Computer memory maker Micron/Crucial exits consumer business

to focus entirely on commercial manufacturing, i.e. data centers and AI requirements.

I can't fault them, they're going where the money is, and they are required to pursue maximum shareholder value, as sick as that may be.

To illustrate the state of weirdness going on in the memory market, a "typical 32GB DDR5 RAM kit that cost around $82 in August now sells for about $310, and higher-capacity kits have seen even steeper increases." People are being told that if you need a new computer or upgrade right now, forget it. Wait a year or two. Russet is getting a new MacBook Pro from work, but Apple is a bit insulated from this kerfuffle, plus work is paying for it.

The weird bit is that high-end graphics cards spiked as AI stocks started soaring, and now graphics cards are coming down in price. But memory and solid-state drives are soaring. One thing becomes reasonable, and everything else gets priced out of reach.

Micron will continue shipping Crucial memory through February 2026 and will be honoring consumer warrantees as needed. After that, they will only be selling Micron memory to commercial customers.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/after-nearly-30-years-crucial-will-stop-selling-ram-to-consumers/

RIP: Steve Cropper, a Blues Brother and master session musician

Steve passed at 84, no announced cause. He was a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer who co-wrote Green Onions, In The Midnight Hour, and (Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay! Now THAT is some talent! He appeared in both Blues Brothers movies. Most importantly, he was the founding guitarist of the Stax label house band during their prime, also playing on Sam & Dave's Soul Man, later covered by the Blues Brothers.

Rolling Stone placed him at #45 in the 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time!

The linked article includes a live studio performance of a shorter version of Booker T and the MG's Green Onions, an absolute classic! It is a little disturbing in that the audience is just sitting there... :-) I'm kind of amazed that Green Onions is just a quartet!

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steve-cropper-booker-t-mg-stax-records-guitarist-dead-1235477205/

This video is pretty good and very interesting!

Watch on YouTube

A pair of word puzzle games

Called Pairdown, located at https://pairdown.com/

In the initial level, you click on a letter to remove it, forming a new word. Then the letters that you remove form a word! The second level, you remove two letters of different color, and the first color forms one word, the second another.

Then the harder difficulty blurs a letter in the word!


Another game on the web site is I'm Squeezy at https://imsqueezy.com/. You click on a letter in the column on the left to insert it into the spaces between letters in the words on the right.