MyNewsCorner

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Ugur Evirgen

In a HedgeCo story, online database and analysis service provider DataMonitor predicts strong growth in funds of hedge funds over the next year, with less demand for single hedge funds.

In their report, 'Hedge Funds in Europe 2008', surveys show that asset managers in Spain and Italy believe most strongly that the demand for funds of hedge funds will outstrip that for single hedge funds, followed by France, Germany and finally the UK.

Across the five core economies in Western Europe - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - institutional investors now dominate the market for hedge funds. On average, slightly more than two-thirds of asset managers confirmed that this group represents their biggest customer segment for hedge funds today.

40% of asset managers in Italy say mass market investors may also be put off by the price of hedge fund investment. In Spain, on the other hand, demand from mass market clients is being limited by competition from capital-protected and structured products and inadequate promotion of hedge fund products by banks and advisers.

The report presents views on the market for hedge fund investment based on a survey of 100 leading asset managers across Europe.

By:  Alex Akesson                        Source

© photo_by

Sony plans to expand their high definition LCD Bravia television line to over 30 products. They recently announced plans to release new products ranging from sizes 40 to 70 inches.

The new Bravia products will all have 1080p display and include Sony XBR which features; Digital Media Extender (DMeX), Motionflow and x.v. Color support. The new models will also feature Digital Media Port (DMP) technology.

The Sony Bravia model key feature is the 'Triluminos' local-dimming feature which claims superior contrast compared to plasma televisions. Unfortunately, the feature will only be available in the 55-inch KDL-55XBR8 and 46-inch KDL-46XBR8 models. According to a recent post on Twice, Triluminos LED backlighting expands an LCD TV's color range by using a cluster of red, green, and blue LEDs to replace a single white LED to backlight the display panel. Local dimming improves video contrast and dynamic range by reducing backlight levels area by area on the display to maintain detail in dark areas of the screen during a scene. The reduced light emissions yield deep blacks and reduce power consumption.

Sound like the right 1080p HDTV for you? Please comment back and let us know.

-itsTripple

By:  Tripple                        Source

Right. Because Kewpie dolls aren”t scary or weird enough on their own, Strapya World took it upon themselves to offer the strangest assortment of 1.57-inch Kewpie cell phone charms the world has ever seen.

There’’s the one that’’s in the process of melting into a puddle, the anorexic one, the fat one, the sperm one (yes, you read that right), and the one called simply “Gross Q.” Not only am I about to lose my lunch, but I”m also quite shocked at how big those brains are.

Available now for about $6 each.

Via Shiny Shiny.

By:  Sarah                        Source

Almost everyone that you know is probably on a social networking sites. MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn …. if you do anything online then you're probably signed up with one of these sites. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're dating on them. Should you be?

Social networking sites can be used for all different kinds of things. Most people who go on them are interested in staying in touch with old friends. Increasingly, people are also using these sites to network professionally in search of jobs or to build their small businesses by attracting clients. So it's not necessarily true that someone on a social networking site is interested in dating.

However, since there are so many people using these sites, a certain number of them are certainly interested in dating. Some people say that they prefer to meet people on social networking sites rather than on online dating sites because it gives them a chance to get to know people on a different level. When you're on a dating site, you talk mostly about dating. On a social networking site, you may cover dating along with a plethora of other topics.

On the other hand, you may develop a crush on someone in your social networking circle only to discover that they aren't interested in dating at all. That doesn't happen on an online dating site since everyone who is there is there to possibly date someone else. So the broader pool of people that you can find on an online dating site may actually be too broad.

Like with anything else, there are pros and cons to using either a social networking site or a dating site to meet people. Those folks who are serious about trying to find a date may discover that their luck is best when they use both types of sites to get results.

Question of the Day: Do online dating sites or social networking sites work better for you?

By:  Kathryn Vercillo                        Source

Psychology studies that rely on deceiving participants have shown we often have little clue what’’s going on in our own minds. But what about in everyday situations where trickery isn”t involved?

Here are four everyday situations - shopping, reading, watching TV and judging other people - and four experiments that show how little we know in each situation about what’’s really going on in our minds (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977).

Shopping
For this study researchers set themselves up in a mall pretending to carry out a consumer survey on nightgowns and nylon stockings. Passersby were asked to evaluate what they were told were four different nightgowns and four different pairs of stockings. In fact, all four items were identical.

Quite by accident they discovered a positional effect for the identical goods: people seemed to prefer the item that was on the far right. In fact this effect was really obvious for the stockings. The right-most pair, although identical to the left-most was preferred by a factor of four to one.

When asked why they had chosen a particular item, no one mentioned its position. Even when experimenters suggested to people that the position might have an effect, most participants looked at best very confused and at worst utterly dismissive.

Result: these people didn”t have a clue why they preferred one identical pair of stockings over another.

Reading
In this study participants read a passage from the novel ”Rabbit, Run” by John Updike. The extract from the book involves an emotionally charged scene in which an alcoholic mother, while washing her baby in the bath, accidentally drowns and kills her.

Four conditions were used:
The scene was presented in its entiretyA part of the scene - a description of the baby’’s messy crib - was deleted.A different part of the scene - a physical description of the baby - was deleted.Both (2) and (3)
Afterwards participants rated the emotional impact of the particular passage they had read. Comparing the ratings of the participants in the four conditions showed that there was barely any difference between emotional ratings (certainly nothing statistically significant). It seemed the emotional impact of the extract was unaffected by deleting either or both of these sections.

Then, if they were in condition 2, 3, or 4 participants were shown the parts that had been deleted and asked if it would have made any difference to the emotional impact of the extract if they had been included.

By:  Jerry                        Source

This gym in Sao Paulo, Brazil cost $10 million to build and was built to be as coolly sustainable as possible. Rain water is reused for cleaning, there are solar panels everywhere, and even the pool has been treated with ozone to help protect it instead of harmful chlorine. This gym is a great start to the green revolution!

The gym site is here.

By:  Meieli Sawyer Deton                        Source

Dordt is an abbreviation for the Dutch town of Dordrecht. On May 17 and 18, 2008, the largest steam power event in Europe will be held for the thirteenth time in Dordrecht.

Organisers expect 250,000 visitors at this steam celebration. The gigantic event is spread across two areas in the city which are linked with ships, trains and old-timer busses.

On the Dordt in Steam site you can play the steam organ.

(via Istasworld)

By:  Gerard                        Source

Have you ever wondered where the government stores its most precious documents and artifacts, or where they process top secret information and carry out military attacks on the enemy?

This is a list of 15 of the most secret and secure facilities on the planet, many of which you probably have never even heard of because their locations are classified. Many of these secret bases are hidden beneath the ground, inside of a mountain or located in the middle of nowhere.

By:  Gerard                        Source

I never had a chance to meet Art Astor but we do have something in common. A 50-year broadcasting veteran, Art is also a renowned classic cars collector. I'm a 50-year veteran of automobile journalism and a former broadcaster. When I learned of his extraordinary Californian museum with its 250 cars and remarkable collection of early radios, telephones, televisions and microphones I immediately posted a blog. An entrepreneur who owned a network of radio stations, Art Astor used some of the profits to build his unique classic car and broadcasting museum.

Like most of us, Art Astor eventually felt the need to downsize and has now put Canada's RM Auctions in charge of selling his cars, his broadcast equipment (all in working condition), and an eclectic variety of Art Deco furniture and decor. The cars include Howard Hughes' 1940 Cadillac Series 75 Formal Sedan; a restored 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Playboy Roadster purchased by silent-film star Tom Mix; and a 1957 Chrysler 300C Convertible formerly owned by musician Richard Carpenter. It's a "no reserve" sale, taking place June 27-29 in Anaheim, California.

By:  Philip Powell                        Source

“At the heart of Oren Jacoby’’s screen adaptation of James Carroll’’s book [Constantine’’s Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History] lies a question to which each person of faith must his find own answer,” writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. “When your core beliefs conflict with church doctrine, how far should your loyalty to the church extend?…. At once enthralling and troubling, the film…. does about as good a job as you could hope of distilling a 750-page historical examination of religious zealotry and power into 95 swift minutes.”

“In many ways [Carroll] makes an ideal guide to the subject, not just because of his several years as a Catholic priest, but also because of his unique positioning at the confluence of religion and war,” notes Chris Barsanti at Filmcritic.com. “At the height of the Vietnam War, while Father Carroll was protesting at the Pentagon, his father, a hard-nosed conservative Catholic, was inside helping direct the conflict as first director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.”

By:  dwhudson                        Source