Category: Life

The New UberRich

The Atlas of New Money – WSJ.com
Just as the hedge-fund industry is remaking the global economy, so too is it remaking the world of wealth. A surge of money is reshaping these wealthy communities as drastically as did the dot-com boom of nearly a decade ago or the wealth of such industrial icons as Rockefeller and Carnegie did a century ago. In less than a decade, hedge funds have created a class of centimillionaires. Lightly regulated, with a propensity for high risk, hedge funds have drawn wealthy investors and institutions looking for bigger paydays than they can get from stocks and bonds.

The roughly $1.2 trillion controlled by the world’s 8,000-plus hedge funds is dwarfed by the $10 trillion in U.S. mutual funds, which are regulated and make their investments public. While mutual funds generally charge fees of 1% or 2% of assets, hedge-fund managers typically add on an additional 20% or more of any profit. Last year, according to Hedge Fund Research, hedge funds returned 9.3% on average. The top 26 hedge-fund managers last year received pay averaging $363 million — up 45% from 2004, according to Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine.

Like other booms, this one could bust. Hedge funds have returned about 11% this year — down from more than 31% in 1999, according to Hedge Fund Research, a Chicago firm.

The 15 Best Places to Waste Time on the Web

PC World – The 15 Best Places to Waste Time on the Web
Naysayers claim that the Internet can be one big waste of time. Here’s to proving them right.

  1. YouTube.com
  2. Craigslist.org
  3. Fark.com
  4. The Internet Movie Database
  5. Flickr.com
  6. Reddit.com
  7. Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D Beta
  8. Triplets and Us
  9. RuneScape
  10. Rotten Tomatoes
  11. Moola.com
  12. AOL In2TV
  13. HOT or NOT
  14. Pogo.com
  15. What Would Tyler Durden Do?

Skype Universal Chat Language Translator and Speaker

testing.OnlyTheRightAnswers.com – Universal Chat Language Translator and Speaker for Skype
It is now possible that Skype users using their own native language of Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish to be in the same Skype muti-chat and using a common base output language, all communicating with one another and understanding each other. Yet those same people might not be able to communicate had they all met on the corner of some street.

Because of the Speaking ability of the application, Skype users will not only be able to instantly communicate with other Skype users on a WorldWide basis, while learning to read and write a new language, they will be learning to pronounce the words in these new languages, correctly at the same time, if they choose.

Looking For Love? Consumer Reports Tests 5 Online Dating Sites

Looking For Love? <i>Consumer Reports</i> Tests 5 Online Dating Sites – News by InformationWeek
Here’s what Consumer Reports discovered about 5 of the sites:

True: “If Internet dating makes you hesitate, try the True site because they screen their members and they have a customer-friendly privacy policy,” said Ware, who noted that True runs a background check on members against a criminal database. True reports that it will notify authorities if they find a member who has a criminal background.

eHarmony: Ware said eHarmony is good for people who want a “hand-picked” match. The site only lets you see profiles and exchange emails with people they’ve selected to be a good match for you. If you don’t want to scan through hundreds of profiles on your own, this is a good site. They’ll do that part of it for you. Continue reading “Looking For Love? Consumer Reports Tests 5 Online Dating Sites”

Dude, Sweet Airstream

In Gear: Dude, Sweet Airstream – In Gear Online – Automobile Magazine
Sold alongside traditional Airstreams, the BaseCamp doesn’t just look different. The entire rear end opens up for loading, and the interior can be configured for hauling or hanging out. The sixteen-foot BaseCamp weighs about 2000 pounds. Prices that start at less than $20,000 should change the look of buyers as well. Says CEO Bob Wheeler: “We’re determined to change the perception that Airstreams are for your grandparents. I guess Caroline Collier wants to see Santa pulling one of these behind his sleigh, as she sent us this link. Click on the link above for more views.

Political Science for Dummies

DEMOCRATIC

 

You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbara Streisand sings for you.

 

REPUBLICAN

 

You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?

 

SOCIALIST

 

You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You are forced to join a cooperative to help him manage his cow.

 

COMMUNIST

 

You have two cows.
The government seizes both and sells the milk at a state store.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour. Continue reading “Political Science for Dummies”

Cuban Rock Climbers Inspired by Foreigners Irk Castro Regime

Cuban Rock Climbers Inspired by Foreigners Irk Castro Regime – WSJ.com
Some of the official anxiety over climbing seems to be based on Cuba’s revolutionary history. The revolution that brought Mr. Castro to power in 1959 was launched from a clandestine encampment in the Sierra Maestra Mountains on the eastern end of the island. Mr. Castro became intimately familiar with Cuba’s highest mountain, 6,500-foot Pico Turquino. “The Revolution was the work of climbers and cavers,” Mr. Castro once said, according to a history by Antonio Nuñez Jimenéz, a prominent revolutionary leader and naturalist.

Now the Cuban government may be worried that history will repeat itself. “The system is paranoid about Cubans’ private activities, but especially when those activities are occurring in hills away from sight and when foreigners are involved,” says Vitalio Echazabal, one of the first Cubans to take up rock climbing in the 1990s. Continue reading “Cuban Rock Climbers Inspired by Foreigners Irk Castro Regime”