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Elon Musk Unveils Grok 3, Says It Outperforms All AI Rivals

William Attardi on February 16, 2025

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that Grok 3, the latest version of his AI chatbot developed by xAI, is in its final development stages and will be released in one to two weeks. Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Musk claimed that Grok 3 surpasses all existing AI chatbots in reasoning capabilities. In the tests we’ve done so far, Grok 3 is outperforming anything that’s been released, Musk stated, adding that the model analyzes its own mistakes to improve accuracy. The AI will compete with ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google DeepMind), Claude (Anthropic), Mistral AI, and Meta’s (META) Llama. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Elon Musk Unveils Grok 3, Says It Outperforms All AI Rivals

Why The ‘Redheaded Stepchild’ of Renewable Energy Is Poised to Rise Under Trump by Saul Elbein

William Attardi on February 14, 2025

Even as President Trump slashes support for wind and solar energy, another renewable energy source is finding unexpected favor under his second administration. In early February, newly confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright named geothermal energy, which uses underground heat to generate clean heat and electricity, as one of the prime areas for department research and development. With bipartisan political support behind its efforts and skyrocketing energy demand from data centers bolstering the potential market for its offerings, the geothermal industry is getting excited. Geothermal energy finds favor under Trump administration

Lafayette College Partners with Sollum Technologies to Advance Precision Agriculture Research

William Attardi on February 8, 2025

Lafayette College, under the leadership of Dr. Robert Elliott, is embarking on a groundbreaking research initiative to measure the effects of advanced LED lightingon the growth and quality of various crops. The lab, based in Easton, Pennsylvania, uses Sollum Technologies’ dynamic LED lighting solution to tailor optimal growing conditions for each crop. The research area consists of 12 independent cells, each measuring 1m x 1m, equipped with advanced control and monitoring systems. These systems regulate temperature, humidity, vapour pressure deficit(VPD), light timing, CO₂ levels, irrigation volume, substrate electrical conductivity (EC), and more. This design allows precise replication of varied growing conditions, and tests of ecosystem responses along environmental gradients, setting a new standard for agricultural research.  [News] Lafayette College Partners with Sollum Technologies to Advance Precision Agriculture Research – LEDinside

GE Vernova Outlines $600M US Expansion

William Attardi on January 31, 2025

GE Vernova Inc. outlined a capital investment program for U.S. manufacturing and development operations totaling close to $600 million through 2027. It projected the investments would address issues involving energy affordability, national security, and manufacturing growth, and would prompt the creation of more than 1,500 new jobs. GE Vernova, which is the former General Electric portfolio of businesses that manufacture industrial and alternative energy systems, pegged the new U.S. investments as part of its broader, $9-billion global capital investment and research program. Among the planned U.S. investments:

  • Greenville, SC ($160 million)
  • Niskayuna, NY ($100 million)
  • Parsippany, NJ, Bangor, ME, Schenectady, NY ($50 million each)
  • Clearwater, FL, Charleroi, PA ($20 million each)
  • Also Pensacola, Grand Forks, Amarillo, Wilmington, Pittsburgh

Energy Giant Outlines $600M US Expansion | GE Vernova | American Machinist

Bill Introduced to Prevent Supply Chain Disruptions, Protect American Producers

William Attardi on January 29, 2025

The bipartisan Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act would authorize the Department of Commerce to strengthen American supply chains for critical industries and emerging technologies by working with the private sector and U.S. government partners to anticipate and prevent future supply chain disruptions before they happen. In the process, it will also identify opportunities to grow manufacturing capacity and jobs, and reduce costs for American consumers. Geopolitical conflicts, natural disasters and the pandemic have highlighted the fragility of supply chains. These events have already caused significant delays and shortages, impacting everything from critical medical supplies and driving up the costs of consumer goods. The U.S. is heavily reliant on single countries for critical supply chain segments, including manufacturing components, critical minerals, and active pharmaceutical ingredients. This concentration poses a significant risk of disruption. Bill Introduced to Prevent Supply Chain Disruptions, Protect American Producers – tEDmag

SATCO Guaranteed Price Protection

William Attardi on January 29, 2025

As we navigate the evolving global trade environment regarding the possible impact of new import tariffs, we want to assure you that we have taken proactive steps in our supply chain management to protect pricing and ensure product availability during this uncertain time. Through strategic diversification of our production across multiple countries of origin and an increase in our inventory levels, we have fortified our supply chain to maintain stability and reliability. Therefore, we are committed to holding our current pricing in place through May 31, 2025.  Should trade dynamics change because of new tariffs or regulatory changes, resulting in the need to adjust pricing, a minimum of 60-day notice would be provided and would not go into effect prior to May 31st.  https://www.satco.com/ 

Electrical Wholesaling: Bill Attardi Launches LearnersLive.com as Lighting Industry Training Resource

William Attardi on January 27, 2025

Bill Attardi Launches LearnersLive.com as Lighting Industry Training Resource | Electrical Wholesaling

LearnersLive.com will draw from Attardi’s 60 years of lighting industry experience, Q&As with lighting experts and other lighting market training resources. Spend a few minutes with Bill Attardi and you will learn a few things about him real fast. He’s a 60-year veteran of the lighting market who quite possibly loves learning about the lighting business more today than when he started in the business as a sales rep for Westinghouse Lamp/Philips (now part of Signify) selling lamps in the Big Apple in 1965. You can also sense his passion for learning and teaching in the services he provides lighting and electrical professionals through Attardi Marketing, and through the Energy Watch News blog.

When you talk with Bill, you will also quickly find out he is a lifetime learner who not only  enjoys learning something new every day about the latest in lighting, but also loves teaching others about lighting, sales, marketing, management and life. This passion for teaching fuels the works he does as an adjunct professor teaching strategic marketing and management courses at Monmouth University since 2000.  His background as a lifetime learner and teacher inspired a new venture: www.learnerslive.com.  In describing the launch of LearnersLive.com, Attardi says it will be a learning experience where lighting professionals will have the opportunity to learn something every day, through virtual courses that will include marketing and management sessions developed through the courses he teaches at Monmouth University; interviews with lighting experts including Jim Benya, Deb Burnett, Mark Rea, Chris Brown and Bernie Erickson; and other lighting industry training websites and videos.

“Learning Showcase on LearnersLive.com is committed to the learning process,” he says in a LearnersLive.com post. “An activity that goes on and on and on, as it should. Every month, my passion as an educator is to contribute to that process with what I have learned over my lifetime.”  Effective Presentation Skills  is  currently posted at LearnersLive.com in three 30-minute virtual sessions, and in February Attardi will post his “Selling in the Executive Suite” video. He says the video will teach the special skills required to sell a major project to the executives that run a customer’s business.  “I have a passion for teaching and learning and have been doing it most of my life and for the past 20-plus years at Monmouth University,” Attardi says. “I want to continue doing it as long as God allows.”

EXKA Selects Sollum’s Dynamic LED Grow Light Solution for Enhanced Cannabis Production

William Attardi on January 23, 2025

Sollum Technologies is pleased to announce that EXKA, a leading cannabis producer in Québec, Canada, has chosen Sollum’s cutting-edge dynamic LED grow light solution as part of the expansion of their state-of-the art greenhouse facilities in Mirabel. This partnership marks a significant milestone in EXKA’s production capabilities, with the company increasing its greenhouse footprint by 50%. [News] EXKA Selects Sollum’s Dynamic LED Grow Light Solution for Enhanced Cannabis Production – LEDinside

High-Tech Partnership Invests $500 Billion in AI

William Attardi on January 23, 2025

President Donald Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by Sam Altman of OpenAI, Larry Ellison of Oracle, and Masayoshi Son of SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and could reach five times that sum. “This will be the most important project of this era,” said Altman, CEO of OpenAI. The White House has put an emphasis on making it easier to build out new electricity generation in anticipation of AI’s expansion, knowing that the United States is in a competitive race against China to develop a technology increasingly being adopted by businesses. High-Tech Partnership Invests $500 Billion in AI – electrifiED

Remembering the Solemn Purpose of Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the last Monday in May to honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. The holiday traces its roots to the years immediately following the American Civil War (1861–1865), which caused massive casualties—roughly 620,000 soldiers dead, about 2% of the U.S. population at the time. Communities across the North and South began spontaneously decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, wreaths, and flags, a practice that gave rise to the original name: Decoration Day. On May 5, 1868, Major General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—a powerful Union veterans’ organization—issued General Order No. 11. This proclaimed May 30, 1868, as a nationwide “Decoration Day” to honor those who died in the Civil War. After World War I, the holiday expanded to honor all American service members who died in any war, not just the Civil War.  In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to create more three-day weekends for federal employees. This moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, effective in 1971, when it was also officially named “Memorial Day.” As one 1868 quote put it: “That Nation which respects and honors its dead, shall ever be respected and honored itself.”