2008-12-20
2008-10-31
2008-10-09
Damn Stupid Financial Institutions
I won't name the bank, stock broking house, custodial vehicle, nor equities involved.
All I can say is this: when you buy foreign or off-shore counters, do YOU ask you banker for details of their custody vehicle ? Is it important where they hold the offshore scripts ? YOU BET IT IS !!
Case in point: I invested in non-China non-Hong Kong equities. I only find out that the custodial service uses a vehicle in Hong Kong when I receive a letter from my stockbrokers informing me that China is imposing a 10 per cent withholding tax on corporate entities parked there - guess what, the custodial service is a corporate entity.
What the fuck ?! My non-China non-Hong Kong holdings are subject to 10 per cent withholding tax simply because the idiot brokerage uses a custodial service based in Hong Kong ?!
What the shit !!!
This is the worse time ever to liquidate my offshore holdings in that service.
Just let me say this - thank goodness I did not go along with the Lehman mini-bonds which the main bank was offering. Those are now in default, because Lehman has gone bust.
Idiots. All greedy, brainless idiots.
If you see an investment banker or any banker for that matter, Treat With Extreme Prejudice.
All I can say is this: when you buy foreign or off-shore counters, do YOU ask you banker for details of their custody vehicle ? Is it important where they hold the offshore scripts ? YOU BET IT IS !!
Case in point: I invested in non-China non-Hong Kong equities. I only find out that the custodial service uses a vehicle in Hong Kong when I receive a letter from my stockbrokers informing me that China is imposing a 10 per cent withholding tax on corporate entities parked there - guess what, the custodial service is a corporate entity.
What the fuck ?! My non-China non-Hong Kong holdings are subject to 10 per cent withholding tax simply because the idiot brokerage uses a custodial service based in Hong Kong ?!
What the shit !!!
This is the worse time ever to liquidate my offshore holdings in that service.
Just let me say this - thank goodness I did not go along with the Lehman mini-bonds which the main bank was offering. Those are now in default, because Lehman has gone bust.
Idiots. All greedy, brainless idiots.
If you see an investment banker or any banker for that matter, Treat With Extreme Prejudice.
2008-10-03
2008-09-28
First Formula One Night Race - Alonso Wins !!
Wow, it was the most dramatic ( if not historical ) Night Race for the F1 Grand Prix.
Winner Alonso, driving for team Renault, started in last place ( 15th position ), because the day before during the Preliminary Qualifying Race, his car sprang a leak. He drove extremely well and deserves the win.
But it was a complicated and exciting Final. Team Ferrari started with Massa in the lead position.
But very early in the Final, Piquet of Renault crashed his car, causing the Safety Car ( MacLaren Mercedes ) to rule the circuit and several other teams jumped into the pit-stop opportunity, leaving a couple others out but needing to pit-stop. These two cars were low on fuel ( their starting strategy ), so they had to make pit-stops during the Safety Car round, which earned them penalty 10 seconds stop time.
That threw the strategies of all teams into total chaos.
Then Massa made his pit-stop and some screw-up caused him to pull away from the pit-stop team servicing his car, drive over one of his mechanics, and leave with the fuel nozzle still attached !!. He narrowly missed another car on the main circuit, while doing so. From 1st position, he fell to 15th.
Later in the race, another crash ( car of Team *something* India ) because of wet surface at a corner, brought the Safety Car out again. Not entirely that driver's fault, but because other cars had bunched up due to one car getting into a bit of a problem at the corner.
Finally, the remaining Ferrari car crashed against the side wall and Team Ferrari was out of the race. Because of this crash, the Japanese driver moved up from 9th to 8th place, and that earned him a Grand Prix point ( awarded to top 8 only ).
Now drinking red wine in celebration of the race.
Winner Alonso, driving for team Renault, started in last place ( 15th position ), because the day before during the Preliminary Qualifying Race, his car sprang a leak. He drove extremely well and deserves the win.
But it was a complicated and exciting Final. Team Ferrari started with Massa in the lead position.
But very early in the Final, Piquet of Renault crashed his car, causing the Safety Car ( MacLaren Mercedes ) to rule the circuit and several other teams jumped into the pit-stop opportunity, leaving a couple others out but needing to pit-stop. These two cars were low on fuel ( their starting strategy ), so they had to make pit-stops during the Safety Car round, which earned them penalty 10 seconds stop time.
That threw the strategies of all teams into total chaos.
Then Massa made his pit-stop and some screw-up caused him to pull away from the pit-stop team servicing his car, drive over one of his mechanics, and leave with the fuel nozzle still attached !!. He narrowly missed another car on the main circuit, while doing so. From 1st position, he fell to 15th.
Later in the race, another crash ( car of Team *something* India ) because of wet surface at a corner, brought the Safety Car out again. Not entirely that driver's fault, but because other cars had bunched up due to one car getting into a bit of a problem at the corner.
Finally, the remaining Ferrari car crashed against the side wall and Team Ferrari was out of the race. Because of this crash, the Japanese driver moved up from 9th to 8th place, and that earned him a Grand Prix point ( awarded to top 8 only ).
Now drinking red wine in celebration of the race.
2008-09-27
2008-09-17
2008-09-12
2008-09-09
"Foreign Workers"
One essential thing is to get rid of the tendency to regard foreign workers as cheap, expendable substitutes for a decline in the domestic labor force. Japanese need to socially and culturally reinvent themselves to live with the foreign population.
Tuesday 09th September, 06:31 AM JST
Masahiko Ishizuka, who teachers at Waseda University’s Graduate School of Journalism. (Nikkei Weekly)
Singaporeans need to think about this too.
Tuesday 09th September, 06:31 AM JST
Masahiko Ishizuka, who teachers at Waseda University’s Graduate School of Journalism. (Nikkei Weekly)
Singaporeans need to think about this too.
2008-08-26
Worst global economic difficulties in 40 years will drag on, says Bank of England
The view from BoE. See also adjacent post about Temasek's view.
Credit crunch to last to 2010 - Temasek
Heed the view of Temasek.
See also adjacent post by Bank of England Deputy Governor Charles Bean.
See also adjacent post by Bank of England Deputy Governor Charles Bean.
2008-08-25
2008-08-19
Probe finds problems at Singapore warehouse
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7733917
Probe finds problems at Singapore warehouse
2008-08-18
Patent Inflation
http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-81836/subprime-patents
"Subprime Patents" crisis to come ?
Well, the discussion ought to weigh the counter-balancing effects of patent-busters, or pirates, or those who simply will ignore IP rights for humanitarian reasons.
"Subprime Patents" crisis to come ?
Well, the discussion ought to weigh the counter-balancing effects of patent-busters, or pirates, or those who simply will ignore IP rights for humanitarian reasons.
Private Equity
"Apax Partners Reportedly Courting Asian Shareholders
Apax Partners LLC is reportedly in talks to sell a 10% stake to three Asian investors: Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte. Ltd.; Australia Government Future Fund and Japanese financial services firm, Takefuji Corp. (Offshore)"
Apax Partners LLC is reportedly in talks to sell a 10% stake to three Asian investors: Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte. Ltd.; Australia Government Future Fund and Japanese financial services firm, Takefuji Corp. (Offshore)"
2008-08-13
Check your DNS safety here
This guy is the one who discovered the problem with the internet earlier in 2008, which allowed for DNS cache poisoning, if not fixed.
London Asia Capital
http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/InvestmentGuides/Funds/article/20080812/a05ed554-6867-11dd-af6e-00144f2af8e8/Bargain-basement-funds.jsp
"Another slightly less drastic example comes in the guise of London Asia Capital and its private equity offshoot London Asia Chinese Private Equity Fund Ltd. Again, this seemed like a great idea at the time - a specialist fund, advised by London Asia, that would invest in small-to-mid cap companies about to be floated or already on Western markets. To be fair, most of its investee companies seem to have prospered, but the timing was dreadful. Chinese stocks are down at least 50 per cent from recent highs and heading even lower, with small caps particularly badly hit. That huge downward pressure - Indian small-cap investors have suffered similar falls - has made valuing Chinese investments very difficult and the parent company London Asia recently suspended its shares while the management worked out what the company was actually worth."
"Another slightly less drastic example comes in the guise of London Asia Capital and its private equity offshoot London Asia Chinese Private Equity Fund Ltd. Again, this seemed like a great idea at the time - a specialist fund, advised by London Asia, that would invest in small-to-mid cap companies about to be floated or already on Western markets. To be fair, most of its investee companies seem to have prospered, but the timing was dreadful. Chinese stocks are down at least 50 per cent from recent highs and heading even lower, with small caps particularly badly hit. That huge downward pressure - Indian small-cap investors have suffered similar falls - has made valuing Chinese investments very difficult and the parent company London Asia recently suspended its shares while the management worked out what the company was actually worth."
2008-08-11
I HAVE MIGRATED THIS BLOG
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS BLOG IS NOW HOSTED EXTERNAL TO MY WEBSITE.
ALL CONTENT FORMERLY APPEARING WITHIN MY WEBSITE HAS BEEN MIGRATED.
ALL CONTENT FORMERLY APPEARING WITHIN MY WEBSITE HAS BEEN MIGRATED.
Internet DNS Poisoning Patch Failed
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9112198&intsrc=news_ts_head
Messy messy situation. Be prepared to abandon the Internet if this gets worse.
Messy messy situation. Be prepared to abandon the Internet if this gets worse.
Internet Security Issues 2008: Gmail account theft
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/08/new_tool_automates_cookie_stea.html?nav=rss_blog
GMAIL USERS - LOG OUT AFTER USE AND WIPE THOSE COOKIES CLEAN.
GMAIL USERS - LOG OUT AFTER USE AND WIPE THOSE COOKIES CLEAN.
2008-06-12
Nanodielectrics face their biggest test in space - R & D
Nanodielectrics face their biggest test in space - R & D
Quote:
"While silicon dioxide has historically been the dominant dielectric material for silicon-based electronics, Marks and his research group have been trying to create next-generation semiconductor and dielectric materials with properties that silicon and silicon dioxide can't provide—such as transparency, printability and physical flexibility. The dielectric material would need to be thin, be a good insulator and be able to stabilize the charges moving through the semiconductor by having what is called a high dielectric constant, which is the relative ability of the material to store an electric charge for a given applied field strength. What resulted were SANDs, which Marks and his team created through a dipping process that creates self-assembled molecular thin films. Not only do SANDs meet all the requirements for next-generation dielectrics, but they were also found to be resistant to radiation.NASA is interested in SANDs because the radiation in space severely damages electronics—especially dielectrics, since silicon dioxide captures the radiation, which then forms holes and electrons and irreversibly builds up a destructive charge in the transistor. For long space trips—like the current mission to Mars—such electronics are exposed to years of radiation. Early tests with nuclear reactors showed that SANDs are largely resistant to such radiation damage."
Unquote
Quote:
"While silicon dioxide has historically been the dominant dielectric material for silicon-based electronics, Marks and his research group have been trying to create next-generation semiconductor and dielectric materials with properties that silicon and silicon dioxide can't provide—such as transparency, printability and physical flexibility. The dielectric material would need to be thin, be a good insulator and be able to stabilize the charges moving through the semiconductor by having what is called a high dielectric constant, which is the relative ability of the material to store an electric charge for a given applied field strength. What resulted were SANDs, which Marks and his team created through a dipping process that creates self-assembled molecular thin films. Not only do SANDs meet all the requirements for next-generation dielectrics, but they were also found to be resistant to radiation.NASA is interested in SANDs because the radiation in space severely damages electronics—especially dielectrics, since silicon dioxide captures the radiation, which then forms holes and electrons and irreversibly builds up a destructive charge in the transistor. For long space trips—like the current mission to Mars—such electronics are exposed to years of radiation. Early tests with nuclear reactors showed that SANDs are largely resistant to such radiation damage."
Unquote
Scientists discover nanoscale rapid transit for water - R & D
Scientists discover nanoscale rapid transit for water - R & D
Using carbon nanotubes ( nanoscale tubules ).
Using carbon nanotubes ( nanoscale tubules ).
PHENOM - FEI COMPANY
PHENOM - FEI COMPANY
Science can be .... weird or sexy or - urgh izzat lip gloss or lip gross up close ?! Thank goodness I don't use the stuff.
Science can be .... weird or sexy or - urgh izzat lip gloss or lip gross up close ?! Thank goodness I don't use the stuff.
2008-06-06
2008-06-02
2008-05-21
Superconducting State Can Be Induced By High Pressure In So-called High-temperature Superconductors
ScienceDaily (2008-05-21) -- Superconductors can convey more than 150 times more electricity than copper wires because they don't restrict electron movement, the essence of electricity. But to do this, the materials have to be cooled below a very low, so-called, transition temperature, which often makes them impractical for widespread use. Now for the first time, scientists have found that in addition to chemical manipulation, the superconducting state can be induced by high pressure in so-called high-temperature superconductors.
2008-02-26
2008-02-10
2008-02-08
2008-02-03
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