Moving On. Do You Have Answers? Chiplets. A Fistful of Dollars.
- A friend gave me a book right after the holidays. He assumed it was an easy read and that I would enjoy the takes from Robert Glazer, a global business leader and national bestselling author. Titled Friday Forward, the book’s objective is to provide inspiration and motivation to end your work week stronger than it started. The book contains fifty-two weeks of inspirational stories, taking in one story a week for a year. I just finished week two, a three-minute read titled “Moment of Clarity.” Glazer narrowcasts the word ‘clarity’, with the notion that while most of us know what we want, we are often afraid to even acknowledge it, much less pursue it. A sentence in the chapter really did resonate with me: “Gaining clarity might mean that we face a relationship that, in our gut, we know is doomed or move on from a career that isn’t going anywhere or doesn’t fulfill us.” Reflecting back, this sentence is so true.
A big thank you to Jim, for giving me this easy read. I really look forward to the next fifty chapters.
Five Questions for Mid-January
- Does the U.S. and the U.K. move to an all-out assault of the Houthi rebels in Yemen? Do disruptions in the Red Sea lead to supply chain issues?
- What is the go-forward with Gaza once the Israelis feel like they have eliminated Hamas? Who governs Gaza?
- How will future Covid-19 variants and other airborne pathogens be designated by the WHO and the CDC? Another pandemic or an endemic? Are pandemics and endemics mutually exclusive?
- Will $4.7 billion in economic aid from the IMF help Argentina help correct the country’s financial woes? South America’s second largest country has an annual inflation rate of 211%. Not good.
- Hertz, after making a huge investment to support their EV fleet of cars, is selling off their EV cars due to “hidden costs.” Anyone with an electric vehicle care to chime in?
Quote of the Week: – from Sir Edmund Hillary:
“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things—to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.”
Understatement of the Week – from the editor of a travel website reflecting on the state of many airlines’ ‘exclusive’ customer lounges:
“This is a very natural change, and I expect it to continue rising until demand and supply balance out. It is even my own personal opinion that there are too many people in these lounges at the moment, and sometimes it’s difficult to find a place to sit down.”
- From my longtime friend Rick S. He sent me this list of ten breakthrough technologies for 2024. Some are quite interesting; some I really do not understand. That could be due to the list being created by the MIT Technology Review. 🙂
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) will continue to not only reshape the tech industry but our everyday lives.
- Super-efficient Solar Cells will take advantage of a layer of tiny crystals to dramatically increase the ability of solar panels to be more efficient, create a greater range of electricity, and reduce carbon emissions. To my tech and power generation friends: What is stopping solar power from being used with automobiles, buses, and other types of vehicular mobility?
- Apple Vision Pro headsets. The technology that is now used by military pilots and surgeons will morph into the consumer market. I love the technology, but I am not sure I am ready to experience augmented and virtual reality as part of my normal day. This is Apple’s reveal of this amazing headset.
- Weight-loss Drugs dealing with what has become an epidemic of worldwide obesity. There are reports and research that medications like Mounjaro and Wegovy could help protect against heart attacks and strokes.
- Enhanced Geothermal Systems, due to engineering challenges, is still in its infancy stage. As engineers unleash solutions for new drilling techniques there will be a better endgame with using the Earth’s heat to produce clean energy. This is way above my pay grade; does anyone want to elaborate on this energy technology? Tracy A.: care to help us understand this?
- Chiplets are small, specialized chips that can be linked together to make computers faster and more efficient. This technology dovetails with the topic of quantum computing, which I discussed a few weeks ago…and subsequently put many readers to sleep.
- Gene-editing Treatments sound a bit scary, but both the U.S. and UK have given the bio-tech company Vertex regulatory approval to use gene-editing to help fight diseases including sickle-cell. This type of biotechnology could be a game-changer.
- Exascale Computing can now perform more than an exaflop’s worth of calculations (that’s a 1 followed by 18 zeros). These new machines will allow scientists to perform sophisticated simulations of the climate, nuclear fission, turbulence, and much more. Cost of this type of computing system = $390 million, and that cost does include installation. Check Amazon for better deals.
- Heat Pumps sales have gone vertical and for the first time have surpassed gas furnace sales. Benefits of heat pumps include higher heating efficiency, less expensive to run, no threat of gas or carbon monoxide, and it does not burn fossil fuels. One key downside to heat pumps: Since heat pumps need electricity to run, they won’t work if the power goes out. This can make it challenging to heat your home in the event of power failure, especially this weekend in places like Kansas City.
- Twitter Killers….there is no need to explain how and why alternatives to “X” like Threads and Bluesky are gaining traction.
The MIT Technology Review did ask their readers what technology breakthroughs are missing from the list. Some of those included robotaxis, thermal batteries, lab-grown meat, and SpaceX’s Starship rocket. Thoughts?
- I am often amazed at the pure level of musical talent exhibited by many around the world. To this day I wish I had taken the time to learn to play an instrument. I had my excuses but reflecting back, I could have taken forty-five minutes a day to learn piano, or the organ, which sat five steps from my bedroom door. Whether the musical talent is young children or a symphony orchestra, I am often awe-struck by their talent. This performance by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra is pure talent. Composed by Ennio Morricone, the theme from A Fistful of Dollars (one of many Clint Eastwood spaghetti Westerns), features an amazing score of complexity and composition. Amazing talent. Note: this is from IMDB: Morricone was hired by director Sergio Leone for A Fistful of Dollars (1964) on the strength of some of his song arrangements. His score for that film, with its sparse arrangements, unorthodox instrumentation (bells, electric guitars, harmonicas, the distinctive twang of the Jew’s harp) and memorable tunes, revolutionized the way music would be used in Westerns, and it is hard to think of a post-Morricone Western score that doesn’t in some way reflect his influence. Although his name will always be synonymous with the spaghetti Western, Morricone has also contributed to a huge range of other film genres: comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror films, romances, art movies, exploitation movies – making him one of the film world’s most versatile artists.