Looking back 2009 – I like to remember my top 3 happiest moments with my friends in the scientific world:
(1) Spinning around L’Arche de Triomphe in Paris with George and Bernadette. It’s wild when we were in a convertible on a perfect summer night.  Tres Chic!
(2) Enjoying A Midsummer’s Night Dream in La Scala Opera [...]
Recent Articles
Remembering 2009
Notes from Leonardo Da Vinci
Recently, I attended the Web Intelligence conference in Milan, and I saw Da Vinci’s The Last Supper for the very first time.
I was never a great fan of Mona Lisa – having great disappointment with the very small canvas hanging in Louvre. As a doctorate student in Paris, I could not understand what’s the [...]
Voice of Reason for Health Care?
I admire the voice actors who volunteer many hours reading the entire health care bill — see NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/health/policy/14audio.html:
Listen to the Health Care Bill Read by Professional Voices
By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN
Published: September 14, 2009
About 60 voice actors volunteered to record the proposed health care bill, H.R. 3200, a 1,017-page doorstop. The reading, available free at hearthebill.org, clocks in just [...]
Top 3 Questions to a Survivor of 9/11
As a 9/11Â survivor, I’m often asked questions about my escape from the North Tower.
Most people, if they gathered enough courage to ask me, want to know the following:
(1) What did you feel when the plane hit the tower?
Answer: I felt the floor swaying in slow motion 5 times, and then the light dimmed for [...]
The Spectrum of Decisions
We recently decided to renovate our apartment in New York City. Steve, our take-charge no-nonsense contractor gave a tour of our living room, and suggested that “Linen White†is the color to paint.
Having absolutely no idea of what linen really shows as “whiteâ€, I decided to research a little and play with the color [...]
Zagat vs. Michelin: Guillotine of the Royal Critics
For years, French chefs fought over their restaurant ratings in the Michelin guide. Some chefs even killed themselves when they lost a star. It is the Godfather of gastronomy prestige.
The guide uses professional food critics who visit restaurants anonymously, and evaluate them on a range of criteria: quality of the products, mastery of flavor [...]
If Only Chocolates Can Save The Day
Inc.com just published an interesting slide on The Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now – http://www.inc.com/ss/best-industries-starting-business-right-now
Perhaps chocolates serve some neuropsychological cravings our brains require to function in current economic crisis, Candy is the first suggestion of making it big as a business. According to the slide, the list of promising ventures are:
Candy
iPhone Apps
Health-Care Technology
Self [...]
What needs to happen to kick-start new housing construction?
This poll shows overwhelming agreement on what needs to be fixed in current economic crisis:
http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/37901/sxwau
What needs to happen to kick-start new housing construction?
Sphere: Related Content
Rachel Yager | May 18th, 2009 | | Continued
Data and Information with Einstein’s Speed
Can we use Einstein’s special theory of relativity – the speed of light is the same in all reference frames, irrespective of their relative motion — to describe the “speed of data” in a flat world of global internet economy?
It’s 130th Anniversary of Albert Einstein’s Birth!
For all his fame and glory, the man was true [...]
Vocabulary of Changing Times: Trophy vs. Value Apartment
In the center of our economic crisis, the marketing concepts used in realty advertisements are adjusting to the mood of our real-estate market. In the article published in New York Times:
Adjectives Get Evicted
By TERI KARUSH ROGERS
Published: March 1, 2009
The new broker advertising vocabulary does not include “luxury,†“prestige†or, heaven forbid, “trophy.†Brand names that [...]

