Hormuz Effect

Recently Iran has made the Straight of Hormuz impassable for oil tankers and cargo ships. Crude oil from the Arabian peninsula can't get out. This has caused the cost of energy to rise dramatically. I learnt recently that the vacuum cleaner manufacturer that makes Henry the hoover started building a large solar farm to bring down their energy costs; I sense it is a response to the energy crisis. 

Like them I also responded , I started buying  solar powered lamps, some set up as a garden products but I put them in my window panes. When the daylight fades, they all turn on and increase the amount of light coming through the window. I can keep the lights off for a few hours longer every day because they increase the twilight in the home. 

Some of them are plane looking  jars, others are faces and flowers, plastic  flowers with a solar panel and light emitting diodes. 

Strait of Hormuz Hell

Have you ever wondered how many countries have to be at war before it is considered a world war. I have no idea. Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Lebanon, USA and Iran. Plus civil wars around the world. 

Recently Iran declared the straight of Hormuz a military exclusion zone so any ships passing though their portion of the water-way would have missiles fired at them and they would be sunk. This means they're blocking oil from being shipped out of the Arabian peninsula. They have cut off the oil supply to the west. I think we are going to have a global recession very soon. 

While this was happening I turned my attention to the Atari VCS 800, a modern games console that was recreated in the style of the Atari 2600. When I was a young boy there were still Atari 2600 games consoles in people's homes. I recall playing space invaders and superman on it. The sound effects were nice. I felt like superman was a police man because he would grab villains and take them to jail. 

The new Atari VCS 800 is set up as a gaming PC so you could boot up a separate OS system from a USB stick if you wished. It would be nice it it could easily be converted into a steam deck and switched back again but it isn't at the moment. You have to put a modified version of the steam os on there. I like how some of the models have a wood panel finish just like the original 2600. 

If I was loaded (wealthy) I would buy one just to be different and because I like it. Something to distract me when the world descends into chaos. 

Look away.