The secret code of flowers

Jewellery, chocolate and red wine all make for fine romantic gestures, but there is no symbol of love quite like the red rose. No other flower has inspired so many paintings and poems throughout history, nor injected so much wealth into the pockets of florists – it is estimated that one billion of them are sold in the UK every Valentine’s Day.

The British Designers Collective at Bicester Village is back

London Fashion Week fans bewitched by the work of young designers such as Jonathan Saunders, Holly Fulton, Marios Schwab and Felder Felder, prepare to fall under a cut-price spell at Bicester Village.

3DS: The verdict

Nintendo’s new 3DS handheld will delight young and old alike with its 3D visuals and other novelties like built-in augmented reality games. It is a console that builds upon the solid base of its massively popular predecessors.

New Wonder Woman in action

The first pictures of the new Wonder Woman Adrianne Palicki in action show the superheroine has shed her hot pants in favour of full length leggings.

Karen Gillan to play Jean Shrimpton in David Bailey biopic

As if pictures emerging of a twin-set clad Katie Holmes on set playing former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy for a forthcoming television series weren’t providing us with enough retro delight, along comes the announcement that Doctor Who star Karen Gillan is to play ’60s model Jean Shrimpton in a new BBC film.

Arts funding cuts: The show will go on

Canvass the Clapham omnibus and it’s a safe bet that the cause of Arts Council England would find little favour. As a quango responsible for doling out taxpayers’ money to provide a “non-essential” service at a time of economic emergency, it’s certainly not going to rank high on Joe Voter’s list of priorities. Even within more liberal constituencies, it was considered lucky to escape the chop in last year’s round of executions, given its recent record of extravagant spending on its internal operations and a reputation for box-ticking ideological waffle.

Ma La Shang Guo Monday

I just need to drink plenty of iced water to cool down my burning mouth.

Li’l Big Brother: China’s Kindergarten Surveillance Program

Pull the plug on this bad idea ASAP.

On The State Of Intellectual Property In China.

China policy guru Benjamin Shobert has written an excellent article for the Asia Times on IP in China.

Negotiating In China: 10 Rules for Success

The Citi execs were particularly interested in learning what it’s like to negotiate in China. In preparation for my talk, I came up with the following 10 rules for success.