After Reading Houma Courier Facebook Comments, NASA Decides Not To Deflect Oncoming Asteroid. | THE PUSH POLE

After Reading Houma Courier Facebook Comments, NASA Decides Not To Deflect Oncoming Asteroid. | THE PUSH POLE: "Top NASA officials unanimously agreed not to mobilize rockets and crew to deflect an asteroid headed directly towards Earth. This decision came shortly after they began reading the Facebook comments of a Houma Courier news story. The comments in question can be clicked on to enlarge. Click above to enlarge The disgusting depravity of human beings hoarding themselves into camps and willfully engaging in disingenuous arguments aimed solely at wanton attention and elevating themselves above their fellow man was enough to convince NASA that humanity deserves the fiery, gruesome extinction headed its way."

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Puerto Rico governor says island can't pay public debt - Business Insider

Puerto Rico governor says island can't pay public debt - Business Insider: "Puerto Rico's governor is warning that the island can't pay its $72 billion public debt, delivering another jolt to the recession-gripped US territory as well as a world financial system already worrying over Greece's collapsing finances. Gov. Alejandro García Padilla is hoping to defer debt payments while negotiating with creditors, spokesman Jesus Manuel Ortiz said Sunday night. "There is no other option," García said, according to The New York Times. "I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics; this is math.""

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Forgotston.com » Jindal circumvented the law

Forgotston.com » Jindal circumvented the law: "What if Bobby Jindal held a presidential fundraiser in Baton Rouge and nobody came?  That would surely be big news, wouldn’t it?  Well yes and no. Well, Bobby did and they didn’t come, but nonetheless he raised a half a million dollars. One has to read between the lines in Elizabeth Crisp’s story in the Baton Rouge paper to fully understand the Jindal fundraising scheme."

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Researchers Use Femtosecond Lasers To Display Touchable Images In The Air | TechCrunch

Researchers Use Femtosecond Lasers To Display Touchable Images In The Air | TechCrunch: "A Japanese company called Aerial Burton has been using lasers to ionize air molecules in midair for a few years now, thereby creating bright pixels that float in space. Using the original system, however, you were essentially creating floating plasma which could burn you if you touched it. Now, however, the company has reduced the power necessary to generate the images by using femtosecond lasers, a feat that lets you actually tap images to interact with them. LATEST CRUNCH REPORT Meerkat Launches Embeddable Live Stream Player | Crunch Report Watch More Episodes From Spectrum: Our system has the unique characteristic that the plasma is touchable. It was found that the contact between plasma and a finger causes a brighter light. This effect can be used as a cue of the contact. One possible control is touch interaction in which floating images change when touched by a user. The other is damage reduction. For safety, the plasma voxels are shut off within a single frame (17 ms = 1/60 s) when users touch the voxels. This is sufficiently less than the harmful exposure time (2,000 ms)."

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NEWS | UK Says Argentine Plan to Seize Falklands Oil Driller Assets 'Unlawful' | Rigzone

NEWS  |  UK Says Argentine Plan to Seize Falklands Oil Driller Assets 'Unlawful'  |  Rigzone: "Britain said on Monday any attempt by Argentina to seize the assets of oil drillers operating in the disputed Falkland Islands would be unlawful after Buenos Aires said it would pursue a local judge's order against six firms. On Saturday, a federal judge in Tierra del Fuego ordered the seizure of $156 million in bank accounts, boats and other property belonging to six European and U.S. oil companies operating in the islands. Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman was quoted in the local press on Sunday as saying his country intended to pursue the case as part of its claim to the islands' sovereignty, something Britain rejects outright. "We have always been very clear that this is an unlawful assertion of jurisdiction over the Falklands Islands' continental shelf, which we reject, and we will raise it with the appropriate authorities," a spokeswoman for Britain's Foreign Office said, when asked how London would react. "We are satisfied that the islands have the right to develop their hydrocarbons sector as a legitimate commercial venture with international oil and gas companies, and will continue to support them as they move forward. Argentine domestic law does not apply to the Falkland Islands.""

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NEWS | BP, Anadarko Rejected by Top US Court on Gulf Spill Fines | Rigzone

NEWS  |  BP, Anadarko Rejected by Top US Court on Gulf Spill Fines  |  Rigzone: "The U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and left intact a ruling that opens the companies to potentially billions of dollars in fines for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In declining to hear the appeal, the high court let stand a ruling by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans that BP and Anadarko were automatically liable as co-owners of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Supreme Court intervention might have delayed Barbier’s pending ruling on a U.S. request for as much as $13.7 billion in civil fines from BP and more than $1 billion from Anadarko. His decision may come at any time. “We’re pleased with the decision,” Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice Department spokesman, said in an e-mail."

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Independent Oil & Gas extends seismic remapping agreement with Baker Hughes

Independent Oil & Gas extends seismic remapping agreement with Baker Hughes: "Independent Oil and Gas PLC (IOG) is extending its seismic remapping agreement with Baker Hughes’ Reservoir Development Services (RDS) group to better understand resource potential for its Blythe and Cronx/Elgood projects in the Southern North Sea (SNS), with an expected delivery date of late July 2015. “We are pleased to strengthen our relationship with RDS as the initial results from the seismic remapping work are positive,” said Mark Routh, IOG’s CEO. “We expect that the resource plays beneath the Blythe and Cronx/Elgood fields are larger than first anticipated, and with additional reservoir understanding we can more than double our proven reserves, which are currently 3.0 MMboe.”"

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Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas files for initial public offering - Houston Business Journal

Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas files for initial public offering - Houston Business Journal: "Houston-based Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas Inc. has filed a registration statement for an initial public offering that could raise up to $100 million. The number of shares to be offered, the price per share and the timing of the offering have not been decided, so that proposed maximum aggregate offering price might still change, according to the June 23 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FMOG.""

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USAA Leads $24 Million Round For Connected Car Platform Automatic | TechCrunch

USAA Leads $24 Million Round For Connected Car Platform Automatic | TechCrunch: "Automatic, the connected car platform whose sensor and app combination is sometimes referred to as a “Fitbit for your car,” announced this morning $24 million in Series B funding, led by the investment arm at USAA, a top insurance and financial services provider for military families, which today counts 11 million members. Also participating in the round were new investors CDK Global, and Comcast Ventures, who join existing investors Y Combinator, RPM Ventures, Anthemis Group, Amicus Capital and angels Mark Goines, Jared Kopf, Rob Chandhok and Dan Rose. The company had never publicly announced its funding, but combined with earlier rounds, Automatic now says that it has raised $32 million in total. Automatic, which competes with a variety of connected car services including Dash, CarMD, Torque, Zubie, and many more, initially focused only on collecting data from your vehicle by way of a car adapter that plugs into the diagnostics port (OBD-II port). This allows it to gather information from your car’s on-board computer which is then shared with the Automatic smartphone app over Bluetooth. With the app, drivers can track their miles driven, MPG, fuel expenses, and more, plus take advantage of features like emergency crash response assistance and a parked car locator, for example."

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Amazon Unbundles Alexa Virtual Assistant From Echo With New Dev Tools | TechCrunch

Amazon Unbundles Alexa Virtual Assistant From Echo With New Dev Tools | TechCrunch: "Amazon has provided a strong answer to a desire I expressed only yesterday for broader software and hardware support for Alexa, its virtual assistant, and Echo, the speaker hardware that is the first platform wherein Alexa can be found. Today, Amazon announced an Alexa API set to let third-party developers easily build support for the system into their own apps; Alexa Voice Service, for integrating Alexa into connected hardware; and the Alexa Fund, as much as $100 million dedicated to supporting devs, gadget builders and startups who’re looking to build voice-powered experiences."

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eDrilling adds Geostreering to wellSIM

eDrilling adds Geostreering to wellSIM: "wellSIM is a dynamic downhole simulator, allowing for integration of client specific well data in early well planning, giving training a new meaning. wellSIM is an integral part of the eDrilling Life Cycle Drilling Simulation concept - advanced dynamic drilling models and diagnosis technology merged with 3D visualization into a “virtual wellbore”. The simulator is aimed at challenging drilling and well operations, including High Pressure - High Temperature wells, Through Tubing Rotary Drilling, Extended Reach Drilling, Managed Pressure Drilling and Dual Gradient Drilling."

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Netherlands loses landmark global warming case, ordered to cut emissions | Ars Technica

Netherlands loses landmark global warming case, ordered to cut emissions | Ars Technica: "In a landmark case that may set a very important precedent for other countries around the world, especially within Europe, the Dutch government has been ordered by the courts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. The ruling came from a class-action lawsuit that was brought before the Dutch courts by Urgenda in 2012. The case, rather magnificently, was based on human rights laws. Specifically, Urgenda asked the courts to "declare that global warming of more than 2 degrees Celsius will lead to a violation of fundamental human rights worldwide," and that the Dutch government is "acting unlawfully by not contributing its proportional share to preventing a global warming of more than 2 degrees Celsius." Today, a Dutch court at The Hague ruled in favour of Urgenda, ruling that the Netherlands' plans to cut emissions by only 14-17 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 were illegal. Moreover, the wording used by the judges in the ruling is incredibly strong and clear-cut: “The state should not hide behind the argument that the solution to the global climate problem does not depend solely on Dutch efforts ... Any reduction of emissions contributes to the prevention of dangerous climate change and as a developed country the Netherlands should take the lead in this.”"

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Jindal Launches His Bid For Energy Secretary Today… | The Hayride

Jindal Launches His Bid For Energy Secretary Today… | The Hayride: "…or perhaps HHS. He’s not really running for president. Anybody with a pair of functioning eyes can see that he’s wasting his time trying to get the 2016 Republican nomination; Jindal lacks any of the assets a successful candidate for president needs. He’s not from a large state. Were Jindal the governor of Texas, or Florida, or California or even Virginia or Ohio, he would be able to claim experience governing on a large scale as a qualification for the highest office in the land. Not to mention governing a large state gives you a large amount of media exposure. As governor of Louisiana, you get little of that – Louisiana has only one media market of sufficient size for the national news networks to maintain a bureau, and New Orleans isn’t even the state capitol – so his media prominence as a governor is nearly nil. He doesn’t have a signature accomplishment. This is not to say Jindal hasn’t done anything as Louisiana’s governor. To the contrary, he’s presided over some structural changes to state government that will have lasting positive effect. But privatizing the state’s charity hospitals, when no other state has charity hospitals, doesn’t quite resonate the way Scott Walker gutting the public-sector unions in Wisconsin does. And Jindal’s school-choice reforms, while unquestionably a step forward and highly likely to bring improvement in results over time, have been trumped by developments elsewhere – Nevada, for example. Had he been able to couple those reforms with a massive overhaul of Louisiana’s Byzantine tax system plus some meaningful pension reforms,or perhaps come up with an innovative solution for financing major improvements to Louisiana’s transportation infrastructure, he would have a record far more suggestive of presidential ambitions."

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Statoil cancels contract for COSL Pioneer

Statoil cancels contract for COSL Pioneer: "Statoil has decided to cancel its contract for the COSL Pioneer some 13 months before the expiry date of August 2016, Statoil announced Wednesday. Statoil has canceled its contract for the COSL Pioneer. Image: COSL. COSL Pioneer has been suspended since Oct. 8, 2014, and Statoil has not managed to find alternative activity for the rig during the intervening period. “We regret the need to have to cancel this contract and wish to emphasize that this is not due to how the rig has delivered,” said supply chain senior V.P., Jon Arnt Jacobsen. “COSL Pioneer and its crew have demonstrated a good safety culture and delivered efficient drilling operations to Statoil. Cancellation is a consequence of overcapacity in the rig portfolio.”"

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HARC receives grant to develop interactive well pad site

HARC receives grant to develop interactive well pad site: "Many people have never been on and may never have the opportunity to visit an active drilling or hydraulic fracturing site. Now, anyone with a computer can explore oil and gas development activities and encounter the numerous best practices and technologies industry can employ in order to develop reserves with less impact on the environment and communities. The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems (EFD) Program, managed by HARC (the Houston Advanced Research Center), released the EFD Virtual Site in 2012, featuring an interactive Virtual Drilling Rig. In 2014, a Virtual Hydraulic Fracturing Site was launched. This free educational tool was built using gaming software in order to interactively engage current and future energy employees, geologists, and environmental specialists, promoting environmental stewardship to all stakeholders. Now, the EFD Program has been awarded a grant from The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation for the development of the next phase of the interactive EFD Virtual Site, the EFD Virtual Well Pad Site. The EFD Virtual Site is free and available to the public. With funding from The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation, HARC will work with members of the EFD University and National Laboratory Alliance, as well as subject matter experts from industry, environmental organizations, and other stakeholders to develop the latest addition to the interactive, multimedia web application. Using this state-of-the-art gaming software, users can familiarize themselves with the best practices associated with oil and gas development, as well as increase their understanding of these operations."

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Louisiana Science Textbooks Blame Magician David Blaine For Disappearing Wetlands | THE PUSH POLE

Louisiana Science Textbooks Blame Magician David Blaine For Disappearing Wetlands | THE PUSH POLE: "Starting in 2016, Louisiana science textbooks will suggest that David Blaine has been using a powerful magic trick to make the wetlands vanish into thin air."

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Google Launches Free, Ad-Supported Version Of Play Music | TechCrunch

Google Launches Free, Ad-Supported Version Of Play Music | TechCrunch: "Fresh on the heels of the Apple Music launch, Google has just announced that Play Music will now offer a free, ad-supported version of the service to users who don’t want to pay $9.99/month. Play Music is Google’s music streaming service, meant to compete with the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc. However, unlike the paid version, the free version launched today won’t let users choose their own songs to play on-demand. Instead users will have the option to choose from pre-curated playlists, similar to Pandora or iTunes Radio."

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NEWS | Aluminum Could Power AUV Operations in Oil, Gas | Rigzone

NEWS  |  Aluminum Could Power AUV Operations in Oil, Gas  |  Rigzone: "Aluminum could provide a new energy source for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) for oil and gas operations. Spun out from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 18 months ago, Open Water Power is seeking oil and gas industry partners to test its aluminum-water platform technology in the offshore oil and gas environment. Company officials told attendees at the Oil and Gas Innovation Summit in Houston in late April that their technology can expand by a factor of 10 the distance at which AUVs can operate, and can help the oil and gas industry cut costs and improve safety and efficiency as they seek to tap the world’s remaining hydrocarbon resources, much of which lies far offshore or under the Arctic ice."

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NEWS | Cubility Wins Multimillion Dollar Deal to Supply 'MudCube' to Statoil | Rigzone

NEWS  |  Cubility Wins Multimillion Dollar Deal to Supply 'MudCube' to Statoil  |  Rigzone: "Norwegian drilling efficiency firm Cubility announced late Thursday a multimillion dollar deal to provide its MudCube solution to Statoil for installation on the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea. Cubility said that MudCube is the industry's first compact solids control system that eliminates the traditional process of shaking fluid and solids, delivering improved drilling efficiencies, lower mud consumption, reduced waste volumes and improved health and safety.   "We are delighted that Cubility and our MudCube solution is to play such an important role on one of the most important industrial projects in Norway over the next 50 years – something that is testament to our long-term partnership and collaboration with Statoil," Cubility CEO Even Gjesdal commented in a company statement."

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Hackers’ favorite target: Big oil and that deadly equipment

Hackers’ favorite target: Big oil and that deadly equipment: "Hackers have made the energy industry a favorite target. A study conducted in April by Symantec Corp., the world’s biggest cybersecurity firm, found that computer-system invaders attacked 43% of global mining, oil and gas companies at least once last year. In a separate survey, the same month, conducted for the Organization of American States by another security company, Trend Micro Inc., 47% of energy organizations reported attacks, the highest among all corporate sectors and surpassed only by governments. “Nowadays you have computers running everything,” said Alvaro Cardenas, a computer-science professor at the University of Texas at Dallas and a member of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute. “You can create blackouts or oil spills and hurt a lot of people.” As if last year’s oil-price drop wasn’t enough, costs for energy companies rose faster than the U.S. average over the last five years, according to a study by the Poneman Institute for Hewlett-Packard Co. Cybercrimes cost energy and utilities companies an average of $13.2 million each a year for lost business and damaged equipment, higher than in any other industry, according to Poneman’s survey of 257 businesses. Spending worldwide on cybersecurity for oil and gas infrastructure will reach $1.9 billion by 2018, according to ABI Research, a technology data company with offices worldwide."

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Chevron seeks answers on why Big Foot stumbled before start

Chevron seeks answers on why Big Foot stumbled before start: "An equipment failure that’s delayed Chevron Corp.’s $5.1 billion Big Foot deepwater oil project will reduce the company’s production target by less than 25,000 bopd in 2017, the company said. More than a week after some of the production platform’s mooring cables sank in the Gulf of Mexico, Chevron continues to assess the damage and doesn’t know when repairs will start or finish, spokesman Kurt Glaubitz told Bloomberg Television. Remotely-operated vehicles have been roaming the seafloor examining the nine cables that sank. The incident forced Chevron to indefinitely delay this year’s planned start of crude production from the 200 MMbbl field. Big Foot is one of the linchpins in Chairman and CEO John Watson’s plan to boost worldwide production by 20% by the end of 2017. The delay in the project will reduce Chevron’s planned net increase of about 549,000 bopd by less than 25,000 bopd, or about 4.5%, Glaubitz said. The setback increases pressure on the company to avoid delays at the massive Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas-export developments in Australia that are scheduled to commence this year and next, respectively."

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TiVo Now Lets Subscribers Stream Recordings And Live TV Via The Web | TechCrunch

TiVo Now Lets Subscribers Stream Recordings And Live TV Via The Web | TechCrunch: "DVR maker TiVo announced today a new product called TiVo Online that will allow its subscribers to stream both their DVR recordings as well as live TV over the web. The free site also includes an online guide, show recommendations and a search feature that helps customers find what to watch. Other options will help users track favorite shows – even if they’re available on a streaming service like Hulu or Netflix instead of network television."

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Drilling Waste Volume Estimation Basic Concept

Drilling Waste Volume Estimation Basic Concept: "This article provides basic concept of drilling waste volume estimation. These calculation methods can be utilized to compare and optimize the solid control equipment as well. Before I will go into the detailed formulas, I need to have a little bit more background regarding the drilling waste. When we talk about drilling waste, not only is the cuttings but it includes waste of drilling mud, cement, spacer, etc. There are several factor affecting the drilling waste volume such as hole size, solid control efficiency, formations drilled, the amount of drilling mud retained on the cuttings, the ability of drilling mud to sustain in the system, etc."

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Drilling Fluid Classifications Used In Drilling Industry

Drilling Fluid Classifications Used In Drilling Industry: "Nowadays drilling fluid technology has been improving over period of time to suit with drilling applications in many areas in the world. The use of water as a drilling fluid dates back to the third century. Since then, many other types of fluid have been used, including air, natural gas, water misted in air, foams, and a variety of natural and synthetic oils. This article will give an overall basic knowledge of drilling fluid classifications."

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Nicholls Mascot Embraces Inner Nazi | THE PUSH POLE

Nicholls Mascot Embraces Inner Nazi | THE PUSH POLE: "Many people’s longtime suspicions were confirmed yesterday when Colonel Tillou was spotted attending a Nazi rally. For years, students of Nicholls State University have been saying that Colonel Tillou looks like a Nazi, but no one knew if he harbored any fascist leanings. All that changed when he grabbed the microphone and yelled, I’m a jackbooted, storm-trooping poly blended ornament of authoritarianism, and I’m not going to hide it anymore! If you don’t like it, you’re gonna have to pry the swastika from my soft, gray mittens!"

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NEWS | Mighty Aphrodite: Offshore Cyprus | Rigzone

NEWS  |  Mighty Aphrodite: Offshore Cyprus  |  Rigzone: "The Aphrodite gas field located off the coast of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea represents a lucrative opportunity for the country, which has run into financial hardship over the last few years. Here, Rigzone takes a look at how the project is set to develop. Discovered in 2011 in Block 12 of Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), results from drilling evaluation work indicate that Aphrodite contains a mean estimate gross resource of about 4.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). The majority stake in Aphrodite is held by Texas, U.S.-based energy firm Noble Energy Inc., which controls a 70-percent portion of the find. Noble also drilled the initial Cyprus A-1 well at the site using the Noble Homer Ferrington (DW semisub). Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration, both of which are subsidiaries of Israel's Delek Group, each hold 15 percent of Aphrodite."

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Chevron equipment loss in rough seas challenges growth plan

Chevron equipment loss in rough seas challenges growth plan: "Chevron Corp. indefinitely delayed a $5.1-billion oil development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico after an equipment failure, casting doubt on the company’s ability to meet its target of 20% output growth by the end of 2017. Some of the cables needed to tether a floating platform to the seafloor sank between May 29 and May 31, the San Ramon, California-based company said in a statement. None of the wells at the Big Foot oilfield had begun pumping crude and there were no spills or injuries."

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H.R.3361 - 113th Congress (2013-2014): USA FREEDOM Act - NOT!

Does anybody bother to read this stuff? Sure they let the Patriot Act expire without re-authorization, but if they pass this, it appears it will automatically extend the sunset of those provisions...how does that work post-expiration? Does it bring it back from the dead, like a zombie?


H.R.3361 - 113th Congress (2013-2014): USA FREEDOM Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress: "Title VII: Sunsets - (Sec. 701) Amends the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to extend until December 31, 2017 (thereby aligning the expiration date of the following provisions with the expiration date of provisions under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008), specified authority concerning: (1) the production of business records and other tangible things, (2) roving electronic surveillance orders, and (3) a revised definition of "agent of a foreign power" to include any non-U.S. person who engages in international terrorism or preparatory activities (commonly referred to as the "lone wolf" provision). (Currently, such provisions are scheduled to expire on June 1, 2015.)"

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Monster Hurricanes: The Gulf Of Mexico O&G Industry Comes Of Age - Oilpro

Monster Hurricanes: The Gulf Of Mexico O&G Industry Comes Of Age - Oilpro: "History was kind to the pioneers of the offshore industry in the Gulf of Mexico. They arrived at the right shore at the right time. The Gulf sloped very gently out, stretching for a hundred miles in places along the continental slope before reaching water depths of 300 feet. Companies thus could walk gradually, step-by-step into deeper waters as they developed new technologies. As they moved out, they could draw on the workforces and expertise of clusters of oil-related manufacturers and service companies that had grown previously to meet the needs of a booming onshore industry in the region. Best of all, significant discoveries in the Gulf quickly rewarded their initial efforts, encouraging them to make larger investments."

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SMBC: Writing Truths - Seems Legit

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:

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