Virginia Country with 37 Data Centers (and Plans to Build 17 More) Asks Employees People to Conserve Electricity
June 30th, 2026Via: 404:
On June 26, the County Manager of Henrico County, Virginia, John Vithoulkas, sent an email to thousands of county employees asking them to help the local government conserve electricity. “Beginning July 1st, the rate we pay for electricity used in all Henrico County government and school facilities will increase dramatically — by 25%, increasing costs by an estimated $5 million next fiscal year. We anticipate more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead,” a copy of the email obtained by 404 Media said (emphasis his).
Henrico County is a community of more than 350,000 people in eastern Virginia just outside of Richmond. It also hosts 37 data centers and there are plans to build 17 more, including plans to convert hundreds of acres of Civil War battlefields into data centers. Thanks to its proximity to DC and vast amounts of land, Henrico County became a data center hub seemingly overnight and its services clients big and small. Meta built a data center there in 2017.
“To mitigate the impact of higher electric costs, I am asking that we, collectively, make slight adjustments to conserve electricity across our individual workspaces,” Vithoulkas wrote in the email. “Turn off your lights when leaving your workspace, including when you leave for the day. Turn off your computers/laptops at the end of each workday. If your workspace has windows, adjust the blinds to manage heat from sunlight. Unplug any appliances, chargers, or other electrical items when they are not in use. Please limit use of (or refrain altogether from using) space heaters. A typical space heater alone can cost the county from $150 to $300 per year in electricity costs.”
Flock Cameras Track A Lot More Than Your License Plate
June 28th, 2026Via: Engadget:
Thanks to the rise of AI, a new kind of surveillance camera has rapidly proliferated across the United States. Typically referred to as automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, they’re most often mounted along roadways, where they log the movements of cars which pass through their field of vision. Though various companies offer them, the most well known come from Flock Security, and the company has consequently been a lightning rod for public opinion. Shocking exactly nobody, there has been widespread public backlash to cameras that track everyone, whether or not they’ve been suspected of a crime.
Although Flock cameras are often referred to as license plate readers, that’s reductive. Reading license plates is their primary task, but they can be used to track just about anyone or anything. Even without a license plate, law enforcement officers can search for things such as, hypothetically, “green sedan with American flag bumper sticker,” or, “pickup truck with paint scratches on left side and dirt bike in truck bed.” Reducing Flock ALPRs to license plate readers is a bit like calling your own eyes “Engadget article readers” simply because that’s what you’re using them for at this particular moment. The company also offers AI surveillance cameras which do track individuals.
The issues with Flock Safety cameras are well documented: Flock has been plagued by security vulnerabilities, rampant misuse by law enforcement officers and AI malfunctions which land innocent people in trouble with the law. And once Flock cameras take root in a city, weeding them out can be nearly impossible. There are now over 100,000 ALPRs installed nationwide, with the vast majority coming from Flock.
“AI Boom Risks Global Financial Crash, Warn Central Bankers”
June 28th, 2026Via: Telegraph:
Substantial debt-fuelled spending on AI is driving up the risk of a global financial crisis, central bankers have warned.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Sunday that “excessive” spending on new AI data centres and opaque, debt-fuelled transactions risked a financial meltdown similar to the global credit crunch nearly two decades ago.
The BIS, known as the bank for central banks, said there was growing “peril” in financial markets from the complex web of financial ties between AI giants, shadow banks and data centre builders unravelling.
“Financial stability could … be at risk in the event of an AI bust,” the BIS said. “Should hyperscalers slow or halt the aggressive pace of capex deployment, many borrowers across the supply chain could struggle to replace lost revenue and service their debt.
“The opacity of AI-sector financing compounds these vulnerabilities.”
“Plan to Steer Hurricanes”
June 28th, 2026Via: USA Today:
Technology is on the cusp of allowing humans to disrupt or steer natural disasters, like hurricanes, according to a new study, which appeared in the journal PLOS Water on June 24.
If that sounds like far-fetched science fiction, some scientists would agree with you. But study authors say humans must embrace technology to help tame the world’s weather, before it’s too late.
“The growing impact of weather extremes on society highlights that traditional approaches such as dams, levees, and insurance alone may not be sufficient to address the widespread consequences of these hazards,” the authors say.
Their proposed solution: Use existing technology (often used to extract rain from clouds), and supercharge it with high-tech data and analysis. Done correctly, humans might be able to disrupt huge weather systems and protect densely populated areas.
The One About Space Based Data Centers
June 27th, 2026Via: Real Engineering:
Related: SpaceX AI Satellites
Iran Attacked a Cargo Ship, U.S. Attacked Iran
June 27th, 2026Via: The War Zone:
After the U.S. airstrikes, Iran reiterated that it will continue to hold at risk shipping in the Strait that does not follow its rules for transit.
“Iran has repeatedly stated that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will not return to what it was before the U.S. attack on Iran,” the official Iranian IRIB media outlet stated on X. “Any transit through the Strait must follow the routes announced by Iran; otherwise, the security of vessels cannot be guaranteed.”
Ukraine Launches Attack Against Russia with 660 Drones
June 27th, 2026Via: Daily Mail:
Ukraine has unleashed a huge barrage of 660 drones in a major nighttime attack across Russia in the latest humiliation for Vladimir Putin.
It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.
The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year was 556 drones on May 17.
In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have for months been battering targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front line and deep inside Russia.
Trump’s War Economy Accelerates As Lockheed Wins $35 Billion Deal To Quadruple Missile-Interceptor Output
June 26th, 2026Mission accomplished.
Via: ZeroHedge:
President Trump’s war economy continues to gain steam as weapons production is kicked into high gear and stockpiling becomes a top priority for the Department of War.
The latest evidence: Lockheed Martin has won a DoW contract worth up to $35 billion to quadruple production of THAAD missile-defense interceptors, according to Bloomberg.
The seven-year agreement follows a January framework deal between Lockheed and DoW to boost interceptor output over the next few years. It also comes as the White House moves to mobilize the defense industrial base, with Trump invoking the Defense Production Act to reduce manufacturing bottlenecks.
Apple Increases Prices Due to Memory Shortage
June 25th, 2026Via: Mac Rumors:
Apple today raised prices on many of its products, including all Macs and iPads, as well as the Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini, and Vision Pro. We shared a list of the price increases, which range from $30 for the HomePod mini to up to $1,300 for the Mac Studio. iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods prices have not changed, at least for now.
How Wall Street Launders Dogsh*t Into Retirement Funds
June 25th, 2026Via: ZeroHedge:
One of the more embarrassing habits of modern finance is its insistence on pretending the stock market has some integrity left.
Capital, we used to think, flowed to the most productive businesses. Prices reflected fundamentals. Risk was priced. The market, in the long run, separated signal from noise and rewarded cash generation over fantasy. That is the civics-class version of markets, and at this point it bears no resemblance to the one we actually trade in.
The market’s core failure right now is not simply overvaluation. Markets have always produced overvalued stocks. The deeper problem is that speculative inflation can now be mechanically converted into benchmark legitimacy and then forcibly distributed to passive investors as “diversification.”
In other words, the modern market increasingly allows stocks to get bid up through narrative, call option activity and momentum, then ratifies those bloated valuations through index inclusion, and finally pipes them directly into the retirement system through ETFs, mutual funds and model portfolios.
Related: SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI IPO Bag Holders – You Might Become One of Them
