Jindal defends his low popularity rating in Louisiana - FOX 8 WVUE New Orleans News, Weather, Sports, Social

He is a true politician! Telling bald-faced lies!

Jindal defends his low popularity rating in Louisiana - FOX 8 WVUE New Orleans News, Weather, Sports, Social: "Gov. Bobby Jindal took his run for the White House to mainstream media Wednesday morning. Jindal stopped by CBS This Morning, where Gayle King pressed him about how he plans to win votes on a national level, when his approval rating at home is at an all-time low of 32 percent. "If folks are looking for a popular politician, you can govern by the polls," Jindal said. "You kiss babies, cut ribbons, don't do anything. That's not what our country needs. We're in serious trouble right now. We've got to shrink our federal government, grow our private sector economy. I've done that in Louisiana. I can do that in DC.""

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Technology Is Magic, Just Ask The Washington Post | TechCrunch

Plus points to Jon Evans for using the word "Stentorian" in a sentence!

Technology Is Magic, Just Ask The Washington Post | TechCrunch: "Most people don’t understand how technology works. When they flip a light switch, or tap their phone, what happens next is essentially magic to them. Oh, they may be able to handwave a bit about electrons and volts and microprocessors and radio waves and packet-switched networks, but they’re just mouthing the words. They don’t actually understand any of those things. They’ve never done the math. Which is fine! Not everyone can or should be an engineer. And as Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Our collective network of pocket supercomputers, communicating almost instantaneously across the globe, comes pretty close to “sufficiently advanced” on its good days. But “technology is magic” is a dangerous meme. It makes non-engineers begin to believe that technology really can do anything its wizard-engineers desire. It causes them to not understand that they don’t understand. And so it leads to Very Serious People making risibly embarrassing–and potentially dangerous–mistakes. Last week the editorial board of the Washington Post reiterated their demand that Apple, Google, etc., compromise the security of their users’ communications by building in back doors for law enforcement. This is a terrible, terrible idea, as I’ve mentioned before. But hey, don’t listen to me: listen to Whitfield Diffie, Ron Rivest, Bruce Schneier, and a whole Justice League of infosec legends, who write: We have found that the damage that could be caused by law enforcement exceptional access requirements would be even greater today than it would have been 20 years ago […] Exceptional access would force Internet system developers to reverse forward secrecy design practices that seek to minimize the impact on user privacy when systems are breached […] new law enforcement requirements are likely to introduce unanticipated, hard to detect security flaws [and] raises difficult problems about how such an environment would be governed and how to ensure that such systems would respect human rights and the rule of law. As Elissa Shevinsky writes in the Christian Science Monitor: “Law enforcement’s argument today is just as flawed now as it was in the 1990s. We cannot bend software or cryptography to our will. Technology is science, not magic.” Worst of all, any attempt to enforce this kind of magical thinking will still not prevent genuine bad guys from using strong encryption without back doors. That genie is long out of the bottle, widely available, and open-source. We’d get all of the multitudinous problems associated with built-in back doors, and few-to-none of the alleged benefits. So how did the Very Serious People of the Washington Post editorial board respond to this chorus of “no, bad, terrible, stupid, stop it!” from people who actually know what they’re talking about? Why, by doubling down on their ignorance— There are legitimate and valid counter arguments from software engineers, privacy advocates and companies that make the smartphones and software […] They say that a compromise isn’t possible, since one crack in encryption — even if for a good actor, like the police — is still a crack that could be exploited by a bad actor […] We urged Apple and Google, paragons of innovation, to create a kind of secure golden key that could unlock encrypted devices, under a court order, when needed. The tech sector does not seem so inclined. With all due respect to the WaPo’s editorial board–which is to say, very little–that is breathtakingly dumb. They acknowledge that engineers say that it is not possible to do the thing that they want, and that their arguments are “legitimate and valid” — and then, in the very next breath, they try to reframe that as ‘the engineers refuse to do it.’ It does not even seem to cross their collective mind that they simply cannot have what they want, that no “secure golden key” can or will exist. Engineering is all about tradeoffs. Security, or “golden key” back door: pick one. You can’t have both. That bird won’t fly. It is mythical nonsense."

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VIDEO: Anderson Cooper Gets Trumped, And What Scott Walker Could Learn From It | The Hayride

VIDEO: Anderson Cooper Gets Trumped, And What Scott Walker Could Learn From It | The Hayride: "Over the weekend Walker, whose stance on immigration has evolved quite a bit but now seems to have settled on a relatively hard line not just on illegals and controlling the border but on looking at placing tighter limits on legal immigration until the massive backlog of Americans who can’t find work gets cleared, was accosted in Iowa by the open-borders crowd in the person of an illegal immigrant from Wisconsin who accused him of trying to break up his family… Walker didn’t do a bad job handling a hostile situation from a bunch of obnoxious peope attempting to ambush him. In fact, he was fairly presidential in how he handled the interview – he was firm but polite and he stayed on message throughout the encounter. He also shut down the activists who had sponsored the illegals to accost him by refusing to discuss anything with them; as it turns out they actually drove the family to Iowa in a bus from Waukesha, which tells you all you need to know about how organic this confrontation was. But outside of the political junkies and news media, you didn’t see more than a blip out of this affair – because while Walker handled it exactly as a professional politician would be expected to, there was no news in it. He could have turned that into a perfect, defining moment and solidified his street cred with the conservative base – something he’ll need to do, because unlike Trump Walker has a real shot at being president in January 2017. What Walker could have done is to – before allowing his harasser to say a word in response to his position statement – demand to know how it is the man has his job. “Did they hire you off the books? Or do you have a Social Security number?” And when the expected answer came, next up would be “So you’re using somebody else’s Social Security number. That’s identity theft, you know, and it’s a crime.” Walker could then say “Look, I don’t bear you any ill will, and in your situation I can’t say I would have done much different from what you’ve done. All right? And I’m not somebody you should have any special fear of. But you’re here illegally, and you’re using somebody else’s Social Security number so you can take a job from one of the 93 million American citizens who aren’t in the work force, which as far as I’m concerned is the biggest problem this country has and you’re not part of the solution to it. “So I don’t know what it is you think I’m going to do for you. You want amnesty? OK, great. It’s pretty clear Congress isn’t interested in giving you that. You want Obama to do something he can’t legally do and give you amnesty? Well, that’s piling illegality on top of illegality, and at some point everybody decides they want to play. They’ll decide that not paying taxes works better for them, or moving into some vacant house and not paying for it. Or dumping industrial waste in the river. And then we have chaos. “If we’re going to do anything for you – give you a permit to live and work here, or a path to citizenship or something – then we’re going to need to have an economy that booms to such an extent that we come to you and say ‘what can we do for you?’ because we have a labor shortage and we need more Americans. Until then? Frankly, you really can’t complain about your situation and you definitely can’t make demands to be given better treatment than the citizens of this country who aren’t getting served all that well.” Most people haven’t really thought about the illegal immigration question in quite the terms Walker had it presented to him in Iowa over the weekend – namely, that he’s being accosted by illegal aliens who are making demands of him and making him out to be a bad guy because he’s not willing to change the law to give them something they didn’t earn. The ingratitude and, frankly, greed of that really ought to rankle."

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Halliburton said facing antitrust hurdles over Baker Hughes acquisition

Halliburton said facing antitrust hurdles over Baker Hughes acquisition: "Halliburton Co.’s takeover of Baker Hughes Inc. is facing resistance from U.S. enforcement officials who are concerned the tie-up could hurt competition, according to a person familiar with the matter. Justice Department lawyers reviewing the proposed $34.6-billion transaction are worried that the oilfield services industry would become too concentrated after a combination of its No. 2 and No. 3 firms, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the review is confidential. Though Halliburton has proposed selling some assets to other companies, government officials aren’t convinced its plan would restore sufficient competition, the person said. Although a final decision hasn’t been made yet, the department’s antitrust division is positioned to carry out a legal challenge if it decides to try to halt the deal, which the companies aim to complete by December. The unit has assigned John Read, a seasoned litigator, to oversee the Halliburton review, according to two people familiar with the staffing decision. Among his successes, Read helped win the division’s antitrust lawsuit against American Express Co. over its merchant rules for credit cards. Antitrust lawyers describe him as a formidable opponent who could bring a merger case to trial."

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NEWS | Offshore Driller Hercules Says Weeks From Bankruptcy | Rigzone

NEWS  |  Offshore Driller Hercules Says Weeks From Bankruptcy  |  Rigzone: "Hercules Offshore Inc, stung by slumping demand for drilling services in older Gulf of Mexico oilfields, said on Thursday it plans to file for creditor protection in about three weeks and emerge several months later with a restructured balance sheet. The small company, which rents out jackup rigs to drill shallow water wells that tend to yield less than giant deepwater ones, has been struggling for months because of an oversupplied rig market and slumping oil prices that have forced producers to slash spending. In November it cut 15 percent of its workforce, or 324 jobs, and last month started talks with creditors for an orderly bankruptcy filing. Hercules said on Thursday it has support for the filing from holders of over two thirds of its collective outstanding debt. It added that the prepackaged process will reduce the time it spends in bankruptcy protection, which it hopes to leave early in the fourth quarter."

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NEWS | Trials Underway for Wireless Mesh Communications Device | Rigzone

NEWS  |  Trials Underway for Wireless Mesh Communications Device  |  Rigzone: "Trials are underway for a new communications device just released for use with scalable, kinetic wireless mesh technology. Rajant Corporation – which Rigzone reported on earlier this year – this week launched the CacheCrumb node, a wireless transceiver with built-in processing power that allows applications to be pushed to a edge of a network for quicker access, the company said in a July 22 press statement. The new CacheCrumb is similar to Rajant’s ME4 line, but has an applications processor tuned for distributed video, sensors, algorithms and up to a terabyte of storage. CacheCrumb’s extra processing power and solid state memory means it can perform edge-processing, allowing video and other data to be stored, ‘groomed’ and consumed directly from the device. Rather than adding multiple separate boxes and creating a much bigger footprint, CacheCrumb provides capabilities for that can support different applications through an integrated device, said Paul Hellhake, Rajant’s chief technology officer, in an interview with Rigzone. CacheCrumb meets the demand for video that is growing not only in oil and gas, but other industries as well as companies want security and the ability to monitor equipment if case of failure. The device can store up to 30 days of video, meaning video can be accessed without having to send it across network resources until it’s needed. Video can be streamed immediately, meaning they don’t have to be collected and reviewed later, Hellhake noted. Sensor data also can be stored on CacheCrumb, meaning bandwidth isn’t chewed up by data being sent to a central database. Rajant is working with one oil and gas client to help them address their needs, which include the ability to gather, storage and analyze data locally, Hellhake said. Third party devices can be hooked with other breadcrumbs to provide the benefits of CacheCrumb, but would require additional power sources, such as a laptop hooked up on location to add processing capability. But hard drives tend to fail in outdoor environments, Hellhake noted."

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After deadly blast, 2.7 MMbbl of Pemex oil go missing

After deadly blast, 2.7 MMbbl of Pemex oil go missing: "Petroleos Mexicanos seems to have misplaced 2.7 MMbbl of oil. Since a deadly blast on April 1 tore through one of its offshore platforms, the state oil giant has baffled industry analysts with its assessment of the damage. Pemex has said the disaster, its deadliest this year, affected about 1.5 MMbbl of production. But Energy Ministry reports show the actual figure is nearly three times higher: 4.2 MMbbl in lost output since April 1. The disparity raises questions about how Mexico’s lone oil operator does -- or doesn’t -- keep investors in the loop about its sprawling business. It comes as Pemex tries to lure $33 billion in joint-venture investments to bolster sagging output -- all the more important after Mexico recently failed to attract enough buyers for offshore fields it wants to develop. Pemex is “failing to understand that in this world of transparency, you have to be careful what you say,” said Luis Maizel at LM Capital Group, who manages $5.5 billion of fixed- income assets, including Pemex bonds. “People don’t forget.” Conflicting Statements Pemex has given conflicting statements about how much output was cut. In an emailed response to questions on July 8, Pemex reiterated its 1.5 MMbbl estimate. In a follow-up email on July 10, the company said Bloomberg’s 4.2 MMbbl calculation was also “in the order of Pemex’s estimates” and didn’t provide details to explain the difference when asked in additional messages. At the heart of the confusion appears to be what, exactly, Pemex means by lost output. The production isn’t “lost,” Pemex says, just “deferred.” “It seems like Pemex is using a word game to avoid calling production lost,” said George Baker, an oil analyst and publisher of Mexico Energy Intelligence. “If production is being deferred after an accident, then that means the infrastructure isn’t in place or in good enough condition to pump the oil, so wouldn’t that be the same thing as lost production?” It’s not the first time Pemex’s output figures raise such questions. In addition to missing its own annual targets in each of the past seven years, Bloomberg News in August reported Pemex was including water in its barrel count. A week later, the company acknowledged the mistake and cut production estimates for 2014’s first half by a total of 23.5 MMbbl."

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