![\"Soros\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Soros.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nYou would have been better off staying in your simple market index funds! Surprise. Surprise.<\/p>\n
It’s the irony of being conservative.<\/p>\n
Rule number one: Can you lose it all?<\/p>\n
When in doubt, stay out.<\/strong><\/p>\n While you mull, there are wonderful small pleasures from taking a walk, going for a bike ride, playing tennis, binge-watching a Netflix hit.<\/p>\n Don’t chase high yields in “iffy” poor countries<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n My father once chased a 13% yield in Mexico, which was doing fine until Mexico devalued ts Peso.<\/p>\n The Mexican Peso and the Turkish Lire have now dropped to historic lows. It’s sad for them. Not good for their investors.<\/p>\n But it reiterates the message for us as investors: Don’t Do Stupid.<\/strong><\/p>\n Meantime, the Euro is dropping. Soon it will equal the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n Good news, Australia, which is continuing its 25-year streak without a recession, is seeing its dollar climb.<\/p>\n And the Russian Ruble is rising! But don’t go there.<\/p>\n Put all this foreign stuff in your “too-hard basket.” And stay out.<\/p>\n Computing stuff:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n + Complete clone backups are the key to peace of mind. Complete clone laptops are even better. When my iTunes wouldn’t synch properly after the hacker, I simply went to a different machine and downloaded the latest version of iTunes. Within seconds, it synched perfectly between my new laptop and my iPhone 6. The good news is that second hand laptops are so cheap on eBay. Set them up as a perfect clone for the one you’re working on now. Don’t try and repair a busted\/virus infected machine. Move to the new machine.<\/p>\n + Your iPhone’s biggest plus it its Personal Hotspot<\/strong>. It allows you to WiFi connect your laptop to the Internet. I use it to avoid the risks of public WiFi places like Starbucks or JetBlue.<\/p>\n Technology revisited. <\/strong><\/span>This is called the Peloton. It costs $1995 for the bike plus $40 a month for classes on the WiFi screen..<\/p>\n I’d consider the bike a total extravagance — except that I caught my son-in-law taking a class on Sunday from an attractive pushy broad thousands of miles away. She was the perfect motivator. He was pedaling (and sweating) like crazy. She was screaming at him. Now I hear my son is buying one. There’s the bike, the screen (actually it’s a computer) and the WiFi connection to the Internet. None of this technology is new. But putting it all together in one package is brilliant integration. For the technical specs click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Nice plug for Amazon:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n From Business Insider’s write up of the 10 Best Tech Gadgets I used in 2016<\/em>:<\/p>\n No gadget\u00a0I’ve used in the past year has impacted my life quite like the Amazon Echo.<\/p>\n I went from a skeptic to a believer in a matter for days; it’s the center of my smart home, my quick way to do conversions and calculations, and occasionally my go-to\u00a0Bluetooth speaker. Its versatility is a testament to Amazon’s desire to make Echo an open platform.<\/p>\n Buying one opens your home up to an entire ecosystem of devices, an ecosystem that continues to grow in interesting, and sometimes unexpected, directions.<\/p>\n Amazon Echo ($179.99) contains a powerful speaker. I have the Amazon Dot ($49.99) which has everything the Echo has, except the speakers. I simply plugged my Dot into some large speakers I had lying around.<\/p>\n Seriously stupid<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Bad, wonderful puns. <\/strong><\/span>They work for kids under 10.<\/p>\n + If you are attacked by killer clowns, go for the juggler.<\/p>\n + Acupuncture is a jab well done<\/p>\n + Practice safe eating – always use condiments<\/p>\n + A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy<\/p>\n + A hangover is the wrath of grapes<\/p>\n + Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n