Which Celebrity Chef-Branded Restaurants Are Better Than Others?

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/01/which-celebrity-chef-branded-restaurants-are-better-than-others.html

Is It Counterproductive to Recommend Restaurants in Tokyo?

http://blog.sethroberts.net/2012/01/07/tokyo-restaurant-recommendations-and-why-they-might-be-a-bad-idea/

Do We Become More Conservative As We Age?

"In fact, research shows that seniors become more tolerant and more open-minded in their later years."

Do People Become More Conservative As They Age?
by Emily Sohn
http://news.discovery.com/human/voter-conservative-aging-liberal-120119.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Drink of the Day: Chicha

"...A batch of chicha, a traditional Latin American corn beer...In order to follow an authentic Peruvian method as closely as possible, the corn would be milled and moistened in the chicha maker's mouth.  In other words, they spit in the beer."

Chew It Up, Spit It Out, Then Brew It.  Cheers!
by Joyce Wadler
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/dining/09beer.html?pagewanted=all

Chart:: Top 1% - What Jobs Do They Have?

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/newsgraphics/2012/0115-one-percent-occupations/index.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

Don't Mess With Food in Hong Kong

"In the city that created the dim sum bond, where food and money are two overriding passions, the biggest battle in the financial community isn't about job cuts or billion-dollar IPOs.  It's about lunch...at issue is the length of the lunch hour at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.  The exchange...wants to reduce its lunchtime trading break from 90 minutes to one hour..."

For Brokers in Hong Kong, This New Policy Is Out to Lunch
by Kate O'Keefe & Isabella Steger
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203735304577166561256968008.html

21 Facts About the Corrupt Olive Oil Industry

http://www.businessinsider.com/fake-olive-oil-2012-1

Analysis of the Week: Stress

"Takeaway 1: Life involves money, work and relationships.
Takeaway 2: Money, work and relationships cause stress.
Takeaway 3: Stress causes chronic illness
Takeaway 4: Chronic illness causes death

Therefore, one might conclude, life causes death."

Too much Stress? See, That is What Worries US
by Dan Zak
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-american-psychological-association-survey-22-percent-report-extreme-stress/2012/01/11/gIQAooatrP_story.html

Is Stradivarius Overrated?

"In short head-to-head tests, five instruments were preferred at roughly equal rates and one wad distinctly disfavored: a Stradivarius.  In a more unstructured comparison, the same Stradivarius was again voted the worst, and four got equal ratings."

Is Stradivarius Overrated?
by Christopher Shea
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203471004577141042369472890.html

Question of the Day: Biking

Q: We all know that one should work or run in the opposite direction of street traffic.  But can you explain the rationale for riding a bicycle with the traffic instead of against it?  It feels wrong to me.

A:  A bicycle is a vehicle, and if all vehicles did not abide by the same rules, conflicts and confusion would occur too often, resulting in accidents.  To convince yourself, look at it this way: Would you ask the same question about riding a motorcycle?  Of course not.  Well, all of the underlying reasons for motorcycles to follow vehicle rules also apply to bicycles.  Still a holdout?  Studies do show that wrong-way cyclists are much more likely to get hit by cars.

-Ask Marilyn

Food of the Day: Casu Marzu

This cheese from Sardinia contains live insect larvae.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

On Anxiety

"If you find you have a fear, how can you cope?  Accept the anxiety.  Tell yourself that this is a normal reaction and it will go away shortly.  Don't bury the thought.  That will only make it worse, thanks to a phenomenon called 'ironic processes.'  Your emotional brain is programmed to resist when you try to suppress an emotional thought, particularly about a danger."

Insight Into Recent Elevator Anxiety
by Elizabeth Bernstein

On Finding a Parking Spot During Busy Times

"Wait in a place where you can see 20 parking spots in front...assume that the average person's amll trip is roughly three hours (180 minutes).  Divide by those 20 cars, and probability factors indicate that one of the cars will leave in nine minutes or less...the more cars you can watch, teh shorter the wait.  Lingering in a place with 25 parked cars could shorten the wait time to about seven minutes."

Quick, Find a Parking Space
by Kelli Grant
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204026804577098451316357124.html

Most Influential Cities in the World

The November 2011 National Geographic has an article/infograph of "The Most Influential Cities" in the world.  A.T. Kearney launched the Global Cities Index in 2008 and issued an update in 2010.  The rankings are based on political engagement, information exchange, human capital, cultural experience, and business activity  Here is the rank:

1. New York City
2. London
3. Tokyo
4. Paris
5. Hong Kong
6. Chicago
7. Los Angeles
8. Singapore
9. Sydney
10. Seoul
11. Brussels
12. San Francisco
13. Washington, DC
14. Toronto
15. Beijing

http://twitpic.com/7jdcqa

US Presidents Live Long?

Aging in Office: US Presidents Often Outlive Peers
by Julie Steenhuysen
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/06/us-usa-presidents-aging-idUSTRE7B52EY20111206

FP's Top 100 Global Thinkers

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=full

Which TV Shows Do Republicans & Democrats Like?

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/12/06/republican-vs-democrat-tv/

Fact of the Day: Twelve Days of Christmas

This is the first time the cost of all 364 items named in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, estimated by PNC Wealth Management, is more than $100,000.  The cost is now $101,120.

-Time Magazine; December 2011

Burma vs. Myanmar

Find out which one is "correct" to use...

For Clinton, A Quandary By Any Name
by William Wan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/burma-or-myanmar-for-clinton-no-easy-answer/2011/11/30/gIQAIl8rCO_blog.html

Are Dentists Overtreating Your Teeth?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/are-dentists-overtreating-your-teeth/?ref=healthupdate&nl=health&emc=healthupdateemb2

Quote of the Day: Rudeness

"I'd rather be rude than bored."

-Barney Frank

Selling Stock Funds

BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India, China
CARBS: Canada, Australia, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa
MINTS: Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Singapore
CIVETS: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa
MIST: Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey
CASSH: Canada, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, and Hong Kong

"Academic research has shown that catchy monikers help sell investments.  A 2006 study found that stocks with ticker symbols that conjure common words - such as LUV, BID and RIG - out-performed others by about 8.5 percentage points on their first day of trading from 1990 through 2004.  The reason: When dealing with complicated subjects - like investing - people seem to prefer shortcuts that simplify matters."

What's In a Name
by Ben Levisohn
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203710704577054722530665042.html

Question of the Day: Sweat

I've always wondered if you sweat a lot via one part of your body if that body part loses more weight.  For instance, if you sweat a lot through your head, is it your head that is losing that water-content weight?

How Much Should You Spend on a Car?

"The 1/10th rule is a general rule of thumb that states that you should spend no more than 1/10th of your gross annual income on a car."

http://www.calculatorpro.com/car-purchase-calculator

Video: Epic Meal Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xc5wIpUenQ

Mac vs. PC Usuers

It still appears that there are overwhelmingly more PC users than Mac users...But through its strong advertising, you would think the opposite...

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_percentage_of_Mac_users_to_PC_users._Worldwide_or_otherwise.

Daniel Kahneman on Human Blindness, & Overconfidence

"We are normally blind about our own blindness.  We're generally overconfident in our opinions and our impressions and judgments.  We exaggerate how knowable the world is...There are domains in which expertise is not possible.  Stock picking is a good example.  And in long-term political strategic forecasting, it's been shown that experts are just not better than a dice-throwing monkey."

-Time Magazine Interview; 11/28/11

Twitter-Based Hedge Funds

I still want to see how effective it is over the long-term.  Anyone can beat the market for a few months or a few years, but can they do it consistently?

"The stock market is moddy.  So is Twitter.  Harness teh emotions flowing through both and you could beat the market.  Indiana University professor Johan Bollen found that Twitter's collective mood predicted a market shift three days in advance.  London hedge fund Derwent Capital took that info to the bank, growing 1.85% last July.  The same month, the S&P dropped 2.2%.  Derwent scans 10% of the more than 200 million daily tweets, parsing terms like 'calm' or 'alert'."

-Time Magazine, November 2011

Americans vs. Europeans

http://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-the-fundamental-differences-between-americans-and-europeans-2011-11

The Most Relaxing Song In The World

"British ambient band Marconi Union has drummed up the world's most realxing song: 'Weightless' in 8 min. 10 sec. of aural bliss, proved to reduce anxiety by 65% and slow heart rates by 35% as teh listener's body rhythm syncs with the song's.  Indeed, Weightless is so successful at inducing somnolence that scientists caution drivers not to listen to it while behind the wheel."

On the US Senate

A comedic look at the Senate...

"All senators look good: They're groomed like putting greens."

A Barrel Full of Senators
by Joel Achenbach
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013001315.html

Pain & The Brain

"How you think about pain can have a major impact on how it feels...When subjects focused on something disracting instead of the pain, they had mor activity in the higher-thinking parts of their brain...and they were able to ease their own pain significantly.  Motivation also play a huge role - and helps explain why a gravely wounded soldier can ignore his own pain to save his buddies whle someone who is depressed may feel incapacitated by a minor sprain...people who are anxious are more likely to experience pain after surgery or develop lingering nerve pain after a case of shingles...one technique is attention distraction, simply directing your mind away from the pain...guided imagery, in which a patient imagines, say, floating on a cloud, also works in part by diverting attention away from pain.  So does mindfulness meditation..."

Rewiring The Brain to Ease Pain
by Melinda Beck
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204323904577038041207168300.html

On Timing the Stock Market

Perhaps the only stock investing advice one ever needs...

"Most mortals can't time the markets consistently well enough to make the strategy worthwhile.  And because of the vagaries of human emotions, the act of trying to time the stock market often produces far worse results than just buying a diversified bundle of stocks and holding them for the long haul.  People tend to sell in a panic at the bottom and buy in a flush of confidence at the top...the reason is that markets are efficient...in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value...As a result, the best stock-buying strategy is to find great companies, buy them now and hold them for a long time."

Time The Market?  Try Roulette Instead
by James Glassman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-best-time-to-buy-or-sell-stocks/2011/11/09/gIQAEb86FN_story.html

Are Cookbooks Obsolete?

Are Cookbooks Obsolete
by Julia Moskin
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/dining/are-apps-making-cookbooks-obsolete.html?pagewanted=all

The 17 Jobs That Make the Most in Tips

http://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-earn-most-tips-2011-11