Reporters from Toronto Star have done a series of extremely well written and insightful interviews (not your usually fluffy and all positive interviews) with the five CBC Dragons: Kevin O’Leary, Arlene Dickinson, Jim Treliving, Robert Herjavec, Brett Wilson.
I greatly enjoy all of these interviews. And wish I could be as good in conducting some of my own interviews with people.
Note: The included excerpts (in the order they were published in TorStar) are meant to give us sides of the dragons that we don’t usually see on the TV shows.
* Kevin O’Leary: Canada’s unrepentant Dragon – O’Leary is breathing fire (and building his personal brand) on CBC TV’s business reality show Dragons’ Den. Here is an excerpt,
What made Kevin O’Leary rich was the moment he calls the “massive liquidity event,” that is the sale of LCI to toymaker Mattel Inc. for $4.2 billion (U.S.). O’Leary wasn’t the company’s largest shareholder, not by a long shot.
According to 1998 securities filings, Thomas H. Lee Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, held nine million shares. The Tribune Co. was next up with five million. Bain Capital had 3.4 million. O’Leary, the company’s president, had just over a million shares. O’Leary says he had more than that.
Within months of the deal, announced in December 1998, Mattel issued warnings of unexpected losses at LCI. Read the rest of this entry »
“This fantasy is still just that, but bits of it are starting to look plausible. Start with the translation part. Thanks to the internet, this is now a relatively flexible and cheap process. At the base of the translation hierarchy are free services offered by Google and others. Such services “learn” by analysing collections of documents that have been translated by humans, such as the records of the European Parliament, which are translated into 11 different languages. These collections are so big, and the machines that analyse them so powerful, that automatic translation (known in the jargon as “machine translation”) can usually convey the gist of a text, albeit it in a slightly garbled manner. Google and its rivals focus on widely spoken tongues, but academics are working on machine-translation services for more obscure languages.
An army of volunteer translators occupies the next level up in the hierarchy. Several prominent English-language publications, including this newspaper, are regularly translated into Mandarin by groups of unpaid volunteers for the benefit of other readers (see ecocn.org/bbs). More formal projects also exist.Read the rest of this entry »
If you haven’t read Michael Lewis’ previous article about the Wall Street meltdown, the 60 minutes March 14, 2010 episode is an interesting “must watch”. Enjoy.
Kaddy did a great job “Liveblogging Day Two of the Manning Centre Networking Conference“. I saw the Manning Centre Democracy Challenge and actually took time to put in a proposal that lost out to the following 5 proposals. Not surprisingly, I think my proposal is better than a few of the pitches but then I am biased in my own assessment. :)
In the following excerpt, Kaddy blogged about the 5 pitches live (then) and wrote about the winner. For the record.
“2:21
Alright, the last bit of business is soon to begin, I think — and it sounds like it may be a corker; it’s the Democracy Challenge, wherein a pre-selected series of finalists will pitch their respective projects that will strengthen the conservative movement in Canada. C’mom, doesn’t that sound fun?
2:31
And here we go! The judges, by the way, are Preston Manning, Cliff Fryers, Deborah Grey and Brett Wilson, who is described in the programme as a “Canadian entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den panelist.” He looks like he fancies himself one of those hot air balloon-commandeering billionaires, in a leather jacket with what I’m fairly sure is the third-longest locks I’ve seen over the last two days. Well, on a male, that is.
2:38
And here’s Brett Wilson, who notes that he’s known “of” Preston Manning for years, and he used to live next door to Cliff Fryers, whose car was once stolen by Wilson’s daughter. He then describe himself as “probably the most nonpartisan person in the room” — he doesn’t like the “Communists” that are the NDP in Saskatchewan; he hasn’t thought much about the Liberals since Paul Martin left, and he has no use for the “incompetent” regime that reversed course on income trusts, which is perhaps more familiarly known as the current government. (Insert very awkward laughter here.) Read the rest of this entry »
Speaker: Maureen J. Simmonds PT, PhD
Professor & Director,
School of Physical and Occupational Therapy,
Associate Dean (Rehabilitation),
Faculty of Medicine,
McGill University Dec 03, 2009
Description: A discussion of management of low back pain, the assumptions that are made and the value of different therapeutic approaches.
Keywords: back pain, exercise, physiotherapy, spine, yoga, Kinesiophobia, Neuromuscular, Hip flexion, Functional Assessment, Functional Ability, activity monitoring, Arthroscopic surgery, McGill CME.
Categories: Physiotherapy/Physiotherapy ; Pain/Douleur
note: Just finished watching the hour long talk. Very interesting and insightful.
I believe money can be made in the restaurant business, good food at a reasonable price and service, how hard can it be? But many restaurateurs just want to make their quick bucks and don’t want to put much care nor attention into the quality of the food they serve. As a result, Chinese restaurants that serve good Dim Sum is very hard to find in Calgary (especially in Calgary South).
We had one vegetarian and 6 meat/seafood dim sum dishes. Following are the snapshots of the names & prices on the menu and pictures of the dishes we had this Sunday.
Veggie Shrimp Dumplings (Dim Sum by Chef Lau)
Comment: The ingredients are finely chopped and the results is a very tasty creation.
Shanghai-style Soup Buns
Comment: Like Chef Lau said, the tiny “buns” are very juicy by design. And the skins are thin and you have to be careful when you pick it up. I was extremely careful but still manage to break a few of them. (Tip: take one and put it into your bowl and then add the red vinegar.) Very tasty.
Honey Comb Tofu
Comment: This is a must have. I love this dish the most. The tofu is quite soft in the centre. And the skin is “honey comb” textured. Very tasty.
Fish Roe Siu Mai
Comment: A nice “siu mai”. Love the texture and the mixture of ingredients. And like the touch of adding fish roes on top after the steaming process.
Supreme Shrimp Dumplings
Comments: The shrimps are quite big. Very tasty. Because I was quite hungry and tried to take out a dumpling while it was hot and the skin still very soft, I broke the skin of the dumpling. May be the skin were a little bit too thin this day? Or the stick together?
Chiuchau Fangor
Comment: Very tasty. Another favourite of mine.
Mayonnaise Crispy Rice Rolls
Comments: One of the most pleasantly surprising and yummy dish. Very light and tasty. Highly recommended.
The above dishes not only look great but they are very tasty as well, highly recommended. Now, let me say a few words about the English names of the dishes. To be honest, the English names of the dishes can be a bit cryptic (e.g. “Chiuchau Fangor”) to people who haven’t have a lot of dim sum. I’ve written about translating names of Chinese dishes into English in this previous blog entry and Chef Lau can take a look in updating the names for future if he wishes.
A few more words about naming. Chef Lau explained to me Buddha’s Veggie is an established brand name in Calgary which is why he wishes to keep it even he has extended the menu to add meat and seafood dishes.
I think Chef Lau has to solve this dilemma in the long run, and I am afraid name change will likely be required. Will see. Now, articles like this will help people to know more about this fine restaurant but it is still confusing when the menu has been extended.
The reason I decided to put a spotlight on this fine restaurant is because it is good quality and value Chinese Dim Sum is hard to find in Calgary (especially Calgary South). And I want this restaurant to be successful so that it will continue to thrive and I will have one more place to eat.
If you do decide to visit Buddha’s Veggie, I hope you like the dim sum dishes. And to keep Chef Lau working hard, tell him if you enjoy the food or tell him if you think the dishes can be impoved.
The following is my English interview with Chef Lau talking about Buddha’s Veggie, his experiences as a chef and the 7 types of dim sum we had this past week.
May 22, 2010 Update: Had a great dim sum lunch at chef Lau’s restaurant again today. Repeated some of our favourites we tried and loved last time like Supreme Shrimp Dumplings, Fish Roe Siu Mai, Honey Comb Tofu, Chiuchau Fangor, and Mayonnaise Crispy Rice Rolls. We also tried chef Lau’s new creation: Abalone Siu Mai. I am happy to see chef Lau creating and trying new recipes. The sight of a whole (very tiny) abalone sitting on top of a Siu Mai is quite pleasing to the eyes. (sorry, I didn’t bring a camera) At the same time, the tasty but more chewy texture of an abalone is tough to mix well with Siu Mai. So I look forward to chef Lau creating more dishes over time, and adding some of the really good ones to the regular menu over time.
NOTE: All food review ratings are based on the initial date of review. Food quality may improve or deteriorate over time. Feel free to share your personal experience (respectfully) in the comments section.
Toyota has many recent problems but what ABC did in its reporting was unethical and has damaged its journalistic credibility at the same time “ABC admits tinkering with Toyota report“,
“It all points to problems that are created when visual journalists try to alter reality in order to get a better picture.
“Any time you give the audience any reason to doubt the honesty of the piece, that’s a serious problem,” said Charlotte Grimes, a Syracuse University journalism professor who specializes in ethical issues.”
For the 10th anniversary of the Nasdaq’s all-time high, CNNMoney.com took a look at the biggest busts of the dot.com bubble.
Pets.com (1 of 10)
The Pets.com sock puppet has become synonymous with the dot.com bust.
The pet food and supplies company is perhaps the most recognized flop from the dot.com bubble because of its famous marketing campaign. Pets.com ran ads of a dog sock puppet interviewing people on the street. The mascot appeared in a Super Bowl commercial and even got its own balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in 1999.
P.S. At the time of the bubble, I bought some put options and made some money. I like to say if I had held the put options till their maturities, I could have used the capital gain to put a nice downpayment on a house or even bought a small house with cash. Of course, if I did, I might have thought that I was “very smart” and might have lost all my money in the years since. :)
Post-postscript – My little story: Before the bubble burst, someone approached me and want to buy the domain name ideasRevolution.com and I knew I could have sold the name for a few thousand dollars. But I had already put in lots of effort and care in creating the brand/Lovemark, so I didn’t sell out. And I am very glad that I still own ideasRevolution.com today and continue to build it as a brand/Lovemark.
P.P.P.S. I think the company that wasn’t able to buy my domain name eventually operated under ideas.com for a few years before it went out of business.
How did the EFF get its hands on the licence agreement when developers have to sign in blood not to reveal any details? EFF spokesman Fred Von Lohmann wrote, “When we saw the NASA App for Iphone, we used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to ask NASA for a copy, so that the general public could see what rules controlled the technology they could use with their phones. NASA responded with the Rev. 3-17-09 version of the agreement.”
Understanding the world is the pre-requesite to international trade, mediation/conflict resolution, and other important roles I see Canada can play in the 21st century. This article gives me a positive sense that we are on the right track.
Linksys, a Cisco subsidiary, offers really good Internet and networking routers starting at under $50 for home or office use.
But companies that are in the business of distributing data within the Internet infrastructure and between Internet service providers across long distances need to spend a tad bit more for their routers.
How much more? How does $90,000 grab you?
That’s the starting price of the CRS-3, the router that Cisco announced with great fanfare on Tuesday. The device, available later this year, can deliver a whopping 322 terabits of data, which is 3 times the speed of the company’s existing CRS-1 router and 12 times faster than what the competition offers, Cisco CEO John Chambers said. [..]
Cisco made a big deal out of this announcement, claiming in advance that it would “forever change the Internet.” [...]
In retrospect, I wish I had stayed in bed. [...]
Still, I can’t help feel a little bit used by the company’s public relations people.
“Forever change the Internet” seems like a bit of hyperbole to me, and, trust me, I’ve heard plenty of hyperbole after three decades covering Silicon Valley companies.
My biggest problem with the Cisco news conference was trying to stay awake. After two cups of coffee and anticipating that I would learn about something incredible, I was inundated with technical terms that even I don’t understand.
As talented as Cisco CEO John Chambers may be, he is no match for the other master of overstatement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Researchers in Alberta have successfully tested a new viral approach to treating prostate cancer in a small number of men.
The study was published in Tuesday’s online issue Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Dr. Don Morris, an oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary and his colleagues used a reovirus — a respiratory virus commonly found in the environment — to kill prostate cancer cells.
The 2010 Oscars is tonight. To make it fun in Calgary, here are some Oscar predictions in the following two tweets. What are your predictions for tonight?
“Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you. Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t bet against yourself. And take risk.
NASA has this phrase that they like, “Failure is not an option.” But failure has to be an option.
In art and exploration, failure has to be an option. Because it is a leap of faith. And no important endeavour that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. […]
in whatever you are doing, failure is an option. But fear is not.” – James Cameron at this 2010 TED talk [time code 16:11]
Posted by kempton 
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Subscribe by email
