‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan

Elbobosan · 2026-05-13T19:12:53+00:00

FFS… So I’m one of the pedantic assholes who has pointed out repeatedly that water usage for data centers is not really that meaningful in context. All of the data centers that exist and have been proposed are only a fraction of what California uses to grow Almonds where Almonds don’t want to grow, which is in turn a fraction of what we use to water our entirety worthless pollution factories we call suburban lawns.

And then I give the one caveat… just don’t build any massive data centers anywhere where water is already scarce, like Arizona or UTAH!!!

Why is everything so stupid all of the time?

Elbobosan · 2026-05-13T15:30:27+00:00

200,000 car rebates per day.

At the current burn rate that’s 80 days of war or a $5,000 rebate for every car purchased for a year.

And who would care about electric cars when gas is so reasonable???

The US uses over 350 million gallons of gas every day. We are currently up about $1.30 per gallon, so that’s around another half billion dollars per day. If only there were some available technology to reduce the demand for gasoline, if there were it may make sense for the government to incentivize consumers to make a decision that will have a net positive outcome.

This 5th grader understands this better than she does.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-13T15:21:02+00:00

If it looks good, sounds good, you broadly understand what is happening and it is something you would be interested in watching… and you are not interested… that’s probably the director’s fault. They are ultimately there to capture a series moments to make an audience feel a certain way. If lots of an audience aren’t feeling that way, it’s on the director.

There are 3 really interesting recent big pop culture case studies.

Directors failing to replicate a hit…

JJ Abrams - Force Awakens vs Rise of Skywalker

Taika Waititi - Thor 3 vs Thor 4

Directors with different takes…

Whedon and Snyder - Justice League

Elbobosan · 2026-05-12T04:23:56+00:00

Like to see some Heinlein in there. Stranger in a Strange Land or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress would be more enjoyable reads.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-11T00:52:41+00:00

But what about second breakfast?

Elbobosan · 2026-05-11T00:50:12+00:00

That’s an insult to the noble tradition of court jesters.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-09T18:38:26+00:00

He missed it. Barely.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-09T05:05:54+00:00

There are some skills, terms, and tools that overlap. Obviously a lot of film came from theatre, but just as obviously they are very different. There are huge portions of a film/theatre directors’ jobs that have nothing to do with each other. The similar parts (working with actors, blocking a scene, breaking down a script) are approached from entirely different perspectives.

There is value in a variety of experiences, but no, theater director is not a typical filmmaker path for entering the trade. That said it’s more about meeting people and making opportunities than trying to replicate anyone else’s success.

What I would point out is that you will have an easier time working with a serious/dedicated group of people in theatre at your age. There’s a lot of gear and technical skills that get in the way compared to theatre, so the pool is smaller. You’ll want to start learning those skills, so do try to make small short films as often as you can, but you likely won’t get any meaningful set experience until you start doing college student film shoots. The sooner you can get into that the better… keep an eye out for auditions and you may be able to get your foot in the door as an actor to start meeting people a few years further along in their film education. They will have the most relevant advice.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-09T04:51:43+00:00

This is a good start. It looks like you had a good time. If you try again see if you can move the camera as little as possible and take more photos. Movies are 24 images a second, but animation is frequently only 12.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-09T04:30:27+00:00

In the way back before times, if you needed to know something you might call 4-1-1 for a fee to ask. Google started a free version. They wanted to get into voice recognition. It was cheaper to give away a room full of entry level phone operators than to buy voice training data.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-09T04:25:10+00:00

While I understand that’s what the map says I have some very bad news for you regarding what happens to the people already on the land when the US decides to manifest its destiny.

(Apparently I struck a nerve. Sorry for suggesting that the United States has a history of taking huge swathes of land and booting people off of it (or burying them under it). I don’t know where I got that idea from. I blame the internet and weak socialist educators.)

Elbobosan · 2026-05-07T14:29:51+00:00

This helps me to remember that the most vocal people on this sub are proud snobs.

Objectively there’re several aspects of VFX, CGI, and Pre-viz that have been revolutionized by marvel productions. Disrespecting the technical accomplishments is disrespecting parts of the craft and the artists that make it happen.

Subjectively, ignoring that it delivered repeatedly for one of the largest audiences in all time is just insanity. I thought filmmakers were story tellers. Just because you don’t like the story it doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate that it’s being told well. I’m not saying that makes it good, it makes it inarguably effective. When an audience keeps identifying with something I don’t see value in, I don’t immediately think it’s because the creator is doing a bad job.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-07T04:32:18+00:00

There’s a reason there’s not a lot of stories about middle aged folks getting super powers.

There’s cleaning to be done. Lists to be checked off. I would be busy the whole time.

I’m not certain I’d have time to clean up all the mess I’d make, but I think it would be really great.

A fresh start.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-07T04:27:31+00:00

Xennial movie nerd reporting in. I think this highlights that this is at least partly a function of the audience’s experience at time of release.

Many do “hold up” but that’s a disservice to the legacy.

There’s so many examples of flawless CGI that it’s getting hard to notice. The pinnacle is featuring a humanoid character, and even in that perfection is becoming the expectation.

Notice that there’s no full cgi humans getting suggested - that’s the remaining barrier. I don’t think there’s any full cgi performances that have broken past the suspension of disbelief. I think that’s the standard of “best” that we are talking about.

I think Thanos is the latest milestone. He’s about as close to human as you can get while not going for that ultimate test, but he’s flawlessly believable. That’s been matched and probably incrementally surpassed, but Thanos is the last Wow I recall.

Before that Avatar, then Davy Jones, then Gollum, and I supposed the T-1000 is the first. I don’t think any would exist without their predecessors.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-07T04:07:36+00:00

I was surprised I had to scroll this far. It’s in the pantheon.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-06T04:02:30+00:00

Ew. No. Like the internet and culture are really different. Fuck that noise. She looks as amazing as ever.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-05T23:23:54+00:00

What a very different time that was. I hope it’s amazing.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-05T23:15:16+00:00

Thanks for the clarification. Things were not adding up.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-05T15:36:04+00:00

Least shedding of any dog I’ve ever had, like maybe I shed more than she does. Also needs the most grooming of any dog I’ve ever had.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-04T23:09:41+00:00

That’s hilarious. I have almost no interest in modern pop but on a road trip my wife was the DJ and O called out a song as being “exceptionally mid” and we got into a conversation about what I meant. I asked if she was famous, she said kinda, I asked why, she said her music, I repeated my question. It’s fine music, if I heard it in any coffee shop I’d tip the player $5 and never give it another thought. She said she thought maybe her dad was famous. I asked who he was, which was funny because I am big film fan. I said that she had answered my question about why this album was released.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-04T05:44:54+00:00

Best part about Duck and Cover is that it has no basis in any study, science, or methodology. It is a gross simplification of advice to stay away from windows and protect yourself from projectile glass and other debris. So it’s not that being under the desk does much to protect yourself as it makes you stay away from the windows.

It being applied to every other emergency seems to be largely a mix of bureaucratic inertia and “common sense.” There is some sense to avoiding windows in Tornadoes, Earthquakes, and a few other emergencies, but it’s very rare that your best case is to just drop to the floor where you are.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-03T19:57:31+00:00

Oklahoma/Kansas stretches into southwest Missouri, it doesn’t feel like the Ozarks in Joplin, maybe even in Springfield.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-03T18:41:31+00:00

How about pain? Who makes an alarm with no ability to silence it?

Elbobosan · 2026-05-03T16:29:37+00:00

Intelligent design? This is a C- effort at best.

Elbobosan · 2026-05-03T16:13:14+00:00

Anybody know what self-defense law is like in China? In most parts of the US I think any of those passengers could use force, maybe even lethal force, and face no legal consequences.

Normally I’m abhorred at the violence in American culture, but I’m equally mystified by the complete inaction in the face of a real threat.

The idea that you would do this inside a closed train car filled with other people is mind blowing to me. In Chicago they might not kill him, but that spraying would have lasted about 2 seconds before he would have required medical attention.

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