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I was prodded to look at this broadcast from Valentine’s Day by Keith Olbermann, anchor for MSNBC in the US of A.  Mr. Olbermann is a highly articulate chappie and is obviously a little angry with Mr. Bush over the FISA Bill.  This Bill would have allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) to tap into…

Due to the voracity of the stock markets and traders looking for new ways to wheel and deal, we will soon be trading in things we never thought of trading before.    For example, I was intrigued that Britney Spears has her own economy.  The poor lass, who is being hounded by the paparazzi to…

Another amazing area of change in the Middle East is the speed with which the banks can change core systems.  Many of the banks here have changed their core systems to offer improved wealth management services combined with Shari’ah compliant products.  This became clear when one of the keynote presenters asked the audience: “How many…

    There were a number of good presentations at my Middle Eastern conference, but the one that stood out was from the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) in Jordan.  Their CIO, Mohammad Hisham Al Khatib, presented their approach to technology and business continuity.  He’s been voted CIO of the year in the region by the…

    There were a number of good presentations at my Middle Eastern conference, but the one that stood out was from the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) in Jordan.  Their CIO, Mohammad Hisham Al Khatib, presented their approach to technology and business continuity.  He’s been voted CIO of the year in the region by the…

In a move that is sad in some ways, but unsurprising in others, ING emailed me today to say that they are closing down Our Virtual Holland (OVH), the experiment in online social networking in Second Life. I guess that they have realised, like many of us, that if Second Life’s banking system cannot be…

In a move that is sad in some ways, but unsurprising in others, ING emailed me today to say that they are closing down Our Virtual Holland (OVH), the experiment in online social networking in Second Life. I guess that they have realised, like many of us, that if Second Life’s banking system cannot be…

Chris Skinner gets in his rant about BA, and mine about Virgin follows. The scary thought, tho, is that the new CEO at Turquoise seems to think airlines are a model of customer service: In his presentation at Finexpo, Turquoise CEO Eli Lederman drew an extended analogy between trading venues and airlines with the entirely…

I think the last 24 hours must be a record for the catalogue of amusing errors, in hindsight, experienced during a brief visit to the Middle East.  I’m here for a two-day conference and cannot believe the journey down here. It starts off with a small thing like BA, as usual, not having my meal…

I think the last 24 hours must be a record for the catalogue of amusing errors, in hindsight, experienced during a brief visit to the Middle East.  I’m here for a two-day conference and cannot believe the journey down here. It starts off with a small thing like BA, as usual, not having my meal…