Excellent piece. I too received that pre- formed form letter from the “environment “ minister. I wrote back a - what I think - is a scathing letter, pointing out similar concerns. I urge everyone to do the same.
One addition to the referendumb 😂 voting discussion. There will also be in person early voting from Oct 13-17. Polls will be open 9 am - 8 pm each of those days.
Thanks Doug for this. I feel like I’ve been hollering into the wind about these huge environment devouring eyesores for so long.
They’ve been around for decades, except not like this. They were called mainframes and yes, they stored data. They were vital to scientific and medical research facilities and government security agencies for example.
The big difference was the size and the fact they were generally built within the boundaries of the facilities. As technology progressed, as it always does, the mainframes became smaller, NOT bigger.
Hell, when I worked at the Edmonton Sun, we had our own built-in mainframe. We knew it as the Computer or IT Room. The room itself was as large as a generous dining room and the system was the size of two refrigerators shoved together, but not quite so high. There was also plenty of room for the IT staff to work as well.
My point being is these were and are data systems specific to the needs of the business, university research lab or even a municipal government.
What they aren’t are behemoth buildings that suck up water, eat electricity, smell, make a constant noise and in some cases, cause health issues. Even the chips have a short shelf life and from what I understand, cannot be recycled.
Money men come in all excited to push these things, sell them to a government like Alberta, along with a local municipality and get all sorts of deals. Easy money, especially if the build and maintenance contract is put out to a outside builder who answers to the local government.
Because they are supposedly fairly self sufficient, 50 to a 100 permanent jobs doesn’t seem like a fair trade for the havoc they pass along. They are already proving to not be sustainable and most likely, as you indicated, will soon be redundant.
From what I understand, once built, then businesses “rent” data space. Trouble is businesses are not buying in. Guess who’s not recouping their investments, let alone making money.
Does anyone really think someone like O’Leary wouldn’t have a way out once he’s made the sale? Hell no. Grifter and con that he is, he’s gone. Big ass data centres are the next dot.com bust, destroying the environment along the way out.
Forgive me for rattling on, but I’m really against them or could you not tell? For me data centres are the last thing we need in this drought stricken and over-heated environment we are living in. Good thing I never received a letter from Mr. Hunter.
Excellent piece. I too received that pre- formed form letter from the “environment “ minister. I wrote back a - what I think - is a scathing letter, pointing out similar concerns. I urge everyone to do the same.
One addition to the referendumb 😂 voting discussion. There will also be in person early voting from Oct 13-17. Polls will be open 9 am - 8 pm each of those days.
One other piece for your puzzle.
Outside of municipalities such as cities and town’s foreign ownership of land is restricted to a maximum of 20 acres on two titles.
How do Dani’s new buddies get this exemption?
Perhaps we should start a list of things she has done to circumvent our laws and regulations.
Lastly- Ask not what Smith and the ucp have done for Alberta. Rather ask and answer what have Smith and the ucp done to Alberta!
When push comes to shove and there is not enough water for both public and data centre use, the data centre sues for primacy access!
https://www.techspot.com/news/113249-california-largest-ai-data-center-suing-access-287.html?utm_source=forwardfuture.ai&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=nvidia-vera-rubin-ai-startup-boom-ssi-s-compute-bet&_bhlid=bbde439d808587b755cb2d55171961bbcb1509c4
Good lord! Does this province have any idea of what it's getting into?
Thanks Doug for this. I feel like I’ve been hollering into the wind about these huge environment devouring eyesores for so long.
They’ve been around for decades, except not like this. They were called mainframes and yes, they stored data. They were vital to scientific and medical research facilities and government security agencies for example.
The big difference was the size and the fact they were generally built within the boundaries of the facilities. As technology progressed, as it always does, the mainframes became smaller, NOT bigger.
Hell, when I worked at the Edmonton Sun, we had our own built-in mainframe. We knew it as the Computer or IT Room. The room itself was as large as a generous dining room and the system was the size of two refrigerators shoved together, but not quite so high. There was also plenty of room for the IT staff to work as well.
My point being is these were and are data systems specific to the needs of the business, university research lab or even a municipal government.
What they aren’t are behemoth buildings that suck up water, eat electricity, smell, make a constant noise and in some cases, cause health issues. Even the chips have a short shelf life and from what I understand, cannot be recycled.
Money men come in all excited to push these things, sell them to a government like Alberta, along with a local municipality and get all sorts of deals. Easy money, especially if the build and maintenance contract is put out to a outside builder who answers to the local government.
Because they are supposedly fairly self sufficient, 50 to a 100 permanent jobs doesn’t seem like a fair trade for the havoc they pass along. They are already proving to not be sustainable and most likely, as you indicated, will soon be redundant.
From what I understand, once built, then businesses “rent” data space. Trouble is businesses are not buying in. Guess who’s not recouping their investments, let alone making money.
Does anyone really think someone like O’Leary wouldn’t have a way out once he’s made the sale? Hell no. Grifter and con that he is, he’s gone. Big ass data centres are the next dot.com bust, destroying the environment along the way out.
Forgive me for rattling on, but I’m really against them or could you not tell? For me data centres are the last thing we need in this drought stricken and over-heated environment we are living in. Good thing I never received a letter from Mr. Hunter.