Prices of the electricity we use to charge

[lenny]

Pentagon workers used DeepSeek's chatbot for days before block: Official
The move came after defence officials raised concerns that Pentagon workers were using the tool, the person said

https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/pentagon-workers-used-deepseek-s-chatbot-for-days-before-block-official-125013100127_1.html

 

[lenny]

Cerebras becomes the world’s fastest host for DeepSeek R1, outpacing Nvidia GPUs by 57x
The AI chip startup will deploy a 70-billion-parameter version of DeepSeek-R1 running on its proprietary wafer-scale hardware, delivering 1,600 tokens per second — a dramatic improvement over traditional GPU implementations that have struggled with newer “reasoning” AI models.

Cerebras becomes the world’s fastest host for DeepSeek R1, outpacing Nvidia GPUs by 57x

Cerebras Systems launches DeepSeek's R1-70B AI model on its wafer-scale processor, delivering 57x faster speeds than GPU solutions and challenging Nvidia's AI chip dominance with U.S.-based inference processing.

venturebeat.com

 

[lenny]

 

[lenny]

NSA can track powered-down phones: how to actually protect your privacy

https://boingboing.net/2025/01/28/nsa-can-track-powered-down-phones-how-to-actually-protect-your-privacy.html

 

[lenny]

California just debunked a big myth about renewable energy
The state went a record 98 of 116 days providing up to 10 hours of electricity with renewables alone.

California just debunked a big myth about renewable energy

Are renewables reliable? A new study says California ran on renewables alone for a record number of days last year.

grist.org

 

[lenny]

White House says New Jersey drones ‘authorized to be flown by FAA’
‘This was not the enemy,’ says press secretary on flurry of drones spotted in east coast skies in December

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/28/karoline-leavitt-new-jersey-drones

 

[lenny]

Netflix users face Licence Fee under new Labour Government plans

Netflix users may need to pay Licence Fee under new UK Government plans

The UK Government is weighing up plans to make Netflix and Disney+ users pay the licence fee to help fund the BBC.

www.thenational.scot

 

[lenny]

Working Americans Turn to Food Banks as Fed Inflation Battle Drags On
https://www.msn.com/en-us/food-and-drink/general/ar-AA1xVTUn

 

[lenny]

 

[lenny]

Huawei already has a new chip to rival Nvidia's AI GPUs — Ascend 910C aims to replace Nvidia's Blackwell in China

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/huawei-already-has-a-new-chip-to-rival-nvidia-ai-gpus

 

[lenny]

Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it’s not fair

Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it's not fair

Looking for a quick fix for their fast-growing electricity diets, tech giants are increasingly looking to strike deals that would let them plug directly into power plants.

apnews.com

 

[lenny]

This reservoir was built to save Pacific Palisades. It was empty when the flames came

This reservoir was built to save Pacific Palisades. It was empty when the flames came

In late January 2024, after a series of rainstorms, a DWP property manager spotted a tear in the reservoir’s floating cover, according to internal emails reviewed by The Times.

www.latimes.com

 

[lenny]

Trump says he’s sending water to LA. It’s actually going to megafarms.
The president’s executive orders on California water will help irrigate Central Valley farms. They won’t do anything to fight wildfire

Trump says he’s sending water to LA. It’s actually going to megafarms.

President Trump's executive orders on California water will help irrigate Central Valley farms. They won’t do anything to fight wildfires.

grist.org

 

[lenny]

AI haters build tarpits to trap and trick AI scrapers that ignore robots.txt

Attackers explain how an anti-spam defense became an AI weapon.

arstechnica.com

 

[lenny]

 

[lenny]

Astronomers seek global ban on space advertising

Astronomers seek global ban on space advertising

Astronomers are calling on nations to ban advertising in space that can be seen from the ground, calling it the latest threat to the dark and quiet sky.

spacenews.com

 

[lenny]

Five key impacts of Brexit five years on

Five key impacts of Brexit five years on

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[lenny]

How an AI-written book shows why the tech 'terrifies' creatives

The BBC's technology editor Zoe Kleinman is given an AI-made book that claims it was written by her.

www.bbc.co.uk

Book by Anyone - Create and print a full satirical book in 2 minutes

Make it authored by a friend, family member or even you!

www.bookbyanyone.com

 

[MikelBikel]

Where is London's most central sheep?

diamond geezer

diamondgeezer.blogspot.com

Downing Street

 

[Ghost1951]

Netflix users face Licence Fee under new Labour Government plans

Netflix users may need to pay Licence Fee under new UK Government plans

The UK Government is weighing up plans to make Netflix and Disney+ users pay the licence fee to help fund the BBC.

www.thenational.scot

Over my very dead body will I ever pay any fee to the BBC.

I actually don't believe that this could be a serious proposition. What some recent graduate working at the DCMS thinks is one thing - common sense and decency is quite another.