Best Startups In North America For 2008

The best startups in North America for 2008 is listed @
http://www.redherring.com/Home/24253

Marche Du Film

The Marché du Film is the business counterpart of the Cannes Film Festival and the largest film market (estimated one billion euros) in the world, and Cannes is the place to go to learn the ropes of the trade.

Useful links:
www.marchedufilm.com
www.festival-cannes.fr
www.ifc.com
www.network18online.com
www.emaximmedia.com

Car Talk

Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the stars of public radio's Car Talk make their TV debut in a new cartoon series, Click & Clack's As The Wrench Turns, which debuts in primetime on PBS in July, 2008.

Useful links:
www.cartalk.com
www.pbs.org

Don't miss it!

Blue Diamond Update

A 13.39-carat blue diamond was sold at Christie's Geneva on May 14, 2008 at a world-record price of $8.9 million.

Useful link:
www.christies.com

'This impressive result is due to the scarcity of colored diamonds on the market, and to the great demand from collectors around the world for exceptional artworks and jewels that is currently dominating the auction world.'
- Francois Curiel, Chairman, Christie's Europe

I think he is right.

Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely is an excellent book that provides insights into our behavioral traits + the way we make (strange) decisions. I liked it.

Useful links:
www.predictablyirrational.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ5baAOrxXY

Robert Mondavi

(via Wiki) Robert Gerald Mondavi was a leading American vineyard operator whose technical improvements and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi aggressively promoted labeling wines varietally rather than generically. This is now the standard for New World wines.

Useful link:
www.robertmondaviwinery.com

The pioneering vintner who helped put California wine country on the map, died at his Napa Valley home on May 16, 2008. He was 94. He was an enthusiastic ambassador for wine — especially California wine — promoting the health, cultural and social benefits of its moderate consumption.

The Forevermark Brand Strategy: Empowering The Retailers

Chaim Even Zohar writes about the launch of the De Beers Forevermark brand + the De Beers Grading Report + the impact + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp

I think the article was very useful and informative because of all the branding efforts, the diamond jewelry industry is still one of the most fragmented industries in the world. The world's largest diamond jewelry brand has a circa one percent market share. How true!

Synthetic Quartz Update

The GEMLAB Laboratory based in the Principality of Liechtenstein has an interesting update on synthetic quartz @ http://www.gemlab.net/website/gemlab/fileadmin/user_upload/Research/Gemlab-Newsletter-05-2008.pdf

Useful link:
www.gemlab.net

Uptake

(via budgettravel) UpTake is an interesting theme-based travel search engine with tons of useful information. I liked it.

Useful links:
www.uptake.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxNqDCVvnJk

Restoration Rocks

Restoration Rocks = One-of-a-kind fragments of Frank Lloyd Wright’s modern masterpiece—the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum—gathered during the 2007 restoration and presented in hand-crafted acrylic and sterling silver @ http://www.guggenheimstore.org/rero1.html

Virtual Painter

(via dowloand.com) Try Virtual Painter for Windows. Virtual Painter can create dramatic landscapes like the Renaissance greats + you can choose among 16 artistic styles, like oil, watercolor, and charcoal, and 20 canvases to give your photos a unique artistic look.

International Nitrogen Initiative

The article on reactive nitrogen + the impact on environment @ http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/05/reactive-nitrog.html was educational. I think it's time that we do something to prevent another 5,800 square mile dead zone.

Useful links:
www.initrogen.org
www.earth.columbia.edu

Techno-Bedouins

I found the article, Nomads at last @ http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10950394 brilliant and insightful + the most wonderful thing about mobile technology today is that consumers can increasingly forget about how it works and simply take advantage of it, it's the human connection that matters. How true!

Zero Carbon House

Here is an interesting zero-carbon house concept: Barratt's Green House is packed with the latest technology including solar panels, rain water harvesting and an air-source heat pump. Its new kind of concrete walls and floors, combined with super insulation and triple-glazed windows makes it airtight, meaning the requirement for heating is minimal. Fresh air entering the passes through a heat exchanger, which transfers the heat from the outgoing stale air and puts it back into the house. A rainwater harvesting system collects water for use in flushing toilets.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/15/greenbuilding.renewableenergy

Useful links:
www.barratthomes.co.uk
www.bre.co.uk
www.gauntfrancis.co.uk

It's a great idea, but in my view, success depends on affordability.

Vincent Cassel

Vincent Cassel is a French actor + he plays Jacques Mesrine, a true story of France's infamous public enemy during the 70s, the man of a thousand faces, as he was known, in Public Enemy Number One, director by Jean-François Richet.

Useful link:
www.vincentcassel.com

Auction Update

Souren Melikian has an interesting update on contemporary art sales at Sotheby's + other viewpoints @ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/15/arts/melik16.php

It's hard to figure out what drives the bidders to go over the roof, but I think the diversity in style may have inspired the bidders to go the extra mile paying shocking prices. Definitely the Sotheby's sale have taken the market to a new level. It looks like the bubble is still inflating.

Who's Your City?

Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life by Richard Florida is an interesting study of how the world is changing + the concept of human geography + the impact. A must-read.

Useful link:
http://creativeclass.com

Comic Relief

I found the article Comic Relief: Comic Books Aren't Just for Entertainment @ http://www.edutopia.org/comic-relief educational and inspiring.

Useful links:
www.edutopia.org
http://www.edutopia.org/animating-dreams

Old Habits Die Hard

(via BBC) The survey of 1,186 executives in 33 countries by Ernst & Young suggests that 18% had lost business to a competitor prepared to pay a bribe. Corrupt practices were perceived to be most prevalent in mining, with fewer instances in energy and banking.

Useful links:
www.ey.com
www.transparency.org

Old habits die hard
Old soldiers just fade away
Old habits die hard
Harder than November rain
Old habits die hard
Old soldiers just fade away
Old habits die hard
Hard enough to feel the pain

- Mick Jagger & Dave Stewart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elutCfvhmzE

How true!

Pearl Treatment Update

(via JNA) Colored Akoya Pearls: I found the new pearl treatment intriguing. According to Tomokazu Tanabe, President, Tanabe Pearl Farm, in Shima in Mie Prefecture, after considerable research, his company have found a unique technique to inject coloring liquid into nucleated akoya oysters, which then secreted colored nacre and produced pearls in a wide range of colors from pink to greenish, bluish and lavender. He claims that the pearls are different from dyed pearls, and the colors are unlikely to change in several years.

According to Ikuo Atsumi, Gem Science Academy of Gemology, Tokyo, pre-harvest color treated akoya pearls can be identified by UV-Vis-NIR spectrometer where the spectra of the color treated akoya pearls were very different from those of non-treated akoya pearls and ordinary akoya pearls due to reaction of the metallic compounds, including iron, injected into the oysters.

All treatments should be disclosed at all levels of the distribution chain. If you are doubtful, consult a reputed gem testing laboratory.