Tag Archives: technology

What’s the Deal with Data Centers?

Posted on by Standard 2

Here’s a bunch of my random observations about Data Centers for your consideration:

I made this illustration using AI and one or more data centers

• As more and more of our lifestyle, employment, and prosperity depend on information / data / automation / artificial intelligence it seems the growth of data centers (mass information storage and distribution in some form or other) is inevitable.

• Data is money. Control of data is power. Both can be used for good or for evil.

• The relentless collection of personal data is mostly for commercial purposes so far. I type this very post knowing that everything about it and me will be transmitted, received, bought and sold, used and abused, without my knowledge or permission. I’m not okay with that, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Between flock cameras on every street plus phones, computers and Alexas recording every sight, sound, keystroke, and activity 24/7, there is nowhere to hide. Our lives are already hugely influenced by algorithms using all of this collected data.

• We are rushing headlong into a world where privacy will be scarce and precious. Unless one chooses to live off-grid, which most won’t, everything that is within visual or auditory distance of a web-connected device will be available to any entity that gathers it or buys it. I predict that some new industry / technology that protects privacy will make a ton of money.

• Because information is power, governments want as much of it as they can get and are in a race to control it. I suspect most data centers are speculative businesses wanting to cash in on the government gravy train, like the medical and education institutions have done in recent years. Famous criminal Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks, said “that’s where the money is.” Smart investors will build data centers to feed our government’s insatiable appetite for information and BTW, the government is “where the money is.”

• The United States is in a fierce competition with China to collect information – mostly data about America and Americans, not so much about China and the Chinese. The CCP is instigating much of the opposition to the wave of data center construction so that they can “corner the market”. How do they intend to use it? Commercially? Politically? Militarily? Probably all of the above. Some will say (including President Trump) that data centers are necessary for national security.

• Local governments face the choice of welcoming data centers or rejecting them. Early projects brought mixed results – some were transformational and positive for their adoptive communities, and some were disastrous. Lessons were learned. Any community that gets surprised and abused after so much trial-and-error with water and power use, noise, and other early issues, deserves what they get for not doing their due diligence and building etched-in-stone protections. But those who run from this abundant revenue opportunity will be left with regrets.

• A central (and scary) issue is the burgeoning surveillance state. The sudden explosion of flock cameras is evidence that our government is determined to know everything about all of us, all the time, even though it makes a mockery of our constitution. We apparently are happy to trade the security gained for the loss of privacy and potential for abuse, as there is no pushback to be found anywhere. A friend of mine was recently rousted by local police and accused of car theft when a flock camera found his license plate number erroneously matched to a crime in a distant state. Law enforcement (and mistakes) at this accelerated level are not possible without quick access to massive data.

• Data collection and distribution has changed our political system irretrievably as each of us individually are fed a constant stream of curated and censored news and propaganda based on algorithms that know what gets our own adrenalin pumping. Recent investigations prove that China has used our stolen voter data to influence elections.

• Those who are immovably opposed to data centers may be picking the right fight, but for the wrong reason. The threat to our freedom trumps the prospect of higher utility bills. We need to fight the conversion to central bank digital currency with every breath, because that will be the end of the fairest and most beneficial economic system in history. It’s just one more reason why the government is pushing data centers.

• As our public schools become more computer-driven the data collection extends to our children. The cycle of control via personal data is now cradle-to-grave.

• It’s the predicted arrival of Big Brother. Almost 50 years ago Pink Floyd observed, “We don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control.” We don’t need no data centers either, but that horse has left the barn. Prayers are in order.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

We don’t need no education.
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Teacher leave them kids alone.
Hey! Teacher!
Leave them kids alone!

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL – Pink Floyd

The Green New Deal is Dying

Posted on by Standard 1

Decades ago liberal political and cultural leaders found a topic that would frighten weak-minded people into doing things that are clearly illogical and against their best interests. “Global Warming” became the cause celebre of leftists worldwide, and has been used – often in conjunction with other concocted concerns – to bully people into accepting Marxist control over their lives.

For years we have been warned that the polar ice caps would disappear, the oceans would rise swamping coastal cities, the rain forests of South America would disappear, countless animals would be extinct, the air we breathe would be destroyed all because of fossil fuels or carbon dioxide or cow farts or something . . . it has been utter doom and gloom for all of my life, and I’m no spring chicken.

The goal of the Marxists is to shut down all energy sources that existed before they decided global warming was a thing. Petroleum has got to go, too “dirty”. Hydroelectric? Fish don’t like it. Nuclear power? The Russians melted down a nuke plant once. Coal makes people’s faces dirty. And there must be something wrong with natural gas, there is so much of it and Trump likes it.

Despite technological advances and resource discoveries that turn all of the Marxists’ fears upside down, they have persisted in trying to convert the world to new energy sources, whether they work or not, for the purpose of gaining control over our personal behavior.

Well, the new energy sources don’t work. And the world has begun to figure this out.

At the same time we are discovering that “renewable” electric energy sources are far less efficient and abundant than conventional power, we are converting our energy use to electric only.

Ford Motor Company did more to advance the standard of living for average citizens than perhaps anyone else in history by making gas-powered vehicles affordable for the masses. Then they were pushed by Marxists in government and other institutions to shift production away from internal combustion and toward battery-powered EVs. Now the car companies have announced that they are, again, cutting back on EV (electric vehicle) production, due to lack of demand.

It seems that consumers have figured out that even with huge taxpayer subsidies to both the buyers and the sellers of EVs, battery-powered vehicles are still no bargain. The range of an EV is about 300 miles, more or less, on a battery charge, and electricity is not free or readily available when all the power plants have been replaced by inefficient wind and solar and neighborhood grids can’t support the additional loads required to charge many cars overnight. The batteries must be replaced when worn out (eight to twelve years), at a cost of up to $15,000 plus installation. So the value of a used EV depletes quickly. The old batteries are a landfill disposal nightmare. The batteries require rare earth minerals to produce. Batteries don’t work well in extreme heat or cold. EVs weigh significantly more than gas-powered cars, so they are tough on tires and roads. Car battery fires are daunting for firemen, and EVs are proving much less reliable than gas-powered cars. Let’s not forget the sticker price for EVs is significantly higher than gas burners, and manufacturers are still losing a ton of money.

Any time the government has to bribe producers to make something, and/or consumers to buy something, you can bet it will end up being a bad deal for everybody, except those who take illicit advantage of somebody else’s forced investment. Free market supply and demand is perfect – producers are encouraged to make products that buyers want and can afford.

Last year the South Carolina legislature gave $1.3 billion in taxpayer-funded incentives and cash to Volkswagen/Scout to build a new EV manufacturing plant in the Palmetto State. The spending bill was pushed through rapidly and with little or no transparency and apparently not a lot of critical thought. One year later, car companies are cutting way back on production and plans for battery plants are being scrapped. The failure of South Carolina’s investment in the EV industry is predictable and it will be held against elected officials who voted for it.

Yes, people have wised up and the Green New Deal is now old news. It has been replaced by the Next New Pandemic.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Well you could search the whole world over
And never find another like it
It's got a built in lifetime guarantee
It's a one time only offer
And darling once you've tried it
You're gonna fall in love with it you'll see

Have I Got A Deal For You - Reba McEntire