dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
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User ID: 583
dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
9hr ago
I moved into a new house. The previous owner left me a Memphis wood fired grill on a very tricked out outdoor kitchen. It's ridiculous.
What should I grill?
I'm thinking I need to host a steak and eggs brunch for my run club. And maybe do something with brisket or ribs on an evening.
Is this just how the median affluent Texan lives? Have I been a fool for thinking we blue state coastal elites knew how to live?
dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
10hr ago
Regardless of how many black neighbors, towing a bunch of portable gas generators on site to get your GPU farm up and running in months is still a huge difference from how hyperscalers used to try to build out near hydro dams and negotiate decades long power purchase agreements, with credible attempts at carbon neutrality.
dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
20hr ago
Are these new datacenters really that different from the ones we've been building for literally decades?
A bit different. They use significantly more power and they're being built in such a hurry that the classical hyperscaler commitments to doing it carbon neutrally or with highly sophisticated cooling that leverages natural advantages and keeps power draw down are being dispensed with.
A famous example is the one Elon built in a hurry where they placed a ton of natural gas generators on site because the local grid couldn't supply them, possibly in violation of environmental impact rules.
I think data centers have the potential to benefit the municipalities that they build in. Some jobs, upgraded infrastructure, lower prices. But do I trust every municipality in the US, great and small, to competently and non-corruptibly negotiate with sharks from trillion dollar companies? Haha no, I'm sure some municipalities will get fleeced or sold out.
That's probably the biggest source of anxiety even though on net they should be a benefit.
Do you think this concern is silly? I'm not sure what your opinion actually is?
dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
4d ago
I support these things but what mechanism causes the administration not to do them immediately?
News bandwidth. If Trump did all of these things on day one there's only a limited amount of excitement/liberal tears that it could be milked for. Then you'd spend 3.9 years wondering what those lazy oafs are doing or think the threat is gone and you go longer need radical response.
Dripping it out over four years shows that the enemy is active and that they are fighting the fight.
No, I mean the opposite of that. Like locating near grid connected hydro-electric power instead of wheeling gas generators on site, and doing capital development to exploit natural cooling instead of just installing more CRAC units. Shit that takes a lot of engineering effort and time. The classical hyperscalers took this extremely seriously in the 2010s. This used to be a point of real pride at Google, and having come from working on finance datacenters before that it seemed like beaming up to the Enterprise.
In the AI lab era they're in too much of a rush to care anymore. Which is what the grandparent comment was asking about.
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