Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Natural gas

Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane but including significant quantities of ethane, butane, propane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen sulfide.[1] It is found in oil fields and natural gas fields, and in coal beds (as coalbed methane). When methane-rich gases are produced by the anaerobic decay of non-fossil organic material, these are referred to as biogas. Sources of biogas include swamps, marshes, and landfills (see landfill gas), as well as sewage sludge and manure by way of anaerobic digesters, in addition to enteric fermentation particularly in cattle. Natural gas is often informally referred to as simply gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane. The by-products of that processing include ethane, propane, butanes, pentanes and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, elemental sulfur, and sometimes helium and nitrogen.


Methane
Natural gas Natural gas
General
Other names Marsh gas, Swamp gas
Molecular formula CH4
Appearance Clear Gas, Blue Flame
Properties
Density and phase 0.717 kg/m3, gas
Melting point −182.5°C (90.6 K) at 1 atm

25 °C (298 K) at 1.5 GPa
Boiling point −161.6°C (111.55 K)
Triple point 90.7 K, 0.117 bar
Hazards
External MSDS External MSDS
EU classification Highly flammable (F+)
NFPA 704
4
1
0
R-phrases R12
S-phrases (S2), S9, S16, S33
Flash point −188°C
Autoignition temperature 482-632°C
Maximum burning
temperature:		 2148°C
Explosive limits 5–15%
Related compounds
Related alkanes Ethane
Propane
Related compounds Methanol
Chloromethane
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for
materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox disclaimer and references
See methane for a more complete list.

Posted by rick.s.hunter at 12:40 PM

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Coffe


Roasted coffee beans

Coffee is a widely consumed beverage prepared from the roasted seeds — commonly referred to as beans — of the coffee plant. It can be consumed cold or hot. A typical 200 ml (7 fluid ounces) cup of coffee contains 80–140 milligrams of caffeine, depending on the bean and method of roasting and preparation.[1] Some people drink coffee "black" (plain), while others sweeten their coffee or add milk, cream or non-dairy creamer. The majority of all caffeine consumed worldwide comes from coffee, as much as 85% in some countries.[2] Coffee, along with tea and water, is one of the most popular beverages world-wide, its volume amounting to about a third of that of tap water in North America and Europe.[3] In 2003, coffee was the world's sixth largest agricultural export in value, behind wheat, maize, soybeans, palm oil and sugar.[4]

Economics of coffee

Worldwide coffee consumption per capita and year.

Coffee is one of the world's most important primary commodities due to being one of the world's most popular beverages. In total, 6.7 million tonnes of coffee were produced annually in 1998–2000, and the forecast is a rise to 7 million tonnes annually by 2010.[33] Coffee also has several types of classifications used to determine environmental and labor standards.
Shade-trees in Orosí, Costa Rica. After the harvest, they are pruned
Shade-trees in Orosí, Costa Rica. After the harvest, they are pruned

Brazil remains the largest coffee exporting nation, but in recent years the green coffee market has been flooded by large quantities of robusta beans from Vietnam.[34] Many experts believe the giant influx of cheap green coffee after the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement of 1975–1989 with Cold War pressures led to the prolonged pricing crisis from 2001 to 2004.[35] In 1997 the "c" price of coffee in New York broke US$3.00/lb, but by late 2001 it had fallen to US$0.43/lb.[36]

Robusta coffees (traded in London at much lower prices than New York's Arabica) are preferred by large industrial clients (multinational roasters, instant coffee producers, etc.) because of their lower cost.

The farmers in many parts of the Third World responded to the price crash by forming cooperatives ,allowing some members to sell their coffee for up to four times the price charged by individual farmers.[37]

Four single roaster companies buy more than 50% of all of the annual production: Kraft, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee[citations needed]. The preference of the "Big Four" coffee companies for cheap robusta is believed by many to have been a major contributing factor to the crash in coffee prices,[38] and the demand for high-quality arabica beans is only slowly recovering. After the crash, many coffee farmers in Africa, Indonesia and South and Central America lost their livelihoods, or turned to illicit crops such as coca to earn a living. The Dutch brand 'Max Havelaar' started the concept of fair trade labeling, which attempted to remedy the situation by guaranteeing coffee growers a negotiated pre-harvest price.[39] Another issue with coffee is ecological: the American Birding Association has led a campaign for sustainably harvested, shade-grown and organic coffees vs. the newer mono-cropped full-sun varieties, which lead to deforestation and loss of bird habitat.[40]

Coffee ingestion on average is about a third that of tap water in most of North America and Europe.[3] The United States consumes around six billion gallons of coffee a year.[41] In 2002 in the U.S., average coffee consumption was 22.1 gallons per person.[42]

Cocoa

Cocoa beans in a cacao pod

Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. "Cocoa" can often also refer to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids.

A cocoa pod has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick (this varies with the origin and variety of pod). It is filled with sweet, mucilaginous pulp called 'baba de cacao' in South America, enclosing 30 to 50 large almond-like seeds (beans) that are fairly soft and pinkish or purplish in color.


World production

Cocoa bean output in 2005

About 3,000,000 tonnes of cocoa is grown each year. The global production was

1,556,484 t in 1974,
1,810,611 t in 1984,
2,672,173 t in 1994,
3,607,052 t in 2004 (record).

This is an increase of 131.7% in 30 years.

There are three main varieties of the Theobroma cacao: Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. The first comprises 95% of the world production of cacao, and is the most widely used. Overall, the highest quality of cacao comes from the Criollo variety and is considered a delicacy[2]; however, Criollo is harder to produce, hence very few countries produce it, with the majority of production coming from Venezuela (Chuao and Porcelana). The Trinitario is a mix between Criollo and Forastero[3].

The Netherlands is the leading cocoa processing country, followed by the U.S..

Cocoa and its products (including chocolate) are used world-wide. Belgium had the highest per-capita consumption at 5.5 kg in 1995/96, 10 times the world average [1].

Stock exchange


A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a corporation or mutual organization which provides facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade company stocks and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of securities, as well as, other financial instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. The securities traded on a stock exchange include: shares issued by companies, unit trusts and other pooled investment products and bonds. To be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it has to be listed there. Usually there is a central location at least for recordkeeping, but trade is less and less linked to such a physical place, as modern markets are electronic networks, which gives them advantages of speed and cost of transactions. Trade on an exchange is by members only. The initial offering of stocks and bonds to investors is by definition done in the primary market and subsequent trading is done in the secondary market. A stock exchange is often the most important component of a stock market. Supply and demand in stock markets is driven by various factors which, as in all free markets, affect the price of stocks (see stock valuation).

There is usually no compulsion to issue stock via the stock exchange itself, nor must stock be subsequently traded on the exchange. Such trading is said to be off exchange or over-the-counter. This is the usual way that bonds are traded. Increasingly, stock exchanges are part of a global market for securities.

Commodities


A commodity is something that is relatively easily traded, that can be physically delivered, and that can be stored for a reasonable period of time. It is a characteristic of commodities that prices are determined on the basis of an active market, rather than by the supplier (or other seller) on a "cost-plus" basis. Examples of commodities include not only minerals and agricultural products such as iron ore, crude oil, ethanol, sugar, coffee, aluminium, rice, wheat, gold, diamonds, or silver, but also so-called "commoditized" products such as personal computers.

Linguistically, the word commodity came into use in English in the 15th century, being derived from the French word "commodité", meaning today's (2000) "convenience" in term of quality of services. The Latin root meaning is commoditas, referring variously to the appropriate measure of something; a fitting state, time or condition; a good quality; efficaciousness or propriety; and advantage, or benefit. The German equivalent is die Ware, i.e. wares or goods offered for sale. The French equivalent is "produit de base" like energy, goods, or industrial raw materials.

Commodity trade

Main article: Futures exchange

In the original and simplified sense, commodities were things of value, of uniform quality, that were produced in large quantities by many different producers; the items from each different producer are considered equivalent. It is the contract and this underlying standard that define the commodity, not any quality inherent in the product.

Commodities exchanges include:

  • Chicago Board of Trade
  • Euronext.liffe
  • London Metal Exchange
  • New York Mercantile Exchange
  • Multi Commodity Exchange

Markets for trading commodities can be very efficient, particularly if the division into pools matches demand segments. These markets will quickly respond to changes in supply and demand to find an equilibrium price and quantity. In addition, investors can gain passive exposure to the commodity markets through a commodity price index.

FATHER TED





Father Ted was a popular 1990s television situation comedy set around the lives of three priests on the extremely remote (and completely fictional) Craggy Island off the west coast of Ireland. It ran for three series, totalling 25 episodes, between 21 April 1995 and 1 May 1998 on the UK's Channel 4. Father Ted was written by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, who also co-created Big Train. All of the interior scenes were shot at The London Studios, while all of the location footage was shot in Ireland.

The series was responsible for propelling a number of highly successful actors and comedians into the limelight, including Graham Norton, Tommy Tiernan, Brendan Grace, Patrick McDonnell, Don Wycherley and Joe Rooney. Other Irish comedians who featured included Jason Byrne who made a cameo appearance as a referee in one episode, whilst Ed Byrne played a teenage pranskster in another.

IT CROWD

Jen, Moss and Roy

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=it+crowd

The IT Crowd (IPA: pronounced [ɪt] or [aɪ tiː])[1] is a BAFTA-nominated[2] British sitcom written by Graham Linehan and produced by Ash Atalla for Channel 4. Currently, one series of six episodes has been produced and a second series of eight episodes has been commissioned by Channel 4[3] and is currently in production having been scheduled for Spring 2007,[4] and will air just after the summer.[5] Series one was recorded in front of a live audience at Teddington Studios, Series two was recorded in front of a live audience at Pinewood Studios. The first two episodes were broadcast by Channel 4 on Friday 3 February 2006. The show's name is a parody of The 'In Crowd', an expression used in the title of the song performed by Dobie Gray (with "IT" standing for Information Technology), emphasizing the difference between the lives of the main characters and those of a fashionable and popular elite.

In a first for Channel 4, each episode was available for download via the station's web site for the seven days preceding its initial TV broadcast. Downloads are only available for UK viewers and are supplied in Windows Media Video format. Each download was encoded with DRM restrictions, however there was no DRM on the first two episodes. It was nominated for best sitcom for the 2006 Rose d'Or. The program attracted the interest of the software development community worldwide, resulting in almost immediate cracking of the DRM protecting the episodes and widespread availability on peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent.[citation needed]


  • Roy - Chris O'Dowd: Roy is a laid back, lazy IT engineer who goes to great lengths to avoid performing his role within the organisation. He constantly eats junk food and has a low regard for his career in technology, despite signs that he is more than capable. He is a big fan of comics and often reads them when he is supposed to be working. He also wears a new geek related t-shirt every episode. Before IT, he held a job as a waiter.
  • Maurice or "Moss" - Richard Ayoade: Maurice Moss (Age 32, although his online dating profile seems to assert it is 22) is a typical computer nerd, and displays characteristics typical of nerd behaviour. The humour in his character is derived from his comments and his intricate and detailed knowledge. He lives with his mother, and uses online dating services. Both he and Roy feel they never get the credit they deserve in the company.
  • Jen - Katherine Parkinson: Jen is a woman who enters the department in episode one as a new starter, placed there seemingly at random by boss Denholm, despite her lack of technical or technology management experience. Her role is that of a relationship manager. She has admitted to a propensity for telling lies in order to further her own goals, as evidenced by her current occupation as a member of the IT support team.

HEROES

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/anonymouspastor/masthead_heroes.jpg

Heroes is an American science fiction drama television series, created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. The show tells the story of several people who "thought they were like everyone else... until they woke with incredible abilities" such as telepathy, time travel and flight. These people soon realize they have a role in preventing a catastrophe and saving mankind.[1] The series follows the writing style of American comics with short, multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing arc. Even with small story arcs that move the story forward, Kring said "we have talked about where the show goes up to five seasons".[2] When the series premiered in the United States, it was the night's most-watched program among adults aged 18-49, attracting 14.3 million viewers overall and receiving the highest rating for any NBC drama premiere in five years.[3] On October 6, 2006, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly announced Heroes had been picked up for a full season,[4] and on January 17, 2007, Reilly announced Heroes had been picked up for a second season.[5]. The second season of Heroes will consist of 24 episodes.