After Steve Jobs, What Kind of Leader Will Apple Need? - The blogosphere is abuzz with speculation about the health of Steve Jobs and what that means for leadership succession at Apple. [Harvard Business Publishing]

25 Well-Paying Jobs that Most People Overlook (and Why) [Business Pundit]

7 Essential Guidelines For Functional Design [Smashing Magazine]

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Via The New York Times:

Researchers at the Salk Institute report they have found two drugs that do wonders for the athletic endurance of couch potato mice. One drug, known as Aicar, increased the mice's endurance on a treadmill by 44 percent after just four weeks of treatment. [...] The results, Dr. Evans said, seem reasonably likely to apply to people, who control muscle tone with the same underlying genes as do mice.

How more friggin lazy do we really want to be? Unbelievable!

Link

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Via Reuters:

Starbucks reported a fiscal third-quarter net loss of $6.7 million, or 1 cent per share, compared with a year-earlier net profit of $158.3 million, or 21 cents per share. Results from the most recent quarter included 17 cents in charges primarily related to store closures and restructuring.

There you go. Maybe my $12 that I spent at my local Starbucks today will help them.

Starbucks posts loss [Reuters]
Starbucks Takes Significant Actions to Position the Company for 2009 and Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 Results [Starbucks.com]

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Via The New York Times:

The number of illegal immigrants in the [United States] has dropped by as much as 1.3 million in the past year, an 11 percent decline since a historic peak last August, an immigration research group in Washington said in a report released Wednesday. The report, by Steven A. Camarota and Karen Jensenius of the Center for Immigration Studies, found "strong indications" that stepped-up enforcement by immigration authorities had played a major role in the decline.

No way Charlie, it's not the stepped-up enforcement by immigration authorities that's causing this - it's the current sorry state of the US economy that's forcing illegals to leave. Got it!?

Link

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I spotted this sorry ass dude in NYC's Herald Square today. Only in New York folks, only in New York. Or maybe not. Full size pic is on my Flickr.

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I stumbled upon this short but totally on-point guide on how to not be a douchebag while visiting New York City. Honestly, if you are planning a trip to NYC, I couldn't recommend this guide enough. It covers topics such as transportation, tipping, dealing with homeless people, etc. The 'rules' mentioned in the guide are nothing special - you might as well call it common sense.

How To Not Be A Douchebag Tourist In NYC [CO-ED]

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So true, isn't it?

[Via Flickr]

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- 101 Dumbest Moments in Business: Top tech flops : Exploding toilets and a startup that actually called itself VaporTech. When 400 surfers are dumb enough to click on an ad offering to infect their PCs, what's left for us to do? [CNNMoney.com]

- How Obama Became Acting President [NYTimes]

- 'Dark Knight' grosses $300M, shattering record : The epic Batman saga grossed $75.6 million in its second weekend in theaters, pushing its domestic total to $314,245,000. [AP/AOL]

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Gothamist is reporting that New York Loft Hostel is now open for business and accepting reservations. Located at 249 Varet St. in Brooklyn (Subway: L to the Morgan Avenue stop), the hostel offers up a pool, jacuzzi, 2000-sq-ft garden, bunk beds and wifi. The price: around $20-something per night. If you're in New York for a few days or weeks, that's a steal!

Loft Hostel Opens in Brooklyn [Gothamist]

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US presidential hopeful Barack Obama is in Germany today, speaking to public and pulling crowds like crazy. At first look I thought it was a Love Parade or something, LOL. Wow!

Obama Speaks to Germany on European Ties [NYTimes]
Obama uses Berlin symbolism to reunite old allies [CNN]

Photo credit: NYTimes

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Via BBC:

A regular diet of even modest amounts of food containing soy may halve sperm concentrations, suggest scientists. The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, found 41 million fewer sperm per millilitre of semen after just one portion every two days. The authors said plant oestrogens in foods such as tofu, soy mince or milk may interfere with hormonal signals.

That's something for those uber-cool hipsters and gays drinking Starbucks coffee with stupid soy milk.

Link

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Research and consulting firm Mercer published its 2008 report of the top 50 most expensive cities in the world today. The survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

According to the survey, Moscow is still the most expensive city for expatriates, followed by Tokyo, London, Oslo, Hong Kong and others. I'm not that surprised to see Prague (the capital of Czech Republic) at #29 and Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) at #45. The prices of real estate and cost of living in both Prague and Bratislava have been rising like crazy in last few years.

But wait! New York City at No. 22? Really?

Mercer's 2008 Cost of Living survey highlights [mercer.com]

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My buddy Florian recently traveled around Iceland and took a handful of amazing photos well worth checking out. Honestly, I would never guess Iceland is so beautiful. Unbelievable shots!

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- The Debt Trap: A series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible. [NYTimes]

- Globalization: Some Numbers [A VC]

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This is gotta be probably the most beautiful wallpaper I've ever seen. Put it on your desktop, cellphone, iPhone, etc. It is a stunning piece of art! You can download it here.

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