient as possible. In fact, in the same way we have to recognize that this has problems (especially with content that is fundamentally important), but it also has benefits. This ‘resource release’ allows us, for example, learn new things. PlatoGPT. The issue is always very similar: new technologies trigger moral panic in society and then, with hindsight, we see if they were right or wrong. That is to say, we have been in a very long war between early-adopters and late-adopters for 2,300 years. Now it’s up to artificial intelligence and Plato’s reflections are good. Above all, because they help us see AI as something that goes beyond “a tool”: it is a complete system of incentives that pushes us to improve certain skills and atrophy others. The key is whether those skills that we atrophy are necessary for something else. “Put doors on the field.” A few years ago, the philosopher Antonio Diéguez visited us and explained that the idea that technologists repeat so much that “you can’t put doors on the field” was somewhat problematic. Of course you can. It has a cost, it is true; But there is also a risk of being uncritical with all the technologies that knock on our door. We have learned it the hard way in recent years. We live in strange times when nobody knows anything about the social impact of new technologies. But what is clear is that this should not confuse us and make us believe that we cannot know anything about it. Yes we can, yes we can. It’s more. As Plato said, it is our obligation to know. Image | Raphael / Robin Worral In Xataka | Why being a teenager has always been shit and in the age of social media even more

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