Interesting that China is joining in the isolation of Russia even from their best indigenous tech, which of course isn’t in the same league as the West’s but which is improving rapidly. They claim the latest Loongsons may be rivals for Zen 3 server CPUs. To which I say “of course not” but if they were nipping at the heels of the original Zen EPYC next year I wouldn’t be too surprised. Still potent enough that you don’t really want the Russians to have them.
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I have to wonder though at what is brewing in Russia. A certifiable crazy dictator, fighting a prolonged and loosing war, being denied critical technologies and imports while also being isolated by the rest of the world powers.
At best, the Russian people revolt and take down the dictator with the west then being forced to help them rebuild. At worst, Putin feels backed up against the wall and mad dogs against the whole world; causing wide spread damage to economies and populations.
I am hoping for the best.
I think the only way this ends is with Putin being assassinated. Ukraine is now able to bomb targets within Russia, which is not going to be well received by their population:-(
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Ukraine won’t indiscriminately attack civilian targets. It would cost them the support of the West, they know better. And the Ukrainian weapons for striking the Russian targets will be few in number, though I’m glad they have the capability.
I don’t know what Putin’s death could lead to, honestly. I hope the remnants of the true opposition to authoritarianism can become the kernel of something that can grow without turning into yet another would-be empire.
I struggle to think how a country and a people (or peoples) so traumatized can find its way to “good government,” whatever the hell that is. If an entire nation or bloc could go into national psychotherapy, I’d consider footing the bill for that.
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I agree the goal will be military targets, and specifically bases that originate ordinance aimed at Ukraine. However, I am not sure that psychologically it matters that the big explosion is over at the military base rather than somebodies house. This coupled with the economic sanctions and economic problems will all signal to the population that Putin is losing, and needs to go.
I am hoping for the best.
So am I. But I am not sure I know what the best is. Putin has been doing such a good job of eliminating anyone who might succeed him that it would be like when Stalin died/was assassinated. But this world is not that world, Then there was one superpower, and several other great powers, including the USSR, the UK, France, and China. (This was before the Nationalists got chased to Taiwan.) Now, Russia just proved that they are not even a great power, but we are getting a “western” bloc, and (Red) China is trying to become a super power.
Have you ever played Risk? At MIT we limited the number of Armies from cards to ten. Still started at four, and went up by two until ten was reached. Some games had a winner early, but only if the other players fought each other. Once you got to two players, all bets were off–along with all treaties–and luck of the dice–and the cards–determined who won. No one sitting in second or third would eliminate the other weak player unless the odds favored him.
Now imagine a situation where the second-strongest player has bad luck with the dice. Now the third-strongest player gets promoted to second-strongest, and he has to finish off the former second-place player and hope for luck with the cards. This action by China suggests that they learned the same lessons from Risk or elsewhere. If the “Russian Federation” falls apart, Eastern Europe will put itself in the blender, and China will try to grab as much of Russia and southeast Asia as it can, knowing they will soon be duking it out with India.
Not a pretty picture. I’ve been hoping that Putin will die of cancer–or whatever or even quits to take care of his health–while the Russian Federation can survive his death. I don’t think January will be in time, and February will be right out.
My son and I were discussing how many M1A3 or later Abrams tanks Ukraine would need to take both Moscow and St. Petersberg. I was willing to settle for an augmented platoon, four or five tanks is enough, but as a tanker, I learned that you do need some infantry or scouts you really need those soldiers.
Oh, for those of you who were not in the Army or the Marines, the first thing you learn after how to drive a tank or APC and fire whatever weapons you are given is that tanks are a leg’s best friend.* At the same time, legs are a tanker’s best friend. If you are an OPFOR (opposition force) soldier, and you see a tank and an infantryman, who do you shoot? The right answer is that you don’t. You may call in artillery, bombers, or even your own tanks. But your job just became get away quietly, and call higher headquarters. If you are spotted? Surrender. It is your best chance to survive the next two minutes. If you have an RPG and there are no dismounts around? It is worth a shot.
I seem to be getting off track. But I’ve just been watching Ukrainian tankers do everything we learned and do it right. The Russians? You know those ducks that go back and forth in the arcade game? They have a better chance of survival. I really feel bad for most of the Russian soldiers.
*Since I was in the Army, I can call infantry “legs.” In this case, it refers specifically to dismounted soldiers, whether light infantry, heavy infantry, cavalry, or even Marines. 
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For some reason I’m reminded of Brian Krzanich who apparently weakened Intel by stifling any possible successor in his major functions as head of manufacturing and then as CEO. Organizations abhor vacuums…
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For some reason I’m reminded of Brian Krzanich who apparently weakened Intel by stifling any possible successor in his major functions as head of manufacturing and then as CEO. Organizations abhor vacuums…
I’d pick on Gorden Moore for Intel. I may be too old. I remember when the traitorous eight left Shockley to form Fairchild Semiconductor, then most of them left, in turn, to found their own companies. Gordon Moore with others formed Intel, and Jerry Sanders, another of the eight, formed AMD, again with others.
Both Gordon and Jerry did their best to hang onto “their” companies, and eliminate the potential competition, mostly using their common patent pool. In 1976 I rode back on train from the National Computer Conference with Pres Eckert, actually John Presper Eckert, Jr. (I’m not sure what his title was at the time, I think it was VP of Engineering at Univac. The company has had a lot more names than physical locations.) I showed Pres the Zilog Z80 sample I had gotten and told him about the DEC PDP-8 minicomputer which he hadn’t had time to see.
Pres in turn talked about the ICs they were making using what was later called RTL (Resistor-Transistor-Logic). I don’t think he understood what I was saying about TTL. Anyway, I got an earful or three about Intel’s patents, and the US PTO not understanding government security rules. (The craziest, at the time, was that ideas discussed in patents, other than the claims, did not constitute disclosure.
The train trip was less than two hours long. I could change trains at 30th Street Station and walk across the street to get home. Pres didn’t even have to change trains. We could, and did, pick up take-out food in the station to eat on the train. Lots of our friends, neighbors, and parents of classmates took the train to work on Wall Street.
So was Gordon Moore bent on snuffing out execs who could continue the mission if he decided to step down? That’s what I hear Krzanich’s great mistake was. “You’re a promising young exec… I’m going to route you off to Siberia and make your life hell.”
I don’t think so. The original Intel triumvirate of Noyce, Moore and Grove left most of the management and leadership of the company to Andy Grove. Noyce and Moore served more as an interface to the outside world, as well as technical experts and visionaries.
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