Old clip of mine from 2020, playing through the Master Chief Collection

Intel might be the key to re-realizing the American dream of advanced chip production and packaging on U.S. soil. Under the Trump administration, the United States has been making significant efforts to establish leading-edge chip manufacturing domestically. Achieving this goal is challenging for several reasons. In the race for the most advanced silicon, only a few major veteran players remain: Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. Among these, Taiwan-based TSMC has consistently overcome obstacles to become the leader in the semiconductor industry. Through a strategic approach to semiconductor development, TSMC has excelled in both leading-edge node production and advanced chip packaging, enhancing performance.

Historically, Intel has faced difficulties with leading-edge semiconductor node production, even outsourcing some chip manufacturing to TSMC. However, there is a significant opportunity for Intel to not only produce silicon but also establish itself as a major packaging partner for many manufacturers, including TSMC. TSMC's facilities in Arizona address the issue of USA-based manufacturing only partially. While TSMC's Arizona Fab 21 produces 4 nm wafers, these wafers must be sent back to Taiwan for packaging, disrupting the sovereign supply chain that is crucial for domestic manufacturing. Addressing these issues could present a good opportunity for Intel, even if Team Blue doesn't manufacture the underlying silicon. [...]

Is It Any Good on the Ryzen 9800X3D and Core Ultra 9 285K?

Roughly a year ago we put the Ryzen 9800X3D and Core Ultra 9 285K through a marathon head-to-head across 45 games, and the result was decisive: on average the Ryzen chip was 24% faster.

Since then Intel has issued a steady stream of firmware and tuning updates, including a new one-click overclocking feature called Boost 200S. That makes this a good moment to revisit the matchup and see whether any of those changes have meaningfully shifted the landscape for Intel's flagship part.

For this updated round of testing we narrowed the list to a dozen titles, most of them newly released or recently updated, and evaluated each with two quality presets, typically medium and ultra. [...]

Video version: YouTube

Donald Trump vs. the NIMBYs

The teardown of the White House’s East Wing this week is a Rorschach test. Many see the rubble as a metaphor for President Donald Trump’s reckless disregard of norms and the rule of law, a reflection of his willingness to bulldoze history and a temple to a second Gilded Age, paid for by corporate donors. Others see what they love about Trump: A lifelong builder boldly pursuing a grand vision, a change agent unafraid to decisively take on the status quo and a developer slashing through red tape that would stymie any normal politician.

In classic Trump fashion, the president is pursuing a reasonable idea in the most jarring manner possible. Privately, many alumni of the Biden and Obama White Houses acknowledge the long-overdue need for an event space like what Trump is creating. It is absurd that tents need to be erected on the South Lawn for state dinners, and VIPs are forced to use porta-potties.

The State Dining Room seats 140. The East Room seats about 200. Trump says the ballroom at the center of his 90,000-square-foot addition will accommodate 999 guests. The next Democratic president will be happy to have this.

Preservationists express horror that Trump did not submit his plans to their scrutiny, but the truth is that this project would not have gotten done, certainly not during his term, if the president had gone through the traditional review process. The blueprints would have faced death by a thousand papercuts. [...]

Archived: archive.today

Original post (Mastodon)

Virtual diva AZKi will release two new EPs simultaneously on November 5th.

Re:Start and Re:Birth will be the hololive-affiliated VTuber's first physical releases since her departure from major label Victor Entertainment back in June. [...]

“Elijah Clark, a consultant who advises companies on AI implementation, is blunt about the bottom line. ‘CEOs are extremely excited about the opportunities that AI brings,’ he says. ‘As a CEO myself, I can tell you, I’m extremely excited about it. I’ve laid off employees myself because of AI. AI doesn’t go on strike. It doesn’t ask for a pay raise.’” — Gizmodo

Hi team,

Happy Taco Tuesday, and blessed Q3 Hustle VibesTM from your CEO, Rockin’ Rickie.

First off: Thank you. Your hard work is why Bin There, Felt That remains the first and only company dedicated to manufacturing trash cans for adult children of divorce. What we do is vital. It’s a lot like open-heart surgery, but with a slightly higher body count and way more cupholders. I’m proud to lead a crew—nay, familia—bound by five core values: integrity, passion, collaboration, mixing up women employees—but in a respectful way—and honesty. With that in mind, I wanted to address a recent interview in which I was egregiously misquoted as saying: “I legit can’t wait to fire these ungrateful poors with our company’s new AI agent.” [...]

Original post: layer8.space (Mastodon)

Acknowledging that he was impressed by the foreign leader’s ability to compromise on all kinds of fixtures, President Donald Trump announced Friday that he had participated in a productive call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ballroom sconces. “We spoke for several hours and made great progress in negotiating whether I should go with a gold or silver finish,” Trump said while examining various wall-mounted lighting options, adding that he was committed to reaching a diplomatic solution in finalizing the design of his planned $300 million White House ballroom. [...]

Technical debt is a real thing, as any IT manager, programmer, system administrator or SRE, or end user will tell you. If you save money in the short run by not keeping up, you always end up paying with interest when you are backed into a place where you do have to catch up. Or, you go out of business.

So it is with Intel, which has come perilously close to irrelevancy in such a short time through a mix of foolishness, arrogance, and honest mistakes.
[...]
But what Gelsinger knows, and what his replacement Lip-Bu Tan knows, is that manufacturing knowledge in the chip business is cumulative. You can’t skip steps. You have to stand on them – or, if you trip, as Intel has done, try to land on the one after the one you skipped by accident. [...]

The spy who shagged me?

Mail-order spies: Tech companies employ some of the most robust network security to protect against IP theft. However, no amount of network security protects against theft from within. While corporate espionage is largely digital these days, good old-fashioned infiltration is still in use. China and Russia increasingly use sexual honeypots to compromise employees and gain access to sensitive technology.

According to sources speaking with UK newspaper The Times, foreign operatives from China and Russia are increasingly using "sex warfare" to target American tech professionals. The tactic involves sending attractive women to seduce employees, gain access to trade secrets, and sometimes even marry and have children with their targets. [...]