Off The Net In A Few Minutes -- February 2, 2019

Some random comments before I go.

The Bakken: the wells in the Bakken are getting better and better. It's quite phenomenal.

• the bad news: we're in the manufacturing stage; about the only thing we're seeing is in-fill wells; that means things are coming to an end in the Bakken
• the good news: the NDIC estimates anywhere from 20 to 70 more years of drilling. Seventy more years of drilling. The last well drilled will produce for 35 years. At least one hundred more years of oil activity in the Williston Basin
• more good news: the Tier 1 footprint in the Bakken/Three Forks is expanding
• the bad news: we're still waiting for the new USGS survey of the middle Bakken / Three Forks first bench
• the good news: "we" still haven't even touched the second or third bench of the Three Forks
• more good news: it's very possible, the "heavy oil" formations in the Williston Basin will see a bit more activity now that US refineries along the gulf coast are scrambling for heavy oil

Echo dot/Alexa: incredible. I don't have "Kindle" yet but I'm tempted. Because of Echo Dot/Alexa, I now have Amazon Music -- another revenue stream for Jeff Bezos. I have had Amazon Prime (another revenue stream) which includes movies and television series (for "free") that will last me a lifetime. Everyone talks about the Apple "ecosystem." Amazon is beating Apple -- and this comes from Apple fanboy #3. If I had one thought on why this is occurring: Jeff Bezos releases products even before they get to the "beta" stage (some hyperbole here, but I'm trying to make a point) whereas Apple won't release anything until it's been vetted well beyond the "sell-by-date." Apple seems terrified of bad press. Best example: even Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg is "beating" Apple/Tim Cook. Everyone knows Facebook knows the privacy / social medial security worries are bogus.  Leonard Cohen wrote about the Apple/Facebook feud years ago.

Everyone Knows, Leonard Cohen
Firefox: maybe it's just me, but after the most recent upgrade, the Firefox browser seems much crisper; that makes no sense, but I'm really impressed with Firefox. Except for one site (where I use Safari) I only use Firefox.

Scott Adams: I no longer follow him on Twitter. His re-tweets were superb but he has fallen off the rails. I now follow Katie Ledecky instead of Scott Adams. Hopefully Katie will stay in her lane.

Virginia: the state. Fascinating to follow. Rush Limbaugh had fascinating insights on the entire issue.