Foreign borrowing is rather dangerous. Ask the Greeks and they will tell you why
THE problem with big finance is that it forgets - it forgets history.
There was a time when bankers pushed the line that the best risk was a sovereign one. Find a country to lend to and you will be sure of getting your money back.
But in the eighties, South America proved all that wrong when Argentina and many other countries from the continent defaulted on their scheduled repayment of debts to international banks.
Their currencies headed south, their economies collapsed, prices soared and there was tremendous hardship all round for their citizens. In that instance, even the banks were not completely spared because they had to take a haircut - their loans were not always repaid in full.
Then came the roaring nineties when Asia, and especially the Tiger economies - which referred primarily to the South East and East Asian economies of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea - grew by leaps and bounds.
That was until the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. Mired in external debt, and with currencies battered by wilting confidence and speculative attacks, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea were brought down to their knees and sought help from the International Monetary Fund or IMF.
The contagion spread to Malaysia whose finances were relatively strong but which had significant foreign borrowings. South East Asian growth was crimped for years afterwards and even financial rock Singapore was shaken.
The pain was bad in the three worst affected countries as jobs were lost, industries and companies were restructured, assets divvied up and sold, in some cases to foreigners. Yes, there was pain - the proverbial blood in the streets.
As is well known by now, the IMF extracts its pound of flesh for the help it gives. It ensures that it is repaid by imposing extreme - and I mean extreme - austerity on affected countries. Indonesia faced interest rates of 30% - 30%! - a year in 1997. How could anyone survive that?
And it ensures that other creditors - the large international banks - are paid. The standard one-size-fits-all solution is the drastic depreciation of the currency to improve export competitiveness and bring in money from overseas, high interest rates to cut spending, and severe budget cuts.
And now we have Greece, Spain and Portugal. It's a bit of a conundrum here because in this case they did not quite borrow in foreign currencies but in euros, their and the European Community's currency. When the IMF is involved, the solution is the same - austerity. But the banks which lent the money go scot free.
How come, you ask, that the US spent its way out of a bad deal? Well the rest of the world lent money to the US but in US dollars, not some other currency.
That meant that the US could use its own currency and reserves to reflate the economy and save its banks and financial institutions.
That may not be quite magic. At some of point of time, there could be reverberations from that move.
All those dollars floating around the place could cause some future problems such as inflation and a weakened dollar. And if there is loss of confidence in the US, money could flow out. But that's another story.
One lesson is that sovereign risk is not, well, risk-free. But if each time the IMF acts as if it is punishing the borrower but not the reckless lenders, it just encourages the same to be done again, and again. Really, should not the lenders to Greece take a haircut?
The other lesson is that countries, especially smaller countries, should think twice - no thrice - before loading on foreign debt. If your economy spirals and spins down, so does your currency. Your debt and repayments balloon.
Not only that, you may even be subject to penalty payments. You can't pay on schedule but the banks hit you with a penalty because you can't. Where's the logic in that?
There's plenty of liquidity in Asia (and Malaysia). Let's not make ourselves too dependent on foreign liquidity either through debt or equity.
A QUESTION OF BUSINESS
By P. GUNASEGARAM
■ Managing editor P. Gunasegaram does not quite believe Shakespeare's old adage “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”. But if you have to be either, know full well what you are in for.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
As College Graduates Hit the Workforce, So Do More Entitlement-Minded Workers
Newswise — As thousands of Generation Y college graduates flood the workforce this spring, the nation’s employers may want to brace themselves for a new crop of entitlement-minded workers.
Research conducted by Paul Harvey, assistant professor of management at the University of New Hampshire, shows that members of Generation Y are more entitlement-minded than older workers. For employers, that means more employees who feel entitled to undeserved preferential treatment, who are more prone to get into workplace conflicts and who are less likely to enjoy their job.
“Managers have reported a lot of problems associated with this – primarily that these employees have unrealistic expectations and a strong resistance toward accepting negative feedback. Basically entitlement involves having an inflated view of oneself, and managers are finding that younger employees are often very resistant to anything that doesn’t involve praise and rewards,” Harvey says.
According to Harvey, people who feel entitled to preferential treatment more often than not exhibit self-serving attributional styles -- the tendency to take credit for good outcomes and blame others when things go wrong. And people with self-serving attributional styles are less happy in their jobs and more apt to cause conflict in the workplace, especially with their supervisors.
So what should older workers do when faced with younger co-workers who have a tendency to take credit for work they didn’t do? Harvey says one way to help combat a coworker with a self-serving bias is to document and collect evidence that may be useful in establishing who is responsible for positive and negative results.
“If you fear a coworker might take credit for something good you’ve done, it’s smart to keep evidence of your involvement in the outcome. For example, an email from a stakeholder thanking you for your effort or performance on a task that can be used to refute the claims of a coworker trying to take credit for what you have accomplished,” Harvey says.
“It’s also important to remember that even relatively objective people often have a slight self-serving bias. So before engaging a coworker for blaming you for a problem you feel you did not create or taking credit for a good outcome you think you are responsible for, it might be smart to make sure you’re being totally honest with yourself, too,” he says.
Entitlement is often thought of as a component of narcissism. Narcissists believe that they are worthy of a certain level of respect and rewards, and they are determined to get that level of respect and reward, no matter what.
“A great source of frustration for people with a strong sense of entitlement is unmet expectations. They often feel entitled to a level of respect and rewards that aren’t in line with their actual ability and effort levels, and so they might not get the level of respect and rewards they are expecting. They feel cheated and might try to obtain rewards they feel they are entitled to through unconventional, unethical means. This might involve behaviors like manipulating performance data to achieve higher bonuses, which have been linked to many of the problems we’ve seen recently,” Harvey says.
Harvey advises supervisors to remove as much ambiguity from situations as possible. To the extent possible, document who does what so that credit and blame can be accurately determined. He also suggests supervisors make sure everyone understands the organizational structure so that they understand who is responsible for what. He cautions, however, that this is easier said than done.
“In a recent study we found that managers who tried to correct entitlement perceptions through high levels of feedback and communication were often unsuccessful. In fact, in many cases these techniques actually appeared to make the problem slightly worse,” Harvey says.
And when it comes to new hires, Harvey suggests employers screen their entitlement levels. There are a number of ways employers could screen the entitlement levels of would-be hires, such as through surveys or interview questions, he says. For example, a hiring manager could ask a prospective employee the following: “Do you feel you are generally superior to your coworkers/classmates/etc., and if so, why?”
“If the candidate answers yes to the first part but struggles with the ‘why,’ there may be an entitlement issue. This is because entitlement perceptions are often based on an unfounded sense of superiority and deservingness. They’ve been led to believe, perhaps through overzealous self-esteem building exercises in their youth, that they are somehow special but often lack any real justification for this belief,” Harvey says.
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.
Source: University of New Hampshire, Newscribe : get free news in real time
VIDEO
Prof. Paul Harvey discusses entitlement and Generation Y.
http://vimeo.com/11748765
PHOTO
Paul Harvey, assistant professor of management at the University of New Hampshire
http://www.unh.edu/news/img/harvey.jpg
Available for logged-in reporters only
1. UNH Prof. Mark Henn discusses his class "Psycholog…
Research conducted by Paul Harvey, assistant professor of management at the University of New Hampshire, shows that members of Generation Y are more entitlement-minded than older workers. For employers, that means more employees who feel entitled to undeserved preferential treatment, who are more prone to get into workplace conflicts and who are less likely to enjoy their job.
“Managers have reported a lot of problems associated with this – primarily that these employees have unrealistic expectations and a strong resistance toward accepting negative feedback. Basically entitlement involves having an inflated view of oneself, and managers are finding that younger employees are often very resistant to anything that doesn’t involve praise and rewards,” Harvey says.
According to Harvey, people who feel entitled to preferential treatment more often than not exhibit self-serving attributional styles -- the tendency to take credit for good outcomes and blame others when things go wrong. And people with self-serving attributional styles are less happy in their jobs and more apt to cause conflict in the workplace, especially with their supervisors.
So what should older workers do when faced with younger co-workers who have a tendency to take credit for work they didn’t do? Harvey says one way to help combat a coworker with a self-serving bias is to document and collect evidence that may be useful in establishing who is responsible for positive and negative results.
“If you fear a coworker might take credit for something good you’ve done, it’s smart to keep evidence of your involvement in the outcome. For example, an email from a stakeholder thanking you for your effort or performance on a task that can be used to refute the claims of a coworker trying to take credit for what you have accomplished,” Harvey says.
“It’s also important to remember that even relatively objective people often have a slight self-serving bias. So before engaging a coworker for blaming you for a problem you feel you did not create or taking credit for a good outcome you think you are responsible for, it might be smart to make sure you’re being totally honest with yourself, too,” he says.
Entitlement is often thought of as a component of narcissism. Narcissists believe that they are worthy of a certain level of respect and rewards, and they are determined to get that level of respect and reward, no matter what.
“A great source of frustration for people with a strong sense of entitlement is unmet expectations. They often feel entitled to a level of respect and rewards that aren’t in line with their actual ability and effort levels, and so they might not get the level of respect and rewards they are expecting. They feel cheated and might try to obtain rewards they feel they are entitled to through unconventional, unethical means. This might involve behaviors like manipulating performance data to achieve higher bonuses, which have been linked to many of the problems we’ve seen recently,” Harvey says.
Harvey advises supervisors to remove as much ambiguity from situations as possible. To the extent possible, document who does what so that credit and blame can be accurately determined. He also suggests supervisors make sure everyone understands the organizational structure so that they understand who is responsible for what. He cautions, however, that this is easier said than done.
“In a recent study we found that managers who tried to correct entitlement perceptions through high levels of feedback and communication were often unsuccessful. In fact, in many cases these techniques actually appeared to make the problem slightly worse,” Harvey says.
And when it comes to new hires, Harvey suggests employers screen their entitlement levels. There are a number of ways employers could screen the entitlement levels of would-be hires, such as through surveys or interview questions, he says. For example, a hiring manager could ask a prospective employee the following: “Do you feel you are generally superior to your coworkers/classmates/etc., and if so, why?”
“If the candidate answers yes to the first part but struggles with the ‘why,’ there may be an entitlement issue. This is because entitlement perceptions are often based on an unfounded sense of superiority and deservingness. They’ve been led to believe, perhaps through overzealous self-esteem building exercises in their youth, that they are somehow special but often lack any real justification for this belief,” Harvey says.
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.
Source: University of New Hampshire, Newscribe : get free news in real time
VIDEO
Prof. Paul Harvey discusses entitlement and Generation Y.
http://vimeo.com/11748765
PHOTO
Paul Harvey, assistant professor of management at the University of New Hampshire
http://www.unh.edu/news/img/harvey.jpg
Available for logged-in reporters only
Description
As thousands of Generation Y college graduates flood the workforce this spring, the nation’s employers may want to brace themselves for a new crop of entitlement-minded workers.
Paul Harvey, assistant professor of management at the University of New Hampshire
Prof. Paul Harvey discusses entitlement and Generation Y.
2. UNH Prof. Paul Harvey discusses entitlement and Ge…
7 hours ago
1. UNH Prof. Mark Henn discusses his class "Psycholog…
Low Testosterone linked to Poor Sleep; Beneficial Effects of Testosterone for Frailty
Poor Sleep in Aging Men Linked to Lower Testosterone
When men reach age 30, testosterone levels begin to drop by 1 to 2 percent annually, researchers say. Coincidentally, many men begin to complainat around age 40 about the quality of their sleep. Are the two linked?
Yes, one new study concludes.
The research revealed a link between testosterone levels in men over 50 and the amount of deep sleep they report.
"Deep sleep is when the recuperation of body and mind is optimal,"said study leader Zoran Sekerovic, a graduate student from theUniversity of Montreal Department of Psychology.
In young men, deep sleep represents 10 to 20 percent of total sleep, Sekerovic explained in a statement. By age 50, it decreases to as little as 5 percent. For menover 60, it can disappear altogether, the study found.
The study didn't find any correlation with other parts of the sleep cycle: falling asleep, light sleep, or paradoxical sleep, when most dreams occur. Men in their 20s don't have such a correlation, because their neuronal circuits are intact, the thinking goes.
"With age, there is neuronal loss and the synchronization ofcerebral activity isn't as good, which is why there is a loss of deep sleep," Sekerovic explained. "Low levels of testosterone intensify the lack of synchronization and can explain 20 percent of men's inability to experience deep sleep."
Sekerovic suggests dwindling testosterone levels are what impact sleep,not vice-versa, as other studies have suggested. He adds previous investigations measured daily fluctuations in testosterone levels,which are higher in the morning.
If his findings are true, there could be treatment options.
"The loss of deep sleep is a serious problem that could be treated with testosterone. That would be tremendous progress," he said. "But hormone therapy can have secondary effects.Therefore, it will be essential to better understand the mechanisms leading to the loss of deep sleep."
Other scientists have suggested, however, that older people need less sleep.
This study, announced Friday, was supervised by Julie Carrier, aprofessor of psychology at the University of Montreal. The findingswere presented at the annual conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS).
By LiveScience Staff
Source: Newscribe : get free news in real time
Frailty is an age-related state of physical limitation caused by the loss of muscle mass and function and can lead to adverse clinical outcomes such as dependency, institutionalization and death. Testosterone levels naturally decline with aging and testosterone replacement is a common therapy. Short-term testosterone treatment in frail elderly men has been shown to improve muscle mass and strength, but until now it has been unclear whether these effects could be maintained post-treatment.
"Since the use of testosterone in elderly men raises concerns regarding adverse effects on the prostate and cardiovascular system, it's important to determine if short-term treatment can lead to prolonged benefits beyond the duration of testosterone exposure," said Frederick Wu, MD, of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and lead author of the study. "Our findings suggest it may not be possible to break or interrupt the cycle of decline in physical function in frailty by short-term anabolic pharmacological intervention using testosterone supplementation for six months."
In this study, researchers evaluated 274 intermediate-frail and frail elderly men aged 65-90 years with low testosterone levels. Study participants received either a testosterone gel or placebo for six months.
Assessments were carried out at baseline, the end of treatment and six months after treatment cessation. Researchers found that the increased lean body mass, muscle strength and quality of life after six months of testosterone treatment were not maintained six months after treatment.
"At present, the optimal duration of anabolic hormonal intervention to produce sustained benefits in treating frailty in older men is unknown," said Wu. "To best interrupt the downward spiral into frailty a greater emphasis should be placed on a multi-disciplinary interventional approach including resistance exercise, diet and other lifestyle options, in conjunction with pharmacological agents."
Other researchers working on the study include: Matthew O'Connell, Steven Roberts, Upendram Srinivas-Shankar, Abdelouahid Tajar, Judith Adams and Jackie Oldham of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom; and Martin Connolly of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
The article, "Do the Effects of Testosterone on Muscle Strength, Physical Function, Body Composition and Quality of Life Persist Six Months Post-treatment in Intermediate-Frail and Frail Elderly Men," will appear in the February 2011 issue of JCEM.
Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Newscribe : get free news in real time
In young men, deep sleep represents 10 to 20 percent of total sleep, Sekerovic explained in a statement. By age 50, it decreases to as little as 5 percent. For menover 60, it can disappear altogether, the study found.
The study didn't find any correlation with other parts of the sleep cycle: falling asleep, light sleep, or paradoxical sleep, when most dreams occur. Men in their 20s don't have such a correlation, because their neuronal circuits are intact, the thinking goes.
"With age, there is neuronal loss and the synchronization ofcerebral activity isn't as good, which is why there is a loss of deep sleep," Sekerovic explained. "Low levels of testosterone intensify the lack of synchronization and can explain 20 percent of men's inability to experience deep sleep."
Sekerovic suggests dwindling testosterone levels are what impact sleep,not vice-versa, as other studies have suggested. He adds previous investigations measured daily fluctuations in testosterone levels,which are higher in the morning.
If his findings are true, there could be treatment options.
"The loss of deep sleep is a serious problem that could be treated with testosterone. That would be tremendous progress," he said. "But hormone therapy can have secondary effects.Therefore, it will be essential to better understand the mechanisms leading to the loss of deep sleep."
Other scientists have suggested, however, that older people need less sleep.
This study, announced Friday, was supervised by Julie Carrier, aprofessor of psychology at the University of Montreal. The findingswere presented at the annual conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS).
By LiveScience Staff
Source: Newscribe : get free news in real time
Beneficial Effects of Testosterone for Frailty in Older Men Are Short-Lived, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2010) — The beneficial effects of six months of testosterone treatment on muscle mass, strength and quality of life in frail elderly men are not maintained at six months post-treatment, according to a study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
"Since the use of testosterone in elderly men raises concerns regarding adverse effects on the prostate and cardiovascular system, it's important to determine if short-term treatment can lead to prolonged benefits beyond the duration of testosterone exposure," said Frederick Wu, MD, of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and lead author of the study. "Our findings suggest it may not be possible to break or interrupt the cycle of decline in physical function in frailty by short-term anabolic pharmacological intervention using testosterone supplementation for six months."
In this study, researchers evaluated 274 intermediate-frail and frail elderly men aged 65-90 years with low testosterone levels. Study participants received either a testosterone gel or placebo for six months.
Assessments were carried out at baseline, the end of treatment and six months after treatment cessation. Researchers found that the increased lean body mass, muscle strength and quality of life after six months of testosterone treatment were not maintained six months after treatment.
"At present, the optimal duration of anabolic hormonal intervention to produce sustained benefits in treating frailty in older men is unknown," said Wu. "To best interrupt the downward spiral into frailty a greater emphasis should be placed on a multi-disciplinary interventional approach including resistance exercise, diet and other lifestyle options, in conjunction with pharmacological agents."
Other researchers working on the study include: Matthew O'Connell, Steven Roberts, Upendram Srinivas-Shankar, Abdelouahid Tajar, Judith Adams and Jackie Oldham of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom; and Martin Connolly of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
The article, "Do the Effects of Testosterone on Muscle Strength, Physical Function, Body Composition and Quality of Life Persist Six Months Post-treatment in Intermediate-Frail and Frail Elderly Men," will appear in the February 2011 issue of JCEM.
Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Newscribe : get free news in real time
See Also:
Friday, May 14, 2010
Breakthrough in tissue engineering: 'Bio-Legos'
MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology researchers produced tube-shaped tissue by grouping cells into polymer 'bricks' that hardened when illuminated.
(Credit: Javier Gomez-Fernandez/MIT)But growing cells in lab dishes that are three-dimensional instead of flat has proved to be incredibly tricky. One group, however, claims to have made a major breakthrough.
The solution, according to a team at the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), could be as simple (but incredibly elegant) as building the equivalent of biological Legos, whose structures far more closely resemble real, complex tissue.
The new technique, which they're calling "micromasonry," is showcased this May in the journal Advanced Materials.
Javier Gomez-Fernandez
(Credit: MIT)So the HST team built what it's dubbing "biological Legos," coating the freed cells with a liquid version of polyethylene glycol (PEG), which acts as a glue and also hardens when illuminated. Once coated, they could be arranged into cubes and exposed to light to hold that shape.
The team then coated those cubes with the PEG polymer again to glue the cubes together and squeeze them onto a scaffold surface, and illuminated the cubes a second time so that they would harden into this tube-like shape, a three-dimensional structure that could function as capillaries and transport blood to organs.
The breakthrough is not only that they are creating 3D structures, but that they can place cells in any position they want to make specific shapes. "So it's not just that it's a scaffold, it's that you can arrange them into very specific shapes through specific distributions of cells," Gomez-Fernandez says.
This isn't the first time complex tissue architecture has been created in a lab; other researchers have developed a technique called organ printing to accomplish this, but it requires new (read: expensive) equipment. Micromasonry, on the other hand, does not. "You can reproduce this in any lab," Gomez-Fernandez says in the MIT news release. "It's very simple."
To make micromasonry clinically useful, the team is investigating different cellular structures as well as different polymers that might provide more control over cell placement than PEG currently allows.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
Schoolgirl Jessica Watson due home after solo round-the-world sail
Celebrations and just a hint of controversy await 16-year-old Australian as she sails into Sydney after seven months at sea
Jessica Watson's yacht, the Pink Lady, rounds the southern tip of Tasmania in the closing stages of her solo round-the-world trip. Photograph: Rex Features
Or is she? As the Queensland teenager's yacht, Ella's Pink Lady, sails into Sydney harbour after an epic seven-month voyage, the TV helicopters hovering above will not be the only thing clouding blue skies. Controversy hangs in the air.
Experienced old salts have queried whether Watson, who arrives back three days shy of her 17th birthday, has sailed far enough, claiming her route falls some 2000 nautical miles short of a true circumnavigation according to the rules set by the global authority, the World Sailing Speed Record Council. She didn't travel far enough north of the equator, they have calculated.
So she has failed, they declare, in her stated aim to beat the 1999 record of fellow Aussie Jesse Martin, which he set over 328 days at the age of 18.
It's a moot point. Following the furore over allowing ever younger sailors to undertake such a risky endeavour, sparked when the Dutch courts intervened last year to prevent Laura Dekker, 13, from setting sail solo, the WSSRC no longer recognises the category of "the youngest".
So Watson will claim no record. But at stake are the millions she could, potentially, earn as a result of her highly-publicised venture. One of Rupert Murdoch's Australian papers has bought her exclusive story for a reported A$700,000 (£430,000), and a TV station has exclusive live rights. Watson, who has been sailing since she was eight, will step off her yacht and into a whirlwind nationwide "Meet Jessica" tour. A book is due out in July.
Meanwhile her website is doing brisk trade in baseball hats, wall charts and other sailing paraphernalia. It boasts 14 major sponsors, and the apple growers Pink Lady Australian hope she will become the company's poster girl.
According to navigation experts at the respected Sail-world.com magazine, Watson will have travelled 18,265 nautical miles, but a valid circumnavigation requires 21,600.
That is not to detract from her otherwise remarkable achievement and raw guts, the magazine said.
But it added that, though her log may show she has travelled 23,000 nautical miles, as claimed by her PR team, this includes "tacking and gybing", and not the straight line distances required.
Their claims have led to ill-tempered exchanges with Watson's PR manager Andrew Fraser, and criticism from the many Watson supporters gripped by her journey.
"We are not really interested in the technical concerns of a minority," wrote Fraser in an email to Sail-world.com. "The rising tide of her supporters is a millions multiple of the minority." As the council wouldn't be recognising her record anyway, her team argue, she does not need to adhere to their rules. And by their calculation, she has met all the requirements. Watson has brushed off the controversy. "Call me immature but I've actually been having a bit of a giggle over the whole thing," she wrote on her blog. "If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time."
Critics say they do not blame Watson but rather her PR team for the ambiguity over the world record status. Sail-world.com points out that Watson's website had originally stated she had "set her sights on beating Jesse's record", but have now replaced the world "record" with "achievement".
Unofficial polls meantime show that 75% of Australians believe she is a record breaker – whatever the rules.
Watson sailed out under a cloud. She collided with a coal freighter during a test sail, leading to claims she was inexperienced. Critics say her feat could set a bad example and encourage even younger children, and her parents were decried for encouraging her.
But waiting for her on the quayside will be her British friend and fellow sailor Mike Perham, who last year became the youngest to sail around the world, aged 17. Jesse Martin will also be there – with his record still, seemingly, intact.
Extracts from Jessica Watson's blog
24 April 2010 Despite the fact that today started with a knockdown, a wet bunk, a headache and some pretty huge seas, I've had a great day.8 April 2010 Some bad news today … the handle has fallen off my only kettle.
22 Nov 2009 I've finally got a fish … I can't say there would be many fishermen who would be proud of the mess I made of filleting it.
17 Nov 2009 Let me introduce you to "Silly". He's a little brown seabird. Silly earned his nickname because of his fascination with the wind generator and his amusing attempts to land on the bendy windvane blade.
12 Nov 2009 I was told this was the most watched blog in Australia and stage fright has left me a bit speechless.
2 Nov 2009 After completing the first English assignment I sent it off to discover I'd opened the wrong bag and have been working on next year's assignments, oops!
Australia hails Jessica Watson, 16, for sailing record
Crowds cheer Jessica as she arrives in Sydney
Australians have gathered around Sydney harbour to welcome back teenager Jessica Watson from her record round-the-world sailing adventure.
But her record has been questioned with claims that she has not sailed far enough.
She will also not be recognised by the World Speed Sailing Record Council, as it has ended its under-18 category.
Wearing pink
Ms Watson sailed into Sydney harbour on Saturday, seven months after leaving on an arduous voyage some critics said was too dangerous for someone so young.
 |  If I haven't been sailing around, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time!  Jessica Watson's blog |
Family, friends and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have gathered to greet her. Many of the onlookers wore pink to match the boat.
Many more Australians are watching the event broadcast live on television.
"It's like the day before Christmas," she wrote in her blog before she arrived.
"Except I don't ever remember getting this excited about Christmas."
She left Sydney on 18 October, defying critics who said she was being irresponsible for taking on such a difficult voyage at such a young age.
Also meeting her in Sydney is Briton Mike Perham, who last year at the age of 17 completed his own solo around the world voyage in nine months.
Ms Watson's support team says she has sailed nearly 23,000 nautical miles but the influential Sail-World website said she had not gone far enough north of the equator to claim a true circumnavigation of the globe, according to the rules of the World Speed Sailing Record Council.
The council only recognises feats achieved by people over 18.
On her blog, Ms Watson said: "If I haven't been sailing around, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time!"
Ms Watson has reportedly sold her story to Rupert Murdoch's News Limited for A$700,000 ($625,000).
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Fifa World Cup, Sports Betting & Internet Gambling
Steep, rising curve for bets
COMMENT
By LOURDES CHARLES
When the Fifa World Cup begins next month in South Africa, one sure bet is that millions of ringgit will be raked in by local betting syndicates. In the absence of regulated sports betting, illegal bookies will be laughing all the way to the bank.IT IS estimated that billions of ringgit will change hands worldwide during this one football season alone.
Gambling is a thorny moral issue which elicits intense response from both sides of the divide.
However, the reality is that without regulated sports betting, the ones who benefit the most are illegal bookies.
Another reality is that Malaysians love to bet, and they bet heavily on the world's top three football leagues – the English Premier League, La Liga (Spain) and the Serie A (Italy).
Not to be spared are the Thomas and Uber Cup matches. Bookies are already accepting bets, and they make it so very easy for punters.
Bookies have gone hi-tech and punters don't need to make tedious trips to their outlets.
All one needs is ready money and a computer. Create an Internet account and you are set to go.
With so much money involved, the biggest loser currently is the Government, as hundreds of millions in taxes can be collected if betting is legalised.
Just take a look at Singapore. For years, the Singapore government refused to give in to regulated gambling, even when Malaysia had allowed a casino to be operated in Genting Highlands.
After several decades, the island republic changed its stand. Now it allows not one but two integrated resorts and casinos to be built on a grand scale in Marina Bay and on Sentosa Island.
The government there had also earlier faced strong opposition; views on how gambling would tear the moral fibre of society were hotly debated.
The Singapore government paid heed and locked in several measures to placate fears.
As for sports betting, it has exploded in tandem with technological advances in broadcasting and the popularity of the Internet.
The introduction of mobile phones and 3G has enabled punters to place bets anywhere and any time from the comfort of their homes or even offices.
The flip side of such technological advances is that they have invariably helped illegal bookmaking syndicates spread their operations.
Online betting is almost impossible to detect compared to the “old ways,” where one has to be physically present to place one's bets or fax in the bets.
From the police point of view, regulated sports betting would not eliminate the activities of illegal bookmaking syndicates in the country.
However, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan has said that it could, to a certain level, help deprive organised crime syndicates of having full control of such activities.
“Maybe regulating sports betting could be an efficient way of fighting the underground economy, as proceeds from illegal sports betting are used to fuel organised crime and support harmful criminal activities,” he said.
It is estimated that Malaysians splurge almost RM8bil on sports betting annually with various online betting syndicates as well as with local bookies.
The police have their hands full trying to nab those involved in the underground economy, and have enlisted the help of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to track the activities of illegal bookies.
They have been quite successful and have managed to shut down the operations of several syndicates with international links. Quite a number of those arrested under the Emergency Ordinance have also been banished under the Restricted Residence Act.
Police also announced recently that they have set up a special task force to monitor online betting syndicates, especially those hoping to make a killing during the World Cup football tournament.
What is argued as a positive aspect of sports betting is its capacity to raise money for the development of sports.
If more sports facilities can be built and more coaches hired as a result of more money being raised, the beneficiary of that will surely be Malaysia's sportsmen and women.
Better athletes can then translate into better attendances at the various sporting events in the country.
Regulated gambling in sports is not a new idea; almost all Western countries have done it.
The authorities should also consider allowing Internet or online betting to be hosted in Malaysia, on the condition that punters must open an account with a minimum amount before they start placing bets.
There are certainly advantages to legalising sports betting. And like Singapore, measures can be introduced to limit its influence.
The Government will be wise to keep its options open. With the vast amounts of money from taxes in this sector, this is one game too rich for us not to play.
Legalising sports betting makes fiscal sense
Making a Point - By Jagdev Singh Sidhu
·Deputy news editor Jagdev Singh Sidhu is eagerly awaiting to see the World Cup in high definition.
ABOUT 11 years ago during my holiday in Britain, Liverpool was to play Manchester United at Anfield. Being a fan of the most decorated soccer club in British history, I decided that I would have a punt on the game and walked into one sports-betting establishment to place a small wager on Liverpool winning the game 3 to 2.
It was a storming match which saw Liverpool claw back to level the score at 2-2. In the dying minutes of the game, Jamie Carragher had an opportunity to head in the winner but sadly he missed and the game ended in a draw. Had he scored, which would have been a minor miracle considering his goal-scoring record, a chunk of my holiday would have been paid for.
My experience with betting is no different than what many a sports fan would do from time to time if given the opportunity. It's a choice people will make but sports betting is nowadays a thriving industry globally.
Be it in Las Vegas, Britain, Hong Kong, Singapore or other countries, bets on sports can be made over a counter at an outlet, online or over the phone.
In Hong Kong, the sports-betting industry is large. A check with analysts puts the size of the market close to HK$60bil. In Singapore, it is slightly less than S$2bil.
The difference is generally due to how open the market is between both countries. Limiting the reach of sports betting will curtail the contribution that the industry will make to government coffers and in that is a lesson where the distribution channels and potentially a larger number of players is needed for the industry to significantly contribute to government revenue.
White-collar workers and fans of sports, thanks to the proliferation of Internet services and mobile services in the country, have had the opportunity to bet on games and events abroad through international players.
Whether sports betting cannibalises the number forecast operators (NFOs) is yet to be determined but it will certainly appeal to a different segment of punters who may not find betting on four-digit numbers exciting.
In Malaysia, NFOs are still the king of the hill when it comes to the general betting public.
The margin from the NFO business is seen to be more lucrative than sports betting where the payout ratio is normally higher.
The industry, although having seen its growth track GDP, churns out a steady stream of tax revenue for the Government which, based on estimates, amounts to around 5% of total government revenue.
Taxes the Government collects from other “sin taxes” such as the casino in Genting, the lottery, alcohol and the tobacco boys will bump up their overall contribution to a much more significant level.
Allowing a sports-betting licensee to operate therefore makes fiscal sense to the Government. The budget deficit has spiralled beyond healthy levels and more needs to be done to find new sources of revenue.
While there is no arguing over the moral issues a new betting licence will bring, it also bears to keep in mind that Malaysia is a country where its population is already exposed for decades to a number of gambling channels.
While I doubt anyone will advocate letting the gaming industry flourish, people have to be realistic in knowing that there is already a number of betting avenues available in the country and overseas.
Suppressing the legalisation of sports betting will only cement the industry digging its heels underground and will only benefit the black economy.
By legalising sports betting, it's an opportunity for the Government to maybe exert some sort of control on the industry and the money collected will go a long way in funding social, sports and development programmes.
Beyond sports betting, maybe the Government should also consider allowing a new integrated resort casino. Genting has long held a firm grip over the casino licence in Malaysia but, in today's world, just taking South-East Asia as an example, casinos have sprouted all over the map and have brought tremendous benefits to tourism and GDP if done professionally and on a large scale.
A Vegas-type casino, like the ones Singapore has allowed to be built, is a big asset to the island's economy and there is certainly room for one to be built in another part of Malaysia that is closer to one of the economic business centres.
China tycoon in talks to buy Liverpool?
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Intel chief commits to doubled profit, revenue growth
Chipzilla is dead. Long live 'The Continuum'
Intel will double its revenue and earnings growth rates over the next few years, and ship a billion microprocessors per year within the next five.
These were just a pair of the bullish forecasts that Intel CEO Paul Otellini unloaded on a group of reporters and moneymen on Tuesday morning at the company's annual Investor Meeting at its California headquarters.
Otellini also implied that it's time to retire Intel's 'Chipzilla' sobriquet. "Don't think of us as a chip company anymore," he advised. "We're a computing company."
But if you think "chipmaker" when you think "Intel," Otellini understands. He just thinks you're behind the times. "If you circle back to 2000, we were sort of just a chip company," he said. "The principal activity of the company was designing and shipping microprocessors and chipsets around them - a silicon-based company."
But that has changed, Otellini says, and he'd now prefer that you think of Intel as a company that's "building a 'computing continuum' around Intel architecture." The reason for the change in self-description is simple. "Over the years we've added a number of things, and if you look at Intel today, we've got platforms, software, and services increasingly being added onto the silicon capabilities of the company."
Intel's foray into platforms began in 2003 with Centrino. Then came vPro and WiMAX, joined more recently by Wireless Display PC-to-TV technology, more cutely known as WiDi - which, of course, rhymes with WiFi.
Intel's software efforts, Otellini said, not only involve acquisitions such as such as Virtutech, RapidMind, and Neoptica, but also cooperative ventures such as MeeGo, plus homegrown Intel dev-support efforts such as Visual Adrenaline for game developers and the more-general Intel Software Network.
Speaking of acquisitions, Otellini classed the Wind River pick-up as being an example of Intel's move into the services arena, citing that company's "go-to-market service for hire," aimed at companies who want to create embedded applications and interfaces for handheld devices, for example.
Formerly a chip company, now a 'computing continuum'
"Everything we're doing in these areas is being looked at in terms of what value can Intel provide to our customers and/or the end users in the software and services arena that we get paid for," Otellini explained to the assembled moneymen. And then he told them exactly what they wanted to hear - that the expansion into platform, software, and services hasn't merely been in support of Intel's silicon profit center. "This is not a pro bono activity just to get silicon designs. We want to get paid for this. And we intend to get paid."
Not that the transformation to a "computing continuum" is a walk in the park. "It's a lot of work to do this. To transform an industry, it's not just [building] a chip anymore, you have to have all of the layers." Ah, but there are also competitive benefits. "Anyone who want to compete with us has to have all the layers, as well. It's not just a silicon play anymore."
But the foundation for all these new revenue streams remains silicon - and Otellini plans on shipping a boatload of chips. "I think if we execute on these plans we will be shipping a billion Intel-based microprocessors a year within five years," he told his audience.
"Much of that will come from what we know as the growth in the PC industry, much of it will come from gadgets around the PC industry, and much of it will come from making all these new devices smarter."
One new device that Otellini sees as a growth driver is what he called "smart television." After noting the strong projected growth in internet-enabled television, which he believes will be a major component of the growth in online video, Otellini used a smart TV as an example of the silicon, platform, software, and services quartet that makes up his "continuum."
A smart TV, for example, could include Atom-based silicon, a platform enabled by Intel's MediaPlay drivers, and the Meego OS running the tru2way two-way interactive television service, and it could offer downloads from Intel's AppUp online software-store service. And Intel will find a way to take a profitable cut at each level of the stack.
Intel sees plenty good money to be made in the growth of internet video
Adding to that data-center revenue, Otellini sees serious profits ahead: "We'll have revenue streams from servers, data centers - network devices, storage devices - and revenue and profit streams from software and services. It's a different view of the company than you've seen the past 10 to 12 years."
He's so bullish on this "continuum" that he sees a rapid and sharp increase in Intel's compound annual growth rates, or CAGR. "We expect the revenue CAGR and the EPS [earnings per share] CAGR to be in the low double-digit growth rates. To give you some perspective, the EPS CAGR in the last five years has been about half that. So we're essentially committing - forecasting - to double the growth rate of earnings and double-digit growth rate on revenue for the company as a result of these initiatives."
When with this doubling happen? "Over the next few years," said Otellini. "We're taking it up quite a bit."
Of course, when speaking to a room full of investors, a CEO should position himself as bullish - but he also has to be careful not to promise too much, or his optimism will come back to bite him.
But Otellini wasn't talking caution. "We're on top of a growth engine, and we intend to deliver," he said. "We're lean, we're efficient, we're highly profitable, and we're going to stay that way."
Otellini's vision of a value-added, money-making "continuum" is in marked contrast to the company's Chipzilla-only days, Otellini said. "It's the single best opportunity in front of us versus being a commodity vendor of licensed architectures. We were there. We tried that. Been there. Done that. It's very difficult to make money in that way." ®
These were just a pair of the bullish forecasts that Intel CEO Paul Otellini unloaded on a group of reporters and moneymen on Tuesday morning at the company's annual Investor Meeting at its California headquarters.
Otellini also implied that it's time to retire Intel's 'Chipzilla' sobriquet. "Don't think of us as a chip company anymore," he advised. "We're a computing company."
But if you think "chipmaker" when you think "Intel," Otellini understands. He just thinks you're behind the times. "If you circle back to 2000, we were sort of just a chip company," he said. "The principal activity of the company was designing and shipping microprocessors and chipsets around them - a silicon-based company."
But that has changed, Otellini says, and he'd now prefer that you think of Intel as a company that's "building a 'computing continuum' around Intel architecture." The reason for the change in self-description is simple. "Over the years we've added a number of things, and if you look at Intel today, we've got platforms, software, and services increasingly being added onto the silicon capabilities of the company."
Intel's foray into platforms began in 2003 with Centrino. Then came vPro and WiMAX, joined more recently by Wireless Display PC-to-TV technology, more cutely known as WiDi - which, of course, rhymes with WiFi.
Intel's software efforts, Otellini said, not only involve acquisitions such as such as Virtutech, RapidMind, and Neoptica, but also cooperative ventures such as MeeGo, plus homegrown Intel dev-support efforts such as Visual Adrenaline for game developers and the more-general Intel Software Network.
Speaking of acquisitions, Otellini classed the Wind River pick-up as being an example of Intel's move into the services arena, citing that company's "go-to-market service for hire," aimed at companies who want to create embedded applications and interfaces for handheld devices, for example.
Formerly a chip company, now a 'computing continuum'Not that the transformation to a "computing continuum" is a walk in the park. "It's a lot of work to do this. To transform an industry, it's not just [building] a chip anymore, you have to have all of the layers." Ah, but there are also competitive benefits. "Anyone who want to compete with us has to have all the layers, as well. It's not just a silicon play anymore."
But the foundation for all these new revenue streams remains silicon - and Otellini plans on shipping a boatload of chips. "I think if we execute on these plans we will be shipping a billion Intel-based microprocessors a year within five years," he told his audience.
"Much of that will come from what we know as the growth in the PC industry, much of it will come from gadgets around the PC industry, and much of it will come from making all these new devices smarter."
One new device that Otellini sees as a growth driver is what he called "smart television." After noting the strong projected growth in internet-enabled television, which he believes will be a major component of the growth in online video, Otellini used a smart TV as an example of the silicon, platform, software, and services quartet that makes up his "continuum."
A smart TV, for example, could include Atom-based silicon, a platform enabled by Intel's MediaPlay drivers, and the Meego OS running the tru2way two-way interactive television service, and it could offer downloads from Intel's AppUp online software-store service. And Intel will find a way to take a profitable cut at each level of the stack.
Intel sees plenty good money to be made in the growth of internet videoHe's so bullish on this "continuum" that he sees a rapid and sharp increase in Intel's compound annual growth rates, or CAGR. "We expect the revenue CAGR and the EPS [earnings per share] CAGR to be in the low double-digit growth rates. To give you some perspective, the EPS CAGR in the last five years has been about half that. So we're essentially committing - forecasting - to double the growth rate of earnings and double-digit growth rate on revenue for the company as a result of these initiatives."
When with this doubling happen? "Over the next few years," said Otellini. "We're taking it up quite a bit."
Of course, when speaking to a room full of investors, a CEO should position himself as bullish - but he also has to be careful not to promise too much, or his optimism will come back to bite him.
But Otellini wasn't talking caution. "We're on top of a growth engine, and we intend to deliver," he said. "We're lean, we're efficient, we're highly profitable, and we're going to stay that way."
Otellini's vision of a value-added, money-making "continuum" is in marked contrast to the company's Chipzilla-only days, Otellini said. "It's the single best opportunity in front of us versus being a commodity vendor of licensed architectures. We were there. We tried that. Been there. Done that. It's very difficult to make money in that way." ®
Bootnote
As confident as Otellini was during his talk to investors, he was also careful to back away from the edge. When one moneyman asked him for a breakdown of how different parts of the company would contribute to the doubling of revenue and profit growth, he said. "We went as far out on a limb as we've ever gone - that's as far as I'm going right now."Where on the Web Is HTML5?
HTML5 does way more than video: Vimeo's Flash-free player showing a clip by Maxime Bruneel.
But HTML5 is much more than a hopeful successor to Flash’s web-video crown. In fact, watching a video without a plug-in only scratches the surface of what HTML5 offers.
HTML5 is the next generation of HTML, the language of the web. More than just a markup syntax like its predecessors, HTML5 provides a new set of features designed to make modern web applications work more like desktop applications.
The key features in the HTML5 stack: native video and audio playback, animated graphics, geolocation, hardware acceleration for in-browser events, the ability to keep using a browser-based app even if your internet connection drops, the ability to store application data on your local machine, dragging and dropping of files from the desktop to the browser, and the addition of semantic markup on pages, making them easier for both machines and humans to understand.
Each of the major browsers supports different pieces of HTML5 right now, and we expect to see all browsers on the same page in a year or two. You might think, given variances in browser support, that no one is using the future of the web. But you’d be wrong. HTML5 is everywhere you turn. In fact, some of our favorite web apps are making heavy use of HTML5 — to paraphrase William Gibson, the future of the web is already here, it just isn’t evenly distributed yet.
Did you know that Google’s homepage, one of the most trafficked pages on the web, uses HTML5? Technically, the Google homepage just uses the HTML5 doctype — the rest of the page is actually quite archaic (and invalid) code — but other Google apps take advantage of HTML5 much more.
Gmail, one of the bigger webmail apps on the web, uses HTML5’s offline storage mechanism to allow you to work with your e-mail even when you don’t have an internet connection. Google Docs also uses the HTML5 offline tools, as do the online office suite Zoho and the WordPress blogging system. Check out Mark
Pilgrim’s excellent rundown on how to add offline support to your apps if you want to start using this feature).
Scribd's new document reader: all web standards, no Flash.
The combination of tools allows Scribd to convert PDF files into pure HTML documents while maintaining the structural layout, fonts, embedded images and layered elements of the original.
Most impressive about Scribd’s new HTML5 features? They even work in IE6. Check out this example, which manages to render even complex mathematical equations in pure HTML.
They came from space, and the W3C spec: Canvas Invaders
Probably the best-known examples of HTML5 on the web are the current video experiments by YouTube and Vimeo. In both cases, the HTML5 versions of the sites are still opt-in, and there’s no code to embed the HTML5 version of a video on your own site, but it’s a start.
Another aspect of HTML5 that browsers are beginning to support is a set of geolocation tools. Technically, the geolocation API is not part of the HTML5 spec, but it is governed by the W3C and will arrive alongside HTML5 the markup spec. Using the geolocation API, a web app running in the browser can obtain your whereabouts, making location-based web searches more relevant.
Click on the little circle above the yellow guy to tell Google Maps where you are.
At the moment, the geolocation API isn’t widely supported by desktop browsers (only Chrome and Firefox 3.6+), but Google makes a plug-in called Gears which offers a fallback solution for older browsers.
That’s the tactic Twitter uses for its geo-aware tweets, tapping into the geolocation API when it’s available and falling back to Gears when it’s not.
In the end, one of the most powerful changes in HTML5 may not be as flashy as any of the examples listed above. HTML5’s biggest contribution to the web may well end up being its new structural tags, like
<header>, <footer>, <section> and <article>.These new tags allow web authors to better define their content, which means search engines will need to do a lot less guessing when they index the web. That will mean better, more relevant results and faster links to the information you want.
There are countless sites already using HTML5’s new tags, though you’d never know it without viewing the source of the pages. If you’d like to see some examples, head over to HTML5Gallery, which features hundreds of sites using varying degrees of HTML5.
To use the new structural tags on your own site, check out our tutorial on Building Web Pages With HTML 5. And there’s no need to worry; with a little JavaScript helper, these tags will work in any browser.
HTML5 can also be extended to offer even more semantic structure through Microdata. Using standardized data formats (similar in many ways to microformats) websites can offer not only data, but definitions of what that data is.
Ultimately, microdata exists for the benefit of web browsers and search engines. Eventually, search engines could use microdata to find your friends on the web and browsers could use it to connect you with those friends no matter what flavor-of-the-month social site they might be using. To experiment with these extensions, head over to Google’s Rich Snippets Testing Tool.
While there’s no question that HTML5 is still in the experimental stage, it’s already gaining traction, and it’s doing a whole lot more than just playing video on your mobile phone.
By Scott Gilbertson
Newscribe : get free news in real time
See Also:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)