Post AbsCVMC0FHaTHvRSNc by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
(DIR) More posts by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
(DIR) Post #AbpgzNh9ddQLmnMjZo by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-15T10:40:50Z
1 likes, 4 repeats
Are we going to save cat videos or the cats?Over 50% of Internet traffic is video.Are we going to save pictures of Nature or Nature?There are 10 trillion photos stored in the Cloud.We took more photos last year than we took in the entire 20th Century.Soon, our data will drink more water than we do.And 90% of this data is crap. Waste. We are wasting our environment to create digital waste.
(DIR) Post #AbpyFP7BpDuY2mlm64 by stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe
2023-11-15T17:15:51Z
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@gerrymcgovern I believe that a large percentage of computer pollution stems from completely useless multimedia content. I remember, years ago, a client who would send me emails with the company logo attached, and it was a whopping 6 MB - yes, 6 MB for each email sent. Even a simple "ok." Nowadays, various "good morning" multimedia messages and images like these generate an alarming amount of traffic, both in terms of storage and electrical consumption to transmit this data. We are creating faster connections to accommodate the data trash.
(DIR) Post #Abq1cqDBXvAObcRPiC by KarlPettersson@mastodon.nu
2023-11-15T17:53:41Z
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@stefano @gerrymcgovern Yes, I have also thought about this upon seeing .PPTX files with meaningless backgrounds images taking up 10s of MB mailed to large recipient lists.
(DIR) Post #Abq8NIM5q9lMwC8rWi by Lightfighter@infosec.exchange
2023-11-15T19:09:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@stefano @gerrymcgovern I can only guess at our total Teams storage used for holding meme's a!one.
(DIR) Post #AbqLXpr1Rhzb8GxtkO by nergal@linuxrocks.online
2023-11-15T21:36:48Z
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@gerrymcgovern none of this applies to me nor anyone in my first degree of connections (must be poverty or paranoia). as soon as i spot percentages in any appeal, i call bs.
(DIR) Post #AbrhVpXk1W2ljqM6gC by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-16T12:53:24Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
$50 billion is more than the yearly GDP of half of the countries in the world. It’s what Microsoft is planning to spend per year building data centers.During the greatest survival crisis humanity has ever faced, caused by overconsumption, one industry, more than any other, is on a growth splurge. Big Tech. Big Tech earns a lot more in profits than Big Oil. Why is there so little focus on the role of Big Tech has in the environmental catastrophe?https://www.semianalysis.com/p/microsoft-infrastructure-ai-and-cpu?publication_id=329241&post_id=138891071&isFreemail=true&r=3rfwu
(DIR) Post #AbrhVqFhO5CnwAvDCC by chris@abraham.su
2023-11-16T13:17:34Z
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@gerrymcgovernThanks for the investment advice
(DIR) Post #Abrpca4QkSrPPXNL72 by brent@thecanadian.social
2023-11-16T14:48:36Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@stefano They don't care because it doesn't cost them anything. They cannot feel—or imagine—the external cost; for them, it does not exist.The root problem is a desire to not care. Corps (and govts) want to satisfy it. It is a product; people will pay dearly (and vote) to be free from having to care.Caring is mental effort: a finite resource. Those who can help people save that effort will always be loved and honoured by them. It is very lucrative.@gerrymcgovern
(DIR) Post #AbryxkiNGeiW5mEGeW by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-16T12:26:14Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Local residents of Lagos, Nigeria face major water scarcity: “We buy water to drink. We buy water to cook.”"No fewer than ten data centres are headquartered in Lagos. Data centres like these often use large amounts of water for electricity generation and for cooling. Surge in AI relies on access to vast amounts of data. However, while the carbon footprint of such centres might be made public, little information is publicly available about their water usage."https://www.scidev.net/global/scidev-net-investigates/data-centres-straining-water-resources-as-ai-swells/
(DIR) Post #AbryxmVgankvf0JA9Y by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-16T12:30:26Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
The Dalles, Oregon: "Threat of water restrictions. More than 25% of the total consumption of that valuable resource is going to a Google, which has nearly tripled its water use in the last five years, with plans to open two more data centers. Environmentalists have already warned that this could affect the flora and fauna of the area, and even cause shortages among farmers in The Dalles.”The data will get to drink before poor people do.https://english.elpais.com/technology/2023-11-15/artificial-intelligence-guzzles-billions-of-liters-of-water.html
(DIR) Post #AbryxpFqO9rmAjv3NQ by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-16T12:32:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
“Data centers take in hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a day to cool servers. That surprised some Iowans. The massive amount of water is causing some to look more closely at the top water users in a state experiencing another year of drought. Daniel Scott, utility director for Altoona, says it’s “definitely a concern.” He told us the Meta data centers in Altoona can use up to a million gallons of water a day, one fifth of what the city can produce on its own.”https://kdsm17.com/news/local/how-much-water-do-iowa-data-centers-use
(DIR) Post #Abryxr5HaObfqYzeC0 by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-16T13:00:10Z
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Great piece of writing."Data centers powering AI consume water both for electricity generation and on-site cooling. Before even accounting for actual water use, the mere evaporation of water by these data centers’ various processes consumes 0.18 billion cubic meters, more than the total annual water withdrawal of Liberia (a country of about 5 million people in West Africa)."https://robertvanwey.substack.com/p/artificial-thirst
(DIR) Post #Abs0rB0rIF9RXGrpBI by jeroenvanbergen@mstdn.social
2023-11-16T16:54:26Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@stefano @gerrymcgovern Hear, hear! The corporate habit of communicating by sending around huge PowerPoint files containing a few lines of text should be associated with a cost. Just charge a small fee per MB and see how quickly people can change behaviour.
(DIR) Post #Abs25g6sZVAtzRA6Yi by stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe
2023-11-16T17:08:18Z
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@jeroenvanbergen @gerrymcgovern "Why? The cloud has infinite storage!" (this is what I get when I suggest they should be reducing bit wasting)
(DIR) Post #Abs6qiJ4cbiQEJY88G by jeroenvanbergen@mstdn.social
2023-11-16T18:01:38Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@stefano @gerrymcgovern I feel your pain. The other technical thing I can imagine is to apply tar pitting based on total message size. < 1 KB immediate delivery, < 100 KB 10 minutes delay, everything else 1 hour delay. The problem with computers is that people do not see how much is going on when you click send. The same applies to modern webdesign: the amount of data exchanged to load a single page can be mind boggling.
(DIR) Post #AbsCVMC0FHaTHvRSNc by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-16T09:15:01Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
I have spent 25 years deleting 90% of the data in large organizations. One organization I recently dealt with has 100 million visits a year and finds that 5% of its content is getting over 80% of visits. Over 100,000 pages have not been reviewed in 10 years.I was told by a manager of a site with 15 million pages that 4 million of them had never, ever been visited. A website with 200,000 pages. We deleted 150,000. Two years later, no a single request for those pages.
(DIR) Post #AbtLxku93PK4mifIsi by EVduckR@nrw.social
2023-11-17T08:17:25Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@jeroenvanbergen @stefano @gerrymcgovern „The same applies to modern webdesign: the amount of data exchanged to load a single page can be mind boggling.“And the amount of data of data usually has no correlation to the amount of information transported!
(DIR) Post #AbtLyCmJQ7h7EXDRYm by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
2023-11-17T08:21:24Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@EVduckR @jeroenvanbergen @stefano I recently analyzed a 5 MB webpage, that had 4.5 MB of ad tech and tracking.
(DIR) Post #AbtMUpKFdaHO3Ke6BU by deightonrobbie@mastodon.green
2023-11-17T08:31:40Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@stefanoThere's also the thousands of 20 minute video's with 3 minutes of real content and a bunch of filler to comply with platform algorithms. @gerrymcgovern
(DIR) Post #AbtOglMSP1oX8mUriq by urlyman@mastodon.social
2023-11-17T08:39:43Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@gerrymcgovern Every YouTube embed transfers about 1MB just to sit in the page before it’s even played. And most of that is ad tech @EVduckR @jeroenvanbergen @stefano
(DIR) Post #AbtSNkKuOBBUHBxaqW by sepiamonad@mastodon.online
2023-11-17T09:05:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gerrymcgovern @EVduckR @jeroenvanbergen @stefano How come ads (and it's not just about their quantity or tracking that comes with them) are almost not considered an issue is beyond me.
(DIR) Post #AbtSNlQyJ7d1gHnww4 by sepiamonad@mastodon.online
2023-11-17T09:14:21Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@gerrymcgovern @EVduckR @jeroenvanbergen @stefano People just learn to live with it I suppose. But it's eating us bit by bit.
(DIR) Post #AbtaVLCIXPSOG945lQ by EVduckR@nrw.social
2023-11-17T08:56:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gerrymcgovern @jeroenvanbergen @stefano That’s why I like the Gemini protocol so much: It puts away with all the garbage.
(DIR) Post #AbtaVM8n1wFFBYQnw0 by chimay@mastodon.bsd.cafe
2023-11-17T11:03:05Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@EVduckR @gerrymcgovern @jeroenvanbergen @stefano true, but there are also a lot of cool static and non commercial html sites.Some search engines are specialized in this field : eg wiby and marginalia.
(DIR) Post #Abu1dSkJ3PY0kY4MUa by gyptazy@mastodon.bsd.cafe
2023-11-17T16:12:02Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@chimay @EVduckR @gerrymcgovern @jeroenvanbergen @stefano sorry, just to mention #manpageblog (manpageblog.org) which is pretty new ;)
(DIR) Post #Abu34c0MpxRREt5jMm by chimay@mastodon.bsd.cafe
2023-11-17T16:24:49Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@gyptazy @EVduckR @gerrymcgovern @jeroenvanbergen @stefanoThe waste is everywhere you look! The world needs more kiss (as in keepit simple) in every domain. Simple and clean solutions are often moreefficient, well thought, easier maintained, and so on. Mother naturewould probably agree.edit : I've' seen your blog, I like the concept!
(DIR) Post #AbuAAYZDEQEhzdAhXM by jeroenvanbergen@mstdn.social
2023-11-17T17:40:16Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@gerrymcgovern @EVduckR @stefano Exactly. The day/information ratio has decreased enormously over the years. The trend to package tutorials as videos is another example. I totally get why this is done: it can be created easily and given enough views there is the possibility of making money.But the costs are pushed to the end user who has to pay for an obscene amount of infrastructure to access basic information.