spent

Sam Altman spent 6,500 million to create a Gadget from AI next to Jony Ive. Now they face a problem

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In September 2023, Sam Altman, CEO of Openai and Jony Ive, former chief chief in Apple, gathered to devise a revolutionary device they called “the iPhone of the AI”. They were serious because this year Openai bought the Startup of IVE for a whopping 6,500 million dollars. A halo of smoke Mystery has surrounded this collaboration since it was announced and now that new news arrives is because the project has problems, some more serious than others. The “problems.” They tell it in Financial Times. Openai wants to launch its mysterious Gadget Superventas next year. However, sources close to the company ensure that the project has encountered critical problems that could delay its arrival. The team is having difficulties when deciding the personality that the wizard will have, something crucial for a device designed to always be on. There are also doubts about whether to do it as the classic assistants that are only activated when we invoke them or allow it to act by yourself when you consider it useful. The big problem. Assuming that Altman is right and his gadget becomes a global success, the most serious problem they face is that OpenAi does not have the necessary computing power to operate its models on a massive use device, and that costs money (something that OpenAi is not left over precisely). In the case of Alexa or the Google, Amazon and Google assistant they have plenty of computing to make them work without depending on anyone else. OpenAi has chatgpt, The most popular chatbot in the worldand need to work with external investments. First it was his Alliance with Microsoftafter SoftBank’s investment, according to Nvidia And the newly announced according to AMD. If the gadget they want to launch ends up being massive as Altman wants, the numbers do not come out. The device. We do not know what you will call or what design will you have. The details that Altman and Ive gave in their day were quite lazyIn fact, they focused more on saying what it will not be than what will be. It will be similar to the mobile, but it will not be a mobile. Nor will it have a screen, but we will communicate with him through cameras, microphones and speakers. And they will not be glasses either. Nothing concrete, but for the moment it reminds a lot of Ai pin of Humane, that He failed loudly. OpenAi goes for hardware. OpenAI enters $ 1,000 million per monthbut the speed to which money burns is much higher than the one that enters it and would need to enter ten times more to be profitable. Even so, the company is already valued in half a billion dollars. Entry into the hardware business makes sense as a way of justifying its value. Beyond the doubts that arise around this mysterious device (They are many), Openai is very serious about creating a hardware division. When buying the IVE startup, they added 20 employees and later They hired several Apple experts and also of the finish team in charge of the target Quest and smart glasses. We will have to keep waiting to see if it ends up materializing in In Xataka | Data centers for AI are an energy hole. Jeff Bezos’s solution: Build them in space

Chinese astronauts have spent six hours reinforcing tiangong against an increasingly dangerous enemy: space garbage

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The night in orbit just leaves truce. In low orbit, the Tiangong Space Station It becomes the scene of a constant activity that requires millimeter precision. In the last extravehicular exitChinese astronauts had to face a challenge that does not come from technical failures or scientific experiments, but from a silent enemy that multiplies the risks of each mission: the Space garbage which accumulates in the low terrestrial orbit and threatens to hit the structure of the complex. The schedule of China’s manned flight agency places the start of extravehicular activity on September 25 at 19:45 (Beijing time), with Wang Jie as the first astronaut to leave the Wentian module. It was followed shortly after Chen Zhongrui, in charge of attending the installation of the equipment. Chen Dong, from inside Tiangong, managed communications with the control center and supported his teammates throughout the maneuver. The walk concluded at dawn, at 1:35 of September 26, when the two crew closed the hatch after completing the planned agenda. The maneuver was carried out with support from the robotic arm of the station and the team on land. Sludes against fragments: Tiangong’s strategy to resist in space During the walk, the main objective was to install a protection device against Orbital fragmentsdesigned to reinforce the most exposed areas of the station. The operation also included the review of the state of external equipment and structures, with special attention to the systems that suffer greater wear due to continuous exposure to the spatial environment. According to those responsible for the programthis combination of installation and maintenance seeks to ensure that Tiangong maintains its operational capacity in the middle of an increasingly saturated environment of remains. The increase in spatial garbage in the low orbit is one of the factors that most worries agencies in recent years. Each launch adds fragments that, although small, reach speeds that multiply their damage. For China, reinforcing Tiangong does not respond to a specific incident, but to the need to get ahead of an increasingly complex scenario. China is not the only one that has had to reinforce its station in the face of the threat of orbital fragments. The International Space Station Specific armor systems for years have beenknown as anti-mmod shields, which protect their habitable modules from impacts from Micrometeoritos and space garbage. The difference is in the context: it is an infrastructure with more than two decades of service, which has needed to adapt continuously to an increasingly congested environment. In the ISS, this philosophy materializes in shields in Whipple and Stupfed Whipple layers, with several hundred shields distributed in critical areas. The comparison between Tiangong and the International Space Station helps to understand the scope of its protection systems. The Chinese station completed its construction in 2022 with a T configuration formed by the Tianhe, Wentian and Mengtian modules. The ISS, on the other hand, began to assemble in 1998 and ended its main segment in 2011, with a much broader and more complex structure. This difference in dimensions and seniority explains why its shields follow different logics: ISS combines protections included from its design with reinforcements added over the years, while Tiangong integrates solutions designed from the beginning for a more congested environment. The closure of this extravehicular activity does not imply a break, but the beginning of a new stage for the Shenzhou-20 mission. The three astronauts They will continue with numerous scientific experiments and technological tests, in addition to participating in on -board celebrations linked to the Chinese calendar. The installation of additional shields has a clear objective: to hold over time the crew safety and the integrity of Tiangong, which aspires to consolidate as a stable basis for space research in the midst of a more demanding orbital environment. Images | Xinhua In Xataka | 24 years ago, the earth was symmetrical. Now the northern hemisphere is “unequivocally” darker than the southern hemisphere

Nvidia will invest 100,000 million dollars in OpenAI. Actually a single euro will not be spent

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Openai has signed a “strategic agreement” with Nvidia. According to this agreementNvidia “intends to invest up to 100,000 million dollars” in OpenAI gradually, but the truth is that this investment is misleading. Especially since Openai will spend those 100,000 million dollars to buy GPUS to Nvidia. Everything remains at home. What happened. These two companies have initiated the procedures to complete an agreement with a clear objective: create and display AI data centers With a joint gigantic computing capacity: 10 GW. The investment will be made gradually and will be completed “as each gigawatt” of computing capacity is installed in those Data centers. Nvidia will thus become a “computing partner and strategic connectivity” for the development plans of new data centers, says Openai. Millions of Gpus. According to Jensen Huang statementsCEO of Nvidia, that represents between four and five million gpus. Or what is the same: it is the number of units of their GPUS of ia that they expect to distribute this year, and “twice the ones we distributed last year.” The strategy “seller finances buyer”. This agreement is not a simple investment, but a strategic association in which the hardware provider invests a massive amount of money in its main client. In return that client undertakes create a mass infrastructure With supplier technology. It is nothing more than a closed cycle: Nvidia gives OpenAi money, and OpenAi uses it to buy Nvidia products. This sounds like a bubble. There is Several analysts that They speak How this remembers once again The bubble of the Puntocomwhere companies lent money to buy products from the other. That raises suspicions and questions about the long -term sustainability of these agreements. Companies becoming stronger among them. The circular agreement serves in fact to strengthen both companies and solidify their positions as dominant and indispensable actors in the AI ​​industry. In fact, this strategic alliance makes rivals like AMD or Intel very difficult. Nvidia is worth 170,000 million dollars more. The announcement caused immediate reactions in the NVIDIA assessment, whose shares increased almost 4%. The stock market capitalization of the company of Jensen Huan grew by 170,000 million dollars in that session and already touch the 4.5 billion dollars, and manages to distance itself even more from Microsoft, Apple or Google, which already exceed three billion. Long live Hype. Here once again there is a reinforcement of the speech of expectations and Hype. The confidence of these companies in the future of AI is patent, but they are interested and for now Openai’s income – no rivals – are well below spending They are doing in these technologies. Energy challenge. The plans to create infrastructure with 10 GW capacity are also astronomical. According to Some estimatesthose 10 gigawatts They are equivalent to the production of about 10 nuclear reactors, which normally provide a capacity of 1 GW per plant. A colossal cost. The current data centers range between very modest capabilities of 10 MW and other extraordinary 1 GW. Openai’s plans would leave those facilities very behind in computing capacity. In August Huang told investors to create a 1 GW data center is a cost of between 50,000 and 60,000 million dollars, of which about 35,000 are dedicated to Nvidia chips. With those figures, the total cost of those 10 GW of joint computing power would amount to more than 500,000 million dollars, a figure that – one—curiously— It coincides with that of the Project Stargate. Image | Flikr (Techcrunch) | Nvidia In Xataka | 5,000 “tokens” of my blog are being used to train an AI. I have not given my permission

The entrepreneur’s odyssey that bought an old cruise, spent a million dollars on its restoration and could not enjoy it

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Not all projects that dream of having their own ship come to fruition. A while ago we met The story of Clyde Stireswho built a huge yacht at home. The story of Chris Willson It is equally interesting. Unlike Stires, Willson bought an old German origin cruise and spent a fortune to restore it. After years of effort, their plans faded quickly. It all started 16 years ago when our protagonist was browsing the web and found an unusual ads: someone was selling a transatlantic that was tied in Decker Island, California. Without thinking too much, this technological entrepreneur decided to invest in the boat. After closing the acquisition in 2008, he moved his new ship to the Rio Vista to restore it. Restoration and problems Willson now had a boat with enough history. The cruise had been built by the Shipyard Blohm and Voss in 1955. Passengers were traveling from one continent to another on a boat of 72 meters of length that had 85 cabins, different rooms, gastronomic spaces and galleries. Not only stood out in his transatlantic trips, but he had also appeared in the movie ‘From Russia with Love‘by James Bond. As CNN collectsThe man baptized the ship as “Aurora” after spending his first night on board. “I woke up with one of the brightest sunrises I had seen in my life,” he said. But not everything in the project was so perfect. Willson was forced to move the ship several times while performing the restoration tasks, although it was clear that he wanted his ship to be in shallow waters. For more than a decade, Willsson and several volunteer collaborators made all kinds of works in a “artisanal” way To improve the ship. Things, however, began to change in recent years. Aurora was tied in a Californian sports port called Herman & Helen’s Marina, when some locals and local authorities began to pressure so that the ship was transferred to another place. They feared a sinking. An old dragaminas baptized as HMCS Chaleur It was in the same area for a long time and a military tug of the 1940s had recently sunk generating concerns related to environmental pollution. With an eviction order at the door, Willson evaluated the cost of taking out the ship, but needed to spend about one million dollars on river works to complete the tasks. It was simply an amount of money impossible to assume. Willson had received donations To continue with your project, partly by The popularity of your YouTube channel. The only apparent solution was to sell it with the hope that a new owner could continue with the project ahead, but things soon trucked once again. In mid -2024, the Delegation of the Sheriff of the County of San Joaquín announced that Aurora was sinking. “It has been determined that the ship has a hole,” said the authorities. In this regard, they added that there had also been a spill of diesel fuel, forced the intervention of different agencies to contain the problem. In December last year, the ship was finally towed to Mare Island, north of California. There, the cranes disassembled their steel structure piece by piece until it made it disappear. Today no longer exists: The only thing that remains is an invoice of 8.2 million dollars for the costs of scratch. The authorities do not rule out undertake legal actions to purify responsibilities and recover part of the money. Images | Sheriff delegation from San Joaquín County | Aurora Restorration Project In Xataka | Europe is so dry that its rivers are revealing all kinds of treasures. Even a Nazi army of World War II

A millionaire spent a money to paint an exclusive RUF CTR YellowBird. I didn’t expect them to return it by doing the pine

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Who plays with fire can burn, and who transports cars valued at millions of dollars also runs the risk of burning since the slightest carelessness can generate damage valued in thousands of dollars. This is what happened to a passionate owner of a RUF CTR ‘YellowBird’, one of the 80 more rare derivatives of Classic Porsche 911. After investing more than $ 150,000 in maintenance tasks and a total repainting of his painting, the valuable car It ended up rugged When downloading it from the truck that transported it before the stunned look of its owner. An icon of the 80s: the Ruf Ctr ‘YellowBird’ The RUF CTR ‘YellowBird’ is a modified version of the Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 and developed by the German firm Ruf, specialized in converting the sports firm’s sports car In authentic beasts. Specifically, only 29 units of this RUF CTR ‘YellowBird’ were built, which makes it one of the most coveted cars in classic auctions, and a usual of cars video games. His exclusivity has led him to reach historical figures: in March 2024, one of these units was sold for 6.05 million dollars, As reported Topgear. Despite being based on the chassis of the Porsche 911, the Ruf Ctr It was very different In specifications. Its weight was reduced to 1,170 kg thanks to the use of aluminum in several body panels and carbon fiber defenses. It mounted a six -cylinder boxer engine with double KKK turbocharger, double intercooler and a DME injection system derived from the Porsche 962 competition. All of the above granted 476 hp of power and a maximum torque of 553 Nm, capable of exceeding 342 km/h in official tests, surpassing Ferrari F40 by then. Of “yellow bird” to bright black Be that as it may, the Ruf Ctr ‘YellowBird’ protagonist of this story is one of these 29 unique copies that originally went on the market with a body painted in a striking yellow color, as indicated by its last name ‘YellowBird’. Looking for a more elegant appearance, the owner resident in California sent his unit to the RUF headquarters in Germany so that, in addition to making mechanical adjustments, the car in bright black was repainted. For many collectors, modifying the original color of such an iconic model may seem risky, but in this case, the change added an even greater touch of distinction. As you can imagine, neither the transfer nor the restoration process was at all cheap. In total, the owner disbursed more than $ 150,000, according to details Road & Track. These types of restoration operations are common between collectors of high -value cars, which do not hesitate to send their vehicles even to other continents to ensure that they are in the hands of experts accredited by the manufacturer. A very expensive carelessness The tragedy arrived just when the owner was about to receive his Ruf Ctr back and with his new body color. When downloading it from the truck in the transport gondola, the car tires were not correctly secured, which caused it to slide through the ramp without control. Deportivo fell painfully from an approximate height of 2.4 meters, hitting the ground on the rear bumper, while the front was raised at a 45 degree angle on the truck. Touch the image to go to the original message The images of a six million dollar car making the pine on a transport truck soon became viral on social networks, and accounts like @johnclaywolfeshowThey shared them on Instagram accompanied by messages such as “Guess how many millions this little bird was worth.” In these photos you can see the transport operator inside the car at the time of the accident, observing impotent how a newly restored collection piece suffered damage that has not yet been evaluated at all but that, without a doubt, will mean an important disbursement for the person responsible. In Xataka | A Ferrari F40 of $ 700,000 Image | RM Sotherby’s (Stephan Bauer)

Stress for not running out of rare earth is dominating technological ones. Apple has just spent 500 million

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Apple has signed An agreement with MP Materialsa US mining company, to ensure the supply of magnets made of rare earths over the next few years. The company led by Tim Cook will invest 500 million dollars In this company with the purpose of eliminating its current dependence on Rare earth from China. However, the supply of rare land magnets of American origin will begin in 2027. This strategic decision is Apple’s response to two needs. The most obvious is that those of Cupertino need to have access to rare earth magnets without being conditioned by The iron control that China currently exercises on the global supply chain of these chemical elements. In addition, its investment in MP Materials has been very well received by the administration of Donald Trump as part of the commitment acquired by Apple at the end of last February. And is that on the 24th of that month the Cupertino announced that will invest 500,000 million dollars During the next four years in the US and will create 20,000 new jobs. In any case, this scenario invites us to ask us two questions. On the one hand it is important to identify why rare earth magnets are so important for Apple and other technology companies. And it is also crucial that we know how China has achieved dominate in such a forceful way the global supply chain of rare earths. Rare earths are essential to make advanced technology “Rare earth materials are fundamental to producing advanced technology, and our association with MP Materials will help strengthen the supply of these vital elements here, in the United States,” has declared Tim Cookthe Director General of Apple. Permanent magnets made with rare earths, such as neodymium or samarium-colto, are very attractive for electronic devices manufacturers because they have high magnetic force, great resistance to demagnetization and high thermal stability, among other remarkable qualities. In fact, they are not essential only for the electronics industry; They also have a leading role in the sector that is dedicated to the manufacture of electric cars, in the aeronautical and in the advanced armament production industry. The problem for the US and its allies is that currently the rare earth supply chain It is almost completely controlled by China. This Asian country produces 70% of rare earths and controls 90% of the processing industry of these chemical elements. Rare earth magnets are very attractive due to their high magnetic force, great resistance to demagnetization and high thermal stability On April 4, just 24 hours after Donald Trump announced the taxes that he was going to apply to the importation of most products from abroad, The administration led by Xi Jinping responded. And he did it forcefully. In early December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of some critical minerals to the US, among which were three essential metals for the chips industry: Gallium, Germanio and Antimony. Shortly after the Chinese government added two more critical metals to its list of export restrictions: the Scandio and the Disposio. These chemical elements are probably less known than metals prohibited by China previously, such as Gallium or Germanio, but are at least as important as the latter because They have a fundamental role In the industries of integrated circuits, telecommunications and the manufacture of storage devices. The ability to put pressure from China had not yet been extinguished. Just ten days later, on April 14, the Administration did not hesitate take another step forward With the purpose of putting in check, in addition to the industries that I just mentioned, those of electric cars, aeronautics and advanced armament. To achieve this, it effectively suspended, in addition to the export of the most valuable rare earths, that of high -power magnets that have a critical role in the industries that I have cited in this same paragraph. This is the context in which MP Materials has erected as a crucial actor for the US. And this mining company is the owner of the only site in this country that contains some of the rare earths necessary to manufacture high -power industrial magnets. This is the reason why it has become A very valuable strategic resource For the country led by Donald Trump. The US plan pursues Develop your own supply chain of rare earths with the purpose of eliminating any dependence on the global market of these chemical elements. Image | Daniel L. Lu More information | Reuters In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

In 2021 a volcano spent three days in eruption without anyone finding out. Now it helps us ahead of the silent volcanoes

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Knowing how to read the signals that a volcano gives before erupting can make a difference between a scare and a tragedy. Some volcanoes make it easy for experts who know how to read these clues but others erupt without prior notice. Or maybe just we couldn’t decipher your signs. At least until now. A new tool. A team of researchers He has devised A new mechanism to model the behavior of some volcanoes. This tool, its creators stand out, will serve to more effectively monitor the eruptions of some volcanoes reducing the risk associated with these natural phenomena often so violent. Some special usefulness in the case of “silent” volcanoes. “Despite great advances in monitoring, some volcanoes erupt with minimally detectable or even without them precursors, significantly increasing the risk of nearby populations,” pointed in a press release Yuyu Li, co -author of the study. As explained by LI herself, some of these volcanoes are located not only near communities, also near important air traffic routes. Silent volcanoes. For the development of its tool, the team resorted to the Veniaminaf volcano, located in the North American state of Alaska. This is one of the so -called “silent” volcanoes, volcanoes whose eruption is not preceded by the signals that are generally associated with an imminent or close eruption, such as earthquakes or the deformation of the soil in the surroundings of the Magma Chamber. Veniaminof’s is just an example that We can find In this family of silent volcanoes that also includes some closer such as Stromboli in Italy or Popocatepetl in Mexico. Looking inside the volcano. But among all of them, the Veniaminof volcano is perhaps the most paradigmatic. Not because only two of the 13 rashes that have leaded since 1993 have been planned, but because in 2021 he achieved the milestone of erupting without anyone noticing Until three days later. The team responsible for the study analyzed the internal conditions that make it a silent volcano. Factors such as a slow supply of magma and a warm host rock are key in this regard. The monitoring of the volcano was carried out for three summers prior to one of the silent eruptions of the volcano, that of 2018. A model to get ahead of the eruption. The result, a model that conforms to the state of different variables that can condition the probability of the burst of the magma, such as the volume of the reserve, flow conditions of the magna, depth of the reserve or the form that it acquires is. Thus they could estimate what kind of conditions could be linked to a silent eruption and which ones were not. The team found that soil deformation could help prevent some eruptions of the volcano but that the relationship between underground magma and rashes were somewhat more complex than it might seem. The details of the study have been published In an article In the magazine Frontiers in Earth Science. The following steps. Monitoring the numerous silent volcanoes distributed throughout the world will not be an easy task. For now, the resolution gives a clue to what are the volcanoes to monitor more closely: volcanoes with small and warm reserves and slow magma flows, explains the team. In Xataka | In 2021 a volcano spent three days in eruption without anyone finding out. Now it helps us to unmask the silent volcanoes Image | Alaska Volcano Observatory Photo Gallery

The USA most exclusive golf club spent a fortune to buy the neighborhood. They did not have the resistance of an old woman

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In Augusta, Georgia, where the average value of a house is around $ 125,000, the offers of the most famous golf club in the United States, the Augusta National Golf Clubto residents and owners of the adjoining lands have been much more than generous. The prestigious club that houses the Masters tournament has allocated at least 200 million dollars to the purchase of more than 100 properties, from modest houses to neighborhood shops, with uprights that even quintupled or more the fiscal value of the property. Only A house is brought to the ambitious renewal project. Money and aesthetics. The last week told the Wall Street Journal exclusively. In the last 20 years, the most legendary golf club on the planet has executed one of the most ambitious (and discrete) land acquisition campaigns in the recent history of American sport. The goal was not just to gain physical space. It was also transforming everything that surrounds the club into an extension of its controlled, elegant and exclusive aesthetic. The image of the visitor who is going through a neighborhood of houses for rent, street vendors and cigarette stalls on the way to the perfect grass fields did not fit with the narrative of the “Golf Sanctuary”. Therefore, the club began to Buy the houses and to demolish themturning whole neighborhoods into parking lots and green areas, redrawing even road limits and suffocating any trace of the popular bustle that once surrounded the masters. White cheches. To do this and as we said at the beginning, they have not spared when taking the neighborhood. He WSJ counted Cases such as the Lakemont Presbyterian Church, sold for 1.65 million dollars, or that of Madeleine Liles, who received 1.1 million dollars for the house that his father built in 1953. These cases exemplify a clear pattern: Augusta National does not discuss. Pay. Fast, in cash, and without hesitation. The strategy has generated a Unexpected wealth For many residents, he has strengthened local tax coffers and has silenced much of community resistance. The newspaper explained that the phrase “You know they have the money” has become a mandatory between sellers and local real estate agents. And yet A house He has resisted the “charm” of green. Club entrance A “ordinary” house vs. Empire. Yes, apparently, just a few steps from the legendary club, a 92 -year -old woman, Elizabeth Thackerresists firmly multimillionaires offers that surround her. In a modest house with three bedrooms and a single floor, built in 1956 on a land of 27 hectares, Thacker has lived most of his life, along with his late Husband Herman and his family. The house, located in the Stanley Road 1112in Augusta, Georgia, he has witnessed generations: his children grew up there and also played his grandson as a child, the professional golfer Scott Brown. However, for years, property is also the object of desire for the powerful golf club, which has invested those More than 200 million dollars in expanding its urban domain and converting the surroundings in part of its private infrastructure. The roots value above all. Although the estimated value of the house is of 338,026 dollars (Well above the local average of $ 215,000), Augusta National has presented multiple offers above that figure, all rejected. And not because business has not been done before: the Thacker sold another property to the same institution for 1.2 million dollars. The difference in this case is because the house where Elizabeth still lives is different. It is home to his life, the site where he formed a family and where he still finds meaning and belonging. His late husband made clear in 2017: “Money is not everything.” And that phrase, simple and powerful, seems to summarize the spirit with which the woman has faced one of the most influential sports clubs on the planet. Resistance between demolitions. WSJ counted That Augusta National strategy these two decades has been silent but forceful: buying properties at prices far superior to those of the market, sometimes through limited liability companies with opaque names such as BC Acquisition Co. or WSQ. Many of those acquired homes have already been demolished, replaced by parking areas or empty spaces, ready for future constructions. In fact, right in front of Thacker’s house there is now unfaled land that functions as a parking lot for tournament attendees. Under this context, his looks like an island in the midst of the advance of a tide that buys and transforms everything. The “other” Elizabeth. Next to the old woman, there is another person who has also resisted the offers of the club, although from another perspective. Rebecca Freeman81, he lives nothing from the club par-3 of the club. The woman has also seen how a dozen houses in her street were sold and demolished, and although Augusta National has made her an offer, she was lower than the 500,000 dollars obtained A neighbor, and she, patient and calculator, has decided to wait. No doubt, he plays with an ace in the sleeve: he knows that the club will end up wanting his property and a few others who still stand. “When they are ready to stay with the remaining, the price will rise,” He said to the WSJ. Its logic, like that of others who have resisted, is simple: when a buyer has infinite pockets and an immovable plan, the key is to wait for the right moment. Tenacity as a legacy. In it Thacker case And although many neighbors have already sold, she not only remains, but is still the soul of her house. Your daughter, Robin Thacker Rinder, confirmed the media With pride: “Yes, it’s ours. And yes, mom still lives there. He has an iron will.” That stubbornness, in simple appearance, encloses an act of dignity that challenges the logic of the great transactions. In times where everything seems to have a price, the story of Thacker has become these days a rare reminder that there are decisions that They … Read more

Banks spent years criticizing cryptocurrencies. The BBVA will soon allow to operate with Bitcoin and ETH from its app

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Almost exactly four years ago that the Bank of Spain (BDE) and the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMV) published a joint statement. In it They warned of the risk of investing in cryptocurrenciesespecially due to its “extreme volatility, complexity and lack of transparency.” Thus, they qualified them as a “high -risk commitment.” Four years later it seems that the opinion of these experts has changed. And a lot. BBVA will allow Buy and Sell Bitcoin and Eth. As the entity indicatestoday the CNMV has approved the BBVA “to provide custody and execution services of cryptoactive sale orders in Spain.” This will initially make the bank offer the possibility of operating with Bitcoin and ETH (Ethereum). The EU opens the door to the crypts in traditional banking. The notification of the CNMV is one of the procedures necessary by the regulation on cryptoactive markets (Mica for its acronym in English). This regulation was activated on December 30, and regulates this type of services in the European Union. This allows BBVA to offer those services, something that has already begun to do In 2021 in Switzerland and in 2023 in Türkiye. All from the app. As they point out in BBVA, customers in Spain can operate directly from the app that they now use to see their accounts, their investments and its traditional bank operation. Thus, they will unify both conventional and those dedicated to cryptocurrencies in the same application that was used so far, and that will have an area dedicated to these efforts. Key custody. The new service will feature an own cryptographic custody platform. In the BBVA they point out that this will allow to maintain control without depending on third parties, and thus be able to safeguard the cryptoactives of its customers. But the responsibility is from the client. In the BBVA they clarify, of course, that the bank will not advise customers, but will focus on facilitating these operations. Thus, although they will offer the ability to buy cryptoactive, they will not make recommendations to customers, thus avoiding possible responsibilities to the well -known volatility of these cryptodivises. It remains to know if the BBVA will warn customers of possible risks in investments like these. Caixabank and Bankinter do not trust. While BBVA takes that step, other entities prefer not to launch to this market. Gloria Ortiz, CEO of Bankinter, He declared recently that “it is impossible to advise anyone about something that has no value” referring to cryptocurrencies. While Gonzalo Cortázar, his Caixabank counterpart, indicated that “Bitcoin has a volatility that we all know and other cryptocurrencies, too. It is difficult to advise on the fundamentals of Bitcoin. I would not know how to do it and our teams, at this time, either.” Bankinter will not offer to operate with crypts to its customers. Caixabank yes, but not proactively. To repudiate them to hug them. In recent years we have lived a 180º turn of the position of financial institutions on cryptodivises. Many continue to show their reservations, yes. The International Payment Bank (BIS) He described This market of a “self -referential” system and highlighted how “no real economic activity” does not finance. Even so, in the US, the approval of the cryptodivisas ETFs already laid the foundations for the general public to access these assets. He strategic cryptoring project Donald Trump makes clear the position of the US government, and more and more banks want to take advantage of this new institutional perception of cryptocurrencies. Image | Bbva | André François McKenzie In Xataka | A British did not let his album search with Bitcoins in the trash for years: now he considers buying the landfill

The EU spent more in Russian oil and gas that in helping Ukraine

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They are fulfilled three years since Russia began its invasion In Ukraine. During this time, The economic impact is still deep In both countries. Although general attention has been logically focused on human suffering, these days economic figures have been disclosed that reveal the magnitude of the damage: Ukraine records An annual inflation of 12%, while in Russia it reaches 9.5%. Numbers that show the persistence of economic deterioration on both sides. And next to this, another fact: Europe has invested more in Russia than in Ukraine. The “dependence” to Russia. A recent Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA): The European Union has allocated More money to the purchase of Russian fossil fuels than to direct financial support granted to Ukraine During the third year of the conflict caused by the Russian invasion. According to the analysis presented on the occasion of the third anniversary of the war, the EU spent approximately 21.9 billion euros in Russian oil and gas Only in the last year of conflict, significantly higher than The 18.7 billion euros delivered to Ukraine In financial aid for 2024, according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IFW Kiel). The data has many readings, but the main one is paradoxical, since the situation highlights a deep contradiction between the European verbal support to Ukraine and the concrete economic actions that indirectly benefit the Vladimir Putin regime, providing essential income to sustain its military campaign. Historical figures and comparisons. The numbers are even more striking when the total expenditure on Russian fossil fuels by Europe is observed throughout the last year (2024), which exceeded 39% the financial aid assigned to Ukraine. In addition, the report emphasizes that Russia has obtained global income equivalent to 242,000 million euros only for energy exports During the third full year of the conflict, bringing their total profits from the beginning of the invasion to figures near the billion euros. In other words, European agency is especially critical when considering that Russia receives up to half of its fiscal income directly from the energy sector. The economist Christoph Trebesch of the IFW Kiel, although he did not participate directly in the analysis, The surprising gap remarked between the help mobilized for Ukraine and the economic support granted in previous historical conflicts. For example, Germany was considerably more generous during Kuwait’s liberation (1990-1991) compared to the provisions of Ukraine so far, measured proportionally in terms of national GDP. Consequences of energy dependence. The data leads to the same conclusion: the report underlines how this unit follows indirectly promoting war in Ukraine by economically sustaining the Russian government. Vaibhav Raghunandan, co -author of the study, explicitly declared that buying Russian fossil fuels It is practically equivalent to finance the Kremlinfacilitating the continuity of his military aggression. In addition, the Russia’s ability to overcome sanctions economic imposed by the West through its so -called “shadow fleet”of which We have spoken before (A fleet of old ships) allows the country to maintain approximately one third of its income from fossil fuel exports. The European response: sanctions and challenges. It is the last of the legs to be treated: what does Europe do? In reaction to these realities, European ambassadors recently approved new measures in its 16th round of sanctions against Russiadirected specifically against that “shadow fleet.” The report also warns that, strengthening existing sanctions and closing some legal gaps, The EU could reduce Russian income up to 20% from these fuels. In particular, he recommends close the so -called “refinement lagoon” (Through which Europe can acquire Russian oil processed in third countries), as well as even more restricting the Russian gas flow Through the Turkstream gas pipeline. In addition, the report indicates another emerging problem in European energy trade: The growing dependence on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG). Although The EU has considerably reduced imports Russian gas channeled since the beginning of the conflict, partially compensated this decrease through greater imports of Russian LNG, which reached record figures in 2022, placing Russia as The second most important exporter From this type of gas to Europe. The war three years later. I counted in A report the Guardian On the economy of both countries since the beginning of the conflict that, in a Moscow key, traditional economic indicators seem to favor Russia. Although initially the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell -1.3%, has shown a solid recovery in the last two years, growing at 3.6% annual according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead, the Ukrainian economy suffered a dramatic collapse of 36% in mid -2022, closing that year with a 28.3% drop. Although Ukraine has managed to partially recover with growth rates of 5.3% in 2023 and 3% in 2024, its national income still remains 20% below the levels prior to invasion. Resiliation and perspectives. Despite adversities, Ukraine resilience has been remarkable. Christopher Dent, professor of international economy, argues that Ukraine has better long -term perspectives of what Russian propaganda affirms. A concrete example is the recovery of the Ukrainian electricity sector, which after The attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station in 2023 (which caused losses of at least 2 billion dollars), has significantly increased its electrical exports to Moldova, Hungary and Romania, integrating more closely into the European energy network. Maritime trade through the Black Sea and the Danube continues to work, and agriculture also shows clear signs of recovery. The future potential of Ukraine also lies in its wide mineral resources, including metal deposits valued at about 11 billion dollars. On the other hand, tax collection has improved substantially, with significant increases in corporate taxes and consumptionalso supported by international IMF and Western agencies. Bad? On the other sidewalk and despite these advances, the Ukrainian economy faces huge structural challenges. The most important: the labor market remains negatively affected, with An unemployment rate of 16.8%aggravated by mass migration abroad and mandatory military recruitment. The adaptibility of Russia. For its part, Moscow, Despite international isolationhas demonstrated a … Read more

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