Opportunity

[techlists at phpcoderusa.com]

Then you can become a pundit.


On 2022-08-17 12:00, Eric Oyen via PLUG-discuss wrote:
> I am not going to argue politics, especially on this list. However, I
> do ask that you dismiss all the pundits on both sides, go out and do
> your own research. Just an honest opinion on my part, I don’t think
> you are going to like what you see.
> 
> -Eric
> From the Central Offices of the Technomage Guild, Political Sciences
> Dept.
> 
>> On Aug 17, 2022, at 3:25 AM, David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss
>> <plug-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I don’t know what you’re referring to exactly about the economy
>> crashing, other than the typical doom-and-gloom nonsense that the
>> right-wing propaganda machinery floods the airwaves with whenever
>> Democrats are in charge of things. The truth is, things are always
>> shifting, slowly but surely.
>> 
>> As for technology, I’d make this simple observation:
>> 
>> At some point, the world leader in CPU chips — Intel — was
>> following along the same path they had been taking for years and was
>> working on a 5 GHz CPU when they realized that as they kept trying
>> to speed-up CPUs, the amount of effort needed to extract the heat
>> from the chips would make the hardware far too expensive and
>> cumbersome to remain viable. So they decided that multiple CPUs on
>> the chip where the CPU speed was around 2-3 GHz would be better in
>> the long-run.
>> 
>> I’m guessing that the folks at a world leader in computer
>> engineering — Apple Computer — also figured this out. Intel
>> sells chips; Apple sells computer systems. Dell buys Intel chips and
>> integrates video cards from another vendor that use Intel’s GPUs.
>> Apple doesn’t really care who makes what; they just want to
>> maximize their profits.
>> 
>> Coincidentally, video cards have been hard to come by because the
>> GPUs have been getting hijacked for use by crytocurrency miners. A
>> large portion of these have Intel GPUs on them.
>> 
>> Apple decided it might make more sense to simply put a bunch of CPUs
>> and GPUs on one substrate and then tune their software to run on
>> this sort of architecture, alleviating the dependency on separate
>> CPU and GPU chips and cards. There’s a side-effect in that nobody
>> is going to be hijacking their GPUs for other purposes.
>> 
>> Intel apparently didn’t want to lose the revenues they’ve been
>> earning from their GPU chip sales to crypto miners and, well, Apple
>> is no longer using either Intel’s CPUs or GPUs.
>> 
>> So while some say the economy is “crashing”, the 10 largest
>> corporations in the world are all reporting record profits and
>> growth. The stuff politicians are doing to continue long-term
>> policies that enable corporations to siphon off more and more money
>> from consumers is appalling, and may well lead to a lot more
>> discomfort and pain for consumers, but certainly not from corporate
>> shareholders and execs. If you want to profit from that shift, then
>> buy stocks in these large and growing companies. Warren Buffet has
>> large holdings in them, as well as Apple. He also owns a large
>> utility company in Nevada.
>> 
>> Speaking of utility companies, one thing that is surely going to
>> help “crash” the economy (for consumers) over the coming decade
>> is the increasing growth of EVs and their need to get their fuel
>> from the power grid. The same power grid that’s going to be used
>> to power computers and crypto miners. Some with
>> politically-motivated arguments might see it as convenient that
>> states like Arizona have passed laws that give utility companies the
>> power to punish consumers who want to install their own renewable
>> energy sources and batteries to become independent of the power
>> grid. Yes, we’re talking about those folks who’d like to unhook
>> from the inevitable increases we’re going to see in the cost of
>> electricity, especially since the cost of fuel to power generators
>> is also skyrocketing — and the profits from those price increases
>> is nearly all flowing into the bank accounts of the monarchy of
>> Saudi Arabia (with the help of elected officials in Congress, both
>> past and present, members of both political parties).
>> 
>> The tea leaves are pretty clear to many readers: there’s a big
>> shift towards more and more things in our life that require
>> electricity to run, and it’s inevitable that the cost of said
>> power is going to go up. But the price of gas is also going up,
>> which is contributing to the increase in power costs. Buying a bunch
>> of old computers that consume 3x the power of the newest computers
>> does not seem like a smart way to avoid increases in the cost of
>> electricity.
>> 
>> Make your home more thermally efficient so you don’t need to run
>> your A/C as much. Replace electronic equipment with newer
>> lower-power stuff. Reduce your overall carbon footprint by 10%. Grow
>> your own fruits and veggies. Set up a wind turbine or solar panels
>> to charge batteries that power your electronic equipment at home,
>> but do not connect them to the grid. Buy an inexpensive EV to get
>> around town, because in the long-run it’ll be far cheaper than a
>> gas-powered vehicle. (I recommend a Bolt or a Leaf as they’re the
>> cheapest EVs on the market today and will remain so for 2-3 years
>> due to factors like the global chip shortage. I got a 2019 Leaf SL
>> Plus, and I *LOVE* it! It only costs me 4¢/mile in electricity to
>> drive.)
>> 
>> While you’re at it, figure out how to generate $100-$200 per day
>> online to supplement your income.
>> 
>> -David Schwartz
>> 
>>> On Aug 15, 2022, at 9:31 AM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss
>>> <plug-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> About 24 years ago I worked for a guy who used to say "There is
>>> opportunity in chaos.".
>>> 
>>> Given the chip shortage and other things taking place in the
>>> global space, present and future, I am wondering what do you see
>>> as opportunity in this present/coming chaos?
>>> 
>>> FWIW I am an old guy who has started to realize that being forward
>>> thinking is VERY important.
>>> 
>>> To keep things relevant I see that hardware is finally powerful
>>> enough that 10 year old hardware can run Linux rather well.  If
>>> the economy really is going to crash it might be worth acquiring
>>> some old iron, SSD drives, and RAM for future projects.
>>> 
>>> Your thoughts?
>>> 
>>> Thanks!!
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