Thirsty Rock

2007 has turned out to be a difficult year for anyone involved with subprime mortgage lending and most should be relieved that this Annus Horribilis is coming to a close. Seventy billion dollars in write-downs was announced in the first two weeks of December, all related to so called NINJA loans (No Income, No Job, No Asset). Experts expect more losses before the situation normalizes late into 2008. This week the Federal Reserve Bank plans to auction some USD 40 billion in an effort to lubricate credit markets. Earlier attempts involving several hundred billions of dollars failed to move markets. Some doubt that the puny auction is sufficient to steady a 12.7 trillion dollar industry. It would appear that credit markets have taken on a life of their own, completely outside the Fed's province. Will 2008 be an Annus Mirabilis ? Perhaps not. The current turmoil must play itself out before banks recover from a collective position of distrust.

There are many pretenders to the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) throne. Skype is way ahead of the competition and has many a phone company worried sick. With an estimated 70 million users globally, Skype certainly punches above its weight. Users around the world enjoy free computer-to-computer calls over the internet while fixed-line phone companies look on helplessly. However Skype has failed to threaten the mobile telecommunications arena because of the non-standard (usually closed) operating systems embedded in mobile phones. In addition, Skype works best on broadband (high speed) internet connections such as Wi-Fi, a feature found only on the more expensive hand sets. The mobile phone market has largely been spared the onslaught from cheap VoIP calls. Until Fring showed up. What is Fring? This is what it says on the Fring website: Fring ‘s mobile VoIP application enables you to make voice calls, chat and check out who’s online before dialing (real-time presence), no ma