Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Study Cites Money Laundering By U.S. Diamond Jewelry Retailers
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about Professor John Zdanowicz's views on money laundering (one of America’s top authorities on detecting trade-based money laundering) + analysis and determining abnormal prices + the countries involved + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25674
Best Bling
Hitha Prabhakar writes about anonymous private individuals searching for the world’s most perfect stones (via diamond suppliers, jewelry houses and auction houses, relying on phone calls and word of mouth) + other viewpoints @ http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/09/rare-expensive-diamonds-forbeslife-cx_hp_0209diamonds.html
Odontolite
Chemistry: Fossilized bones and teeth of pre-historic vertebrates; stained blue by vivianite.
Crystal system: Amorphous; may show features of tooth and bone structure.
Color: Opaque; blue, greenish blue.
Hardness: 5
Cleavage: -
Specific gravity: 3 – 3.15
Refractive index: 1.57 – 1.63 variable
Luster: -
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Miocene sediments of Simorre near Auch, France; also associated with fossilized remains of Siberian mammoths.
Notes
Also known as ‘bone turquoise’; imitated by staining calcined teeth with copper sulphate solution (SG: 1.8; RI:1.54; similar to bone or ivory).
Crystal system: Amorphous; may show features of tooth and bone structure.
Color: Opaque; blue, greenish blue.
Hardness: 5
Cleavage: -
Specific gravity: 3 – 3.15
Refractive index: 1.57 – 1.63 variable
Luster: -
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Miocene sediments of Simorre near Auch, France; also associated with fossilized remains of Siberian mammoths.
Notes
Also known as ‘bone turquoise’; imitated by staining calcined teeth with copper sulphate solution (SG: 1.8; RI:1.54; similar to bone or ivory).
Monday, July 30, 2007
Common Opal
The reason why play-of-color is absent in common opal could be due to:
- variation in sphere size (s).
- non-spherical.
- the spheres may be of identical size (s) but disordered.
- the spheres may be too large or too small to cause diffraction.
- variation in sphere size (s).
- non-spherical.
- the spheres may be of identical size (s) but disordered.
- the spheres may be too large or too small to cause diffraction.
Manga’s Homer And Walt Disney All In One
Malcolm Jones writes about Osamu Tezuka + his action-filled idea-driven graphic novel concepts @ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19996088/site/newsweek/page/0/
Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform From Those Who Don't.
Good Books: (via Emergic) Here is what Ram Charan’s site says about the book:
How often have you heard someone with a commanding presence deliver a bold vision that turned out to be nothing more than rhetoric and hot air? All too often we mistake the appearance of leadership for the real deal. Without a doubt, intelligence, vision, and the ability to communicate are important. But something big is missing: the know-how of running a business, the capacity to take it in the right direction, do the right things, make the right decisions, deliver results, and leave the people and the business better off than they were before.
For well over four decades, Ram Charan has been learning in the most visceral way the underlying reasons why leaders succeed and fail. As one of the most influential advisors to top management teams of leading companies around the world, he has had a front-row seat to observe the cause and effect of leadership practices and behaviors.
Ram Charan's insight into the real content of leadership provides you with the eight fundamental skills needed for success in the twenty-first century:
- Positioning (and when necessary, repositioning) your business by zeroing in on the central idea that meets customer needs and makes money.
- Connecting the dots by pinpointing patterns of external change ahead of others.
- Shaping the way people work together by leading the social system of your business.
- Judging people by getting to the truth of a person.
- Molding high-energy, high-powered, high-ego people into a working team of leaders in which they equal more than the sum of their parts.
- Knowing the destination where you want to take your business by developing goals that balance what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve.
- Setting laser-sharp priorities that become the road map for meeting your goals.
- Dealing creatively and positively with societal pressures that go beyond the economic value creation activities of your business.
Know-How is the missing link of leadership. By Showing how the eight know-hows link to, interact with, and reinforce personal and psychological traits, Ram Charan provides a holistic and innovative portrait of successful leaders of the twenty-first century.
In my view, it's all about continual change + business models become obselete with time because of the fleeting business landscape + repositioning requires insight, read-through skills, near flawless imagination + the concept of personality traits and know-hows may morph into a new concept + the expanding global economy will bring in more surprises and new models.
How often have you heard someone with a commanding presence deliver a bold vision that turned out to be nothing more than rhetoric and hot air? All too often we mistake the appearance of leadership for the real deal. Without a doubt, intelligence, vision, and the ability to communicate are important. But something big is missing: the know-how of running a business, the capacity to take it in the right direction, do the right things, make the right decisions, deliver results, and leave the people and the business better off than they were before.
For well over four decades, Ram Charan has been learning in the most visceral way the underlying reasons why leaders succeed and fail. As one of the most influential advisors to top management teams of leading companies around the world, he has had a front-row seat to observe the cause and effect of leadership practices and behaviors.
Ram Charan's insight into the real content of leadership provides you with the eight fundamental skills needed for success in the twenty-first century:
- Positioning (and when necessary, repositioning) your business by zeroing in on the central idea that meets customer needs and makes money.
- Connecting the dots by pinpointing patterns of external change ahead of others.
- Shaping the way people work together by leading the social system of your business.
- Judging people by getting to the truth of a person.
- Molding high-energy, high-powered, high-ego people into a working team of leaders in which they equal more than the sum of their parts.
- Knowing the destination where you want to take your business by developing goals that balance what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve.
- Setting laser-sharp priorities that become the road map for meeting your goals.
- Dealing creatively and positively with societal pressures that go beyond the economic value creation activities of your business.
Know-How is the missing link of leadership. By Showing how the eight know-hows link to, interact with, and reinforce personal and psychological traits, Ram Charan provides a holistic and innovative portrait of successful leaders of the twenty-first century.
In my view, it's all about continual change + business models become obselete with time because of the fleeting business landscape + repositioning requires insight, read-through skills, near flawless imagination + the concept of personality traits and know-hows may morph into a new concept + the expanding global economy will bring in more surprises and new models.
Freud Portrait Breaks Art Record
BBC writes about the general trend for contemporary art going up in value @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6225168.stm
Did Diamdel Lose The Alexkor Production – Or Just Give It Away?
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about Diamdel South Africa’s dramatic loss of the Alexkor (state-owned) mine/its diamond production + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25716
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