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I recently bought a external hard disk backup plus seagate 3T after 2 weeks it die on me and cannot be read because it is now RAW had to go to a data recovery centre the questions are: 1. are there any reliable reports on the most reliable hard disk for consumers (not talking about hard disk to be used in NASA space craft) 2. if yes what brand - Lacie 3. backup sounded a bit ridiculous, used a backup drive to backup another backup drive 4. most company writes life span of 5years but warranty only 3years 5. backup with DVD - any issues, backward compatibility thanks nope the answers provided will be useful for others too

The largest U.S. public pension fund intends to sever ties with roughly half of the firms handling its money, one of the most aggressive industry moves yet to reduce fees paid to Wall Street investment managers. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or Calpers, will tell its investment board on June 15 of its plans to reduce the number of direct relationships it has with private-equity, real-estate and other external funds to about 100 from 212, said Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos. The action will be made public on Monday. The dramatic move by the $305 billion Sacramento-based retirement system will create some big winners and losers in the investing world. The list of external money managers Calpers uses include some of the biggest names on Wall Street, including private-equity firms Carlyle Group LP, KKR & Co. and Blackstone GroupLP. The push by Calpers to downsize could have broader ramifications beyond its own portfolio. Calpers is considered an industry bellwether because of its size and history as an early adopter of alternatives to stocks and bonds, and the shift could prompt other U.S. pensions to scale back their ties to Wall Street. “There really will be a significant amount of discussion at other pensions” about whether they should cut external managers in the wake of Calpers’s decision, said Allan Emkin, a managing director at Pension Consulting Alliance who has advised the fund since the 1980s. The pullback would take place over the next five years and is expected to save Calpers hundreds of millions of dollars in management fees. It paid $1.6 billion to external managers last year. The reduction in outside managers won’t fundamentally change Calpers’s investment strategy, or the percentage of assets managed in-house versus externally. The remaining 100 or so outside managers will simply get a bigger pool of funds varying from $350 million to more than $1 billion, Mr. Eliopoulos added. The goal, Mr. Eliopoulos said, is “to gain the best deal on costs and fees that we can.” The 50-year-old Mr. Eliopoulos became the pension fund’s top investment official last September after helping Calpers recover from severe losses sustained during the 2008 financial crisis as head of its real-estate portfolio. His first major move as chief was to shed a $4 billion investment in hedge funds, part of a movement to simplify the approach of a fund that in recent decades loaded up on assets such as real estate, private equity and commodities. Fees paid to outside managers have ballooned over the past decade as many public retirement systems followed Calpers into hedge funds and private equity in an attempt to boost long-term returns and meet their mounting obligations to retirees. But now some pension officials are tiring of the high expenses often charged by outside managers as state and local governments struggle to make up for losses incurred during the financial crisis. Many U.S. pensions, including Calpers, still don’t have enough assets to cover their future costs despite a run-up in the stock market in recent years. “Fees are becoming an increasingly scrutinized area at public pensions,” said Jean-Pierre Aubry, an assistant director at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. In New York City, outside money-management expenses are under review after an April report from Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said external investment firms have cost the city’s local retirement systems billions in the past decade. A similar discussion is under way in New Jersey, where state pensions have paid out $1.5 billion in fees over the past five years, according to a recent report presented to the state Senate last Thursday. In Pennsylvania, where the state is grappling with a $50 billion pension hole, Gov. Tom Wolf declared in a March budget address that “we are going to stop excessive fees to Wall Street managers.” California’s proposed reduction in outside managers is part of a larger effort to reduce risk and complexity at a fund that manages investments and benefits for 1.7 million current and retired workers. Calpers posted a total return of 18.4% for its most recent fiscal year ended June 30, beating its benchmark, but it only has enough assets to cover 77% of its future retirement payouts. As recently as 2007, Calpers had about 300 external managers—a remnant of its pioneering foray into alternative investments such as real estate, hedge funds and private equity. Over the past eight years, it reduced that number to 212, but it is still difficult for the pension fund to effectively monitor all of its investments, according to Mr. Eliopoulos. There are so many outside managers currently that Calpers doesn’t have the ability to make sure all those funds share the same objectives as the large California pension fund and are performing well, according to Calpers Chief Operating Investment Officer Wylie Tollette. “We need to do a better job of keeping track of how those managers evolve, what strategies they’re good at, what they may not be good at to ensure they’re effectively earning their place at the table every year,” said Mr. Tollette, who currently gives Calpers a “B-minus” at doing those tasks. “For an organization like Calpers we need to be an A, if not an A-plus,” Mr. Tollette said. As a measure of overall assets, Calpers currently pays about 0.34% toward management fees, Mr. Tollette said. In 2014, the $1.6 billion spent on those expenses included a one-time incentive payment of $400 million to real-estate funds. Mr. Tollette said that by 2020 he would like to see the amount drop “below” 0.25% of total assets, excluding performance fees. External funds charge management fees, plus a share of the investing profits. Calpers doesn’t expect to immediately terminate outside firms or liquidate holdings, according to Mr. Eliopoulos, who pushed for the hedge-fund decision as well as the move to whittle the number of external funds. The fund’s evaluation of external managers is expected to begin next month. Calpers will consider investing performance, the length of the relationship and strategy, among other factors, Mr. Eliopoulos said. The biggest cuts are expected to occur in Calpers’s private-equity portfolio, where the number of private-equity managers will slim to about 30 from roughly 100. Real estate will go to 15 outside managers from 51. Fixed income and global equity, which is largely managed in-house, will drop to roughly 30 from nearly 60 now. Only the group that invests in timber and infrastructure projects like roadways is expected to rise, from about six managers to 10. Some 15 slots will go to upstart firms that Calpers plans to identify over the next several years. Mr. Eliopoulos said the staff discussed a reduction higher or lower than roughly 100 but decided to land on a whole number. “There’s no science to this. This is a judgment,” he said.

Hi Anyone can advisse me can I connect my TV to an external audio system thru the TV Audio out (as shown below, whcih usually red & white connection) using a AUX cable? I can local AUX in from my audio system main unit.

Hi all, just checking if possible to have a 2nd micro sd card attached via a reader/ cable to my note 2 instead of inserting into the actual sd card slot? got such device? example like a laptop, you plug in 2 thumbdrives like that... Cuz sometimes i want to view the car cam footages on my hp...

Hi The rubber trims like antenna base and sunroof trim is getting brittle and somewhat cracking. ANy products you guys use to restore and protect from further deteroriations?

as above. link: http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/compute...BK240AA%2523AC3

hi guys, Need some help, friend's laptop suddenly shut off while connected to the external HDD and now the external HDD got some problem. anyone can advise how to recover the data or something? any help will be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks in advance Cheers

Hi Guys & Gals here, Are there any places that we can get external fog lights and also includes installation? I am looking for the hella brand or equivalent that is rectangular in shape to fit infront of my grill. Thanks!

I have a faulty seagate external hard drive still in warrenty... how do I repair/exchange it? the website does not show any places/shops that I can go... Anyone have any ideas?

Mitsubishi Motors raises forecasts By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo Published: October 30 2007 09:49 | Last updated: October 31 2007 00:07 Mitsubishi Motors on Tuesday revised its full-year sales and profits forecast after reporting a 30 per cent rise in first-half sales and profits, reflecting strong performances in overseas markets. MMC, which had its first operating and pre-tax profits for the first half in five years, raised its full-year revenue forecast by 11 per cent to Y2,700bn ($23bn) and its operating profit forecast by 37 per cent to Y70bn. For the full 2006 year, sales were Y2,203bn and operating profits Y40.2bn. The net income forecast for the full year was unchanged at Y20bn due to expectations of higher taxes. MMC

Hi guys, 1. Wanted to find out whether a universal interface exist for an external GPS module to be connected to those 2DIN LCD Panel HU? My Liliput 2608MT has a jack that connects to an external GPS module but the original GPS module is just too expensive. 2. I'm wondering that if the GPS module is just making use of the LCD to display map, it shouldn't be too difficult to get more resonably priced external GPS module to interface with it. Can the experts or those who have tried it advise me. Thank you very much. Regards,

I have got hold of a Delay Timer circuit board with built in relay soldered on it. I intend to use this delay timer to control a small 12VDC water pump. Specification on the Delay Timer circuit board package says Relay Contact Rating: 7A @ 30VDC. Printed on the physical relay soldered on the board says 12A @ 28VDC. I was told that small water pump I have draws about 7.2A ~ 7.3A at start & steady 4A running. Should I run the pump off an additional relay to the Delay Timer Circuit Board ? Noting that the pump may be ran in a 5sec ON 5sec OFF fashion. Appreciate any input from guys familiar with electronics/electrical. TIA.

Hi there, 1. My GPS comes with an external antenna, which is a long & thin wire that is connected to a squarish piece of magnet that can be attached to the car roof. 2. I'm wondering whether I can affixed a functional external car antenna that is used for example like those on Jazz or Stream to my GPS. Any Bros, know where to get it done? Thank you very much. Regards,

Hi Been searching high low for this product. Anyone knows where to get it in SG plus installation? Thanks

Hi, Anyone driving a Kia Rio with the Sony CD/MP3 player? When I collected my car, the SE told me that there was a way to connect any mp3 player or discman to the player with the wire below the Sony set itself. There's sort of like a drawer with a headphone jack. Does anyone know how to use this? I was in a hurry so did not have time to ask her to show me how to use it... Thanks...