Avi over at RBC Applied Innovation just sent me $1 through RBCMobex.  I just registered, and 3 minutes later I am all set.  The registration process is pretty slick, and once my account has been validated the money will be there.  The beauty of this system is that it can be used with any bank, and its simple to use.  The problem with the banks Electronic Money Transfer system is that it is online banking only.  RBC Mobex is mobile, and you can send to anyone at the moment you need to do it, rather than wait until you get … Continue reading RBC update | rbcmobex and other things underway

I am going out on a limb here, pre vote in the Senate this evening.  I am now wondering if the bailout is the right thing … why?  Here are some reasons: Things to expect post bailout: a major credit card company will go bankrupt in 2009 – you pick the one (I think I know which one) 2,000 – 3,000 regional US Banks will go bankrupt in 2009 ( there are 8,000 banks right now) a non-North American institution will go under So what should we / North America/ EEC do when 1, 2, or 3 happens?  Is the … Continue reading Time to rethink the bailout | what will we do after the bailout, when the next crisis hits?

Some of the best parts of blogging are in the comments.  Today the Economist had an article on the American attempts to resolve the debt crisis, and whom is responsible.  This comment on an article is worth the read.  What caught my attention was Juntai’s point about “an epidemic of inaccurate thinking”.  If that isn’t a clarion call for our times then I don’t know what is.  Its a non political clarion call for some reality thinking.  I want your money | Economist Juntai wrote: September 27, 2008 23:28 The biggest problem we have as a nation is an epidemic … Continue reading Whose fault is it anyway?

What a difference 24 hours makes.  Now Lloyds are in advanced talks to takeover HBOS and avert this crisis.  What will the next crisis be though? FT.com / Lex / Financial services & property – HBOS That prospect is of course so terrifying for the UK government that it will do everything in its power to avert such an outcome. HBOS, after all, houses one pound in every five saved in the UK. If that means allowing Lloyds TSB to acquire a dominant position in UK retail banking – the combined group would control about a third of the UK … Continue reading HBOS handles 20% of UK Banking

Still off topic here, but hey, internet stuff is important, right!  I find this new browser stable, fast, and simple. Here are a few undocumented commands that can be typed into the Google Chrome address bar, that provide stats on the browser operation. about:memory about:stats about:histogram about:cache about:version about:dns about:plugins about:stats about:network Continue reading Google Chrome browser hidden commands | last off topic post [this week]