Archive for March 14th, 2008

Lifehacker is running a contest for the next couple of weeks.  the prize?  An autographed copy of their latest book, “Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better” by Gina Trapani.

To join the contest, you need to send them your ideal life hack - whether it’s a quicker way to do laundry, a way to make your computer more efficient, or something you built that makes your life superior.  10 books are up for grabs, and if any of you are as obsessed with productivity as I’m, maybe you’ve got a winning lifehack on your hands.  See the contest page for more details.

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PimpYourWork.com

Below is an interesting slideshow entitled “Visual and Creative Thinking: What we’ve learned from Peter Pan and Willy Wonka”. It has 43 slides that shows us how to be creative in this fast-paced modern world.

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Miki Saxon over at Leadership Turn has a great series on the current situation in U.S. healthcare, with several posts on “U.S. healthcare leadership - an oxymoron.” 

Since we Baby Boomers certainly have a vested interest in this subject, get over to Miki’s site and let her know what you think.

I’m still in the process of checking on individual healthcare insurance, and I’ll report on that in the upcoming week.

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Occidental Executive Exercises Options
Forbes - They file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies’ shares. Open market buys and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.

Ron Sugar: Tanker Deal Should Stand
Los Angeles Business Journal - Are you concerned that the Air Force’s refueling plane will be built by a partnership of Northrop Grumman and a European consortium? Yes, a major American defense program should not be in the hands of foreign companies because of the loss of

US Home Passes Spy Bill, Rejects Phone Immunity
Javno - The Democratic-led U.S. Home of Representatives defied President George W. Bush on Friday and passed an anti-terrorism spy bill that permits lawsuits against phone companies. But the 213-197 vote was far short of the two-thirds majority needed to

Green, Clean Opportunities: Wall Street Reporter Gets the Scoop on
Forbes - NEW YORK, March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Green and clean companies are the specialty of the Winslow Green Growth Fund (WGGFX) and manager Matthew Patsky recently told Wall Street Reporter how he’s built a portfolio of names that combine value

Duo remanded over ‘US shares scam’
Western Telegraph - US prosecutors said they traced fraudulent proceeds into bank accounts for two companies owned by Paul Gunter - Home Town Properties Suncoast and Home Town Properties of Florida Development.

Yahoo moves European HQ from London to Switzerland
Guardian Unlimited - Yahoo, one of the world’s leading technology companies, has intensified the debate about Britain’s capability to hang on to massive business by announcing it is moving its European headquarters from London to Switzerland. In a move that the business lobby

Dad and daughter team ‘con 15,000 Britons out of £35m in US boiler
Daily Mail - Shares in a total of 54 companies were involved. But all turned out to be worthless – and investors handed over an estimated £35million in just two years, wiring the money to Florida bank accounts allegedly operated by Gunter and his team.

Set sail for the swashbuckling Isas
Daily Telegraph - This fund provides exposure to utility companies in emerging economies. The managers use a broad definition of utilities to include airports, toll roads and ports.

Veteran Globe reporter leaving to edit international news site
Boston Globe - Hostetter Jr., who is chairman of Pilot House Associates, a cofounder of Continental Cablevision (one of the nation’s first cable companies), and chairman of AT&T Broadband.

Wyeth’s Essner got $20.1 million in 2007
Forbes - The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

EFF Applauds House Passage of Surveillance Bill with No Telecom
Electronic Frontier Foundations - Washington, D.C. - This morning the Home of Representatives passed a compromise surveillance bill that does not include retroactive immunity for phone companies alleged to have assisted in the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program. The bill would

Dividends: The Sweet Spot
BusinessWeek - Even if stocks go nowhere this year—a distinct possibility as a recession looms—investors can get returns by hunting for companies that pay healthy dividends. You receive the company’s quarterly payouts even if its stock, and the entire market

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For $12.5 million this gorgeous estate in Potomac, Maryland could be your new abode. A colonial style home built in 2004, this big home has ten bedrooms, eleven baths and five powder rooms. With 2.7 acres to enjoy, including the 50-foot swimming pool with waterfalls and lighted outdoor tennis court, this 25,000 square feet house affords plenty of space for entertaining guests or hosting huge family gatherings. Every room that could be conceived of is included — media room, wine cellars, staff quarters, exercise room and sauna, and a six-car garage. Plus it is conveniently close to downtown Washington D.C. and a few nearby airports. All it needs is a barn for horses to make it complete — at least in my eyes.

[Thanks, Matthew F.]

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Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has become the latest member off the celebrity foreclosure club. According to the Detroit Free Press she has said that an attorney’s mistake is the reason that her $700,000 mansion in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan has slipped into foreclosure over a mere $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees. She now owes a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007. She has plans to pay up and get the slate-roofed brick mansion on Hamilton Road (see photo at the Detroit Free Press article) back before the March 31 foreclosure deadline. TMZ has Aretha’s official foreclosure documents.

In related celebrity foreclosure news, Michael Jackson’s attorneys say that he has worked out a deal with Fortress Investment Group to save Neverland, his large California estate which has been flirting with foreclosure for months now. The move will avoid the March 19 auction date for the home. I still state this is just a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Jackson likely can’t afford the home and he can’t seem to find anyone who will purchase it from him.

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Another prime Newport, Rhode Island estate has gone on the market. Like Beechwood, another Newport estate we’ve covered as an estate of the day, Oakwood has a connection to the Astor family. It was the 19th-century summer residence of Mary Alida Astor Carey, the daughter of William Backhouse Astor, a son of John Jacob Astor. The home was built in the late 1860s and was one of the first summer retreats for the rich in the area. It was added to in the 1870s with a three-story tower, music room, ballroom and kitchen wing all added.

The Boston Globe reports that the current owner is J. Brian O’Neill, a Pennsylvania-based real estate developer who bought the property in 2004. He has shepherded it through a redesign that included expanding the master suite and adding a luxury water closet above the enclosed rear terrace that overlooks the pool. The home has maintained some of its grandeur, the most beautiful room in the home is the dining room that has walls lined with 56 hand-painted Chinese panels, but has also been updated for today’s less formal society with a family room and a home theater. Key details in the seven-bedroom home include parquet floors, a Baccarat chandelier in the music room, carved mantels and beautiful woodwork. The nearly six-acre property includes a six-hole putting green, a lawn tennis court, a reflecting pool stocked with koi, a rose garden, and ancient oak and split-leaf beech trees. It is listed at $10.75 million.

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Need more proof that Florida’s real estate market is in deep trouble? Here it is, both Sotheby’s Realty and Coldwell Banker are making moves on the real estate auction front. Sol Sotheby’s International Realty and Nestler Poletto Sotheby’s International Realty have announced they’ll hold their first luxury property auction for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties on March 28 in Fort Lauderdale, putting more than $200 million in high-end properties on the block. Most of the properties will be sold to the highest qualified bidder with no limiting conditions or amounts.

The same company that is working with Sotheby’s, Daniel DeCaro Real Estate Auctions, is also helping Coldwell Banker Real Estate Florida with auctions. They now offer clients the option of auctioning off their homes in Central Florida rather than selling in the traditional manner.

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In the summer it can take an awfully long time to get to the outer reaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts but it is worth it. Today’s estate is a prime example of the reason that thousands flock to the Cape once the weather warms up. It is situated on a sheltered salt water inlet with access to Pleasant Bay. The four-bedroom home is on an acre of land and it has a new kitchen, a large living room with vaulted ceilings and a screened porch. One particularly charming detail is the boathouse at the water’s edge with a loft area and game room. . It is listed at $4.275 million, pricey for a home with less than 4,000 square feet but you’re paying for the location in one of the most picturesque New England towns. Although the middle range of the Cape Cod market has dropped considerably, prices of the high end home still seem to be reaching for the stars.

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Given today’s hazardous real estate market , it makes me a bit nervous to see a newly constructed home over 20,000 square feet hit the market. This one in Stony Point, New York is a real humdinger. It is luxury on a grand scale with monumental double-height rooms. It has full-house automated lighting ,security cameras and an audio/video Creston system. The main home includes a cherry wood library, office, billiard room, gym, wine cellar, 21-seat theater and a four-stop elevator. There is also a 3800 square foot carriage house which is attached to the main house via covered breezeway and underground tunnel and a 2800 square-foot pool home giving the entire property ten bedrooms total. The 2.5 acre property also has a lighted 50100 sport court and a heated custom pool with a spa. It is listed at $9.5 million.

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