Crumbs Cupcake Bakery is going public via a reverse merger with a SPAC

Overall, there were 445 pirate attacks last year – a 10% rise from 2009.

Last week, a separate study found maritime piracy costs the global economy between $7bn (£4.4bn) and $12bn (£7.6bn) a year.

Euro Debt Crisis all in one picture from SG

Mr. Elmer, who previously provided documents from his former employer to national tax authorities including the Internal Revenue Service in the United States, said he had turned to WikiLeaks to “educate society” about what he considers an unfair system that serves the rich and aids those who seek to launder money.

Great collection of talks from Guy Kawasaki, President Obama, David Rose, and many more.

“China Development Bank… has become the financial muscle in the country’s overseas drive. In the energy sector alone, CDB has awarded loans to other developing country governments or companies of more than $65bn in the past two years. Beijing has made more than $110bn in long-term loans to developing countries over that period, a number that exceeds the World Bank’s lending”

“The American consumer may still be one of the main driving forces in the global economy, but about half of China’s exports now go to developing countries”

“among Chinese officials and scholars, there is a widely held view that the US has been abusing its position as controller of the main reserve currency by pursuing irresponsible economic policies. Nor do they hide the underlying geopolitical objective of the currency push – to place limits on the role of the dollar in the international monetary system”

Inspiring documentary on advertising employees who lost their jobs and re-created their lives Worth it.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJltcT7DH7g

Watch this

The winner was a chalkboard. Customers who bring in a reusable mug can put a mark on the board, and every tenth guest receives a free beverage.

“There are plenty of great reusable mugs out there,” the entry says. “But what people really need is an incentive to make the behavior change — a free cup of coffee and a bit of peer pressure.”

LA to Vegas by train makes a lot of sense

Caffeine brings coffee drinkers back to but not above their baseline level of alertness. In fact, frequent coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to both the anxiety-producing effects and the stimulatory effects of caffeine, the researchers report.

I think it would be very neat to work at a company like IDEO

Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).

The key lies in a process called transdifferentiation, where one type of cell is transformed into another type of cell. Some animals can undergo limited transdifferentiation and regenerate organs, such as salamanders, which can regrow limbs. Turritopsi nutricula, on the other hand, can regenerate its entire body over and over again.

The architect, the storyteller, and the disciplinarian

So when brainstorming ideas for that new Thanksgiving dish or the name of your unborn son, maybe try bilateral eye movement which, in the words of science, increases your inter-hemispheric interaction, and in turn increases your options.

move aside fish bowl, here come stackable Fish condos

I still have not had time to figure out wtf happened in Lost, these are just some of the unanswered questions that remain

This article is so graphic and painful to read, but you know you want to…

Despite opposition from the major Hollywood studios, federal regulators voted 3 to 2 on Monday to approve an investment vehicle that will allow professional traders to bet on the ticket sales that a movie generates during its opening weekend.

In fact, for consumers willing to digest the lesser of evils, it appears as if the Big Mac—especially when it comes to sodium and cholesterol—edges out the pork burrito.

A bullfighter was arrested, apparently for breach of contract, after he turned and ran from the ring at the beginning of a fight.

Business as usual in China

Great background story on one of my favorite brands

Baruch and Jenkins group workplace profanity into two types: “social swearing,” generally used in casual conversation, and “annoyance swearing,” the “Oh s–t” variety that’s especially common in high-stress environments like trading floors. They see value in both types of usage. Social swearing “can serve to manifest and signal solidarity,” they write, while annoyance swearing “provides a ‘relief mechanism’ for the release of stress and tension.”

Chef Yukako Ichikawa has introduced a 30 percent discount for diners who eat all the food they have ordered at Wafu, her 30-seat restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills
“Finishing your meal requires that everything is eaten except lemon slices, gari (sushi ginger) and wasabi,” says the menu.
“Please also note that vegetables and salad on the side are NOT decorations; they are part of the meal too.”

Too ironic

British officials, citing worries that singer Chris Brown might pose a danger to British citizens, barred him from entering the United Kingdom for concerts this week, a UK border official said. The 21-year-old R&B singer was scheduled to perform Wednesday night in Glasgow, Scotland, with shows in three English cities — Manchester, Birmingham and London — scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Sunday, according to his official website. He was then scheduled to perform in Cork, Ireland next Tuesday.

This is one of the first interesting cases of the estate tax repeal (valid for this year only).

Love this ad campaign. Porsche’s response: “Porsche has the most racing victories of any manufacturer out there—28,000 and counting—maybe we should go for 28,001,” the brand’s media relations manager says. “We just need to see what they’re up to.” Mini, of course, which would be expected to lose, therefore has little to lose—and just comes off as good humored and fun loving.

A lot of interesting books that I’d want to check out

Switzerland’s lower house rejected a bill that would have allowed the government to provide the U.S. with the names of UBS account holders

Love this idea, want one.

Did I ever post this?

This story is hilarious and amazing

(on prostitutes) He boasted about sleeping with four a day – a total of 2,000 at a cost of £100,000 over eight years – in order to sate his sexual appetite.
Carroll…once said: ‘I could go for days without sleeping because of the drugs – so I would just spend night and day s****ing with all these hookers.’
Describing how he descended into a world of drugs and paying for sex, he continued: ‘I only started to think about three things – drugs, sex and gold.

great story from Tony Hsieh, with two very interesting business practices:

“one Amazon distribution center recently began experimenting with its own version of Zappos’s policy of paying new employees $2,000 to quit if they’re unhappy with their jobs.”

“we’ve begun tracking employee relationships. When employees log in to their computers, we ask them to look at a picture of a random employee and then ask them how well they know that person — the options include “say hi in the halls,” “hang out outside of work,” and “we’re going to be longtime friends.” We’re starting to keep track of the number and strength of cross-departmental relationships — and we’re planning a class on the topic. My hope is that we can have more employees who plan to be close friends.”

interesting ongoing story of the electric car company’s founder

Tested whether blind men, who have avoided the body-shape bias of visual media, would also find women with a lower waist-to-hip ratio more attractive. They did.

Hendry explains his negative slance on China

According to a new survey of 1,500 chief executives conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value, CEOs identify “creativity” as the most important leadership competency for the successful enterprise of the future. That’s creativity—not operational effectiveness, influence, or even dedication.

pretty awesome

Scientists have discovered the molecule in the brain that leads to hangovers. The neuropeptide, a brain-signalling molecule, is believed to cause the body to experience withdrawal symptoms as the brain tries to adapt to different intoxication levels.

If you believe in your idea, sell it. Make your point as hard as you can and get what you came for. Your audience will thank you for it, because deep down, we all want to be sold.

7. Hard-wired to check out women

While often linked to aggression and hostility, testosterone is also the hormone of the libido. And guys have six times the amount surging through their veins as women, said Pranjal Mehta, a social psychologist at Columbia University in New York.

Mehta and colleagues found that testosterone impairs the impulse-control region of the brain. While it has yet to be studied, this may explain why, as Brizendine says, men ogle women as if on “auto-pilot.” They often forget about the woman once she is out of their visual field, Brizendine said.

“These animals are part of international breeding programmes and are crucial to the survival of the species, there are only 300 Cotton top Tamarins left in the wild, so time is running out,”

This site rocks

PepsiCo launched an in-house startup incubator

The “Avatar” and “Titanic” director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak.

Hungry companies figure out ways to keep eating because they don’t know whether there will ever be another meal. Veterans and serialists worry less about failure and are therefore more likely to fail.