SpawnPoint

In the past few days, the prices of most of the mainline commodities  have plummeted. This — and the spikes of the past two years — is nothing new. It is simply the nature of commodities.(Luckily, I sold off some Gold recently!)

With most products, if the price goes up, consumers are less likely to purchase the item in question. Not so with energy. If the price of a gallon of gasoline doubles, consumers pretty much have to grumble and bear it. So even though the price of gasoline has nearly tripled in the last three years, demand for it in the United States has only recently begun to trail off — and even that only by single-digit percentages. Food is less elastic than most products (because you have to eat) but more elastic than oil (because you can always eat something cheaper).

And oil’s inelasticity is becoming entrenched. Oil is a dirty and inefficient means of generating electricity and was abandoned in the developed world ages ago as a power fuel — in wealthy countries it is now primarily used for transport fuels, mostly gasoline and diesel. In the past few years, much of the developing world has made that shift as well. Since transport fuels have even fewer substitutes, they tend to exhibit less elastic demand patterns than power fuels; so oil on the whole is becoming a more inelastic commodity.

But there is more to it than the “simple” law of elasticity. The bottom line is that the impact of rising price volatility is more significant than the phenomenon of rising prices, especially since volatility goes both ways. The nature of the global energy industry has changed greatly in the past 15 years, and while some of the changes are tending to push prices up, nearly all of them have an even greater effect on price volatility.

The technologies the energy industry is bringing to bear are impressive by any measure, but all of these new projects require a lot more capital and skill to develop than the fields of yesteryear. And, as with the entrance of the former Soviet Union (with its transportation issues) into the market described above, this means that the magnitude of any given disruption is greatly magnified by the huge sums already sunk into the presale production process (that now stand a chance of being wiped out in a flash). The market then responds with panic.

But the events of the past week have revealed a firm, but little-known, fact about the commodity markets. Volatility means that prices can change rapidly. Volatility does not mean that this direction has to only be upwards.

In 2001, after Sept. 11, the markets started to price in an American war with an oil producer and prices rose by 2 percent within two days. When it turned out that a global slowdown was more likely than a war with Saudi Arabia, prices dropped — again by about a third — within about a week.

The effects of rising price volatility are more significant than the persistence of rising prices because volatility cuts both ways. Expect more price rises — and falls — to come.

 

 

 

Can't sleep, so thought I'd blog. oh well...

I've been meaning to post this for a while actually, so now is as good a time as any I suppose...

Recently moved into a new home.  Was surviving in a very tight condo/office that is PHXX's office! Trying to live there with another person part of the time was very difficult.  Worse yet, trying to get 3 kids in there part time to visit was horrible!  Now I am back in with a 4 bedroom home with a pool that is similiar to what I owned before.  Amazingly, the rental market is so saturated that the costs of renting are rediculously low!

This new space is the home for Nikki (Ask Nikki) and Shane (me..Weaver).  Kids have a place to sleep, much more running space- much more comfortable.  Though my divorce is not final, the soon-to-be EX and mother of my children and I seem to be to a level where communication is fairly effective again. We still have the occasional odd moment or heated moment, but we are learning to deal with those as well.  It gives me hope that long term we can still play the important role of mother/father still effectively.

Otherwise - business trudges on!  SpawnPoint has a lot of good stuff coming out with a major release in May.  Labec is slaving away with development to get that done!

Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.

            -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Like what you see? myplayer.endavomedia.com/getplayer.php

Nikki's son is celebrating an important holiday today - PI DAY!  That's right, March 14 is international PI Day!  March 14... 3-14... or 3.14..

3.14159265358979323846

Does that mean 1:59am was the official start of it?

What if you have a binary clock?
11.00100100001111110110



More information then you care to know about PIE

Pi or p is one of the most important mathematical constants, approximately equal to 3.14159. It represents the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry, which is the same as the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius. Many formulas from mathematics, science, and engineering include p.

It is an irrational number, which means that its decimal expansion never ends or repeats. Indeed: beyond being irrational, it is a transcendental number, which means that no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc.) could ever produce it. Throughout the history of mathematics, much effort has been made to determine p more accurately and understand its nature; fascination with the number has even carried over into culture at large.

The Greek letter p, often spelled out pi in text, was adopted for the number from the Greek word for perimeter, probably by William Jones in 1706, and popularized by Leonhard Euler some years later. The constant is occasionally also referred to as the circular constant, Archimedes' constant (not to be confused with an Archimedes number), or Ludolph's number.

What a wonderful day today! 70 degrees... clear blue skies.  No rain at all! A bit breezy, keeping everything cool and fresh.  Wow.  Got to love Florida.

So - how is it up there in Virginia.. Maine.. New York...

Sorry to say.. woke up sick as a dog. Knew it was coming. Expectorant, cold medicine, advil and no caffeine for a few days.  If you don't hear from me..give me a few days.

I've been asked to be respectful regarding certain life decisions that I have made over the recent past.  That being said.. I have to talk about SLEEP.

I like to sleep. I don't like to sleep - much - if I can avoid it.  Only because I am far too busy and well.. sleep is not productive! That being said, I have gone from sleeping on a VERY comfy and soft bed... to a couch.. and now to an airmatress that doesn't keep air all night!  I end up with a flat piece of rubber and my sleeping back on top of it.

For some reason, my back is now hurting in the mornings!

Perhaps If I sleep LESS still.. 2 hours a night.. the opportunity for the back ache will dissapear!

I wish everyone a very happy new year! 2008 will be a great year for SPAWNPOINT. I hope that 2008 is a great year for everyone that is a part of this community!

So what is a site to do when it has over 23,000 registered users and wants to get a weekly mailing off?  You develop your own mail system and you send them out?

You have to consider things like user tracking, click tracking, open rates, etc. 

What do you do if the site keeps crashing?

Retool.. Retool.. Retool.

Good job Lucas! Hopefully it doesn't crash this time!

I want to personally wish every member, staff, and friend we have at SPAWNPOINT a Very Merry Christmas! May this coming year bring us joy, happiness, and wishes fullfilled.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Tis the season they say..

w00t

I have staff, who I know are dedicated and loyal to a fault, blowing things up. I have other staff blowing things up in response.  I have my wife.. soon to be ex.. on an emotional roller coaster ride. One moment we are good.. the next we are not.

So - today is a special day. My sons 6th birthday.  I was happy for him. Spent the whole day, as a family...

Till we got home.

Wife is troubled. Something brewing, won't talk.

Cake is over with, send the kids outside to play with new toys...

BAM!!!

Wants me to move out .. tonight! To give her some 'space'. 

So - yes - 'tis the season for stress.  Hitman.. do me a favor, just use the actual /gun/ next time.. no one will complain, they will be afraid to. :)

Good days.. bad days.. Every day is up and every day is down.  I will want to share more some time in the future, I am sure.  But for now.. today is a good/bad day!

ha

YOU ARE WELCOME!!

To all of you Canadians celebrating ThanksGiving.. Thanks for Giving you America.. today.. you have a heartfelt welcome.  We American's are happy to spend our hard earned dollars on the military that defends you, the science research that enlivens you, and providing the source for global warming that is warming up the planet and thawing out your little white butts!

It always sucks to move from the work week and get sick over the weekend.  It is worse when you have an unsypathetic wife,3 kids and a very busy schedule of events that really DON'T care how you feel.

So, saturday morning starts with vertical upheaval of previously consumed foods. Fun.  This happens a few times.

Saturday night has a whole new flavor of issues.  Previously consumed foods decide to come out of other orifices in the same viscous format as before.. just more different ways.  While I am akin to not sleeping much, I hate TRYING to sleep.. and not doing so until 6am because of aforementioned problems.

Ok - So the spouse lets me sleep till 10am.  Thanks.

The rest of the day is much the same until the afternoon when I am feeling better and about 10lbs lighter.  I decide to do some of my normal weekend chores.  Cleaning the garage, cleaning the pool deck, etc. I have this box of.. well.. miscellaneous toy crap that my kids never use in an old cardboard box.  Time to sort and toss this stuff. 

Hand into box. Pull some toys out. Throw in trash or plastic bag for later examination.

Hand in box. Same thing.

Repeat.

Hand in box. OOh! Something different! Hand comes away with two drops of blood and a sharp pain.  Oh, there is the lovely low-pitch but fast cascade of wasps/bees that is sadly, distinctly not wasps or bees.  Out of the box shoots this Pygmy Rattler. WACK WACK WACK.. Goes for the toes (in flip flops. so this is a danger).

Lets stop here.

For those not accustomed to snakes in their lives, this sounds like a scary experience.

For those who ARE accustomed to snakes in their lives.. well.. this is still a scary experience! 

Back to the action.

In 4 seconds or less the situation has been assessed. I have been bitten (again) by a Pygmy Rattler. From previous experiences, I know that this is not fatal but I also know that in about 2 minutes my life is going to change as pain starts to setin from the poison that is necronious (eats away the flesh).  I have 2 little kids in the pool behind me obvlivious to the events.  I have not examined this box further to know if there are MORE snakes in there (when you find one... well.. you tend to find more then one).  

Hammer is on a table 20 feet away. Kids are 30 feet away.  Hammer is grabbed. Hammer pounds on snake head 3 times.  Snake smooshed.

Kids are wooshed out of the water, towels on body and shoved into the house.  Hand is held down to prevent spreading of poison. Drip drip... blood on patio. Wife summoned to take kids away.  Haven't told her what happened but she see's the blood and is concerned.  March back out  - kick the boxes. No snakes come flying out, I am pretty certain none are there.

Back in house.  Here is the dialogue. (Wife is drying kids).

Shane holding finger down, squeezing in a semi tourniquette. Says to wife: "Got bit by a Pygmy Rattler. No I won't die.  Need to rinse wound off and check."

Wife: "Again?"

Shane: "Shutup. "

Wife: "Want me to call 9-11?"
- Wife goes ahead and calls a friend to come to the house who lives down the street to watch the kids just in case.

Shane: "Not yet. No rush. "
- sink runs, revealing to small puncture holes. A little swelling. Nothing else.  Water still running (Warm water - cold water doesn't help.. in fact.. tends to make it worse).

5 minutes passes and I am not screaming for my mommy. Last time I got bit by a Pygmy Rattler I was screaming for Jesus, Jebus, God, Satan, the Earth Mother, and for morphine (I am a wuss).  I had anti-venom applied to the wound and my little toe survived the ordeal.  No pain this time.  I know that - some - percentage of bites are 'dry'. re: no venom.  

GOOGLE - is your friend.  An estimated 25-40% of Pygmy Rattle bites are dry.  I got lucky today and saved the $50 co-pay at the emergency room!

End result - I still feel crappy. Freaked the kids out.  Had to empty all my boxes and clean stuff up.  Oh. And I still feel crappy.
-
Shane

There is nothing more rewarding in life then being a father.. or if their is something, I have not found it and to be honest I don't think I am interested in finding it. 

Their is no feeling of closeness with God that can beat the feeling that can take over you as you look down on your children sleeping. 

Owning a company or reveling in the passion of your job is wonderful and can fulfill many lives... but only if those lives have not known the love of a 5 year old boy who's greatest obsession in life is to be a Pirate. 

Being a braniac know-it-all and knowing everyone around you knows just how smart you are is very gratifying.. but again, any man would trade this all in for a moments time with his children. 

Every once in a while, when looking at your children, you get a glimpse of the anguish that must tear at a parents heart when their children do something vile and evil.  As well, you get a glimpse as to how the parents may not be able to let go of their love for their children in the face of that evil.  I can see spending the rest of your life consoling the victims of your child and committing your life to helping your child see the wrongs he or she committed until they can come to terms with it.

When people tell of willingness to die for their children, do not doubt it.  I could knowingly walk in front of a train in trade for the life of any of my children.  Even if my trade meant just 10 more minutes of life for them, this is within my power.  Killing for, dying for, stealing for, anything for - whether this is God's divine spirit breathed into parents or this is simply mother nature having done a damn-good-job, its there.  It cannot be forgotten.

I love my little pirates.

Generally, when I am writing a long post I like to summarize it at the beginning so that people know what I am writing about.  In this case, I am writing about the general formatting and politeness that goes with any writing style.

KISS.  Keep it simple stupid.  Very important catchphrase, learned it in the military where it is practiced almost exclusively if you are a non-commissioned officer (enlisted man).  Proper Officers practice KISC.  Keep it super complex.  Not very fun if you have to deliver on their orders.

Another important aspect is The Three Rules.  Tell them what you are going to tell them.  Tell them.  Tell them what you told them.  Also very important.

In summary, I just told you.. telling you.. and well.. reminding you that I told you.

To Blog.. or not to blog. THAT Is the question..

I just wanted to say good bye to everyone here. It was great experience, great fun but I have other things I have to do with my life now. I wish you all well.

Shane is now playing Last Chaos. Have a nice day.
Last Chaos is an on-line role playing game where thousands of players can simultaneously be connected, fight and upgrade their courage and battle skills through adventures, quests and crafting skills with fellow adventurers.

Feel free to download this piece of crack here

Have a wonderful feel good and Chaotic day.