MEGA PROJECTS.....

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Want to Work at Mega Mega Projects or Lapointe? Applications Are Open Now!

Get your resume ready.

Photo: Imaxtree

Looking to break into the fashion industry or make moves from your current role? Fashionista posts job listings daily across every field, from PR to design and from internships to managers.

Right now, Mega Mega Projects is looking for a fine jewelry wholesale assistant, and Lapointe is looking for a production & product development intern. Optimist Consulting is currently hiring for a social media account coordinator, and Shiffon is hiring for a freelance project manager. Apply now! Or check out the rest of the open job listings here.

Interested in posting a job listing with us? Packages start at $100, and you can find more info here or email Winnie at winnie@breakingmedia.com to get started. We look forward to working together.

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Breaking into a New Grade? Here’s How You Should Project

This article originally appeared on Climbing

So you've put the work into training and building up your pyramid. Now it's time to try a route that is a grade harder than any route you've ever done. How should you approach your mega project? Let these five steps be your starting point.

1. Set Imaginary Chains

Last year, speaking with Joe Kinder about his 5.15 mega-route in Rifle, Kinder Cakes, I had a revelation. He was describing how he thought working and then sending Cupcake (5.14b), the lower half of the line, was hard. He said at the time of sending it, he couldn't even imagine having to send it over and over again to eventually tick the 5.15. Couldn't even imagine. That resonated. At the time, I was working another Rifle line, The Crew (5.14c), and I couldn't even imagine having the stamina to link the upper crux when I kept pumping off the middle crux. The thought of continuing onward started to mess with my head. I was nervous before getting on the wall, shaking while climbing, and then I threw some wobblers (and shoes) when I fell. So I devised to establish my own "Baby Crew," which would end just above where I was falling, and was my 5.14b "chains." I stopped working the upper bit and just focused on regaining confidence on the line via the abbreviated version. Something interesting happened: I felt less nervous, more relaxed, and instead of falling off in a rage, I'd fall off and think about how close I was to those imaginary chains. It was just the boost I needed to stay positive and keep at it.

2. Mix up your strategies

When it comes to projecting, the temptation is always to go for a new highpoint. This can be a solid strategy, particularly if the crux is at the bottom of the route. But what if it's not? Most climbers start failing at sticking points--they fall over and over at that one move, and then pull back on the wall and immediately make it through the sequence, shouting something like, "Why do I always fall here?" Instead of torturing yourself with this redundancy, go for for lowpoints. Hangdog your way up the draws to the sticking point and then try to climb continuously through it to the chains. On The Crew, for example, I spent several weeks trying to link the climb from the fifth draw to the real chains. And once I did that, I lowered my goal to the fourth draw. This will help you physically, because the sequences will still be hard, and mentally, because you'll grow accustomed to making it through those moves rather than falling at them. I’d recommend you alternate strategies; personally, I like to go for highpoints when I'm fresh and lowpoints when I'm slightly fatigued, which simulates the pump I'd feel if I'd climbed through the lower sections.

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[Want to know more about redpointing? Check out this class by Heather Weidner and Arno Ilgner] 3. Four-by-fours

You think you know a section. But do you really? Remember how much easier multiple-choice tests were compared to the fill-in-the-blank counterparts? That is the difference between recognition and recall. When it comes to projecting, even though the route is in front of you, you should know each move via recall. In other words, you should be able to know what to do when you get to a move rather than have to look around at the options. Four-by-fours are critical for getting your body and mind to remember the sequence, especially in tough spots. In addition to helping your recall, four-by-fours are excellent ways to build confidence that you can do a sequence even when tired. Personally, I try to do one four-by-four per attempt.

4. Set daily intentions

Before getting on the project, decide what your plan is, including how you'd like to execute moves that you feel unsure of. I find this particularly important if there's a part of the route that scares me. That part where I skip two clips? Terrifying. But I tell myself I will not take; I will not hesitate; I will be confident and calm. These self-affirming statements make a world of difference when I'm stressed and pumped and might otherwise falter. Other intentions might be: I will only climb to that point and then I will lower, because I need to just focus on the bottom today. Being precise about what your needs are and then acting on them--rather than giving into fear or even excitement-based temptations--will keep the process moving along.

5. Clock in

Not every day is going to feel like apple picking in October. Some days just suck, be it because you didn't sleep well or you trained too hard during the week or your job is hard. Whatever. To do hard hard things, you must put in the time and effort. I recommend that you acknowledge your feelings, but then clock in like you would to do a job you don't want to do. Be there, do the work, and the rewards will come with time.

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03

Facebook parent Meta announces mega expansion to Eagle Mountain data center project

© Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Work is performed on servers at Meta’s Eagle Mountain Data Center in Eagle Mountain on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Meta is expanding the data center, increasing the total investment to over $1.5 billion. Once completed, the center will be a 4.5-million-square-foot campus.

Facebook parent company Meta announced a mega expansion to its massive Eagle Mountain data center build-out on Friday.

Meta already has five buildings constructed on the site, a few miles south of Eagle Mountain’s city center, comprising 2.4 million square feet of space that houses data storage and processing equipment for the world’s biggest social media platform.

The Phase 3 expansion plans unveiled Friday call for two more giant structures that will add about 2 million additional square feet to the facility and bring Meta’s total capital investment in the Eagle Mountain project to $1.5 billion, according to the company.

On Friday, Meta also announced a $200,000 donation in support of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District’s Hobble Creek Flow Restoration project in Utah County. Meta says the donation is part of a larger effort to fund water restoration projects that equal 200% of Eagle Mountain facility’s water consumption. Meta also says its in-house data center designs are 80% more water efficient than the industry average.

Related

“We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in Utah,” Darcy Nothangle, Meta’s director of community and economic development, said in a statement. “Eagle Mountain, the state of Utah and Rocky Mountain Power have been outstanding partners from the beginning and we look forward to continuing this strong and fruitful partnership for years to come.

“Today’s expansion announcement, together with our donations to the Hobble Creek Flow Restoration Project and Flip Your Strip program, further underscore our commitment to Eagle Mountain and Utah County.”

© Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Eagle Mountain Mayor Tom Westmoreland accompanied members of the media on a tour of the facility Friday and said the fast-growing city is bearing direct benefits from the data center investment, in spite of a package of municipal and state tax breaks that could be worth as much as $750 million in the coming decades.

“If we’re just looking at numbers there’s a high return on that investment,” Westmoreland said. “This land prior to Meta being here brought in a grand total of $35 annually. … Now it brings in millions even with that tax increment.”

Westmoreland said one of Meta’s first moves, before it began data center construction, was investing $120 million in infrastructure improvements that included extending utility service and roads to its site. That kind of cash outlay, Westmoreland said, is better coming from a private sector partner than from levying a tax increase on residents.

And, the mayor said, the investment has already helped draw other giant investments to the area, including a $300 million Tyson Foods plant and a Google data center.

“In order to reach our goal we need these kinds of partners, the Metas, the Googles, the Tysons,” Westmoreland said. “Because of their capabilities, because of their expertise, because of their resources and the positive impacts they can make.”

Exactly how much data Meta’s Eagle Mountain facility will be able to hold is a little murky.

The company isn’t saying, but experts estimate the highly secretive National Security Agency data center in Bluffdale, which has a similar footprint, might accommodate 3-raised-to-the-power-of-12 exabytes of data. And don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of an exabyte, the term for 1,000 to the 6th power or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information.

© Meta Meta’s unprecedented tax incentives

Before it became known as Meta, Facebook unveiled the Eagle Mountain project in May 2018 after rumors and speculation about a mysterious big tech project in the area swirled for months. The depth and breadth of local and state tax incentives provided as a lure for the company were also clarified at that time, and they are unprecedented.

If all five phases of the data center project are completed in the next few decades, Facebook is set to harvest a potential $750 million in taxpayer subsidies along the way.

Phase 2, announced in late 2019, added 500,000 square feet of additional facilities to the first phase and pushed the capital investment to $1 billion, according to the company.

While Facebook is currently in the third phase of the project, the open-ended incentive agreements extend public benefits well beyond the first three phases and could land the company hundreds of millions in additional tax relief over the next four decades.

In addition to its capital costs, Facebook is investing about $150 million in infrastructure improvements, including bringing power to the 500-acre site from a nearby high-capacity power line corridor, extending sewer and water service, bringing in telecommunication lines and improving roads.

That infrastructure investment is expected to be equalized by the Phase 1 tax benefits of $150 million over 20 years. That tax break gives Facebook 100% tax relief on personal property taxes and 80% relief on real property taxes for a term of 40 years for four of the five taxing entities it’s beholden to.

Only the Alpine School Board created some caps on those benefits, with limits of $40 million per phase and $120 million total over 35 years. Alpine School District represents the biggest beneficiary of the taxes Facebook will pay — and the entity giving up the most via the tax break package — as the recipient of about 70% of the total taxes due. The company will also enjoy some sales tax exemptions created specifically for data centers by the Utah Legislature.

A study commissioned by Eagle Mountain on the project detailed that if Facebook carries the project through five phases inside the 40-year limit, the company would earn $750 million in tax relief.

Utah is currently home to numerous data centers, including facilities operated by eBay, Twitter, Oracle and the National Security Agency.