A Random Rant, Or Was A Riot Around The Corner??

U.K. Faced ‘Bank Runs, Riots’ as RBS and HBOS Neared Collapse

Today Jon Menon and Andrew MacAskill wrote an article for Bloomburg.com which suggested that had the Government not stepped in to swallow the debt thus saving both RBS and Lloyds a year ago today, then Britain could have faced a massive backlash from the public with widespread riots leading to the streets of London looking more like the streets of Basra. Commenting on remarks made by David Livingstone suggesting that "Bank failures would have forced the government to cancel police leave and deploy troops as the breakdown of the financial payments system threatened the ability of utilities to provide essential services" the authors suggest that the actions taken by the British Government were not only necessary but mandatory for keeping peace.

Are we to be convinced?

The answer to this question can only come after many years, with hindsight we will see if the decision made were necessary or even required, for today we are too close to the event itself to look back and make a valued judgments. So I guess we will just have to leave this question with time, and time itself will give us a response when it sees fit.

Pretty on the outside, but isn't it whats inside that counts?

For many years now, the notebook market has slowly been growing, and now it is at that critical point where retailers see more notebooks flying off the shelves then they have desktops. This trend has led to a wide array of notebook sales from cheap and cheerful offerings to those targeting the who's who in society. Over the past decade Apples notebooks have always retained the premium status in the market but now Dell with its Adamo and HP's new offering the Envy both manufactures seem to be out to make Apples pot of honey smaller.

HP's Envy particularly looks very similar to the new unibody MacBook Pro, theres no need to double guess when asking what segment of the market HP is trying to aim its newest breed of sexy laptop to, but the one question that lingers is, will lineups such as the Envy or Dell's Adamo stop consumers who are looking for sleek, sexy notebook in their tracks. My simple answer is NO!

Apple offers more then just a selection of beautifully designed products, If we look at their simple no nonsense interfaces it is easy to see why they have won the market over, over and over again. OS 9 was their first incarnation which dragged the first few PC users who were looking for something different away. Since then and after the sale of millions upon millions of iPods we know that Apple is here to stay. Ask any iPod user and they may identify their desire to own an iPod merely as a fashion statement, but ask them why they sill have an iPod and they'll explain to you the true beauty of each reincarnation, this being the simplicity of the product, whether the user is 10 or closer to 80, an iPod can be for them.

OS X also follows suit, with the recently released Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) expressing the perfect "it's whats on the inside that counts" motto. Little has Snow Leopard changed on the face of it, but on the inside a large chuck of code has been rewritten and the biggest giveaway of this is the fact that an average user will regain about 3-5GB of hard disk space.

Getting back to the HP Envy, and the Dell Adamo, yes it is true that both these notebooks have brought sexy computing to the windows world and thus consumers no longer need to give up windows to have a notebook which is sleek and sexy on the outside but the fact remains Apples hold on its own market is still just as strong as it was before, this being with or without the Adamo or Envy.

Green Shoots and the Fruits of Summer

Any keen gardener will tell you that the combination of an extremely bitter winter and a progressively warmer spring, means that the UK is expecting to experience a phenomenal plum harvest.

But the main concern on many peoples minds does not relate to the UK's plum harvest but rather to the recession that seems to be gripping so many countries around the world.

Some signs suggest that green shoots are appearing, The Financial Times reported today that hedge funds have seen a surge in investments with over $142.5bn being allocated in their direction over the past three months. First and foremost what this suggest is that investors are actually believing that the major economies around the world are bottoming out and thus these individuals are predicting a change in fortunes. When the markets can go down no more, there's only one way left to go.

Some critiques may say that these investors are stuck in a dream world but better then expected results from the likes of Goldman Sachs have done well to lighten the mood, proliferating the whisper which suggest that a turnaround is coming.

A case of sibling rivalry? or does Apple now predict tough competition??

A new update available from Apple for its popular iTunes application has now done away with the hole which allowed non Apple devices to pretend to be iPods. Thus these devices can no longer use the program to sync music and other content. Apple suggested in June that it did not support non Apple media devices and that changes could be made in the the future to its software which would prevent such devices from syncing with iTunes.

The newly updated version of iTunes (8.2.1) does just that. Apple will obviously stress the fact that this is done with the best customer experience in mind, but skeptics such as myself see it as a direct response to the popularity of Palms new helping the Pre, currently selling in the USA on Sprint and due out in the UK exclusively on 02 in time for the holiday season the Pre is turning heads on both sides of the Atlantic. The Pre offers users the ability to seamlessly jump from application to application with the convenience of not having to close each application. The Pre allows for multiple application to be open at the same time, and apart from looking dashing the Pre is also equipped with a full slide out qwerty keyboard, as well as a multi-touch screen.

The Palm Pre does sound like a dashing offering, and Apple seem to know it, what other reason would there be for Apple to block of such a large selection of potential iTunes users.

From the looks of it, the battle stations are manned, and the war paint has been applied, will Apple continue to dominate? only time will tell.

How maths killed Lehman Brothers - The Beginning of the End

"On a sunny morning in 2001, a piece of investment plan landed on the desk of Dick Fuld, the then Chief Executive of Lehman Brothers. The document, compiled by a team of maths and physics PhDs, included a calculation to show how the bank will always end up with a profit if they invest on the real estate markets. Fuld was impressed. The next five years saw the bank borrowing billions of dollars to invest in the housing market. It worked. The housing market boom had turned Lehman Brothers from a modest firm into the world's fourth largest investment bank. "

Horatio Boedihardjo.

This is just a small snippet click here for the full article.

The Passing of a Legend

It was last night when I returned from an epic Dave Matthews Band concert that I opened my laptop to see the sad news that Michael Jackson had passed away. From early on, the press had suggested that the star had suffered a cardiac arrest and later Jackson was pronounced dead at UCLA Medical Center.

Jacksons impact on the world is clearly visible via proxies such as Google believing that it was under attack from a virus. "Millions of people who Googled the star's name were greeted with an error page rather than a list of results."

Sites such as Twitter saw a huge increase in traffic with the key search and posted topics being in regards to Michael Jackson. Other websites such as iTunes and Youtube have seen a huge increase in the number of downloads/views as this time of sadness grips the world with Michael Jackson fever.

But with the passing of this legend we also see the power of the internet. It is at times such as these that we realise how the internet has revolutionised our life's and has allowed for information to flow so freely.

This I see as my small testament to a legend who's music inspired for over four decades, and will no doubt continue to do for many years to come.

The New iPhone 3GS

The iPhone 3GS was not what manic Apple fans expected when Apple announced that it would be updating its iPhone range. So called leaked images that appeared on iPhoneHacks.com suggested an updated shell which seemed to follow a path of common sense, but when Apple reveled the iPhone 3GS on the outside it in no way differed from the previous model (the 3G iPhone). A deeper look into the iPhone reveals, where the time has gone, the hardware upgrade has been significant, with the new iPhone 3GS now boasting speeds twice as fast as its predecessor, and with a software update the ability to use quirky functions such as voice commands and the much needed MMS functionality.

The real question which is still unanswered asks how well the iPhone 3GS stacks up against is many rivals, with the likes of Nokia, Palm and even Samsung and LG all wanting to get in on the iPhones action, one must question if Apple has done enough to fight off its rivals to maintain the iPhones must have appeal.

My personal opinion suggests that a physical reconstruction of the iPhone could have helped increase the length of those lines outside the many Apple stores early on release day, but by only changing what is on the inside of the iPhone, many consumers decided to stay at home. Another dilemma that pre-existing iPhone customers face is the fact that networks such as o2 (in the UK) have told customers that the only way they can upgrade their iPhones is if they either see out their full contracts or if they buyout their existing contract, and therefore then start a new one with o2. With the average customer on a 18 month mobile contract the first option can seem like a long wait and the second option a huge waste of money. Both of these reasons may obviously in the future lead to a fall in consumer satisfaction and thus in the long run could hurt Apples profits.

Nokia set to Dampen Palm's mood

Just as people in the industry thought Palm had finally created a mobile device that was worth talking about, Nokia have come along and blown the touch screen mobile phone industry out of the water. Nokia's new installment the N97 out on the 27th of June is sure to dent Palms chances of an unprecedented level of success in Apples domain.

The fact that the Palm Pre still does not have a confirmed release date in Europe and also the fact that Nokia has always seemed to dominate the European market should be listed amongst some of the concerns that Palm should have.

On looks alone I personally believe that the N97 wins hands down, this coming from a person who held out on buying a iPhone after seeing the Pre at CES. Again I seem to have changed my mind and at the moment I expect to get myself a N97 when my contract eventually roll overs.

The most favorable thing about Nokia is it generally provides its mobile phones to all UK network operators, so it will also be a hassle free device. This compared to Apples allegiance to O2 and and Palms agreement to provide the Pre exclusively to Vodaphone...

As each day passes the mobile industry provides us the consumer with an ever increasing number of exciting products, the only let down in the industry now remains the problem of exclusivity, why can't Apple, Palm and any other manufacturer who only provides to certain networks provide freely so that customers may shout rejoice!!

Should MP's be sent to the Tower?? - The Death of A Democracy

As each day goes by it becomes even more apparent that the scale of fraudulent expense claims made by MP's is huge, one question remains: what is to be done?

If we look at the offenses as if they happened in the private sector, then we would expect the perpetrators to be hung out to dry. Simply put, misrepresenting expense claims is a form of financial fraud. If you or I had for-taken in such actions then it is certain that our contracts of employment would have been terminated and the company in question would be following with legal actions to reclaim the money lost as well as criminal charges against the individual in question.

In the simplest context, such activity resembles petty theft. For the people of Britain this is a big issue, I personally see no difference between a tyrannical Dictatorship who lives a lavish life at the expense of the loyal people of that country, and the activity of so many MP's in Westminster.

The fact that this has also gone so far, and as yet there has been no high profile casualties, I find quite disgusting. Jackie Smith should have been force to stand down as soon as the row over expenses erupted. By doing so the government could have showed the people of Britain that the government was not responsible for this detrimental problem. By supporting Jackie Smith, Gordon Brown has surely thrown his future into peril.

Labour is sure to lose the next general election but that is another story, and the Tories will surely have many field-days for years to come.

Getting back to the issue at hand, MP's have stolen from the people, but this is not all, MP's have also defrauded Her Majesties Government. We often forget that the Queen is still the sovereign head of state and thus, by stealing from the tax payer MP's have stolen from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

These people who we the public provide support to, have grossly neglected their duty and public service, we elect them to look out for the general will of Britain, to make decisions on behalf of the public of this country, not to steal from this country.

History buffs may support me in identifying this as an act of treason, the only act still punishable by death in Britain.

My verdicts quite clear: Send them all to the tower.

The Sad truth is that in todays day and age, we still live in an age where the rich and powerful can get away with anything and the rest of us just have to put up with it. Democracy was suppose to fix this, but even after hundreds of years of struggle nothing changes except the methods that the rich and powerful use to do what they want, and without a revolution nothing can be done...

As the largest democracy in the world decides

The time had come again for India. Over the past six weeks people all over the country have been casting their votes and finally today the counting has begun. Hours passed and it became apparent that whichever party held the most vote, even so it would not be able to hold a majority in the Lok Sabha. The UPA an alliance of like minded parties which includes the Congress party hold 263 out of a total of 543 Lok Sabha seats.

The magic number was not met as the Congress alliance fell short of the 272 mark, but even so no-one in the Congress camp will be unhappy with the result today.

An interesting question that aries, asks how much power will be taken away from the Congress party due to the fact that a coalition government will be necessary. I personally believe that a few seats here and there are of no real concern. The government will continue to have the peoples support as long as India remains on its current trajectory (obviously discounting the short term effect of the current global recession). Any government which continues to pass on the effects of a country growing at 5/6/7% a year is surely to remain in the voters favor.

"the people of india have spoken... and spoken with great clarity" (Dr. Manmohan Singh)

Now it is just up to the government to continue doing what it seems to have done so well for the past five years.

Is a thank you in order for Mr Pandit??

The S&P 500 closed 3.4% higher today, taking away any loss made in 2009.

Since Vikram Pandit's comments on the 10th of March 2009, the markets have seen something of a small turnaround, confidence is returning, or at least in the eyes of an amateur (me). Many major analysis's also say they see the beginning of the end of the global recessions, even though these may be words which may bring much joy to Average Joe's all around the world, it must be noted that recessions take much longer to expire then they do to show their true colours. Are we past the worst of it... well we will only be able to tell with hindsight in around twenty years time.

For the investor who believes risk is something that comes with the game, their risk has either paid great dividends or has left them worrying how they are going to pay the rest of their mortgage. It's easy for anyone on the outside of a boxing ring to suggest tips on how to use intellect to earn true profits from a raging bull, but when your livelihood depends on it, I'm sure its a different situation.

Watching Barclays go from around the 50p a share mark to 300p per share over a matter of weeks, it is obvious that many investors must have made a killing, but I fear by the time the little man gets into the game the markets will realize that they are overvalued and everything will head south...

My advise... there's obviously money to be made, but playing it safe will surely pay off in the long run.... think dividends!!! have a look at stocks which have fallen due to the recession, not stocks which may have helped the recession along the way.

A Mobile Revolution

"A research group has claimed the Palm Pre will cost $170 to make."

With claims that networks will provide the Pre to customers at around $200, will this mobile device become an iPhone Killer??

If Apple was not going to update the iPhone, this is a reason why they should maybe rethink their decision.

After looking at the specifications of the Palm Pre I was sold, I have so far held back from buying what seems like the must have mobile device on the planet. In Feb I was an inch away from accepting the penalty for exiting my current mobile phone tariff, but after seeing the Palm Pre for the first time during CES I chose not to waste my money.

With rumors of a new iPhone to hit our shelfs in the second half of 2009, I'm sure happy my current mobile tariff runs to October. The Palm Pre, does seem like a revolution, by taking the good that Apple introduced in the market of touchscreen mobile devices, Palm has added user functionality, which I'm sure will make the end user experience amazing, but now the question of what Apple can bring to the market looms in the air. Will the new Apple iPhone be a step above the rest or will it only fix the problems that are apparent in the current model (mainly the lack of a high quality camera, MMS), along with a faster processor. I do not believe that Apple needs to totally redesign the iPhone, from a design prospective it works, its sleek, follows a simple logic and is loved by the public. But if Apple want to keep their strangle hold on this new mobile device market, it will have to step up the user experience...

All we can do is wait and see what the eventual outcome will be, for all of us on the sideline it is sure to be entertaining.

A step in the right direction?

Apple plots course for middle of mobile

Is it a step in the right direction? is this really want people want? Apple seem to think so.

With the help of the iPhone, Apple's profits rose 15% this year, so it seems that right now Apple do know exactly what the consumer wants. The problem that Apple and all other mobile device firms face is the constant battle to create a new product that differentiates them from the rest of the market, Apple did make the touchscreen market cool, but now it is overcrowded, this means a split in market share, and at hard economic times such as now, also means that budget models have a large advantage over any $300+ devices.

A market that one can think about, which is between the iPhone category and the MacBook category naturally falls into the domain of a new type of netbook, maybe the device would have a touchscreen, thus eliminating the need for an external keyboard, and mobile communications also built in, allowing for an internet experience on the go, without the necessity of needing a USB mobile broadband dongle, plus if they threw in a bluetooth headset then maybe they could also provide a talk/text and surf mobile tariffs...

All that is clear right now is the fact that people are looking to move into the smartphone market, but with the iPhone still priced relatively high, Apple could lose its strangle hold on the market and soon the likes of LG, Samsung or even Nokia could easily take over the touchscreen market with their cheaper but cheerful offerings.

But with the prospect of a new offering from Apple, I would not contest the presence of Apple fever, and thus another year of 15% profits.

If All Goes Wrong... What to Do??

"Microsoft has an early beta of a new product called Vine. Currently available for beta testers in Seattle, it’s a location-aware social networking application focused on being a robust means of local communication that’ll work even in times of emergency."

It's been described as "Twitter + Facebook on steroids" but the true question is, do we really need another platform to communicate... I personally think not... Twitter, though it is lacking a large fan base right now, seems to be perfectly compatible with the needs of updating people on whatever situation, if all was to fail.

What we are all forgetting to question is, what happens when communications go down, my advice, keep that shortwave radio nearby!