Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce

People don’t know what they want! Right? As Howard loves to say, “The mind knows not what the tongue wants.” It’s a mystery! And a critically important step in understanding our own desires and tastes is to realize that we cannot always explain what we want deep down. If I asked all of you, for example, in this room, what you want in a coffee, you know what you’d say? Every one of you would say “I want a dark, rich, hearty roast.” It’s what people always say when you ask them what they want in a coffee. What do you like? Dark, rich, hearty roast! What percentage of you actually like a dark, rich, hearty roast? According to Howard, somewhere between 25 and 27 percent of you. Most of you like milky, weak coffee. But you will never, ever say to someone who asks you what you want — that “I want a milky, weak coffee.”

Translated into Chinese by Haohao Chen
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Fashion?

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” – Oscar Wilde

Michelle Obama’s plea for education

Translated into Chinese by Coco Shen
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Stewart Brand on squatter cities

Translated into Chinese by Tony Yet
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Jennifer 8. Lee hunts for General Tso

One of my favorite TED talks so far.

Did you know fortune cookies are actually NOT Chinese? (They are Japanese.)
Did you know the actual meaning of Chop Suey? (Hint: Odds and ends.)
Who the hell is General Tso?
Do Chinese people actually eat rats? O.o

Find out all the answers in the talk below.

Translated into Chinese by woopy
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Updates on Laura Ling and Euna Lee

Some updates on the previous post about Laura Ling and Euna Lee

1. Laura Ling and Euna Lee’s homecoming video
2. Clinton (Hillary, That Is) Reacts to Journalists’ Release
3. In Release of Journalists, Both Clintons Had Key Roles

Helping Others v.s. Helping Yourself

“If you light a lamp for somebody else it will also brighten your path.” ~Buddha@tinybuddha

Happiness v.s. Inner Peace

“Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive. Inner peace does not.” ~Eckhart Tolle@tinybuddha

What’s Next?

North Korea is said to pardon two American journalists, hours after Bill Clinton’s surprise visit.

The questions I have right now are:
1. Will this have the same effect on N. Korea and the rest of the world as Nixon’s visit did on China in 1972?
2. What effect, if any, will this have on Mrs. Clinton’s political career?
3. Will the current administration be overshadowed by this? How will Obama deal with this?
4. What about the three tourists detained in Iran? (PLEASE don’t send George Bush to rescue them. LOL.)

Let’s see whether these questions will be answered in the next few days, weeks, months or even years.

Change

Did we change the world, or did the world change you and me? (from the Chinese song “The Same Moonlight”)