PPCC-Pisitófilos Creditófagos-Verano 2022

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://elpais.com/clima-y-medio-ambiente/2022-08-16/mikael-colville-andersen-madrid-es-un-agujero-negro-para-el-ciclismo-en-europa-no-ha-cambiado-nada-en-15-anos.html

Saludos.

[sudden and sharp]

https://elpais.com/clima-y-medio-ambiente/2022-08-16/mikael-colville-andersen-madrid-es-un-agujero-negro-para-el-ciclismo-en-europa-no-ha-cambiado-nada-en-15-anos.html

Saludos.

Que plaga lo de los ciclistas... urbanos. (En Madrid no lo van a vender afortunadamente.)

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://twitter.com/JJ_GAC/status/1559908541531652098

Saludos.

[sudden and sharp]

https://twitter.com/JJ_GAC/status/1559908541531652098

Saludos.

Hazte la pregunta: ¿Cui prodest?




"¿Quién fabrica quemadores de gas u otros disposiivos relacionados?" también vale.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://elpais.com/economia/2022-08-20/europa-acelera-el-llenado-de-sus-reservas-de-gas-con-el-precio-en-maximos-historicos.html

https://elpais.com/economia/2022-08-19/bruselas-permite-a-berlin-dar-a-sus-empresas-27500-millones-en-ayudas-para-la-transicion-energetica.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://twitter.com/amturiel/status/1560927830581690368

https://www.elcorreo.com/bizkaia/ganaderos-bizkaia-sacrifican-20220819220953-nt.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://twitter.com/sninobecerra/status/1561005741787553798

https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2022-08-19/pablo-gamez-investigador-el-peso-de-la-basura-tecnologica-actual-supera-al-de-la-gran-muralla-china.html

https://elpais.com/clima-y-medio-ambiente/2022-08-20/moda-circular-como-evitar-que-la-ropa-acabe-en-el-basurero.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

Autónomos y empleados públicos se agolpan a las puertas de la jubilación

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2022/08/18/companias/1660843408_900743.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://twitter.com/sninobecerra/status/1560903361276289026

El motivo por el que Amazon ha comprado las aspiradoras Roomba: información de oro sobre los hogares
El acuerdo al que ha llegado la compañía para hacerse con iRobot le aportará algo inédito para las tecnológicas: un conocimiento físico sobre qué pasa en el interior de las casas

Manuel G. Pascual | 18 ago 2022

Una aspiradora Roomba recoge golosinas. | iRobot

Para quien no las haya visto en acción, las aspiradoras Roomba son unos robots con forma de disco que se pasean por la casa recogiendo suciedad y atemorizando gatos. Es el producto más exitoso de iRobot, una empresa que fue contratista del Pentágono gracias a sus robots de desactivación de minas antipersonales o de la NASA con sus ingenios de exploración espacial. Amazon anunció hace dos semanas un acuerdo mediante el cual se hace con iRobot, la empresa que los fabrica, a cambio de 1.700 millones de dólares. ¿Qué busca el gigante tecnológico con esta adquisición?

Estas palabras de Colin Angle, CEO de iRobot, en una entrevista con EL PAÍS en 2018 dan con la clave. “Cuando yo le digo a Alexa: ‘Ve a la cocina y tráeme una cerveza’, Alexa lo entiende, pero no sabe lo que es una cocina. Alexa necesita saber qué es una cocina, qué es un dormitorio. Esta organización de la información espacial es lo que falta para convertir los hogares en inteligentes”.

Las Roomba aspiran polvo, pero también datos. Cuentan con sensores ópticos, infrarrojos y de presión, entre otros, que les permiten sortear obstáculos y limpiar las estancias seleccionadas. El último modelo, la j7, tiene una cámara frontal que saca fotos de lo que se encuentra a su paso y que, con la ayuda de algoritmos de inteligencia artificial, ha catalogado ya más de 43 millones de objetos. No improvisan sus movimientos: se desplazan por detallados mapas que trazan sobre la vivienda y que actualizan con cada expedición que hacen.

Esa información es oro. Puede que Facebook sepa qué votas y Google te conozca mejor que tu novia, pero se trata siempre de inferencias a partir de la actividad digital. Las grandes tecnológicas no habían tenido hasta ahora acceso al entorno puramente físico de la vida privada de sus clientes. Cartografiar los hogares y ver qué hay en ellos abre un nuevo horizonte de posibilidades. Aporta ese contexto espacial al que se refería Angle. Y mucho más.

Roomba puede estimar tu nivel de renta (sabe el tamaño de tu vivienda y en qué barrio se ubica), cuántos hijos tienes y de qué edades (por el tipo de obstáculos que se encuentra), cuánto tiempo pasas en casa, si teletrabajas o no, si ves la tele, dónde tienes el sofá y si lo has cambiado recientemente, si te gusta cocinar, si tienes mascotas, si eres ordenado o no y hasta tus hábitos de sueño. Todo a partir de la topografía de la casa y de los objetos con los que tropieza, no de suposiciones más o menos elaboradas a partir de tus likes o historial de búsquedas. Esta información supone un filón para una empresa, Amazon, que entre otras cosas se dedica a vender todo tipo de productos.

Imagen promocional de Astro, el robot de Amazon que se desplaza por la casa y te puede ver y escuchar.

La adquisición de Amazon cobra más sentido todavía si se superpone a otros productos de la compañía. Roomba aporta mapas detallados de la vivienda. Los asistentes de voz Echo, donde habita Alexa, son su micrófono en la casa (siempre están escuchando, a la espera de detectar las palabras de activación). Los porteros automáticos Ring vigilan quién entra y sale del hogar; las cámaras de seguridad Blink, son sus ojos de puertas adentro. Los robots Astro, una especie de Alexa con ruedas, cámara y pantalla, no han conseguido por el momento convertirse en un producto cotidiano, como lo es ya Roomba, pero si lo logran aportarán un plus de omnisciencia de la compañía en los hogares.

Amazon tiene una visión integral de lo que sucede en el hogar, el núcleo de la intimidad de la sociedad capitalista. ¿La información que coseche Roomba podrá ser cruzada con la que ya tenía Amazon sobre nuestros gustos? Todavía no se ha consumado la adquisición y es pronto para hablar sobre integración de datos. Eso dicen a EL PAÍS fuentes de la compañía fundada por Jeff Bezos, que en cualquier caso subrayan que “proteger los datos de los clientes siempre ha sido una prioridad”. Cuando Facebook compró WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg dijo que jamás integraría los datos de la red social con los del servicio de mensajería. Su promesa tardó solo dos años en romperse.

¿Hay motivos para temer las implicaciones que tendrá en la privacidad la entrada de Roomba en el grupo? En 2017 corrió el rumor de que iRobot se proponía vender los planos de las casas a compañías como Amazon, Apple o Google. La empresa lo negó. Los videoporteros Ring colaboraron con varios departamentos de policía de EE UU siendo ya propiedad de Amazon, según probaron varias investigaciones periodísticas, si bien los portavoces de la compañía aseguran que esas prácticas acabaron para siempre.

El tiempo dirá. Aunque la operación debe pasar todavía el filtro del regulador estadounidense, la FTC. El órgano está presidido por Lina Khan, una académica beligerante con las grandes tecnológicas. La jurista se hizo un nombre en la academia con un artículo en el que argumentaba cómo aplicar las viejas leyes antimonopolio de forma efectiva a las escurridizas Big Tech. Su caso de estudio era precisamente Amazon.

Saludos.

[Asdrúbal el Bello]

En China con lo del SAREB no se cortan ni un pelo.

https://twitter.com/Copernicus2013/status/1560770919320141826

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/c23d11f4-5aca-463f-9102-44269b289b1f

German central bank chief Joachim Nagel warns inflation to hit 70-year high

Bundesbank president says surge in energy prices caused by Russia’s gas squeeze likely to drive inflation above 10%

Germany’s central bank chief has warned that interest rates need to keep rising despite the risk of recession as inflation reaches double-digit levels for the first time since 1951.

Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel told the Rheinische Post that the recent surge in energy prices caused by Russia’s squeeze on gas supplies was likely to drive German inflation above 10 per cent this autumn and keep it elevated next year.

“The issue of inflation will not go away in 2023,” said Nagel. “Supply bottlenecks and geopolitical tensions are likely to continue. Meanwhile, Russia has drastically reduced its gas supplies, and natural gas and electricity prices have risen more than expected.”

He added that “the probability is growing that inflation will be higher than previously forecast and that we will have an average of six before the decimal point next year”, pointing out that this would exceed the 2023 inflation forecast of 4.5 per cent made by the Bundesbank in June.

Economists have slashed their estimates for growth in Germany and the eurozone this year, while raising their inflation forecasts and warning that an end to Russian energy supplies would force Berlin to ration gas for heavy industrial users.

Moscow stepped up the pressure on energy prices on Friday by announcing it would shut the Nord Stream 1 pipeline — the main conduit for gas to Europe — for three days to do repairs at the end of the month, having already cut supplies to 20 per cent of capacity.

German electricity prices have hit a new record, seven times higher than a year ago — driven by the sharply higher cost of gas, which has risen 10-fold in the past year.

Prices charged by German industrial producers rose 37.2 per cent in the year to July, which the Federal Statistical Agency said was the highest increase ever. On a monthly basis, the producer price index rose by a record 5.3 per cent, mainly due to energy costs.

A heatwave and dry spell has reduced water levels on the Rhine below the level at which barges can be loaded fully, restricting supplies for factories, which economists are warning will also erode German growth this year.

“If further delivery problems are added, for example due to prolonged low water [levels], the economic prospects for the second half of the year would deteriorate further,” Nagel said. “As the energy crisis deepens, a recession appears likely next winter.”

He said the European Central Bank, where he is one of 25 members on its rate-setting governing council, would need to keep raising interest rates at its meeting on September 8. He did not say whether it would repeat the half percentage point rise of last month that lifted its deposit rate to zero.

“With the high inflation rates, further interest rate hikes must follow,” he said. “This is also generally expected. But I don’t want to put a number in the shop window.”

However, he said there were few signs of a 1970s wage-price spiral, adding that trade unions had “acted very responsibly over the past 25 years — they will do the same this time, I’m confident of that.”

The German economy stagnated in the second quarter, the weakest performance of the major eurozone countries. Last month, the IMF slashed its forecast for German growth next year by 1.9 percentage points to 0.8 per cent, the biggest downgrade of any country.

The German government announced plans on Thursday to cut value added tax on gas sales from 19 per cent to 7 per cent from October to soften the blow of higher prices for households. But large industrial users of gas, such as chemical companies, complained this would not help them with soaring energy bills.

German inflation last month rose close to a 40-year high of 8.5 per cent.

Several of the earlier measures launched by Berlin in June to tackle the country’s energy crisis — such as a cut in fuel duty and a subsidised €9 monthly train ticket — are due to expire next month, which will increase the burden for households and businesses.

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/2afc16bd-f0fd-40eb-bdf2-70072b54c862

Investors warn of ‘disconnect’ as markets price in early Fed rate cut

Some traders fear markets underestimate US central bank’s determination to stamp out inflation

Some investors are warning of a mismatch between market expectations and the Federal Reserve’s stated commitment to stamping out inflation as traders stand by their wagers on interest rate cuts next year.

Traders in the futures market are betting the central bank’s main interest rate will be cut to 3.3 per cent by the end of next year after peaking at 3.7 per cent in March 2023. That implies the Fed will have to cut rates by the second half of next year.

However, some investors argue that the market is misjudging the Fed, which has repeatedly said it is intent on tackling inflation even if tighter monetary policy results in higher unemployment and slower economic growth.

“It is, to me, a glaring market mispricing,” said Rebecca Patterson, head of investment strategy at Bridgewater Associates. “Market participants are conditioned from previous cycles to expect the Fed to pivot” to a more dovish stance, she added.

The most recent summary of the Fed’s economic projections, known as the “dot plot”, showed most officials expect the federal funds rate to reach 3.8 per cent by the end of 2023, before easing to 3.4 per cent in 2024. That forecast from June implies there will not be a rate cut next year. A new dot plot will be published next month.

Doubts over the Fed’s commitment to bringing down inflation have percolated for months, as investors have wavered in their conviction the central bank will press ahead in the face of a slowdown.

But the Fed and its officials have stressed they are determined to address the highest inflation in almost four decades. Mary Daly of the San Francisco branch this week said she was sceptical the central bank would cut rates next year.

“The worst thing you can have as a business or a consumer is to have rates go up and then come rapidly down,” she said in an interview with CNN. “It just causes a lot of caution and uncertainty.”

She said it would be wrong to think of a “large, hump-shaped rate path, where we’ll ratchet up really rapidly this year and then cut aggressively next year”.

Also this week, St Louis Fed president James Bullard said he supported a third consecutive 0.75 percentage point rate rise at the central bank’s next policy meeting in September.

Despite such protestations, equity investors are sceptical the Fed will follow through with sharp interest rate rises.

When the Fed embarked on an aggressive tightening cycle in March, US stocks fell into bear market territory as investors bet that higher borrowing costs would hurt companies and consumers.

But the blue-chip S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite have since June recovered nearly half of their losses this year.

“There’s this disconnect between the market and the Fed, and there’s this idea that the Fed is going to have to relent in its tightening programme to allow for weaker employment and slowing growth,” said Gregory Whiteley, a portfolio manager at DoubleLine. “That idea is really strongly embedded in markets.”

The recovery in stocks has eased financial conditions, making it easier for companies to borrow and hampering the Fed’s efforts to cool down the economy.

A Goldman Sachs index shows that US financial conditions have eased significantly since peaking in mid-June after the Fed’s first 0.75 percentage point rate increase.

[Benzino Napaloni]

https://elpais.com/clima-y-medio-ambiente/2022-08-20/moda-circular-como-evitar-que-la-ropa-acabe-en-el-basurero.html

Saludos.

Moda circular. Lo que siempre se había llamado cuidar lo que se tenía y aprovecharlo hasta caerse a cachos.

Próximamente en sus pantallas, los envases reutilizables y devolver la botella de cristal es lo más.

[Derby]

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/brexit-exodus-eu-workers-uk-cost-of-leaving-crisis-1804471

The Brexit exodus of EU workers has left the UK with a ‘cost of leaving’ crisis

(...) Oxford University’s Migration Laboratory put out a report this week which stressed all of these complexities. It found that while Brexit had “been exacerbated by the end of free movement” from the EU, most shortages in low-paid work were driven fundamentally by factors such as years of underfunding of social care or lorry drivers’ pay and conditions worsening.

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/reports/how-is-the-end-of-free-movement-affecting-the-low-wage-labour-force-in-the-uk/