In a footnote to his post In Search of Resilience, Seth Godin says:
Henry Mason describes a friend who said, “My dad had one job his whole life, I’ll have seven, and my kids will have seven jobs at the same time.”
Author: Jim Ulvog
Indications of productivity improvement for on-line education starting to appear
One study is quantifying the increased productivity of on-line classes for professors. The analysis didn’t consider the reduced space needs or savings from students not having to commute to class. Both of those factors would contribute to the productivity improvement.
Conclusion was a reduction in time of between 36% and 57%.
Continue reading “Indications of productivity improvement for on-line education starting to appear”
Williston pulls liquor licenses from two strip clubs
There are downsides to a booming economy. Things can get out of control with an overwhelming increase in men who work long hours for good money: they need something to do when not working.
With a serious imbalance in the proportion of men and women in Williston, guess what, those guys wind up at the city’s two strip clubs.
The two places are next door to each other. Not a good deal – get bounced out of one for being rowdy and you can stumble to the other.
As you would expect there has been a surge in police calls to the two clubs.
Continue reading “Williston pulls liquor licenses from two strip clubs”
One data point for drilling costs in North Dakota
Bruce Oksol at Million Dollar Way provides one hard data point for costs to drill in Bakken for one producer in their particular locations with their specific techniques. May not apply to any other drillers, but a hard data point is useful.
Bakken Well Costs says: Continue reading “One data point for drilling costs in North Dakota”
Peak Oil = Flat Earth? – #23
Has the Peak Oil concept, which is the idea we can calculate the day that oil production irreversibly starts a catastrophic drop and calculate the specific year we use the last drop of oil, finally gone the way of the Flat Earth Society?
The answer is yes. At least that is the suggestion from an article by Mr. Colin Sullivan at EnergyWire: Has ‘peak oil’ gone the way of the Flat Earth Society?
The article starts with a graph from the 1950s showing a bell curve of all the oil production from 1850 through 2200 (yes, that would be 240 years out). The cumulative production to the c.1950s is exactly 90×10^9, or 90B. Proven reserves are 250B barrels. All future discoveries, under a smooth bell curve peaking at 2000 are 910B barrels. Total oil on the planet ever to be produced is precisely 1,250B barrels, give or take a rounding error.
Only problem with the entire concept? It’s wrong. Why? Continue reading “Peak Oil = Flat Earth? – #23”
What caused the radical change in the graph of GDP over the last 1,000 years?
(Cross-post from my other blog, Freedom is Moral.)
You really need to check out the graph of GDP per person for the last 1,000 year in the U.S., Europe, and the rest of the world.
AEI – The most important economic chart in Western civilization – and how it happened.
Then you need to ask yourself why everyone on the planet had a horrible income level since forever until around 1800.
Continue reading “What caused the radical change in the graph of GDP over the last 1,000 years?”
2nd private company gets space cargo ship operating
Orbital Sciences Corp. had a successful test of their privately designed, funded and built spaceship. Their lifting vehicle made it to orbit and the cargo pod successfully separated. See Private company succeeds in test launch of rocket that will carry cargo ship.
They are one of two companies that will be providing lift capability to NASA: Continue reading “2nd private company gets space cargo ship operating”
18 of the dumbest business plans you’ve ever heard, except they sorta’ worked.
Check out these startup plans described by Michael Wolfe: What are some of the most ridiculous startup ideas that eventually became successful?
Suppose any of these will last longer than their first round of VC funding?
- Facebook– the world needs yet another Myspace or Friendster except several years late. We’ll only open it up to a few thousand overworked, anti-social, Ivy Leaguers. Everyone else will then join since Harvard students are so cool. Continue reading “18 of the dumbest business plans you’ve ever heard, except they sorta’ worked.”
Interview with an asteroid miner – Yeah, I did say mining of asteroids and it’s coming from the private sector
Check out this video – Profits in Space! Entrepreneurs Are Scanning the Cosmos for Big Money. Glenn Reynolds interviews Chris Lewicki, CEO and Chief Asteroid Miner at Planetary Resources.
A few highlights: Continue reading “Interview with an asteroid miner – Yeah, I did say mining of asteroids and it’s coming from the private sector”
North Dakota oil production back to setting new records
February production averaged 779,032 barrels per day. That is up 5.57% over January. It is only up 3.9% over October, which reflects the impact of bad weather this winter.
Spring thaw means load restrictions from what I’ve read. That means production will slow again soon.
Here’s my graph of monthly production:
(click to enlarge)
Photos of fracking operation
The Houston Chronicle has a nice photo shoot of fracking operations underway in Colorado. You can find it here.
Great shots.
(Hat tip: tweet from BakkenBlog News)
With the ground in Williston this morning having a sandwich of freezing rain underneath with a lot of snow in the middle and sleet on top along with many of the interstates closed in western North Dakota, I think I’ll really enjoy my warm-because-the-furnace-is-running-occassionally, dry, bright accounting office in Southern California with a rare, light drizzle outside.
I’d rather wear a short sleeve shirt instead of ear protection, long johns and a parka underneath slickers for a 12 hour shift. Our economy will thrive because of the great teams that are willing to do that. Thanks guys and gals.
Huge distribution centers in California show shift to on-line home delivery and away from malls
When Amazon conceded on collecting tax on sales to people in California in 2012 they gained a phenomenal advantage – they could finally open up distribution centers in the state.
Previously, they didn’t have any warehouses in California. Now there is one in San Bernardino, at the eastern edge of the huge Los Angeles metropolitan area. There are others further north.
What can they do now? Have next day delivery. Do you suppose they will move toward same day delivery? Can you picture the bold type comment “Order in the next 2 hours for delivery today” on the screen as you shop early in the day?
Start a college in your basement
The frontier in higher education is wide open.
How ‘bout starting a college in your basement with $100k seed money?
That’s what Mr. Tim Cook has done with Saxifrage School. He wants to radically cut the cost of college education. His idea is to combine learning a trade or other productive skills along with traditional humanities classes that teach you to think.
Check out the status so far, according to Startup Takes Aim at Old-School Ways in the Wall Street Journal: Continue reading “Start a college in your basement”
Yet another analysis why the Peak Oil concept is dead – #22
An investment manager, The Boston Company, has a paper out which explains from an investment perspective why Peak Oil is dead. The paper starts with an explanation of the concept:
For decades, pundits have been trying to predict a tipping point for Peak Oil – when a sustained and unabated climb in oil prices sparks a near-collapse of the global economy. According to Peak Oil theory, the rate of petroleum extraction will crest and then begin an immutable decline, pushing oil prices ever higher as demand for this finite resource permanently exceeds supply.
You can find End of an Era: The Death of Peak Oil at their website.
They cite several causes for the passing of the late Peak Oil.
Continue reading “Yet another analysis why the Peak Oil concept is dead – #22”
Space frontier is open – legal analysis of mining asteroids and private round-trip supply runs
Who Has the Right to Mine an Asteroid gives an overview of the legal issues involved in getting minerals and water from asteroids. The discussion is from Professor Glenn Reynolds, of course.
What’s the payoff?
Here’s the possible yield from mining asteroids: Continue reading “Space frontier is open – legal analysis of mining asteroids and private round-trip supply runs”