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Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

tomshardware.com

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Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#181

Post by hrimfaxi »

api wrote: post #132
lordgroff wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's incredibly distressing, but I think the issue here lies with 'we'. Those at the very top are a very, shall we say, unique group. Those who seek power at such a level are not like the rest of us. There's established research showing that psychopathic and sociopathic traits are vastly more common among the "CEO class". It's not that wealth and power _makes_ them so, it's that relatively few are willing to be compl…

Are they unique? What would happen to an ordinary person if you gave them a billion dollars? One of the things this does is gets you surrounded by supplicants and yes-men trying to tell you what you want to hear to get your money. It destroys social feedback. Nobody will tell you you're wrong. This is not good for mental health.

Imagine you suddenly had $100MM. You never have to work again and can do practically whatever you want. But most of us appreciate experiences with the company of others.

Who would you be able to spend time with? Most of your friends and family would still have to work. Of course, you could offer them to leave their jobs and give them money so they won't have to worry and they could spend time with you. But then it leads to the social feedback issue, so even those closest to you don't want to rock the boat.

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#182

Post by overfeed »

int0x29 wrote: post #114
breppp wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However Qatar stopped production before the straits were officially closed and their stated reason is "due to military attacks", also Russian or Chinese ships can pass

The strait is now mined at least partially. Country of origin doesn't matter when there are mines in the water.

We really are overdue for mines with IFF and can inert themselves temporarily for blue ships.

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#183

Post by cyberax »

rootusrootus wrote: post #149
karmakurtisaani wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the nation's #1 dingleberry Joe Rogan is now turning against Trump. Would be a great time for folks to start admitting they fell for it again.

I will dare to admit aloud that I think maybe the founders were making a rational choice when they decided that only certain citizens would have the right to vote. As awful as that sounds, there are halfway decent arguments in favor. Maybe not just restricting to white wealthy landowners, but sometimes I do wonder if we would benefit from a filter that adequately screens for people 1) with real skin in the game and 2…

Everybody should be allowed to vote, except for people who don't want everyone to vote.

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#184

Post by overfeed »

hinkley wrote: post #130
int0x29 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strait is now mined at least partially. Country of origin doesn't matter when there are mines in the water.

This is going to be an environmental disaster.

Only if there's no diplomatic resolution - however unlikely.

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#185

Post by cyberax »

edgyquant wrote: post #155
4ggr0 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> too far left wing > biden uhm...

His admin was by far the most left wing in history, only the actual far left think otherwise

How does he compare with Nixon, who created the EPA?

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#186

Post by marcosdumay »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #43

Lindsay Graham has an easy solution to this unnecessary conflict: send your sons and daughters. This whole administration is such a fiasco.

I recommend anybody looking at the US land invasion proposal to do that with an altitude map of Iran on the side.

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#187

Post by tzs »

bix6 wrote: post #37
vasco wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Messer Completes Acquisition of Federal Helium System from BLM https://www.messer-us.com/press-releases/messer-completes-ac...

Why did we sell it instead of lease? This seems like something that should be in public hands.

The Helium Privatization Act of 1996 (HPA) required it. It passed to House on a voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent and was signed by President Clinton.

After sales paid off the debt that has been incurred from the expansion of scope of the helium program in the 1960 Helium Act, which was one of the main points of the HPA, it was update by the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 (which passed the House 394-1, and the Senate 97-2, and was signed by President Obama).

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#188

Post by trollbridge »

stevenwoo wrote: post #159
trollbridge wrote: post #7

Aren’t there huge stockpiles of helium in the US? I can buy party sized tanks at Target or big tanks at the usual places like welding supply places.

All natural gas deposits contain helium at various concentrations, it's only commercially worth harvesting above a certain percentage but speculate the problem is the US can't just fill the Qatar loss in supply immediately since we have plentiful natural gas.

Makes sense.

We have so much gas where I live that there are places it’s just flared off and burned, because it’s less greenhouse emissions than it escaping unburned.

Re: Qatar helium shutdown puts chip supply chain on a two-week clock

#190

Post by rootusrootus »

pfdietz wrote: post #172
rootusrootus wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity I did a minor amount of research to get an idea. Turns out that you are right, some balloon gas is 80%. Specifically, the "Balloon Time" tanks you can buy at places like Target say "not less than 80%" helium. On the other hand, I went to AirGas and a few other suppliers and they seemed to have 95%-97.0% helium gas as their definition for balloon grade.

Perhaps "balloon grade" here is not " party balloon grade". Weather balloons? Research balloons?

My guess is that places like AirGas aren't really supplying many weather or research balloons. I suspect the easier answer is 'Balloon Time is low grade crap aimed at people who don't know any better and just want to pick up some balloon gas while grocery shopping.' It's like the difference between people who go to a gas station to refill propane tanks, and people who swap them at Home Depot. (though the smart fellers do swap at Home Depot occasionally, if they need a fresher tank...)

Definitely worth knowing what you're getting, in any case, so you don't get ripped off, and so you can actually get that lawn chair contraption into the sky.

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