It all started on April 20th, 2010 when a sea floor oil gushing out from 5000 feet (1500m) below the sea level. The oil was estimated to spill at the rate of 500,000 gallon (or 2,000,000 litters) per day at the minimum. Since the spill was on the Gulf of Mexico, I started to smell the oil when I was fishing at the Pensacola Beach Pier about a month ago. Now, after almost 2 month, the spill still can’t be stopped, and it is spreading continuously to the surrounding area.
If you are curious how big the spill is, take a look at this area map of gulf of Mexico. (click on the image for bigger view)
Taken from http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill/
As you can see, the spill start to reach the shore. I can’t imagine how this will affect the environment there.
BP has done couple things to fix this problem. Granted, none of them has been successful, but they are keep trying.
On May 7th, 2010, BP tried to contain the oil by dropping 280,000 pound (close to 115 tons) container dome to the source of the oil spill, but they failed because the combination of oil and cold water will produce Methane Hydrate which block the canopy at the top of the dome.
On May 11th, 2010, BP tried to use smaller container dome, but it still failed.
On May 14th, 2010, BP tried to use insertion tube to save some of the oil spill, which was saving 84,000 gallons (or 320,000 litres) of oil per day.
On May 29th, 2010, BP tried to use “top kill” method to seal the leak, but again, it was failed.
On June 7th, 2010, BP had successfully contained close to 620,000 gallons of oil per day using their Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System.
The oil is still spilling though, so BP has still to find a way to properly seal it. There are also some recovery actions that are done to contain the oil that has been spilled, some of them are
Collect the oil by using containment boom.
Disperse the oil by using oil dispersant, Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A.
Well…I am just hoping that all the efforts will work. If this continues, I’m sure there will be more damage done to the ecosystem and tourism around gulf of Mexico. I have heard from the radio and one of my friends that many people have cancelled their reservation this summer at those area around Gulf of Mexico, so this incident would also affect the economy in the Gulf of Mexico area.
I don’t think we should blame anyone for this. Everyone (ex: BP, government, etc.) have their own share of mistakes that contribute to this incident. What do you guys think? how long this disaster will continue? Whom to be blamed? most importantly, how can we fix this? well…if you know the answer of the last question, let me know. We can work something out and make BARRELS of money.
Lastly, in my attempt to cheer you up, check out and watch this funny, but yet true, video.
If you were a frequent traveler either for personal or business trip, you might have been wanting to unlock your phone and use the local cellphone plan to make phone calls, instead of using AT&T’s International Roaming plan. Believe me, you will be charged with premium rates. Last time I checked with AT&T, they will charge you $3.49/min to call landline phone in Indonesia, and $3.53/min to a cell phone when you are using AT&T’s sim card in Indonesia. It is much cheaper to just use local service provider.
Since I’m using AT&T service, I’ll tell you how to unlock your Blackberry as an AT&T customer.
Step 1 – Obtain the Unlock Code:
You must be with AT&T for at least 90 days. Call AT&T by dialing 611 and speak with AT&T’s customer representative. For my example, I told the person that this Christmas I might go back to Indonesia, so I need to get my phone unlocked to use my local sim card in Indonesia, instead of using AT&T’s. You can use similar reason depending on your needs. You might have to go overseas for business trip, visiting relatives, attending friend’s wedding, etc. He will then ask your name and last 4 digit of your social security number. If everything goes as planned, he will then give you the 16 digits unlock code, so make sure you have pen and paper ready. If they ask for your IMEI number, press *#06# on your mobile device to find your IMEI number immediately.
Step 2 – Options:
Go to Options and choose Advanced Options.
Step 3 - Sim Card:
Select Sim Card option.
Step 4 – Settings:
You will see under sim card option your phone ID number and your actual phone number.
Step 5 – MEPD:
While you are still on this scress, type “MEPD” – without the quotes. As you can see below, that your Network locked is still active. This means that your phone usage is still locked to AT&T services only.
Step 6 – MEP2 and Entering the Unlock Code:
Type “MEP2″ – without quotes. A prompt will pop up asking you to enter the Network MEP code. You will enter the unlock code that you got from the AT&T reps.
Step 7 – Final:
Check to see if the network lock has been disabled or not. If it has, congratulations….you just unlocked your phone.
Well…those are the steps that I did to unlock my Blackberry Bold 9000 from AT&T. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below.
I have been working in the paintball field as a referee for about three years now. It is not a full-time job, but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed not just the paintball itself as a sport, but also the people who are working there. I mean this is the kind of job that doesn’t really feel like a job, because you are having fun every time you work there. Granted, I’m not really good at it, but I think paintball is a great sport. It demands accuracy, agility, and team works. Plus, it’s not too expensive (at least here at PCC, $15 per person – 2 hours game, unlimited ammo).
Today we had our annual PCC Man’s Paintball Tournament. We always have this tournament for our collegians to compete with each other. This year’s champion is the Falcons. The championship is actually between the same two collegians, Titans and Falcons who were in finals also last year, but the Falcons had better luck today so they won. They were finished with a tie, but the Falcons had more team member left, so they won.
In case you were wondering about how our paintball fields and shop look like, I took few pictures of them. Since this is going to be my last semester here in PCC, this paintball game would be my last game that I referee and also the end of my employment there. It was kinda sad, but life must go on, right? We were using Tippmann 98 gun and Reaction paintballs. They are not the greatest, but they sure works just fine.
iPad was just out recently. However, don’t think that it’s the only touchscreen computer in the market. There are a lot more. Some of them are out already and some of them are to be released by the end of 2010. Some people even think that they are better than iPad, since most of the competitors offer flash capability built-in to it. The decision is yours.
Author: Steven Sentosa
Occupation: Blogger, Internet Marketing Specialist, Technology Enthusiast
Location: Alpharetta, GA
Steven Sentosa is a passionate blogger who likes to share his life and help others through MyInternetCorner.com. He offers social media services and Internet marketing consultation per client's request.
