Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon was one of the most successful American portrait photographer + his work included many icons of art and American politics.

Useful links:
www.richardavedon.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7617871.stm

Martin Prosperity Institute

Peter Day's conversation with Richard Florida, a leading thinker on the nature of cities + what companies do not understand about them, and what business can learn from them + other viewpoints @ http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/global_business.shtml was educational and insightful.

Useful links:
www.martinprosperityinstitute.com
www.rotman.utoronto.ca
http://creativeclass.com

V. Kasturi Rangan

V. Kasturi Rangan is one of the pioneers of Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative. In Rangan's view, a new generation of business leaders and philanthropists want more transparency and accountability from the organizations they are funding. We are going to see new forms of social enterprises in the near future.

Go to http://hbswk.hbs.edu/faculty/vrangan.html for further information.

Heard On The Street

The brain is bad at some things and good at many others, but above all else, it has a remarkable capacity for fooling itself.

Random Thoughts

During the 20th Century, the Dow advanced from 66 to 11,497. This gain, though it appears huge, shrinks to 5.3 per cent when compounded annually. For investors to merely match that 5.3 per cent market value gain, the Dow – recently below 13,000 – would need to close at about 2,000,000 on December 31, 2099! Thus, if your adviser talks to you about double digit returns from equities, explain this math to him.

- Warren Buffett

The Desert Capitalists @ BBC Part Two

Mukhul Devichands's documentary on Marwaris, a powerful global economic and political force, from Bombay to Paris to London @ http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/09/080911_desert_capitalists_two.shtml was insighful.

Useful link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwaris

Michael Janzen

The bigger your property gets, the more there is to do + today minimizing one's footprint (structural as well as carbon) by living in spaces that are smaller than 1,000 square feet makes sense + I believe in the tiny house concept, and I really liked Michael Janzen's design.

Useful links:
www.michaeljanzen.com
www.resourcesforlife.com
www.tumbleweedhouses.com

Robert M. Hertzberg

Robert M. Hertzberg's firm, G24 Innovations, makes solar-powered battery-chargers for mobile phones and portable music-players. Go to www.g24i.com for further information.