Author: Mechlander

Categories
Tech Tips

The High Cost of AI

AI Driving Up The Cost Of Tech

I don’t know if you’ve tried to buy computer memory lately, but the price has skyrocketed. DDR5 memory I bought last year in January for $37 is now selling for close to $300! This affects the price of every type of electronics that uses memory. TVs, PCs, Gaming Consoles, Phones, Servers…etc all use high-speed memory and are affected by the increase in memory prices.

The cause of this inflation is the amount of high-speed memory needed to support AI. Chip makers have prioritized manufacturing of high-speed memory for AI systems which are consuming memory at an increadible pace.

As of March 2026, AI data centers are experiencing a massive, “unprecedented” surge in memory usage, projected to consume approximately 70% of all worldwide high-end memory production (DRAM and High-Bandwidth Memory – HBM) in 2026. This explosive demand in the last three months has led to a severe memory shortage in the US, with AI servers requiring 3x to 4x more DRAM than traditional servers. (EnkiAI)

This surge in memory prices is expected to continue thru 2028 and cause a disruption in the supply chain for many tech products going forward. Memory chip makers like Micron, Samsung and SK-Hynix are investing billions in new chip facilities but most won’t be running until 2028.

So, if there is any tech you’ve been thinking about buying, better to get it sooner than later…

– R. Lopez (Admitted Technophile)

Categories
Movies

Favorite SciFi Movies

Alien was the first movie I paid to see more than once. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back I paid to see at least 6 times! It was shown at Pacific Cinerama in 70 mm Sensaround. It was like a ride at Disneyland.

Categories
Gaming Halo

Halo Infinite

Campaign Battle Scenes

The latest installment of the Halo Franchise. Good graphics and gamplay. Haven’t tried the multiplayer yet.

Categories
Music

The Laugh Track

Music by Ice Nine Kills

Awesome music video.

Categories
Non-fiction

Burn Book

A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher

The book is a memoir and history of Silicon Valley, offering a witty, critical, and personal look at the tech industry’s most powerful figures and their impact, blending Swisher’s career with the rise of tech titans like Zuckerberg, Musk, and Bezos. Published in early 2024, the book is praised as a “highly readable… bawdy, brash, and compulsively thought-provoking” account that serves as a necessary chronicle of the digital age, exploring both the innovation and the failures of the industry. 

I found it took me back to my start in tech and reminded me of how much has changed in that short period of time.

AMAZON

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Categories
Sports Uncategorized

America’s Golden Girls!!

Congratulations to our newest Olympic Gold Medal Winners!!

Mikaela Shiffrin
US Women’s Hockey Team
Alysa Liu

Mikaela Shiffrin

@nbcolympics

A GOLDEN MOMENT FOR MIKAELA SHIFFRIN. 🥇 #winterolympics #mikaelashiffrin #teamusa #gold #skiing

♬ original sound – NBC Olympics & Paralympics

US Women’s Hockey Team

Alysa Liu

Categories
Books SciFi

I Grok it now…

A dear friend gave me this book over 30 years ago (when I was still an egg 😊). I finally got around to reading it and grok it in fullness now. I’m glad I didn’t try to read it back when he first gave it to me, as I don’t think I would’ve been able to grok some of Heinlein’s insight into the human condition that’s so prevalent in today’s society.

A very good book…👍

AMAZON

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Categories
Reference Tech Tips

Add Emoji’s to PC

Add the Emoji’s and more feature to your desktop/laptop PC. Images below show you how. 😊

Open settings and enter emoji:

Screenshot 2025-11-29 001701

Change Emoji and more setting to Always:

Screenshot 2025-11-29 001747

Will now appear in the lower right of the taskbar. 👍

Screenshot 2025-11-29 001819
Categories
Skiing Sports

Olympics In Italy

This years Winter Olympics in Italy has been really fun to watch and has brought back a lot of memories of some great ski trips from the past. Below is a picture of one of the ski runs on the Women’s Downhill race course that is one of the most beautiful and amazing in that it runs between two giant rock outcroppings and is one of the most amazing ski runs I’ve seen. I would love to have had a chance to have skied it.

This years skiing events have been very exciting and a bit bittersweat as we got to see Breezy Johnson win gold in the women’s downhill. But we also saw Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic comeback bid come to a tragic end as she crashed and broke her leg ending her attempt at winning the downhill and from competing in any future racing events as well.

Categories
Career Bio

My start in Tech…

Fresh out of school

I started in tech back in the 80’s working for a company whose products included Satellite Communications, Data Encryption and Terminal Multiplexers to name a few… It was before PCs became commonplace as they are today. Most of our interoffice communications was done using terminals connected to a DEC VAX mainframe.

It was a great place to start out! I learned a lot that helped propel my journey thru the tech industry. While there, I got a working knowledge of such concepts as encoding data to achieve signal gain and using the encoded data to correct errors caused by signal loss during transmission. Other concepts I later found useful was how to use Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) to multiplex multiple data streams onto a single T1 data signal to allow multiple terminals to access a mainframe computer system.

I also got my first experience developing hardware and software for In-Circuit Test there.

Several of the founders of this company would later go on to create a new company that is a leading innovator in Spread Spectrum technology (CDMA) used in modern day cell phones and I was lucky enough to work there for a brief period of my career.

Below is a list of some of the early systems I designed fixtures and programs for.

Here are some of the older systems I used to work on:

Zehntel 850

The Zehntel 850 was a high-performance in-circuit analog/digital PC board test system used for quality control in manufacturing. It features a modular design for flexible, high-speed testing with advanced capabilities like frequency measurement, signal processing, and customizable probe types. It is used for testing various circuit board designs. It was later replaced by the Teradyne Z1800 Series.

Some things unique to the tester was that it had an embedded version of BSD Unix controlling the system main OS. Much like macOS uses BSD Unix today.

The hard drive for the system back then was only 35 Megabytes!

Teradyne Z1860

The Teradyne Z1860 was the successor to the Zehntel 850. It had an interface that allowed for the use of older Zehntel 850 fixtures and it was an advanced, high-volume automated test equipment (ATE) system used for final in-circuit testing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other electronic components. It is known for its modular design, high channel count (up to 2048 test points), and flexibility in handling various testing applications.

GenRad GR228X

The GenRad 228x is a series of legacy, high-performance in-circuit test (ICT) systems used for testing electronic circuitry and components on printed circuit boards. These systems provide comprehensive testing capabilities for analog, digital, and hybrid assemblies and are still widely utilized in manufacturing environments.

The 

Keysight (HP) Series 3 and Series 5

Keysight Medalist i3070 Series 5 is an in-circuit test (ICT) system for printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA) production, designed for enhanced test throughput and coverage. It incorporates new hardware and software features, such as the ASRU N revision card and advanced software, to improve analog and digital testing speeds.

The Keysight (HP) 3070 is what I’ve spent the last 30 years of my career developing fixtures and programs for. It’s gone thru many changes during that time. It was originally a Unix based platform that was eventually migrated to MS Windows. It’s capabilities have been improved over the years to include faster digital capabilities as well as many other improvements.