Ah, quick question : outside a certain John Wayne movie, how many blowouts have you had to study and write exam answers on?
I know that I don't know the details of this blowout ; clearly you've got much better clairvoyance than I have. Fortunately, I've never had to put my well control training into practice, but that's because a large part of my job for the last couple of decades has been to prevent such things from happening by thinking before doing.
That's actually a standard technique - a required action in some jurisdictions. If you've got significant H2S (hydrogen sulphide) in the gas stream, then burning it to produce the much less poisonous sulphur dioxide may the correct thing to do.
The sequence of events that you relate implies that there was both significant H2S, and some sort of collapse of the surface casing and wellhead, which would have prevented bullheading and capping the well. If the well had been drilled under recent UK, Norwegian, Dutch or Canadian regulations, they'd have had to have identified locations for drilling relief wells before spudding the first well. But you're talking about 1970s Russia, so that's not really helpful. However it is MUCH easier to drill a relief well from a nearby location if you don't have to do all the work in breathing apparatus. Hence the flare pistol in the company man's cabin, in a box labelled "last resort".
But would you consider monitoring area + taking images from satellite(s) as the reason? Why would they monitor the whole area? I don't know.
As TFA says, there are a considerable number of gas pipelines in the area, so they'll be doing regular surveying to check for movement of foundations for the pipelines. Permafrost is notoroiously unstable, particularly once you start to do building on it. That, in itself, is sufficient to justify a lot of monitoring.
As a practical matter: If a company has any staff with credentials to access the data in the USA, the data is subject to American legal action.
... so you don't do that. Another reason for treating Americans like third-class citizens - you just can't trust their government. And keep your corporate structure arranged so that the US operation is very much the tail, not the dog itself. You'd want to do the latter anyway to avoid paying the high American taxes.
One pariah,
[...]
Politics and art are an infamously bad combination.
Odd use of "pariah", but I see what you mean. I don't agree with you, but not having spent years learning to spout bullshit and call it art appreciation, I don't really have the tools to refute your proposition.
A lot of art which has lasted well is deeply political in the context in which it was written. One example that sprang to mind (probably triggered by your mention of Vietnam) is Roy Liechtenstein's "Whamm!" ; to me, it's cartoonish depiction of an act of murder is a comment on the politics of the Cold War. Alternatively, the themes of upsetting of the old order that run through Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' (the book, not the Hollywood distortions) are a comment on the revolutions then sweeping through Europe. To me, that makes both of them political comments, now recognised (and recognised at the time of origin) as art, but also fundamentally political.
Sad to say, but those who can, do ; those who can't do, teach ; and those who can't teach, administrate.
I have to do teaching work as part of my professional duties, and I really enjoy it. But I'm doing it one-on-one with people who've made a deliberate post-graduate career choice, and have been assigned to me to teach them how to do my job, a number of other people's jobs, and how to not kill themselves (or other people) at work. The prospect of having to teach a bunch of surly teenaged shit-heads who'd really rather be fucking behind the bikesheds in the rain does not appeal.
The spools yes ; I never saw a metal fabric ribbon.
But even then... may I suggest thermite? And a clay flower pot to contain the party. Could be fun : POETS day (*footnote) ends with a barbecue cooked over the burning remains of the week;s typewriter ribbons, and with the new box of ribbons arriving on Monday, there will be no work done over the weekend.
(*footnote)
P iss
O ff
E arly
T omorrow is
S atur
-day.
Oh there's so many vulnerabilities with electric typewriters, especially the single-use ribbon.
I never met one of those. Our typewriter (probably still at Dad's house somewhere) used a multi-use ribbon which we could re-ink ourselves. I suspect that Dad looked at single-use ribbons and said "Not touching one of those. They're machines for selling ribbons, not for typing documents."
Which is why you buy COTS components off the shelf from major retailers, using petty cash ; you rotate through all the major retailers ; and then you build your own gear.
Or of you're really paranoid (not unjustified), you only use equipment you've made yourselves. Which seems to be a strategy the Russians are following (and probably the Chinese and Indians too, with less fanfare).
Again, why the fuck do people think there will be anyone untrusted nearby. That's why "secret" sites are normally in the middle of existing barracks, air bases and that sort of thing. You control the perimeter, and you keep the perimeter a long way from the sensitive stuff. THEN you so your secure work inside windowless boxes free-standing inside windowless buildings, probably with access by tunnel from other buildings (so satellite observation can't easily tell you who is going in and out of the building).
It's not cheap, but it's not rocket science either.
should you look at it outside or by a sunny window.
People seem to be having this recurring idea that this sort of work is going to take place in a nice, comfortable college campus-like setting.
I don't know what planets you live on, but I don't have any problems about going to work in a steel box sitting in the middle of a dull concrete and metal industrial site. We don't bother with windows, partly because we've no need for them, and partly because steel plate is less vulnerable to explosion (a small but real risk in my work site.
Did you see the recent version of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"? All the security services staff beavering away in a windowless cellar, with a soundproofed box in the middle for the really secret discussions. Probably not terribly realistic (again, why does the soundproofed box have a window? All it needs is an occupied/ unoccupied flag, which really means a £5 bolt on the inside of the outer door.) but the industrial grimness of the setting is realistic.
Which digital copier? My father has got a 1960s dry-process photocopier in his attic, and it worked the last time I used it (a decade ago, admittedly). We don't have the resources of a state, and we wouldn't have to resort to buying stuff which could be interfered with by filthy, disgusting foreigners (i.e. Americans).
For a mechanical typewriter, you'd probably need to calibrate your decoding algorithm for each individual typewriter. Which would mean that you'd have to intercept the supply chain (difficult, and prone to exposure, which would probably mean another ambassador having to pack his bags), or do a lot of frequency analysis to try to identify the "fingerprint" of each typewriter. (During the war, individual Morse code operators could be identified by their "fist", which was why agents needed to be turned, rather than just tortured for keys and then replaced.)
I'm pretty sure the Germans know that these things can be done - they are clever people, you know.
No they're not - they're stupid foreigners who don't even know how to speak English. Haven't you been on Slashdot long enough to know that all foreigners are stupid?
(This post should be read with SARCASM set to ON.)
Pffft. Please. They have glass windows on their walls, right?
Wrong.
Next question?
If you are concerned about keeping secrets, one of the first things you do is not have windows. Then you make sure that the actual construction of the walls is carried out by people who you actually trust (positive vetting, etc.). Make sure that your power supply is gapped from the mains supply (e.g. a mechanical motor-flywheel-generator set ; you'd probably need a lot of this for a UPS anyway, so the incremental cost isn't as eye-watering as the headline cost)
the waste dot-matrix tape with a perfect image of what was printed
Another security hole that is well known, and would be plugged by anyone actually implementing such a secure system.
Incidentally, during the 10 years that we used the household typewriter (Dad for writing letters and correspondence courses ; my sisters and I for typing up our final reports for school projects), we brought a new ribbon once, and re-inked the ribbons a couple of times. None got thrown away.
Or are you talking about some non-ribbon system which I haven't encountered. I know that you can see the impressions of what has just been typed for a few minutes on a ribbon, but then the tugging and pressure of spooling (and re-spooling) the ribbon on to the carriers makes it unreadable after a few re-uses of the ribbon.
One of the more serious miscarriages of justice - the Birmingham Six - was uncovered because a policeman's notepad had legible parts of the original interview notes which had been written on an overlying sheet, which ahd then been torn out. which is why policemen's notebooks are now serial-numbered, with every page individually numbered.
I don't think you've thought this through. fortunately, I suspect that the KGB and the German Security Services have thought it through - at least more than you have.
Only if they make sure everyone leaves their cell phones out the door.
That is, of course, routine. I haven't been allowed to take my mobile out to the worksite for years. Mostly because of the intermittent need for radio silence while handling explosives, but it's a boon for data security too.
People who don't like leaving their phone in an envelope at the heliport aren't allowed onto the flight. And yes, all bags are searched, every trip.
Slashdot Mirror
I know that I don't know the details of this blowout ; clearly you've got much better clairvoyance than I have. Fortunately, I've never had to put my well control training into practice, but that's because a large part of my job for the last couple of decades has been to prevent such things from happening by thinking before doing.
The sequence of events that you relate implies that there was both significant H2S, and some sort of collapse of the surface casing and wellhead, which would have prevented bullheading and capping the well. If the well had been drilled under recent UK, Norwegian, Dutch or Canadian regulations, they'd have had to have identified locations for drilling relief wells before spudding the first well. But you're talking about 1970s Russia, so that's not really helpful. However it is MUCH easier to drill a relief well from a nearby location if you don't have to do all the work in breathing apparatus. Hence the flare pistol in the company man's cabin, in a box labelled "last resort".
Oh hang on - you probably don't know where the Yamal-Nenets peninsula is, do you? Fucking Anonymous Retard.
It begs the next question of what has changed to cause the pingoes to melt? And here come the climate-change deniers!
As TFA says, there are a considerable number of gas pipelines in the area, so they'll be doing regular surveying to check for movement of foundations for the pipelines. Permafrost is notoroiously unstable, particularly once you start to do building on it. That, in itself, is sufficient to justify a lot of monitoring.
noun: bing; plural noun: bings
a heap, especially of metallic ore or of waste from a mine.
Origin : early 16th century: from Old Norse bingr âheapâ(TM).
Example : here is a pile of useless waste from the 19th century oil-shale workings just outside Edinburgh.
No, seriously. Google it!
Micro$loth's marketing department fucks it up. Again.
... so you don't do that. Another reason for treating Americans like third-class citizens - you just can't trust their government. And keep your corporate structure arranged so that the US operation is very much the tail, not the dog itself. You'd want to do the latter anyway to avoid paying the high American taxes.
Odd use of "pariah", but I see what you mean. I don't agree with you, but not having spent years learning to spout bullshit and call it art appreciation, I don't really have the tools to refute your proposition.
A lot of art which has lasted well is deeply political in the context in which it was written. One example that sprang to mind (probably triggered by your mention of Vietnam) is Roy Liechtenstein's "Whamm!" ; to me, it's cartoonish depiction of an act of murder is a comment on the politics of the Cold War. Alternatively, the themes of upsetting of the old order that run through Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' (the book, not the Hollywood distortions) are a comment on the revolutions then sweeping through Europe. To me, that makes both of them political comments, now recognised (and recognised at the time of origin) as art, but also fundamentally political.
I have to do teaching work as part of my professional duties, and I really enjoy it. But I'm doing it one-on-one with people who've made a deliberate post-graduate career choice, and have been assigned to me to teach them how to do my job, a number of other people's jobs, and how to not kill themselves (or other people) at work. The prospect of having to teach a bunch of surly teenaged shit-heads who'd really rather be fucking behind the bikesheds in the rain does not appeal.
There, there! Calm down, deer.
Bugger. Wrong HTML element. Things I won't work with.
" again, haven't you?
The spools yes ; I never saw a metal fabric ribbon.
But even then ... may I suggest thermite? And a clay flower pot to contain the party. Could be fun : POETS day (*footnote) ends with a barbecue cooked over the burning remains of the week;s typewriter ribbons, and with the new box of ribbons arriving on Monday, there will be no work done over the weekend.
(*footnote)
P iss
O ff
E arly
T omorrow is
S atur
-day.
I never met one of those. Our typewriter (probably still at Dad's house somewhere) used a multi-use ribbon which we could re-ink ourselves. I suspect that Dad looked at single-use ribbons and said "Not touching one of those. They're machines for selling ribbons, not for typing documents."
Or of you're really paranoid (not unjustified), you only use equipment you've made yourselves. Which seems to be a strategy the Russians are following (and probably the Chinese and Indians too, with less fanfare).
It's not cheap, but it's not rocket science either.
People seem to be having this recurring idea that this sort of work is going to take place in a nice, comfortable college campus-like setting.
I don't know what planets you live on, but I don't have any problems about going to work in a steel box sitting in the middle of a dull concrete and metal industrial site. We don't bother with windows, partly because we've no need for them, and partly because steel plate is less vulnerable to explosion (a small but real risk in my work site.
Did you see the recent version of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"? All the security services staff beavering away in a windowless cellar, with a soundproofed box in the middle for the really secret discussions. Probably not terribly realistic (again, why does the soundproofed box have a window? All it needs is an occupied/ unoccupied flag, which really means a £5 bolt on the inside of the outer door.) but the industrial grimness of the setting is realistic.
So, you've never been searched on accessing a work site? Had your phone sealed into a bag, then locked into a cupboard?
Which part of "security service" did you misunderstand?
Which digital copier? My father has got a 1960s dry-process photocopier in his attic, and it worked the last time I used it (a decade ago, admittedly). We don't have the resources of a state, and we wouldn't have to resort to buying stuff which could be interfered with by filthy, disgusting foreigners (i.e. Americans).
It's all doable. But it's not going to be easy.
No they're not - they're stupid foreigners who don't even know how to speak English. Haven't you been on Slashdot long enough to know that all foreigners are stupid?
(This post should be read with SARCASM set to ON.)
Wrong.
Next question?
If you are concerned about keeping secrets, one of the first things you do is not have windows. Then you make sure that the actual construction of the walls is carried out by people who you actually trust (positive vetting, etc.). Make sure that your power supply is gapped from the mains supply (e.g. a mechanical motor-flywheel-generator set ; you'd probably need a lot of this for a UPS anyway, so the incremental cost isn't as eye-watering as the headline cost)
These are not new issues.
Another security hole that is well known, and would be plugged by anyone actually implementing such a secure system.
Incidentally, during the 10 years that we used the household typewriter (Dad for writing letters and correspondence courses ; my sisters and I for typing up our final reports for school projects), we brought a new ribbon once, and re-inked the ribbons a couple of times. None got thrown away.
Or are you talking about some non-ribbon system which I haven't encountered. I know that you can see the impressions of what has just been typed for a few minutes on a ribbon, but then the tugging and pressure of spooling (and re-spooling) the ribbon on to the carriers makes it unreadable after a few re-uses of the ribbon.
One of the more serious miscarriages of justice - the Birmingham Six - was uncovered because a policeman's notepad had legible parts of the original interview notes which had been written on an overlying sheet, which ahd then been torn out. which is why policemen's notebooks are now serial-numbered, with every page individually numbered.
I don't think you've thought this through. fortunately, I suspect that the KGB and the German Security Services have thought it through - at least more than you have.
That is, of course, routine. I haven't been allowed to take my mobile out to the worksite for years. Mostly because of the intermittent need for radio silence while handling explosives, but it's a boon for data security too.
People who don't like leaving their phone in an envelope at the heliport aren't allowed onto the flight. And yes, all bags are searched, every trip.