So here is my first try:

and this is my second try from last sunday:

The second one is much better but i have to improve this photography technique. I will share more shots in future.

- Text / Photography by Andres Herren -

Since I play a lot of TF2, an owner of the server I play on regularly is having a competition with a lot of nice prices. He has taken quite a liking to me and told me he'll rig it to give me a good price. No!!! I like fair competition... He wants me to get a new motherboard+graphics card because right now, mine is a piece of shit and it gets laggy for me when I play.

No, I want fair sportsmanship. May the best win.

I'm very happy. I received some new stuff for my camera equipment. In the last two years i learned a lot of photography and it became a larger hobby than i thought. I found a way to express me in my pictures and i learned photography is an art. People like easton chang, scott chu, andywee or dino dalle carbonare inspired me a lot. Thanks guys!

To improve my pictures i read a lot of reference books and bought a a lot of stuff.

People ask me many times what my photography equipment contains...so here is the answer....

Here is the full equipment list:

(1x) Canon EOS 40D Body
(1x) Canon EF-S 10-22mm 3.5-4.5 USM Lens
(1x) Canon EF-S 17-55mm 2.8 IS USM Lens
(1x) Canon EF 70-200mm 2.8 L IS USM Lens
(1x) Canon ET-86 Lens Hood
(1x) Canon BG-E2N Battery Grip
(1x) Canon CB-5L Battery Charger
(2x) Canon Speedlite 580 EX-II
(1x) Canon Speedlite 430 EX
(2x) Canon CP-E4 Battery Pack
(1x) Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter
(1x) Canon RS-80N3 Remote Switch
(2x) Canon BP-511A Battery
(4x) PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver
(3x) PocketWizard 3.5 Jack to X-Synchro
(1x) Hama Hot Shoe to 3.5 Jack
(1x) Hoya Circular Pro1 Polfilter
(1x) Hama Lenspen
(1x) Hama USB 2.0 Card Reader 35 in 1
(2x) SanDisk Extreme IV 4.0 GB Compact Flash Card
(1x) SanDisk Ultra III 4.0 GB CompactFlash Card
(1x) Peli 1510 Case
(1x) Peli Case Organizer
(1x) Manfrotto tripod case 120cm
(1x) LowePro CompuTrekker AW bag
(3x) Pro-Studio Light Tripod
(1x) Manfrotto 190-XPROB
(1x) Manfrotto 804RC2 head
(1x) InterFit 5in1 reflector
(1x) Hague automotive rig

i think that's all..... at the moment ;-)

So, let us know what you think.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is: What will I be using this computer for? This will solve the problem instantly and let me explain why. What you do on your computer will define what you need in your system. If you plan on surfing the web and email then you don't need much to satisfy your needs. If you plan on video editing, and or gaming you probably need to go into the higher end systems. And lastly if you are what I like to call a hardcore gamer, you probably should not be reading this and have already started building your computer.

Lower End Systems :

When all you are doing is email and surfing the web go ahead to best buy or circuit city and pick up a nice looking computer off the shelf. Always look for good deals to save some money on. Most electronic stores have fair pricing on their computers. Not to mention all you have to do is plug it in and your up and running.

When shopping in this category feel free to check out any laptops they have on sale. Most of them will fit your needs technologically and they are portable.

Medium-Low End Systems:

This really is a part of the low end system category. But I know that all your music goes onto your computer nowadays, so if you are a music junkie keep your eyes out for 500+GB of hard drive space when shopping for a desktop at your local electronics store.

Medium-High End Systems:

This category is for people with big music and video playlists, and use multiple monitors when on their computers. They might do some video editing and some light gaming on the side. This category is purely choice. But note that when you buy these kinds of systems you will most likely be paying up to or over $100 more than if your were to build the same system. When shopping for these kinds of systems you might find one or two good computers to fit your needs at a best buy but you most likely will have to go online to find what you are looking for.

When shopping for these computers really consider building them. Building is not as hard as it looks. Video tutorials are all over the place and parts of the computer come with step-by-step instructions to get your computer up and running. And you never know, you might become hooked. For me computer building became a hobby and now will build any kind of system know matter the cost or time spent making them.

High End Systems:

These computers are for the extreme gamers that will most likely overclock their systems and squeeze every frame per second out of it. When buying these computers you only have one option... BUILD IT! You can buy it off of alienware or some place like that but just know that you will be paying hundreds or even up $1000 over what you could build it for.

I hope this helps when buying your next computer!

-HunterX333

CASO DE USO 1) Cuando queremos utilizar un PC desde nuestro Mac tal y como si estuviéramos sentados delante de él, manejando el sistema. Ésto lo podemos hacer de la siguiente forma:

• Os descargáis el Remote Desktop Connection for Mac. Quizás os haga falta el StuffIt Expander (gratuito) para descomprimir el archivo, si no lo tenéis ya instalado.

• Nos aseguramos que nuestro usuario en Windows tiene contraseña (de otro modo, el Remote Desktop no se conectará). Después entramos a Propiedades de Mi PC y buscamos la pestaña "Remoto". No hay que tocar mucho, simplemente, marcar la casilla donde pone "Permitir a los usuarios que se conecten de manera remota a este equipo":
  
• Ya en el lado Mac, descomprimimos y ejecutamos el programa que nos hemos descargado y configuraremos la pestaña "General" con los datos del usuario Windows y su contraseña. En "Computer" tenéis que poner la IP del PC Windows al que queréis conectaros:
  
  Sólo estos pasos son necesarios. Las demás pestañas tienen las propiedades de la configuración del Remote Desktop, donde podemos ajustar el tamaño de la pantalla remota, la profundidad de color, los recursos, el rendimiento dependiendo de la conexión... A gusto del consumidor. Evidentemente, cuanta mayor velocidad de transferencia (por ejemplo, en una red local), mejores parámetros le pondréis.

  Y listo. Se abrirá una pantalla remota de Windows en la que se os volverá a pedir el usuario y la contraseña, y veréis vuestro escritorio tal y como lo tenéis en el PC, que podréis manejar de la forma habitual.
  CASO DE USO 2) Lo que haremos será añadir carpetas compartidas o unidades en el escritorio de nuestro Mac, para utilizarlas como si fueran otras unidades más en nuestro ordenador. Antes deberemos tener alguna carpeta o unidad compartida en Windows, claro... No necesitaremos de ningún software extra, seguid estos sencillos pasos:

• En el Finder, entrad en Ir / Conectarse al servidor... En la ventana que os aparezca, ponéis la IP del PC precedida por "smb://" que es el protocolo por el que nos comunicaremos con él, y le dais a Conectar:
  
• Aparecerá una nueva ventana con la lista de carpetas o unidades compartidas en la máquina Windows, elegís cual queréis que se monte y pulsáis OK. Yo por ejemplo, he compartido el Escritorio de Windows, que es lo que estoy seleccionando:
  
• ¡Listo! Ya lo tenéis montado en el Mac. También aparecerá en cualquier ventana del Finder como una unidad más, de la que podréis traeros o llevaros cosas (si tenéis los permisos para hacerlo, claro):
  
• Un último consejo: ¿Cómo hacer que la unidad se monte automáticamente cuando arrancamos el Mac? Pues nos vamos a Preferencias del Sistema / Cuentas / Arranque y arrastramos el icono de la unidad de red que acabamos de crear, en la ventana con la lista de ítems que se abrirán al iniciar sesión:
  
  Recordad que en ésta lista podéis añadir cualquier aplicación también para que se ejecute nada más entrar en Mac OS X, por si os interesa...Eso es todo... espero que os puedan ser útiles estos pequeños consejos para "coexistir pacíficamente" con otros PC Windows de vuestra red, que podréis controlar y manejar sin moveros de vuestro Mac.
• Preguntas y Respuestas:

¿Como miro la IP de mi pc?

Teclea "cmd" en "Ejecutar". Cuando aparezca la ventana, tecleas "ipconfig" o "ipconfig /all". Ahí podrás ver la IP de todos los dispositivos de red que tengas en el PC.

Nota: Solo puede realizarce con Windows XP Professional SP2 o posteriores.

INVIDA and ATI the two biggest rivals in the computer graphics world. ATI with their amazing pricing and INVIDA's screen shattering performance, or is it? The battle of the "Graphics Cards" is on going because of the one reason thats dumbest of all, and that's "Bragging rights". People will put off buying their awesome new RIG just because of a they can't afford a Logo, when most of them are just wanting the performance of the card and really don't care what "splash screen" comes up. Now I'm not an ATI or INVIDA fanatic, no, I would like to think my self a properly powered PCI-e slot(able to take both).

I have owned both brands and have gotten maximum performance out of them. The one thing about this that cooks my board is the fact there's a $200-$400 dollar difference between new INVIDA and ATI cards when your practically buying the same quality... so what one has a little bit more "memory bandwidth" or has a few more "stream processors" or maybe the core and memory clock is a little different, so over clock, don't know how, google it. Its been found that 73% of custom computer builders OC. It doesn't really matter as long as your getting 30-50 FPS with Crysis and will be able to play Far-Cry2, Fallout 3, Mercenaries 2, and all the other great games coming out...

Look at the INVIDA 9800 and the Visiontek Readon 3870 x2, the 3870x2 creamed the INVIDA 9800 right out of the box and even more so, after being OC there was no going back and all for $399.99 the 9800 $600.00(more depending on the brand). And holy Crap! if you really want power and maybe have some more money to spend, the get two 3870's for the price of one 280x, throw them in crossfire and your off!

Now one of the things I hate the most in the review world, is when someone writes something without having experience with the product. I am the founder a new company that builds Custom gaming RIGs with both Intel, AMD, INVIDA, and ATI, but before I started is company I had been building computers for people for over 6 years and worked with all the major brands, so I know a lot about these products and their makers. I think having multiple encounters with the same product allows you to get a good feel and over all view of price vs performance. So my add advice to you who may be building a RIG, don't wait for the extra $200-$400.00 and just get the Visiontek 3870x2 I guaranty you won't see a significant difference thats worth the $200-400 more dollars. which you could use that extra money to buy all those games you are buying the computer for!

Remember, I have great respect for INVIDA and enjoy their products just as much, but don't feel so strongly about their prices, I am sure those of you who bought two SLI GTX 8800's for $1600.00 feel the same. I'm also sure even the biggest INVIDA fan would like a price reduction. 

Good Hunting and remember you don't need to spend $5,000 to build a next-gen RIG.

By the way my company is in the middle of designing our own standard ATX computer case, tell me what you think.

The "Turbine 1" is designed with superior air cooling in mind, with a hugh fan in the front and honeycomb back, this case makes you want under the desk for just your feet!

RSI’s Themes:  RSI must like this market since it has picked several ETF/CEFs for a change and they heavily favor the income sector, however a defensive move.  And I should mention five fine stock picks too.  The stock picks run a gambit of industries including a Chinese online community...very interesting.  The CFK list is huge, I forgot to pare it down so you got the full list of 44 names.

ETF/CEF Low Volatility:

• AWF - Alliance Wrld Dlr Govt II
• EMD - Western Asset Emerging Markets Income Fund Inc.
• ESD - Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund Inc.
• EVX - Market Vectors Environmental Services

ETF/CEF Medium Volatility:

Stock Picks New to RSI:

• NetEase.com, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates an online community in China. It operates in three segments: Online Game Services, Advertising Services, and Wireless Value-added Services and Others. NetEase.com, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

ETF/CEF Catch a Falling Knife (CFK):

• ADRD    BLDRS Developed Markets 100 ADR Index Fund
  ADRU    BLDRS Europe 100 ADR Index Fund
  CH    Chile Fund, Inc.
  CSP    American Strat Inc Pt III
  CVY    Claymore/Zacks Yield Hog
  CWI    SPDR MSCI ACWI
  DDI    WisdomTree Intl Industrial Sector Fund
  DEW    Wisdom Tree Europe High Yielding Equity Fund
  DHY    Dlj High Yield Bond Fund
  DOL    Wisdom Tree International Large Cap Dividend Fund
  DRF    WisdomTree Intl Financial Sector Fund
  DSC    SPDR DJ Wilshire Small Cap ETF
  DTH    Wisdom Tree DIEFA High Yielding Equity Fund
  DWM    Wisdom Tree DIEFA Fund
  EEZ    WisdomTree Earnings Top 100 Fund
  EWD    Sweden iShares
  EWO    Austria iShares
  EWT    Taiwan iShares
  EWY    South Korea iShares
  GRR    Asia Tigers Fund, Inc.
  HIO    Western Asset High Income Opportunity Fund Inc.
  IVV    S&P 500 iShares
  IYR    Real Estate iShares
  JKJ    iShares Morningstar Small Core Index Fund
  KF    Korea Fund, Inc.
  KXI    iShares S&P Global Consumer Staples Sector Index Fund
  LOR    Lazard World Dividend & Income Fund
  NFO    Claymore/Sabrient Insider ETF
  NYC    iShares NYSE Composite Index Fund
  PDP    PowerShares DWA Techincal Leaders Portfolio
  PFL    PIMCO Floating Rate Income Fund
  PHJ    PowerShares High Growth Rate Dividend Acheivers Portfolio
  PID    PowerShares International Dividend Acheivers Portfolio
  PRFZ    PowerShares FTSI RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid Portfolio
  PZI    Powershares Zacks Microcap Index
  SGF    Singapore Fund, Inc.
  SPY    S&P 500 SPDRs
  SSO    Ultra S&P 500 ProShares Fund
  TY    Tri Continental Corp.
  VB    Vanguard Small Cap VIPERs
  VEU    Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US
  VOE    Vanguard Mid Cap Value ETF
  VTI    Total Market VIPERs
  VXF    Vanguard Extended Market VIPERs

For the sake of our lungs and lifestyle, get the State out of transit. All they do is suffocate mass transit and build highways through our neighborhoods. Jane Jacobs, you should have been a libertarian.

• Motherboard: M2A-VM Asus HDMI
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (2.4 Ghz Dual Core)
• RAM: 2 Gigs DDR2 Kingston
• HDD: 200 GB SATA
• Graphics: Sapphire HD4850
• Monitor: AgNeovo 19" Widescreen LCD monitor. Max res: 1440*900
• Sound: Realtek HD sound
• Keyboard: Ancient standard grey Dell thingy.
• Mouse: A4Tech X7 Laser Gaming Mouse.
• Speakers: Ancient standard grey Harman/Kardon thingies. Great quality, though.
• Mouse pad: Fokke and Sukke (Dutch cartoon) making a joke about Pentium IV.
• Microphone: Logitech desktop mic
• Interwebs: 2Gb (will be 20Gb soon!)

I haven't had a chance to play with the rig yet, but in my opinion it is one of the most visually appealing characters I've seen as far as free Blender rigs go.  You can find out more about the rig on dav_'s blog, and the Blenderartist thread can be found here if you have any questions or want to comment on the rig.

I'm working overtime to get a website finalized so I can move everything over to my own domain, not to mention get two part-time jobs for the summer. I'm also working on a concept for the Blender World Cup - I have a character modeled and I'm working on a rig right now. My goal is to complete it without the use of tutorials (just figuring it all out on my own). So far so good - the rig needed some special work to get the joints to deform properly. I'll post my progress on Blenderartists once I finish the rig.

That's all from my end - hopefully I can start blogging more now that I have some time on my hands.

RSI’s Themes: Sometimes I get impatient with RSI when it spews out the some recent picks...I want new ideas.  Today it gave yesterday's picks again.  Its falling knife pick is novel, but with such a bad week I guess I cannot expect much more.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• HEW - Hewitt Associates, Inc.
• RBA - Ritchie Bros Auctioneers
• RIG - Transocean, Inc.

Stocks High Volatility:

• YTEC - Yucheng Technologies Ltd.

YTEC doesn't quite make the grade relative to the Hurst Channel, but I decided to let it pass because it is an interesting company and I do believe that China is where the action will be in the future.

Catch a Falling Knife:

• EZA - South Africa iShares

This is an interesting ETF that has made a double bottom.  It could go higher from here...but then again it is a falling knife.

RSI’s Themes:  Much to my surprise RSI picked two stocks in this difficult market environment.  The theme of the two stocks is 1) auctioneer of industrial equipment and 2) offshore drilling.  I suppose there is a theme there.  No falling knife candidates today.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• RBA - Ritchie Bros Auctioneers
• RIG - Transocean, Inc.

And there you have it, two promising stocks out of the universe of many thousands that failed to make the grade.  Actually I like the chart and fundamentals for RIG better than RBA, but you make up your own mind on this call.

Sorry for the late post today, I had a late meeting in a neighboring city and I just got back to my office.

RSI’s Themes:  Much to my surprise RSI picked two stocks in this difficult market environment.  The theme of the two stocks is 1) auctioneer of industrial equipment and 2) offshore drilling.  I suppose there is a theme there.  No falling knife candidates today.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• RBA - Ritchie Bros Auctioneers
• RIG - Transocean, Inc.

And there you have it, two promising stocks out of the universe of many thousands that failed to make the grade.  Actually I like the chart and fundamentals for RIG better than RBA, but you make up your own mind on this call.

Sorry for the late post today, I had a late meeting in a neighboring city and I just got back to my office.

RSI’s Themes:  Again, RSI failed to pick any ETF/CEF funds today.  This is understandable with today's market environment.  Its two stock picks are in the energy and online travel businesses.  Not sure what the theme is but it may be spurred by the rising cost of energy.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• PCLN - priceline.com Inc.
• RIG - Transocean, Inc.

These two stocks have done well lately with nice price breakouts.  PCLN was first picked by RSI on March 5th and RIG was picked on May 7th.  RSI still likes both.  We shall see. 

Sengaja kata-kata digaji saya berikan penekanan mengingat beberapa teman selalu bertanya bahwa bekerja di Singapura hanya dibayar kalau kita bekerja dan nol puthul (kosong-kosong) alias tidak dibayar saat kita berada di rumah. 

Empat tahun lamanya saya hidup di kapal bernama Ocean Bounty, tak terhitung client yang kami ikuti mulai dari Coogee, ENI, Conoco Phillips, Hardman, Santos, Chevron , Woodside dengan pelbagai sistem yang selalu berubah-ubah.

Saya dengan bangga mengaku menjadi TKI. Sekali tempo dipesawat ketemu pasangan senior asal Tegal, lalu kepada suaminya saya bilang di Perth jadi TKI. Sang suami cerita bahwa - ia dari Kimia ITB lalu menjenguk anak perempuannya beranak empat lalu ditinggal kabur oleh suaminya sehingga sang orang tua kelabakan membantu anak perempuannya yang sedang depresi.

Mendadak sang istri duduk disebelah suaminya langsung menukas tegas dan ketus "dari pada menjadi pembantu, kenapa bapak tidak menjadi Supir saja di Perth, gajinya lebih besar ketimbang jadi pembantu." - Saya lihat  sang suami mencoba menetralisir dengan mengatakan bahwa bapak ini (saya) bekerja di Pertambangan, Untung saja tidak ada tambahan sang istri "iya tapi kan jadi Pembantu Rumah Tangga di Pertambangan.."

Mata saya semula melihat ibu ini seperti penjelmaannya Ade Irawan, sekarang balik berubah menjadi encim penjual tahu. Duh gusti kenapa saya cepat sekali berubah pikir.

Mak jegagik mendadak , Rabu 18 Juni 08, ada email dari Australia mengajak temuan di kantor Cilandak - Jakarta . Sayapun memenuhi undangan tersebut, disebuah gedung lantai 6, tanpa bertanya apa saya setuju, langsung pekerjaan managerial diberikan kepada saya. Tentu dengan iming-iming ini dan itu, tapi biasanya saya masukkan kekuping kanan lantas keluar ke kanan lagi.

Pasalnya saya sudah kapok, saat mereka butuhkan kemampuan saya dengan tingkat kesukaran bak mendirikan benang basah, aku dielus macam ayam jago siap bertarung. Istilahnya dijamoni (diberi jamu), diurut, dibombong (timang-timang). Sekali badai sudah berlalu, orang yang saya percayai pun menggunakan teknik kuno Shun Tsu, "eluslah pagar jembatan agar meniti sungai dengan selamat," - tapi begitu sampai ditepian hancurkan jembatan dan jangan berfikir untuk kembali.

Celakanya, atau sudah apesnya, saya masih merasa tukang bergurau sayangnya rekanan, sohib, guru, kakak saya melihat saya sebagai jembatan dan ditangannya sudah tergenggam dinamit dengan sumbu menyala. Singkatnya saya sudah menjadi pesaing yang berbahaya.

Dan suara-suara minor yang dari semua mengecam  saya "kok mau-maunya dijadikan jembatan" pada berteriak gumbira (pakai U)  sambil menilpun "apa aku bilang. Once Chinese always chinese" - maksudanya orang tidak akan pernah berubah wataknya. Yang berubah adalah kepura-puraannya.

Lalu saya meninggalkan dunia penuh politik Shin Tsu, masuk pertapaan ala Rig. bekerja, makan, dapat upah, liburan dan pulang kerumah selama 1x24x7x30 tanpa ada tilpun, email, atau tekanan lainnya. Australialah tempat saya bertapa. Ada lowongan kerja manajerial saya tak pernah beranjak.

Tapi, garis hidup sulit ditembus oleh mata bathin saya.

Ternyata kantor menempatkan saya ke posisi semula, sekalipun saat ini saya masih nebeng tempat disana sini mengganggu mbak Rita sang sekretaris Senior dengan pertanyaan dimana ada ruang kosong, tetapi setidaknya saya harus siap bekerja dan menerima panggilan 24jam.

Dan orang Rig Ocean Bounty akan kehilangan pemandangan pria gemuk theklak-thekluk berjalan perlahan di lapangan helo (kopter), entah jam dua siang saat matahari terik atau jam dua pagi saat angin malam bergembus dengan kerasnya.

As President Bush calls for repealing a ban on drilling off most of the coast of the United States, a shortage of ships used for deep-water offshore drilling promises to impede any rapid turnaround in oil exploration and supply.

In recent years, this global shortage of drill-ships has created a critical bottleneck, frustrating energy company executives and constraining their ability to exploit known reserves or find new ones. Slow growth in oil supplies, at a time of soaring demand, has been a major factor in the spike of oil and gasoline prices.

Mr. Bush called on Congress Wednesday to end a longstanding federal ban on offshore drilling and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, arguing that the steps were needed to lower gasoline prices and bolster national security. But even as oil trades at more than $135 a barrel — up from $68 a year ago — the world’s existing drill-ships are booked solid for the next five years. Some oil companies have been forced to postpone exploration while waiting for a drilling rig, executives and analysts said.

Demand is so high that shipbuilders, the biggest of whom are in Asia, have raised prices since last year by as much as $100 million a vessel to about half a billion dollars.

“The crunch on rigs is everywhere,” said Alberto Guimaraes, a senior executive at Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company that has discovered some of the most promising offshore oil but has been unable to get at it.

“Almost 100 percent of the oil companies are constrained in their investment program because there is no rig available,” he said.

As a result, drilling costs for some of the newest deepwater rigs in the Gulf of Mexico — the nation’s top source of domestic oil and natural gas supplies — have reached about $600,000 a day, compared with $150,000 a day in 2002.

These record prices have spurred a new wave of drill-ship construction. This boom could lead to renewed offshore oil exploration that would eventually bring more supplies to the oil market, and push down prices.

Already, 16 new drill-ships are scheduled to be delivered to oil companies this year — more than double the number delivered over the last six years combined. In fact, 75 ultra-deepwater rigs should be delivered from 2008 to 2011, according to ODS-Petrodata, a firm that tracks drilling rigs.

Shipyards from South Korea to Norway are working overtime to meet a huge influx of orders.

Robert L. Long, the chief executive office of Transocean, the world’s largest drilling company, said he has nine deepwater rigs under construction, eight of which are already under contract for periods ranging from four to seven years once they leave the shipyards. He expects to receive the ships between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2010.

Transocean believes the deepwater market will continue to be constrained until at least 2012. Over three-quarters of the drill-ships currently under construction have already been contracted to oil companies eager to benefit from triple-digit oil prices, Mr. Long said.

Petrobras, whose full name is Petróleo Brasileiro, is expected to drive much of the growth in the booming new market. The company has outlined an aggressive program to increase its drilling capacity, and plans to contract or build 69 deepwater drill-ships by 2017.

Brazil stunned the oil world when it announced the discovery of a vast oil field 200 miles south of Rio de Janeiro last November, turning the country’s deep blue waters into the world’s most exciting oil frontier. Energy experts said the field could turn out to be just a small part of the largest oil discovery in 30 years.

But seven months later, the problem is still how to retrieve it. Petrobras has only three rigs capable of drilling in waters that exceed 6,500 feet, like the sites of the new fields.

But drilling constraints are not the only problem facing international oil companies, which are seeking to expand at a furious pace after a decade of underinvestment in the 1990s. They have also had to contend with a doubling of development costs across the industry in the last five years, more acute competition for energy resources, shortages in steel, engineering and manufacturing capacity, and pressures posed by an aging work force.

Also, gaining access to countries that hold oil reserves is becoming tougher as many oil-rich governments see fewer incentives to raise production as they reap the benefits of higher prices.

As a result, explorers are scouring ever-more remote corners of the globe in their hunt for hydrocarbons. That quest has found petroleum reserves off the shores of Africa and Brazil, and opened up promising exploration regions in the South China Sea, off the shore of India, and around the coast of Australia. But those sites will remain largely off limits until the new drill-ships arrive.

Most new orders for drill-ships have gone to Asian shipyards. Companies in Singapore and China have benefited, but South Korea’s big three shipbuilders — Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries — have gotten the bulk of orders for the most complex and expensive types of vessels.

“The market for offshore exploration is now the hottest sector in the global shipbuilding industry,” said Lee Jae-kyu, shipbuilding analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in Seoul.

At Samsung’s sprawling shipyard on the southern Korean island of Geoje, next to the gigantic hulls of half-finished supertankers, cranes and dry docks work overtime to construct odd-looking drill-ships like the West Polaris.

At 62,400 tons, the West Polaris, due for delivery this month, is larger than a World War II aircraft carrier. The pipes and steel scaffolding of its drill loom over the other ships lining the construction yard, like cars in an oversize parking lot.

The shipyard and its 25,000 workers bustle with activity, emitting a cacophony of clanging construction sounds, the roar of motors and short musical ditties that warn of moving cranes. These sounds echo in the emerald hills behind the yard, which stretches across one side of a deep blue bay.

“The oil reserves that were easy to reach are all drying up,” said Harris S. Lee, vice president in charge of Samsung’s offshore drilling rig business. “The future is in exploring the deep seas and harsh environments.”

A big challenge in deep-sea drilling is to stay over the same spot on the sea floor even as the vessel is buffeted by strong winds, currents and waves. Because water depths can reach up to 10,000 feet, far too deep for traditional rigs that are moored to the seafloor, ships like the West Polaris rely on high-speed computers that use global-positioning satellites to control an array of six swiveling propellers on the hull’s bottom.

The ship was ordered by Seadrill, a Bermuda-based offshore exploration company, for $453 million.

Last month, Samsung announced it had received a $942 million contract to build an even hardier type of drill-ship made specifically for Arctic conditions. The vessel, ordered by Stena Offshore, a Swedish company, will have a hull strong enough to break through ice, withstand 50-foot waves and insulate the men and machinery inside from outside temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero. Samsung’s sales of all types of offshore drilling vessels jumped to $7.8 billion last year, up from $1.5 billion in 2005.

Despite the construction frenzy, constraints in the rig market could last several more years.

The last such boom in orders came in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when exploration rose after the 1970s oil shocks. In the 1990s, low oil prices and overflowing oil supplies led oil companies to cut back on exploration drastically.

“It will certainly mean more drilling activity and more discoveries in the deepwater side,” said Tom Kellock, the head of consulting and research at ODS-Petrodata.

Gautama & Ahalya

Ahalya was the daughter of Lord Brahma. At the appropriate time the Lord announced that whosoever goes around the Earth first shall win Ahalya's hand. Gautama Rishi went around the divine cow thus fulfilling the condition. Ahalya and Gautama Rishi were married.
 

Gautama & Indra

The Ramayana tells the story of how Lord Indra was cursed by the Rishi. Once Rishi Gautama went to bathe in the river. At that time Indra saw Ahalya and was fascinated by her. He took the form of Gautama Rishi, approached her & made love to her. While he was returning, the Rishi saw him and cursed that he should have a thousand female genitals (Sahasrayoni). He cursed Ahalya that she should turn to stone. Later the great Rishi modified his curse and made Indra the thousand eyed one (Sahasraaksha). He gave the boon to Ahalya that when Raama touches the stone, she would retutn to her original form and return to him.

Gautama & Varuna

Gautama Rishi was a person without ego. When the people of the land suffered a draught, the Maharishi set out to meditate upon Lord Varuna.  Pleased with his singlemindedness, Lord Varuna appeared. The Rishi asked Varuna for rain.  Lord Varuna expalined "The Law demands that there should not be rain in the place for this period of time. I cannot go against the Law since the all five forces are governed by Lord Shiva.  Ask me anything else." Maharishi immediately requested for a an incessant supply of water in the reservoir. Thus Gautama Rishi saved many people. 

Divided from the dead are these, the living: now
is our calling on the gods successful.
We have come forth for dancing and for laughter,
to farther times prolonging our existence.

Here I erect this rampart for the living, let none
of these, none other reach this limit.
May they survive a hundred lengthened autumns,
and may they bury Death beneath this mountain.

The Rig Veda

( Translated by Bede Griffiths)

My notes:

Hinduism almost exclusively focuses on this life rather that being obsessed with whatever unseen lives of the future may be possible. This is the Hindu way: perfection of and in the present. The past has flown away; the future's non-existent, thus only the present remains...