An IEA study released on 1 July says world oil supplies will likely remain stretched with little excess capacity through 2013.

This does not bode well for consumer prices, as the cost of energy generally cascades into multiple sectors of the economy; The Wall Street Journal has the details here.

The IEA (the Paris based Independent Energy Agency) is in the middle of an across the board evaluation of the condition of the world's oil fields.

The study results won't be released until November, but already, industry insiders and analysts are suggesting that the results may describe a much tighter world oil supply than anyone with real credibility has previously suggested.

How this may affect world oil markets, economies, and consumers remains to be seen. But already, Goldman Sachs is calling for oil prices of $200 a barrel by next year--hold onto your hats.

Meanwhile, get the details here from the Wall Street Journal.

Many folks who are forced to multitask on an ongoing basis already understand that multiple demands on attention can slow you down and carry significant switching costs. An article over at the Atlantic looks at this in detail; you can read it here.

As reported on slashdot:

"The effects of mobile phone radiation on sleep were studied in Sweden in a laboratory experiment where subjects were exposed either to 884 MHz GSM radiation or placebo. The study finds that compared to placebo, in the radiation-exposed subjects there was a prolonged latency to reach the first cycle of deep sleep (stage 3). The amount of stage 4 sleep was also decreased. Moreover, participants that otherwise have no self-reported symptoms related to mobile phone use, appear to have more headaches during actual radiofrequency exposure as compared to sham exposure."

See the full article at slashdot.org