Staying Awake on the Subway

The Flight of the Creative Class -- a book by Richard Florida that I may be interested in picking up if I find it at a the local used book store. The premise of the book is that increasingly, the entire global economy revolves around innovations coming from the world's creative classes -- and America is becoming more and more unattractive to those people, who favour social and economic equality, political tolerance and education, because of the changing values in America. OK premise, but I don't think America is any danger of losing its creative classes to the world. America is still rich and free -- and that's good enough for most people.

Just What GM Needs -- Kirk Kerkorian has come a-knockin' on GM's doors. The billionaire investor's interest is hardly philanthropic, but neither is it like carrions circling in the sky. GM is still viable, and Kerkorian's 9% stake in GM is sure to pan out when the company makes a turnaround. The speculation now is how much patience will Kerkorian have for GM's pace of change, and will he try to force Wagoner to make quick changes to stop GM bleeding money.

Bristling With Promise -- The Hedgehog signaling pathway is a complex network of proteins that cells use to communicate. They can be used as a switch to turn certain cellular activities on or off. Potentially being used to signal to cancerous cells to stop growing, or slow the progression of a variety of other diseases. In embryos, the Hedgehog signaling pathway is quite active, ensuring organs in the body develop -- in adults however, their activity slows -- but will sometimes reactivate in full force to respond to bodily injury. Scientists are studying the Hedgehog pathway, and other similar pathways as a means of managing certain diseases -- however, the first treatment that has made it to the market is one that will coax hair follicles to regrow.

Personal Tech -- BusinessWeek also has great review of the latest tech-toys for the road. See the latest in mobile phones, handhelds, iPod add-ons and satellite radios. It will cost you nothing to read and fantasize.