[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', ' ')Above nature? No. Not subject to its laws? Nature's laws are harsh and unforgiving to anything. But man is capable of manipulating nature and exploiting technicalities in its laws.

[The_Toecutter]

I'm not at all saying man can improve nature, but instead use it to or manipulate it to his advantage. This isn't hubris so much as it is our level of technology. However, by doing so, man is indeed playing with fire. Doing such is not without its risks.

Incase you misread what I stated, man is subject to natures laws and is not above it. But that doesn't mean man can't or doesn't play nature like the hoochiest of skanks. When nature finally figures it out, tisk tisk...

[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', ' ')I'm not at all saying man can improve nature, but instead use it to or manipulate it to his advantage. This isn't hubris so much as it is our level of technology. However, by doing so, man is indeed playing with fire. Doing such is not without its risks.

[davep]

A quick aside...

I haven't been following the share price of the oil companies, but I guess with a decreased price per barrel their stock will have gone down. Is now a good time to buy for those that missed the boat last time?

Edit: this is purely in the interests of securing my family's future. I'm not able to buy a farm cash at the moment...

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hen you haven't been reading. Look in Depletion Modeling for Exxon 8% decline.

Currently, existing fields are declining at 4 to 5% with a trend toward 8% with some mature fields showing 14%.

We don't know what the decline rate will be.

[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rockdoc123', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hen you haven't been reading. Look in Depletion Modeling for Exxon 8% decline.

Currently, existing fields are declining at 4 to 5% with a trend toward 8% with some mature fields showing 14%.

We don't know what the decline rate will be.

[The_Toecutter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')o, he cannot. He just thinks so from the temporary results of attempting to do so.

[JustinFrankl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', 'M')an is quite capabile of destroying this planet's biosphere.

[The_Toecutter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')estroying? As in wiping out every living thing on and within the planet? Every bacteria, virus, and fungus throughout the atmosphere, soil, and oceans?

[napoleon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lokutus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dreamtwister', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lokutus', 'S')omeone please remind me again just what the difference is between the Peak Oil Doomsday Cult and all the other doomsday cults.

I've forgotten.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')pparently, what happens in Vegas may no longer stay in Vegas.

This week Google Inc. has launched its latest feature on its online maps webpage, “Street View,” which allows people to zoom in on major public areas of cities such as New York, San Francisco, Miami and Las Vegas. Such street-level views allow visitors to the Google website to zoom in not only on the sights and attractions of America’s cities but also the people walking down the street going about their daily routine.

“Street View” gives people high resolution photos at street-level of major roadways in cities across the country, allowing for 360 degree view of the various sights. Users can zoom in and out of these shots of the street from different angles with ease, in order to get a real sense of what the area is like. According to Google, all photos were taken from vehicles driving along public streets during the past year and will be updated periodically to prevent against privacy intrusions. “This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street,” stated Google spokeswoman Megan Quinn in a statement reported by CBS News. However, should the photos featured online be seen as objectionable or if an individual sees themselves being featured in shots that they do not want published, the site is offering a “help” button which would allow users to request that images be removed. Google is also attempting to safeguard against possible privacy issues by avoiding potentially sensitive locations, such as domestic abuse shelters, by working through the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

Despite these various measures to ensure people's anonymity and comfort about these “Street Views” and the fact that Google appears to be fully within the bounds of privacy laws because all pictures were taken in public places, many are still concerned about the tenuous ground the company is walking. “Everyone expects a certain level of anonymity as they move about their daily lives,” said Kevin Bankston in a CBS News report. “There is a certain ‘ick’ factor here.” Bankston is a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group which is devoted to protecting people’s rights on the Internet, and which believes that this newest innovation by Google provides “prime fodder” for debates over privacy issues. Bankston believes that Google should have blurred the images of pedestrians who were unwittingly captured in these street-level shots, before they were posted online, to prevent against any possible embarrassing or compromising situations. According to Bankston, “There’s a distinction between what Google has a legal right to do and what is the responsible thing to do.”
link

[PolestaR]

It's a common tactic now for software companies to give a completely free piece of software away, with no "pro" version or anything of that sort - completely free. They do this for about 6-12 months getting the customer base up then it all changes, out comes the LITE version (a stripped down version of what you used to get for free) and the PRO version (the one you pay for which used to be free).

Google is following this exact formula for so many services I'm waiting for when it switches mindsets and starts to show its real corporate evil. Be wary.

[lotrfan55345]

I love that feature. You can go somewhere and see where exactly a store is!

[I_Like_Plants]

Oh yeah I love those hybrid satellite maps, you get the streets shown and named, but see the satt photo too, so you see, Oh yeah there's a bunch of big trees across the street and the building I'm looking for is pink.....

[gg3]

Yeah, wonderful. Great boon to stalkers, bombers, assassins, burglars, bankrobbers, kidnappers, etc. etc. Nothing like being able to "case the joint" by remote control, get all the little details, figure out the best place to plant the bomb or wait for the victim.

I'm told the Google cameras are stuck atop car roofs like oldschool cellphone antennae and look like little domes with lenses.

I wonder if they're susceptible to lasers or to EMP? It's too bad they're a moving target because they're undoubtedly susceptible to flying lead but one shouldn't go shooting at moving targets in crowded cities.

What's also needed is an R&D project for something that can create a kind of cloak of invisibility by projecting a false image of a place in a manner that's indistinguishable from a real image.

What's also needed is for someone to follow the CXOs of Google around with cameras and put up a website so you can watch all of their escapades. And when they object, tough shit, turnabout is fair play. They need a dose of their own medicine. Better yet an overdose that makes 'em puke until they get the message.