Hiring Freezes

November 26th, 2008 
By Frank Mulligan
Brrr! Even though the sun is shining, it’s cold. It’s always cold when the economy slows, and it’s not just psychological.
Hiring freezes are in place in many of the world’s leading companies, and on a world-wide basis. This means that corporate staffers and line managers cannot hire anyone for a fixed [...]

Mercy Me: U.S. and China Trade Niceties

Reuters reported today that talks in Beijing between American and Chinese representatives had no substantive results, but that each country agreed it needed to set its houses in order:
China will rebalance toward domestic demand-led growth,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said, while the United States had already learned the “importance of living within our means [...]

How not to do business in China

There are a lot of books about how to do business in China, and most of the foreign entrepreneurs here read at least one or two of them before they started out. But it seems not everybody did so, or at least not everybody followed the basic advice in these books, which may lead to [...]

Volunteering in China

With the role of volunteers highlighted, catapulted some might say, last year, I have been getting more and more inquiries from the media on the role of volunteers as part of China’s development.
One of the more recent interview I participated in was conducted last month following the one year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake included [...]

Super Talent’s Pico USB drive: still world’s smallest, now 32GB

(Engadget)

While USB flash drives are now available in sizes that likely dwarf your own HDD, Super Talent’s Pico line isn’t looking to compete on sheer capaciousness. What it lacks in capacity, so to speak, it makes up for in size — or, the lack thereof, we should say. The outfit’s “world’s smallest*” drive just jumped [...]

Shared ownership schemes for first-time buyers: a slice of the action

(Telegraph)
By Caroline McGhie

Rossi Brown is 22 years old but she and her fiancé Sam Gardner have just moved into a smart flat with two double bedrooms in Bournemouth. It is on the third floor of the turret of a new development called b-central and has a circular living room with huge panoramic windows and stunning [...]

Chanel Starts a Russian Revolution

(Telegraph)
By Hilary Alexander

Chanel has started a Russian revolution. Its new ‘Paris-Moscow’ collection combines everything from cossack to Dr Zhivago inspirations. The collection is part of a regular Metier d’ Arts initiative which brings together the best handcrafts Paris has to offer; Lesage for embroidery, Lemarie for feathers and camellias, Massaro for shoes, Goossens and Guillet [...]

Did Antonello da Messina change the face of Renaissance art?

(NY Times)
By Jonathan Jones
With his unusual mastery of oil paints, this 15th-century artist might be the missing link between the movement’s Italian and Flemish schools

His eyes look – pleadingly? – out of a face turned directly towards you, the eyebrows slumped in sorrow, the mouth downturned to match their sadness. Christ’s humanity is tragically evident [...]

Ian Brown reveals ‘roses’ artwork for new single ‘Stellify’

(NME)

Ian Brown has revealed the artwork for his comeback single ‘Stellify’.
The cover (pictured) features a bunch of roses, with some hooped through a tambourine.
The former Stone Roses frontman is set to release the track on September 21, with new album ‘My Way’ following on September 28. ‘Stellify’ is not the only song on ‘My Way’ [...]

McGee on music: Why Bon Jovi are mythic New Jersey artists

(The Guardian)
By Alan McGee
Alongside Bruce Springsteen and The Sopranos, Bon Jovi form a pop-culture trilogy that has emerged from the Garden State

I feel Bon Jovi have received a bad rap from people with who believe themselves to have rather superior musical tastes. Last month, I was hanging out with my friend Jerry Jaffe, an all-round [...]