Noise Nightmare
July 11, 2024 6:39 PM Subscribe
Living a nightmare: health crisis in a bitcoin mining town.
"On an evening in December 2023, 43-year-old small business owner Sarah Rosenkranz collapsed in her home in Granbury, Texas and was rushed to the emergency room. Her heart pounded 200 beats per minute; her blood pressure spiked into hypertensive crisis; her skull throbbed. “It felt like my head was in a pressure vise being crushed,” she says. “That pain was worse than childbirth.” [TIME]
"On an evening in December 2023, 43-year-old small business owner Sarah Rosenkranz collapsed in her home in Granbury, Texas and was rushed to the emergency room. Her heart pounded 200 beats per minute; her blood pressure spiked into hypertensive crisis; her skull throbbed. “It felt like my head was in a pressure vise being crushed,” she says. “That pain was worse than childbirth.” [TIME]
Any statewide legislation is sure to hit significant headwinds, because the very idea of regulation runs contrary to many Texans’ political beliefs. “As constitutional conservatives, they have taken our core values and used that against us,” says Demetra Conrad, a city council member in the nearby town of Glen Rose.
posted by Sauce Trough at 7:24 PM on July 11, 2024 [10 favorites]
posted by Sauce Trough at 7:24 PM on July 11, 2024 [10 favorites]
I feel bad for these folks. I hope they get relief from the noise pollution.
posted by creiszhanson at 7:28 PM on July 11, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by creiszhanson at 7:28 PM on July 11, 2024 [2 favorites]
Any statewide legislation is sure to hit significant headwinds, because the very idea of regulation runs contrary to many Texans’ political beliefs. “As constitutional conservatives, they have taken our core values and used that against us,” says Demetra Conrad, a city council member in the nearby town of Glen Rose.
I do hope they get this fixed, but between flaky power and anti-regulation politics one can't help wonder what will go wrong in Texas next.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:57 PM on July 11, 2024 [4 favorites]
I do hope they get this fixed, but between flaky power and anti-regulation politics one can't help wonder what will go wrong in Texas next.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:57 PM on July 11, 2024 [4 favorites]
“As constitutional conservatives, they have taken our core values and used that against us,” says Demetra Conrad
She is clearly someone who played the game of Monopoly many times without ever divining the underlying evil that winning the game represents.
Texans love their self-image of honor, self-sufficiency and resilience, but somewhere along the way they polluted that image and now the Lone Ranger is simply covered in sponsorship patches. "Heigh-ho Bitcoin, away! Sponsored by Carl's Jr."
posted by zaixfeep at 8:02 PM on July 11, 2024 [14 favorites]
She is clearly someone who played the game of Monopoly many times without ever divining the underlying evil that winning the game represents.
Texans love their self-image of honor, self-sufficiency and resilience, but somewhere along the way they polluted that image and now the Lone Ranger is simply covered in sponsorship patches. "Heigh-ho Bitcoin, away! Sponsored by Carl's Jr."
posted by zaixfeep at 8:02 PM on July 11, 2024 [14 favorites]
I don't understand why bad things keep happening to me, says person who keeps doing bad things to themself.
posted by Literaryhero at 8:19 PM on July 11, 2024 [15 favorites]
posted by Literaryhero at 8:19 PM on July 11, 2024 [15 favorites]
Texan businessman and politicians sure love LARPing ‘Proud To Be Texan’ but clearly have zero respect for the people of the state they’ll whore out at the drop of a cowboy hat. They’ll stand their with their dicks in their hands chanting DEREGULATION! then fellate the masters of the regulatory capture industrial complex, right up until the ground under their knees suddenly disappears in a fire sale.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 8:19 PM on July 11, 2024 [20 favorites]
posted by armoir from antproof case at 8:19 PM on July 11, 2024 [20 favorites]
Oh, it won’t be the ground under *their* knees.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:35 PM on July 11, 2024 [6 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:35 PM on July 11, 2024 [6 favorites]
If the rule you followed brought you to this. Of what use was the rule
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:07 PM on July 11, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:07 PM on July 11, 2024 [5 favorites]
What? Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of those massive cooling fans. What? Most I ever lost on a candy floss? Sorry sir I really can't hear you.
posted by Balna Watya at 9:13 PM on July 11, 2024
posted by Balna Watya at 9:13 PM on July 11, 2024
Bitcoin should be illegal and the people who push it should rot in prison cells. Nothing good has come from this.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:19 PM on July 11, 2024 [15 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:19 PM on July 11, 2024 [15 favorites]
The proper Texas response would be to round up an armed posse, organize some dynamite, and blow every single one of those hideously expensive shipping containers all to fuck. But that would require Republicans to understand that tyranny is tyranny whether privatized or not, which none of them are ever going to do.
posted by flabdablet at 10:46 PM on July 11, 2024 [32 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:46 PM on July 11, 2024 [32 favorites]
The U.S. has made itself into its own colony. And, without bold action from the governed, this will continue to get worse no matter who's President.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 12:57 AM on July 12, 2024 [14 favorites]
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 12:57 AM on July 12, 2024 [14 favorites]
“As constitutional conservatives, they have taken our core values and used that against us,” says Demetra Conrad
This isn't politics, it's religion.
posted by Dysk at 1:32 AM on July 12, 2024 [9 favorites]
This isn't politics, it's religion.
posted by Dysk at 1:32 AM on July 12, 2024 [9 favorites]
Those face-eating leopards sure do get hungry.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:11 AM on July 12, 2024 [13 favorites]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:11 AM on July 12, 2024 [13 favorites]
they have taken our core values and used that against us
See also: belief; bears.
posted by flabdablet at 4:20 AM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
See also: belief; bears.
posted by flabdablet at 4:20 AM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Your rights end where someone else's begin.
Sure, do what you want on your own property. But if what you do on your property effects those who aren't on it, you're the one responsible for making changes so it doesn't.
Why so many people can't seem to understand that this applies to noise and other pollution is beyond me.
That this case is so they can burn up electricity to make useless funny numbers is just the cherry on top.
I hope the people of Granbury come together to make an example from this.
posted by jellywerker at 4:21 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
Sure, do what you want on your own property. But if what you do on your property effects those who aren't on it, you're the one responsible for making changes so it doesn't.
Why so many people can't seem to understand that this applies to noise and other pollution is beyond me.
That this case is so they can burn up electricity to make useless funny numbers is just the cherry on top.
I hope the people of Granbury come together to make an example from this.
posted by jellywerker at 4:21 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
Nothing good has come from this.
The fact that bitcoin is always tracked in terms of it's exchange rate with the dollar tells you just how worthless it is as a store of value and the widespread lack of prices of anything being listed in bitcoin tells you how worthless it is as a medium of exchange.
Those are basically the two things a currency is supposed to and crypto currencies utterly fail at both.
posted by VTX at 4:44 AM on July 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
The fact that bitcoin is always tracked in terms of it's exchange rate with the dollar tells you just how worthless it is as a store of value and the widespread lack of prices of anything being listed in bitcoin tells you how worthless it is as a medium of exchange.
Those are basically the two things a currency is supposed to and crypto currencies utterly fail at both.
posted by VTX at 4:44 AM on July 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
Ah, yes, Texas. The place I think of when I think of a great, totally functioning energy grid that almost never has any problems, ever.
posted by snortasprocket at 4:56 AM on July 12, 2024 [9 favorites]
The group insisted that their industry would help the state’s overtaxed energy grid; that during energy crises, miners would be one of the few energy customers able to shut off upon request, provided that they were paid in exchange.Or, you know, you could save all that energy by not fucking using it in the first place.
posted by snortasprocket at 4:56 AM on July 12, 2024 [9 favorites]
The "constitutional" conservatives who keep refusing to help people should read the freaking thing.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:18 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:18 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
because the very idea of regulation runs contrary to many Texans’ political beliefs.
They also love family values. You can tell by looking at who they vote for.
posted by AlSweigart at 5:42 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
They also love family values. You can tell by looking at who they vote for.
posted by AlSweigart at 5:42 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
Or, you know, you could save all that energy by not fucking using it in the first place.
Power companies are in the business of selling electricity, and the ability to sell a lot of it on non-peak hours is an attractive proposition.
Texas only has one power company and it’s pretty clear they could use the money.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:52 AM on July 12, 2024
Power companies are in the business of selling electricity, and the ability to sell a lot of it on non-peak hours is an attractive proposition.
Texas only has one power company and it’s pretty clear they could use the money.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:52 AM on July 12, 2024
Where did confederates that didn't abide by the surrender at Appomattox retreat to with their slaves and held out for another two years?
That sort of thing could leave an impression on a place.
posted by VTX at 5:53 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
That sort of thing could leave an impression on a place.
posted by VTX at 5:53 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
It's a pity everyone here is too busy riffing on bitcoin and Texas to to cast a skeptical eye on the story. The supposed health effects are so broad that they sound bullshitty. Everything from heart disease to dead trees to balding dogs is being blamed on the bitcoin. With this population, I'll bet if it wasn't bitcoin, it would be 5G, or wind farms, covid vaccine, anything that makes sense of a correlation to a virtually random development that sorta, maybe, possibly be linked to noisy fans at the local bitcoin mine. Hey, that Oathkeeper is joining forces with Greenpeace, so there must be something to it, right?
posted by 2N2222 at 6:11 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
posted by 2N2222 at 6:11 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
It's a pity everyone here is too busy riffing on bitcoin and Texas to to cast a skeptical eye on the story.
Time has a reputation to protect. I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. (Not that there isn’t a lot of doubt)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:03 AM on July 12, 2024
Time has a reputation to protect. I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. (Not that there isn’t a lot of doubt)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:03 AM on July 12, 2024
I believe it because a Dept of Health and Human Services building in my neighborhood installed a new loud air conditioner, and that alone caused health issues and outrage.
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:17 AM on July 12, 2024
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:17 AM on July 12, 2024
2n2222, you have clearly never lived with an incessant, inescapable, maddening noise. A noise that comes into your bedroom and makes it impossible to sleep. A noise that saturates your life. A noise that suddenly appeared where once there was silence, and has never, ever stopped. A noise that makes you constantly on edge, a noise that might not be very much in the frequencies you can hear but that has a sensation accompanying it that feels like being at a loud concert, all the time. Earplugs don't work, it reaches right through your skull and shakes everything.
I had one of these noises happen to me when I lived in the middle of Seattle. Something was making a noise at the edge of hearing. I heard it all around the neighborhood I lived in, I'd hear it sporadically in other parts of the city. I spent as much time as I could in parts of the city where I couldn't hear it. My boyfriend couldn't hear it and I kept on wondering if I was imagining things, but the fact that it stopped when I moved away from Seattle for good makes me pretty sure it was a real vibration that I could pick up.
These people are lucky, in one way: they have a very clear correlation between "this bitcoin mine turned on their fans" and "this horrible inescapable noise invaded their lives". Most of these sorts of events take forever to find the source of the noise, if it's ever found. They're also getting some really strong effects because this is a super loud noise, and this is Texas, so there's zero laws about noise pollution that they can use to make it stop, so "lucky" is pretty relative here.
As to being skeptical of all these different effects, I suggest you type "effects of lack of sleep" into your favorite search provider and read a few of the results. You will find a very broad set of symptoms. Noise pollution is a very real thing and it's really easy to dismiss because it doesn't have any obvious visual tells like "a giant cloud of crap coming out of a smokestack" but it is fucking insidious.
posted by egypturnash at 7:21 AM on July 12, 2024 [31 favorites]
I had one of these noises happen to me when I lived in the middle of Seattle. Something was making a noise at the edge of hearing. I heard it all around the neighborhood I lived in, I'd hear it sporadically in other parts of the city. I spent as much time as I could in parts of the city where I couldn't hear it. My boyfriend couldn't hear it and I kept on wondering if I was imagining things, but the fact that it stopped when I moved away from Seattle for good makes me pretty sure it was a real vibration that I could pick up.
These people are lucky, in one way: they have a very clear correlation between "this bitcoin mine turned on their fans" and "this horrible inescapable noise invaded their lives". Most of these sorts of events take forever to find the source of the noise, if it's ever found. They're also getting some really strong effects because this is a super loud noise, and this is Texas, so there's zero laws about noise pollution that they can use to make it stop, so "lucky" is pretty relative here.
As to being skeptical of all these different effects, I suggest you type "effects of lack of sleep" into your favorite search provider and read a few of the results. You will find a very broad set of symptoms. Noise pollution is a very real thing and it's really easy to dismiss because it doesn't have any obvious visual tells like "a giant cloud of crap coming out of a smokestack" but it is fucking insidious.
posted by egypturnash at 7:21 AM on July 12, 2024 [31 favorites]
It's a pity everyone here is too busy riffing on bitcoin and Texas to to cast a skeptical eye on the story. The supposed health effects are so broad that they sound bullshitty.
While I concur that the victim demographic are not exactly trustworthy when it comes to linking cause to effect, loud noise pollution being harmful is absolutely a thing.
Persistent noise levels above 60dB can cause hearing damage; the louder it is, the shorter the period that is safe. A quoted level of up to 90dB - the same as a shouted conversation - risks hearing damage if longer than 4 hours, and is reported to be continuous day and night. That will lead to tinnitus and eventual permanent hearing loss.
Long term loud noise pollution - more usually from high traffic noise - especially during the hours of sleep can cause a laundry list of medical effects. They quote 72dB in the dead of night in a child's bedroom; that is a damn loud bedroom, like trying to sleep next to a running vacuum cleaner.
The loss of sleep alone can cause significant cardiovascular problems, mental health problems, vulnerability to infections, and sustained high levels of stress are well known to be harmful in many ways. The impact on children's ability to learn can be substantial. It's estimated that there's 48,000 new cases of ischaemic heart disease a year as well as 12,000 premature deaths due to noise pollution in the EU above 55dB. Some studies from the WHO place noise pollution harm only just behind air pollution as a source of environmental harm. And this sounds a lot lounder than the average 65dB considered harmful in the EU.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 7:26 AM on July 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
While I concur that the victim demographic are not exactly trustworthy when it comes to linking cause to effect, loud noise pollution being harmful is absolutely a thing.
Persistent noise levels above 60dB can cause hearing damage; the louder it is, the shorter the period that is safe. A quoted level of up to 90dB - the same as a shouted conversation - risks hearing damage if longer than 4 hours, and is reported to be continuous day and night. That will lead to tinnitus and eventual permanent hearing loss.
Long term loud noise pollution - more usually from high traffic noise - especially during the hours of sleep can cause a laundry list of medical effects. They quote 72dB in the dead of night in a child's bedroom; that is a damn loud bedroom, like trying to sleep next to a running vacuum cleaner.
The loss of sleep alone can cause significant cardiovascular problems, mental health problems, vulnerability to infections, and sustained high levels of stress are well known to be harmful in many ways. The impact on children's ability to learn can be substantial. It's estimated that there's 48,000 new cases of ischaemic heart disease a year as well as 12,000 premature deaths due to noise pollution in the EU above 55dB. Some studies from the WHO place noise pollution harm only just behind air pollution as a source of environmental harm. And this sounds a lot lounder than the average 65dB considered harmful in the EU.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 7:26 AM on July 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
It's a pity everyone here is too busy riffing on bitcoin and Texas to to cast a skeptical eye on the story. The supposed health effects are so broad that they sound bullshitty. Everything from heart disease to dead trees to balding dogs is being blamed on the bitcoin. With this population, I'll bet if it wasn't bitcoin, it would be 5G, or wind farms, covid vaccine, anything that makes sense of a correlation to a virtually random development that sorta, maybe, possibly be linked to noisy fans at the local bitcoin mine.
There's a lot of medical evidence that repeated, long-lasting exposure to sound and vibration above certain levels will have wide-ranging health impacts. It's why most places have ordinances for sound - it's not just hearing or enjoyment that is lost but a whole host of other things. Cranial pressure in particular which is a theme across a number of these instances is a known thing.
It's also painfully ironic that you accuse others of not being skeptical enough when you make wide accusations about what "this population" believes.
posted by openhearted at 7:27 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
There's a lot of medical evidence that repeated, long-lasting exposure to sound and vibration above certain levels will have wide-ranging health impacts. It's why most places have ordinances for sound - it's not just hearing or enjoyment that is lost but a whole host of other things. Cranial pressure in particular which is a theme across a number of these instances is a known thing.
It's also painfully ironic that you accuse others of not being skeptical enough when you make wide accusations about what "this population" believes.
posted by openhearted at 7:27 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
oh wait and here's 2n222 in the comments on a post here about Mysterious Hums from a few months ago talking about exactly how this sort of problem is tied up in conspiracy nonsense in a bad way that makes it really easy to dismiss the concerns of people suffering from it:
> It's a shame the well's been poisoned with paranormal/conspiracy crap when it comes to the mysterious hum(s). My feeling is that one of the worst aspects of hearing a persistent hum may be the inability to explain what it is. I can see how it might drive some people batty. And I think that might be compounded when those persons have been primed to think there's something paranormal or conspiratorial. And made worse when nobody else can hear it (or cares to try hearing it). I suspect under similar circumstances, the issue might take me to some dark places.
posted by egypturnash at 7:33 AM on July 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
> It's a shame the well's been poisoned with paranormal/conspiracy crap when it comes to the mysterious hum(s). My feeling is that one of the worst aspects of hearing a persistent hum may be the inability to explain what it is. I can see how it might drive some people batty. And I think that might be compounded when those persons have been primed to think there's something paranormal or conspiratorial. And made worse when nobody else can hear it (or cares to try hearing it). I suspect under similar circumstances, the issue might take me to some dark places.
posted by egypturnash at 7:33 AM on July 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
I kept on wondering if I was imagining things, but the fact that it stopped when I moved away from Seattle for good makes me pretty sure it was a real vibration that I could pick up.
The Hum, earlier and earlier still on Mefi; also on AskMe and Wikipedia.
But if the noise measurements Time quotes are at all accurate, this bitcoin farm noise isn't even subtle, it's just fucking loud as well as relentless.
posted by flabdablet at 7:38 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
The Hum, earlier and earlier still on Mefi; also on AskMe and Wikipedia.
But if the noise measurements Time quotes are at all accurate, this bitcoin farm noise isn't even subtle, it's just fucking loud as well as relentless.
posted by flabdablet at 7:38 AM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
The noise is horrible enough, but I wonder if the volume of air moved by the fans could also be contributing to the observed health effects. Those fans are continuously sucking in air from a bare patch of dry dirt and launching it skyward. There could be all sorts of nasty fungal spores wafting down on nearby residents.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:49 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:49 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
Yeah I was in Windsor, Canada for a while and there was a 'Windsor Hum' thing going on, probably linked in one of the above posts. It was horrific for a number of reasons, not least of which that there were people who just outright denied my *actual experience*. Hurt my sleep, mental health, and i suppose if it was louder or I hadn't gotten out it could have caused physical problems too.
I'm not inclined to dismiss any of the people saying that their experience is shit.
posted by jpziller at 7:50 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
I'm not inclined to dismiss any of the people saying that their experience is shit.
posted by jpziller at 7:50 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
I will say that it's encouraging to see that the company that owns the "mine" had already committed to removing the issue by replacing the fans with liquid emersion systems that will alleviate the noise. Though I'm curious how much, if any, pressure had to be applied to convince them I'm prepared to be charitable and believe that they decided to make the change once they knew it was having such terrible effects.
The irony is that if there had been regulation and enforcement in place to prevent such loud equipment from ever being installed, both the citizens AND the company would be better off.
posted by VTX at 8:15 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
The irony is that if there had been regulation and enforcement in place to prevent such loud equipment from ever being installed, both the citizens AND the company would be better off.
posted by VTX at 8:15 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
That was horrific. These are people who can't afford to move away. They can't sell their houses because no one wants to move next to something that will keep you up at night, destroy your hearing, cause brain damage, and eventually kill you. The plant is continuously operating at far above the legal limit for noise, and continually receiving small fines (the only penalty under Texas law), so many that the fines are now in excess of $17,000. But they just pay the fines, because they're making more money. than that
The whole time I was reading this article, I just kept thinking how lucky this company was to be operating in Texas / the USA. Lots of other places, the plant would have been blown up by unhappy residents by now (and they'd be right to do it).
posted by subdee at 8:30 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
The whole time I was reading this article, I just kept thinking how lucky this company was to be operating in Texas / the USA. Lots of other places, the plant would have been blown up by unhappy residents by now (and they'd be right to do it).
posted by subdee at 8:30 AM on July 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
A neighborhood’s cryptocurrency mine: ‘Like a jet that never leaves’
MURPHY, N.C. — It’s midnight, and a jet-like roar is rumbling up the slopes of Poor House Mountain. Except there are no planes overhead, and the nearest commercial airport is 80 miles away.
The sound is coming from a cluster of sheds at the base of the mountain housing a cryptocurrency data center, operated by the San Francisco-based firm PrimeBlock. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, powerful computers perform the complex computations needed to “mine,” or create, digital currencies. And those noise-generating computers are kept cool by huge fans.
“It’s like living on top of Niagara Falls,” said Mike Lugiewicz, whose home lies less than 100 yards from the mine.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:40 AM on July 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
MURPHY, N.C. — It’s midnight, and a jet-like roar is rumbling up the slopes of Poor House Mountain. Except there are no planes overhead, and the nearest commercial airport is 80 miles away.
The sound is coming from a cluster of sheds at the base of the mountain housing a cryptocurrency data center, operated by the San Francisco-based firm PrimeBlock. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, powerful computers perform the complex computations needed to “mine,” or create, digital currencies. And those noise-generating computers are kept cool by huge fans.
“It’s like living on top of Niagara Falls,” said Mike Lugiewicz, whose home lies less than 100 yards from the mine.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:40 AM on July 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
^ the link above, from an August 31, 2022 WaPo article, has audio clips from two different mines in North Carolina. Thanks, They sucked his brains out!
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:32 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:32 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
The group insisted that their industry would help the state’s overtaxed energy grid
When I read that, I expected that the following paragraph would say that they'd erected solar panels on top of each container. And maybe powering the town as compensation.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:39 AM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
When I read that, I expected that the following paragraph would say that they'd erected solar panels on top of each container. And maybe powering the town as compensation.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:39 AM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
According to a recent report, data centers will use 8% of total U.S. power by 2030, up from 3% in 2022.
So, what I'm getting from this is that a potentially effective way to decrease US energy usage would be to sabotage the power feed to places like this.
Question: what is the legality of discussing, strictly hypothetically, the means, methods, and potential targets of such a sabotage project?
posted by Reverend John at 11:35 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
So, what I'm getting from this is that a potentially effective way to decrease US energy usage would be to sabotage the power feed to places like this.
Question: what is the legality of discussing, strictly hypothetically, the means, methods, and potential targets of such a sabotage project?
posted by Reverend John at 11:35 AM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
Reverend John: "According to a recent report, data centers will use 8% of total U.S. power by 2030, up from 3% in 2022.
So, what I'm getting from this is that a potentially effective way to decrease US energy usage would be to sabotage the power feed to places like this.
Question: what is the legality of discussing, strictly hypothetically, the means, methods, and potential targets of such a sabotage project?"
I do not know. But hypothetically, if those mines were ever to suddenly and inexplicably go dark, I'm sure many of us would swear on a Bible that you were out of town on business that day.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:30 PM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
So, what I'm getting from this is that a potentially effective way to decrease US energy usage would be to sabotage the power feed to places like this.
Question: what is the legality of discussing, strictly hypothetically, the means, methods, and potential targets of such a sabotage project?"
I do not know. But hypothetically, if those mines were ever to suddenly and inexplicably go dark, I'm sure many of us would swear on a Bible that you were out of town on business that day.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:30 PM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
I wonder why they plunked down next to a gas plant instead of a nuclear one. Much cheaper off-peak energy and no one wants to live near one anyway.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:23 PM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:23 PM on July 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
I live down wind of US imperial economic policy and an authoritarian banking system and they are far worse than one noisy mine.
Useless? I'm using it now.
I don't care if you like it or not but, If you don't understand the multiple ways that bitcoin is considered better money by some regular folk then you don't understand bitcoin well enough to have an informed discussion about it.
posted by neonamber at 7:16 PM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Useless? I'm using it now.
I don't care if you like it or not but, If you don't understand the multiple ways that bitcoin is considered better money by some regular folk then you don't understand bitcoin well enough to have an informed discussion about it.
posted by neonamber at 7:16 PM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I don't care if you like it or not but, If you don't understand the multiple ways that bitcoin is considered better money by some regular folk then you don't understand bitcoin well enough to have an informed discussion about it.
Seriously? From TFA…
But the system also requires an immense and ever-increasing amount of electricity. While Bitcoin’s first miners were solo operators often working out of their bedrooms, the industry is now dominated by a handful of billion-dollar corporations who operate industrial-size server farms across the globe. In the month of March 2024 alone, the Bitcoin mining industry generated a record $2 billion in revenue.
I’m regular folk and I understand it all too well.
posted by jabo at 8:23 PM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
Seriously? From TFA…
But the system also requires an immense and ever-increasing amount of electricity. While Bitcoin’s first miners were solo operators often working out of their bedrooms, the industry is now dominated by a handful of billion-dollar corporations who operate industrial-size server farms across the globe. In the month of March 2024 alone, the Bitcoin mining industry generated a record $2 billion in revenue.
I’m regular folk and I understand it all too well.
posted by jabo at 8:23 PM on July 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
Yeah. Any monetary system with zero cost of production is a scam.
posted by neonamber at 9:12 PM on July 12, 2024
posted by neonamber at 9:12 PM on July 12, 2024
I'm old and slow, so I don't understand that point. Could you give me two examples of monetary systems with zero cost of production, and explain to me how those operate as scams in ways that Bitcoin does not?
posted by flabdablet at 10:58 PM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 10:58 PM on July 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I live down wind of US imperial economic policy and an authoritarian banking system and they are far worse than one noisy mine.
Yes, but that's a weird and self-serving comparison - an entire system and worldview vs one mine. Bitcoin is more than one mine. You might compare one mine to a single bank branch, not the whole ass system of repressive hypercapitalism (which bitcoin also embodies in its own ways).
posted by Dysk at 12:23 AM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
Yes, but that's a weird and self-serving comparison - an entire system and worldview vs one mine. Bitcoin is more than one mine. You might compare one mine to a single bank branch, not the whole ass system of repressive hypercapitalism (which bitcoin also embodies in its own ways).
posted by Dysk at 12:23 AM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
...explain to me how those operate as scams in ways that Bitcoin does not?
For near zero cost of production look at banknotes issued by:
What someone considers excessive inflation is subjective. The USD is generously around 3% annual inflation but could trend higher in the future. Bitcoin is currently ~0.8% annual inflation and is algorithmically and inextricably trending to zero.
This is why bitcoin is considered a hedge against inflation and is arguably less scammy than currencies exhibiting higher inflation.
posted by neonamber at 12:38 AM on July 13, 2024
For near zero cost of production look at banknotes issued by:
- Weimar Republic in 1923
- Hungarian National Bank in 1946
What someone considers excessive inflation is subjective. The USD is generously around 3% annual inflation but could trend higher in the future. Bitcoin is currently ~0.8% annual inflation and is algorithmically and inextricably trending to zero.
This is why bitcoin is considered a hedge against inflation and is arguably less scammy than currencies exhibiting higher inflation.
posted by neonamber at 12:38 AM on July 13, 2024
High inflation is not a scam. The fact that it erodes existing wealth does not make it a scam. Wealth taxes achieve exactly the same thing, they aren't a scam either.
posted by Dysk at 12:54 AM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 12:54 AM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
The fact that it erodes existing wealth does not make it a scam.
The fact that it erodes the wealth of people already living in poverty and often most dependent upon cash, who also are often last to benefit from CPI based adjustments is a complete scam.
Real super/ultra wealth is held in assets and not cash. This is why it's a scam. The poor pay disproportionately more for compounding inflation.
posted by neonamber at 12:59 AM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
The fact that it erodes the wealth of people already living in poverty and often most dependent upon cash, who also are often last to benefit from CPI based adjustments is a complete scam.
Real super/ultra wealth is held in assets and not cash. This is why it's a scam. The poor pay disproportionately more for compounding inflation.
posted by neonamber at 12:59 AM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Trust me when I say that those of us in poverty aren't worried about our savings eroding. That's a rich guy problem. Living hand to mouth you have no savings.
posted by Dysk at 1:22 AM on July 13, 2024 [7 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 1:22 AM on July 13, 2024 [7 favorites]
For near zero cost of production look at banknotes issued by:
Weimar Republic in 1923
Hungarian National Bank in 1946
These represent extremes of currency inflation.
Again, I'm old and slow, but I don't understand how you can characterize hyperinflation as a scam without applying the same label on the same basis to the kind of wild exchange value fluctuation that speculative assets in general and Bitcoin in particular are notorious for.
It's true that the exchange value of 1BTC is directly linked to the quantity and therefore the cost of electricity required to mine it, but that's a consequence of that exchange value, not its cause. The fifty thousand dollars I would need to spend on electricity in order to be credited with 1BTC is a sunk cost, and has no bearing whatsoever on what I might be able to sell that Bitcoin for going forward. Ask anybody who was mining them in late 2021.
Real super/ultra wealth is held in assets and not cash.
Exactly so, and this is because the wealthy families who hold those assets understand that a real physical asset like a factory or office building or data centre generates returns by virtue of having actual productive capacity, while a speculative asset like GameStop stock or tulip bulbs or currency generates returns for only as long as the there remains a market consensus expecting it to.
To the extent that Bitcoin counts as any kind of asset, it's as purely speculative as any you'd find. The overwhelming bulk of Bitcoin trading involves exchanging it for other currencies, not for physical goods, which means that its exchange value is determined wholly by market expectation with associated herd effects. I honestly cannot see how anybody who has actually thought this through could possibly genuinely believe that this makes it a more reliable store of value than any fiat currency.
Currencies of all kinds are indeed toward the more speculative end of the spectrum as asset classes go, but the fiat currencies issued by politically stable nations have a lot of inertia built into their exchange values exactly because the overwhelming bulk of the activity they facilitate is not speculative but derived from facilitating trade in real, tangible things.
To the extent that anybody with a clue uses a fiat currency as an asset, they're not holding it in the form of banknotes in a suitcase under the bed, they're holding it in the form of interest-bearing debt. As long as the prevailing inflation rate remains lower than the interest rate on that debt, the value of their holding will increase over time. Central banks create new fiat money at a pace that's designed to keep inflation low - generally somewhere between 2% and 3% - and as long as they remain able to do that, there is no scam inherent in inflation per se.
Hyperinflation is a consequence of political failure, not any kind of inherent fault in the money creation mechanism, and the naive idea that it's feasible to prevent the arse completely falling out of a currency simply by making new money asymptotically impossible to issue in it reflects a complete failure to understand that.
posted by flabdablet at 5:02 AM on July 13, 2024 [5 favorites]
Weimar Republic in 1923
Hungarian National Bank in 1946
These represent extremes of currency inflation.
Again, I'm old and slow, but I don't understand how you can characterize hyperinflation as a scam without applying the same label on the same basis to the kind of wild exchange value fluctuation that speculative assets in general and Bitcoin in particular are notorious for.
It's true that the exchange value of 1BTC is directly linked to the quantity and therefore the cost of electricity required to mine it, but that's a consequence of that exchange value, not its cause. The fifty thousand dollars I would need to spend on electricity in order to be credited with 1BTC is a sunk cost, and has no bearing whatsoever on what I might be able to sell that Bitcoin for going forward. Ask anybody who was mining them in late 2021.
Real super/ultra wealth is held in assets and not cash.
Exactly so, and this is because the wealthy families who hold those assets understand that a real physical asset like a factory or office building or data centre generates returns by virtue of having actual productive capacity, while a speculative asset like GameStop stock or tulip bulbs or currency generates returns for only as long as the there remains a market consensus expecting it to.
To the extent that Bitcoin counts as any kind of asset, it's as purely speculative as any you'd find. The overwhelming bulk of Bitcoin trading involves exchanging it for other currencies, not for physical goods, which means that its exchange value is determined wholly by market expectation with associated herd effects. I honestly cannot see how anybody who has actually thought this through could possibly genuinely believe that this makes it a more reliable store of value than any fiat currency.
Currencies of all kinds are indeed toward the more speculative end of the spectrum as asset classes go, but the fiat currencies issued by politically stable nations have a lot of inertia built into their exchange values exactly because the overwhelming bulk of the activity they facilitate is not speculative but derived from facilitating trade in real, tangible things.
To the extent that anybody with a clue uses a fiat currency as an asset, they're not holding it in the form of banknotes in a suitcase under the bed, they're holding it in the form of interest-bearing debt. As long as the prevailing inflation rate remains lower than the interest rate on that debt, the value of their holding will increase over time. Central banks create new fiat money at a pace that's designed to keep inflation low - generally somewhere between 2% and 3% - and as long as they remain able to do that, there is no scam inherent in inflation per se.
Hyperinflation is a consequence of political failure, not any kind of inherent fault in the money creation mechanism, and the naive idea that it's feasible to prevent the arse completely falling out of a currency simply by making new money asymptotically impossible to issue in it reflects a complete failure to understand that.
posted by flabdablet at 5:02 AM on July 13, 2024 [5 favorites]
Bitcoin is currently ~0.8% annual inflation
Annual increase in the total number of tokens in circulation is not at all the same thing as the annual inflation rate. In order to make them the same, the exchange value between tokens and real physical goods would need to be held constant, which is not and never has been a thing for any currency.
The prices of goods are the basis for calculating inflation, and these are set by the relationship between the supply of and demand for those goods, which in turn reflects the ways in which they are produced and their ownership distributed. This, in turn, depends sensitively on how wealth - real wealth, as measured by control over productive assets - is distributed across an economy.
The more concentrated wealth becomes, the greater becomes the influence of the wealthy on what the market actually produces. For example, if higher returns can be made by selling luxury goods than by doing things for which demand is essentially fixed such as growing or distributing food, business activity will gravitate toward the former and the latter will see less competition. This kind of effect's contribution to inflation completely swamps that of monetary policy.
posted by flabdablet at 5:49 AM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Annual increase in the total number of tokens in circulation is not at all the same thing as the annual inflation rate. In order to make them the same, the exchange value between tokens and real physical goods would need to be held constant, which is not and never has been a thing for any currency.
The prices of goods are the basis for calculating inflation, and these are set by the relationship between the supply of and demand for those goods, which in turn reflects the ways in which they are produced and their ownership distributed. This, in turn, depends sensitively on how wealth - real wealth, as measured by control over productive assets - is distributed across an economy.
The more concentrated wealth becomes, the greater becomes the influence of the wealthy on what the market actually produces. For example, if higher returns can be made by selling luxury goods than by doing things for which demand is essentially fixed such as growing or distributing food, business activity will gravitate toward the former and the latter will see less competition. This kind of effect's contribution to inflation completely swamps that of monetary policy.
posted by flabdablet at 5:49 AM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
I don't understand how you can characterize hyperinflation as a scam without applying the same label on the same basis to the kind of wild exchange value fluctuation that speculative assets in general and Bitcoin in particular are notorious for.
Because short term speculative noise is for chumps, the deep value is understanding the the long term prospects of a genuinely scarce, internet native, uncensorable money with an issuance policy in opposition to the eroding effect of USD.
You are handily ignoring the global impact of a US foreign policy that exports the economic burden of US monetary inflation to every other country within it's sphere of economic dominance. The cantillion effect doesn't end at US borders, it devalues the hard work of great swaths of the global population.
People are sick of this economic status quo and want a workable alternative.
It now exists.
posted by neonamber at 9:51 AM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Because short term speculative noise is for chumps, the deep value is understanding the the long term prospects of a genuinely scarce, internet native, uncensorable money with an issuance policy in opposition to the eroding effect of USD.
You are handily ignoring the global impact of a US foreign policy that exports the economic burden of US monetary inflation to every other country within it's sphere of economic dominance. The cantillion effect doesn't end at US borders, it devalues the hard work of great swaths of the global population.
People are sick of this economic status quo and want a workable alternative.
It now exists.
posted by neonamber at 9:51 AM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
the long term prospects of a genuinely scarce, internet native, uncensorable money with an issuance policy in opposition to the eroding effect of USD
are, according to my best judgement, poor.
Here's the thing about Bitcoin's algorithmic issuance policy: it doesn't matter. In 2024, most of the Bitcoin that will ever be issued already has been. This means that the quantity of Bitcoin actively being traded, and therefore the price of Bitcoin, now depends almost entirely on decisions made by the relatively tiny number of people who hold the overwhelming bulk of issued Bitcoin and not on the workings of the mining and transaction fees algorithm.
Unlike central bankers, Bitcoin hodlers are not managing their Bitcoin releases with a view to stabilizing whole economies; they're managing them with a view to maximizing their own gains. The amount of Bitcoin actually being used as a medium of exchange is completely trivial compared to the amount being hoarded, and even compared only to other cryptocurrencies its transaction rate is piss poor, so it's not operating as money and its present price reflects its value as the speculative asset that it is operating as.
Speculative noise makes as much money as it loses because every chump has a grifter for a counter-party; whether that noise is short term or long term doesn't alter that. The people who make money on speculation are those who lead the thundering herd, not those who follow it, and the people now making money trading Bitcoin are now the same people making money trading everything else: not you, not me, just the very very wealthy.
The only reason why it remains possible to make a return on Bitcoin is the ongoing expectation that its price as denominated in USD will go up. This is an expectation that has nothing to do with the merits of Bitcoin as money, of which it has so few as to be worse than any other extant currency, and everything to do with the law not yet having got around to shutting down selling it as the Ponzi scheme that it is.
The idea that Bitcoin could possibly maintain anything like today's value once it becomes illegal to offer it for sale is just eye-rollingly naive. It's a crude proof of concept, with all the warts and flaws that that entails, and it has no long term prospects whatsoever.
posted by flabdablet at 12:18 PM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
are, according to my best judgement, poor.
Here's the thing about Bitcoin's algorithmic issuance policy: it doesn't matter. In 2024, most of the Bitcoin that will ever be issued already has been. This means that the quantity of Bitcoin actively being traded, and therefore the price of Bitcoin, now depends almost entirely on decisions made by the relatively tiny number of people who hold the overwhelming bulk of issued Bitcoin and not on the workings of the mining and transaction fees algorithm.
Unlike central bankers, Bitcoin hodlers are not managing their Bitcoin releases with a view to stabilizing whole economies; they're managing them with a view to maximizing their own gains. The amount of Bitcoin actually being used as a medium of exchange is completely trivial compared to the amount being hoarded, and even compared only to other cryptocurrencies its transaction rate is piss poor, so it's not operating as money and its present price reflects its value as the speculative asset that it is operating as.
Speculative noise makes as much money as it loses because every chump has a grifter for a counter-party; whether that noise is short term or long term doesn't alter that. The people who make money on speculation are those who lead the thundering herd, not those who follow it, and the people now making money trading Bitcoin are now the same people making money trading everything else: not you, not me, just the very very wealthy.
The only reason why it remains possible to make a return on Bitcoin is the ongoing expectation that its price as denominated in USD will go up. This is an expectation that has nothing to do with the merits of Bitcoin as money, of which it has so few as to be worse than any other extant currency, and everything to do with the law not yet having got around to shutting down selling it as the Ponzi scheme that it is.
The idea that Bitcoin could possibly maintain anything like today's value once it becomes illegal to offer it for sale is just eye-rollingly naive. It's a crude proof of concept, with all the warts and flaws that that entails, and it has no long term prospects whatsoever.
posted by flabdablet at 12:18 PM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
People are sick of this economic status quo and want a workable alternative
and Bitcoin boosters who blame inflation for the obviously woeful status of that quo are either grifters or rubes, much like fascists who blame everything on immigrants or libertarians who blame it on regulation and taxes. They're just wrong.
The economic status quo sucks because laissez-faire economics has been destabilizing the world's economies since becoming fashionable in the Eighties, and the consequent extremity of wealth inequality has now got to the point of fucking everything up for everybody except the very wealthy.
This maldistribution of wealth can't be fixed by fartarsing around with alternative currencies or locking people inside their own borders or (for fuck's sake!) dismantling even more of the Welfare State. It will only be fixed by using our collective power to impose taxation in ways that force those who hoard unconscionable amounts of assets to sell some of them back to the rest of us at prices we can afford.
The very wealthy own almost all the world's assets, and by and large they do not give a fuck about how that affects anybody else, an attitude of which setting up a roaring gas guzzling Bitcoin mine outside an entire town's bedroom windows is perfectly emblematic.
posted by flabdablet at 12:52 PM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
and Bitcoin boosters who blame inflation for the obviously woeful status of that quo are either grifters or rubes, much like fascists who blame everything on immigrants or libertarians who blame it on regulation and taxes. They're just wrong.
The economic status quo sucks because laissez-faire economics has been destabilizing the world's economies since becoming fashionable in the Eighties, and the consequent extremity of wealth inequality has now got to the point of fucking everything up for everybody except the very wealthy.
This maldistribution of wealth can't be fixed by fartarsing around with alternative currencies or locking people inside their own borders or (for fuck's sake!) dismantling even more of the Welfare State. It will only be fixed by using our collective power to impose taxation in ways that force those who hoard unconscionable amounts of assets to sell some of them back to the rest of us at prices we can afford.
The very wealthy own almost all the world's assets, and by and large they do not give a fuck about how that affects anybody else, an attitude of which setting up a roaring gas guzzling Bitcoin mine outside an entire town's bedroom windows is perfectly emblematic.
posted by flabdablet at 12:52 PM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
Here's the thing about Bitcoin's algorithmic issuance policy: it doesn't matter.
Poppycock. True scarcity is one of its defining and valued characteristics.
The surety of a 21 million algorithmic cap has been recognised from the beginning as central to it's value proposition. On this point, you're either arguing in bad faith or wilfully ignorant about why people are choosing to trust it.
The amount of Bitcoin actually being used as a medium of exchange is completely trivial compared to the amount beinghoarded utilised confidently as a store of value.
You just backhandedly admitted that bitcoin is fulfilling one of the primary functions of a money.
Once people recognise it's a store of value AND the way it's decoupled from USD inflation then game theory explains it from here on. OF COURSE people would rather offload a depreciating currency before they offload their bitcoin savings.
The idea that Bitcoin could possibly maintain anything like today's value once it becomes illegal to offer it for sale is just eye-rollingly naive.
The idea that this could actually happen, especially now that it's being adopted as a global reserve asset and a hedge against inflation in multiple regulated first-world financial markets with rule of law, is so naive it's laughable.
and it has no long term prospects whatsoever.
Bitcoin IS anti-authoritarian free speech. It's arguably the most censorship resistant system on the planet. Every time it's been attacked it gets stronger. Your sad dreams of an authoritarian crackdown destroying it will remain a fantasy. Critical social mass was achieved years ago. You can't dismantle it now, the populous won't allow it.
Your a blind man confidently telling me the mysterious animal is a snake. I dropped acid and glimpsed whole elephant years ago and I've been riding it since. Yeehaww!
posted by neonamber at 9:25 PM on July 13, 2024
Poppycock. True scarcity is one of its defining and valued characteristics.
The surety of a 21 million algorithmic cap has been recognised from the beginning as central to it's value proposition. On this point, you're either arguing in bad faith or wilfully ignorant about why people are choosing to trust it.
The amount of Bitcoin actually being used as a medium of exchange is completely trivial compared to the amount being
You just backhandedly admitted that bitcoin is fulfilling one of the primary functions of a money.
Once people recognise it's a store of value AND the way it's decoupled from USD inflation then game theory explains it from here on. OF COURSE people would rather offload a depreciating currency before they offload their bitcoin savings.
The idea that Bitcoin could possibly maintain anything like today's value once it becomes illegal to offer it for sale is just eye-rollingly naive.
The idea that this could actually happen, especially now that it's being adopted as a global reserve asset and a hedge against inflation in multiple regulated first-world financial markets with rule of law, is so naive it's laughable.
and it has no long term prospects whatsoever.
Bitcoin IS anti-authoritarian free speech. It's arguably the most censorship resistant system on the planet. Every time it's been attacked it gets stronger. Your sad dreams of an authoritarian crackdown destroying it will remain a fantasy. Critical social mass was achieved years ago. You can't dismantle it now, the populous won't allow it.
Your a blind man confidently telling me the mysterious animal is a snake. I dropped acid and glimpsed whole elephant years ago and I've been riding it since. Yeehaww!
posted by neonamber at 9:25 PM on July 13, 2024
If you're that keen on owning digital scarcities, I'm holding a hundred thousand XLM that I'd be willing to let you have for a buck apiece. That's a side effect of all the actual money I made off of being a speculative chump a few years back and they owe me nothing at this point, but if you want them let me know. For I too have seen the elephant and I'm all about the sharing.
posted by flabdablet at 9:42 PM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 9:42 PM on July 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
No thanks. Not all digital scarcities are created equally. It's just another failure to thrive riding on bitcoin's coat tails.
posted by neonamber at 11:20 PM on July 13, 2024
posted by neonamber at 11:20 PM on July 13, 2024
She said what does that mean, a decoupled store of inflation-proof money? I said, who am I to blow against the wind
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:22 PM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:22 PM on July 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
Anyway, back on the subject of obnoxious bitcoin-related noise drowning everything else out, this thread took a turn, huh?
posted by Dysk at 1:09 AM on July 14, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 1:09 AM on July 14, 2024 [4 favorites]
I thought we were talking about Bitcoin-mining fans sucking all the air out of the local vicinity.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:33 AM on July 14, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:33 AM on July 14, 2024 [5 favorites]
Mod note: Not deleting anything at the moment, but asking folks to cease the Bitcoin, Yay! / Bitcoin, Boo! argument that has been hashed and rehashed and then hashed some more here and elsewhere, and return to discussing the posted item more specifically.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:50 AM on July 14, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:50 AM on July 14, 2024 [3 favorites]
"“We’re living in a nightmare,” Sarah Rosenkranz says, sitting at a barbecue restaurant in downtown Granbury on an evening in May. As rock music blares from the speakers and other patrons chatter away, Rosenkranz pulls out her phone and clocks 72 decibels on a sound meter app—the same level that she records in Indigo’s bedroom in the dead of night. In early 2023, her daughter began waking up, yelling and holding her ears. Indigo’s room directly faces the mine, which sits about a mile and a half away."
Something doesn't add up. If Constable Shirley is measuring 86dB just outside the facility then sound attenuation over the 1.5miles to Rosenkranz house should result in levels far below the reported 72dB inside.
I can't be the only person with a mediocre grasp of the inverse square law, logarithmic scales and critical reading.
I believe the facility is noisy but 72dB inside a house from a noise source 1.5miles away really beggars belief. We're talking about cooling fans not rocket engines. How is this even possible?
posted by neonamber at 6:24 AM on July 14, 2024
Something doesn't add up. If Constable Shirley is measuring 86dB just outside the facility then sound attenuation over the 1.5miles to Rosenkranz house should result in levels far below the reported 72dB inside.
I can't be the only person with a mediocre grasp of the inverse square law, logarithmic scales and critical reading.
I believe the facility is noisy but 72dB inside a house from a noise source 1.5miles away really beggars belief. We're talking about cooling fans not rocket engines. How is this even possible?
posted by neonamber at 6:24 AM on July 14, 2024
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posted by wenestvedt at 7:05 PM on July 11, 2024 [29 favorites]