Renzo Piano + Vulcano Buono

Renzo Piano's Vulcano Buono is a stunningly beautiful architecture. I really liked the green volcano landscape. Awesome design! Inspiring, really.

Useful links:
http://rpbw.r.ui-pro.com
www.vulcanobuono.it

Bruce High Quality Foundation

Art world up close. www.thebrucehighqualityfoundation.com

Art Market Update

The Economist was spot on. Potential sellers, discouraged by low prices and high bought-in rates, will hold on to their treasures and wait for confidence to return to the market. So a weak sale today often means an uninteresting sale tomorrow, benefiting neither sellers nor buyers.

Useful links:
www.sothebys.com
www.christies.com
www.bonhams.com

Mondo Mundo Festival 2010

Mark your calendar! The third annual Mondo Mundo Festival will take place on January 9, 2010 in New York City. Don't miss. www.mondomundo.com

Vivek Wadhwa Viewpoint

Vivek Wadhwa's opinion piece in BusinessWeek about the entrepreneurs of Rajasthan was interesting and inspiring. Thanks Vivek.

Useful links:
www.globalizationresearch.com
www.tie.org
www.wadhwa.com

Olivia Judson Viewpoint

Olivia Judson's opinion piece in the New York Times about flagellas was educational and insightful. I didn't know that they made coral reefs possible. Thanks Olivia.

Useful link:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/olivia-judson

Independent Games Festival 2010

The Independent Games Festival has announced the finalists for this year’s competition. Check it out.

Useful links:
www.igf.com
www.gdconf.com

10 MPH

10 MPH is a comical documentary that follows a pair of aspiring filmmakers as they quit their jobs and turn a friend's ludicrous idea into a movie. Watch it.

Useful link:
www.10mph.com

Ken Gassman Viewpoint

Ken was spot on. Rough diamond prices, polished diamond prices, and retail prices for diamond jewelry do not move in unison. The diamond and jewelry business is a very peculiar business, but it is a business.

Useful links:
www.kennethgassman.com
www.idexonline.com

SCANNEX X-ray Body Scanner

According to the Engineering News Online report, DebTech, the research and development arm of De Beers, will make its body-scanning technology available to airports, in the wake of the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack. Wow! What a spin-off!

Useful links:
www.debtech.com
www.engineeringnews.co.za

Global Business BBC

Peter Day's interview with Mark Anderson, CEO of Strategic News Service (SNS) was brilliant. Check out Mark's prediction for 2010.

Useful link:
www.tapsns.com

Best Album Art 2009

In Pictures: The best album art of 2009. I loved it. Thanks BBC.

A Good Talk

A Good Talk: The Story and Skill of Conversation by Daniel Menaker is a fascinating book about the art of conversation. If you think that you might be no fun to talk to, you should then read the book, really.

Art Market Update

Carolina Miranda's viewpoints in ARTnews about artworks by Jennifer Angus, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Damien Hirst, Mark Cockram, and Tomáš Gabzdil Libertíny was interesting. Thanks Carolina.

Useful links:
www.jenniferangus.com
www.mariafernandacardoso.com
www.madmuseum.org
www.studiolibertiny.com
www.moma.org
www.vam.ac.uk
www.markcockrambooks.co.uk

Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle

Dennis Overbye was spot on. If you don’t have your own Hubble Space Telescope, Michael Benson's Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle, is the best picture guide to the universe. Check it out.

Useful links:
www.kinetikonpictures.com
http://hubblesite.org
http://hubble.nasa.gov

Consumer Electronics Show 2010

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will be held in Las Vegas from January 7-10, 2010. Expect to see new products/more old ones. Don't miss. www.cesweb.org

Refresh Project

Refresh Project = online cause marketing campaign. I thought Pepsi's initiative was brilliant. Get the idea toolkit. http://refresheverything.com

Best Of HBS Working Knowledge 2009

Here are the Top 10 articles and Top 5 working papers that appeared in HBS Working Knowledge in 2009. Thanks HBS.

- Understanding Users of Social Networks
- Social Network Marketing: What Works?
- Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times
- Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Teams
- When Goal Setting Goes Bad
- Sharpening Your Skills: Career & Life Balance
- 10 Reasons to Design a Better Corporate Culture
- Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting (Working Paper)
- High Commitment, High Performance Management
- Can Entrepreneurs Drive 'People Movers' to Success?
- Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting
- Do Friends Influence Purchases in a Social Network?
- 'I read Playboy for the articles': Justifying and Rationalizing Questionable Preferences
- Corporate Social Entrepreneurship
- The Devil Wears Prada? Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making

Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa, formerly known as Burj Dubai, has been officially opened on 4 January 2010. It is the tallest man-made structure ever built in the world. Check it out.

Useful links:
www.burjdubai.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa
www.emaar.com

Costa Book Awards 2009

Costa, the UK's fastest-growing coffee shop chain, has announced the Costa Book Awards 2009 winners in the Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book categories. www.costabookawards.com