> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.techcanbebetter.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Chaos is the theme of the week - URL: https://www.techcanbebetter.com/chaos-is-the-theme-of-the-week/ - Published: 2025-02-06T14:06:53.000Z - Updated: 2025-02-06T14:06:53.000Z - Description: A grab bag of interesting things from the week. - Author: John Ludwig Chaos is the theme this week. Each day’s news feels like it comes from the spin of a roulette wheel — I did not have “annex Gaza” in the pool. So, why should this newsletter be any different? Here is a grab bag of interesting things from all over the economy and tech industry. ## Raves [Construction Physics](https://www.construction-physics.com/p/inside-the-interconnection-queue?ref=techcanbebetter.com) explains the electrical interconnect queue, which is actually a great look at pending electrical generation projects. And there is a stunning amount of generation in the queue, almost twice the installed base. Renewables are the dominant category — this is very optimistic news! As the article points out, not all these projects will be built; historically, there has been a high abandonment rate. But still, very hopeful. The other interesting thing here is just how long it takes to get a project built and interconnected — it certainly seems like there is an opportunity to improve the permitting and planning process. [SemiAnalysis](https://semianalysis.com/2025/02/05/iedm2024/?ref=techcanbebetter.com) summarizes the recent International Electron Device Manufacturing conference, where many semiconductor products are showcased: TSMC N2 node, with all kinds of interesting materials innovations; compute-in-memory to address memory bandwidth issues — orders of magnitude more memory bandwidth, at the cost of architectural complexity; all sorts of innovations around stacking and layering. There is a lot of Moore’s Law runway ahead of us. [Strong as steel, light as foam.](https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/strong-as-steel-light-as-foam-machine-learning-and-nano-3d-printing-produce-breakthrough-high-performance-nano-architected-materials/?ref=techcanbebetter.com) Machine learning and nano-3D printing produce breakthrough high-performance, nano-architected materials. Pervasive cheap AI is going to change everything — the design of every structural material, every drug, every chip, pretty much everything is going to be altered by AI. [Markitdown](https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown?ref=techcanbebetter.com) seems hugely helpful. I have folders full of a mishmash of PDFs, Excel docs, Word docs, images, and other cruft. A lot of existing extractors suck or are expensive, this seems like a great great tool. What [a nice way of presenting your resume](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-dix-b477592%5Flike-you-ive-had-a-lot-of-jobs-some-of-activity-7287969692806234113-nUOZ/?utm%5Fmedium=ios%5Fapp&utm%5Fsource=social%5Fshare%5Fsend&utm%5Fcampaign=share%5Fvia) — and creating such a resume would force you to think and reflect about your career and what happened along the way. Why write a newsletter or blog? Because [writing is a central part of thinking](https://www.hottakes.space/p/why-write-a-blog-at-all?utm%5Fsource=post-email-title&publication%5Fid=26747&post%5Fid=145980491&utm%5Fcampaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=22lh9&triedRedirect=true&utm%5Fmedium=email). I cannot really understand a topic until I can write about it, and writing forces me to organize my thoughts, and sometimes surprises me with the conclusions I come to. Writing on a regular cadence is highly valuable — [“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”](https://www.threads.net/@anagramforstrange/post/DFLvvZDspg-?xmt=AQGzP1PK5s6ACSOIHwacNlE8Kxmytf44BFeSdHDDQeP4wg&ref=techcanbebetter.com) [Apple Invites](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/02/introducing-apple-invites-a-new-app-that-brings-people-together/?ref=techcanbebetter.com) is a nice, focused little app. [A Brandi Carlile and Elton John album?](https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/brandi-carlile-and-elton-john-team-up-for-new-joint-album/?ref=techcanbebetter.com) Count me in! Elton has done fascinating work to keep his music current and alive; I loved his song with Dua Lipa. ## A Few Rants It is an ugly time in the country — and ugly actions by our leaders encourage ugly actions by everyone. I’ve admired Microsoft under Satya’s leadership, but [this layoff seems very ugly](https://nypost.com/2025/01/31/business/microsoft-cracks-down-on-low-performing-workers-fires-some-without-severance-report/?ref=techcanbebetter.com) — Microsoft is doing fantastically well and can certainly afford to treat people more humanely. A new norm of lousy treatment is becoming OK. Which is sad, what has happened to “a shining city upon a hill?” Leaders should set the standard for behaviour, not regress to the mean or worse. This week, I was reminded of a famous quote from Jerry Tarkanian, the legendary basketball coach at UNLV. At the time, the NCAA was trying to fight widespread “cheating” in the game, and there was a lot of evidence that Kentucky had violated many rules. But Kentucky is one of the sport’s bluebloods, and no one wanted to damage that program. Jerry famously observed [“The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky they're going to give Cleveland State another year of probation.”](https://www.unlv.edu/tark/quotes?ref=techcanbebetter.com) We are so upset about our economic competition with China that we are slapping tariffs on Canada.