We're going backwards in technology

Oh man, I'm just now being reminded that the entire modern internet was built on the understanding that RAM was going to be dirt cheap going forward and therefore optimization didn't have to be done. Because of this, web pages taking up over a GB of memory are not uncommon these days.

Looks like things have gotten bad enough with the RAM supply that the entire web being horrifically unoptimized might be a real problem soon. For the longest time it was hard to have a computer that was slow unless you were using something ancient, I think genuinely slow computers are going to come back again with RAM being the bottleneck

The icelandic cat who eats those who are not wearing their new clothes.

The Jólakötturinn, or the Yule Cat is a monstrously large creature from Icelandic folklore that is said to roam the snowy countryside during Christmas, with a particular appetite for anyone who has not received new clothes before Christmas Eve or who did not wear them.

She is also the pet of the troll witch Grýla. She is used to threaten naughty children, because she loves to eat them. Grýla's sons are the Jólasveinar, the thirteen Icelandic Santa Clauses, dwarves who originally did not bring gifts, but stole things or played pranks. They are on the move between December 12 and January 6.

Did you know? 🎓

"A recent New York Times report sheds light on a 1965 CIA-led operation that led to the loss of a nuclear-powered device on one of the tallest peaks in the Himalayas."

https://lavocedinewyork.com/en/news/2025/12/13/the-cia-lost-a-nuclear-generator-in-the-indian-himalayas-its-still-there-today/

🇺🇸 🇨🇺 🇻🇪 U.S. Oil Blockade of Venezuela Pushes Cuba Toward Collapse

The Communist-ruled island was already suffering from food shortages, blackouts and an exodus of people; now it faces the loss of cheap oil from Nicolás Maduro

The U.S. is ratcheting up pressure on Havana’s key benefactor, Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which has kept the Communist-ruled nation afloat with cheap oil. Now Venezuelan oil exports are at risk thanks to a partial blockade targeting sanctioned tankers—the kind that carry about 70% of the country’s crude.

🛢 Were Venezuela’s oil shipments to stop, or sharply decline, the Cubans know it would be devastating.

“It would be the collapse of the Cuban economy, no question about it,” said Jorge Piñón, a Cuban exile who tracks the island’s energy ties to Venezuela at the University of Texas at Austin.

Nearly 90% of people live in extreme poverty, and 70% go without at least a meal a day, said the Social Rights Observatory, a think tank that conducted a month of polling this past summer. For more than 70% of Cubans, their main concerns are the lack of food and the constant blackouts, which can go for 18 hours or more a day in some regions. The observatory found that 78% intend to flee the island.

⚡️ Cuba’s deep reliance on Venezuela means Cuba’s Communist government is doing all it can to prevent Maduro—who trained in Cuba as a young man—from being forced from office in his greatest challenge after nearly 13 years in office. That means ensuring he is always surrounded by security and loyal aides, with no one carrying cellphones or other electronic devices.

https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-oil-blockade-of-venezuela-pushes-cuba-toward-collapse-75289b5b

📎 WSJ

Types of Swiss Army knives based on the number of tools

Did you know? 🎓

Ladies Ice Skating in Central Park, 1892

Walter Granville-Smith

⚓️ 🇺🇸 President Trump announces he has approved a PLAN for the U.S. Navy to begin construction on two BRAND-NEW Navy Trump-Class Battleships. “These are the best in the world.”

“They will be the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.”

📎 RedWave Press

"Junior leaders thrive when given real responsibility. A 25-year-old colonel just saved the Revolution because the Commander-in-Chief refused to micromanage him.

"We are still trying to re-learn that lesson 250 years later.

"Every time I teach Mission Command to a new class of officers, NCOs, cops or corporate America, I make them read Washington’s order to Knox. Then I ask: “If your boss gave you an order this short, would you feel liberated—or terrified?”

https://open.substack.com/pub/donvandergriff/p/one-of-the-greatest-military-missions