Whatever...

A place to share stuff that isn't at all fintec related but is amusing, absurd or scary.

Retired Member 

The Twuth About Twitter - in plain language

There are some misconceptions going around about social networking such as twitter. The recent report which does not rate a link suggesting that teenagers don't use twitter, for instance is mistaken. If you want some idea of the potential of twitter and text based messaging - yes - they are one and the same... Get it? Anyone out there with kids who...

21 July 2009

Retired Member 

Wine is Another Business with Fraud Booming

I do enjoy a good wine, and have been spoiled by friends with great taste and great cellars so this FT article about fake wines caught my eye. I was struck by reports of almost amateur fraud occuring at wine auctions, often not spotted except by the winemaker themselves such as Burgundian Laurent Ponsot. It did provoke my thoughts to the point whe...

19 July 2009

Retired Member 

The Impending Black Hole In OZ unReal Estate

I live in a land of delusion. I like to think that I have a small grasp on economics. I don't claim to be an economist and when writing about it I often do so as the 'noneconomist'. I am concerned at the mass delusion gripping Australians. The price of real estate is unreal. We are seriously in danger of undermining the old rule of 'safe as houses'...

19 July 2009 /regulation

Retired Member 

The Web of Fraud and Nude Surfing

A recent foray into using a credit card to pay online proved quite enlightening. The only thing it 'lightened' was my daughter's wallet. While she is very familiar with my views about stealing music and not paying artists (heretofore the sole domain of record companies) she knows that I don't hold any stead in Apple being able to stop her playing ...

18 July 2009 /payments

Matt White North America editor at Finextra

From exchange floor to prison yard

You've got to feel for the Madoffs and Stanfords of this world. Federal prison is no country club and you suspect that these well-to-do white collar crooks are in for a bit of a shock when they get thrown in with the riff-raff. But never fear, Larry Levine is here to help them adjust. Larry served 10 years for fraud and drug dealing and he's puttin...

14 July 2009

Keith Appleyard IT Consultant at available for hire

118 800 mobile number directory crashes

I wrote back on 10th June about How to Opt out of the new UK Mobile Phone Directory https://www.finextra.com/blogs/fullblog.aspx?blogid=2942 The controversial service has been overwhelmed by users rushing to go ex-directory The site, which launched last month, now displays a holding page http://www.118800.co.uk/service_suspended.html which reads: &...

13 July 2009 /security /regulation

Retired Member 

Social Networking And Sharing Teenagers Doing It Right

I had the opportunity to host a dual birthday for two popular 16yr old girls and 50 of their friends, from diverse ethnic backgrounds recently. It was enlightening. The party had plenty of advance planning and I was able to follow the evolution of the idea, the planning and the execution through to the post party confab. The overall theme is really...

12 July 2009

Retired Member 

Bank 'Fee'ding Frenzy About To End In The US

Banks in the US are on the receiving end of long overdue examination into their practices in relation to overdraft charges. Transaction 'reordering', 'delaying' and other handy little systemic sleights of hand designed to extract the maximum fees from customers who fall into overdraft are attracting the ire of both consumers and the government. Wh...

10 July 2009 /retail

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Goldman fans flames for conspiracy theorists

Goldman Sachs hasn't had the best of press lately. A recent Rolling Stone article went as far as to describe the firm as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money". Others have noted that the firm's tentacles spread into every area of government...

10 July 2009 /wholesale

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Naming and shaming the banks

The UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published proposals that for the first time will 'name and shame' banks with a poor record for handling customer complaints. The proposals would see firms publishing their own complaints data every six months and the watchdog would publish results from the whole sector twice a year. Introducing the ...

10 July 2009 /retail