Microsoft is offering a rare peek behind the "cloud" with virtual tours of its Azure public data centers. These massive structures dot the globe and provide the necessary physical infrastructure of the modern web, but few outsiders have gotten a behind-the-scenes look.
"I think the public really doesn't have a great understanding of really what the cloud truly is," Brian Janous, general manager of energy and sustainability at Microsoft, told Cheddar.
Using a personal computer or mobile device, users can walk the halls of a typical Microsoft data center and learn about everything from security protocols to cooling systems.
The latter is an especially important aspect of running a data center. Temperature control is at the center of Microsoft's efforts to cut down on energy use at its data centers, which make up the majority of the tech company's carbon footprint.
The company currently uses various methods of cooling to keep temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees inside its data centers.
"One of the biggest challenges that we have in building data centers and operating data centers is keeping them cool," Janus said. "Every year servers are getting more dense, and therefore they're putting out more heat."
The company aims to become "carbon negative" by 2030, but just keeping up with demand has required a massive expansion of data centers, even as they become more energy efficient.
"When you look at the efficiency that we can deliver today relative to 10 years ago, it's just astounding," Janous said. "Internet traffic is up about 12x over the last 10 years, but energy consumed by all data centers globally is roughly flat over that time."
He noted that Microsoft has made improvements such as bringing in more outside air to help cool down servers — though more radical measures are in the works, such as a plan to place data centers on the seafloor to utilize ocean water for even more efficient cooling.
In addition, Microsoft on Tuesday said it plans to share previously secret energy-use information with select customers under nondisclosure agreements to help them become more efficient.
Essentially, as Microsoft improves sustainability at its data centers, it will in some cases reveal those gains to companies looking to bring down their own carbon footprints.
"It's really all about just being more transparent in terms of how we operate our infrastructure," Janous said.
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A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
