Data Centers in Space, Sleep Earbuds & a Mourner for Hire

What’s happening inside the data centers? It feels a bit spooky.

Naomi: With 4,000+ (mostly in Virginia, Texas, and California) and 3,000 on the way, data centers are, right now, “the most polarizing buildings in America.” They’ve been called “a potent symbol for those who are skeptical of AI” (The Atlantic) and also a “masterstroke of engineering” (MIT). Fancy that.

I think it’d be easier to grasp if we could see the robot armies in their body kits, like our favorite speculative fiction has led us to believe. But instead, at least for now, we get large, lurking windowless boxes. They look less specifically frightening and more conspiracy-inducing. They loom. They sweat. They make lots of noise, apparently. It’s just the shape is…not quite what we had in mind when we sketched out the Singularity. And when something is too plain, or too private, we assume it could also be plotting. And poisonous.

No doubt, the screenwriters are sitting at their laptops, struggling to describe the most interesting data centers they can imagine. I learned a best-selling novelist friend is publishing her first AI-centric mystery book this fall. Data centers have taken center stage. And just like any good franchise…I guess they have to end up in space eventually.

Tucker: Shall we address the elephant in low earth orbit?

As of July, Politico claimed most people oppose nearby builds (a reversal from the same poll in January?! My, my.) So where else can they go if not in our own backyards?

(To be clear, we’re mostly arguing about the compute centers, where your neighbors are asking ChatGPT about weird toe fungus. Not the storage centers, which we’ve had for a while, and are mostly full of garbage data.)

I WANT it to be impossible to put data centers in space. I do. A bit too dystopian for me. (Plus, I would get a distinct pleasure of humiliating a bunch of rich, over-confident Space Cowboys.)

Unfortunately, I think it is possible. Here is a great explainer that addresses the big questions on heat dissipation and practicality. This podcast pushed me past Possible into Likely (it’s theoretically feasible to dissipate the required heat in the near vacuum of space, and communication between satellites via laser is faster than fiber optic cable on Earth, which is something…maybe).

How do you sleep at night?

Naomi: Soundcore A30 sleep earbuds. Strap in. This is going to feel like an ad.

If you’re becoming a light sleeper in your middle age (I did not consent!), and you’ve become a fan of certain color-tinted noises, you’re gonna love these. I am only fan-girling because using these reminded me of the first time I sipped still-cold water from an insulated bottle some 20 years ago: seems useless…but WHOA, cold water IS better. These buds are ultra flat, so you can actually side sleep on them. You can mix your own custom noises (my current blend is brown, orange, and red) and download it locally to the buds so you’re not tethered to a Bluetooth connection all night.

If I misinterpreted your question and you’re asking about mental health/brain rot/social depletion, or general anxiety disorder (which I now call “Josh GAD,” as it’s prevalent enough to warrant a fun name, no offense Josh), maybe then just try this game Tucker found called Death Charades?

How would you rate Figma’s new design features?

Barbara (guest writer!): A- overall. Their new motion tool is great for quick animations and has nice bezier curve abilities (which make the animation look smoother). You can easily choose the frame or screen you want and animate directly in your file, no matter how messy it is. Their new shaders get an A. You can animate or adjust pretty much anything in the right sidebar (position, scale, opacity, color). Their AI custom shader gets a C. Not great yet, probably needs a few iterations and updates before it’s in a truly usable state.

Well, That’s Fun (Link Party)

• Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s new image, an “ocean of stars” captured by the most detailed sky survey telescope ever built. It is breathtaking. Related: Vera Rubin Observatory Discoveries Bingo Card.

• TRMNL is a hackable e-ink dashboard that shows you exactly what you want (weather, calendar, transit, your Strava) and nothing you don’t. The developer docs let you build your own screens with plain HTML and a simple API.

• The pigeons will save us! Earlier this year, a research team trained a handful of pigeons to watch short CT scan videos and peck out whether they noticed growths that can signal cancer.

• Candice Odgers’ TED talk “What We’re Getting Wrong About Teens and Tech” pushes back on the doom narrative around teens and screens. [Hopeful sigh.]

• How to wear a monocle: This film from the 1930s is exactly what it sounds like. A rare slice of life.

• Dark Secret is a real, bookable NYC service where for $500, a mysterious woman in black shows up to your funeral, cries in the corner, speaks to no one, and vanishes.

• Fancy f-ing jello. We spent the 90s throwing jello at each other in cafeterias and now they’re an $80-a-basket bar menu item. Time is a flat, jiggly circle.

• Josh Okeefe’s “The Humours of Whiskey” (Live Pub Performance).

• Napalm Death’s Tiny Desk Concert. If you listen to this one, please email Tucker directly with your thoughts (his request!).

• This disclaimer can cover almost anything. Feel free to steal: In case of any partial difference between the physical object and this manual, the physical object shall prevail. Without further notice.

  

• A lesson in nailing your message: The Starz tagline (from last year): “We’re all adults here.” A reminder to keep it simple, folks.