Onlangs bestelde ik in Oekraïne een fietstasje dat precies in mijn frame past. Het leek me goed om de economie daar wat te ondersteunen.

World Thru Lenz has added a photo to the pool:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

BertvB posted a photo:

Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley are pressing the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to provide better information on how much electricity data centers actually use. In a joint letter sent to the EIA on Thursday, the two senators press the agency to publicly collect "comprehensive, annual energy-use disclosures" on data centers, saying it's "essential for accurate grid planning and will support policymaking to prevent large companies from increasing electricity costs for American families." Wired reports: In December, EIA administrator Tristan Abbey said at a roundtable that he expects the EIA "is going to be an essential player in providing objective data and analysis to policymakers" with respect to data centers. The agency announced on Wednesday that it would be conducting a voluntary pilot program to collect energy consumption information from nearly 200 companies operating data centers in Texas, Washington, and Virginia, which will cover "energy sources, electricity consumption, site characteristics, server metrics, and cooling systems."

While the senators praise the EIA pilot program, their letter includes several questions about how the agency plans to move forward with more data collection, such as whether or not the energy surveys will be mandatory and whether or not the EIA will collect information on behind-the-meter power. This information will be especially crucial, the senators say, to make sure that big tech companies that signed the agreement at the White House earlier this month pledging that consumers won't bear the costs of data center electricity use will stick to their promises. "Without this data, policymakers, utility companies, and local communities are operating in the dark," the senators write.

The EIA mandates that other industries, including oil and gas and manufacturing, provide regular data to the agency; Hawley and Warren assert that the EIA should be able to collect similar information from data centers under the same provision. The provision is broad enough, Peskoe says, that it could absolutely be interpreted to encompass data centers. Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced a bill that would "enact a reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity." It calls for a federal moratorium on AI data centers until stronger national safeguards are in place around safety, jobs, privacy, energy costs, and environmental impact.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In 2002, Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine, Let Forever Be, etc.) made a great video for Kylie Minogue's Come Into My World. I guess he has mortgage payments to make because he just remade it as a commercial for a purse but that's neither here nor there. What I'm here to complain about is that the official Kylie Minogue YouTube channel (1.5M subscribers) has the "Official video" (45M views) "Full HD, Remastered".

Now, I'm old enough to remember when "remastered" meant "we re-scanned the 35mm negative". Let's take a look at the upper left quadrant of the first 15 seconds of that video at half speed. On the left: a 702x576 rip I made of the video in 2003 from the SD DVD release, Directors Series Volume 3: The Work of Michel Gondry; on the right, the 1392x1062 "Official Full HD Remaster".

Pay special attention to the text on the white sign at about 8 seconds in. Full-screen it for the true zalgo-level, AI-upscale, edge-detect horrorshow.

This is why I have trust issues.

Previously, previously, previously, previously.

Memorabilia from Jaws, Cast Away and The Lord of The Rings also went under the hammer

A light-up C-3PO head used in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back has fetched more than US$1m at an auction.

The prop was part of a collection of film and TV memorabilia that went under the hammer on Wednesday as part of the Spring Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction at Propstore auction house in Los Angeles.

Continue reading...

• American wins 6-1, 6-1 to continue domination of rival

• Gauff will play Sabalenka or Rybakina in Miami Open final

With her hopes of a monumental result at the Miami Open all but over, Karolina Muchova’s desperation deep in her semi-final match against Coco Gauff brought her into the forecourt. Down 1-6, 0-4, a sweet backhand drop volley from Muchova offered her a chance to put away an easy smash with Gauff stranded at the net.

Muchova, one of the most skilled volleyers in the game, would have won that point against almost any other player, but a bad match up in tennis can cause chaos in the mind. This time, Muchova inexplicably chose to stroke the smash straight in the direction of a surprised Gauff, who reflexively directed her backhand half-volley into the open court for a clean winner. Not long after, Gauff closed out her dominant, composed performance without drama to reach the final of her home tournament for the first time in her career with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Muchova.

Continue reading...

Russian president expected to continue invasion of Ukraine until his forces have secured remaining areas of eastern Donbas

Vladimir Putin has asked Russia’s oligarchs to donate to the country’s dwindling defence budget to continue its invasion of Ukraine, it has been reported.

The Russian president is expected to continue the conflict, which began in February 2022, until Moscow has secured the remaining areas of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region not under its control, according to the Financial Times.

At least two businessmen have told Putin they would be willing to make contributions to the defence budget after talks on Thursday, the newspaper reported.

Putin is understood to be pressing ahead with the invasion after Ukraine refused to withdraw unilaterally from Donbas during recent negotiations brokered by the US.

Russia will be in contact with the US about a new round of talks on a peace settlement as soon as conditions allow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov said Russia had not lost interest in peace talks but added that key issues – including territory – had yet to be settled.

The Kremlin’s defence bill has increased by 42% to reach Rbs13.1tn (£121bn) last year and it has sought to stabilise its economy through taxation.

The economy minister, Maxim Reshetnikov, said on Thursday that Russia was considering another windfall tax this year if the rouble continues to weaken. Russia raised Rbs320bn (£2.95bn) through a one-off 10% windfall levy on some large companies in 2023.

In January, the Kremlin increased VAT to 22% in a bid to raise an extra Rbs600bn over three years from small and medium-sized businesses.

Russia’s budget deficit for January and February swelled to more than 90% of the figure projected for the whole year as US sanctions forced Moscow to sell oil at significantly discounted prices.

Earlier, Putin cautioned that Russian companies and the government should take a guarded approach when deciding how to spend windfall gains from higher oil prices resulting from the war in the Middle East.

“Now that the prices of our traditional exports are rising, but the markets are in turmoil, there may be a temptation to take advantage of the situation,” he told business leaders in Moscow.

Putin added this temptation could involve squandering the extra revenue, paying it out in company dividends or, in the state’s case, expanding budget spending.

“We must remain prudent. If the markets swing one way today, they could swing the other tomorrow,” he added.

“A moderate degree of conservatism and a moderately conservative approach are needed, both in the corporate sector and in public finances.”

Continue reading...