Ben's Astonishing Site

Obama a dick (kinda)

2009-02-06T10:13:00.004-05:00

Grown up digital

2009-01-29T22:29:00.002-05:00

I'm now on page 34 of Don Tapscott's new book 'grown up digital' and thought i might grab my OLPC pc and do an 'up to here' review and/or immediate impression.

In short, interesting but like his earlier books i'm wondering why he takes so long to get to the point and also why he repeats statements so frequently. I'm terrified that this 300+ page book is going to get very slow going. Still, right now he's setting the table.

Staying up to date.

2009-01-29T00:20:00.002-05:00

I have been trying since the New Year to be better staying up-to-date when it comes to local, national and international news.

I've not been entirely successful in this activity having missed PVR'd episodes of Fareed Zakaria GPS and noting that unread copies of The Walrus and Harper's are piling up.

However I have been tweaking my NetVibes reader to pull better RSS feeds and having been reading/scanning my daily edition of The Globe and Mail.

I'm going to keep trying to go deeper - and I suspect that this is not going to be entirely accomplished by sitting in front of CNN, The Hour, John Stewart and The Colbert Report as I have done tonight.

Oil Spot at $48

2008-12-15T08:19:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I last updated the blog, but for historical record, I'll quickly note that the current brent spot oil price is $48/barrel.

Brent oil price near $60 a barrel

2008-11-04T10:45:00.001-05:00

Oh, those crazy oil prices. Somebody's making money.

Brent oil price are nearing $60 a barrel as prices are sharply down from the record reached in July. The price of Brent crude fell to its lowest level in more than 20 months amid concerns about the US economy, before later edging back up.

Brent crude fell as low as $58.38 a barrel before rising back up to $61.10 a barrel by late morning in London. US sweet crude oil traded at $64.86 per barrel, having dipped as low as $62.25.

India takes Moon Shot

2008-10-21T22:21:00.002-04:00

OK, admittedly I wasn't aware that India had a space program. But what a way to get noticed -- the first Indian moon mission launched today!

Fey vs. Palin

2008-10-10T19:18:00.000-04:00

Canadian Do Not Call List opens today.

2008-09-30T09:18:00.002-04:00

There's finally a way to end those annoying telemarketer calls that come in around dinnertime - as of today Canadians can sign up for the Federal do not call list. Here's the link to register. There are some restrictions however.

Best Mustache.

2008-07-09T23:07:00.001-04:00

Christophe de Margerie, I salute you and your amazing mousetache.

Oil at $143.78/barrel

2008-07-07T18:37:00.002-04:00

Hey, I haven't done an oil price update in a while.

Hate to see the North American version

2008-06-24T08:58:00.001-04:00

How do you solve a problem like Gavin Crawford?

2008-06-23T18:53:00.003-04:00

Yeah, been watching How do you Solve a problem like Maria? on CBC (blame KNW). But no more. Gavin Crawford is freaking painful in his role as host of the show.

Major Guantanamo setback for Bush

2008-06-12T11:57:00.001-04:00

Foreign suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts, the US Supreme Court has ruled.

In a major legal setback for the Bush administration, the court overturned by five to four a ruling upholding a 2006 law which removed such rights.

It is not clear if the ruling will lead to prompt hearings for the detainees.

Bees can learn new languages

2008-06-05T10:06:00.002-04:00

There are nine species of honeybees found worldwide, and if you're a believer in continental drefi, you'll accept the idea that these species were separated about 30 to 50 million years ago. Subsequently the species of bees developed different dance 'languages' for communication. The content of the messages is the same, but the precise encoding of these languages differs between species.

Following recent research, it has been found that Asian and European honeybees can live happily together in mixed colonies because they easily learn to understand one another's "dance languages" despite having evolved different dialects.

Clinton to suspend campaign?

2008-06-02T18:37:00.002-04:00

The Huffington Post is reporting that Hillary Clinton has summoned top donors and backers to attend her New York speech tomorrow night in an unusual move that is being widely interpreted to mean she plans to suspend her campaign and endorse Barack Obama - if not that night, within a day or two.

In an afternoon conference call today with about two dozen top fundraisers, Clinton strategist Harold Ickes spoke in very conciliatory terms about Obama, in contrast to his tougher rhetoric in public and on television, according to sources. He told the participants that Clinton wants to "significantly" help Obama, but he did not go so far as saying that she will announce withdrawal -- that is the prerogative of the candidate.

Ickes told the group to "take a deep breath" and let Clinton proceed in her own fashion.

Earlier in the day it was reported that Clinton staffers were being urged by the campaign's finance department "to turn in their outstanding expense receipts by the end of the week," another sign that the run at the White House was nearing an end. In addition, Politico wrote that members of Clinton's advance staff had received calls and emails Sunday night, summoning them to New York City and telling them their roles on the campaign are ending.

Changes that come with Pricier Oil

2008-05-30T11:06:00.002-04:00

Don't get too used to those Chilean fruits and vegs.

A further price rise as in Europe to $8 a gallon -- or $200 and more to fill a large SUV's tank -- would be a catalyst for economic, political and social change of profound national and global impact. We could face an economic squeeze, but it would be the pain before the gain.

Fox commentator looks for Obama assassination

2008-05-26T09:32:00.001-04:00

Unbelieveable.

Kenya Trip was Four Months Ago!

2008-05-23T10:38:00.001-04:00

IMG_0276
Originally uploaded by b_harrison

Amazing to think that our trip to Kenya was almost 4 months ago! Seems like only yesterday!

Oil over $132 and rising!

2008-05-23T10:30:00.001-04:00

Crude oil rose more than $2 a barrel as the dollar fell against the euro, prompting investors to buy commodities as a hedge against the currency's decline.

The falling dollar and higher global demand for raw materials have led to records this year for commodities including gold, corn, soybeans and rice. The dollar headed for the biggest weekly decline against the euro since the week ended March 28 as the U.S. housing slump and record oil prices slow growth.

Oil at $130

2008-05-21T11:12:00.001-04:00

Oil rose above $130 a barrel for the first time after at least five banks raised price forecasts in the past week on expectations supply constraints will persist.

Crude oil for July delivery gained as much as $1.40, or 1.1 percent, to $130.47 a barrel, the highest since trading began in 1983 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded for $130.22 at 11:56 a.m. London.

The Slick Alberta Moonscape

2008-05-02T09:37:00.003-04:00

Syncrude Tailings Pond
Originally uploaded by Stop the Tar Sands

Ah the joys of tar sand oil production.

In the news Wednesday it was reported how 500 ducks were killed by flying into a Syncrude tailings pond. Now it's not that I have a overwhelming love for ducks (they're alright, I like 'em well enough but they're no bees), but this event does highlight the environmental disaster that is oil sands reclamation.

Here's my proposal - let's get a handle on our greenhouse gas targets and figure out how to cleanly get the oil. If it takes until oil is $200 a barrel I don't think that's a bad thing.

Explaining the Financial Markets Crisis

2008-04-29T09:45:00.002-04:00

A great segment from the Long Johns explaining Structured Investment Vehicles -- an integral part of the sub-prime mortgage debacle.

North Sea Strike sends oil near $120

2008-04-28T13:13:00.000-04:00

Oil prices have hit a fresh high just below $120 a barrel after a strike at a UK refinery disrupted production from the North Sea.

BP shut down a key North Sea pipeline after staff walked out of the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland in a two-day strike over pensions.

Providing a third of UK oil output, the closure of the Forties pipeline has raised fears about supply shortages.

US light crude hit a high of $119.93 a barrel before edging down to $119.40.

Toyota No.1 Automaker?

2008-04-24T14:51:00.002-04:00

Toyota took the global sales lead from General Motors in the first quarter, capitalizing on growth in China and Europe as GM saw its North American sales drag down gains in other markets.

Toyota Motor Corp. said yesterday it sold 2.41 million vehicles in the January-March period, compared with General Motors Corp.’s 2.25 million, prompting one industry analyst to predict that 2008 would be the year Toyota unseats GM in global sales.

Why it was scientifically advisable to leave OANDA

2008-04-23T17:00:00.001-04:00

Boring jobs turn our mind to autopilot, say scientists - and it means we can seriously mess up some simple tasks.

Monotonous duties switch our brain to "rest mode", whether we like it or not, the researchers report in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

They found mistakes can be predicted up to 30 seconds before we make them, by patterns in our brain activity.