Author: Pedro Domínguez

The space, last frontier. If you have ever wanted to see our galaxy with the highest definition possible, you are in luck. A new state-of-the-art camera installed in Chile has created a spectacular image of the Milky Way, thus revealing more than three billion celestial objects.

Weighing in at (attention) 10 terabytes, the gigantic image covers a space equivalent to 13,000 times the surface of the Moon, showing a myriad of elements, such as nebulae, stars and dark clouds of dust and gas. It was created by blending a total of 21,400 individual photographs.

A feat of spatial mapping

The image, which can be seen online through this link (with lower resolution), was captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) of the Víctor M Telescope. Target (4 meters high) at the NOIRLab of the National Science Foundation (NSF), located at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (Chile).

“This is quite a technical feat. Imagine a group photo of over three billion people and each individual being recognizable”said Debra Fischer, director of the NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences. Astronomers will study this detailed portrait of more than three billion stars in the Milky Way for decades”.

This achievement has been achieved by observing at near-infrared wavelengths, which allows astronomers to see the smallest or most distant stars, as well as being able to see through the countless dust clouds in outer space.

“We simply targeted a region with an extraordinarily high density of stars and were careful to identify sources that appear almost on top of each other”, explains Andrew Saydjari, a researcher at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian and lead author of the article published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement.

In addition, the image obtained is being combined with other telescopes dedicated to mapping space, such as PanSTARRS 1, to obtain a 360º panoramic view of the Milky Way disk. “With this new survey we can map the three-dimensional structure of the stars and dust of the Milky Way in unprecedented detail”, says Edward Schlafly, a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute and co-author of the paper.

TikTok is today a technological giant like few others. The social network rose like foam in the midst of one of the worst moments of our lives: the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to a type of content (short videos) that accompanied thousands and thousands of young people around the world while they were confined to their homes. Little by little, his influence reaches people of all ages, and his parent company, ByteDance, is valued at approximately 310.000 million euros.

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Currently, TikTok has already exceeded 1.6 billion active users worldwide, and ByteDance employs more than 110,000 workers (most of them in China). A successful company founded by programmer Zhang Yiming, who only a few months ago stepped down as CEO after facing a strong regulatory wave from different countries.

The programmer who succeeded in less than 10 years

At just 39 years old, Zhang Yiming is currently one of the richest men in all of China, but that wasn’t always the case. In his youth, Yiming studied Microelectronics at Nankai University and then switched to Computer Science. After finishing, he ended up going through several companies until he ended up in the arms of the giant Microsoft in 2008. A not very pleasant experience for him, who felt suffocated in the company and would end up leaving soon after.

Just a year later, in 2009, he founded his first company, 99fang.com, after taking over the real estate search business of Kuxun, a travel website that was to be acquired by Expedia. Over the years, Yiming became aware of the growing number of smartphone users and eventually resigned from the company in order to found ByteDance, which was launched in 2012.

The success of ByteDance and Yiming did not come with TikTok, as it may seem, but rather it is due to Toutiao, a news aggregator with an algorithm that personalizes the content and experience for each user. Little by little, it became the company’s main product, but its position ended up being taken by what would be the predecessor of TikTok: Douyin.

The Chinese app, which was born in 2016 under the name of A.me, it would end up being the prelude to the international leap of TikTok in 2017, which was initially proposed by Yiming as a completely independent (and different) app from Douyin. As of today, both apps are completely identical, with the only difference that Douyin, which can only be used in China, is restricted and limited by the Chinese government.

2018 would end up being the year in which Yiming began to savor success thanks to TikTok. The app’s short videos would end up going viral thanks to the spread of movie stars, singers and other personalities. This, added to the fusion with musical.ly, led the app to be the download leader that same year, and its success would end up reaching its peak during 2020, the year of the pandemic.

“China spies on us through TikTok”

The popularity of TikTok did not go unnoticed by the United States Government led by Donald Trump. In his confrontation with the Chinese government, the president signed an executive order in mid-2020 that required the immediate sale of TikTok to an American company or its total ban in the country if the transaction was not carried out within the given period.

Trump’s argument was that TikTok posed a threat to U.S. national security because the Chinese government could use the app to steal the personal data of the approximately 100 million U.S. users registered with it. The executive order also cited the risk that TikTok could censor content deemed politically sensitive by the Chinese government and could spread disinformation.

The now former president gave the go-ahead for the sale of the application to the companies Walmart and Oracle, but the sale process would end up being archived months later, after Trump’s defeat in the US elections in November 2020. Years after the arrival of Joe Biden to the US Government, the use of the app is prohibited on mobile devices of official government positions, for reasons similar to those used at the time by Trump.

The Government of India would also end up exercising regulatory measures on TikTok at a time of great tension with China. Both the short video application and several dozen apps of Chinese origin would end up being completely banned in the country, where they housed some 200 million users, for being considered propaganda and espionage tools.

Both Yiming and other big Chinese businessmen have claimed that TikTok data has always been kept out of China and the influence of the Chinese government. A government that would end up exerting great regulatory pressure on ByteDance and other large Chinese Internet companies.

In this context, Yiming decided to step down as CEO at the end of 2022, being replaced by another ByteDance co-founder: Liang Rubo. The company, even without its founder, is currently facing an investigation by the European Commission to determine the treatment of private data of TikTok users and its possible transfer to China.

If we recently talked about how Twitter looks like a television series, the “season” of 2023 would be raising great expectations among the audience for a very specific reason: Elon Musk will retire (or at least he promised). With 575% in favor of “Yeah”, the survey that Musk himself did to decide whether or not he should remove himself from office sentenced his fate on the social network.

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For this reason, the current sole owner and administrator of Twitter will have to find a new CEO who, according to his own words,” is “dumb enough to take the job”. Silly or not, it is clear that the new CEO will have to take charge of a social network where the spread of hate and misinformation is the order of the day, and that, according to Musk, “loses 4 million dollars a day”. Who will be the person who will replace him? These are some of the possible options.

Kevin Systrom

We start with a heavyweight of social networks. Kevin Systrom is the co-founder and former CEO of Instagram, a position he held until 2018, when he had some friction with the lord and master of the current Meta, Mark Zuckerberg. When we talk about Systrom, we are talking about a man who created and managed one of the most successful social networks in the world until selling it to Facebook for no more and no less than 1 billion dollars.

While it is true that he is currently rich enough to bury us all, and that most likely, in the case of receiving Musk’s invitation, he would reject it because he doesn’t need (or want) to get into such a mess, a profile like his would be ideal to give Twitter back the lustrum it has lost.

Sheryl Sandberg

The former chief operating officer of Meta (when it was still called Facebook) is another strong option for Musk. Sandberg has a long and successful professional career, in which she has been vice president of online sales and operations at Google, as well as a member of the board of directors of Disney. In addition, he has a great reputation with advertisers and many contacts of interest to Musk.

From what is known of her current life, she would most likely not be willing to accept the offer, as she is very happy with her family, and her moral compass seems to be facing just the opposite side than Musk’s, as she manages a foundation, called Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, which carries out various philanthropic projects.

Vanessa Pappas

If we talk about the success of TikTok in the West, we must talk about Vanessa Pappas. The current COO of the short video company would be another great option for Musk if he wanted to boost his monetization systems. I mean, we’re talking about the woman who launched YouTube’s first content creator program.

Her profile may not be as advertiser-oriented, which could rule her out if this were Musk’s main focus in managing Twitter, but her vast experience engaging with content creators could give Twitter the lifeblood it needs to change its revenue streams.

Emmett Shear

If we have mentioned TikTok and YouTube, we could not miss the name of another of the great social streaming platforms. Emmet Shear is the co-founder and current CEO of Twitch, a company he sold in 2014 to the almighty Amazon for 735 million euros. Yes, almost nothing.

Despite his inexperience in managing publicly traded companies (Musk intends to take Twitter public in a few years), he would be the ideal profile to turn the social network of tweets into an interesting platform for video content creators.

Donald Trump

No, this option is not (entirely) a joke. Elon Musk has already dropped his sympathy for Donald Trump on more than one occasion, whose Twitter account he restored a few months ago after conducting a public survey. With Trump, we are talking about a successful businessman who has written a bestseller, starred in TV shows for years and, to top it off, has become the president of the United States.

Yes, maybe age is a “complex” issue and maybe Musk wouldn’t be interested in someone that old, but knowing how much love Trump has always had for Twitter, and how ironic it would be if the person behind one of the social network’s most famous suspended accounts became its CEO, maybe the idea wouldn’t be so far-fetched.

Spanish audiovisual productions are at their best, and the latest example is Sky Rojo, an original Netflix series that features a cast of actors and actresses such as Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Verónica Sánchez, Lali Espósito and Yany Prado.

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The Spanish production, which tells the stories of three prostitutes running away from their pimp, ended its third and final season a few days ago, presenting a completely surprising new character. The story could be quite common at this point if it weren’t for one small detail: it is played by the popular singer Rauw Alejandro.

From stages to the filming sets

Without going into many details of the series (although we already warned that there will be some spoilers), the Puerto Rican artist plays Diego, a luxury car mechanic who helps Wendy (played by Lali Espósito) in her escape with her girlfriend. The singer’s character is fleeting, and his relevance in the series is almost nil (as if he were a last-minute addition), but he has caught the attention of many people who were unaware of the existence of this series.

Rauw Alejandro’s passage through the audiovisual world is not exactly unheard of. Just a few months ago, we were able to see the debut of his “compadre” Bad Bunny in Hollywood, by the hand of Brad Pitt himself. In Bullet Train, the “Conejo Malo” of Latin music ironically played a character named Lobo, a former drug cartel boss who works as a hitman who is pitted in the film against Mariquita, the character played by Pitt.

And, if we stop to think about it, the passage of world-class singers in films and series should not be something strange to you by now. The artist Lady Gaga has participated in more than twenty films, with such outstanding cases as Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born and Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci.

Other artists who also wanted to try their acting skills on the big screen have been Cher (Silkwood), Eminem (8 Miles), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Whitney Houston (The Bodyguard) or Madonna (Desperately Seeking Susan), although the list it is very extensive. Who do you think will be the next singer to try his luck on the big screen?

When looking for a speaker for your home with which to play music and listen to your podcasts with all the peace of mind in the world, you may have seen dozens of options on the Internet. There are the most classic ones, which are limited to fulfilling the functions you expect in a speaker, and newer ones, which allow you to control different functions in your home via Wi-Fi (which you will have to configure beforehand).

Along these lines, Apple’s HomePods enjoyed great prestige for their benefits (and for the brand, it must be said). and we say “enjoyed” because Apple, two years ago, stopped making them. Now, the apple company will launch the second generation of these speakers for the home, although the first tests indicate that their benefits are “strangely familiar”.

A relaunch with some (few) improvements?

Different media, such as The Verge, have had the opportunity to test the new Apple HomePod, detailing each aspect. In the most superficial aspect, its design, we find a device that is practically identical to its first version, although with certain differences, such as a top surface where Siri can perform different animations and a power cable that can be easily disassembled.

As for its internal components, Apple has reduced the tweeters from seven to five in this second version. A “nerf” that joins that of its set of microphones, which goes from six to four in this new speaker model, and that of its own Wi-Fi connection (surely to reduce costs). Its “high-oscillation woofer” now measures almost 10 centimeters, and we move from “computational audio” (original model) to “advanced computational audio“.

Lastly, their sound doesn’t seem to have changed much from one generation to the next. Although we are talking about a rich, multidirectional, enveloping, automated sound, and that emphasizes clarity and the level of detail, those who have tried it did not appreciate the differences with the HomePod that they were able to test years ago. An even more obvious similarity if we take into account that the company has not mentioned any sound improvement in its promotional material.

While it is (very) similar, this “relaunch” of the speaker drops in price compared to its previous model, going from $350 to $300 (still not for everyone’s pocket, as you will see), and also adds some smart home features, such as a temperature and humidity measurement function, and an alarm detection system. In all other respects, however, it is virtually identical to the first version.

Cybersecurity is an issue that has gained great relevance over the years. More and more criminals are taking advantage of vulnerabilities in computer systems to carry out all kinds of “pranks”such as stealing confidential data, impersonating people and hijacking the files saved on the PC, among other things.

This is a concern for more and more companies, which are choosing to rely on the services of external companies that offer cybersecurity services to keep their IT systems safe. In order to help these companies grow in the sector, Google for Startups has launched Growth Academy: Cybersecurity, a program that will start in April.

It will take place in Málaga and other European cities

The Google program, which is open to any European startup, will provide selected companies with a series of cybersecurity tools, as well as advice from Google professionals and external industry experts. Executives from leading companies in the cybersecurity sector, such as VirusTotal and Mandiant, will be present in the program.

It will take place over three months and in different cities in Europe, including Málaga, which will be the headquarters of the new Google Security Engineering Center for joint research on advanced threats, which will be inaugurated later this year.

In addition to the requirement of being based in Europe, companies that want to participate must be in their initial phase or be start-ups that already have a validated product or service in the market. In addition, they must be companies dedicated to cybersecurity that are able to demonstrate that they currently generate revenue or acquire users.

A program of great interest for all those companies that want to make the leap internationally, and that will allow them to meet and connect with other startups in order to grow their network, learn from others and contribute to a community that does not stop growing.

The deadline to register for the program is now open and you can fill out the form through this link . You will be able to submit your application until February 12, and the selected companies will be announced in April.

Haven’t you gone to see Avatar 2 at the cinema yet? Avatar: The Sense of Water is the sequel to Avatar, the highest-grossing film in history, which regained its position a few months ago after its theatrical re-release (sorry, Avengers: Endgame, it was nice while it lasted). The second part of the saga has not replicated the result obtained by its predecessor, but it follows it closely.

According to Deadline, the new James Cameron film would be about (if it hasn’t already) to become the sixth highest-grossing film in history. This Monday, the film had collected 1.916,2  million dollars worldwide, which would place it very close to the last superhero movie starring a kid with spider powers.

It’s been a pleasure, Peter Parker

1.921 billion dollars. This is the figure that Avatar: The Sense of Water will have to surpass to snatch the position from Spider-Man: No Way Home, the latest Spider-Man film resulting from the collaboration between Sony, owner of its audiovisual rights, and Marvel (ex-owner of its audiovisual rights).

According to Deadline’s forecast, The Sense of Water should have already surpassed the spider-sense of our friend and neighbor Spider-Man, or is about to do so. This Monday alone, James Cameron’s film grossed $9.5 million outside the United States, making it already the fifth highest-grossing film in history beyond the borders of the American country.

For the moment, and until further notice, the Avatar sequel enjoys a more than decent seventh place, which only very few films in history can reach. A success that is largely due to its good reception in China, where it already exceeds 200 million dollars and is, to date, its main market.

However, its good box office sales could pose a slight problem for those who want to enjoy the film from the comfort of their homes. So far, Disney has not announced a release date on its platform, Disney+, and it would be expected that the company would extend the film’s box office time in order to get the maximum benefit, delaying its release on the streaming platform beyond the normal deadline, which is usually 45 days after theatrical release.

This January 16 was a day that all Italians will remember for the rest of their lives. The reason? The arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro, the last boss of Cosa Nostra, the notorious Sicilian Mafia organization. Under the pseudonym Andrea Bonafade, one of the many he used, the boss tried to slip away from the Italian authorities, who finally caught him in a private clinic.

There are many revelations that have come out as a result of his arrest, and which have been echoed by media such as The Guardian. The researchers came to discover and reconstruct dozens of pieces of paper that the bloody gangster sent both to his subordinates and to his lover, Maria Mesi. And, among all the discoveries, there is one that perhaps no one expected: he was passionate about playing video games.

The boss who wanted to play Donkey Kong Country 3

The communication between Messina Denaro and her lover was facilitated by Filippo Guttadauro, the brother-in-law of the boss who was the liaison between him and his loved ones. And it was precisely in his house where they found all the correspondence of Maria Mesi.

“I have to go and I can’t explain now the reasons for this choice. Right now things are against me. I fight for a cause that today is not understood. But one day it will be known who was on the side of reason”, wrote the head of the Cosa Nostra to Maria, who signed the letters with his own name or variants of it.

The love she felt was such that she wanted to give the boss a proper gift. And what better gift than a good Super Nintendo video game? “I love you and I will love you all my life. […] I want so much to give you a present. You know, I read that the Donkey Kong [Country] 3 cartridge is out and I can’t wait for it to be released so I can buy it for you.”

Despite the many hours the mob boss would end up spending on Rare‘s popular video game while hiding from Justice, he may not have managed to play one of the most prominent JRPGs on the Super Nintendo. “The one from Secret of Mana 2 (Trials of Mana), has not arrived yet…”, wrote Maria, in a tone that conveys her regret for not being able to satisfy her lover.

At the moment, they are the only two video games that are mentioned in the papers discovered by the investigators, although we would not rule out that the kingpin would end up putting his hands on other successful Super Nintendo games, such as Super Castlevania IV, Chrono Trigger or Earthbound, even.

Avatar 2 (or Avatar: The Sense of Water) has been one of the most famous premieres on the billboard. The sequel to the highest-grossing film in history is part of a saga of films that the director, James Cameron, already announced years ago (although with several changes in the expected release dates), and which are already being filmed.

While we still don’t know if or when Avatar 2 will premiere on Disney+, in a recent statement to Deadline, the Titanic director has commented on what we could expect from the next part of the saga, Avatar 3, highlighting the importance that the element of fire will play in the sequel, as well as the introduction of two new cultures.

Everything that is known about Avatar 3

James Cameron wanted to highlight the relevance that fire will have in Avatar 3. “Fire has a symbolic purpose in the film and there is a culture that specifically revolves around that concept. That’s probably saying too much as we speak”. The director assures that, in addition, we will get to know another culture, about which nothing is known yet.

This new information joins what we already knew previously. The movie will be released in theaters around the world on December 20, 2024 (you have almost two years to watch Avatar 2). The release dates of Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are also known, which would be December 18, 2026 and December 22, 2028, respectively (although they can always vary).

Regarding the confirmed casting, we meet again with Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Cliff Curtis, Bailey Bass, CCH Pounder, Matt Gerald, Jack Champion and Edie Falco, with the possibility (very likely) that Kate Winslet will return in her role as Ronal.

We will also see new characters, such as Dr Karina Mogue, who will be played by Michelle Yeoh, the protagonist of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Oona Chaplin, who brought us an amazing Talisa Maegyr in Game of Thrones, will play a new Na’vi named Varang. Finally, David Thewlis, who gave life to Professor Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter saga, will characterize Peylak, a Na’vi we don’t know yet but who will have a leading role in the next three films.

What else do you think the new installment of James Cameron will bring us? Will Avatar 3 integrate a new technology? Will it include a nod to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the next video game in the saga whose story will be canon?