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I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

bloomberg.com

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Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#31

Post by gus_massa »

benten10 wrote: post #18
iheartmemcache wrote: post #8

Not in petrochemicals, but neither is this is this reporter. I get it, it's supposed to be a joke, but it's such a poorly executed one fraught with so many major components glossed over that it detracts from any humor the article could have had. When the Onion writes something, it's humor is wonderful because not only the wit is there but there are few if any inconsistencies even for pedants who dissect things such a…

To reply with the response such posts usually get: You must be really fun at parties! This post was entertaining to most of us because we are not in the industry, knew little about the presence of hydrogen sulfide, and did not realize that the industry was so reluctant to sell to random interested buyers. Yes they could have written "This reporter tried to buy a barrel of oil, but sellers were reluctant, and it was c…

I like that comment.

One of the thing I like of HN I that you can have a serious technical discussion about any subject. Some users know more about chemistry, some users know more about computers, some users know more about rockets, ... Many press articles have a lot of hype and exaggerations, and it's nice to have comments with more technical balance and details.

About the downvotes: It's common to get a few downvotes, even with very good comment. Just ignore them. (But if you get 10 downvotes, try to read your comment again.)

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#32

Post by iheartmemcache »

benten10 wrote: post #18
iheartmemcache wrote: post #8

Not in petrochemicals, but neither is this is this reporter. I get it, it's supposed to be a joke, but it's such a poorly executed one fraught with so many major components glossed over that it detracts from any humor the article could have had. When the Onion writes something, it's humor is wonderful because not only the wit is there but there are few if any inconsistencies even for pedants who dissect things such a…

To reply with the response such posts usually get: You must be really fun at parties! This post was entertaining to most of us because we are not in the industry, knew little about the presence of hydrogen sulfide, and did not realize that the industry was so reluctant to sell to random interested buyers. Yes they could have written "This reporter tried to buy a barrel of oil, but sellers were reluctant, and it was c…

Bloomberg is a really targeted news institution on which people rely for not comedy but financial information. It's reflected in the fees you pay to get access to their terminals, it's reflected in their promos, and even the corporations who select to advertise with them know they're trying to hit a target reader. Usually, that reader is not someone looking for a comic laugh.

Imagine pulling up a Linux news site and seeing something that's funny to someone who is in marketing because of some wacky antics. You went there to see what sort of critical patches need to be administered, but instead you saw "What happened when I tried to install Linux on my leather shoes!".

I'm upset because context is important. Especially for news outlets which are called the fourth estate for a reason. When I turn on PBS Newshour I don't want 50 minutes of Paris Hilton. If they re-oriented an entire episode to cover Paris Hilton just to get more viewers (equivalent of click-bait), I'd be equally upset. I'm not calling anyone here stupid, but this clearly is not news.

"This post was entertaining" -- that's my whole problem. Bloomberg is a news outlet. Jon Stewart went on the O'Reilly factor and eloquently articulated the problem with select subsets of media (oversimplified to "to fill 24 hours of content, some outlets have resorted to silly antics to increase/retain viewership rather, rather than do what they're supposed to -- report the news). This article was under "News" not "Op/ed".

RE: parties, again, context. I don't engage in pedantry there, because one can generally categorize that form of interaction as "social" rather than "news/informative". At which point, I politely engage in small talk until I find something they like which I find interesting (whether its model aircrafts or modern farming, I can find something interesting to talk about with anyone generally).

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#33

Post by oxymoron »

comex wrote: post #4

Another notable excerpt from the linked state safety agency document ( http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cis_wsh_cet5041_90142_7.do... ): -- Two employees of a fertilizer company in Riga, Michigan, were assigned to install a new float valve in an old 35-foot deep cistern for a new 300-foot well. This cistern was covered with a concrete slab with entry through a covered manhole. The first worker entered the cistern an…

I once took a university course called "Chemical Equilibrium" which required some lab time. The labs were about examining solutions with unknown ions and figuring out what they were. A common tool in doing so is by bubbling hydrogen sulfide gas through the solution, which will cause the precipation of certain cations.

Needless to say, we were warned about the dangers of H2S, and told that if it ever escaped the fume hood we would know immediately by the smell and should evacuate the premises before we succumbed to olfactory fatigue and poisoned ourselves. Another fun gas used in the same course was HCN. All in all, A very solid lesson in not fooling around outside the fume hood, and from the anecdote above a possibly life saving lesson which can't be said for most university courses...

For those who do not know, H2S is also a key part of the vile smell in flatulence, so strictly speaking it's a rather common substance in nature albeit in "safe" concentrations.

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#36

Post by creshal »

jacquesm wrote: post #19
teddyg1 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those minimum orders are astronomical it's almost funny. Does anybody actually purchase manufacturing-level quantities of goods on alibaba? Genuinely asking.

Yes. Alibaba is indirectly responsible for many containerloads of goods traveling from the east to the west.

Accidentally or intentionally?

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#37

Post by alricb »

iheartmemcache wrote: post #32
benten10 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To reply with the response such posts usually get: You must be really fun at parties! This post was entertaining to most of us because we are not in the industry, knew little about the presence of hydrogen sulfide, and did not realize that the industry was so reluctant to sell to random interested buyers. Yes they could have written "This reporter tried to buy a barrel of oil, but sellers were reluctant, and it was c…

Bloomberg is a really targeted news institution on which people rely for not comedy but financial information. It's reflected in the fees you pay to get access to their terminals, it's reflected in their promos, and even the corporations who select to advertise with them know they're trying to hit a target reader. Usually, that reader is not someone looking for a comic laugh. Imagine pulling up a Linux news site and…

It's a fine line. Newspapers were always partly entertainment; their goal is to get read so they can sell advertisement. You wouldn't have crosswords and comics and the NYT style section otherwise. A bit of infotainment is okay, when done in an ethical manner, as I think is the case here; Voltaire and Karl Kraus were doing something similar.

Now, when it verges on disinformation, like Geraldo or the NYT style section and their silly trend articles...

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#38

Post by avar »

petewailes wrote: post #20
palmer_eldritch wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fire chief entered the cistern wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus. After reaching the plank platform, he removed his face mask to shout instructions to those on the surface and he, too, was instantly overcome. Now that one is probably deserving a Darwin Award...

The problem is understanding just how fast it affects you, and how little you need in your system. I imagine his line of thinking was "Well, if I just shout and don't breathe in, it'll be fine". Simple mistake to make.

Isn't the problem that he did breathe after shouting to those men, and then died? What if you remove your mask, shout, and don't breathe back in?

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#39

Post by tptacek »

iheartmemcache wrote: post #32
benten10 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To reply with the response such posts usually get: You must be really fun at parties! This post was entertaining to most of us because we are not in the industry, knew little about the presence of hydrogen sulfide, and did not realize that the industry was so reluctant to sell to random interested buyers. Yes they could have written "This reporter tried to buy a barrel of oil, but sellers were reluctant, and it was c…

Bloomberg is a really targeted news institution on which people rely for not comedy but financial information. It's reflected in the fees you pay to get access to their terminals, it's reflected in their promos, and even the corporations who select to advertise with them know they're trying to hit a target reader. Usually, that reader is not someone looking for a comic laugh. Imagine pulling up a Linux news site and…

Bloomberg was a really targeted news institution. It deliberately is not just that anymore.
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