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05 Feb 2011 | #1 |
| is this case any good? Hi Next weekend I am planning to get a new case for my pc I will spend to a limit of 60 pounds At the moment I seem to quite like this one and I just wondered if it was any good http://www.maplin.co.uk/jet-turbine-atx-pc-case-48124 Thanks Ashley |
My System Specs |
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05 Feb 2011 | #2 |
| Hey Ash, um, the page you posted can't be found.. 404 Error! but for 60 pounds you could buy let me check an UK retailer... Here: Antec Three Hundred Midi Case: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories Or this one: Zalman Z7-PLUS Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Computer Chassis: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories Or even this: Thermaltake Mid Tower WingRS 201 Case: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories They're all under 60 pounds EDIT: ok, now the page shows.. Um, well.. it's an OK case, personally i don't like it but it seems like it has some sort of airflow going on, and it'll fit your computer parts without any problems. I like the Antec 300 the most. it's a simple case, not too much decoration, i like things simple and with the right cable management, and some fans you'll get a really nice airflow inside, keeping your parts cool |
My System Specs |
05 Feb 2011 | #3 |
| Hi Sorry about the link I do not know why it did not work! Anyway I have just fixed it Ashley |
My System Specs |
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05 Feb 2011 | #4 |
| Hey Ash30000, I kinda like the look of that turbine on the front. When Im shopping for a case I write down what Im looking for in regards to how functional it is first. -Does it have front panel ports -Can you fit large video cards -What size motherboard will it accept -How many drive bays does it have -How well is the cooling -Is it tool less -Cable management -Does it have dust filters From there I set a budget then look for the best looking one that fits my needs. Also keep in mind that your case should be the most future proof component in your system. You dont want to be upgrading a component down the road such as a video card only to find that you need a new case because it wont fit! Also keep in mind the new interfaces such as eSATA and USB 3.0. In the coming months you will start to see more and more storage devices using USB 3 or eSATA. And reaching around the back of a case just to plug in a USB 3 thumb drive will be a royal pain in the ***! Hope this helps and good luck with your purchase |
My System Specs |
05 Feb 2011 | #5 |
| Odd place for the front panel ports - on the bottom. That speaks to me poor design. |
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05 Feb 2011 | #6 |
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My System Specs |
06 Feb 2011 | #7 |
| Wouldn't want all of those fans on my desk |
My System Specs |
06 Feb 2011 | #8 |
| Hi Thank-you for all of the replies and yes it will be sitting on my desk Thanks Ashley |
My System Specs |
06 Feb 2011 | #9 |
| Hi society misfit Thank-you for the tips ok looking at cases for the future I will keep that in mind for when I go and buy a case. Ashley |
My System Specs |
06 Feb 2011 | #10 |
| dont waste your money on that generic rubbish get a antec 100 or 300 the 100 is better and newer but the 300 is still great if you cant source the 100 |
My System Specs |
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Jinjiang Inn (Guangzhou Liwan Caihongqiao)
Travel Blogs from Guangzhou
Sign my life away in China.
... I arrived or how long it took but if I tell you that I had to sign my name TWELVE times on various bits of paper, including photocopies of my passport and punch in my pin number at least seven times, you'll get an idea of how long the whole process might have taken. These were in addition to the signatures and number punching I had to do three days ago. It is no wonder that the banks have a ticket numbering system and seats for customers to wait, ...
Back in China
... my hotel. It was mid morning and the full humid heat of
the day was bearing down. This was a time for lazing around, reading, sleeping,
playing cards or Chinese chess. Had I have come earlier I would have found the
people doing exercise, playing sport and probably singing too. I just love the
activities which take place in these parks, so full of life and human
interaction. The parks have many ...
Guangzhou, China
... Robyn got some iced milk tea with chocolate balls in it (like bubble tea) and I tried the iced peach tea. We also ordered some kind of deluxe pizza. the servers seemed very hesitant to serve us. We had to ask twice for them to come take our order! But in the end everything was really tasty and we left happy. Beijing Lu was a different experience from the first time we were there! The first time the streets were almost empty except for the bikes and a few pedestrians, but now ...
Getting to Guangzhou
... streets packed with people, through the metro and to the hotel. Calling it an early night we make plans to learn and go over some key Nepali phrases tomorrow so as not to be caught so inadequately verbally segregated. We will have the buffet again, organize our bags, download pictures and then navigate a long metro line with all our bags to the airport. Then if all goes well fly off to Nepal. Apologizes for the lengthy entry, future posts will be a tad more concise. Until the next time I have a wifi ...
Kicking Around KungFu Style in Guangzhou
... I still reckon the above reminds me of when I am in class and when one of the MANY students who needs glasses puts their fingers to the end of their eyes and lift the skin, I reckon that makes them look Super Chinese and I still reckon that if we did that anywhere in Australia we would be taken to court.

subset: commoncrawl


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NFL on CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz made one really bad call -- with a 29-year-old woman -- and it set a divorce in play that will cost him nearly a million bucks a year for the rest of his life.
A Connecticut judge ordered the famous announcer to pay his ex-wife $864,000 a year in alimony -- and the only way out is death ... or if his ex-wife remarries.
The judge's decision comes in light of Nantz's admission that he began dating a 29-year-old woman before he ended his 26 year marriage. Smooth...
Nantz also has to pay $1,000 a week in child support for their 15-year-old daughter for the next two years.
Jim's wife also gets the couple's Westport mansion -- no word if he gets to keep the couch he's probably been sleeping on.
Ultimately, the judge made Jim pay so much because he's loaded.
They say marriage is sacred. It is nice to see the rich and conservatives showing us how 'sacred' it is. No sympathy here for this man. The child should get more than $1,000 a week.
February 19-March 20
You and your sense of poetic magic are on a tear today -- so bust out the pen or the keyboard and let it flow! You may stumble on some hidden emotional truths that need exploration.
Seriously? That's a lot of loot for alimony. There's more to this story, I'm sure. That's just stupid money. He makes that much?
The daughter is the only one who suffers! Watch what his daughter had to say on her blog: http://www.931theparty.com/cc-common/gallery/display.html?album_id=948 So sad!
So first of all Astro Kooky is awesome. Next....what is with all this crazy alimony talk? Maybe if the Mrs. was taking care of business in the sex department this epic divorce would not be taking place.
Wow the was one expensive piece of 29 year old azz. Can't stand a cheat. This is sweet justice!
Plus $1000 a month for the daughter?!?!?!
If the mother can't take care of the daughter on $864,000 a year she's a piece of selfish crap.
You know her ass ain't gettin' re-married anytime soon...
I am glad his ex. wife took him for all that he was worth. Women deserve EVERYTHING and the WORLD.
I think the daughter should get A LOT more than 1K a week. That isn't enough. That probably barely pays for her schooling. What about clothing and shoes, her hair, etc.?
Hmmm. . . at $864,000 per year for life I would think it would be a whole lot cheaper to have the ex-wife meet a very unfortunate "accident." T Here are some people in New Jersey that could do the job for a whole lot less than one-year's payment. When you get too greedy sometimes it backfires on you. Somebody key-up the Soprano's theme song. . .
As Paul Harvey once said: "Here's the rest of the story"
Looks to me like they were both spoiled Nouveau Riche bitches.


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ibm.com Community
Governance. Risk and compliance on the iPadWith Cognos 10.1.1 released you must have noticed the ability of having your reports and dashboards on mobile devices like iPad and iPhone. With these mobile capabilities CROs (Chief Risk Officers) will now have the ability to measure risk from their mobile devices. For volatile risk areas like Market and Credit Risk this can make a huge difference. IBM developed a risk monitoring system for CROs where one single version of the truth is provided of different risk areas like Credit Risk, Market Risk, Counterparty Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk, Basel II, Solvency II and Operational Risk. Not only does a CRO have the ability to monitor all these risk areas but he can also monitor the correlation between those risk areas and he is able to respond immediately to changes. Responses can immediately be formulated in the integrated social media platform. One version of the truth and guaranteed quality of your data is simple to say but how do you govern this? This is where IBMs investment in data models starts to pay off. Since decades IBM develops and maintains data models for financial services including out of the box technical and business definitions. This enables organizations to come to one definition of risk over the entire organization. Taking definitions centrally will add value in the process of taking down the silod approach we spoke about in earlier articles. It will also help you in the accountability process of the business. Finally it is the business that should own the business definitions. As discussed in our previous published blog (The convergence of GRC and Performance Management) Business Analytics capabilities like risk forecasting, risk adjusted profitability calculations, scenario planning and predictive risk analysis are part of this risk monitoring system called FIRM (Finance Integrated Risk Management). The new regulation for Insurance companies, Solvency II requires organizations to plan their risk assessments and capital requirements 2 to 5 years ahead and to reflect impact on financial positions when a risk materializes. All this means that an integrated approach to risk management is a must. In next blogs we will go deeper into the Solvency II regulation. |
GRC Maturity: From Disorganized to Integrated Risk and Performance - Part IIThis is the second in a series of four blog posts where we present risk and compliance speaker and thought leader, Michael Rasmussen's, GRC maturity model. For more insightful information on GRC and to exchange ideas with risk and finance colleagues, come see us in Orlando at Vision 2012. GRC Maturity — Measuring a New Paradigm for Risk and ComplianceLacking an integrated view of GRC results in business processes, partners, employees and systems that behave like leaves blowing in the wind. Modern business requires a new paradigm for tackling risk and compliance issues across the enterprise. No longer can organizations afford to focus on single risk and compliance issues as unrelated projects; nor can they allow software Band-Aids that are not integrated with the business to masquerade as GRC. A targeted strategy addressing GRC through common processes, information and technology gets to the root of the problem. With changing and diverse risks bearing down on the organization, there is a clear need to tackle the problem at its root and develop a mature approach to GRC. Instead of treating each risk and compliance issue as an individual problem, organizations need to define a common process, information and technology architecture to manage GRC across the range of issues. To address these issues, leading organizations have adopted a common framework, information architecture and shared processes to effectively manage risk and compliance, enable risk-aware decision-making, increase efficiencies, and be agile in response to the needs of a dynamic business environment. The questions organizations must ask:
A well-defined GRC environment will not only do risk assessment and modeling, but will also deliver definition, communication and training on risk-taking and accountability. The organization must map the interrelationship of risks to controls, policies, enterprise assets (e.g., business process, employees, relationships, physical assets and logical assets), and incidents to business strategy, objectives and corporate performance. Mature GRC delivers better business outcomes because of stronger integrated information, which will:
Architect integrated GRC systems and processes A properly defined GRC architecture is built upon common process, information and technology components that are adaptive to a dynamic business environment and integrate with critical enterprise applications. No longer is risk and compliance about an annual audit; it now involves continuous monitoring in an ever-changing environment. GRC has to be sustainable as an ongoing and integrated part of business processes. A successful and mature GRC strategy has a symbiotic influence on the variety of business stakeholder roles and their common requirements. Organizations need to be intelligent about what processes and technologies they deploy. The goal is to make an effective decision once, and comply with many regulations, manage a range of risks and maximize value from the convergence of technology, people and process. A sustainable approach to GRC results in an organization looking to the future and mitigating risk in the course of business, as opposed to putting out fires by reacting to risk and control issues as they arise. Mature GRC enables the organization to understand performance in the context of risk and compliance. It achieves the definition of GRC, which is "a capability that enables an organization to reliably achieve objectives [GOVERNANCE] while addressing uncertainty [RISK MANAGEMENT] and acting with integrity [COMPLIANCE]." Effective and mature GRC delivers:
Continue on to Part III in this series: Five Stages of GRC Maturity |
GRC Maturity: From Disorganized to Integrated Risk and Performance - Part IThis is the first in a series of four blog posts where we will present risk and compliance speaker and thought leader, Michael Rasmussen's, GRC maturity model. For more insightful information on GRC and to exchange ideas with risk and finance colleagues, come see us in Orlando at Vision 2012. Success in today's dynamic business environment requires organizations to integrate, build and support business processes with an enterprise view of governance, risk management and compliance (GRC). Without an integrated view of risk and compliance, the scattered and nonintegrated approaches of the past fail and expose the business to unanticipated risk. In a mature GRC program, the organization has an integrated process, information and technology architecture that provides visibility across risk and compliance domains. It offers an integrated approach for business managers and executives to leverage GRC data for risk-aware decision-making and resource allocation. Inevitable Failure: Managing GRC in Silos The multifaceted risk environment Risk to the business is like the hydra in mythology — organizations combat risk, only to find more risk springing up to threaten them. Executives are constantly reacting to risk appearing around them and fail to actively manage and understand the interrelationship of risk across the enterprise. The dynamic and global nature of business is particularly challenging to risk management. As organizations expand operations and business relationships (e.g., vendors, supply chain, outsourcers, service providers, consultants and staffing) their risk profile grows exponentially. Organizations need to stay on top of their game by monitoring risk to their business internally (e.g., strategy, processes and internal controls) and externally (e.g., competitive, economic, political, legal and geographic environments) to stay competitive in today's market. What may seem an insignificant risk in one area can have profound impact on others. Organizations are increasingly aware of the critical need to link risk management and corporate performance management. To manage corporate performance, the organizations must understand risk and make risk-informed business decisions. In the area of regulatory risk, organizations face an expanding regulatory environment with rapidly increasing requirements that burden the business. Organizations face expanding regulations, increased fines and sanctions, and aggressive regulators and prosecutors around the world. Reputation and brand protection is also a significant compliance and risk management issue in a global environment. Isolated risk and compliance initiatives introduce greater risk Managing GRC activities in disconnected silos leads the organization to inevitable failure. Reactive, document-centric and manual processes for GRC fail to actively manage risk in the context of business strategy and performance, and leave the organization blind to intricate relationships of risk across the business. Siloed GRC initiatives never see the big picture and fail to put GRC in the context of business strategy, objectives and performance, resulting in complexity, redundancy and failure. The organization is not thinking about how GRC processes and controls can be designed to meet a range of risk and compliance needs. An ad hoc approach to GRC results in poor visibility across the organization and its control environment, because there is no framework or architecture for managing risk and compliance as an integrated part of business. When the organization approaches risk in scattered silos that do not collaborate with each other, there is no possibility to be intelligent about risk and understand its impact on the organization. A nonintegrated approach to GRC impacts business performance and how it is managed and executed, resulting in:
The pain organizations have expressed Siloed GRC processes, though effective in their own silos, are ineffective at an aggregate level, as the organization does not have a complete view of GRC in the context of the business. Corporate Integrity finds organizations that lack a collaborative, integrated and enterprise approach to GRC have:
Continue on to Part II in this series: GRC Maturity — Measuring a New Paradigm for Risk and Compliance |
Smarter Project Risk
Erwin Boeren
0 Comments
825 Visits
Smarter Project Risk Last week I came across project risk, and not for the first time! So, time to spend some words on this topic. Especially organizations in Energy&Utilities and Manufacturing have huge risks in their assets and in their projects. You think you have all risks identified through the standard risk identification process and you just missed that elephant?! This might impact your yearly financial result or worse! This is why more and more clients start to look at Project Risk methodologies. My client happened to use the PMBOK methodology. In this methodology you consider standard project phases including standard risks and controls. This is great, since you have most of the standard risks covered. But what about that risk that is just not standard? This is where gate reviews will help you. These gate reviews are held after every project phase. Each gate review contains questions used to identify risks, holds monitoring methodologies to check status and behavior and contains audit like activities. Key element here is that all findings roll up to top level so no significant risk can be missed. This
all works for what we call manageable risks, but what about risks that you
cannot manage? How will you anticipate on this? Well these risks can be covered
by sensitivity analysis, simulations and business continuity management.
Especially sensitivity analysis and business continuity analysis will help you.
For simulations you will need data, and a significant amount of data. Only in
case you have many similar projects running in a regular cycle you will be able
to generate enough risk identifications and losses to be able to make a sensible
calculation like Now the system is in place, and now we are in control? Wrong! This is where the real work starts. How do I get my organization to adopt risk in her daily business? How do I get input with the right quality? How do I make everyone a risk manager? This takes time and effort. Guide your people in how to make the assessments and make them part of it. Give them back where they contributed to, and make their life easier. That is what we call Smarter Risk. IBM OpenPages and Deloitte have put together a Risk Methodology for project risk where all these technologic and organizational aspects come together and can be integrated in your enterprise risk platform. Blog post by
Erwin Boeren Senior
Governance, Risk & Compliance specialist IBM Twitter : http LinkedIn : http |
IBM Watson found a job as a risk expert!
Erwin Boeren
0 Comments
822 Visits
IBM Watson found
a job as a risk expert!
IBM Watson goes to work in financial services as a risk expert. One of the largest Financial Services institutes and IBM now partner to enhance and simplify the consumer banking experience with faster, more accurate decisions, better risk assessment, and more targeted customer offers. IBM Watson is transforming expectations for how technology can help individuals live and work in better ways. Its ability to make sense of vast quantities of unstructured information, communicate in natural human language, learn from experience, and offer confidence weighted responses is already a game changer in healthcare. Focusing these capabilities on financial services brings new possibilities for higher service levels to an expanded set of users. For those who do
not know IBM Watson, Watson is an artificial intelligence computer system
capable of answering questions posed in natural language, developed in IBM's
DeepQA project. As a test of its abilities, Watson competed on the quiz show
Jeopardy!, in the show's only huma Now what will
that bring to our Financial Service clients? Potentially as an assistant to
client service professionals to help deliver evidence-based recommendations
across multiple areas of the bank, including: credit card; private banking;
wealth management; and call centers. Since IBM Watson can think faster than any
human being it is able to make cross checks, prevent fraud, determine risk,
etc. It is able to analyze data such as client information, online news
reports, blogs, Twitter feeds, analyst reports, regulations, credit ratings,
and government securities filings which can help to suggest options targeted to
a consumers' individual circumstances. Blog post by Erwin Boeren Senior Governance, Risk & Compliance specialist IBM Twitter
: http LinkedIn
: http |
Solvency II and the need for Operational Risk
Erwin Boeren
0 Comments
767 Visits
Solvency II and the need for Operational Risk
Blog post from Erwin Boeren, Governance Risk & |
Whistleblowing Worries On the Rise
Richard Steinberg
0 Comments
647 Visits
The SEC's final rules implementing Dodd-Frank's whistle blowing provisions failed to remove angst among compliance officers and general counsels. While there are some incentives for potential whistleblowers to first report alleged misconduct via internal reporting channels, there's no requirement to do so – and many are concerned the internal channels will be bypassed. And going outside is on the rise. It's been reported that in only seven weeks after the SEC's program began, there were 334 whistleblower filings. Compliance officer concerns are well founded – that bypassing internal channels will deprive the company of being able to investigate and fix problems before they grow, and company personnel will need to play catch up with investigations in reaction to SEC probes. We can point to many resolved whistle blowing cases for clear evidence of the potential impact of the SEC's still relatively new program. One homeowner delinquent on her mortgage ultimately received $18 million for reporting suspected use of fraudulent documents in the bank's foreclosure process. It's said that in acting against this homeowner – an attorney and career insurance fraud investigator – the bank "picked the wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong place," but the robo-signing and other compliance failures were widespread and surfaced from a number of sources. Nonetheless, this individual was one of six whistleblowers receiving $46.5 million said to be part of the five-bank $25 billion settlement. In an unrelated case, a member of a major bank's quality control team who reportedly was displeased that the misconduct wasn't reported to regulators, decided to do so herself – ending up with a settlement of $31 million. And there are many more. Worth noting is a recent survey that indicates more than one-third of American workers have seen misconduct on the job. While many instances of misconduct have been reported through internal channels, it appears the vast majority have not. Why? The survey shows it's because of fear of not being able to remain anonymous, and of retaliation. Those two factors, plus the possibility of monetary reward, are reported as key factors in incentivizing internal reporting. And the survey also shows two-thirds of respondents didn't know about the SEC's program – at least not yet. Certainly it's in a company's interest to be first to know about alleged misconduct, and compliance officers are working hard to upgrade policies, training, communications, and the internal whistleblower systems, all to encourage internal reporting. Actions to ensure anonymity, with positive responses and nothing close to retaliation, are expected to help. Some companies have begun to pay bounties for valued reports. There are indications that when employees believe their reports will be taken seriously without adverse repercussions, there's increased likelihood for internal reporting. Law firms and others have provided guidance on which companies are acting. However, it remains to be seen the extent to which the possibility of a huge, life-changing payday by the SEC will be too much to resist. Time will tell. |
Convergence of Risk Management and Performance Mangement
Erwin Boeren
0 Comments
602 Visits
Last year IBM acquired OpenPages as a strategic move into the area of Governance, Risk and Compliance. The lasest announcement to acquire Algorithmics (quantitative risk management) shows the continuous commitment of IBM in the GRC market. GRC software will integrate into the Business Analytics Software group, the area where the former acquisitions like Cognos, SPSS and Clarity systems already resides. Now that Risk Management is evolving, more and more organizations are starting an enterprise approach to risk management. And this is where I see the need for Risk and Performance Management convergence. In past Risk Management implementations I see that a major portion of time and budget was spent on Risk Reporting and Dashboarding. Especially the need for self service reporting, where users can ad hoc create their own risk reports, is growing. We do not want to wait in the queue waiting for our report to be created. 2 days later you missed the opportunity to respond and the loss is there. With this self service capability the question automatically pops up 'can I trust my data'. And now we are back in the area of data governance. This is exactly where the area of Performance Management is today. Apart from these reporting and dashboarding capabilities Enterprise Risk Management means alignment of risks and controls to the strategic initiatives of the organization. What will prevent me from reaching my business goals? Isn't this defined as a risk? And how will we prevent this from happening? Wasn't that defined as a control? Even more interesting are questions like, 'What if I was able to perform risk scenario planning?', 'What if I could predict risks from happening?' or 'What is the correlation between the risks that have materialized?'. And there is the proof that Risk Management and Performance Management have lots in common and should be integrated. Lets call it Business Analytics. Erwin Boeren Governance, Risk & Compliance Leader IBM IOT Southwest Europe |
What Makes Risk Management Work – or NotWe know that MF Global, the firm run by Jon S. Corzine, recently imploded under the weight of bad bets and huge leverage. Reports say that Corzine, former U.S. Senator, Governor of New Jersey, and co-head of Goldman Sachs, did at MF Global what he did at GS – and that's take large risks in trading. How, one could ask, could it have turned out so wrong? Effective risk management processes have at their core identifying, analyzing and managing risks. It will be a while before we know all the details of MF Global's risk management process, but it appears to have worked reasonably well. Wait, what – is that a misprint? Probably not. Based on reports, Corzine knew the risks he was taking. Basically, he bet that the European leaders would act in a way to alleviate the sovereign debt crisis. He put over $6 billion of the firm's money at risk, which with the associated leverage put the firm's existence at risk. And the firm's risk officers also knew, and they seemed to have done what they were supposed to – they brought the matter to the board of directors. Reports say a senior risk officer described the situation and the risks to the board, with Corzine present. The risk officer pointed out not only the nature and size of the risks, but also that risks included both potential defaults on the sovereign debt and the bonds losing sufficient value to cause a liquidity crisis at the firm. The directors listened, and decided to approve what Corzine was doing. Now, we weren't in the room with the directors, or inside their heads, so we don't know whether they made a thoughtful and rational business judgment, or whether they rolled over under Corzine's undue influence. If the latter, then they failed in their job. But if the former, then they determined that they and the firm had a risk appetite large enough to "bet the ranch." So, whether this is a failure of risk management will be decided as the investigations continue and more facts emerge. And of course the missing "segregated" client funds is another matter, likely centered on specific internal controls over that money and what control activities might have been overridden by more senior executives. Also at issue is whether regulators did their job effectively. It will be interesting, indeed, to learn more, as no doubt we will as the investigations unfold. |


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Game Questions & Answers (Q&A) service lets you ask questions about video games for game consoles or PC games. So ask your The Amazing Spider-Man question for iPhone - iPod and get answers from real gamers or answer questions and share your insights and experience with the rest of the gaming community. Note: This apple iPhone game app may also be compatible with the game app for apple iPad.
- Developer: Gameloft
- Publisher: Gameloft
- Genre: Action General
- Release Date: Jun 28, 2012
- ESRB: Not Set
Question & Answers
Fight against the Lizard in park
How do you beat the lizard in Central Park when after chasing him and using the Hourglasses he is waiting for you by the bomb (or whatever it is!)? It is almost impossible to fight with the lizard as he tries to strangle you and you cannot fight back... What should I do to place a blow or a kick? Someone else was talking about Big Machines in another Answer... Maybe it is that to follow but the description does not fit my position at this stage and laws no sense. Thanks!
Answer from: Assassin7
Distract Him By Waiting At The Big Machines And Wait For Him To Charge/Run To You And Jump Out Of The Way. He Will Hit The Big Machines. Do This Method On All Four Machines And Volia The Boss Is Defeated. And Go To The Control Panel Machine Touch The Red Floating Button Watch The Cutscene Done. Mission Completed. And Dude That Was Me Talking About The Big Machines And It Works 100% I Tryed It And It Makes Sense 100% Try It Out :)
Answer from: zeevj
@Assassin7: What are the machines you are talking about? i'm stuck in the same thing :(
Answer from: sap
Please help me... I cannot beat lizard ( Central Park)? What should I do?
Answer from: udaan
Thanks man it totally works for me just wait by an gas plant/machine wait for him to attack and when h e attacks try to avoid. do the process for each m/c n u will be victorious
Unanswered Questions
From: Maddie
Posted on: 03-07-2014
From: alex
Posted on: 12-03-2013
From: Gilo
Posted on: 04-13-2013
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SBPop: Email Notification 1.6
Download: SBPop: Email Notification (790.08KB)
- Author: Scott
- License: Shareware $26.95
- OS: Win95,Win98,WinME,WinNT 3.x,WinNT 4.x,WinXP,Windows2000
- Publisher: SB-Software
- Homepage: http://www.sb-software.com
SBPop: Email Notification 1.6 Description
" SBPop: Email Notification : SBPop monitors your Internet email mailbox for incoming mail and announces new mail by a flashing icon and / or audio alert. Supports multiple mail servers and audio alerts that are configurable by author, subject, or search string. . "
Editor: SBPop: Email Notification - SBPop monitors your Internet email mailbox for incoming mail and announces new mail by a flashing icon and / or audio alert. Supports multiple mail servers and audio alerts that are configurable by author, subject, or search string. Shareware, with no limitations, expirations, or disabled features.
SBPop: Email Notification 1.6 Screenshot
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- periodically checks the mail. Notification of a new letter is displayed as.POP3 / SSL and most free email services are supported, including GMail..duct exposure by capturing a world-wide audience in...


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We used the same 750 W PC Power and Cooling power supply for both systems, which makes the differences even more significant. The 2010 system requires roughly half of the 2007 machine's idle power. Most power savings can be found on the processor side, but the graphics card and the motherboard also contribute significantly.
The difference in peak power is equally impressive. The 2010 system with the Core i7-870 requires less than 199 W at peak load (CPU load only), which is 70% of the Core 2 Extreme's power consumption. In other words, you get much improved performance for less power. This should have quite an impact on efficiency.
- Old Vs. New: Powerful Systems From 2007 And 2010 Compared
- The 2007 System: Intel P35 Express
- 2007 Components: Core 2 QX6700, GeForce 8800GTS, WD Raptor
- The 2010 System: Intel P55 Express
- 2010 Components: Core i7-870, Radeon HD 5870, G.Skill Phoenix SSD
- Test Setup
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark Vantage
- Benchmark Results: Gaming
- Benchmark Results: Applications
- Benchmark Results: Power Consumption
- Benchmark Results: Efficiency
- Conclusion


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Roll your stored necessities out of the way and retrieve them with ease. Designed to perfectly hold our underbed storage bin, this sturdy frame features raised sides to hold the bin securely in place.
Item | Price | Delivery Surcharge |
Rolling Underbed Storage Frame | $25 | $0 |


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UNDEFEATED wrote:McCheese wrote:Who is the better option to pick up? Burleson or Robinson?
I like Burleson, get more looks...unfortunately not in the red zone...(but thats the whole point)...my gut is telling me....go to the bathroom
Just verified the looks thing and Robinson has caught up to Burleson.
Burleson has better YAC YARDS 3:1 ratio
You can't deny Robinsons 5 TDs.
I still like burleson.


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It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's list time—when critics, bloggers and everyone in between determine the albums of the year (which you won't remember a year from now.). Over the coming weeks, you'll see tons of Top lists for 2010, including some of our own. Here, we take a look at what your favorite albums say about you or the critic including them in his or her year-end list..
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: You are a douchebag, an asshole, a scumbag, a jerkoff or someone on staff at Pitchfork. Possibly all of the above.
Superchunk, Majesty Shredding: YOU ARE OLD. You read Dave Eggers while listening to WFMU, and have toddler-aged kids you treat like adults.
Bruce Springsteen, The Promise: You are old, bitter and nostalgic for a time when you weren't, even if it means getting all wishy-washy for songs that weren't good enough to make the cut when they were originally recorded. Or you're a young person who has been browbeaten so often with The Importance of Springsteen that it seemed like a no-brainer.
Eminem, Recovery: You are Eminem.
Janelle Monae, ArchAndroid (Suites I and II): You are confusing Janelle's amazing live performances with this ho-hum album, which doesn't hold up in the absence of her shuffling around the stage like a female reincarnation of the late James Brown.
Crystal Castles, self-titled: You're a sucker for duos from Canada.
Sleigh Bells, Treats: You're a sucker for duos from New York City.
Hole, Nobody's Daughter: Trick pick! This person doesn't exist.
Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: You are a fan of eating hype by the bowlful without actually listening to the album, which is quite terrible.
Sufjan Stevens, The Age of Adz: The album is a difficult listen. Sufjan is challenging his listeners, and you like to be challenged. And you made it to eight on your list and needed some go-to filler.
The New Pornographers, Together: You are the whitest person on earth.
Surfer Blood, Astro Coast: Remember that one month everyone seemed to be talking about Surfer Blood? You do too, and you're still living in it.
Justin Bieber, My World 2.0: You can't be bothered to put down your copy of Twilight to read this.
DeepChord Presents Echospace, Liumin: "A record you've never even heard of made my Top 10 list, because I'm better than you."
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs: "I am a risk taker. I don't follow trends. I buck the system. I upset the apple cart. I am a rugged individualist. I don't go with the flow. I am my own person. I zig where most zag." The opposite of all that.
KT Tunstall, Tiger Suit: You felt guilty about the lack of women on your list.
The National, High Violet: It's their worst album, but still one of the best of the year. Or so says you, the person who doesn't listen to enough new music.
"If you picked a favorite album at all, you may be a rock critic--one of those rare people who still listen to "albums.""
It's easy being the Pretty Greens
Philly's own Nothing is really something
Modern Baseball finds its sweet spot
On the Record: Tinariwen, Gardens & Villa, Cibo Matto and more
Pop-punk trio Cayetana is ready for the world
30-Second Review: Pissed Jeans at Union Transfer
PW's Weekend Picks
Forever badass: Melvin Van Peebles on his Philly funk gig and Sweetback memories


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Lugar: Suiza · 53 mensajes · Colección
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#19 Enviado: 20:40 30/07/2008 |
While fans wonder en masse about the fate of Brütal Legend amid the new Activision Blizzard's worrying talk of "reviewing our options" and "improving efficiency," developer Double Fine's Tim Schafer has been fretting over his South Beach diet and finding a weevil in his Kashi oatmeal. In the latest post on Double Fine's site, though, Schafer admits people have been hounding him for more details and he complies, providing a full-size closeup of the dead weevil. Hover over the image with the mouse, though, and get the answer to the question we really want to know: "Brütal Legend is fine," says a simple sentence. We've contacted Double Fine in the hopes of gaining more details, and will update with any comment we receive. |
Lugar: España · 7951 mensajes · Colección
#20 Enviado: 20:45 30/07/2008 |
Lugar: Madrid · 1849 mensajes · Colección
#21 Enviado: 21:12 01/08/2008 |
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Photo was taken from ship on a geological fieldtrip for Licence PL 537 on Aug. 19, 2010, Steinhauserfjellet. |
This sponsored supplement was produced by Focus Reports. Report Publisher: Ines Nandin. Editor: Eric Watkins. Project & Editorial Director: James Waddell. Project Coordinators: Chiraz Bensemmane, Zuzana Kudelova. Editorial Researcher: Cameron Rochette. For exclusive interviews and more info, plus log onto www.energy.focusreports.net or write to email@example.com |
Having spent a decade tracing the steps of the UK along the same downward-spiralling production path, Norway has now found a second wind. A spate of world-class discoveries over the last couple of years has breathed new life into Norway's oil and gas industry. Indeed, as Norway unlocks its third petroleum province in the Barents Sea in the 22nd licensing round, its E&P story is clearly still being written. Currently garnering the envy of debt-laden and stagnating European economies, Norway is riding high on a second oil boom and faces a very different set of challenges. With unprecedented levels of E&P interest in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) the key questions are how long and how far can Norway now stretch its capacity without collapsing from the strain.
Sympathy for the Overpaid
In July, as the European press was reporting that Norway's oil and gas industry had shut down and British gas prices had shot up, I was sitting in an office with Hilde-Marit Rysst, president of the Norwegian Union of Energy Workers. We were discussing whether Norwegian offshore workers, whose average salary of $180,000 is twice that of the global average, who work a "two weeks on, four weeks off" regime and who currently retire at 62 were justified in launching a 16-day strike action. Undertaken to protect what some would see as rather indulgent labor rights, the strike of 708 workers ultimately reduced Norway's July oil production by 17 percent, and threatened Norway's reputation as a stable gas supplier.
For Rysst, however, the issue was not whether highly skilled Norwegian offshore workers deserved working conditions well above those of their counterparts in other countries. It was not even about employers reneging on past agreements. Rysst's main problem with the situation was the hypocrisy of an industry that was able to offer generous pensions to its chief executives now reining in the rights of the workers who paved the way for its success.
Helge Lund, CEO, Statoil |
She pointed out that at one time the top 10 executives at Statoil earned the same as the CEO of ExxonMobil and that the industry was founded on more egalitarian principles. For her, the nature of Norwegian-based oil companies like Statoil is changing. "Firms in Norway are earning colossal amounts and the difference between them and their European counterparts is even greater than the difference between Norwegian worker pay and the average pay in Europe," said Rysst. For her, the only valid wage benchmarking is within Norway, and the only inequities are those that exist between the top and bottom of Norway's industry.
In September, the Norwegian Petroleum Association managed to head off another strike of 159 workers on North Sea fields by acquiescing to a 4.5 percent pay rise. Whilst the rest of Europe talks of pay freezes and austerity measures, these conversations can be heard only as faint echoes in Norway.
Derailing a Runaway Industry
Speaking at the 2012 Pareto Securities Oil & Gas Offshore Conference, with a tone of reserved bafflement, Statoil CEO Helge Lund parroted discussions taking place in the Storting (Norwegian parliament): "We believe that our economy is too strong, there is too much activity. This would seem like a joke to others." He continued: "The critics think Norway's blossoming oil and gas sector puts negative pressure on the Norwegian economy and hurts other branches."
Lund was referring to prominent politicians and economists who have been flirting with the idea of slowing down the pace of Norway's oil and gas development, fearing that it might disadvantage the rest of the economy. One of the three members of Norway's coalition government, the Socialist Left Party, has publicly announced that high offshore activity is harmful to the rest of the mainland industry. They see this wealth-generating industry creating a skills drain from other sectors and fueling a dangerous real estate bubble. In Norway's oil capital, Stavanger, buoyant oil-worker salaries have driven a rise in house prices, making it hard for lower paid workers to find places to live. As a case in point, local hospitals are short on nurses, whose salaries struggle to meet the cost of living in one of the top 10 most expensive cities in the world.
However, Lund warned that any restraint on the industry would throw up a huge challenge to investment and irrevocably harm value creation stemming from the industry.
In 2012, while other European economies dallied around anaemic growth figures, Norway was at various points Europe's fastest growing economy. Norway is projected to have a robust 2.8 percent growth in 2013 and, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, 21 percent of that growth can be attributed to the oil and gas industry, while 47 percent of Norway's exports are made up of petroleum sales and oil services. With such strong value creation one might ask: why punish the oil and gas industry?
Norway has gone to great lengths to prevent abuse of its oil wealth and resist the Dutch disease - the apparent relationship between the increase in exploitation of natural resources and a decline in the manufacturing sector. At $654 billion Norway's "Government Pension Fund" is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, swallowing up 100 percent of Norway's state oil revenues, with a limitation of four percent being made available for reinvestment by the state within Norway. The sagacity of this system has earned international respect, yet it seems that however strong the remedy, the runaway success of Norway's oil industry, nonetheless, poses a challenge to the rest of Norwegian society.
High on Utsira
But what kicked off Norway's second oil boom?
Over the course of 2012 Norway's part-privatized NOC, Statoil, Swedish E&P independent Lundin and their partners carried out appraisal drilling on the Johan Sverdrup field (formerly Aldous/Avaldsnes). Successful drilling programs since its discovery in 2010 confirmed that this giant field, which is expected to contain upwards of 3.3 billion boe, is not only one of the largest finds on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) since the mid-1980s but also one of the top five discoveries of all time in Norway.
The two blocks (PL501 and PL265) located in Norway's North Sea on the Utsira High, which now form the Johan Sverdrup discovery, appeared in the country's first licensing rounds back in 1965. Four successive license groups have been within meters of finding these oil reserves, but without success. Asked whether this discovery was part of a skillfully designed strategy emanating from Lundin's now legendary exploration manager, Hans Christen Rønnevik, or simply remarkable good luck, Torstein Sannes, managing director of Lundin Norway, replied: "It certainly feels like there was an element of luck in making this discovery. However everyone forgets that we spent $600 million in this area before it became a big success story."
Torstein Sanness, managing director, Lundin |
Since Lundin first entered Norway in 2003, the company has enjoyed repeated exploration success, following a strategy oriented around Jurassic highs. In fact, the company has chalked up a discovery every three years since 2004: Alvheim Volund 2004, Luno (now Edvard Greig) 2007 and Avaldsnes (now Johan Sverdrup) 2010. However, Sannes makes no mistake that Johan Sverdrup is clearly a game-changer.
Sannes boasted not only that companies are now queuing up to partner with Lundin, but also that their loan facilities have been oversubscribed to the tune of $5 billion. He continued: "When Johan Sverdrup comes on-stream in 2018 or later we will see our production increase substantially. Statoil has been quoted as seeking 500,000 barrels per day from Johan Sverdrup after 2.5 years of production and Lundin can look at having around 25 percent of Johan Sverdrup's production." Moreover, Johan Sverdrup's water depth is around 115 meters, it is nearby existing oil and gas export infrastructure, and there are no high temperature/high pressure (HTHP) concerns, making these highly valuable barrels.
Erik Haugane, CEO, Det Norske |
This remarkable story has spurred on the industry and other major discoveries have followed from Skrugard in 2011 to Garantiana in December 2012. Erik Haugane, CEO of Norwegian independent DetNorske, one of Lundin's key license partners on Johan Sverdrup, attributes this success, not to the good fortune of having a resource-rich shelf, but to the liberalization of the industry from 2000. He said that the major change occurred when the Norwegian Parliament gave up the rigid dogma of maintaining three oil companies on the NCS: Saga, Statoil and Hydro. Since then the Norwegian government in 2005 introduced a 78 percent tax rebate, which "took away the disadvantage of being a newcomer compared to the established companies who could transfer the tax to their operating costs immediately or push it forward for later income." For Haugane, it is the new arrivals to the shelf like Lundin which have reignited the industry and they are the ones that hold the key to reversing Norway's decade-long oil decline.
Buying into Norwegian Success
On the back of strong exploration incentives, the number of companies active on the NCS has increased to nearly 60 today from around 18 a decade ago. However, according to Svein Ilebekk, Cairn's director of Northern Europe, the number of companies is unsustainable in the current financial climate. "Accessing capital is a major issue today and will be even more critical going forward both in the UK and Norway. I think in a few years' time you will see an increased consolidation in Norway and a different set of companies," Ilebekk said.
Svein Ilebekk, director of Northern Europe, Cairn |
Two of the companies Ilebekk helped found have been acquried by firms seeking entry into Norway: Revus by Wintershall and Agora Oil & Gas by Cairn. December 2012 then saw British E&P independent Tullow Oil acquire Norwegian pure-play exploration company Spring Energy for $372 million.
A child of Norwegian venture capital company HitecVision, Spring Energy had built an extremely strong track-record in exploration since its foundation, making six commercial discoveries out of 12 drilling operations since 2008.
Discussing the origin of the company in 2007, Roar Tessem, founder and CEO of Spring Energy said, "I saw a great deal of opportunity in prospects that had been missed within the mature areas of the North Sea and also growing opportunities in the Norwegian and Barents Seas. This potential has certainly not diminished since then, in fact I rather think it is more focused now and this potential has been repeatedly confirmed by recent discoveries."
Tullow naturally brings financial muscle and experience to the operation and Tessem, now managing director of Tullow Norge AS affirmed, "We have a solid drill schedule over the 12 firm wells for the next 18-24 months. He continued, "We would also like to continue strengthening our ability as an operator because we will drill our first operated well in the second half of 2013 on the Mantra prospect just northeast of the Troll field."
Roar Tessem, CEO, Spring Energy |
Both Spring Energy and Tullow Oil had been looking to expand into the North Atlantic and the merger was a good strategic fit. Well-known for its African E&P projects, Tullow's foray into Norway marked a new direction for the firm and the acquisition secured its fast access to 28 licenses on the NCS with potentially more on the way if applications in the 22nd licensing round prove successful.
An Equity Bridge to Norway
Addressing the shaky foundations of Europe's financial markets, Tom Reynolds, CEO of the dual-listed Norwegian-British E&P company Bridge Energy, expressed the opinion that the European downturn would not induce shareholders to sell, but could restrict access to new capital. According to Reynolds, the advent of the Greek sovereign debt crisis in 2010 certainly hampered Bridge Energy's first IPO attempt. Later a key tactic for Bridge Energy was to gain a second listing on London's Alternative Investment Market in addition to Oslo listing, in order to mitigate the scarcity of equity funding.
Tom Reynolds, CEO, Bridge Energy |
Reynolds saw the UK as presenting a separate investor community, and one which was keen to get involved in Norway's exploration story. He explained that despite the European recession, "The Norwegian exploration success story carries a lot of weight in this investor community. There have been a number of pan-North Sea players or UK-focused players making their way into Norway over the last couple of years."
Alfred Kjemperud, managing director, Bridge Energy |
Reynolds sees Norway's exploration environment as attractive due to its open access to seismic data and the availability of transportation and offloading infrastructure for fast-track tie-in programs. "This is a very well understood province with great data access and if you find what you are looking for it should be quicker, easier and more commercial to develop than in most other places in the world," said Reynolds.
Scott vs Amundsen in Oil & Gas
Just like Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen, the famous British and Norwegian explorers who competed to discover the South Pole a century ago, the UK and Norway are today locked in a similar competition. They share the same North Sea basin, and there is a race to attract investment to their continental shelves. Technically the British were the first to arrive on the scene, with a few years' headstart. But now it seems that Norway is pulling ahead, with 2011 marking the first year when more exploration wells were drilled in Norway than in the UK.
In the original race for the South Pole, Scott made use of ponies, dogs and even engine-driven sledges, whereas Amundsen stuck to using dogs the whole time. Similarly, over the last few years, the British have changed their fiscal strategy numerous times whereas the Norwegians have remained relatively steadfast in their approach.
For Gary Smart, CEO of Aberdeen-based completions specialist Tendeka, "Norway is far less volatile; the rig count has not suffered any major dips over the last 3-5 years. This makes it strong for investment and sustained business. With the new finds, the activity level is only going to increase further. You therefore do not need to worry too much about business decline. This stable environment has allowed some of our businesses to grow their presence since 2003."
He believes that the UK market will lag behind Norway's for some time to come and even if the UK tax incentives increase, "the market will need a long time before the investment is where it needs to be to reach the level it was before the recession - after all, the UK is still in recession." It is also important to him that in the UK there is no longer a strong presence of the international oil companies (IOCs), but instead many independents that, in his opinion, do not push new technologies as actively.
Gary Smart, CEO,Tendeka |
According to the consultancy Wood Mackenzie, Norway's winning strategy has rested on four main pillars: the creation of the Awards in Predefined Areas in 2003, the 78 percent tax rebate on exploration, open seismic data access and fiscal stability. The race between the UK and Norway has historically been close, but in 2013 the NCS is expected to attract $37 billion to its waters and has already edged its way past the UK to hold the #1 global position in offshore investment compared to UK's #4.
Latching on to the Subsea Growth Story
In its 2011 paper, "An Industry for the Future", the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy cited two time-critical initiatives aimed at boosting production from the NCS: improved oil recovery (IOR) from mature fields, and fast-track tie-in programs from new fields to existing infrastructure. Both of these initiatives are dependent on using Norway's mature infrastructure, some of which has been in production for more than 40 years.
The aim of the fast-track tie-in programs is to significantly reduce the time to bring a field on-stream to a matter of months from an average of 10 years. Statoil has been leading the way with this initiative, creating its own independent fast-track division encompassing a portfolio of 12 projects ranging in value from $500 million to $2 billion. The fast-track strategy has also caught the attention of numerous independents looking for low-risk, high commerciality from smaller fields.
Ragnar Hjelmen, operations director, J P Kenny Norge |
According to Ragnar Hjelmen, operations director in Norway for UK engineering company J P Kenny: "There will be a lot more wells where they tie-back to existing infrastructure and given this trend in the market, the subsea investments are projected to double from 2012 to 2016. However, we have not yet seen this happening in 2012. As yet, not that much engineering work has been up for tender and it has mostly been very small-scale feed studies. However, the projected investments are huge, taking into account fabrication and installation and we expect the market to grow significantly next year [2013]".
As a consequence of this subsea opportunity, the 70-strong organization in Norway, which has a dual presence in Stavanger and Oslo, is now in a phase of rapid expansion. In meeting the capacity demanded by the market, Hjelmen believes J P Kenny will have an advantage in being able to draw on the international human resources of Wood Group, especially in a country famously tight on skilled labor.
An Interview with Øystein Michelsen, executive vice-president of development and production in Norway at StatoilFocus Reports: Looking at how this partially-privatized state oil company conducts its E&P strategy in Norway, would you describe Statoil as an IOC or an NOC? Michelsen: Statoil functions a lot like an IOC in Norway. The regulatory authorities in Norway are separated from the company and we therefore fall under exactly the same harsh scrutiny as any other player on the NCS. Of course, Statoil plays a certain "architect" role on the NCS as we are heavily involved in the most prolific areas of production. In this respect, Statoil is responsible for a lot of the infrastructure and consequently has a significant say in how this is developed. Nonetheless, this is a consequence of our size and historical role rather than of our function.
In around four years, 13 companies will have platforms on the NCS and there will be around 40-50 operators and 60-70 license investors. So far, we have been used to cooperating with the international majors and they are still our main partners in production. However, to an increasing degree, we are now building relations with newer and smaller players on the NCS. Focus Reports: How does domestic production fit within Statoil's global objective to producte 2.5 million bpd by 2020? Michelsen: Domestic production was always important to meet this goal and given the scale of new discoveries, it is even more so. The NCS will be a growth story for Statoil towards 2020. There is a slight reduction in production in the short term, but it will increase towards 2020 and our goal is to produce more than 1.4 million boed by 2020 from the NCS. We will grow our production in the order of 500,000-600,000 thousand boed until 2020; this is a tremendous growth story and our production on the NCS will match our international production over the coming years. The perception of the NCS as a gloomy, sunset production area is simply wrong. The Northern finds in particular, such as Skrugard and Havis and the North Sea giant Johan Sverdrup have opened people's eyes to the ongoing potential of the NCS. Focus Reports: I have heard you are targeting 60 percent recovery on the NCS. How important is IOR to your production growth over the next few years? Michelsen: IOR is a very important part of our growth story. Typically it involves drilling more wells in existing fields and low pressure production. We are engaged in many of these projects around the NCS which are very exciting. For example there is one project at Gullfaks involving a subsea compression unit, which is smaller than the one we have installed at Åsgard. These subsea compression stations are very demanding, innovative and exciting projects; they represent an important step in the development of the subsea factory. Over the last couple of years, we have matured as much production from IOR projects as from new developments. |
Seeking Oil & Gas Asylum in A Risky World
Over the past decade Norway has served as a comfortable training ground for European downstream companies such as RWE, Bayerngas and GDF to flex their upstream muscles. This trend continued in 2012 and it witnessed two major deals between Statoil and European downstream companies wishing to expand their upstream presence: Centrica and Wintershall. Wintershall alone forked out $1.35 billion for Statoil's stake in the Brage field, 120km Northwest of Bergen in the North Sea.
According to a 2011 Ernst & Young report, "The Oil Downstream: Vertically Challenged", the soaring price of oil has shifted value creation sharply towards the upstream sector, suppressing the downstream margins in an extremely competitive European market. This change in the financial environment has encouraged leading downstream companies to look upstream.
Bernhard Krainer, general manager, OMV |
Since our last meeting with Bernhard Krainer, general manager of OMV, in 2009, the company has more than doubled its license portfolio on the NCS to 17. Krainer notes that the "executive board of OMV introduced a new strategy in September 2011 with OMV focusing more on the upstream sector for future investments. As our activities in Norway are upstream focused, we are here certainly profiting from the new strategy."
For OMV, Norway provides a safe bet within its international operations: "In terms of our global portfolio, where some countries carry a certain amount of political risk, Norway provides a good counterbalance. OMV operates in several North African and Middle Eastern countries, where the situations can be less predictable compared to Norway."
A Few Facts about Statoil:
Although cautious of throwing heavy investment up to the Barents Sea where visibility on projects is still 15 years in the future, OMV feels that Norway offers sufficient stability to invest for the long term. Krainer noted: "OMV will be investing strongly in infrastructure in mid-Norway until 2017. The company sees this as an area where OMV can have considerable production in the medium term. The production start-ups from this region are scheduled for around 2017, which will shorten the waiting time for any bigger discoveries yet to be made in the Barents Sea."
Strikingly similar in terms of its motivations and strategies is Italian E&P company Edison. In May 2012 French electricity giant EDF completed the acquisition of the Italian junior and Raffaele Buonaguro, general manager of Edison Norge explained: "EDF is showing a strong interest in the upstream sector and in Edison as a company. With this support we are looking to transform our presence in Norway in the coming years."
Raffaele Buonaguro, general manager, Edison |
Again Buonaguro echoed Krainer's view, on behalf of Edison, saying that, "Norway plays a key role within Edison's global portfolio, in part thanks to the stability of this market. Norway creates a relatively low-risk position for the company, as it moves into higher-risk regions." And again Edison sees itself playing a key role in mid-Norway's infrastructure as a partner in the Norwegian Sea Gas Infrastructure (NSGI) project. Buonaguro believed that this project would "serve as the access point for a future pipeline coming from the North." Though Edison's strategy is currently oriented more around the North Sea where he sees "tie-back to the market is much faster and easier to establish than in other areas, like the Barents Sea."
Gerhard Bauer, CEO, Lotos |
In 2007, Polish refining giant Lotos began its adventure in Norway. Lotos Norge CEO Gerhard Bauer explains that his company has made a strategic commitment to the upstream sector. Bauer said that in the "period 2011-2015, it will commit $1.2 billion to its E&P operations to achieve a 100,000 barrels per day target by 2020 in which the vast majority will come from Norway." Where Lotos differs is in not having high-risk international projects in need of a risk-free counterbalance. Nor is Lotos currently investing in infrastructure. Instead, Bauer holds the ambition of rapidly transforming Lotos into a full spectrum E&P company on the NCS.
"We do not only focus on exploration but on becoming a full E&P player on the NCS. I think all this is very well received in Norway and in line with the Norwegian strategic focus on long-term development," said Bauer. Whatever their strategy, Norway continues to provide a safe haven and long-term growth opportunity for European downstream players in tough times.
The Risk of Norwegian Overenthusiasm
Kjell Pedersen, president and CEO of Petoro, the Norwegian state company responsible for managing the country's direct oil and gas license investments – a portfolio of $191 billion – expressed a note of caution to the country's intense E&P activity. The danger, as he understood it, is that such frenzied excitement, ironically, could stretch the supply chain too thin, limiting access to skilled labor and drilling rigs thereby driving up drilling costs to an unsustainable level and distracting the market from necessary investments in mature assets. He feared that instead of taking Norway to new heights, the weight of enthusiasm could collapse the floor of the industry.
Kjell Pedersen, president & chief executive officer, Petoro |
Pedersen said: "It is clear that Norway is too costly compared to other countries and some analysts say the difference between Norway and the UK in drilling cost could be 45%." In fact, drilling costs on the NCS doubled over the first decade of the 21st century and Petoro, which was designed as a purely financially-focused organization, whose key performance indicators revolve around profitability, has found itself becoming increasingly involved in the technical side of the business to find innovative ways to reduce costs.
Petoro has been working closely with Norwegian NOC Statoil on new drilling concepts such as license groups buying and owning drilling rigs and extending drilling contracts to 6-8 years. Petoro also has been working with Statoil on new categories of rigs for light intervention operations (category A and D). Pedersen summed up: "We are doing a lot to try to reduce the overall cost, but some of the fundamental issues as to why Norway has come this high up on the cost curve are difficult to change. We are a rich nation of five million people, we have given ourselves the luxury of being expensive."
Asbjorn Olsen, managing director of Transocean, was also a little more sanguine in his assessment of the capacity problem. He agreed that although the market is currently undersupplied with rigs, he disagreed that this was creating unsustainably high day rates. Olsen said, "the day rates for standard floating rigs are in the low five hundred thousands, which is not significantly above global averages. I believe the 'high day rates' in Norway is a theme that has been over-played by the oil industry quite a bit. The lifting cost for oil in Norway is not that much higher than in the rest of the world; it is really in the midfield." On the question of capacity, he continued that by 2016, the number of mobile rigs on the NCS would increase to around 50 from 33 today, in his view, restoring the supply balance.
Asbjorn S. Olsen, managing director, Transocean |
Olsen saw the capacity problem slightly differently: "this expansion in the number of rigs in itself represents a major challenge for the industry, given that we will need to qualify new people to operate them." Through its acquisition of Aker Drilling last year and a 40-year history in Norway, Transocean has been able to establish a strong local labor force capable of taking on operations. Yet, Olsen says that it is difficult for the company to expand further due to skills shortages.
Regarding whether they could bring in competence from the UK, Olsen replied: "Norway is a very different market from a competence standpoint and you need a different set of technical skills and also documentation of those skills with proof of competency. This creates some barriers for workers from the UK, for example, to work in Norway." For Olsen the shortage of people is the single most important challenge facing the Norwegian industry.
An Industry Without People
From an HSE and cost perspective, the ideal for most oil and gas companies would be to have no employees at all on offshore rigs; this is exactly the direction that the Norwegian industry is headed. Whether you call them smart fields, intelligent fields or integrated operations, Norway is pioneering the movement to bring more of a platform's operations onshore.
Asgeir Knutsen, general manager, Emerson Process Management |
Asgeir Knutsen, president of Emerson Process Management AS, one of the companies paving the way for the integrated operations concept, said: "Most or all of the major oil companies have envisioned this as part of their production concept. I see a turning point now where technology is mature enough to let companies achieve the integrated operations model." Enabled by recent advances in wireless technology and driven by cost and safety, Knutsen sees the benefits for IOCs as much as for independents, believing that the majors would be able to generate efficiency savings, while the young independents could reduce their human labor requirements in a tight skills market.
Paul Horne, managing director, KCA DEUTAG Norge |
However, for Paul Horne, managing director of KCA Deutag Norge, the leading fixed platform drilling contractor in the North Sea, the advances in distance control over rigs does not mean that the oil and gas business is becoming less people-centric. A former roughneck of 15 years himself, Horne stressed, "technology may provide us with the best automatic system in the world; yet, at the end of the day, the real challenges are to have people with the right skills who also have leadership and the ability to manage and effectively work with people." He even touted the company's location in Bergen for offering the closest point to many offshore operations and believed that the integrated operations were a valuable training tool and a complement rather than a replacement for offshore staff.
What's the Rig Idea?
Statoil is experimenting with several drilling concepts designed to reduce operating expenses on the NCS. One of these is the fit-for-purpose rig concept, which Magnar Fagerbakke, current vice president for Market & Contracts at COSL Drilling Europe, helped to establish when he worked at Statoil more than a decade ago. "The first time Statoil started looking at this was in 1997. In places like the Halten area there is a mass of subsea installations, flowlines and line pipes - a subsea spaghetti," he said. Conventional rigs with dangerous anchors are no good and Statoil has around 500 subsea wells – this represents around 12 percent of the global total. Fagerbakke saw the movement towards light intervention rigs and Category J, Jack-up rigs as highly logical to reduce moving ill-equiped and expensive conventional rigs around sensitive areas.
Magnar Fagerbakke, vice president marketing & contracts, COSL |
Statoil has claimed that the NCS is short of midwater rigs or category D. Almost all wells on the NCS are shallower than 500 meters and it is only in the very West of the Barents Sea that the depth descends to 1,500 meters. COSL's operations began in Norway in 2007 on the back of contracts from Hydro and targeted this midwater segment. Fagerbakke claimed: "Our units cost approximately half the price of the deepwater units which have entered the Norwegian market in recent years. COSL rigs are therefore already well suited for the NCS." He believed that this trend could have a positive effect on cost reduction.
However, regarding Statoil's idea for license groups to potentially own the rigs themselves on fields like Troll, Oseberg and Gullfaks, Fagerbakke remained slightly skeptical. He believed that transferring a high value asset from an organization taxed at 28 percent onto the balance sheets of a company taxed at 78 percent would make the idea financially difficult to implement.
A 50-Year Journey to an Uncertain Destination
"Over the last 50 years, Norway has opened approximately half of the total production area available and we are now in the process of establishing a new third petroleum province in the Barents Sea. By working on this strategy, we see the potential to arrest and even reverse Norway's production decline," said Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe. The major finds on Skrugard and Havis in the Barents Sea in 2011 gave credence to the idea that the Arctic offers the silver bullet for Norway's oil decline and Norway's 22nd licensing round, which offered up 72 licenses in the Barents Sea, has gathered unprecedented interest from oil and gas companies seeking a share of the pie.
Impressive 12 streamer spread off the back deck of Polar Duchess, she is the sistership to our flagship vessel Polar Duke. |
Moe saw a gradual upward progression in the industry from Ekofisk in the North Sea back in 1969, to the opening up of mid-Norway around 30 years ago and now after 50 years the establishment of the Arctic basin. Norway is by no means alone in its Northern ambitions, with China recently vying for observer status on the Arctic Council. Interest in this region is heating up.
Ola Borten Moe, minister, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy |
However, the transition is a politically sensitive topic: Moe's own political party in the government coalition, the Center Party, opposes this direction. Moe's overtures to the oil industry to press on to the Arctic were publicly denounced by Prime Minister Stoltenberg who affirmed that this was not government policy. Moreover, all impact studies on Lofoten, much-coveted by the industry, but also one of the most important spawning grounds for Atlantic fish, have been put on hold until after the September 2013 election. There are big changes facing Norway on how far to push exploration and it will be interesting to see what comes out of the tight race predicted between the incumbent Labour-led government and the Conservative opposition in this year's election.
For Dolphin Geophysical, a company with a seven percent share of the global seismic market, Norway still represents 30 percent of their revenues and the Barents Sea is a huge opportunity. Dolphin Geophysical CEO Atle Jacobsen said: "We have a lot of activity in the Barents Sea in 2012 and this will remain buoyant in 2013, driven by the 22nd licensing round and the awards which will come. We are now looking at the 23rd licensing round because in this industry you need to remain one step ahead. The former grey zone with Russia and the Jan Mayen ridge are two huge potential areas, and we have already worked on behalf of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in this region. It will be interesting to see if these new areas are included in the 23rd round."
Atle Jacobsen , chief executive officer, Dolphin Geophysical |
As Jacobsen saw it, whether, "the government chooses to open up acreage is a highly political discussion. However, with successful development of the Barents Sea region, the pressure would be taken off developing areas such as Loftoten [closer to the Norwegian Arctic shoreline] which will be a much tougher political decision." Jacobsen therefore believed that the degree of industry pressure to open up this key fishing region depended on oil companies identifying strong resource potential from Norway's 22nd licensing round.
Sakhalin Energy |
Stranded up North
Market access is the freezing-cold elephant in the room in any discussion of the industry's movement to the Arctic. 2012 was a year when the ambitious Shtokman project in Russia crumbled as its target market, the US, discovered that it already had bountiful quantities of natural gas locked up in shale deposits.
Return of the Fixed PlatformThe concrete drilling platform, a gravity-based structure, was a uniquely Norwegian brainchild. Sturdier, but much more expensive than steel platforms, only around 50 "condeep" platforms have ever been built, compared to 5,000 from steel. Looking at the last decade, only five concrete platforms have been built: two GBS platforms on Sakhalin 2 were build for Shell and one on Sakhalin 1 for ExxonMobil in Russia, one LNG receiving terminal was built in the Adriatic Sea near Venice, and one more is being designed for the Hebron field in Canada.
Norwegian engineering consultancy firm, Multiconsult was involved in all of these projects. Its CEO, Christian Norgaard Madsen, now believes that these concrete structures are about to go through a revival as the industry heads into the Arctic. Madsen saw that the development of operations in the Barents Sea, where the water depth is rarely below 100 meters, suited the condeep structure. He explained that structures "can withstand drifting ice flows, they last longer, you can drill whilst protected inside one of the concrete shafts, you can also add thousands of tonnes of load on the topside," pointing out that Statoil was seeking to install more compressors. For Madsen, these structures had already proved their worth in Sakhalin and would be well suited to other regions, such as Norway's Barents Sea and Russia's Kara Sea. In order to support this direction, Multiconsult last year acquired Barlindhaug Consult, doubling the company's headcount in the North of Norway and is heavily involved in Arctic research, within the Sustainable Arctic Marine and Coastal Technology (SAMCoT). |
In Norway, the lucrative European markets for natural gas are more than a thousand miles from any potential gas discovery in the Barents Sea. Norway's first gas field in the Barents Sea 187 km Northwest of Hammerfest, Snovit, started production in 2006 and sends its gas to a liquefaction facilitiy at Melkøya on Norway's Arctic coastline. However, in 2012 the decision was taken by Statoil not to develop a second LNG train at this facility, which in the eyes of Erik Karlstrøm, CEO of North Energy, is indicative of the industry moving in favor of a pipeline solution.
Erik Karlstrøm, CEO, North Energy |
Karlstrøm said, "the activity level and industrial development in this part of Norway is completely dependent upon being able to commercially sell gas to the market. To us, the real competitiveness of the Barents Sea is based on financing pipelines running to Europe." In his view, huge quantities of unconventional gas from Asia-Pacific would already swamp key markets like China. So, Norway should exploit its competitive position close to the European market.
North Energy already sits on the Norwag gas discovery in the Barents Sea but needs market access. Fortunately, Karlstrøm believes that the quantity of stranded gas has already reached the crucial tipping point where a pipeline solution becomes the preferred option.
Geir Lund, managing director, Concedo |
Norwegian pure-play exploration company, Concedo, is another firm with its eyes fixed on the commerciality of the Barents Sea. With two non-operated licenses to be drilled on blocks to the west of the Skrugard find in 2013 and 2014 Geir Lunde, managing director of Concedo, is under no illusion that the Barents Sea is a difficult sell. Lunde said: "In Norway, the threshold for a tie-in development is around 20-30 million barrels, a standalone would need above 100 million barrels and in the Barents Sea this goes up to 200 million barrels." He said if the average discovery takes around 10 years to develop in the rest of Norway, one could assume much longer for the Barents Sea. Concedo therefore chooses to balance its risk across Norway's three oil provinces, but the hope is always to strike big in the Barents Sea.
Responsible Risk-taking
The potent public scrutiny that has borne down upon the oil and gas industry since the 2010 Macondo disaster was given renewed strength in 2012 following Christophe de Margerie's note of caution about the risks of Arctic production being excessive. And as concerns mount about the ramifications of an oil spill in Arctic waters, international eyes are turning to Norway as the country with the safest continental shelf – in spite of its challenging environment.
Magne Ognedal, director general, Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority |
Much of Norway's climate of safety can be attributed to the work of Magne Ognedal, one of the longest serving elders in the Norwegian oil and gas industry and president of Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA). Duty-bound to create the safest E&P environment, Ognedal said that he was profoundly influenced by the 1980 disaster on the Alexander Kielland semi-submersible rig operating on the Ekofisk field, that capsized and killed 123 people, just one week after he began working for the PSA.
Ognedal claimed that the PSA's approach to safety had changed little over the last 30 years, even in the face of huge pressure post-Macondo and he attributed the success of Norway's safety regime to the decisions made in 1985 to reorganize the regulatory regime. He said: "As a result of that reform in 1985, we changed the approach from prescriptive to functionality-based regulations" in contrast to prescriptive regimes in other countries like Russia. International authorities from the US and Canada are collaborating with the PSA, and other countries are seeking to emulate it.
Stig H. Christiansen, CEO, Add Energy |
Stig Christiansen, CEO of Add Energy, a Norwegian company specializing in well integrity and crisis management, notably involved in resolving international blow-outs from Montara 2009 and Macondo 2010 through to Elgin in 2012, affirmed that Norway "is the safest shelf in the world and many emerging countries look to the Norwegian model." He noted that recently New Zealand was having the same debates as Norway had held many years ago and that for Add Energy's fast growing business in Australia and New Zealand knowledge of Norway's regulatory environment was invaluable.
Christiansen praised Norway's authorities for resting ultimate responsibility on the shoulders of operating companies. He said it is paramount as companies extend operations to the Arctic and that, given the unacceptability of a spill in this region, the industry would have to "prove that we are willing to invest and able to understand and manage the risks.'
Part 2 of our special report on Norway, dedicated to the service sector, will soon follow in an upcoming issue of Oil & Gas Financial Journal. |


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Kshs.10-Million to Schools as Head teachers Pleased with disbursement of CDF-Mt. Elgon,Kenya
Written by Phanice Chepkemoi. 2014-02-25 [NEW]
A section of
Bungoma County-Mt. Elgon: Secondary school principals in Mt. Elgon are pleased with the way the area MP John Serut is handling constituency development funds.
Speaking during a consultative forum of school heads held at St. Mary's Kibuk girls in Mt. Elgon, the heads led by their chairman Nicholas Kiboi said the funds have helped them a lot in terms of infrastructure but appealed to the CDF committee to improve boarding facilities in primary schools in order to improve performance.
"Many students who join secondary school from Mt. Elgon don't perform well because of poor foundation in primary schools, so I appeal to the MP to put boarding facilities to schools bordering the forest," Anne Boiyo headmistress Kibuk girls said.
They also mentioned bad reading culture among members of the community as one of the causes of poor performance in secondary schools and called on teachers to stock their libraries with books so as to improve English language among students.
Mt. Elgon CDF chairman Geoffrey Chemos who chaired the meeting reiterated that they are going to invest more than 60% of funds in education without interfering with the running of schools.
However he appealed to all teachers to try and change the attitude of parents towards education so that performance in Mt. Elgon can improve.
A cheque of Sh.10 million was presented to the head teachers of 27 schools as bursary for needy students
Source: http://www.westfm.co.ke
When taps run dry in a major water catchment area – Mt. Elgon, Kenya.
By DANIEL PSIRMOI...Thursday, February 20th 2014 at 11:24 GMT....[NEW]
Mention water crisis in the country and what immediately springs to mind is arid and semi-arid areas in North Eastern, where the scarcity of the important commodity has sometimes led to bloody conflicts.
Lack of clean drinking water still remains a nightmare that plagues millions in most urban and rural areas.
And one would expect the situation to be much better in places identified as water towers or surrounding regions. However, in Mt Elgon constituency, one of the country's five water towers, water is a scarce commodity.
The sub county residents have remained 'thirsty' for the last............Click here to read more.
click here to read more.
Is defeated Sabaot Land Defence Force plotting a comeback?
The late SLDF Commander Mr. Wycliffe Matakwei speaks to journalists. [File Photo]
He is bright-eyed and
looks more nervous than I am.He is dressed in army camouflage. From our
correspondences, I knew 'The Terminator' was a huge man, perhaps over
6-foot-1 inch. But I am struck by how bony he is, with bony wrists. His
firearm is partly rested on his lap and two knives dangle from his
webbed belt. Beside him is a stone-faced, bare-chested man, in his early
30s, holding a semi-automatic rifle and a shotgun.........click here to read more.[NEW]
The Sabaots tribe is one of the nine sub-tribes of the Kenyan Kalenjin tribe. The other eight Kalenjin sub-tribes are: Sengwer, Tugen, Terik, Keiyo, Kipsigis, Pokot, Marakwet and Nandi who
live in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The Sabaots are the
authentic Kalenjin tribe and hence they are commonly referred as
"Kapkugo" by the other Kalenjin sub-tribes. The Sabaot community is
comprised of six sub-dialects namely: The Book, somek, Mosopishok (Ogiek), Konjak (Kony), Bong'omek, and Sabinjak (Sebei)........click here to read more.
Video about Mt. Elgon - The Sabaot's MotherLand:
>>Dormitories of two Schools in Mt. Elgon-Kenya destroyed by fire. [NEW]
>> Faith Ndiwa [La Bonte LTD CEO] Launches the "Dial-A-CD" program. [NEW]
>>Mt Elgon Constituency, where voters defied party euphoria.
>>Whom Raila Amolo Odinga Should Blame Forever.
>> Elections: Kapondi Defeated as Serut makes a comeback.
>> Sabaots rejoice as 'Mt Elgon dream' finally comes true.
>>Elder Eliud Wandiema Succumbs to Illness at Eldoret Memorial Hospital-Kenya.
>> Elgon-kenya: Jilted Wife Sets Shop Ablaze.
>>Mt. Elgon Kenya: Row as 40 families miss out on IDP land.
>>Elections-Kenya: NARC-Kenya's Karua and Augustine Chemonges campaign in Mt. Elgon.
>>Elections-Kenya: Bruising Battle of Titans amongst Mt. Elgon former MP's.
>> Pierson escapes Roll-over auto accident while Lazarus recovering from fractured leg.
>>KCPE: Sabaot-Girl number one in Bungoma/Kalenjin counties and 7th nationally.
>>Kapondi wins URP nominations, rival cries foul.
>> Kenya AG opposes Mt. Elgon Saboat case application for review of its Judgment.
>> Mt. Elgon Coffee farmers set to reap big from Norway market. By Daniel Psirmoi.
>>Samson Bein Kimobwa a Kenyan World athletic legend succumbs to sudden illness. By Esly Kania (Minnesota,USA).
>>Chebyuk IDP's to be resettled before polls.
>> SIDO RadioNet is now streaming Sabaot Music and News 24/7...tune in!!.Posted 18th November 2012.
>>Our God is aware, able and available. By Dr. D.C Chemorion.
>>Listen to online Quaran.
>> For this Kitale Couple, Music is a Family Affair.
>>You are Dreaming if you Want your Governor to be Powerful than the County Commission
>>Kenya-Elections: Negotiated Democracy for the Marginalized Like Sabaots.
>>Kenya Elections: The March to March Madness.
>>Kenya Elections: The Harsh, Bitter and Unforgettable truth.
>>Kenyan Elections: Blame the Electorate but not Politicians.
>>Kiprotich to race for Ushs.400M in London.
>> Uspa award surprises Kiprop.
>>Kenya Equity Bank's "Wings To Fly Scholarships".
>>Finance Officer-Kenya.
>>Regional Finance Manager-NGO, Kenya.
>>Regional Finance & Systems Manager,Kenya.
>>Livelihoods Officer and Assistant IRK-Kenya.
>>CFA-FSL Program Manager Garbatulla-Isiolo, Kenya.
>>Capacity Development Manager-Kenya.
>>Light a candle at Terah's-SIDO Memorial website.
>> "All the Men Have Gone": War Crimes in Kenya's Mt. Elgon Conflict.
>> Mt. Elgon Violence: May 2008.
>> Mt. Elgon Development Plan.
>> Mt. Elgon Land Tenure and Management.
>> Click here to access more documents.
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Rod Conv, buick v6, auto, chevy frame, good int, runs good... More
1927 Ford Model T Ford Fordor titled as 1927 but I believe to be 1923. Restored, New Tires, New Battery, New Interior upholstery kit... More
Today's example is clothed with a very pretty 2 seater with Dickie drophead coupe body, finished in burgundy with black wings and running boards.... More
1927 Ford Model T Roadster. Finished in Brilliant Red paint with a clean beige interior. This hot rod is powered by a 350CI V8... More
1927 Cadillac LaSalle 4-Door Sedan featured in August/September 2004 Southern Rodder Magazine. Corvette LT1 330HP 350ci V8 Engine and 4L60E Automatic Transmission. Cadillac Seville... More
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1927 was the last year of production for the Model T. This rumble seat roadster sports an older restoration with the following options; wire... More
This Rat Rod is believed to have started life as pickup truck. It has been highly modified and is powered by a 350 cu.... More
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Take a look at this rather unique 1927 "T" Track Roadster replica, with its fiberglass body manufactured by Poli-Form Industries of California, a 3-piece... More
1927 Ford T-bucket. 350 V8 engine, automatic transmission, Hi-rise intake, Holley carb, gear drive timing, leather interior, Sony CD player, Crager wheels, lots of... More
Near Musum quality, coupe with rumble seat & straight 8 engine. Appears to be original yellow with black fender paint. The interior has been... More
1927 Ford T-Bucket, all fiberglass, rebuilt 327 chevy motor, 4, 2 jet Rochester carbs, Auto, this car has a lot of chrome extras, seat... More
1927 Ford Model T Phaeton Sedan 350 motor 350 trans, burnt orange with brown leather interior, 3 speed, rack n pinion steering, original front suspension,... More
For sale is a wonderful 1927 Pontiac Coupe. Pontiac was formed in 1926 as an adjacent brand to Chevrolet. This gem has... More


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Posted June 07, 2012 on
AP on Fox
Scott Brooks,
Kevin Durant,
Russell Westbrook,
James Harden,
Serge Ibaka
TEAMS: Oklahoma City Thunder
TEAMS: Oklahoma City Thunder
When Scott Brooks took over the Oklahoma City Thunder, his first task was trying to get the team to a point that it was even competitive in the fourth quarter.
A little more than three years later, opponents can't seem to put the Thunder away when it comes to crunch time.
In the blink of an eye after a 3-29 start a few seasons ago, Oklahoma City has gone from trying to avoid the worst record in league history to rolling into the NBA finals.
A youthful core featuring homegrown first-round draft picks Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka has combined with a trio of veterans who already have championship rings to produce a title contender.
The Thunder will host Game 1 of the finals Tuesday night.
Original Story:
Oklahoma City store gets James Harden window treatment (Photo)
Will Reggie Jackson see any playing time during the NBA Finals?
Kevin Durant hugs family as Thunder advance to NBA Finals (Video)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Western Conference Champions
Starting 5: OKC in the Finals, KD steps up & Pops thinks this is pretty cool for the Thunder
Thunder top Spurs for spot in NBA finals
Kevin Durant shines as the Thunder drop the San Antonio Spurs.
Thunder Experience "Changing of the Guard" in Western Conference
Oklahoma City's Calm Under Pressure
Thunder pass Final test, erase 18-point deficit to oust Spurs
Oklahoma City Thunder fight back to eliminate the San Antonio Spurs
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Workout-worthy MP3 players
Arguably, the only reason standalone MP3 players still exist is to keep people entertained at the gym. After all, no one wants to sweat all over a fancy smartphone.
If you just need some motivational background music for a morning jog, you'll want something small enough to clip onto your shirt, and cheap enough to easily replace if it gets trampled.
We rounded up five fitness-friendly MP3 players that are all small, relatively inexpensive, and attach to you in one way or another. Some, such as the iPod Nano or Haier Trainer, also use a pedometer to keep track … Read more


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Most people these days are mindful of their electric bills as energy costs continue to rise. But not as many people realize how much energy they use to run their household electrical gadgets. For example, switching to an LCD (liquid crystal display) flat-screen monitor will not only help your eyes and free up space on your desk, but it will consume about 45 fewer watts than a bulky CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor will. Assuming that it's on 5 hours a day, that's about $10 you'll save if you live in California over the course of a year.
February 8, 2007 3:58 AM PST
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Date of Award
Degree Type
Thesis Project
Degree Name
Master of Engineering (MEng)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
First Advisor
Bin Wu
This project focuses on the topology of multilevel neutral point clamped (NPC)/H-bridge inverters and their modified modulation technique for high-power (megawatts) medium voltage (typically 6000 v) applications. A sinusodial pulse width in-phase disposition modulation is proposed for five-level NPC/H-bridge inverters. The inverter achieves good harmonic performance and low dv/dt in its output voltage waveforms in comparison to the conventional three-level NPC inverter. A seven-level NPC/H-bridge topology and its sinusodial pulse width in-phase disposition modulation are also proposed and investigated, which has better performance than the five-level inverters. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation are carried out for the proposed inverter topologies and algorithms. The output voltage waveforms and harmonic performance are verified by experiments on a five-level NPC/H-bridge inverters.
Recommended Citation
Shohel, Arifur Rahman, "Multilevel neutral point clamped/H-bridge inverters with sinusoidal pulse width modulation" (2007). Theses and dissertations. Paper 320.


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