Core Holdings.. a prize Raffle?
Jul 20 at 7:07am by ObverseView
China Post just reported the following:
I got to wondering about companies that sell their core businesses: why? In the case of Raffles Holdings, that would leave them only one core holding, and a large pile of cash… Why would you sell your core holdings when you don’t seem to have any alternatives?
I can see the case where companies have acquired an asset that doesn’t perform well within the company. But selling a core holding doesn’t seem to make sense.
Perhaps Raffles just doesn’t see any opportunities in the Hotels market, (though I find that difficult to believe, with increasing travel in Asia, increasing affluence in both India, and China, and a high level of prestige, that many could afford nowadays).
Thoughts?
Kenneth
Typhoon in Taiwan
Jul 18 at 10:10pm by ObverseView
This weekend it seems there has been a real typhoon in both the real world and the world of politics.
Typhoon Haitang has come with really heavy winds, so heavy I thought our superstrong livingroom window would break, but we taped it up and everything seems all right for now. On Saturday, of course, the other typhoon was the election of Ma Ying Jeou as the new chairman of the KMT. He won with a large majority, more than 72% of the party faithful voted for him, leaving the other candidate in the dust.
This election was notable for several reasons: it’s the first time that the KMT ever held a chairman’s election like this, highlighting the fact that a younger generation is becoming more democratic within the party. It’s also notable that he won, because he lost his job nearly ten years ago as Justice Minister, because he was doing too good a job. It’s quite a comeback for him, but one he deserves for the good handling of Taipei City these last
yahoo 360
Jul 18 at 2:02pm by ObverseView
Yahoo! has launched a new Blogging Tool, called “Yahoo 360″. While I’m not the first user to get access to this system, I have tried to use it on several occasions. It looks pretty good because it has the potential to bring together a wide variety of Yahoo! resources into a blog format, including the groups, photos, and music features.
however, it’s functionality is quite restricted at this point in the beta cycle. I don’t think it should even be a beta. It’s much more like an alpha. A lot of the features that make it attractive just don’t work right now. I suggest that you wait!
Kenneth
Tropical Storm Risk (TSR)
Jul 18 at 10:10am by ObverseView
This is a new resource for tracking tropical storms. It looks quite interesting and has up to the minute data.
http://forecast.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/shadow/
I also like the Central Weather Bureau’s information, it’s pretty good.
And the other weather bureau… for information is: Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Kenneth
Stick it to Adhesive!
Jul 18 at 8:08am by ObverseView
Well, I tried the plug-in and I tried several hacks of the plug-in but I just couldn’t get it to work!
Oh, well.
I’ve also tried several other Sticky post hacks, plug-ins, etc. Could not get any of them to work.
I guess I’ll wait for the next version of Wordpress.
Kenneth
The London Bombs by Sarah Jane Sherlock
Jul 17 at 9:09am by ObverseView
The London Bombs
My Story: Sarah Jane Sherlock
I am not directly affected by the bombs, and nor is any of my family, for which I am extremely grateful. I can’t imagine what it must be like, to fear a loved one’s remains are still underneath the Piccadilly Line train or scattered somewhere in Tavistock Square. It just is awful.
I was on my way to a course near Euston when the bombs went off. I twice tried and twice failed to get on a tube that morning, once before the bombs and once afterwards (I now realise). Fortunately, neither my planned route nor my various diverted routes took me close to the bombs – although, if the bus bomb really was intended for Charing Cross on the Northern Line, I would have been heading north on that line at roughly the time the bomber was heading south. Luckily for me, there were problems on the Northern Line that morning, so I wasn’t able to get on it and neither was the bomber.
Read the rest of this entry »
Wikipedia - mirabilis dictu
Jul 8 at 4:04am by ObverseView
I was quite amazed to see Wikipedia is really developing a section for Latin. You can click here to explore this. But it really is a wonderful attempt to give this ancient and important language a new literature that it hasn’t really outside the Catholic Church since academics gave up writing in Latin a few centuries ago.
Worth checking out.
K.
Wikipedia - mirabilis dictu
Jul 8 at 12:12am by ObverseView
Friday, July 8th, 2005
I was quite amazed to see Wikipedia is really developing a section for Latin. You can click here to explore this. But it really is a wonderful attempt to give this ancient and important language a new literature that it hasn’t really outside the Catholic Church since academics gave up writing in Latin a few centuries ago.
Worth checking out.
K.
DVDs Seinfeld
Jul 7 at 1:01am by ObverseView
Well, to my surprise, my wife has managed to watch two whole series of Seinfeld (Seinfeld - Season 3 and Seinfeld - The Complete Fourth Season) without chinese subtitles, and indeed on occasion, without any subtitles. She thoroughly enjoyed them, and I must confess so did I.
The series really begins to reach some magic in series 3, tight plots, humorous lines, believable characters, and very amusing overall. I thoroughly enjoyed this set. Take a look at the links in the first line. Very enjoyable.
skype and skypeIn
Jul 6 at 1:01am by ObverseView
I’ve been testing out the Skype phones as a viable alternative to both Dialpad (sucky) and Net2phone (a little better than sucky quality).
The quality is quite good, and even better for skype-to-skype since there’s no conversion to phone networks involved. I’ve got a handset that works very well with it from Lobos, though I discovered that their Skyme software updates doesn’t play with Windows 98, the version on CD works well (prior to 2.0.054) and Skype software, although recommended for XP, still plays nicely with Windows 98. So I can use them both at home and office.
SkypeIn service with the mailbox feature is very nice, I now have a telephone number in the UK where people can reach me without calling international, and a number in the US for my American friend(s). Very neat features. Pity there aren’t more countries for phone numbers as yet, but I guess they’re coming.
Overall, for the price, and ease of use, I’d have to give it a very high rating indeed ****/5.
