Monday, June 19, 2017

The Latest Forecast for Invest 93L – Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum's Weather Page

The models don't mean a thing if the inputs are crap. Until they have a defined center, they can't  accurately model w here it will go.

The Latest Forecast for Invest 93L – Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum's Weather Page: "The forecast models are not in agreement as to where this system may track. They are still spread from Central Texas to the Florida Panhandle. The latest GFS model shows it headed toward Louisiana, but it also had it going to Mobile, AL and Florida – you can see the uncertainty! The Euro has it going toward South Texas and North Mexico.  Once there is a closed circulation, then the models will have a better idea on where it may track. Hurricane Hunters are scheduled to investigate this system on Monday. They will also be able to get some great data about the atmosphere around the low and that data goes into the models too.  Some impacts for Louisiana we can plan for, no matter where it tracks, would be heavy rain and very high tides this week."

'via Blog this'

Friday, June 9, 2017

BSEE rule allows industry more development time - WorldOil.com

Interesting change...good for the companies doing exploration & development.


"A final regulation by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) doubles the amount of time offshore oil and gas operators will have to coordinate development operations and retain their leases in federal waters of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.
“This rulemaking extends the time from 180 days to one year between production, drilling or well-reworking operations on a lease,” said BSEE Director Scott Angelle. “These additional months mean companies doing business on the Outer Continental Shelf will have more planning flexibility, which will help them be more cost efficient, create more jobs and maximize the economic benefit for the entire nation,” he said."

Monday, June 5, 2017

Supreme Court agrees to rule if cops need warrant for cell-site data #ScrewThirdPartyDoctrine

Down with "third-party" doctrine! With everything going to "the cloud", it makes your whole life discoverable AND, as of right now, without a warrant!

Supreme Court agrees to rule if cops need warrant for cell-site data | Ars Technica: "The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide its biggest privacy dispute in years, a case that asks whether the authorities need a probable-cause court warrant to access people's mobile phone location history. "Because cell phone location records can reveal countless private details of our lives, police should only be able to access them by getting a warrant based on probable cause," said Nathan Freed Wessler, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. "The time has come for the Supreme Court to make clear that the longstanding protections of the Fourth Amendment apply with undiminished force to these kinds of sensitive digital records." FURTHER READING Supreme Court asked to rule if cops need warrant for cell-site data For years, the authorities have been obtaining data pinpointing the cell towers that a suspect's mobile phone pinged—all without a warrant. That information is then used as evidence showing a suspect's past whereabouts. In the case before the justices, the authorities got 127 days of cell-site information that included 12,898 location points as part of a Detroit robbery investigation. Police can get this information without a warrant because of the so-called third-party doctrine. That's a legal theory allowing the government to demand companies to provide private information on people if that information is considered a normal business record. Because cell-site data is deemed a business record of the mobile phone companies, the telcos are required to disclose it as part of government investigations, without a probable-cause warrant."

'via Blog this'

Saudi-led alliance moves to isolate Qatar over Iran tensions

Hmmm...

Saudi-led alliance moves to isolate Qatar over Iran tensions: "Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries cut off most diplomatic and economic ties to Qatar, in an unprecedented move designed to punish one of the region’s financial superpowers for its ties with Iran and Islamist groups in the region. Oil gained and Qatari stocks plunged after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt said they will suspend air and sea travel to and from the Gulf emirate. Saudi Arabia will also shut land crossings with its neighbor, potentially depriving the emirate of imports through its only land border. Qatar called the accusations “baseless” and said they were part of a plan to “impose guardianship on the state, which in itself is a violation of sovereignty.” Qatar is one of the world’s richest countries and of strategic importance, being the biggest producer of liquefied natural gas. A country with a population smaller than Houston, its $335 billion sovereign wealth fund holds stakes in companies from Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse Group. It also hosts the forward headquarters of CENTCOM, the U.S. military’s central command in the Middle East."

'via Blog this'

Evaptainers decouples refrigeration from electricity to help rural farms and families | TechCrunch

Won't work in Southern Lousiana...but I like the idea!

Evaptainers decouples refrigeration from electricity to help rural farms and families | TechCrunch: "Taylor said, “As we sweat, water molecules draw heat out of our bodies to go through a phase-change, and evaporate. As that happens we cool down. This machine has water in a tank, and permeable membranes that deliver water to evaporative walls.” Each unit of the company’s newest EV-8-model refrigerators requires about 1/3 of a liter of water to operate per day in a place that’s got less than 65 percent humidity on a hot day. They can store 60 liters, about 5 gallons of milk, and chill contents by about 35 degrees Fahrenheit from the ambient air temperature."

'via Blog this'

Friday, June 2, 2017

BOEM Northern Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Bathymetry Grid from 3D Seismic | BOEM

The actual resource itself:

BOEM Northern Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Bathymetry Grid from 3D Seismic | BOEM: "Northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater bathymetry grid created from 3D seismic surveys. The grid defines water depth with 1.4 billion 40-by-40 ft cells and is available in feet and meters. BOEM grid coverage is the area defined by the color in this image. Shaded relief is vertically exaggerated by a factor of five."

'via Blog this'

A 1.4-Billion-Pixel Map of the Gulf of Mexico Seafloor - Eos

More interesting stuff...from a geology perspective.

A 1.4-Billion-Pixel Map of the Gulf of Mexico Seafloor - Eos: "The geology of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is dynamic, driven not by plate tectonics but by the movement of subsurface bodies of salt. Salt deposits, a remnant of an ocean that existed some 200 million years ago, behave in a certain way when overlain by heavy sediments. They compact, deform, squeeze into cracks, and balloon into overlying material."

'via Blog this'

New Seafloor Map Reveals How Strange the Gulf of Mexico Is

This is  cool as shit! The article gives just a hint at what  makes drilling wells in the Gulf of Mexico one of the most interesting challenges in the world!

New Seafloor Map Reveals How Strange the Gulf of Mexico Is: "The floor of the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most geologically interesting stretches of the Earth’s surface. The gulf’s peculiar history gave rise to a landscape riddled with domes, pockmarks, canyons, faults, and channels — all revealed in more detail than ever before by a new 1.4 billion-pixel map."

'via Blog this'