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ethagknight

Re:Anthropic S-1 on Monday October 26, 2026 @01:01PM (#50247105)
all Anthropic contracts are cancelable if the intent is to stick public shareholders with a bag
I didn't say she was personally taking bribes, but I am saying she is a useful idiot on their behalf.
My points are well founded, and Memphis is in the midst of a very hotly contested datacenter debate thanks to Elon. The efforts to throttle datacenter development at a grass roots level nationwide are not a simple sincere effort from people passionate against computers. Foreign governments competing with US are absolutely desperate to thwart US progress in AI, and there is clearly large amounts of money flowing into these protests from _somewhere_.
honest Q- should I have said congressperson or senator? what was the rub there?
Some obvious wordsmithing here intended to confuse. These are very weak arguments and I do not understand why it is a material concern to a Congressman other than an interest to interfere in US commerce on behalf of foreign entities. Why is Warren so concerned with a non-federal utility co's market rate agreements, or tax breaks granted by local governments? Its not at all her jurisdiction.

1- Fair Share payments- its a net benefit to all ratepayers if the system is upgraded thanks to expanded revenue from datacenters. Utility operators not correctly charging for services provided is a separate matter. Its reasonable to assume that Warren is getting into nitpicking on "wait who paid for THAT transformer??" Its very possible that some of these utilities are making mistakes, but they have their own board of directors and local oversight to address that matter.

2- NDAs- this was a big talking point in Memphis recently "I want to see the NDAs!!" but we have a utility co MLGW that is pretty effective and has to look out for its own long term interests. Warren has no business demanding to regulate that sort of deal making, unless of course the utility leadership is engage in corruption. Otherwise, its just business as usual that any other business engages in in the United State.

3- Tax Breaks- datacenters have such high price F&E tax related price tags that the laws weren't really written to consider a facility with $100B of value installed. A tax break is reasonable, and it is only "lots govt revenue stolen from schools" or whatever if the government is writing a check back out to the datacenter operation, which they generally are not to my knowledge. A tax that didn't exist yesterday and gets negotiated down for tomorrow is not "lost tax revenue" but an acknowledgment that the tax code, as written, is overly punitive to commerce, which I believe is Warren's goal, on behalf of foreign actors, to throttle US enterprise and dominance in intelligence.

Re:C2PA Cameras Do Not Survive Contact with Reality on Tuesday August 25, 2026 @05:21PM (#49440830)
I got a good laugh out of the "unblur to verify" first image. I dont know what I was expecting to see.
Re:Toxic underground fires spreading at California landfills on Tuesday August 11, 2026 @03:44PM (#49263439)
Somewhat moot point but official website insists it is NOT a fire

https://chiquitacanyon.com/odor-mitigation/recent-updates/

>>Any odors coming from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill are related to an abnormal biotic or abiotic process (also known as a landfill reaction) taking place deep within a lined, but older and inactive portion of the Landfill waste mass. This reaction is not a fire or subsurface oxidation event within the waste mass, and is not related to waste disposal operations at the Landfill.

Made up: “this one goes to 11”
Is this one of those cases where Apple didn’t invented, but they did crash the price per unit?
The permits are supposed to provide a review of the proposed discharge, usually requires a public notice and review period, and ensures compliance. I assume this Texas permit is typical to that end.

While permits CAN be “just red tape”, permits SHOULD be, and frequently are, the conclusion of an appropriate review process that industry standards are being implemented.

It's not a weird thing to say, it's what has happened. We used to have vehicle inspections, now we dont, vehicular pollution can be horrible in Memphis, even our city buses frequently pour out black smoke, but no lawsuits or front page 'journalism' on that!

The Shelby County Health Department has been leading the charge against xAI.

I just bought a Switch 2 for my kids and I am very impressed with it. Yes, pricing for games and components is wild, but so is everything else these days. The Switch software is very good, the kids love it, Nintendo online retro games are awesome, and we've had a lot of fun playing Zelda together.

I would pay 50 more dollars for the same experience if thats what it took. I do think Nintendo should provide a little more value at the new price, but it's not a huge gap.

I live in Memphis, none of this is true. What is true is that there is a concerted effort to smear anything related to xAI‘s presence in Memphis for some reason.

For some facts, the colossus data center is next-door to a steel mill and city sewage treatment plant, a vacated gigawatt scale coal power plant complete with nasty Coal Ash Ponds, and a brand new combined cycle gas power plant. The area is at the far edge of Memphis city limits up against the river, in a heavy industrial area. There’s even a major Valero oil refinery right there too.

Memphis has trillions and trillions of gallons of water, both in a gigantic underground aquifers and the Mississippi River itself. xAI has agreed to shed load in case of impending brownouts. The fear mongering is out of control.

They had a ton of portable turbines that were under operating under a temporary permit, and that was the disputed part. However, the blame should rest with TVA and or Memphis light gas and water for not being able to run an appropriate high voltage connection less than 1 mile from the plant to the data center in a timely manner. However… What difference does it make if the natural gas is burned at TVA plant or very similar gas turbines on site in the same neighborhood. Environmental groups and the county health department tried suing, was struck down, xAI works closely with the State, but the whining continues. xAI is paying gargantuan taxes to the city, no tax breaks.

These environmental groups do not care about the nasty unregulated cars burning oil, that I have to breathe every day. We terminated our motor vehicle inspection requirements due to the “burden” it places on the low income population. So they can burn their oil in my face, but then they sue to stop a SOTA turbine in an industrial area? There are junkyards in these same areas that burn their piles of waste tires every year or so “on accident”. No lawsuits there either.

if you can fast charge in 5 minutes, why do you need the cost and weight of a 500 mile range 130kwh battery?
Document fraud is both incredibly easy and pervasive. There’s a mentality of “I jumped through the hoop, now you can’t get me.”

They aren’t taking blood tests or staking out your homes (I don’t think…)

Surveillance State? They already have all kinds of data on you, including your child’s vaccination records, security cameras throughout the building, supposed home addresses, and parental information. I assume you have to have your ID scanned before entering the building. LPR does not offer anything revelatory from a personal freedoms perspective.

Tracking license plates to look for unusually activity is an easy win for both fraud prevention and security from more serious threats.

It’s not fear, it’s cost-benefit, and it would take all the trucks in the middle east to move a tiny portion of the export that typically goes via ship. It would be easier and more aligned for Qatar, UAE, Saudis to pay mercs to keep the strait clear.
My thoughts. The escorts serve little benefit to the US given the risk. US doesn’t “need” the Persian gulf exports as much as other countries (who could run their own minesweeping operations). Iran mining Hormuz is a feature not a bug for US effort in a “proxy war” against Iran (hint: it’s all about China)
This a garbage article written by a non expert trying to write smug sound bites for Stephen Colbert (as the author himself admits) for why Greenland isn’t desirable. clearly not aware of the exotic efforts we go to when extracting natural resources.

“Its under a lot of ice” well ice is easier to get through than rock, I’ll tell you that!

“It’s too dark and cold” ehh watch some videos about working on oil rigs or icebreakers

Hard to fathom for a person who sits behind a keyboard for a living, but others are willing to do this kind of work in a heartbeat for the right amount of money

Re:Google is dead. Where do we go now? on Monday December 29, 2025 @11:35PM (#46429583)
I never tell people I comment online. No one I know knows my Reddit username (as far as I know…). Few of my friends even know what HN is.
Re:Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES on Monday December 15, 2025 @09:44AM (#46275189)
The mission accomplished regardless of crash or land is hilarious
I seriously long for a free transit solution in my city, Memphis. We already pay for 90% of the operating cost anyway via various taxes, and fareboxes frequently cost more than they bring in. If I am a citizen paying property taxes in the city, why charge me $1.75 to hop on a bus?

However- it shouldnt be simply "free".. it should be "free with a pass, which is free" and a pass is easy to get, tied to your ID, and easy to revoke. No pass? thats fine, pay the $3 to ride. bus driver yanked your pass because you were peeing on the seat or intimidating other riders? You can ride again, for $3. Concerned about security or privacy? No problem, Pay $3.

Before the majority of law abiding citizens and travelers, passes are easy and free to get.

I was hoping to see a comment like this. These sorts of “global collaborations” seem to always end with the US carry all the water, and the goal from the other countries perspective is to throttle the US. Like the Paris Accords.
Re:EVs are depreciating much faster than gas-powered cars on Saturday October 18, 2025 @11:34AM (#45628156)
Sorry- yes there’s a used market, but the pricing is essentially handling and refurb cost. used panels are sold by the pallet for the price of a new single panel. Vastly different from a used car industry.

That being said… I might buy a pallet

Re:EVs are depreciating much faster than gas-powered cars on Saturday October 18, 2025 @08:08AM (#45626694)
Wait solar panels?? No one is buying used solar panels. They degrade rapidly and the cost of the panel is a small piece of the overall install
Re:US Cities Are Paying Too Much for New Transit Buses on Friday September 26, 2025 @10:33PM (#45392868)
You are the best customer, thinking you’re a smart customer!
Re:Microsoft bets big on nuclear future for data centers on Wednesday September 10, 2025 @05:54PM (#45204476)
It's a byproduct of a lot of oil production while also having its own reserves. My office used to look at an oil refinery that was miles away, and they were just burning the natural gas off in a huge plume, not worth trying to capture and combust for production.

The fracking is also in Arkansas and Texas and many other states. An amazing amount of gas continues to be discovered. I am not a geologist but assume that Australia could dedicate resources to explore fracking gas reserves and would come up with quite bit.

sidebar, but I just realized that Australia doesnt really have mountains to speak of. Tallest mountain is around the elevation of the typical Colorado Rockies valley towns. Australia may not have the 'cap traps' required to retain large amounts of gas in the various layers going down under ground.

Re:iPhone Air on Tuesday September 09, 2025 @04:39PM (#45188626)
Or smeared with hand grease
Re:Microsoft bets big on nuclear future for data centers on Tuesday September 09, 2025 @09:26AM (#45181628)
Seems like people confuse the old school "gas peakers" which are basically just simple generators burning gasoline or diesel designed to be used intermittently, and advanced combined cycle natural gas, which are incredibly efficient. Natural Gas is super cheap in many markets, and it appears to be common theory that markets with limited natural gas simply haven't been explored sufficiently due to other fuels being cheaper (coal).

ACC Natural Gas + Solar/Wind + Batteries + actively priced load shedding market seems like a tremendous quartet.

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