Regarding closure of the Speira aluminium plant in Düsseldorf it must have been long due; Germany is a net importer of electricity so it does not make sense to have such industries in the German heartlands. I guess it was made back in the “brown coal burning for electricity is OK” days. Aluminium prices apparently has dropped 37% so I guess every producer is struggling. About half of aluminium supply is recycled aluminium today, which only consumes 5% of the energy.
BTW, I’ve visited Swedens only remaining aluminium smelter, Kubal.
They are still operating, with plenty of hydroelectric power nearby and their own high voltage power line feeding them electricity. To see open pits with melted metal is a special experience. To my recollection T hey do their reduction of aluminium oxide at 4.1V DC, but with currents of 200000 Amps or so. They consume 2 TWh of electricity annually, some 3% all of Swedens electricity demand. Swedish electricity prices have soared due to the newfangled German demand and the interconnected grids, so I don’t know what their current production is..
It would certainly make more sense if they had kept their 17 nuclear power plants and had kept building more... It may still not have been the most efficient place to do so, but some inefficient things are still very valuable, as we're finding our because of all the global supply chain disruptions and trade partners that turn into adversaries (ie. it wasn't great to depend on Russia for gaz, on China for XYZ)
Germany is special due to their Bundeslands and unions both being part owners of lot of local industry. We often think of Germany as an efficent country.. My wife is german so I’m not allowed to elaborate :)
In a related fact I just learned that Icelands aluminium smelters consume 75% of the islands energy production of hydroelectric and geothermal, electricity that is not connected to any transnational grid so limited competition over electricity. They can keep on producing, isolated to energy price volatility elsewhere. Not having a cheap and reliable source of fossile free electricity must mean you are out on a limb in the aluminium smelting business..
What a surprise to see Beatallica mentioned here! Then it falls off a very steep, slippery slope ... AI doing it. I would spend zero time listening to that. The magic for anyone who cares is in the fact that people did it. Same as real art. Since the majority couldn't care less, it could be a huge hit! Just like other trash. Speaking of...
"when a character interacts with any kind of brand or business, one can never be quite sure if this is what the writers wanted, or if this was added because money changed hands."
NEVER will or have you seen or heard a brand, or logo, in film or TV unless it is paid for and cleared by legal.
I'm not saying it will be great, or better, or that everyone needs to be interested. But I think it will happen, and it'll be interesting to me to see how it succeeds or falls flat.
On the product placement, what I meant was more along the lines of making Walter White drive a Pontiac Aztec as a character element, and I bet that was written in by the writers (and then probably cleared), rather than being a product placement that was brought in by some ad sales department and then forced on the writers.
The GPT4 test results are certainly impressive, as are its overall capabilities even after one day of playing with it. GPT4 scores high against humans ON THE DAY THE HUMANS TOOK THE TEST. Unlike humans, GPT4 would perform better after years - whereas humans get progressively worse beginning on the day after celebrating passing the text. This portends a radical and immediate change in the concept of human education and accreditation.
For example, a smart ten year old could pass the bar and practice by simply feeding all testimony, depositions, etc. into the GPT in real time and getting its advice on how to proceed. As a formerly smart ten year old myself, this capability would be my dream come true - I could learn to think, learn and do faster and better without wasting time is useless and boring classrooms. Hold on to your hats - the world is about to make a radical acceleration.
"GPT4 scores high against humans ON THE DAY THE HUMANS TOOK THE TEST. Unlike humans, GPT4 would perform better after years - whereas humans get progressively worse beginning on the day after celebrating passing the text."
Regarding closure of the Speira aluminium plant in Düsseldorf it must have been long due; Germany is a net importer of electricity so it does not make sense to have such industries in the German heartlands. I guess it was made back in the “brown coal burning for electricity is OK” days. Aluminium prices apparently has dropped 37% so I guess every producer is struggling. About half of aluminium supply is recycled aluminium today, which only consumes 5% of the energy.
BTW, I’ve visited Swedens only remaining aluminium smelter, Kubal.
They are still operating, with plenty of hydroelectric power nearby and their own high voltage power line feeding them electricity. To see open pits with melted metal is a special experience. To my recollection T hey do their reduction of aluminium oxide at 4.1V DC, but with currents of 200000 Amps or so. They consume 2 TWh of electricity annually, some 3% all of Swedens electricity demand. Swedish electricity prices have soared due to the newfangled German demand and the interconnected grids, so I don’t know what their current production is..
It would certainly make more sense if they had kept their 17 nuclear power plants and had kept building more... It may still not have been the most efficient place to do so, but some inefficient things are still very valuable, as we're finding our because of all the global supply chain disruptions and trade partners that turn into adversaries (ie. it wasn't great to depend on Russia for gaz, on China for XYZ)
Germany is special due to their Bundeslands and unions both being part owners of lot of local industry. We often think of Germany as an efficent country.. My wife is german so I’m not allowed to elaborate :)
In a related fact I just learned that Icelands aluminium smelters consume 75% of the islands energy production of hydroelectric and geothermal, electricity that is not connected to any transnational grid so limited competition over electricity. They can keep on producing, isolated to energy price volatility elsewhere. Not having a cheap and reliable source of fossile free electricity must mean you are out on a limb in the aluminium smelting business..
https://arcticecon.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/aluminium-smelting-in-iceland-alcoa-rio-tinto-alcan-century-aluminum-corp/
Here in Quebec we have close to 100% hydro, and have some big smelters because of it.
What a surprise to see Beatallica mentioned here! Then it falls off a very steep, slippery slope ... AI doing it. I would spend zero time listening to that. The magic for anyone who cares is in the fact that people did it. Same as real art. Since the majority couldn't care less, it could be a huge hit! Just like other trash. Speaking of...
"when a character interacts with any kind of brand or business, one can never be quite sure if this is what the writers wanted, or if this was added because money changed hands."
NEVER will or have you seen or heard a brand, or logo, in film or TV unless it is paid for and cleared by legal.
I'm not saying it will be great, or better, or that everyone needs to be interested. But I think it will happen, and it'll be interesting to me to see how it succeeds or falls flat.
On the product placement, what I meant was more along the lines of making Walter White drive a Pontiac Aztec as a character element, and I bet that was written in by the writers (and then probably cleared), rather than being a product placement that was brought in by some ad sales department and then forced on the writers.
Great points. Agreed.
The GPT4 test results are certainly impressive, as are its overall capabilities even after one day of playing with it. GPT4 scores high against humans ON THE DAY THE HUMANS TOOK THE TEST. Unlike humans, GPT4 would perform better after years - whereas humans get progressively worse beginning on the day after celebrating passing the text. This portends a radical and immediate change in the concept of human education and accreditation.
For example, a smart ten year old could pass the bar and practice by simply feeding all testimony, depositions, etc. into the GPT in real time and getting its advice on how to proceed. As a formerly smart ten year old myself, this capability would be my dream come true - I could learn to think, learn and do faster and better without wasting time is useless and boring classrooms. Hold on to your hats - the world is about to make a radical acceleration.
"GPT4 scores high against humans ON THE DAY THE HUMANS TOOK THE TEST. Unlike humans, GPT4 would perform better after years - whereas humans get progressively worse beginning on the day after celebrating passing the text."
That's such a good point!