worse

That Instagram and Facebook are plagued by fraudulent ads is bad. That Meta is making money with them is even worse

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Congratulations! You have won an iPhone. the king Felipe VI announcing investments. Work at Primor and get paid up to 160 euros per hour. These are just three examples of fraudulent ads that have appeared on Facebook and Instagram, but there are many more. So many, that Meta is making money with them. What has happened? An investigation of Reuters has revealed that Meta estimated that 10% of all revenue volume would come from fraudulent ads, which would total $16 billion. In an internal document from December 2024, Meta estimated that its platform serves about 15 billion “high-risk” scam ads every day. By “high risk” they mean those that are clearly frauds, like those we mentioned in the introduction, so the real number would be even higher. It seems like fraud, because we charge you more. Meta has automated systems to detect these types of ads, the problem is that the policy to block them is quite lax. The documents reveal that ads are only blocked if the system identifies it as a scam with 95% certainty. If the percentage is lower, what they do is raise the advertiser’s fee to supposedly discourage them. That is, if they continue to advertise, Meta makes even more money from frauds. The favorite site of scammers. There is more. In another document, Meta admits that “It is easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than on Google.” The information comes from channels in which scammers discuss their methods, although they do not specify the reasons for their choice. They also estimate that a third of all successful scams in the United States occur through their platforms. Regulation. Meta is in the crosshairs of regulators around the world. The European Commission initiated action against the company for the use of data to serve advertising to users. In United Kingdom took them to trial for the same reason and more recently the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating them for the financial frauds advertised on their platform. In documents published by Reuters, Meta shows its intention to reduce illegal ads, but is concerned that a sudden reduction would negatively affect its revenue. Don’t touch my publi. Meta is in a delicate moment for the huge increase in spending on AI which, despite having achieved positive results in the last quarter, has caused its shares to fall 8%. Considering that targeted advertising is Meta’s main revenue stream, a reduction on this front could shake the entire house of cards. Meta responds. Speaking to Reuters, a Meta spokesperson criticized the news, saying the documents “present a selective view that distorts Meta’s approach to fraud and scams.” He says the estimate of 10% profit from scam ads was excessive and the actual figure was much lower, although he declined to give an updated figure. According to Meta, in the last year and a half, fraudulent ad notices have been reduced by 58% and in 2025 they will have eliminated more than 134 million scams from their platform. Image | Generated with AI. background Pixabay In Xataka | The majority of medical discharges that are investigated are fraud. The nuance is that they are only investigated if there are signs of fraud

Windows XP’s “FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8” was legendary. Windows 95 was even worse

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Recently we knew the origin of the legendary Windows XP activation key. That famous set of digits (“FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8“) that many of us end up memorizing became a singular demonstration that attempts to protect software do not always go well. Microsoft knows a lot about this, because its first systems to protect its operating systems and applications were even worse. The rule of “Let it be divisible by 7”. Microsoft tried to protect illegal copies of Windows 95 with a system that varied depending on the type of license. That system, however, was really weak. One of the most common licenses was the “CD Key”, which asked us for a code made up of 10 characters and two segments: XXX: could be anything from 000 to 998, but with one curious exception: the three numbers could not be the same (111, 222, …). XXXXXXX: The second segment is where a simple algorithm came into action. For the number to be valid, it was enough that it was divisible by seven. Not only that: you could enter 0. Microsoft ended up prohibiting entering all zeros, but it didn’t matter: the rule of being divisible by 7 was still fulfilled. That made coming up with compliant combinations very easy. One of the most used CD Keys was 000-000007, but 111-1111111 was also widely used Office 97 used one more digit. Instead of 10 digits, Office used 11 in two segments. XXXX: could be anything from 0001 to 9991. There were no prohibited numbers but the fourth digit had to be the third + 1 or 2. If the result was greater than 9, it became 0 or 1. XXXXXX: the same requirement as the previous one, although at least in Office 97 it did not seem to be necessary for it to comply with being divisible by 7. Thus, two keys that could work were 0001-0000007 and 1112-1111111. Things got complicated (a little) with the OEM keys. If our computer arrived with Windows 95 preinstalled, it could be that instead of a CD Key what we had to enter was an OEM Key. These keys consisted of four segments: XXXXX: represented the date the key was printed. The first three digits could be anything between 001 and 366, and the last two were the year, which could range from 95 to 03. For example, a key with 19296 as the first segment means that it would have been printed on July 10, 1996. If you wanted maximum compatibility with Windows XP, it was ideal to use 02 as the last two digits. OEM: The second segment simply had those immutable letters. XXXXXXX: the third segment had to be divisible by 7, but with another small condition: the first digit had to always be zero. XXXXX: The last segment was completely random, and could be any number of the appropriate length. Thus, to comply with validity we had keys such as 00100-OEM-0000007-00000, but it was possible to use any other such as 06900-OEM-0694207-80085. How was all this revealed? You could figure out how Windows 95’s key system worked if you’d seen enough of them. However, what really allowed us to understand this entire algorithm was the leak of the Windows NT 4.0 code, which is in fact available at Archive.org. This allowed some users to reveal both on video as in detailed articles How was it possible to discover the “check_retail_key) function of Windows NT 4.0, which was part of the system’s setupx.dll file. In Xataka | Nostalgia does not disappear. So much so that there are people developing a new web browser for Windows XP

That Napoleon’s jewels were stolen from the Louvre in seven minutes is not a miracle. It is something much worse for France

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You have hardly been able to escape to the news of the weekend. It happened when the morning of Paris had not yet acquired the pulse of tourism. Then, a four-man gang climbed the facade of the Louvre as if the very principle of deterrence did not exist. Everything was surprising: there was no night, no disguise of technological ingenuity, no escape into an interior labyrinth. Thus, in the seven minutes it took us humans to have a coffee, the group removed from the heart of the museum the most sensitive remains of the French imperial lineage. The most guarded museum in the world could be crossed like if it were a decoration. The material blow. He told in a detailed report this morning Le Monde that the command arrived on the side of the Seine taking advantage a context of works and the functional anonymity of an urban furniture-mountain. They forced a porte-fenêtre towards the Galerie d’Apollon (the room that condenses the mythology of state sovereignty: joyaux de la CouronneNapoleonic inheritances, diadems and colliers that condense continuity of power) and broke two high security display cases in seconds, collecting eight pieces of heritage value not translatable to the market. The operation lasted around seven minutes. The withdrawal was done along the same vertical axis with the support of two large displacement scooters. In the rush of escape, the criminals dropped the Eugenie’s crownlater recovered damaged. What they took and what they didn’t. The theft affected pieces of the corpus Marie-Amélie/Hortense (including sapphire colliers, earrings and tiaras) and jewelry linked to Marie-Louise. They were unable to extract the diamant-régent (one of the three canonical diamonds of the French canon) nor, as we said, preserve Eugénie’s crown in the flight. What is stolen is, strictly speaking, unmarketable as an entire heritage object, but its dismantling (gold, diamonds, sapphires separately) suppresses cultural and biographical traceability, which is where the irreparable lies. Structural failure. They count national media that the gap was not the cunning of others but the internal predictability: five agents for a room thermodynamically saturated with risk, a relay that reduces to four personnel in the exact strip in which the coup is carried out, a security architecture whose modernization was postponed, and a prioritization curve that armored the Joconde but it decompensated the surrounding heritage periphery. In fact, the runion and staff action (boos to management, demand for an independent audit, denunciation of years of unattended alerts) indicates that the failure was not only big, it was known and was never corrected. Political responses. The assault detonated a immediate response of Macron, of the Interior and of the judiciary, with the affirmation that the authors were going to be captured and the pieces recovered. For its part, the opposition transferred the episode to a frame of state decay: If the Louvre (symbol of the nation’s continuous narrative) is permeable during opening hours, the crack is more than museum-like. In other words, from that prism, public humiliation then operates in two planes: exterior (Country-image) and interior (delegitimization of the chain of command over heritage). The crown of Empress Eugenia de Montijo Criminal logic. We said it at the beginning. The pieces, en bloc, do not circulate. Its economic power lies rather in its deconstruction. The likely incentive is not conventional private collecting (impossible to display) but the supply on demand (unknown contractor, including state or quasi-state) or the cannibalized high margin industrial bulk. According to Le Mondehe recent pattern (Cognacq-Jay, Museum of Nature History, Limoges) shows a vector of criminal professionalization with a logistical window close to civil works, rapid emergence, cold extraction, brief departure and, sometimes, exogenous assignment. The discarding of an item in the flight suggests, perhaps, operational friction, but not global improvisation. Precedents. There is no doubt, France knows famous robberies (1911 the Joconde1976 sword of Charles, 1998 the Corot) but the qualitative leap lies in the practical deactivation of the Louvre taboo during visiting hours. The museum was closed to preserve vestiges and the criminal investigation is open with focus on escape routeabandoned equipment, construction perimeters and cameras. In fact, the hypothesis of a foreign commission is not ruled out, nor is the performance of a cell trained in high-density urban theater patterns. Hunting status. From what is known, the investigation focuses in four authorsscooters and routes already mapped, with cameras analyzed and forensic material in progress. One damaged piece was recovered, but eight remain missing. Plus: the probability of intact recovery decreases with time because the thief’s rational incentive is, a priori, to disassemble, volatilize and recombine. The cultural loss is absolute if the components are assembled in another vector or if the metal is melted and sold through other channels. What the robbery reveals. The reputational implosion now forces us to accelerate what years of internal warnings They did not move: comprehensive shielding, redistribution of personnel due to real risk and not due to tradition, closing of logistical windows associated with civil works, and a redefinition of the security perimeter by layers, not only by a single idol (the Joconde-Gioconda). The only “advantage” of an open-hour robbery with global symbolic production is that it makes it politically unaffordable to return to the previous status quo. If you also want, the episode, rather than pointing out an unusual criminal genius, points to the country itself. The escape in seven minutes did not measure the capacity of the thieves, but rather the exact time in which the State left open the possibility that the largest museum in the world could be treated like the entrance to a bathroom in full public service. Image | Tore Sætre, Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier In Xataka | Everyone wants to see the Mona Lisa, a problem that the Louvre is going to solve drastically: by hiding it In Xataka | A Saudi prince paid $450 million for a Da Vinci painting. The problem is that it may not be by Da Vinci

110 years later we finally know what sank the ‘endurance’ in the Antarctic. The culprit was not the ice: it was much worse

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He Endurancethe legendary ship of Ernest Shackletonbecame a symbol of resistance and heroism after its sinking in the icy waters of the Weddell Sea in 1915. There began the myth, because during more than a centuryits end was wrapped in a halo of mystery, attributed to the lethal coup of the ice against its rudder. Now, science He has revealed That the truth was more complex and, in a way, disturbing: the ship was never prepared to survive. The myth and the truth. As we said, for more than a century, 110 years to be exact, Ernest Shackleton’s heroic story and his antarctic ice crew was accompanied by the conviction that the endurance was the wooden ship more robust of his timevictim of a fatal blow of the ice against his helm. However, Recent research They have dismantled that narrative. The thorough analysis of the wreck discovered in 2022 reveals that the ship I was convicted From the beginning: it was not a single impact that sank it, but the accumulation of compressive forces that crushed their weak structure and, very important in the final story, Shackleton I probably knew When he left for Weddell. The expedition trapped. Endurance sailed in 1914 with the ambitious plan of cross the Antarctica on footbut at the beginning of 1915 he was caught in a solid ice. For ten months the crew resisted on board until the pressures began to deform the ship. The covers were combined, the helmet vibrated with a crash and the newspapers of the sailors picked up the sound of the creak of the wood under huge forces. On October 27, 1915 Shackleton ordered to leave the shipand weeks later the helmet ended up sinking after a succession of pressure onslaught that started masts and opened the structure in two. Idealized cross sections of the first Antarctic ships. The endurance was of the type (a); The type Deutschland (B) Fortress with mud feet. Far from being the invulnerable ship of the legend, the endurance was born as a ship of Polar and Hunting Tourism of bears and morsas in the Arctic. Its design lacked the critical reinforcements to survive trapped in an icy sea: it had no diagonal beams that kept the bands of the helmet or racks that supported the machine room, its most fragile area. Over there, According to witnesses As the scientist Reginald James or Captain Frank Worsley, the iron plates combined and the soils bulging while the ice pressed incessantly. The Rudder and the keel departed, but they were not the cause but the consequence of that structural weakness. Pecio discovered in 2022 Shackleton knew it. It is one of the keys that light has seen now. The most revealing thing is that Shackleton I did not ignore Those defects. He had participated in rescues from other ships shattered by ice and advised the German Wilhelm Filchner reinforce with diagonal beams Your Deutschlandthat thus managed to survive eight months trapped. Even in a letter to his wife he admitted that the endurance was not as solid as The Nimrodthe ship of your previous expedition. Even so, He acquired it Without modifications, moved by the urgency of undertaking a colossal project in the midst of their debts, their personal failures and competition with other explorers for reaching Antarctic glory. The re -written history. He New study of Jukka Tuhkuri Disassemble the myth of the invulnerability of the endurance, showing that it was an inappropriate ship faced with a relentless environment. However, this finding does not decrease the figure of Shackleton, but it frames it With more realism: A leader who risked aware that the adventure could cost the ship, but that miraculously saved his entire crew. At a time when polar exploration was a jump of faith towards the unknown, the wreck of the endurance was not only the end of a ship, but the proof that even the stronger wood yields Before ice pressurewhile human will manages to survive where the technique fails. Shared destination. The truth is that the Endurance drama It was not an isolated episode. Decades earlier, in 1876, twelve American whales They sank in front of Alaska for lacking the necessary reinforcements against compressed ice, dragging with him the livelihood of hundreds of families. Something similar happened in 1903 with The Antarctica Swedish ship trapped and shattered in the Weddell Sea. And, in contrast, the case of Deutschland It demonstrates how simple modifications could make the difference between sinking and survival. If you want also, all these episodes draw a pattern: polar ice does not forgive improvisations or risk economies. Shackleton, with his leadership instinct, achieved what other captains They did not achieve: save all his men, although at the expense of expose them to sacrifice of a ship that had never had to face the brutality of the white continent. Image | Picryl, PicrylFalklands Maritime Heritage Trust In Xataka | More than a hundred years later, we have found the remains of Shackleton’s ‘endurance’ sunk in the Antarctic In Xataka | We have been trying to rescue the shipwrecked with the oldest computer in the world for 120 years. We just took a huge step

Five months later we continue to discover things about the blackout in Spain. And every time they are worse news for Europe

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Five months later of the great blackout of April 28a preliminary report from the Technological Research Institute (IIT) of the Pontifical University Comillas has put the focus in an insufficient synchronous generation program in the peninsular south as a “fundamental cause” of the electric zero. The document, commissioned by Endesa and Iberdrola and sent to Entso-E, also questions operational maneuvers of Electrica de España (REE). A “collapse due to overtension.” The report introduces this unpublished concept in Europe. A phenomenon in which the tension rises uncontrollably by disconnecting renewable generation that operates with constant power factor. According to IIT calculationsthe safety margin available on the 220 kV network was 1,019 MW, but the disconnections exceeded 1,600 MW. Take into practice it would be when a renewable plant is disconnected, the tension rises. That increase causes new disconnections, which makes the tension rise more, in a vicious circle that ends in the collapse.As details the quotation note of Comillasthat cascade reaction is not precedents in the continent and shows that the simple verification that the tension is within the “is not enough” range to guarantee stability. A fragile and little inertia network. The debate is not “renewable yes or no”, but how to adapt the network and how it operates in high renewable penetration scenarios. The Iit Identify four critical points: Little programmed synchronous generation: in Andalusia there was alone A combined cycle group On the way, when the usual were several. Weak Network: At 9:00 in the morning, 35% of the 400 kV network was disconnected in the central and south areas. Dopsy inertia: In Andalusia it fell to 1.3 seconds, 35% less than the 2 seconds recommended by Entso-e. Risky maneuvers: between 12:00 and 12:30, Ree He connected eleven lines additional to try to cushion the oscillations, but those operations further reduced the safety margin. The chronology of a collapse announced. The government report had already described one morning with “Atypical volatility”. At 12:03 there was a first 0.6 Hz oscillation; At 12:19, another of 0.2 Hz but with a three -time amplitude. To stabilize, Ree reduced exports and connected lines that were disconnected. Far from improving the situation, the system tension increased. At 12:26, ​​the operator reached order the start From a combined cycle center in Andalusia, but the coupling time was more than an hour and a half: there was no room. From 12:32 The chain reaction began. At 12:33:19, the Peninsula It was completely dark. Shock of stories. Here it opens The crack between reports. The Government pointed to Ree in June for poor programming and a “insufficiency of dynamic tensions control capabilities.” Ree, in his own document, replied that there were several power plants that did not fulfill their obligation to absorb reactive energy, which aggravated the crisis. The electrical companies, meanwhile, denied any ruling and accused the government and ree of “opacity.” The new IIT report adds to debate Reinforcing the thesis that a scheduled synchronous generation was missing and questioning the operational maneuvers of the system operator, although it emphasizes that the analysis has the endorsement of international experts such as Goran Anderson and Pier Luigi Mancarella. And now what? The IIT recommends reviewing synchronous generation programming, strengthening tension control, using more predictive metrics and better coordinating all agents. The Government tried in July to approve A decree “antiapages” with sanctions, greater public control and more prominence for self -consumption, but the text shipwrecked in Congress. In addition, the Iberian Peninsula remains an “energy island”, with only 3% interconnection with France, which amplifies any operational error. Therefore, Spain and Portugal They have pressured To Paris to accelerate interconnection runners, “fed up with promises without calendar.” Closer and closer. Next Thursday, the European Network of Transmission Systems Operators (ENTSO-E) will publish your factual report with detailed chronology and the final technical data of the 28th. That document will be the basis on which Brussels and Member States discuss responsibilities and measures. The story of the 28th is not yet closed. And the Comillas report has just reopened it with a clear message: the energy transition does not fail to be fast, but for do not reinforce the network and the rules at the same pace. Image | Freepik Xataka | Selling smoke is now a business in Soria: it purifies it and sells it as CO2 to make soft drinks

The “best mechanic in Spain” says that Low Cost gasoline is of worse quality than the premium. Reality is much more complex

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In the long term, fuel Low Cost “It can cause breakdowns.” We do not say it, says Carlos Pérez, recognized as “best mechanic in Spain” in an interview with Canal Moveo de The avant -garde. And we don’t give it because, simply, there is no reasons to say it. In fact, Carlos Pérez himself emphasizes that “all gasoline ultimately come from the same wholesale suppliers.” So what happens? Who. As we say, one of the spaces that The avant -garde He dedicates to the mobility sector has interviewed Carlos Pérez, known on the Internet as “the best mechanic in Spain.” The title is no invention, among the different awards he has obtained we find the one delivered by The workshop community who are focused on communication within the post -sales market. Since then, Pérez has granted various interviews to different media in which he has been explained about What are the most reliable brandswhat are they the car models that recommend Or, simply, which is the best gasoline to use. Yes, but. And here comes the controversy. In his statements about gasoline to use, Carlos Pérez assured the following to The avant -garde: “Although all gasoline ultimately come from the same wholesale suppliers, the differences are in the additives that each company incorporates. These additives are those that help to keep the feeding system clean and prevent the accumulation of waste in the engine, which can affect the performance and durability of the vehicle. The price can be tempting, but in the long term, the use of fuel That supposes in repairs “ That is, a Yes, but in full rule. According to Pérez, there should be no reason to distrust the cheapest fuels but in the long run “it can cause breakdowns and greater engine wear.” Obviously, the price would not compensate for the expense and headaches of the breakdowns. Same origin. The truth is that in Spain there should be no differences between refuel Low Cost or supposed fuel Premium. Because deep down, the fuel is exactly the same. And this is not much less. In Xataka We already played this topic in 2015. Then we explained that the origin of both fuels is the same: CLH or hydrocarbon logistics company that In 2021 he changed his name to exolum. This receives the fuel from the refineries that are distributed by Spain in the hands of BP, Cepsa Moeve or repsol. This fuel already arrives with quality standards that guarantee a good product. This fuel is maintained in the exolum facilities until it is distributed by the service stations. It is here where the difference between products occurs: additives yes or additives no. The additives. To begin with, the exolum itself already has His own additives (HQ300) For part of the fuel it stores. It is the responsibility of the Marketing in charge of fuel with additives or without them. Obviously, this second is cheaper. What is an additive thinking? In theoryto improve long -term engine and vehicle care. Companies Premium Do you sell that their formulas manage to leave less remains in the engines or allow more kilometers with the same amount of fuel. And is there scientific evidence? Really, none. At least that is what Carles Fité, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Rodrigo Soto, chemical engineering reader, who asked about this same matter, pointed out that “all are equal. I see no difference at this level of analysis.” According to their samples, “they basically contain the same compounds and in the same proportions. Everything comes out very very the same”, in words collected by The confidential. Nor have they found substantial differences in the OCU. In fact, they point out that we are talking more about blind confidence in the effects of additives than on realistic checks: “The effects of additives on engines and gasoline consumption do not seem very verifiable. (…) Prove that an additive lengthens engine life is very difficult, because there is no way to determine how much that same engine would have lasted if that gasoline had not used.” And the secret? The secret is called the economy of scale. Simply, there are two types of business when we talk about service stations. The gas stations Low Cost They can save the customer money because they themselves They already save money on operational costs Of their businesses: they do not usually have employees, they do not invest in R&D to improve those fuels and do not invest in advertising, trusting in the mouth-oreja. On the contrary, gasoline stations Premium They base their business on those additives that generate confidence in the client. But also In formulas to catch you in the following purchase such as loyalty cards or stores that orbit around the suppliers. Also in their Agreements with other companies as insurance companies or large supermarkets. Scams and maintenance. In summary, the quality of the repossed product has much more to do with the maintenance of the service station (which is renewed regularly and does not spend too much time in deposits, for example) and, above all, with complying with the minimum quality standards. The latter should be an endorsement when we repost in Spanish gas stations, however, in recent months the SERVICE STATION SHOWS They have used worse quality fuel and took advantage of great sales at very low prices to subsequently scam the State in the presentation of the VAT tax. This has generated a worse image to the product Low Cost. Photo | BALLENOIL AND BP In Xataka | Diesel or gasoline: what are the differences and which one is better to buy according to your use

more repentance, more erased clinics and professionals who live worse than before

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The tattoo has gone from be a symbol of rebellion to A fashion accessory. Soccer players, Influencers And even your fifth neighbor look like skin designs. This massive acceptance caused an unprecedented boomFilling Spain with studies and artists. But the party is over. The bubble seems to have exploded and has left behind a precariousness and also repentance panorama among the different clients who decide to remove their tattoos. Regretting what they tattoo. A phenomenon that we are seeing right now is that of Delete what one day was permanent in their skins. This was demonstrated by a study Made by Lutronic PBSwhich pointed out that 60% of the people who tattoo in our country end up regretting. The problem that arises is that eliminating a tattoo is not easy to do. The ink that is injected directly into the skin dermis, which is the second layer of the skin. This causes an aggressive treatment to be able to eliminate it completely. The number of professionals who remove them increase. The demand for withdrawing tattoos makes new treatments and clinics appear. In 2023 it was recorded A 30% increase in the number of demands regarding eliminating tattoos through laser technique. And is that choosing a good professional It is fundamental so that later it is marked on the skin. And such is the ‘fashion’ of eliminating tattoos, which even in social networks can already see how trends and up as #Tattoremoval where The before and after this treatment is shown. And sometimes people make these tattoos impulsively Without having anything clear. And then the repentance is there. The tattoo sector has a ‘dark side’. In addition to the change of opinion of many consumers of this art, The avant -garde has collected in a report As the market has changed radically. Raúl, a professional tattoo artist since 2001, reports that when he started in this world, the coil machine was an almost artisanal artifact of more than 300 euros. Now this same machine It can be found on Amazon for fifty euros With an initiation kit that includes needles and inks of doubtful quality. This technological democratization has had an immediate effect: a marketing of the market. The National Union of Professional Tattooators and Anillers (UNTAP) esteem That in Spain there are about 10,000 “legal” tattoors, but they estimate that the double works irregularly from their homes. These “home tattoors” They are announced on Instagram and Facebookcompeting directly with studies paid for rent, taxes and health licenses. And this is something that results in a fall in demand to professionals. The ‘Glovo’ model has reached the tattoo. If unfair competition is a battle front, labor conditions are the other. The sector operates in a legal limbo where the ‘false autonomous’ has gained prominence, as they relate to the avant -garde. In this way, they point out that the studies have autonomous tattoors, who carry a percentage of the final price of each tattoo, and the material costs are shared. The point is that some studies would demand to meet fixed schedules of up to 60 hours per week and with imposed vacations. Emilio San Miguel, labor lawyer, is clear about it: as soon as an autonomous depends economically on a single payer and has time and tax holidays, it can be considered a false autonomous. “Almost all the tattooists who work in studies,” he says. ‘Chiquitatus’ and businessmen: the devaluation of art. This panorama has been the breeding ground for a new business model. According to Fidel Prieto, secretary of UNTAP, many of the new studies are not led by artists, but by investors who see tattoo as a simple business opportunity. In this way, they take care of a place with a central location and hire young tattooists, with little experience and more likely to accept abusive conditions. And to be a large production chain, they specialize in ‘Chiquitatu’, that is, a butterfly, an infinity or a small symbol that has a cost of 50 euros. Something that denounces devalues ​​the price of this work, and makes people have to work from their home and in black so that it deserves the penalty economically. Because becoming autonomous is something that many people cannot afford. What you earn in the trade is not very attractive. As they point out in the report, a tattoo artist can have a good month and invoice about 3,000 euros gross. But It is not a stable tradeand depends on the number of customers you have. In this way, in a bad month those income can collapse up to 700 euros easily. A tattoo artist, Virordia, points to that I would prefer to have a decent salary, a normal schedule and decent conditions. The situation is as unsustainable that figures such as the “false hired” have emerged: a 10 -hour weekly contract for someone who works more than 45. The objective is to reduce the social security quota, a desperate patch in a broken system. Tattoos have a future beyond the aesthetic. Although many people are tattooed for pleasure, science explores other options. For example, it is already explored to use them as a system to control blood glucose or go much further to Be authentic biosensors to analyze other biochemical parameters of our organisms in a little invasive way. Images | Benjamin Lehman In Xataka | “We are not giving the card”: the regulations to validate the truck driver with Morocco are 20 years old

The government emptied a reservoir in Cáceres to eradicate an invading fish. The remedy was worse than the disease

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Just eight months ago, Alcollarín dressed in gala. This small town of Cáceres, with just over 300 neighbors, was presented at the International Tourism Fair of Madrid as a privileged corner to observe birds, throw the cane or walk next to its reservoir, blue mirror in the middle of the pasture. Today, the postcard has completely changed. Where the water was shone before, now a lodazal splashed from dead fish is extended. The air, loaded with a sour smell, reaches the streets of the town. The neighbors speak of “ecological disaster” and look unbelieved towards the dam, while from the Guadiana Hydrographic Confederation defend that the operation was “of vital importance” to protect the future of the basin. The operation that changed everything. The Ministry for Ecological Transition, through the CHG, He started a plan To eradicate the invasive species Pseudorasbora Parva —An known as Chinese fish or Gobio de Boca Túpe -, present at the reservoir and in the Alcollarín River since 2010. Included in the Spanish catalog of invading exotic species and in the European regulation of worrying species for the EU, its control is a legal obligation to prevent its propagation. The plan included months of bearsques with specialized ships and, as a final phase, a “controlled” emptying of the dam to facilitate the capture of specimens. As reported by the CHGthe reservoir was 100 % of its capacity – 50 cubic hectometers, equivalent to 50,000 million liters – before starting the operation. The problem, like They have denounced neighbors and associations to the newspaper Extremadurais that the emptying caused the downstream release of thousands of copies, expanding the species towards the Ruecas and Guadiana rivers. The enemy in the waters of Alcollarín. The Pseudorasbora Parva He arrived in Europe around 1960 and has expanded to more than 30 countries, mainly by introductions linked to aquaculture. In Spain, it was first detected in the Ebro basin in 2002 and, since then, it has colonized sections of Catalonia, Andalusia, Madrid and Extremadura. In the case of Alcollarín, the species was detected in 2010 and, According to the mitecoits density in the reservoir had reached levels that made its complete eradication technically. Even so, the CHG He defended that it was urgent Reduce its population to avoid dispersion towards new channels, especially before the connection planned with the Orellana Canal, and ensure that the reservoir could be used for irrigation and recreational activities “in accordance with current legislation.” Of the catastrophe control. The contract, awarded in June 2024 to the engineering company and technical designs SAU for 787,861.99 euros (without taxes), included several phases of analysis of the pisco fauna, installation of metal containment barriers to avoid leaks, extraction of native species and elimination of invasors, and the controlled emptying of the reservoir. However, According to neighbors and groups such as the Fund for the Defense of Natural and Cultural Heritage of Extremadura (Fondenex)the procedure did not come out as planned. The Captured downstreams overflowed in the critical and “hundreds of thousands” phases of invading specimens escaped towards the wheel and the Guadiana. The drastic drop of the water level, added to the high temperatures, also caused the death of numerous native species, including the barbo, cataloged as vulnerable. The shores were filled with decomposition fish, aquatic birds abandoned the area and the local economy lost, suddenly, a key resource for nature tourism. Crossing accusations. The CHG argues that the operation was planned and executed under the supervision of a “multidisciplinary team of biologists, ambientologists and highly qualified engineers”, As the newspaper has detailedand recognize only a “punctual mortality of Barbos.” He affirms that most native specimens were rescued during previous beings. On the other hand, Fondenex has described in the same medium the action of “ecological nonsense” and accuses the CHG of “manifest negligence” for emptying the reservoir in the middle of summer, without providing urgent uses of water, such as fire extinguishing, and without assessing the impact on protected birds in the Zepa Llanos de Zorita. The group has requested environmental reports and does not rule out file a complaint with the courts. In addition, the neighbors have denounced that “the only positive aspects that a reservoir” have been charged and question the use of “massive and non -selective” methods prohibited by the Nature Conservation Law. Forecasts Once the presence of Pseudorasbora Parvathe CHG plans to reintroduce native species with the collaboration of the Board of Extremadura and maintain barriers and controls in future unwins. However, environmental groups warn that the ecological and tourist recovery of the reservoir will take years, and that the invading fish is already present in sections of the wheels and the Guadiana where it had not arrived before. An open question. In Alcollarín, official versions and citizen perceptions diverge radically: for administration, it is a necessary technical operation; For many neighbors, of an “environmental catastrophe” that has multiplied the problem. Beyond the specific case, the episode raises a dilemma that transcends Extremadura: what environmental and social cost are we willing to assume to stop a biological invasion when total eradication is practically impossible? Image | Chgguadiana and B. Schoenmakers Xataka | Water restrictions return in the northwest. It is the logical conclusion of a trend that comes from afar

When the US began to investigate a nuclear waste tank he found an even worse nightmare: radioactive wasps

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If you are even the noses of the velutinasthe Backpacks and the Tigres mosquitoes and Japanesethink about this: there are people in South Carolina (USA) that what fears right now is the stalking of radioactive wasps. It sounds crazy, but it makes all the meaning of the world if one takes into account that there, near a plant in which in its day pieces for nuclear bombs were manufactured, They just found A loop with a radiation level ten times above what is allowed. The big question is … how is it possible? What happened? That a few days ago the US Department of Energy published A report which has generated Polvareda in the country’s media. And rightly. The document does not go demand and supply, renewable or prices, but of something much more picturesque: earlier than the month, on Thursday 3 to be precise, some operators located near Aikenin South Carolina, a wasps nest with a radiation level ten times higher to what federal regulations allow. The authorities insist In any case where there is no risk. Where did they find it? Near a radioactive waste tank Savannah River Sitea nuclear material processing center located in South Carolina, next to the Savannah River, and that rose to mid -last century to refine useful materials for weapons creation. The NBC chain states that in its day, at the beginning of the cold war, it was used to manufacture the plutonium nuclei necessary to mount nuclear pumps. Now the installation is dedicated to other works, such as fuel production for nuclear centrals and cleaning tasks, but some sources They point that has generated More than 625 million Of liters of nuclear waste, an amount more than considerable that, once processed, it stayed at around 129 million. 43 underground tanks remain in use. OTHER EIGHT ARE CLOSED. What did they do with the nest? They sprayed him with insecticide, they removed him and discarded him as a radioactive residue. Finally the team prepared A reporta document that took more than expected because its authors dedicated themselves to review Previous cases of fauna pollution to be sure of your criteria. The document concludes that “more actions on the land” are necessary. Is anything else known? Yes. To begin with that they only found the loop, No wasps. Aiken Standard Clarify In any case that if insects had been located, they would probably present quite lower pollution levels. The same newspaper indicates that, after detecting the nest, the radiological control operating staff (RCO) inspected the surroundings without identifying more pollution or threats to the workers. The area in which the nest appeared is inside the plant, where underground steel tanks and several meters deep are preserved. The CNN chain collect Savannah River Mission Completion statements that rule out that there is a risk that the wasps created by the loop can fly outside their facilities. The reason: the normal thing is that they do not move too far from their nests. How is it possible? That is the million dollar question. The report speaks of “inherited radioactive pollution” and “not related to a loss of control”. The event would therefore be explained by the residual radioactivity That remained when the center was fully operational, not for possible leaks. The text in any case does not seem to have satisfied the Savannah River Site Watch surveillance team, which considers that it is incomplete because it does not detail where pollution came from or how exactly came to insects. “I am furious because SRS did not explain where radioactive waste comes from or if there is any type of escape in the tanks that the public must know,” Recognize Tom Clementsgroup manager. One of the keys would be the type of nest, since not all wasps use the same materials to create their homes. Images | ILJA NEDILKO (UNSPLASH), Flo (Unspash) and Duncan Sánchez (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Madrid suffered a rocambolesco nuclear accident in 1970. So the authorities began to collect vegetables

After the earthquake of Russia, evacuations and alerts extend through the Pacific for fear of something much worse: waves

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With the still recent memory of what happened in March 2011, when a Powerful earthquake Registered in front of the Japanese coasts, it generated a tsunami and sowed the destruction, with thousands of victims and missing, in Japan and Russia they look at the ocean with tension. And they are not the only ones. The reason: Another powerful earthquakeof magnitude 8.8, has shaken the ground of the Kamchatka Kraiat the east end of Russia, and unleashed the fear for the waves it can generate in the Pacific. In just a few hours that has resulted in alert messages, evacuations and authorities asking the population to stay away from the coasts. What happened? That the ground has trembled in Russia. And with violence. In the last hours the US Geological Service registered an earthquake from Magnitude 8.8 at the east end of Russia. More specifically the tremor broke out At 23.25 h GMT (two more in peninsular Spain), with epicenter 126 kilometers southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskyin the Kamchatka Krai, in the north of the Pacific, and a depth of around 19.3 km. In some areas of the region they soon registered waves between three and four meters high. Has it been serious? Sergei Lebedev, the head of the emergency department in the region, He explained That the earthquake has left some injured, although for now, as confirmed to the Russian agency Tass, there seems to be none of gravity. It is not bad balance if the power of the earthquake is taken into account, of magnitude 8.8. The governor of Kamchatka has recognized that the earthquake was “serious” and “the strongest in decades”, which explains that the tremor causes the collapse of part of the facade of a nursery. “Before July 31, a list of buildings will be developed that will undergo instrumental inspection. The general evaluation of material damage will be ready in a week,” Point out The governor of the region, Vladimir Solodov. In its telegram channel, the Unified Geophysical Service of Russia has confirmed that it is the greatest earthquake since 1952 in Kamchatka (in November of that year there was another tremor of Magnitude 9 which generated important material damage and caused waves of several meters in Hawaii) and the sixth most intense globally since 1900. What reactions has generated? Fear. And caution. Since the earthquake was produced by authorities from different countries and regions bathed by the Pacific, from Russia to Chile or the United States, passing through Japan or the Philippines, have reacted with different degrees of alert, depending on the type of waves they expect. One of the most forceful responses has probably given Japan, where alert sirens have already been heard and seen to the Hokkaido coast residents Uploaded to roofs When the initial waves of the Tsunami, 30 centimeters arrived. The authorities have ordered the evacuation of the east coast of the country, punished in 2011, and required more than 900,000 people of 133 municipalities of the Pacific coast that leave their homes. Some sources They raise the population that has received evacuation orders or alerts to about two million. Have you done anything else? Yes. On the island of Hokkaido, an evacuation order of 5 out of 5the highest level, which affects about 10,500 citizens of the town of Urakawa, and the alert has spread to prefectures such as Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Mie or Miyagi, among others. In some regions waves of up to three meters are expected. With that backdrop, public transport has been altered at some points and the authorities They have evacuated to the workers of the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was already affected by the tsamot of 2011. And beyond Japan? Russia and Japan are not the only ones who have activated emergency measure. The United States Tsunamis Alert Center has warned of the risk of waves of more than three meters in the Hawaii archipelago and between one and three on the island of Guam. Before Panorama the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, has declared The state of emergency and ordered evacuations in areas of the coast, which has even derived in traffic jams. In the islands they have also enabled shelters in schools, hotels or community centers. It is not the only American territory that looks at the Pacific. The National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has also transferred the alert to some parts of Alaska and follows the situation on the east coast of the country, such as California. “Keep strong already except!” I exhort Donald Trump. Are there more countries on alert? Yes. In Chile President Gabriel Boric He has recognized That, “for now, we have Tsunami alert for the entire coast” on Wednesday. “The protocol is to evacuate three hours before the estimation of arrival of the wave,” he said. In China the tsunamis alert center He has warned also of the possibility of receiving waves of between 30 and 40 cm in Zhejiang and Shanghai and Peru has activated Also alert in his coast. Ecuador has even gone further to order the eviction of the Galapagos Islands, “which implies the suspension of maritime activities and eviction of beaches, docks and low areas.” The list adds and continues with organisms from different nations that ask for caution in different points of the Pacific. In Mexico the Semar has issued an alert For the country’s coast bathed by that ocean after the Kamchatka earthquake and has asked its population to remain away from the beaches and warn of strong currents. Images | USGS, NOAA and X In Xataka | Tsunami’s alert is leading people to get on the roofs of Japan. It is a good idea, but only at the beginning

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