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Comment AI data centers in power-cheap locations (Score 1) 95

This is why I've always contended the majority of AI data centers will be located in countries where power is cheap and plentiful. China has a good number of them because they're probably located near one of the many coal-fired powerplants built in the last 35 years.

As such, I expect both Iceland and Norway to be major locations for AI data centers. Iceland because of its vast available geothermal power and Norway because of its vast available hydropower.

Comment Re:Unlikely to get lead back in gasoline (Score 1) 61

Except aviation gasoline still uses tetraethyl lead so gasoline-fueled aviation engines can run at much higher compression than automobile engines. Getting rid of tetraethyl lead in aviation gasoline has been a very contentious issue in recent years because many engines on General Aviation airplanes may not be able to properly run even with 99 RON unleaded gasoline.

Comment Unlikely to get lead back in gasoline (Score 3, Informative) 61

Look, tetraethyl lead was a "cheap" way to get gasoline-fueled engines to run higher compression without pre-detonation (knocking) damaging the engine. The development of electronic fuel injection in the 1970's and 1980's pretty much eliminated the knocking problem by electronically adjusting the timing of spark plug ignition via knock sensors and a small computer, which meant modern gasoline-fueled engines for street-legal vehicles rarely suffer from this issue. Besides, modern refining technology makes it possible for gasoline RON octane ratings as high as 99 (circa 95 pump octane) in unleaded fuel, pretty much eliminating the need for tetraethyl lead.

Comment Re:Internet killed the video star? (Score 3, Insightful) 51

Correct. What may have been the final nail in the coffin on MTV showing music videos happened in 2012, when PSY's "Gangnam Style" was posted on YouTube and within a few months, it became a gigantic worldwide sensation without needing MTV. That very success using YouTube drove record companies to start posting home videos instead of waiting for MTV. Indeed, you wonder would Beyoncé would have done the "visual album" version of her acclaimed album _Lemonade_ if it weren't for it being able to be posted on YouTube.

Comment The "performative reading" issue (Score 1) 124

Is it people think reading is a vice due to the unfortunate "performative reading" issue, which is described by Google Gemini AI (of all things!) as:

"The act of reading, especially complex or "literary" books in public or online, primarily to project an image of being intellectual, cultured, or deep, rather than for the genuine enjoyment or absorption of the text."

I really wonder why people say if they see someone in public reading a real book on Kindle reader or the Kindle app on their cell phone or small tablet computer? They can't tell if you're reading a "literary" work like _The Lord of the Rings_ trilogy or even much shorter novel.

Comment Not possible until now? (Score 1) 83

I think a reason why AMPAS could do this is because in most of the developed world, over 100 megabits/second download speeds are now easily available over cable TV lines (DOCSIS 3.1 and later), fiber optic line to the home, and now Starlink satellites. As such, everyone can enjoy watching the Oscar ceremonies with at least 720p/1080i resolution with no stuttering nowadays.. Besides, YouTube is ubiquitous almost everywhere, and given Google's server resources, can easily handle all the traffic.

Comment Re:Good (Score 1) 117

Most of those coal-fired power plants are so old that it's cheaper to dismantle them than upgrade them to meet current EPA emissions standards. The likely exception are power plants that use cleaner-burning Powder River Basin coal, and most of those are in central states in the country (Texas is a major consumer of this coal).

With modern fracking technology, most powerplants are now burning compressed natural gas instead of coal, natural gas from multiple sites all over the USA.

Comment Datacenters are for specific regions (Score 1) 43

The problem is that due to the power needs and the need to cool all that computing equipment, there is actually not that many places where putting in a large AI datacenter is viable.

I can only think of two places: Iceland with its plentiful untapped geothermal power and Norway with its plentiful hydropower and water supply. Indeed, several companies have already started to build large data centers in these two countries.

Comment Didn't the Finns do a similar trick? (Score 1) 139

I remember reading that the Finns started playing over radio frequencies the famous polka song "Säkkijärven polkka," which was found to be extremely effective in shutting down remote controlled land mines the Red Army placed on the ground and causing casualties for several months starting around September 1941. So much so that the Finnish Army ended its jamming practice by spring 1942 as the batteries on the Soviet mines lost its charge.

Comment Problem: too many manufacturers (Score 1) 207

I think the Chinese government needs to severely cull the number of EV manufacturers down to four at most: BYD, SAIC, Geely Group and Chery. And give them unlimited resources to make their EV's truly world-class vehicles that comply even with the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

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