Steve J. Wright
@stevejwright.bsky.social
Arts and sciences person, very unprofessional SFF writer and reviewer, blogs at stevejwright.com. Mastodon @[email protected]
Oh, man... if I knew how to do that, I would RULE THE WORLD.
November 21, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Oh, man... if I knew how to do that, I would RULE THE WORLD.
power and water consumption of a data centre, but I'd probably be using Google for that, which means a) I'd be using AI, and b) the results would be crap, because Google uses AI and its search results suffer from that.
I think it's time I went to bed now. Stop me before I post again.
I think it's time I went to bed now. Stop me before I post again.
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
power and water consumption of a data centre, but I'd probably be using Google for that, which means a) I'd be using AI, and b) the results would be crap, because Google uses AI and its search results suffer from that.
I think it's time I went to bed now. Stop me before I post again.
I think it's time I went to bed now. Stop me before I post again.
the water evaporates and returns to the skies and falls again, eventually, as rain. It's just that, along the way, all those crops and laundry and thirsty people have to compete with the gibberish machines for this vital resource.
I guess I could look up some stats on
I guess I could look up some stats on
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
the water evaporates and returns to the skies and falls again, eventually, as rain. It's just that, along the way, all those crops and laundry and thirsty people have to compete with the gibberish machines for this vital resource.
I guess I could look up some stats on
I guess I could look up some stats on
So, water comes out of aquifers, into reservoirs and thence into pipes, where it is distributed among folks who need it for washing and drinking and watering their crops. Or it is used to cool down the big machines that tell you there are four Ns in "mayonnaise". Either way,
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
So, water comes out of aquifers, into reservoirs and thence into pipes, where it is distributed among folks who need it for washing and drinking and watering their crops. Or it is used to cool down the big machines that tell you there are four Ns in "mayonnaise". Either way,
The big data centres that "AI" uses, naturally, need lots and lots of cooling. You're talking about air-conditioning a building the size of a small town, sometimes. Air conditioning uses water to dump the heat into, which evaporates, naturally, in the process.
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
The big data centres that "AI" uses, naturally, need lots and lots of cooling. You're talking about air-conditioning a building the size of a small town, sometimes. Air conditioning uses water to dump the heat into, which evaporates, naturally, in the process.
on it, which was quite the graphical challenge in those days.
Servers have many more processors and much more RAM, so they run hotter. Even a quite ordinary server room is usually air-conditioned to within an inch of its life. I've been in many a server room, and they are Arctic.
Servers have many more processors and much more RAM, so they run hotter. Even a quite ordinary server room is usually air-conditioned to within an inch of its life. I've been in many a server room, and they are Arctic.
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
on it, which was quite the graphical challenge in those days.
Servers have many more processors and much more RAM, so they run hotter. Even a quite ordinary server room is usually air-conditioned to within an inch of its life. I've been in many a server room, and they are Arctic.
Servers have many more processors and much more RAM, so they run hotter. Even a quite ordinary server room is usually air-conditioned to within an inch of its life. I've been in many a server room, and they are Arctic.
I remember a website, way back when, where some guys had taken the processor and RAM out of some bog-standard PC, and were cooling it down to get more and more performance out of it. By the time they'd got it housed in a freezer with some sort of alcohol piping around it, they could play Halflife
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
I remember a website, way back when, where some guys had taken the processor and RAM out of some bog-standard PC, and were cooling it down to get more and more performance out of it. By the time they'd got it housed in a freezer with some sort of alcohol piping around it, they could play Halflife
(Oh, God, I've started a thread.)
- like you get with high-end graphics, your processors can get very hot indeed. Gaming enthusiasts often have temperature displays on their desktops, showing how hot they're getting and warning them if it's overheating.
- like you get with high-end graphics, your processors can get very hot indeed. Gaming enthusiasts often have temperature displays on their desktops, showing how hot they're getting and warning them if it's overheating.
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
(Oh, God, I've started a thread.)
- like you get with high-end graphics, your processors can get very hot indeed. Gaming enthusiasts often have temperature displays on their desktops, showing how hot they're getting and warning them if it's overheating.
- like you get with high-end graphics, your processors can get very hot indeed. Gaming enthusiasts often have temperature displays on their desktops, showing how hot they're getting and warning them if it's overheating.
Computers get hot. Like any electrical equipment, really. Nothing is 100% energy efficient, and the waste energy shows up as heat. Your ordinary laptop or desktop can get by with air cooling, using little fans inside it (which rattle alarmingly on my cheap lappy.) With intensive processing -
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Computers get hot. Like any electrical equipment, really. Nothing is 100% energy efficient, and the waste energy shows up as heat. Your ordinary laptop or desktop can get by with air cooling, using little fans inside it (which rattle alarmingly on my cheap lappy.) With intensive processing -
Data centres get very hot, data centres must be cooled down or they'll stop working, cooling systems use lots of water.
... is my unaided brain's understanding of the concept.
... is my unaided brain's understanding of the concept.
November 20, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Data centres get very hot, data centres must be cooled down or they'll stop working, cooling systems use lots of water.
... is my unaided brain's understanding of the concept.
... is my unaided brain's understanding of the concept.
If Diss isn't twinned with Datt Township (in Jabalpur) then the world makes no sense at all.
November 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM
If Diss isn't twinned with Datt Township (in Jabalpur) then the world makes no sense at all.
I just don't have the bladder capacity these days.
November 20, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I just don't have the bladder capacity these days.
They farmed them for vegetable oil, IIRC. I'm not entirely convinced by the "we shall keep these eight-foot-tall mobile killer plants with a sting that can drop an average man with one swipe, because, hey, they make great margarine" argument, but whatever.
November 20, 2025 at 10:46 PM
They farmed them for vegetable oil, IIRC. I'm not entirely convinced by the "we shall keep these eight-foot-tall mobile killer plants with a sting that can drop an average man with one swipe, because, hey, they make great margarine" argument, but whatever.
"Why my ultra-rich clients are ashamed of their wealth"
Ooh! Ooh! (raises hand excitedly) I know this one! - Is it because they bloody well ought to be?
Ooh! Ooh! (raises hand excitedly) I know this one! - Is it because they bloody well ought to be?
November 20, 2025 at 10:05 PM
"Why my ultra-rich clients are ashamed of their wealth"
Ooh! Ooh! (raises hand excitedly) I know this one! - Is it because they bloody well ought to be?
Ooh! Ooh! (raises hand excitedly) I know this one! - Is it because they bloody well ought to be?
Some from my British childhood...
Peat Drops
Bumbugs
Sherbet Demons
Kendal Mint Coke
Peat Drops
Bumbugs
Sherbet Demons
Kendal Mint Coke
November 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Some from my British childhood...
Peat Drops
Bumbugs
Sherbet Demons
Kendal Mint Coke
Peat Drops
Bumbugs
Sherbet Demons
Kendal Mint Coke
Mansa Musa, the famously wealthy ruler of the Malian Empire, would reward those who did valiant deeds with... a pair of wide trousers. The more valiant the deed, the wider the trousers.
November 20, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Mansa Musa, the famously wealthy ruler of the Malian Empire, would reward those who did valiant deeds with... a pair of wide trousers. The more valiant the deed, the wider the trousers.
You're calling them a secret police, just because they wear masks and no ID and drive unmarked vehicles and never say what they're arresting people for and won't let anyone inspect their facilities?
Now I think about it, you might have a point.
Now I think about it, you might have a point.
November 20, 2025 at 12:27 PM
You're calling them a secret police, just because they wear masks and no ID and drive unmarked vehicles and never say what they're arresting people for and won't let anyone inspect their facilities?
Now I think about it, you might have a point.
Now I think about it, you might have a point.
Such prayers and magics as I have are yours.
November 18, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Such prayers and magics as I have are yours.
(Nearly finished now.)
Immigrants don't want to destroy the UK. They *like* the UK! They think it's a better place than wherever they're coming from! (At least until they see it up close.)
The real problems this country faces come from unearned wealth and undeserved privilege, not small boats.
Immigrants don't want to destroy the UK. They *like* the UK! They think it's a better place than wherever they're coming from! (At least until they see it up close.)
The real problems this country faces come from unearned wealth and undeserved privilege, not small boats.
November 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
(Nearly finished now.)
Immigrants don't want to destroy the UK. They *like* the UK! They think it's a better place than wherever they're coming from! (At least until they see it up close.)
The real problems this country faces come from unearned wealth and undeserved privilege, not small boats.
Immigrants don't want to destroy the UK. They *like* the UK! They think it's a better place than wherever they're coming from! (At least until they see it up close.)
The real problems this country faces come from unearned wealth and undeserved privilege, not small boats.
(Though they're not legally obliged to do so.)
Strong motivation usually goes hand in hand with a strong case. People seek asylum in the UK because they have strong ties to the UK. Why do they have strong ties? Because we used to have a global empire, we built those ties ourselves.
Strong motivation usually goes hand in hand with a strong case. People seek asylum in the UK because they have strong ties to the UK. Why do they have strong ties? Because we used to have a global empire, we built those ties ourselves.
November 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
(Though they're not legally obliged to do so.)
Strong motivation usually goes hand in hand with a strong case. People seek asylum in the UK because they have strong ties to the UK. Why do they have strong ties? Because we used to have a global empire, we built those ties ourselves.
Strong motivation usually goes hand in hand with a strong case. People seek asylum in the UK because they have strong ties to the UK. Why do they have strong ties? Because we used to have a global empire, we built those ties ourselves.
(I've started every other reply with a parenthetical remark, I might as well keep it up.)
No, it's because anyone who makes it over here to claim asylum must be *strongly motivated* to do so. Otherwise, they'd just stop in the first safe country they came to.
No, it's because anyone who makes it over here to claim asylum must be *strongly motivated* to do so. Otherwise, they'd just stop in the first safe country they came to.
November 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
(I've started every other reply with a parenthetical remark, I might as well keep it up.)
No, it's because anyone who makes it over here to claim asylum must be *strongly motivated* to do so. Otherwise, they'd just stop in the first safe country they came to.
No, it's because anyone who makes it over here to claim asylum must be *strongly motivated* to do so. Otherwise, they'd just stop in the first safe country they came to.
(Though I would have to give an account of myself to Customs and Excuse at some point.)
The UK does, it turns out, accept an unusually high proportion of asylum claims - more than three quarters succeed, either at application or on appeal. Is this because we're a soft touch?
The UK does, it turns out, accept an unusually high proportion of asylum claims - more than three quarters succeed, either at application or on appeal. Is this because we're a soft touch?
November 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
(Though I would have to give an account of myself to Customs and Excuse at some point.)
The UK does, it turns out, accept an unusually high proportion of asylum claims - more than three quarters succeed, either at application or on appeal. Is this because we're a soft touch?
The UK does, it turns out, accept an unusually high proportion of asylum claims - more than three quarters succeed, either at application or on appeal. Is this because we're a soft touch?