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Thursday, January 5, 2012

China Invests $900M to Acquire Stakes in Five Devon Oil Projects

China's second-largest oil company, China Petrochemical Corp., otherwise known as Sinopec Group, has entered a purchase deal with Devon Energy Corp.?to acquire a one-third stake in five Devon exploratory oil projects in the U.S. for $900 million.

The deal, expected to conclude in the current quarter, effectively raises China's holdings of reserves trapped in shale around the world. The Asian country, recognized as the world's second-largest economy, has been aggressively pursuing and buying global energy sources to feed its fast-growing economy. At the same time, it wants to improve its ability to mine domestic shale deposits. China holds some of the world's biggest shale deposits.

Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corp, a unit of Sinopec Group, will pay Devon Energy Corp.?$900 million in cash, plus $1.6 billion in future drilling costs, according to a statement from Devon. Some 125 wells are expected drilling this year.

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Devon added it expects the entire $1.6 billion carry to be realized by end 2014.

All in all, the deal could be worth as much as $2.5 billion.

Sinopec is the second Chinese firm entering the U.S. oil patch. The first was Cnooc Ltd. which bought stakes in Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s operations in south Texas's oil-rich Eagle Ford shale in 2010 and in shale assets in Colorado and Wyoming in 2011.

But what's common is that China National Petroleum Corp., Sinopec Group and Cnooc Ltd. all work to access technology through partnerships in order to develop its own country's shale reserves, estimated to be larger than those in the U.S.

In April, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said China's shale may hold 1,275 trillion cubic feet of gas, or 12 times the country's conventional natural-gas deposits. This leads to the analysis that China's "technically recoverable" reserves are 50 per cent greater than the 862 trillion cubic feet held by the U.S., the EIA added.

"In these joint ventures, the partner does typically get some education on drilling," Scott Hanold, a Minneapolis-based analyst, said in Bloomberg News.

"The more exposure they get, the better," the BBC quoted Mark Hanson of Morningstar as saying.

The shale agreements also aid cash-rich China to spread its global investments by acquiring control stakes in potentially lucrative assets during a period of global financial instability.

"The idea is to reduce risks from holding financial paper," Amy Myers Jaffe, director of the Baker Institute Energy Forum, said in The Wall Street Journal.

Oklahoma City-based Devon jumped 6.6 per cent to $66.11 at the close in New York.

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Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/276067/20120104/china-invests-900m-acquire-stakes-five-devon.htm

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Smoky pink core of Omega Nebula

ScienceDaily (Jan. 4, 2012) ? A new image of the Omega Nebula, captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), is one of the sharpest of this object ever taken from the ground. It shows the dusty, rose-coloured central parts of this famous stellar nursery and reveals extraordinary detail in the cosmic landscape of gas clouds, dust and newborn stars.

The colourful gas and dark dust in the Omega Nebula serve as the raw materials for creating the next generation of stars. In this particular section of the nebula, the newest stars on the scene -- dazzlingly bright and shining blue-white -- light up the whole ensemble. The nebula's smoky-looking ribbons of dust stand in silhouette against the glowing gas. The dominant reddish colours of this portion of the cloud-like expanse, arise from hydrogen gas, glowing under the influence of the intense ultraviolet rays from the hot young stars.

The Omega Nebula goes by many names, depending on who observed it when and what they thought they saw. These other titles include the Swan Nebula, the Horseshoe Nebula and even the Lobster Nebula. The object has also been catalogued as Messier 17 (M17) and NGC 6618. The nebula is located about 6500 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer). A popular target of astronomers, this illuminated gas and dust field ranks as one of the youngest and most active stellar nurseries for massive stars in the Milky Way.

The image was taken with the FORS (FOcal Reducer and Spectrograph) instrument on Antu, one of the four Unit Telescopes of the VLT. In addition to the huge telescope, exceptionally steady air during the observations, despite some clouds, also helped make the crispness of this image possible [1]. As a result this new picture is among the sharpest of this part of the Omega Nebula ever taken from the ground.

This image is one of the first to have been produced as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems programme [2].

Notes

[1] The "seeing" -- a term astronomers use to measure the distorting effects of Earth's atmosphere -- on the night of the observations was very good. A common measure for seeing is the apparent diameter of a star when seen through a telescope. In this case, the measure of seeing was an extremely favourable 0.45 arcseconds meaning little blurring and twinkling of the object of interest.

[2] The ESO Cosmic Gems programme is an outreach initiative to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects using ESO telescopes, for the purposes of education and public outreach. The programme makes use of small amounts of observing time, combined with otherwise unused time on the telescopes' schedules so as to minimise the impact on science observations. All data collected may also be suitable for scientific purposes, and are made available to astronomers through ESO's science archive.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104111900.htm

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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Saudi Arabia seeks arrest of 23 Shi'ites for unrest (Reuters)

RIYADH (Reuters) ? Saudi Arabia is seeking the arrest of 23 Shi'ite Muslims in the kingdom's Eastern Province who it says were responsible for unrest that has led to shootings and protests in recent weeks, state television said on Monday.

The Sunni kingdom's Interior Ministry accused the wanted men of serving the agenda of a foreign power, the television said, usually a reference to regional Shi'ite rival Iran.

But in an apparent effort to soothe potential sectarian tensions the interior ministry praised as "honorable" the people of the Eastern Province, heart of the kingdom's oil wealth, where most Saudi Shi'ites live, state television said.

In November four people were killed in the province's Qatif oasis area when clashes broke out near police checkpoints and at the funeral of one of those killed.

Eastern Province Shi'ite activists said aggressive policing at checkpoints and the arrest of some community members had provoked the trouble.

The Saudi government has blamed an unnamed foreign power for the unrest and officials have privately pointed the finger at Iran, which they accuse of stirring sectarian violence across the Middle East.

In October the United States also accused Iran of backing an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.

Iran denies the charges.

Saudi Shi'ites complain of widespread discrimination, which they say prevents them from gaining good government jobs and leads to closures of Shi'ite centers of worship.

The Saudi government denies charges of discrimination.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120102/wl_nm/us_saudi_shiites_warrants

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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

D-Link DHP501-AV Powerline AV 500 Adapter Starter Kit

Powerline networking, which uses your home?s electrical wiring to send and receive data, has been around for years, but until recently it has been held back by slow throughput speeds, interference from other electrical appliances, and the emergence of Wi-Fi as the preferred home networking technology. However, the latest crop of powerline devices now offer ?theoretical? throughput speeds of 500 Mbps and are impervious to interference from all but the most power hungry appliances. And when it comes to transferring large chunks of data, powerline is exponentially faster than Wi-Fi. D-Link?s DHP501-AV Powerline AV 500 Adapter Starter Kit ($159.99 list) has everything you need to add powerline technology to your network. It offers speedy transfer rates and installs in minutes, but the adapters are bulky and can be easily disconnected from their outlet.

Features and Design
Like Netgear?s Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit?($159, 4 stars)?the D-Link DHP501-AV Kit comes with two adapters, two Ethernet cables, and a CD containing a quick installation guide and a Management utility. ?The disc also includes a user manual, a feature missing from the Netgear kit. Measuring 3.9 x 2.7 x1.8-inches (HWD) the DHP501-AV adapters are taller and wider than the Netgear AV 500 adapters but are identical in weight (0.4 pounds). However, the D-Link adapter?s electrical contacts are mounted on a block that juts out 3/8 of an inch from the back of the housing, preventing the adapter to sit flush with the wall. As a result, the adapter can be easily knocked out of the outlet. In fact, I had to tape one adapter to the wall to keep it from falling out of an older outlet in my house. The adapter?s height also makes it difficult to use the second outlet; I was able to use a two-pronged plug above the adapter but a three-pronged plug, such as those used for most PCs, doesn?t fit.

The DHP501-AV?s housing is done up in a high-gloss white finish and sports rounded edges and a small D-Link logo on the front. There are also three LED indicators on the front that keep you abreast of what?s going on. The Power LED maintains a solid green glow when the adapter is powered up and blinks when it enters power saving mode or when security settings are being changed. The Powerline LED is green when connected to a network and blinks when transmitting data. The light is off if no compatible powerline device are found. A green light indicates a link rate greater than 80 Mbps, while an amber light means the link rate is somewhere between 50-80 Mbps. Red means a rate of less than 50 Mbps. The Ethernet port is positioned on the right side of the adapter, as are a security button and a reset switch that returns the adapter to its factory settings. Setting up the 128-bit AES security is painless; simply press the security button on one adapter until the Power LED blinks (about two seconds). That generates a random encryption key that will be used by all compatible HomePlug AV adapters on the network. Next, press the security button on the second adapter, but make sure you do it within two minutes of pressing the first button, otherwise it will not share the key. For more than two adapters, repeat the process.

Setup and Installation
In order to use the D-Link Powerline Management Utility you first have to install the WinPcap packet capturing software. The utility console lists all powerline devices installed and running on your network and displays the name, MAC address, location (local or remote), connection quality, link rate, and firmware version of each device. From this console you can upgrade the firmware for each device, change encryption key settings, and rename the adapters. However, you can?t assign QoS (Quality of Service) priorities to each adapter like you can with the Netgear Powerline Utility. Instead, the DHP501-AV uses a proprietary QoS technology that looks for data that typically requires high bandwidth, such as gaming and video files, and automatically gives it a high priority. ?

Installation is a snap. Plug one adapter into an outlet close to your router and connect it to the router with one of the Ethernet cables. Avoid using power strips, surge protectors, or extension cords as they may reduce performance. Also, try to use an outlet that isn?t servicing a device that draws a lot of power. Plug the second adapter into any outlet in the house (as long as it shares the same circuit breaker box), and you?ve got wired Ethernet connectivity.

Performance
The DHP501-AV performed quite well on my transfer tests. Copying a 100MB folder from my desktop PC to my laptop (in another room) took 14 seconds, while a 500MB folder took 1 minute and 14 seconds. Both times were slightly faster than the Netgear Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit, which needed 15 seconds for the 100MB transfer and 1 minute and 20 seconds for the 500MB transfer. In comparison, my Wi-Fi connection needed 1 minute and 18 seconds to transfer the 100MB folder and 9 minutes and 25 seconds to transfer the larger 500MB folder.

The Management utility recorded a 500 Mbps connection from the adapter to the router and 158 Mbps from point to point. The Netgear kit also gave me 500 Mbps to the router but came in at a slightly higher point to point connection rate of 185 Mbps. The DHP501-AV provides more than enough bandwidth for streaming video; The Blues Brothers on Netflix (via my PS3) played smoothly with no stutter and was perfectly in sync. ?

If you want wired Ethernet connectivity throughout your house but want to avoid running cable, the D-Link DHP501-AV Powerline AV 500 Adapter Starter Kit will get the job done. Its bulky adapters may be an issue when it comes to sharing an outlet, however, and it doesn?t allow you to prioritize network traffic. If either issue is a deal breaker, consider the Netgear Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit instead. ??

More Networking Reviews:
??? Netgear Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit (XAVB5001)
??? D-Link Powerline AV 500 4-Port gigabit Switch (DHP-540)
??? D-Link DHP501-AV Powerline AV 500 Adapter Starter Kit
??? Netgear Universal Internet Adapter for Home Entertainment-3D (XAVB5004)
??? SoMud 1.3.3
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/4N_RoSmKIck/0,2817,2398214,00.asp

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oleolefootball: OleOle Latest: Carolina Panthers vs New Orleans Saints live stream Free NFL Game Watch Online HD on Pc http://t.co/udRlCFmk

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Monday, January 2, 2012

ABQJournal: Make It 10 Straight for Lobos: The University of New Mexico men?s basketball team defeated Saint Louis 64-60 in ... http://t.co/cSDkMWif

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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Mitt's monotonous march (Politico)

MASON CITY, Iowa ? The events start when they?re supposed to. The candidate says what he?s supposed to. The staff does what it?s supposed to.

To watch the Mitt Romney operation in action is to see Swiss precision applied to the campaign trail and it helps explain how he finds himself contending for victory in Iowa, a state he ignored for much of the campaign.

For Romney, monotony is the mission. And the mission is regularly accomplished.

Take Thursday?s appearance at a museum honoring the creator of the Broadway hit, ?The Music Man.? At exactly 12:25 p.m., the very minute he was advertised to begin his event, the former Massachusetts governor charged through the waiting crowd to the sound of his campaign?s theme song, ?Born Free.?

While the Kid Rock number ever-present on the Romney circuit touts a character ?wild, like an untamed stallion,? the front-running presidential candidate is anything but. His events routinely start on time and are meticulously stage-managed. He remains straightjacketed to his economic message and has been distraction free.

Even Romney?s wardrobe is the same day after day. Skinny jeans, a brown belt and loafers and a white dress shirt, buttoned at the sleeves but not at the collar.

That consistency and discipline, practiced across all levels of the campaign, stands out in an unruly and chaotic nominating contest that has seen one candidate after another rise and fall, victims of their own ineptitude or inability to stand up to relentless pressures and distraction of the modern presidential campaign. No one ever asks if Romney is a serious candidate, or if his campaign is about anything other than running for president.

While his rivals have struggled with the basics of punctuality, logistics and drawing crowds, Romney?s professional advance operation has thrived, producing finely tuned events that go off without a hitch.

Romney?s aides reject the notion that they are running a boring campaign, designed to minimize turbulence, and point to capacity crowds ? that they have expertly engineered ? as evidence of growing momentum. Romney?s Iowa director, Dave Kochel, said the turnout at events has been several times the number of people who RSVP?d with the campaign.

Even those overflow crowds ? large and enthusiastic as they have been ? have managed to avoid creating speed bumps. Not once in Iowa this week did a voter ask about Romney?s Massachusetts health care law conservatives so abhor. No Iowa voter this week asked him a remotely difficult question.

And so it was that when an 8-year-old boy asked Romney here if it is ?hard to run for the president,? and Romney confirmed that it is, it served as such a stark departure from the norm that the item appeared in virtually every report filed from the event.

Throughout the campaign, Romney has produced campaign surrogates who have advanced the cause by delivering crisp, repeatable four-to-six minute introductions while hitting on the campaign?s broad themes. Rep. Aaron Schock of Illinois four times on Thursday delivered exactly the same speech stressing Romney?s electability.

Earlier this month in South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley three times delivered the same remarks about her frustrations in dealing with the federal government.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Romney?s most high-profile surrogate, deviated slightly off course Friday morning, warning a West Des Moines crowd that he?d ?be back, Jersey-style? if Romney is disappointed on caucus night.

Christie?s slight, cheeky departure from script paled, however, next to the gaffes committed by Rick Perry?s surrogates. Earlier this week, the Texan was introduced as the ?governor of California? by a local state senator and Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio committed the unpardonable sin of referring to the University of Iowa football team as the ?Buckeyes.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1211_70977_html/44043672/SIG=11m99b38p/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70977.html

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