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Build an equity mutual fund portfolio with these simple steps
September 14, 2019 / M. Pattabiraman / 7 Comments
Published: September 14, 2019 at 10:11 am
Last Updated on September 14, 2019 at 10:11 am
By M. Pattabiraman Follow on Twitter @freefincal
Build an equity mutual fund portfolio with these simple steps by SEBI Registered Investment Advisor Swapnil Kendhe. Yesterday Swapnil discussed equity portfolio construction for retail investors with a listing of options available and the pros and cons of each. He also talked about why mutual funds make sense and discussed the problems a typical investor faces when it comes to mutual fund selection. In this article, he goes to offer solutions. If you have not read part one, please do (link above) and then come back to this.
Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor and part of my list of fee-only financial planners. You can learn more about him and his service via his website Vivektaru. In the recently conducted survey of readers working with fee-only advisers, Swapnil has received excellent feedback from clients: Are clients happy with fee-only financial advisors: Survey Results.
As a regular contributor here, he is a familiar name to regular readers. His approach to risk and returns are similar to mine, and I love the fact that he continually pushes himself to become better as you see from his articles:
Becoming a competent & capable financial advisor: My journey so far
Are you a conservative investor? Here is how you can grow your money smartly
SEBI Registered Investment Adviser Application Process: step by step guide
Looking for a fee-only financial planner? Here is a list of questions to ask before you sign up
Should Mutual Fund Distributors become SEBI Registered Investment Advisors?
Everything you need to know about equity portfolio construction
What is the solution if we cannot spot future mutual fund outperformers?
There are no reliable tools or strategies that can help us select, in advance, funds that will outperform peers and benchmark based on past performance. Even if there are, retail investors and most advisers with their limited resources and understanding of investing cannot use them successfully. What is the solution then?
The solution could be simple. If we cannot find the best performing funds of the future, the focus should be on finding competent fund managers with a proven track record across market cycles. It requires at least ten years of data to draw any inference about the skills of the fund manager. This means avoiding relatively inexperienced fund managers irrespective of their superior short-term performance. We would miss future stars of the fund management industry, but since there is a risk of ending up with lucky fools in the search for future stars, we should not try to do that.
This search would mostly lead us to fund managers managing funds in older and established AMCs. These fund managers are unlikely to deliver the highest return majorly because of the significant assets they manage, which restricts some options for generating a higher return. But we can have some surety that competent fund managers are managing our investments, which reduces the probability of serious underperformance. These fund managers are also likely to have better support infrastructure and qualified teams working with them. Finding three or four competent fund managers and letting them manage the money is all retail investors should aim for.
Fund review
Conventionally, fund performance is compared with the category average return and the benchmark return. If fund beats both, it is continued; and if it underperforms, it is changed with a better performing fund. This looks sensible thing to do. The only problem, this approach doesn't work.
All fund managers have a style of their own. One fund manager could have value investing bias while another has a bias for a growth style of investing. Market's behaviour doesn't match any style consistently every year. Value style fund managers who invest with a margin of safety and detest investing at expensive stock valuations underperform when the entire market disregards investment fundamentals in a bull market. Similarly, growth style fund managers underperform in bear markets. All fund managers go through a period of underperformance.
It is irrational to expect fund managers to beat benchmark and peers consistently every year; because no fund manager can do that. It is not a fund manager's job either. His job is to generate a good return over the long term, not to beat benchmark and peers every year. As a rule of thumb, one should never invest with a fund manager whom he cannot give at least five years to perform. Over shorter periods, it is luck more than skill which determines the fund manager's performance.
It is wrong to change funds after a short period of underperformance. When you have a quality fund manager with a proven track record managing your money, stick with him during the period of underperformance.
When should I change the fund?
If the style of fund management changes (e.g. a multicap fund changes to a largecap or midcap fund), I would change the fund. If I am investing in a fund because I trust the fund manager and fund manager leaves the job, I may want to change the fund if I am not as comfortable with the new fund manager. But if the new fund manager has a long enough track record of good performance, I would continue with the fund.
The toughest decision is when a fund, managed by a competent fund manager, goes through a period of underperformance. Advisers are highly likely to change such funds because if they don't, clients could think of them as not doing their job well. But the fund we leave can very well recover, and the new fund we choose may start underperforming. Likewise, an underperforming fund can continue to underperform in the future.
I have not yet arrived at any satisfactory solution to this problem. We had chosen the old fund because of its superior past performance, and then it underperformed. Why won't the same thing happen with the new fund?
If fund selection and review were easy and straightforward, no adviser or mature investor would have felt the need to use index funds. Let us discuss index funds before discussing portfolio construction.
"The best way to own common stocks is through an index fund that charges minimal fees. Those following this path are sure to beat the net results (after fees and expenses) delivered by the great majority of professionals." -Warren Buffett
(In establishing a trust for his wife's estate, Warren Buffett directed that 90 per cent of its assets be invested in a low-cost S&P 500 Index fund.)
An index fund is a fund that holds all the stocks in the underlying index to mimic the overall performance of that index. At present, Nifty50 and Nifty Next50 are two best index fund options available for investors in India. These funds mimic the portfolio of the Nifty and Nifty Next50 Index, respectively.
Most investors and many advisers believe that it is easy to beat index fund returns. In reality, most fund managers do not beat index fund returns both over short and long periods.
Why most fund managers cannot beat index fund returns?
To understand this, we must understand how indices are constructed. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) are the two biggest stock exchanges in India. There are approximately 4500 listed companies on BSE and around 1600 listed companies on NSE. Most big companies are listed on both stock exchanges. Sensex is the stock market index of BSE, while Nifty is that of NSE.
Let us try to understand how the Nifty index is constructed. Index construction is a little more complex than discussed below, but we want to understand the concept of index construction, not the details.
The top 100 companies based on full market capitalisation listed on NSE are called Nifty100. Full market capitalisation is the current price of stock multiplied by the total number of stocks of the company. Or in simple words, it is the amount an investor needs to spend if he wants to purchase 100% ownership of the company.
Nifty50 index represents the top 50 companies from Nifty100 based on free-float market capitalisation. Free float market capitalisation is the market capitalisation calculated after excluding shares held by promoters and strategic investors.
Nifty Next50 Index represents 50 companies from Nifty100 after excluding the Nifty50 companies. Likewise, Sensex represents the top 30 companies listed on BSE by free-float market capitalisation.
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The weight of each stock in the index depends on its free-float market capitalisation. Higher the free-float market capitalisation of the company, higher its allocation in the index. At present, HDFC Bank is the biggest company in India by free-float market capitalisation; therefore, its weight is highest in both Nifty and Sensex. If the free-float market capitalisation of another Nifty business is 1/10th of HDFC Bank, its weight in Nifty would be 1/10th of HDFC Bank's weight.
Since the weight of each stock in the index depends on its free-float market capitalisation, which depends on the stock price, when the stock price of any company goes up, its weight in the index goes up. Likewise, weight of any business whose stock price goes down also automatically comes down. If any company is no longer in the top 50 companies by free-float market capitalisation, it is replaced by another successful company. In any calendar year, a maximum of five businesses can be replaced. These changes in the index are done semi-annually.
Nifty50 index value is calculated using the following formula:
Nifty50 Index Value = (Current total free-float market capitalisation of Nifty50 companies/total free-float market capitalisation of Nifty50 companies on Nov 03, 1995) * 1000
Though the Nifty50 index fund mimics the portfolio of the Nifty50 index, the returns from the index fund are higher than that of the Nifty50 index return. This happens because the dividend index fund scheme receives is reinvested in the portfolio. Nifty50 value doesn't reflect the effect of dividend reinvestment.
Index funds benefit from price discovery by the collective wisdom of the market. It is tough to outguess the market and generate a higher return.
Another big reason most actively managed funds underperform index funds is their higher expenses. Actively managed funds charge significantly higher expense compared to index funds (the expense ratio of HDFC Equity Fund-Direct Plan is 1.27% per annum as against 0.1% expense of HDFC Index Fund Nifty 50 Plan-Direct Plan).
There are additional expenses that mutual fund schemes incur like the brokerage paid on purchase and sale of stocks, which are not included in the expense ratio of the scheme (This expense gets hidden during NAV calculation. Suppose a fund manager sells a stock for ₹100 and pays ₹0.05 as the brokerage, it is assumed that the stock was sold for ₹99.95 during NAV calculation). These expenses are higher for actively managed mutual funds because of higher portfolio turnover compared to index funds. This could add an expense of as high as 0.5% for actively managed mutual funds compared to index funds.
This means that to generate the return equal to the index fund, the fund manager must generate a return 1.5% to 2% higher than that of the index fund. This requires a high level of skills as an investor and/or a lot of luck. Few fund managers do this consistently over a long time. Historically, index funds have beaten over 80% of the fund managers in developed markets like the US. The same phenomenon has started happening in India.
Indexing is a simple rule-based investing that puts stock investing on autopilot and removes the need for picking right stocks or fund managers. It is a time-tested strategy that eliminates the risk of a serious underperformance of the equity portfolio.
Ideally, the index fund should hold all the listed companies in proportion to their free-float market capitalisation. As long as cheaper index fund options are not available in India that holds midcap and smallcap stocks, we will have to use Nifty50 and Nifty Next50 index funds. Since Nifty50 companies form over 75% of the free-float market capitalisation of Nifty100, the allocation of Nifty50 and Nifty Next50 could be 75:25 in the portfolio.
Foreign equity allocation
Investors across the world invest most of their money in their home country. But the home country may not be the best place in the world to invest in.
At the end of 1989 in Japan, over the past ten years, equity markets generated an annual average return of over 21%. Japan was a booming economy, and most Japanese would have considered it a dumb idea to invest outside Japan. Here is what happened in Japan since then.
Source; Google Finance
Japanese markets didn't generate any return for three decades. If this happened in Japan, we have no reason to believe that something like this cannot happen in India. Therefore, it is prudent to keep a third of the equity portfolio in mutual funds that invest in foreign stocks.
For foreign equity allocation, the ideal option would a fund like Vanguard Global Stock Index Fund that holds the biggest companies in developed countries in the proportion of their free-float market capitalisation. Since this option is not available for Indian investors, we can allocate up to 20% of the total equity portfolio in funds like Motilal Oswal Nasdaq 100 Fund of Fund. For taxation, these funds are treated like debt mutual funds; but that is fine since we diversify the portfolio to reduce risk not to increase the return.
Equity portfolio construction
In theory, retail investors should only use index funds. A portfolio of Nifty50 and Nifty Next50 index fund with 75:25 allocation is all they need for Indian equity allocation.
But following any investment strategy requires a conviction in it, and most retail investors lack conviction in the index fund investing. At present, the popular narrative is favourable for index funds; but a bull market outside the top 100 stocks will be enough to change it in favour of actively managed funds. This change in the narrative will make it difficult for most retail investors to stick with index funds.
A better approach, therefore, is to take the middle path. Invest half the Indian equity investment in index funds (Nifty50 and Nifty Next50 with 75:25 allocation) and the remaining equally in 3 to 4 multicap funds managed by fund managers with a proven track record of over ten years. Up to 20% of the equity portfolio can be kept in foreign equity index funds.
It is difficult to beat the returns generated by this simple portfolio. Half the portfolio will follow the time-tested rule-based investing that beats most fund managers; the other half will be managed by the top brains in equity mutual funds in India.
Most investors equate simplicity with incompetence and mediocrity, but simplicity trumps drama in investing.
If you find the article useful, do share it. If you wish to work with Swapnil, you can contact him via Vivektaru.
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M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. since Aug 2006. Connect with him via Twitter or Linkedin Pattabiraman has co-authored two print-books, You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) and Gamechanger and seven other free e-books on various topics of money management. He is a patron and co-founder of "Fee-only India" an organisation to promote unbiased, commission-free investment advice.
He conducts free money management sessions for corporates and associations on the basis of money management. Previous engagements include World Bank, RBI, BHEL, Asian Paints, Cognizant, Madras Atomic Power Station, Honeywell, Tamil Nadu Investors Association. For speaking engagements write to pattu [at] freefincal [dot] com
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Anand Subramanian says:
Thank you Swapnil for this advice. I started investing about 6 years ago and the logic I used was purely mine. I got HDFC because I loved their online interface, I got dabur because I liked the taste of Chanavaprash and I got HPCL because no one can survive without petrol. Over last 6 years, I have generated a return of over 250%. I recognize that it was just dumb luck and now I am scared to trust myself in picking stocks. In the mean time, I also had 4 mutual funds picked by an online platform which has generated about 7%. I was recently looking to increase my SIP and was confused which path to take and index funds + active funds together seem to be a perfect advice for me. THANK YOU for nudging me to the right direction.
The Outrigger says:
Can you please suggest N50, NN50 index funds and 3-4 multicap funds with good track record as recommended?
krishna arani says:
Great explanation. Seriously I never understood a way to find a good fund manager. Most confusing is The theoretical four criteria "knowledge, patience, discipline and objectivity " . Simple question I never found answer to is what is the way measure these subjective qualities?
Vivek Gupta says:
Thank you, excellent article.
Shankar G Manickam says:
You have mentioned that:
This is true as long as the percentage of people investing in the index funds is less. As more and more people start investing in index funds, the price discovery aspect will be lost. It will create a bubble that Michael Burry (Big Shot) has warned (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-shorts-michael-burry-compares-223347547.html).
M. Pattabiraman says:
Yes, but we are some distance from such trouble!
IMHO, the DIY investment experts/opinion makers should not guide the beginners towards index funds which will destroy the price discovery aspect of stock investment. Though it will not happen immediately, it will happen eventually.
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GOP Senate Win Opens Door to Deals
Republicans' Control of Both Chambers Could End Years of Partisan Gridlock
There have been two races in Kansas in the 2014 midterm elections. WSJ's Jerry Seib talks with Director of the Dole Institute Bill Lacy about them. Photo: Getty Images
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Siobhan.hughes@wsj.com
Updated Nov. 5, 2014 1:12 am ET
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Previews23 Jan 2015
Gamera-Shmyrko aiming for Osaka hat-trick
Tetyana Gamera-Shmyrko in action at the Osaka Marathon (© Takeo Yamaguchi/Agence SHOT)
Ukraine's Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko will bid to become just the second woman to with the Osaka Women's Marathon for three straight years at the 34th edition of the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on Sunday (25).
Gamera-Shmyrko will be looking to emulate the feat of Romania's Lidia Simon, who won three consecutive times between 1998-2000.
She has raced sparingly in preparation for this weekend and her last race was the Great Scottish Run in October where she was seventh in 1:13:42.
Nevertheless, in both of her victories in Osaka, Gamera-Shmyrko came from behind so it will not be a surprise if she is not among the leaders in the middle part of the race.
Her biggest rival might be Jelena Prokopcuka, not because the Latvian's marathon best of 2:22:56 makes her the fastest woman in the field as that performance was recorded back in 2005 when winning in Osaka, but because she is still in good form a decade later.
Now 38, Prokopcuka finished second at the 2014 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:24:07, a time could be fast enough to win on Sunday. She aslo finished fourth in New York last November in 2:26:15, a good time in difficult conditions.
If Prokopcuka wins, it will be the second-longest span between victories at the Osaka International Women's Marathon, after Katrin Dorre's 13 years between victories, from 1984 when the German first won to 1997 when she got her fourth and final victory in Osaka.
Local favourite Risa Shigetomo has a best of 2:23:23 from when she won the 2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon, a time no other Japanese woman has surpassed in the past two years.
Shigetomo has not run faster than 2:30 in her past four marathons, but she may be better prepared for this year's race after training at altitude at Albuquerque recently and focusing more fully on Sunday's race.
Mari Ozaki has personal best of 2:23:30 but it was recorded back in 2003 on her marathon debut, and nobody seriously expects her to approach this time. However, the 39-year-old Ozaki has said that she has a goal of 2:26.
Ethiopia's Melkaw Gizaw may also potentially surprise although her marathon best is currently only 2:26:24.
The race is also a qualifying race for the IAAF World Championships marathon berths for the Japanese team. To guarantee a place on the plane to Beijing, athletes must run faster than 2:22:30.
One runner who has explicitly stated that this is her target time is Kaoru Nagao, who recorded a personal best of 2:26:58 when she finished fourth at 2011 Yokohama Women's Marathon on her debut.
She is coached by the famous Yoshio Koide who coached Naoko Takahashi to the 2000 Olympic Games gold medal and the first sub-2:20 marathon in 2001.
Azusa Nojiri, the former cross-country skier who recorded 2:24:57 at the 2012 Osaka Women's Marathon, performed well in her last marathon, the 2014 Yokohama Women's Marathon, when she was fifth in 2:28:54.
After finishing third at the 2013 Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2:25:56, some pundits considered Yuko Watanabe as the future of Japanese women's marathon running.
Watanabe trained with Kayoko Fukushi and Mizuki Noguchi at high altitude in Albuquerque last summer and it will be intriguing to see if the results of this training camp translate into a breakthrough performance.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
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verb (used with or without object), chain-smoked, chain-smoking.
to smoke continually, as by lighting one cigarette, cigar, etc., from the preceding one.
OTFRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.


We are delighted that our project Making Memories has been chosen for the next round of the Co-op Local Community Fund.
We want to buy iPads to run classes for people suffering from dementia and memory loss to reduce isolation, improve confidence, teach new skills amongst those attending, bringing people together and provide respite for those caring for the people attending.
The funding round will start on 12 November 2017 and runs for 11 months until the 27 October 2018.
• Shopping in your local Co-op helps local causes.


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In the additive RGB color model, color #733380 (hexadecimal – hex triplet) has values of 115 (45% red), 51 (20% green) and 128 (50% blue). In the CMYK (subtractive color model), color #733380 has values 10% cyan, 60% magenta, 0% yellow and 50% black. In the HSL model, it is represented by 290° hue, 43% saturation and 35% lightness. Win32 representation: DWORD COLORREF C=0x00083337. Decimal value is 7549824.
#733380 is not web-safe (Netscape). Nearest web-safe color is #663399. #733380 isn't X11 color, closest X11 color is DarkSlateBlue (#483d8b), also this color can be known as: Maximum Purple.
Related colors (alternatives): Eminence, MediumOrchid4, DarkOrchid4, Purple Heart, Regalia, Purple, Grape, RAL 290 30 40, Dark Slate Blue, SlateBlue4.
This table contains information about #733380 color values in the most popular color spaces: RGB (additive color model), CMY, CMYK (subtractive color model), HSL, HSI, CIE XYZ. This data can be downloaded in JSON (733380.json) and CSV (733380.csv) formats.
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3:00 PMDr. Phil
Woman Accused Of Abusing Special Needs Son Charged In 2nd Medicaid Fraud Case
Filed Under:ABuse, Allegheny County Jail, Armando Navarro, Autism, Brighton Heights, Cerebral Palsy, Dyrue McGee, Medicaid Fraud, Vonda Brown
(Photo Courtesy: Attorney General's Office)
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) –A woman accused of Medicaid fraud and the abuse of her special needs son is facing charges in a second fraud case.
On Tuesday, Vonda Brown, 44, was charged with three counts of Medicaid fraud, two counts of theft by deception and one count of forgery.
According to the Attorney General's Office, the new charges stem from her time as an independent personal care attendant in 2013.
Brown was caring for her brother under the Attendant Care Waiver Program and allegedly billed for services through August of 2013.
However, her brother had moved to Virginia in May. Brown was paid for 306 hours of care after he moved away.
Further investigation revealed Brown was paid for 238 hours of inflated time even before her brother moved.
Brown also allegedly forged her brother's signature on the time sheets.
In all, Brown received about $2,000 for the fraudulently billed hours.
She is scheduled to appear in court on these new charges on June 30.
Previously, Brown was charged in the alleged abuse of her special needs son in 2014.
Her 24-year-old son, Dyrue McGee, was taken to Ohio Valley Hospital to be treated for a severe burn to his right hand. It was a burn that doctors say wasn't consistent with his mother's story of how it got there.
Investigators say Brown allegedly put her son's hand in hot liquid causing the burn that required 58 days of hospitalization.
Doctors say he showed up weighing just 58 pounds and he was screaming to be fed.
According to the criminal complaint, a doctor told police that McGee's malnutrition was evidence of a chronic constant abuse situation. McGee has been placed in protective custody.
McGee received assistance through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services for a caregiver and his mother helped to coordinate those services.
The caregiver, 45-year-old Armando Navarro, has been charged in the case too.
Police allege that Mr. Navarro received payments for 18 days of work, in which he didn't work. Navarro and Brown are accused of faking the time sheets for those days, all days in which McGee was in the hospital being treated for his burns.
Navarro received more than $2,000 for those "fake days" of work. He claims he still did some work around the house.
In that case, Brown is facing charges of aggravated assault, Medicaid fraud and conspiracy.
Navarro has been charged with Medicaid fraud and theft by deception.


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A Quick Guide to Screenwriting - Ray Morton
A Quick Guide to Screenwriting by Ray Morton - Quick Guide series from Limelight Editions
The advantage of reading a compact short guide book is that there is not a lot of wasted words, ego fluff or meaningless meandering. "A Quick Guide to Filmmaking" hits the right points immediately - providing an essential outline of what is needed to develop and write an effective screenplay. This is an excellent tome for the beginning screenwriter - simple to understand and short enough to be absorbed in a single sitting.
Screenwriting is an unusual craft—one that combines the ancient traditions of dramatic storytelling with modern cinematic techniques into its own singular set of principles and protocols. A Quick Guide to Screenwriting (Limelight Editions, May 2013, $12.99) by Ray Morton lays out these conventions in a simple, easy-to-read fashion. It is the ultimate reference manual to the art, craft, and business of writing for the movies. Unlike many other screenwriting tomes, this is not a dense compendium of inflexible rules or rigid formulas. Rather, it is an explanation of a few essential concepts and formatting, a little history and business, and some helpful advice and food for thought that, when mixed with imagination and creativity, will help get readers started telling wonderful stories for the screen.
Covered topics include:
The history of screenwriting
Commercial vs. "personal" writing
The three basic types of screenplays
The seven basic steps to writing a screenplay
How to brainstorm ideas
Developing and structuring a story
The techniques of cinematic storytelling
Screenplay style and formatting
Important screenwriting dos and don'ts
How to get quality feedback and then use it to improve your work
Also covered is the business side of screenwriting, including copyright and registration of finished material, the function of agents and managers, the Writers Guild, contracts, the development process, and how to bring your work to the attention of the industry.
Written in smart, reader-friendly prose, A Quick Guide to Screenwriting is chock-full of the vital information, helpful tips, and keen advice that will help you make your script the best it can be.
Limelight Editions' Quick Guide series are handy pocket-sized handbooks for all career paths in the performing arts. Each book tackles one specific field from the perspective of the most authoritative authors. Limelight released The Independent Filmmaker's Guide by Glenn Berggoetz in 2012 and Getting Past Me: A Writer's Guide to Production Company Readers by Mindi White in 2011.
Ray Morton (Los Angeles) is a writer, script consultant, and screenplay analyst. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Morton has written for television and the screen, pens the monthly "Meet the Reader" column for Scriptmag.com, and is the author of the books King Kong, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and A Hard Day's Night and Amadeus in Limelight Editions' Music on Film series.


Digital Foundry meets the man who fixes your consoles.
In a week where Xbox 360 production boss Aaron Greenberg stated that Microsoft's hardware issues were "well behind us", I found myself finally facing up to the notorious unreliability of the older 360 consoles, and attempting to do something about it.
In many ways, this feature is an off-shoot of a personal story. Readers of the Digital Foundry Twitter feed will know that both of my retail Xbox 360s died of RROD in quick succession. While Microsoft was nice enough to send me a new PAL "Jasper" model, swapping out my prized NTSC 360 Elite, originally purchased for a Eurogamer hardware test would be much more difficult. Over and above the luxuries of having the ability to play region-locked games, the concept of binning off two consoles that cost me the best part of £600 was basically wasteful and unacceptable. Something had to be done.
Looking for a more permanent resurrection for my unit, I'd heard that the best fix involved the rather manly-sounding process of "reballing" the GPU - resoldering the joints from the motherboard to the graphics chip. That being the case, I found myself at my nearest independent console workshop, Colchester Computers, staring at their impressive BGA rework/reflow station. Working from an industrial unit just off the Essex town's bizarre Magic Roundabout, this was an interesting opportunity to find out from the experts first-hand why the average games console ceases to function, and how they are fixed. Upon arrival at the workshop, the vast stack of dead consoles up against one wall ("spare parts") was somewhat eye-opening.
Talking to the company's engineer, Darren Thickbroom, it instantly became apparent that many of the Internet truths surrounding the console failures were anything but, and that the heat dissipation issues that plagued every revision of the Xbox 360 up until the most recent Jasper version were hardly exclusive to the Microsoft console. Slowly but surely, just like its competitor, the issue of PlayStation 3 reliability is being brought into question.
While the scale of the so-called YLOD issue is difficult to judge in context of the all-pervasiveness of RROD, the fact is that what I learned on my visit was pretty shocking: whether you own a Microsoft or Sony console, it seems that the act of simply using our consoles for the job they were designed can cause cumulative damage, with the very real danger that our games machines may go "pop" after the manufacturer's warranty expires.
"Your Xbox might last two or three years - it's as much down to the environment as the hardware itself," says Darren Thickbroom. "You open up some machines and you can understand why it might have broken down or over-heated, maybe there's tons of dust or fluff that came in from the intake. It depends from person to person, we speak to some people over the phone who've been through three to five units since the launch period. If you're a serious player, I'd recommend you change or upgrade your Xbox after a year."
Thickbroom also deals with many dead Xbox 360s that have had the so-called "X-Clamp" fix and reckons that it is essentially a complete waste of time - something worth bearing in mind if your out of warranty 360 suddenly bites the dust and you fancy tackling it yourself. "The Internet" has decreed that the clamps, attached to the base of the motherboard and securing the heatsinks, do the job too effectively, causing the motherboard to warp in concert with the heat generated by the CPU and graphics chip. However, over four years into the lifespan of the machine and many hardware revisions later, the clamps remain in Microsoft's design, and Thickbroom will replace any of these homebrew fixes with the original securing mechanism. The blame lies elsewhere, he reckons.
"It's just the general design and the heat factor," he says. "Everything's combined into such a small space, the heatsinks on the GPU are relatively small, there's a lot of heat to dissipate and it can't do it. The trapped heat warps the boards and that's what causes the problems over a long-term period."
Based on Thickbroom's experience, it would seem that the entire X-Clamp replacement industry is effectively a waste of money. With the DIY procedure, the real "fix" comes from the process of reflowing the solder after the clamps are replaced. In effect, you remove the fans from the 360, and allow it to massively overheat. Let it cool down again and in most cases service, post-RROD, will be resumed. But unless you're particularly lucky, it is a short-term fix, if it works at all. Reflowing is a precision job requiring precision tools, and the DIY method is akin to attempting to paint the Mona Lisa with fingerpaints. Professional repair shops will use a somewhat more involved method to get the job done.
"We remove the heatsinks, clean off any thermal compound left on the boards, cleaning the GPU and CPU," says Thickbroom. "Then we apply a BGA-based gel flux around the GPU and pre-heat this under a dark infra-red base BGA re-balling machine, which pre-heats the boards up to a set profile temperature, keeps that heat, then increases it again to a uniform temperature that the solder reflows at. When the reflow occurs, the flux is introduced to it. When the flux gets to the point that it becomes active, it fixes the problem caused by the heat: dry joints and poor connections are resolved."
Et Voila, my black and white 360-shaped doorstops are back in action as fully armed and operational games machines, fit for whatever abuse I would care to put them through in the Digital Foundry lair.


Work to secure market access for Irish products in key sectors in high-growth and emerging markets.
Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are co-located with the Embassy at Ireland House in Singapore's central shopping district on Orchard Road.
Enterprise Ireland (EI) is the government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets.
Ireland's inward investment promotion agency, IDA Ireland (Industrial Development Agency) is responsible for attracting and developing foreign investment.
We also work closely with Irish business networks such as the Irish Chamber of Commerce, Singapore to promote Irish business and economic interests through key contacts and business links.
Connecting with the Irish diaspora, including those interested in the Irish connection for enhancing business networks or promoting and maintaining Irish culture in their communities, is a major part of our work in supporting the Irish in Singapore. We're committed to recognising the efforts of the Irish community in Singapore by engaging with them both practically and strategically.


A Masters in Public Technology?
I agree, though Tom's developer-centric view of this should probably be widened for it to be a bit more inclusive.
Posted on February 27, 2011 Categories Government ITTags mysociety, open government, technology1 Comment on A Masters in Public Technology?
Well, in a decade perhaps.
It feels funny, doesn't it, thinking about Windows in the context of being irrelevent, after all these years we've relied on it. I guess it proves, again, that change is the only constant.
I think this will likely be the last verion of Windows we ever widely deploy, though.
The reason? I think we'll have fewer workloads that actually require a heavy deskop stack. Today, of course, we have all this legacy that's coupled to the desktop, but in a decade, I really doubt that will be the case. Most of our stuff will arrive via the browser.
So it looks like Scott McNealy and Sun were right all along. The network is the computer.
Posted on November 1, 2010 Categories Government ITTags desktop, it, Software, windows1 Comment on No more Windows?
Some great stuff recently from Public Strategiest.
Finding things again remains a challenge: Rosenberg's argument about entropy and Lapping's about the need to manage not just current formats but obsolete ones and those yet to be invented are both powerful ones. Even there though, the quality of search tools and the availability of the computing power needed to make them effective strongly supports the shift from the old approach to the new. It doesn't matter how big the haystack is, if a search for 'needle' always returns the needle you are looking for.
History will, of course, look after itself. It always has. But the future history of our time will be different from our histories of past times, and that will not be because we have an eye to the future, but because we are always relentlessly focused on the present.
The real question, of course, is not whether I should be allowed to create my working environment and link it with the department's systems. I am pretty clear that I should – but equally sure that that puts me in a pretty small minority (but in five years? ten?). Big organisations tend not to be good at catering to small niche requirements, so that wait will continue. But that does not mean that the subversive impact of what ostensibly started as a routine and unavoidable technology update will not be powerful and ineluctable. The introduction of new tools always gives more power to those best able to use them – and they are rarely those who were the masters of the previous toolkit. That much is standard innovators' dilemma territory.
Rather than auditing ICT, what we need in reality is a proposal, by some authors with an understanding of what makes good services delivered by central and local government, of how we audit end-to-end government services and in the process identify areas of true regulated bureaucracy that can be removed. Further, any attempts at rationalization should account for multi-channel service delivery. Many of the applications in the "new conditional" world link together and off onto web sites or corporate applications, this could provide some of the open data desirable for the commonweal, which whilst not of general interest will still have value to the local community.
Further, in a couple of instances, Mr Maxwell examines and compares the costs of ICT in local and central government, which can be a very misleading practice. Even with the amount of regulation, financial accounting in government is a dark art with the use of on-costs and recharges varying from authority to authority to the extent that costing for IT services is not straightforward and one can easily be comparing apples and oranges. Perhaps, another area to standardize?


We are in South Dakota! We missed the border picture or in our case for this trip, Caleb has made a vine video for every state crossing, so we'll get it on the way home. We have switched drivers about 4-5 times now. It is so pretty out here we decided that if we were to go to Ireland this is what we imagine it being like. I will post pictures in just a little while, the connection just isn't good enough to upload them right now. We stopped in a cute little diner in Nebraska for breakfast and I had the biggest omelet I have ever even seen in my whole life, it was bigger than a Storm's or a Jake & Dorothy's chicken fried steak. I took a picture of that too! Sloan90X has kind of died out we keep saying we're going to do it but, we don't do it, I think we are too tired. I'll upload a video of that so you can know just exactly what I'm talking about. I can't wait to be at Mt. Rushmore. It will be a good stop for us to take a break. I love all of you! Check out my Daily Word post for today!


Description: Alyssa Bonnac, instructor at the Minnesota English Language Program at the University of Minnesota, will introduce several cool tech tools that can further your students' language learning. She'll explore Screencast-o-Matic, PlayPosit / EdPuzzle, VoiceThread, VideoAnt, and Flipgrid. Join to learn about these tools for the first time or to get a refresher!


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Who to play of Patrick Mahomes vs. Jimmy Garoppolo in Super Bowl DFS
We break down how to go about playing Patrick Mahomes and Jimmy Garoppolo in this weekend's DFS contests for Super Bowl 54.
By Ameer Tyree@its_ameericle Jan 29, 2020, 5:15am PST
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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo are two very different players, and they'll go head to head on Sunday in Super Bowl 54. The Chiefs' offense has been fueled by Mahomes' arm and dynamic pass catchers, while the 49ers have banked on a consistent ground game through their two playoff games. We're here to break down which signal caller is the best choice for this weekend's DFS contests.
Mahomes, the NFL's reigning MVP, is making plays all over the field in his second year as a starter. He's thrown for 615 yards and eight touchdowns in two playoff games this year. Garoppolo is closing out his first full season as a starter. While he showed some impressive flashes during the regular season, he's been quiet in the postseason as the 49ers have leaned on their stout rushing attack.
Fantasy football analysis: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo
Mahomes has been lighting up opposing defenses while proving he can throw himself out of any deficit. Kansas City was down 24-0 to the Houston Texans, and he responded by throwing for an NFL playoff record four touchdowns in a quarter. Mahomes has tallied 76.2 DKFP in his last two appearances and has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 12 straight contests. His Showdown prices ($18,900/$12,600) are worth it because he easily has the highest ceiling in the game. He can score through high volume passing, and can use his legs as well. He's led Kansas City in rushing yards in back-to-back weeks.
Garoppolo is bottoming out and failed to reach double-digits in DKFP in both of his playoff games this year. He turned heads by attempting a measly eight passes against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC title game, and tallied 3 DKFP. If San Francisco carries over its offensive approach from the previous round and relies on getting a breakout performance from a running back, a Garoppolo play ($12,000/$8,000) won't hold much weight. If they have to play catchup or this turns into a passing shootout, he gains value, but does not have nearly the ceiling of Mahomes.
DFS Recommendation
Mahomes is the ideal captain's pick in this game while Garoppolo should only receive consideration for a flex slot.
Everything to know about the 2020 NFL Playoffs
Recapping Super Bowl 2020 squares contests
Who to play of George Kittle vs. Travis Kelce in Super Bowl DFS


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The Horseshoe Crab: Same as It Ever Was?
The seemingly static appearance of these ancient-looking arthropods presents a challenge for scientists who want to study their evolutionary history.
Atlantic horseshoe crab (Polyphemus occidentalis) illustration from Zoology of New York (1842 - 1844) by James Ellsworth De Kay
By: Jess Romeo
Horseshoe crabs are odd-looking, unassuming little critters that play a key role in the development of life-saving vaccines and medications. Drug companies collect them by the hundreds of thousands, hook an IV in between their plated bodies, and drain them of their alien-looking blue blood. A case of evolution gone wacky? Actually, horseshoe crabs have looked this way for millions of years.
Horseshoe crabs have undergone little morphological evolution during their 480 million–year history—the fossil record shows them to be virtually unchanged. "To gaze upon a horseshoe crab is to glimpse a prehistoric Ordovician sea of nearly half a billion years ago," write evolutionary biologists Alexander J. Werth and William A. Shear.
It's easy to assume that horseshoe crabs, and other living fossils, have simply been coasting through life untouched by the hands of evolution.
These ancient-looking arthropods are also referred to as "living fossils"—a term that presents a lot of opportunity for misconception. Alive today, living fossils look almost identical to their fossilized ancestors. The term, coined by Charles Darwin in 1859, also refers to similarly ancient-looking creatures like lampreys, lungfish, lycopods, and coelacanths. So just by looking, and without genetic information, it's easy to assume that horseshoe crabs, and other living fossils, have simply been coasting through life untouched by the hands of evolution.
But molecular studies soundly debunk this myth about living fossils. The resemblance between horseshoe crabs today and ancient crabs of the past is almost entirely superficial. "There are no 'unevolved' species, no reanimated fossils that have literally come back to life, and no living organisms that are truly identical to extinct species known in the fossil record," write Werth and Shear.
This apparent absence of evolution, also called morphological stasis, presents unique challenges for the scientists attempting to understand the evolutionary history of this scuttling creature of the deep. When scientists John C. Avise, William S. Nelson, and Hiroaki Sugita attempted to build a speciation history of horseshoe crabs, they reported that "at the molecular level […] living horseshoe crabs appear to be unexceptional." When it comes down to DNA, these creatures have the same amount of genetic variation as any other species alive today.
Even with molecular data, the scientists admit that the four currently surviving species of horseshoe crab are difficult to place in an evolutionary timeline. Their lack of physical change served only to "obscure phylogenetic relationships within the complex," write Avise, Nelson, and Sugita. Without the obvious cues scientists would normally get from morphological changes across the fossil record, they're still struggling to resolve the complete history of the horseshoe crab.
Why do horseshoe crabs still look basically the same as they did millions of years ago? "One [reason] is hitting on a winning formula early on; another is living in a stable, predictable environment where there is little competition for resources, which may initially be abundant," writes Werth and Shear.
While scientists are now able to explain this apparent (yet misleading) lack of evolution, there's still a lot we don't know. Now, experts warn that this animal could be facing extinction due to overexploitation (especially as we search for a safe vaccine for COVID-19). It seems, unfortunately, that scientists may never fully understand the evolutionary mysteries of the horseshoe crab genome.
Support JSTOR Daily! Join our new membership program on Patreon today.
evolutionary biologymarine biologyAmerican ScientistEvolution
The Evolutionary Truth About Living Fossils
By: Alexander J. Werth", "William A. Shear
American Scientist, Vol. 102, No. 6 (November-December 2014), pp. 434-443
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
A Speciational History of "Living Fossils": Molecular Evolutionary Patterns in Horseshoe Crabs
By: John C. Avise, William S. Nelson and Hiroaki Sugita
Evolution, Vol. 48, No. 6 (Dec., 1994), pp. 1986-2001
Society for the Study of Evolution
Why Would Scientists Give an Octopus Ecstasy?
In a perplexing recent study, researchers dosed octopuses. Turns out, scientists have long studied the similarities between cephalopod and human brains.
The Next (Salamander) Epidemic
Everybody loves salamanders, especially the exotic pet industry. But importing these amphibians helps spread diseases like Bsal and Bd to native populations.
Historical Bugs: Archaeoentomology
The remains of ancient insects reveal new information about Paleo-Eskimo life and the history of the Norse in Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.
Gutta-percha, a natural resin, enabled European countries to communicate with their colonial outposts around the world.


Artificial intelligence and machine learning can be excellent assistants to staff shortages of security teams who need to respond faster and more effectively to cyber threats.
It has long become clear that companies must respond to an ever-increasing number of security alerts. And given the speed with which in 2017, extortion virus attacks spread throughout the world, and the increasingly stringent legal requirements, the response should be much faster. In the face of a shortage of relevant specialists, companies turn to machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to automate security processes.
In the context of information security, artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence, AI) is software that is able to interpret the state of the environment, recognize events occurring in it and independently take the necessary measures. AI is particularly good at recognizing patterns and anomalies, so it can be an excellent tool for detecting threats.
Machine learning systems are software that can independently learn from human-entered data and the results of actions performed. Means of machine learning are able to build predictions based on information about developments in the past.
Companies have already begun to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to recognize security threats and respond to them. Powerful tools have appeared, but you need to decide how to incorporate them into the overall cyber security strategy of the enterprise.
For example, at Barclays Africa, they use artificial intelligence to detect signs of system compromise on the local corporate network and in the cloud. It requires processing huge amounts of data, and due to the rapid change in the global landscape of threats and the growing interaction of attackers, they need the most advanced technologies and methods to counter.
By implementing machine learning, people can be assigned tasks that they can do better than machines. While complaining about the acute shortage of specialists, the bank notes that it is simply impossible today to solve security problems manually.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning greatly accelerate the response to threats, analysts recognize Nemertes Research. According to them, today it is already a serious market, formed under the influence of real need.
Nemertes conducted a global study on security, and its results show: on average, it takes 39 days to detect an attack and respond to it in organizations, but in some companies they managed to reduce this time to a matter of hours. The speed of response depends on the level of automation, which is provided by means of AI and machine learning.
The average attack detection time is an hour. In the most efficient machine learning companies, detection takes less than 10 minutes, and in lagging days it takes days or weeks. As for the average threat analysis time, it is three hours. In the best companies, such an analysis takes minutes, in the worst days or weeks. Behavioral threat analysis is already used in 21% of companies surveyed, and another 12% report that they will implement the appropriate funds by the end of this year.
At the forefront are financial services companies. Since their data is of increased value, they usually go one step ahead of everyone in cybersecurity and invest heavily in new technologies that are far from being cheap.
In terms of the scale of AI applications and machine learning in general, the figures are even higher. According to a Vanson Bourne study, today, 80% of organizations use artificial intelligence for certain purposes, and this is already paying off. It brings the most dividends in the field of research and development of new products – 50% of respondents reported that the innovation provides positive results. The second and third places are in the supply chain (46%) and core business (42%). Safety and risk management lagged behind: 40% of respondents reported positive experiences with AI in these areas.
These indicators will continue to grow: as revealed by a recent Spiceworks study, 30% of organizations with more than 1,000 employees use artificial intelligence in IT services, 25% are going to start doing this next year.
AI is improving as the amount of data received increases. With the accumulation of sufficiently large data slices, the systems are able to detect very early signs of the emergence of new threats. An example is SQL injection. The company Alert Logic quarterly collect data on approximately 500 thousand incidents occurring in 4 thousand of its customers. About half of these incidents involve SQL injection attacks. A single company in the world does not have the opportunity to consider each such incident separately, to find out if the injection attempt was successful, they are sure of Alert Logic.
Thanks to machine learning, the systems of the company not only process data faster, but also correlate events that occurred in different periods of time in different regions. Some attacks can be repeated in a few weeks or months, while starting from other parts of the Internet. If it were not for machine learning, such incidents at Alert Logic would have been missed, sure in the company.
Detecting suspicious user activity and network traffic is the most obvious use of machine learning. The current systems more successfully cope with identifying unusual events in large data streams, solving standard analysis tasks and sending notifications.
The next step is to use AI to deal with more complex problems. For example, the level of cyber risk for a company at any given moment depends on many factors, including the presence of patching systems, unprotected ports, the arrival of targeted phishing messages, the level of password reliability, the amount of unencrypted confidential data, and whether the organization is attacks from the security services of another state.


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Moving people forward with bicycles in Africa
Championing Grant by Michelle Taft
David North (Good Travel Management) applied to the Foundation for a championing grant of £525 to fund the cost of three bicycles for charity Qhubeka – a charity operating Africa that moves people forward with bicycles.
People earn bicycles through their programmes, improving their access to schools, clinics and jobs. A bicycle is a tool that helps people to travel faster and further, to generate income and to carry more. In the face of extreme and persistent poverty, bicycles can change lives by helping to address socioeconomic challenges at the most basic level –helping people to get where they need to go.
Qhubeka is a Nguni word that means "to progress", "to move forward". Bicycles help people move forward. Bicycles help people to change their lives. They are an accessible, reliable, affordable form of personal transport.
The Charity doesn't just supply bicycles to the people who qualify for the programme, they have a full 360 approach:
Qhubeka's wholly-owned subsidiary, Real Bicycle Co. (RBC) designs and manufactures the Qhubeka Bicycles that are distributed into our various programmes.
They operate bicycle assembly facilities, which creates work and training opportunities for people in local communities in which these facilities operate.
Qhubeka trains mechanics in the communities in which we work. This creates economic opportunity for the mechanics, who are trained in repairing bicycles and basic business skills. Training mechanics ensures the long-term sustainability of Qhubeka programmes.
Qhubeka, together with their partners, provides safety training to bicycle beneficiaries prior to them receiving their bicycles. This ensures beneficiaries have an understanding of basic bicycle and road safety.
They also build the bicycle spare part supply chain to ensure that bicycle mechanics and communities are able to access parts for repair and maintenance, ensuring the bicycles remain in use.
For more information about Qhubeka, check out their website.
Tim Havard Champions Tilbury Seafarers Centre
Two members champion Hull and East Riding Breast Friends to receive £1,000


IT Care Center is an end-to-end management solution for your IT operations, on a single platform.
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With IT Care Center, all of the features are included with your purchase.
One solution that integrates all IT core processes into one platform.
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IT Care Center can be installed either in the cloud or on-premise.
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Neck pain, also called cervical pain, is a common health issue for many adults, but just because it's common doesn't mean it isn't a big deal. There's a reason something that's frustrating is often called "a pain in the neck." Even short-term pain can have a significant, negative impact on your life. Today, we want to look at what's causing your acute neck pain in Chapel Hill so you can take the steps to reduce your discomfort and reclaim your life.
Slouching, slumping, or spending time with your head tilted forward can cause strain on your neck muscles and ligaments and damage your spine, leading to pain and tension. If you work at a desk or spend several hours a day looking down at your phone, you may find yourself rubbing the back of your neck a lot or complaining of tension headaches. You can prevent neck pain by taking frequent breaks to stretch and position your chair where you are looking straight ahead.
When you wake up with a "crick" in your neck, it's often caused by sleeping in an uncomfortable position, and if this happens frequently, it can cause minor damage to the soft tissues in your neck. Avoid dozing off in a chair or other non-supportive area, and use the right pillow or support for your sleeping position.
If you work in a job where you are turning your head in a repeated motion throughout the day, either side to side or up and down, you are straining your muscles and ligaments and causing misalignment in the spine. Similar to poor posture, this can cause tension and even small tears and inflammation which leads to pain and discomfort.
Commonly associated with car accidents, whiplash occurs when a strong force causes your head to jerk backwards or forwards, straining, overextending, or tearing tendons and muscles in the neck. This can even happen when you trip and fall or occur during a sports injury.
A pinched nerve, also called a compressed nerve, can be caused by any of the above issues – sleeping in a bent position, repetitive movements, or inflammation, can cause a nerve to become compressed, leading to pain and tingling. Over time, this can lead to permanent damage if not treated quickly.
For a crick in the neck or a sore neck due to a pulled muscle, over the counter medicine, such as ibuprofen, gentle exercises, and heat or ice can ease discomfort. However, some acute neck problems can become chronic if left untreated, and it's important to work with a professional if neck pain doesn't go away after a few days.
Chiropractic care is highly effective neck pain treatment, and a chiropractor can not only ease symptoms, he or she can work with you to prevent continued pain.
Chapel Hill chiropractor, Dr. Cosmas Leigh, is Board Certified and highly trained in diagnosing and treating mechanical and physical problems of the spine and the nervous system itself.
Dr. Cosmas Leigh at Leigh Brain & Spine offers natural neck pain relief using advanced chiropractic techniques. Reach out to us today at 919-401-9933 to schedule an appointment and get the treatment and preventive techniques that will help you live pain free!


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Explore Venice
Mocenigo Palace (Palazzo Mocenigo)
San Croce, 1992, Venice, Italy, 30135
Journey back to 17th-century Venice as you stroll through the palace interior, which has been reconstructed to reflect an aristocratic Venetian residence. Learn about trends in fashion and fabrics of the nobility, and explore a section of the museum dedicated to the Venetian tradition of fragrance production. Ticket lines for Palazzo Mocenigo can be long, so it's a good idea to book ahead of time.
The palazzo is a must-see for visitors interested in traditional textiles and Venetian noble life.
An audio guide may be purchased in addition to your ticket.
The museum is not accessible to wheelchairs and strollers, as stairs are required to reach the main floor.
The Palazzo Mocenigo is located in central Venice alongside the Grand Canal, just a 10-minute walk from the Rialto Bridge. If you're traveling byvaporetto (water bus), take Line 1 to the San Stae stop.
Venice Gondola Rides and Canal Tours
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Make the most of your first time in the City of Canals.
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Enjoy your visit to the Floating City with our guide to the most must-see neighborhoods.
How to Spend 3 Days in Venice
Verona Day Trips from Venice
Here's everything you need to know to make the most of 48 hours in the Floating City.
The Palazzo Mocenigo Museum is open year-round, but it's closed Monday and major holidays. The Palazzo Mocenigo Library is open Tuesday through Friday. The museum hosts rotating exhibits and special events, including perfume composition courses and textile workshops, so check the museum website to see what activities are offered during your visit.
The Mocenigo Family
Inhabited by the Mocenigo family through the mid-20th century, the Palazzo Mocenigo was gifted to the City of Venice in 1945 by Alvise Nicolò, one of the last descendants of the family. The Mocenigo family was one of the most important lines of the Venetian aristocracy. Seven members of the family became doges, the most senior elected official in Venice, during the medieval and Renaissance periods.
More Tours in Venice
Things to do near Venice
Things to do in Treviso
Things to do in Padua
Things to do in Vicenza
Things to do in Milan
More attractions near Venice
Ca' d'Oro (Palazzo Santa Sofia)
Cannaregio
Rialto Fish Market (Mercato di Rialto)
Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista
Frari Church (Basilica dei Frari)
Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto)
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Venice Jewish Ghetto (Ghetto di Venezia)
Campo San Luca
Campo San Bartolomeo
Madonna dell'Orto Church (Chiesa della Madonna dell'Orto)
Recommended for Venice