Monday, March 6
All About the Benjamins
- No need for parenting
- No need for educating
- No need for learning skills
- No need for practicing
ASML Makes the Machines that Make the Chips
From the outside it looks like an ordinary corporate building, lots of glass and steel, but this factory in the south of the Netherlands belongs to ASML, and the machines made there are anything but ordinary.
In fact, the technology is so advanced and so much in demand, that ASML has become Europe's most valuable technology firm.
So what is made there?
ASML designs and makes the machines which make computer chips - but not any old computer chips.
ASML machines make the most advanced computer chips and it's the only company in the world with that kind of technology.
This effective monopoly means that exactly how ASML's machines work is subject to some of the most stringent corporate security in the world.
Nevertheless, we were given a tour of its plant, and were guided through the basics.
IMAGE SOURCE,ASMLImage caption, This illustration shows the complex interior of an ASML
Microchips are made by building up complex patterns of transistors, or miniature electrical switches, layer by layer, on a silicon wafer.
They are printed using a lithography system, where light is projected through a blueprint of the pattern of those miniature switches.
The light is then shrunk and focussed using advanced optics and the pattern is etched onto a photosensitive silicon wafer.
That pattern forms the circuitry of a silicon chip, that might end up in a computer, phone or any other electrical device you might care to mention.
The crucial aspect of ASML's most advanced machines is that they can work at tiny scales by generating super fine extreme ultraviolet light - just 13.5 nanometres. READ MORE...
Sunday, March 5
Downsizing
To make a long story short, when my dad died, my mother sold the house and went into a retirement community where she lived in a one bedroom apartment for another 14 years until she died...
So, what's the point of this narrative so far?
My parents lived in a big house that they did not need because they could financially, not necessarily because they wanted to. Most of their time was spent in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and back porch. Sometimes, they would used the TV room, but my parents did not like to watch a lot of TV unless there was a football game or a tennis match being televised.
During my first marriage, we purchased a small house that had a full basement that we never used, During my second marriage, we also purchased a small house with a full basement that we never used.
My wife and I have been retired for 7 years and we are already thinking about downsizing because our house and yard are too big and we are getting too old to take care of it all...
Why do we purchase these big homes?
We would be better off to purchase a small home and put the rest of the money in the bank for retirement... and yet, very few of us do that... we have been trained to think that BIGGER is BETTER.
A Spiritual Observation
The Magic Bank Account
THE AUTHOR IS NOT KNOWN.
IT WAS FOUND IN THE BILLFOLD OF COACH PAUL BEAR BRYANT, AFTER HE DIED IN 1982 in Alabama...
Imagine that you had won the following *PRIZE* in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400
In your private account for your use.
However, this prize has Rules:
The set of rules:
1. Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you.
2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.
3. You may only spend It.
4. Each morning upon awakening,
The bank opens your account with another $86,400 for that day.
5. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time, it can say, Game Over!" It can close the account
And you will not receive a new one.
What would you personally Do?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted right? Not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for. Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning, right?
ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL
...
Shocked ???
YES!
Each of us is already a winner Of this *PRIZE*.
We just can't seem to see it.
The PRIZE is *TIME*
1. Each morning we awaken to Receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of Life.
2. And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is not credited to us.
3. What we haven't used up that day is forever lost.
4. Yesterday is forever gone.
5. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time WITHOUT WARNING...
So, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?
Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars. Think about it and remember to enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than You think.
So take care of yourself, be happy, love deeply and enjoy life!
Here's wishing you a wonderful and beautiful day.
Start spending....
"DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT GROWING OLD…!"
SOME PEOPLE DON'T GET THE PRIVILEGE!
Tik Tok Facing Global Bans
The backlash against China-owned TikTok in the U.S. and other Western countries escalated in recent days, as some U.S lawmakers pushed to give President Joe Biden the authority to impose a ban on the app for all users.
Canada banned TikTok on government-issued mobile devices on Monday, following a similar ban from the European Union last week.
TikTok, which has more than 100 million monthly active users in the U.S., has faced growing scrutiny from government officials over fears that user data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government and the app could ultimately be weaponized by China to spread misinformation.
However, the fight to ban TikTok risks imposing undue limits on free speech and private business, mimicking the type of censorship for which some Western countries have faulted China, according to some experts and civil liberties advocates. READ MORE...
Saturday, March 4
Cost of Living Exoduses
California has 39.24 million residents and only 60% of the households pay taxes... the other 40% pay no taxes at all...
California is losing about 1% of each population annually... which is going to seriously impact its ability to collect taxes.
But California is not the only state to lose residents, people are leaving: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Hawaii and dother states as well.
The states that are seeing the biggest increase in people relocating are: Texas, North Carolina, and Florida... and to a lesser extent other southern states.
WHY?
Taxes and the cost of living
States that have NO INCOME TAX are:
- Alaska
- Florida
- Nevada
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
- Wyomng