The Flip Story

The Flip story = Simplicity = Forget the technology + Enjoy the experience = Approachable + Fun. Many thanks to Carmine Gallo. I loved it.

Useful links:
www.theflip.com
www.carminegallo.com

Pantone Fall 2010 Fashion Color Report

The Must-Have Color Trends For Fall 2010.

Useful links:
www.pantone.com
www.colorexpert.com
http://morealivewithcolor.com

Chaim Even Zohar Viewpoint

We are entering a new era. Revenue optimization is more than a buzz word. No one really knows the fate of the diamond industry in 2010. Many thanks to Chaim for sharing his thoughts.

Useful links:
www.diamondintelligence.com
www.debeersgroup.com
www.dtc.com

Phantom Of The Opera II: Love Never Dies

Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical—Phantom of the Opera II: Love Never Dies—has arrived. Check it out.

Useful links:
www.loveneverdies.com
www.andrewlloydwebber.com
www.adelphitheatre.co.uk

Everest: The Death Zone

Everest: The Death Zone. This documentary captures the essence of a climb better than any other I have seen. For every six successful summits on Everest, one person will die. With more people climbing into the Death Zone, above 26,000 feet, one critical question is how oxygen deprivation affects the brain. I think this documentary holds some universal applications to life and business.

Transcripts: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2506everest.html

Even with the best technology, the best training, you can still end up frozen to death at 27,500 feet. That's what makes Everest Everest.
- David Breashears
http://davidbreashears.com

Rolex Learning Center

Laboratory. Library. International cultural hub. Brilliant design/architecture. Innovative. Practical. It's awesome. I liked it.

Useful links:
www.rolexlearningcenter.ch
www.sanaa.co.jp

Borderless Innovation

Brilliant insights. Many thanks to Knowledge @ Wharton.

The network really changes everything.
- Mohan Sawhney, Director
Center for Research in Technology and Innovation
Kellogg School

Innovating is where the customer is. Because if they live the problem, they'll (understand) the solution.
- Paul Davey, Head, R&D
Vodafone

About 80% of them are not what we're looking for. But about 20% are substantial things that we need to look into. Every business unit is looking into one opportunity -- some of them are things that we didn't even know we needed to figure out.
- Chris Thoen, Director, Innovation and Knowledge Management
Procter & Gamble (P&G)

Useful links:
www.pgconnectdevelop.com
www.ge.com/innovation/healthymagination

Wine Scam

Pick and mix. According to Lizzy Davies (Guardian), the executives from the Languedoc-Roussillon region were found to have made a €7m (£6.1m) profit through a fraud which lasted from January 2006 until March 2008. Overall, 13.5m litres of fake wine were shipped to the US to be drunk by unsuspecting US consumers. Wine drinkers: Caveat Emptor!

Useful links:
http://gallo.com
www.foxsearchlight.com/sideways

Martin Rietze

Martin Rietze has photographed some of the planet's spectacular terrains. They are stunningly beautiful. All I can say is, see for yourself.

Useful link:
http://mrietze.com

Nasser Azam's Antarctica Project

I think the Antarctic landscape will be the best place on earth to connect and communicate the beauty, strangeness, rarity, and durability on a big canvas. All the best Nasser.

Useful link:
www.azam.com

Network Theory

The network theory visualized by Steven Strogatz (Cornell University), Peter Dodds (University of Vermont), and Marcelo Magnasco/Francis Corson (Rockefeller University) was interesting. I thought the tree/leaf analogy was brilliant.

Useful links:
http://tam.cornell.edu/faculty-bio.cfm?NetID=shs7
http://www.uvm.edu/~pdodds
http://sur.rockefeller.edu/Plone

Art Market Update

The Economist report was insightful.

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

Global Business BBC

Peter Day's Global Business programme about the grey-haired world/pros and cons/the big business opportunity was insightful. I am always learning something new. Many thanks Peter.

Useful links:
www.bitecic.com
www.engineering.leeds.ac.uk
www.gehealthcare.com
www.upmc.fr
www.robosoft.fr
www.tissueregenix.com
www.georgemagnus.com

Gallery 27

Paintings by Sir Anthony Hopkins have gone on display at Compton Cassey Gallery/Gallery 27. Check it out.

Useful links:
www.gallery27.com
www.jonathanpoole.co.uk

Random Thoughts

I found it remarkable that at a recent Barron’s roundtable discussion in New York where a number of prominent strategists and portfolio managers had gathered, India—the world’s second-most populous country, with more than a billion people and an economy that is growing at around 8% per annum—wasn’t mentioned once. In the year to March 2009, India added 125 million mobile phone subscribers! And whereas Indian auto sales are tiny compared to China’s vehicle sales (running currently at an annual rate of over 12 million units and up over 90% year on year), they are nevertheless up 39% year on year, with an annual rate of 1.6 million sales.
India’s middle class is estimated at 170 million (half the population of the US), and the country has one of the lowest vehicle-penetration rates in the world. Given that India also has one of the youngest populations—half of its 1.1 billion-plus people are less than 25 years old, compared to 42% in Brazil, 36% in China, and less than 30% in the developed nations—car sales will undoubtedly continue to soar in the next few years. In this respect, we should also take into account that India’s population will continue to grow rapidly and will exceed China’s population before 2030.

- Dr. Marc Faber
www.gloomboomdoom.com
http://online.barrons.com

Spot on.

BRITs 2010

It's the real show. The 30th anniversary event. www.brits.co.uk

A Good Talk

Meet Daniel Menaker to learn the art of conversation/sociability and the science. You won't get bored. http://danielmenaker.com

Old Master Drawings

More than 90 drawings of Frederik 'Frits' Lugt, from the 18th and 19th centuries, have been put on show at the Institut Néerlandais in Paris. It's a collection that’s well worth a visit. Many thanks to Economist.

Useful links:
www.fondationcustodia.fr
www.institutneerlandais.com

Flawless: Inside The Largest Diamond Heist In History

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby + Greg Campbell is an exciting book about a real-life diamond theft. A must read.

Useful links:

www.scottandrewselby.com

www.bygregcampbell.com

CIBJO Precious Metals Commission Special Report

The Precious Metals Commission of CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, has released its special report that examine issues related to the precious metals industries. A complete copy of the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission Special Report can be downloaded at: www.cibjo.org