Archive for the 'Infrastructure' Category
UK: Government Asks Stores to Stockpile Food in Case of Infrastructure Breakdown
July 7th, 2008Via: Times: Ministers are in talks with supermarkets about emergency food reserves in case fuel protests lead to shortages at shops. The government wants to ensure retailers and suppliers can continue to sell basics such as meat, bread and milk if hauliers bring the country to a halt. They have asked supermarkets to make contingency […]
Freight Traffic on Upper Mississippi Halted
June 22nd, 2008Monitoring… Via: AP: The flooding in the Midwest has brought freight traffic on the upper Mississippi to a standstill, stranding more than 100 barges loaded with grain, cement, scrap metal, fertilizer and other products while shippers wait for the water to drop on the Big Muddy. “We’re basically experiencing total shutdown,” said Larry Daily, president […]
Giant Oil Companies to Return to Iraq Under No Bid Contracts
June 19th, 2008Imagine my complete and total shock. Via: IHT: Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power. Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in […]
“New Zealand Will Simply ‘Get Killed'” Unless Crappy Broadband Situation Improves
June 4th, 2008Our Telecom post goes underwater during strong rain storms. A few storms ago, the cover was off that post, washed away by the raging river that overflowed its banks. Of course, all we had on the line was crackling, popping static. I looked at the post and all the copper was soaked, muddy, with bits […]
Massive Pipeline Explosion in Nigeria
May 18th, 2008Via: AFP: Nigerian firefighters battled Friday to put out flames pouring from a burst oil pipeline a day after a huge explosion that Red Cross officials said killed 100 people. An excavator accidentally pierced the pipeline, creating a lake of petrol that ignited into a huge fireball which engulfed a local school, cars and shoppers […]
Old Gas Pumps Can’t Handle Ever-Rising Prices
May 13th, 2008Via: AP: REARDAN, Wash. (AP) — Mom-and-pop service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can’t register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials. The pumps, throwbacks to a bygone era on the American road, are difficult and expensive to upgrade, and replacing them […]
NSA vs. Military Academies
May 12th, 2008Via: Wired: Even with a solid network design and passable software choices, there was an element of intuitiveness required to defend against the NSA, especially once it became clear the agency was using minor, and perhaps somewhat obvious, attacks to screen for sneakier, more serious ones. “One of the challenges was when they see a […]
Computer Security Community Warns High Street Chains
April 26th, 2008Via: Times Online: High street chains will be the next victims of cyber terrorism, some of the world’s elite hackers have warned. They claim it is only a “matter of time” before the likes of Tesco and Marks & Spencer are targeted. Criminals could use the kind of tactics which crippled Estonia’s government and some […]
UK: Drivers Urged Not to Panic Buy Petrol as Refinery Workers Strike
April 24th, 2008Above ground factors… Via: Guardian: Drivers were today urged not to panic buy fuel after talks to avert a strike at one of Scotland’s largest oil refineries failed. A two-day walkout by up to 1,200 workers at the Grangemouth refinery is set to begin on Sunday after negotiations between the Unite union and refinery management […]
Possible UK Refinery Strike
April 21st, 2008Just in case UK readers aren’t already keeping an eye on this… Via: Bloomberg: U.K. Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks warned of “serious consequences” for Britain if a threatened strike at Scotland’s only oil refinery halts production by the end of the week. “The last thing the public wants is fuel shortages,” with prices at record […]
