A Texa-llent idea

December 3, 2024

🤠 A Texa-llent idea: Remember the winter storm that left millions of Texans without power? The state is now requiring all crypto miners, big or small, to register. Any unregistered mining outfit that consumes over 75 megawatts (that would be like charging 1,500 Teslas at once) is looking at fines ranging up to $25,000 per day. That’s one big mine!

Tags: charging, crypto, mining, registrations, Texas, winter

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Your next phone will work around the world

If it’s one thing you can bet on, there’s always newer, better and faster tech begging you to open your wallet. With that said, you probably haven’t heard about BlueBird yet from AST SmartMobile out of Texas. They’re working with AT&T to launch the world’s first space-based cellular broadband network.

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Hiring or looking for a job? Upgrade your LinkedIn profile to stand out

When most people find themselves unemployed or are looking for a career change, they head to a job board. But have you heard of LinkedIn? It’s a social media platform with a twist.

LinkedIn also offers excellent options for those looking to hire employees who don’t want to wait for a sea of faceless applications to pour in. It provides prospective employees unique ways to stand out and gives companies a fresh way to look for new talent. Tap or click for smart things you should be doing with your LinkedIn profile.

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Trailer: 'Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey'

Netflix’s new docuseries revisits the infamous 1996 murder mystery. It includes interviews with JonBenét’s father and unpacks the embarrassingly bad investigation, media circus, and, of course, the ransom note.

$2 to $3

Estimated hourly operating costs for Amazon’s robot workers in 2025. Right now, bots that walk on two legs are being used alongside humans and cost $10 to $12 an hour to run. Amazon says its plan is for bots and humans to always work together. Sure.

82%

How much a new gold-based drug slowed cancer tumor growth in animals. It even outperformed traditional chemotherapy, selectively targeting cancer cells with fewer toxic side effects. I hate cancer.

100,000-plus paid rides

Per week, taken by auto taxi service Waymo One in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. It’s no surprise Uber and Lyft drivers say it’s hurting their earnings (paywall link). Waymo is also expanding to Atlanta and Austin early next year. I still won’t get in one.

14 years ago

Russia began transitioning from Microsoft Windows to a custom Linux operating system. They now use Astra Linux for their educational system, financial sector, and state and military operations. Nerd joke: Who has the highest rank in the Linux military? The kernel. (Oh, that was a good one!)

122 days

To build the Colossus data center in Memphis. That’s fast! It’s the powerhouse behind Elon Musk’s startup xAI, packed with 100,000 Nvidia GPUs for processing. Musk plans to launch his own AI app next month to compete with OpenAI, Google and Meta.

100 miles

How far a Chinese ship dragged its anchor, cutting two Baltic Sea internet cables. Investigators suspect they cut the critical data cables on purpose, in part because it’d be nearly impossible not to notice dragging an anchor that far. The carrier left a Russian port a couple of weeks ago, packed with fertilizer. Both countries say, “Nope, not us.”

485 years old

Age of a bronze cannon discovered in Arizona. It might be the oldest firearm ever found in the U.S. Researchers think it belonged to Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado but was never fired. The cannon is just 40 pounds and 42 inches long. Wonder if Francisco had a complex about that …