No more hydro bill...

One of the interesting side effects of last year's stimulus bill was $400 million in funding for ARPA-E, the civilian, energy-focused cousin of DARPA. And in this week's first ever ARPA-E conference, MIT chemist Dan Nocera showed how well he put that stimulus money to use by highlighting his new photosynthetic process. Using a special catalyst, the process splits water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel efficiently enough to power a home using only sunlight and a bottle of water.
Like organic photosynthesis, Nocera's reaction uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy. However, whereas plants create energy in the form of sugars, this process creates energy in the form of free hydrogen. That hydrogen can either be recombined with the oxygen in a fuel cell to generate electricity, or converted into a liquid fuel.
In about four hours, water treated with Nocera's catalyst can produce 30 kilowatt-hours of energy. Moreover, the process is cheap. So cheap, in fact, that Nocera has no problem envisioning a day when each house generates its own fuel and electricity from photosynthesis.

W3 School

Featuring one of the largest collections of tutorials and reference articles for web developers on the internet, W3 Schools offers a huge assortment of learning and training resources on just about every relevant language and web service in use on the web today. You’ll find content tailored towards the full range from beginner to expert developer along with code examples, quizzes, tutorials, and reference guides in a relatively clean and well-organized site complete with a well-trafficked forum community.

10 small steps for better heart health

Change is an important part of living with heart disease or trying to prevent it. A jump in blood pressure or cholesterol earns you a lecture on healthy lifestyle changes. Heart attack and stroke survivors are often told to alter a lifetime of habits.

Some people manage to overhaul their exercise pattern, diet, and unhealthy habits with ease. The rest of us try to make changes, but don’t always succeed. Instead of undertaking a huge makeover, you might be able to improve your heart’s health with a series of small changes. Once you get going, you may find that change isn’t so hard. This approach may take longer, but it could also motivate you to make some big changes.

Here are 10 small steps to get you on the road to better health in 2010.

1. Take a 10-minute walk. If you don’t exercise at all, a brief walk is a great way to start. If you do, it’s a good way to add more exercise to your day.

2. Give yourself a lift. Lifting a hardcover book or a two-pound weight a few times a day can help tone your arm muscles. When that becomes a breeze, move on to heavier items or join a gym.

3. Eat one extra fruit or vegetable a day. Fruits and vegetables are inexpensive, taste good, and are good for everything from your brain to your bowels.

4. Make breakfast count. Start the day with some fruit and a serving of whole grains, like oatmeal, bran flakes, or whole-wheat toast.

5. Stop drinking your calories. Cutting out just one sugar-sweetened soda or calorie-laden latte can easily save you 100 or more calories a day. Over a year, that can translate into a 10-pound weight loss.

6. Have a handful of nuts. Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, and other nuts are good for your heart. Try grabbing some instead of chips or cookies when you need a snack, adding them to salads for a healthful and tasty crunch, or using them in place of meat in pasta and other dishes.

7. Sample the fruits of the sea. Eat fish or other types of seafood instead of red meat once a week. It’s good for the heart, the brain, and the waistline.

8. Breathe deeply. Try breathing slowly and deeply for a few minutes a day. It can help you relax. Slow, deep breathing may also help lower blood pressure.

9. Wash your hands often. Scrubbing up with soap and water often during the day is a great way to protect your heart and health. The flu, pneumonia, and other infections can be very hard on the heart.

10. Count your blessings. Taking a moment each day to acknowledge the blessings in your life is one way to start tapping into other positive emotions. These have been linked with better health, longer life, and greater well-being, just as their opposites — chronic anger, worry, and hostility — contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease.

King of pop

Sources have confirmed to Billboard that a deal between the Michael Jackson Estate, AEG Live and Sony for a theatrical release of the Michael Jackson rehearsal footage from the ill-fated This Is It concerts could close today, though there are still some “unsettled terms” that are being negotiated. In fact, the deal is in such flux that it could shift to another studio by the end of the day. According to the source, Sony Music may co-invest with one of the film studios on this release, including Sony Pictures.

The source also says that Michael Jackson’s father Joe Jackson’s efforts in conjunction with promoter Leonard Rowe have “muddied the waters” in the Michael Jackson Estate and AEG’s attempt to close a TV network deal for the presentation of the original This Is It production, created by Jackson and Kenny Ortega.

The This Is It special has been conceived as a tribute to MJ featuring Janet, the Jackson 5, and other major performers. The source says Joe Jackson has been shopping his own Jackson Family special on MJ’s birthday on Aug. 29, which neither Janet Jackson nor the Jackson brothers have agreed to.

Reasons not to get iPad

Big, Ugly Bezel

Have you seen the bezel on this thing?! It's huge! I know you don't want to accidentally input a command when your thumb is holding it, but come on.

No Multitasking
This is a backbreaker. If this is supposed to be a replacement for netbooks, how can it possibly not have multitasking? Are you saying I can't listen to Pandora while writing a document? I can't have my Twitter app open at the same time as my browser? I can't have AIM open at the same time as my email? Are you kidding me? This alone guarantees that I will not buy this product.

No Cameras
No front facing camera is one thing. But no back facing camera either? Why the hell not? I can't imagine what the downside was for including at least one camera. Could this thing not handle video iChat?

Touch Keyboard
So much for Apple revolutionizing tablet inputs; this is the same big, ugly touchscreen keyboard we've seen on other tablets, and unless you're lying on the couch with your knees propping it up, it'll be awkward to use.

No HDMI Out
Want to watch those nice HD videos you downloaded from iTunes on your TV? Too damned bad! If you were truly loyal, you'd just buy an AppleTV already.

The Name iPad
Get ready for Maxi pad jokes, and lots of 'em!

No Flash
No Flash is annoying but not a dealbreaker on the iPhone and iPod Touch. On something that's supposed to be closer to a netbook or laptop? It will leave huge, gaping holes in websites. I hope you don't care about streaming video! God knows not many casual internet users do. Oh wait, nevermind, they all do.

Adapters, Adapters, Adapters
So much for those smooth lines. If you want to plug anything into this, such as a digital camera, you need all sorts of ugly adapters. You need an adapter for USB for god's sake.

It's Not Widescreen
Widescreen movies look lousy on this thing thanks to its 4:3 screen, according to Blam, who checked out some of Star Trek on one. It's like owning a 4:3 TV all over again!

Doesn't Support T-Mobile 3G
Sure, it's "unlocked." But it won't work on T-Mobile, and it uses microSIMs that literally no one else uses.

A Closed App Ecosystem
The iPad only runs apps from the App Store. The same App Store that is notorious for banning apps for no real reason, such as Google Voice. Sure, netbooks might not have touchscreens, but you can install whatever software you'd like on them. Want to run a different browser on your iPad? Too bad!

Apple iPad

Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco today and unveiled the iPad. The tablet device is “more intimate than a laptop, and it’s so much more capable than a smartphone,” according to Jobs. What it looks like is enlarged iPhone.

Jobs dandled the hardcover novel sized device in his hands, looking very close to the 10 inch screen many had predicted.

The device is .5 inches thick with a 9.7 inch screen. It weighs only 1.5 lbs and holds 10 hours of battery life.

It will hold either 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of flash storage. It is wireless and Bluetooth equipped.

On the all-important application side, the iPad can run apps from Apple’s store in one of two ways: You can see it at the original size in middle of the iPad and with black around it or the iPad can double the pixels to run it full screen.

What exercise can do for you

Millions of Canadians simply aren’t moving enough to meet the minimum threshold for good health — that is, burning at least 700 to 1,000 calories a week through physical pursuits. The benefits of exercise may sound too good to be true, but decades of solid science confirm that exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and several types of cancer, particularly breast and colon cancers. Regular exercise can also help you sleep better, reduce stress, control your weight, brighten your mood, sharpen your mental functioning, and improve your sex life.

A well-rounded exercise program has four components: aerobic activity, strength training, flexibility training, and balance exercises. Each benefits your body in a different way.

Exercise at a glance

In a nutshell, exercise can:

• reduce your chances of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, exercise reduces the chances of dying from it.
• lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes.
• reduce your risk for colon cancer and some other forms of cancer.
• improve your mood and mental functioning.
• keep your bones strong and joints healthy.
• help you maintain a healthy weight.
• help you maintain your independence well into your later years.

Six types of IT learners

A new study from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario that looks at how people learn technology in organizations finds formal methods are least common. Hands-on and peer-based forms of informal and incidental learning occur most often.

The study also identified six types of learners: purposive planners, explorers, visionaries, problem solvers, reluctant learners and pinballs. The January 2010 issue of Impact published by the Ivey Business School defines the categories as follows:


“Purposive planners are very structured and self-disciplined in their approach. They plan carefully and with a lot of attention to detail, and once they’ve made their plan they act on it.”

“Explorers find time to learn on their own because they find it fun or useful. They might for example, stop in the middle of a task and spend some time looking at menu choices or drilling down into new areas.”

“Visionaries are people who find out about new technologies and think about what these could do for them personally and in their organizations. Visionaries are sometimes explorers. They tend to be lateral thinkers, and look at technology from a very strategic perspective.”

“Problem solvers are not necessarily interested in technology, but are very interested in mastering their workplace tasks. They tend to have a strong task-oriented mindset.”

“Pinballs are people who don’t think about learning, but simply bounce around between technologies, picking up knowledge while they’re being buffeted about. They tend to do a lot of incidental learning, and some actually become quite capable users of technology.

”Reluctant learners “are people who don’t really see the value of technology in their jobs. They simple focus on what they have to learn to survive in the organization.”

Individuals don’t necessarily fit into only one category. The interesting thing about the categories is that they tend to overlap. Some categories may relate to what someone does, while other categories might relate to how that person thinks.

Solar eclipse

In last week's solar eclipse, the moon didn't quite blot out the entire sun. That's what made it such a beautiful sight.

Called an annular eclipse (annular means ring-shaped), the moon blocked all but the sun's outer edge, creating a fiery hoop in the sky. Canadian astronomy fans didn't get a chance to see it. It was only visible along a 300 km-wide strip stretching from Central Africa to China.

The Mail Online's excellent coverage includes a video of the eclipse in progress in various spots including Kenya and India.

Windows Mobile 7

The Windows Mobile rumor mill is officially in overdrive after a blog by the name of Bright Side of News claimed it "spoke with representatives from Microsoft, Lenovo, Qualcomm, TI, Nokia, nVidia, HTC and many more" and the sources said Windows Mobile 7 had been delayed until 2011. This conflicts with invitations bloggers like istartedsomething received from Redmond to Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona regarding "several exciting announcements" about Microsoft's "consumer vision and grow opportunities for the mobile industry as a whole." Upon closer inspection though, Windows Mobile 7 is not mentioned specifically in the invitation.

Google is considering withdrawing from China

The attack was also made on about 20 large corporations operating in China and the company says it has evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

The unprecedented threat by the world biggest internet company casts China’s notorious disregard for intellectual property in an entirely new light and potentially raises a major obstacle for the country’s push for wider acceptance in the global community.

Google was criticised when it launched Google.cn in 2006 for accepting government censorship, but said this will now stop and over the next the few weeks will discuss with the Chinese government the basis on which it could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.

Toronto school board to stop buying Macs

The decision, which surfaced late last year, is now under fire from one school board trustee, who argues that students and staff should be exposed to more than just one computing platform. Find out why the board changed its policy. In an effort to cut costs, the Toronto District School Board plans to stop introducing new Apple Inc. computers into classrooms for general use.

The new internal IT policy could lead to most TDSB students only being exposed to PC computers. The exception to this rule will be for specialized school departments where Mac usage is seen as the industry standard, such as the Media Arts or Music disciplines.

Fingerprint protected iPhone

The iPhone 3G S promises faster hardware, a better camera, and an unannounced feature: a multitouch screen that repels skin oil. We discovered this new feature while browsing the iPhone How To--Cleaning iPhone, which reads:

To clean iPhone, unplug all cables and turn off iPhone (press and hold the Sleep/Wake button, then slide the onscreen slider). Then use a soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth. Avoid getting moisture in openings. Don't use window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, alcohol, ammonia, or abrasives to clean the iPhone. If your iPhone has an oleophobic coating on the screen (iPhone 3G S only), simply wipe your iPhone's screen with a soft, lint-free cloth to remove oil left by your hands and face.

According to Wikipedia, "Oleophobic (from the Greek (oleo) "oil") refers to the physical property of a molecule that is repelled from oil. The most common lipophobic/oleophobic substance is water."

(Credit: Phone Fingers)

Fingerprints on iPhone screens have been a source of consumer complaints since the release of the first iPhone in 2007. This new feature probably doesn't prevent fingerprints, but it likely makes the grease easier to wipe off. (If easier cleaning doesn't satisfy your need for neatness, try Phone Fingers--pictured below--but you only have yourself to blame if no one loves you while you wear them.)

Penguins vs Hurricanes

Both teams, who will square off in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series starting Monday night (7:30 p.m. ET) at Mellon Arena, made coaching changes during the regular season that helped spark a turnaround and avoid an early summer.

By the time the Stanley Cup playoffs began, Pittsburgh and Carolina were two of the hottest clubs entering the post-season.

The parallels don't end there.

The teams split the regular-season series 2-2. While the Penguins are known as a fast-break hockey squad, the Hurricanes have been applying the same up-tempo offence through the first two rounds.

And in Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, who shares the top playoff spot with 21 points, and Hurricanes centre Eric Staal (nine goals), this series features two players who can take over a game in an instant.

"You're going to see fast hockey," said Sidney Crosby, who also leads the NHL's playoffs with 12 goals.

"Both teams really play similar styles. I've watched them play. Their D is in the play, they're quick up front, they attack [and] they don't sit back. I think that's similar to the way we like to play as well."

Next generation of search engine

Even in the face of Wolfram Alpha, no one will deny that Google is a powerful research tool for our students. However, teasing out truly useful results can be challenging at best from the millions of pages returned by the average search. In response to this, Google revealed a new feature at their Searchology summit yesterday called Google Squared. To be released (not surprisingly) via Google Labs sometime close to the launch of Wolfram Alpha, squared adds an extra layer of semantic search to your Google research efforts.

As quoted in the Register, Google VP Marisa Mayer stated that

“One of the hardest problems in computer science is data abstraction - looking at the unstructured web and abstracting values and facts and information in a meaningful way in order to present it to users, building out some of these research spreadsheets in an automated way. But that’s no longer a hypothetical.”

The San Francisco Chronicle described the feature in a bit more detail:

compiles details from several Web pages and organizes them into a table on a single page, with multiple columns like a spread sheet. A search for “small dogs,” for instance, returns a list of breeds, an accompanying image and a brief description, plus the average height and weight of each breed.

Even Google acknowledged that this was still very much a “labs” feature that was imperfect at best. However, between Wolfram Alpha, Google’s efforts in semantic search, and a host of competitors that will be popping up in this field, we may very well be on the edge of Search 3.0. This is good news for our students, teachers, and library scientists struggling to help our students get the information they want from the billions of pages of junk (and millions of pages of interest) floating around the web.

Windows 7 release this year

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) disclosed more details on its timetable for finishing up work on the Windows 7 operating system. An official at the software maker said the company hopes to release the OS to its manufacturing division by about mid-August.

"We expect to hit RTM in about 3 months or so," said Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft's in-house Windows blogger, in a post Monday. LeBlanc said a mid-August release to manufacturing (RTM) would be contingent on Microsoft receiving feedback from Windows 7 Release Candidate users that "meets our expectations in terms of quality."

Microsoft Windows senior VP Bill Veghte on Monday confirmed what many in the computer industry have come to suspect -- that Microsoft intends to ship a final version of Windows 7 to stores and PC makers sometime later in 2009.

"With early RC testing and extensive partner feedback we've received, Windows 7 is tracking well for holiday availability," said Veghte, in a statement. The RTM process includes disc mastering and reproduction, as well as other manufacturing tasks, and generally takes about three months.

LeBlanc, in his blog, further emphasized that Microsoft won't take shortcuts in order to get Windows 7 out the door before the calendar turns. "I want to underscore that our top priority remains QUALITY. This guidance does not alter that principle," said LeBlanc.

Microsoft has good reason to be wary of shipping Windows 7 until it's ready for prime time. Windows Vista, the company's current OS, experienced a number of setbacks almost from the moment it debuted in January 2007. Problems included incompatible applications and device drivers, and user complaints about Vista's hefty hardware requirements and intrusive security measures that sought manual approval for even the most routine tasks.

Microsoft rival Apple wasted no time in lampooning Vista's foibles through a series of commercials, featuring the cool Mac guy and nerdy PC guy, that became instant classics in the ad and tech industries. Dissatisfaction with Vista also caused most major enterprises to shun the OS and hang on to predecessor Windows XP well past its intended shelf life.

Microsoft, which saw Windows sales fall 16% in the most recent quarter, is hoping Windows 7's early favorable reviews, as well as new features such as built-in touch screen support, will help it overcome the Vista debacle.

Diet tips for lower blood pressure

Hypertension, stroke, and heart disease are common in the United States and most other Western industrialized nations. Epidemiologists attribute much of their prevalence to diet. After decades of research, scientists have concluded that the typical American diet is a recipe for hypertension and cardiovascular disease: too much salt, too much saturated fat, too many calories, and not enough fruits and vegetables. But the good news is that you can take an active role in preventing and controlling high blood pressure by watching what you eat.

Consume less salt
Doctors first noticed a link between hypertension and sodium chloride — the most common form of dietary salt — in the early 1900s, when they found restricting salt in patients with kidney failure and severe hypertension brought their blood pressures down and improved kidney function.

Federal guidelines advise people to limit sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day — about the amount in 1 teaspoon of table salt. Yet Americans typically consume 1 to 3 teaspoons, or as much as 7,200 mg a day. This fact, coupled with the high prevalence of hypertension in the United States, led researchers to assume that salt overload was the culprit.

As it turns out, this may or may not be true. Nearly 50% of people who have hypertension are salt-sensitive, meaning eating too much sodium clearly elevates their blood pressure and puts them at risk for complications. In addition, people with diabetes, the obese, and older people seem more sensitive to the effects of salt than the general population. However, the question of whether high salt consumption also puts generally healthy people at risk for hypertension is the source of considerable debate. Regardless of whether high salt intake increases blood pressure, it does interfere with the blood pressure–lowering effects of antihypertensive medications.

Keep an eye on fat
A diet low in saturated fat can reduce cholesterol levels, but its effect on blood pressure is not well established. It’s important to remember, though, that not all fats are bad. Particularly heart-healthy are omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fatty fish like mackerel and salmon, some oils such as canola oil, and some nuts and grains such as flaxseed. Large amounts of these fatty acids may help reduce high blood pressure, but their role in preventing hypertension is unclear. What is apparent is their effect on heart disease. A number of studies have linked modest levels of fish consumption with a reduced risk of heart attack and sudden death.

Boost your potassium intake
Consuming too little potassium can raise your blood pressure and your risk of stroke. Increasing dietary potassium may allow some people to reduce the dose of their blood pressure medication. In a study in Italy, 27 people with hypertension increased their potassium intake while another 27 followed their usual diets. After one year, 81% of people on the high-potassium diet were able to cut their medications by more than half, while only 29% of the people who followed their usual diets could cut back that far.

Before increasing your intake of potassium, check with your doctor. Some people — for example, those with kidney disease — may need to avoid both potassium and salt.

Get enough calcium
Some research suggests a low calcium intake may contribute to high blood pressure, but calcium’s exact role in hypertension is unknown. One theory holds that a lack of calcium in the diet predisposes your body to retain sodium, which raises blood pressure. For this reason, it may be especially important that salt-sensitive people with hypertension get enough calcium.
While there’s evidence that consuming plenty of calcium-rich foods and beverages may help prevent hypertension, efforts to control blood pressure with calcium supplements have had mixed results. At this point, experts are reluctant to recommend calcium supplements solely to lower blood pressure. But since many Americans simply don’t get enough calcium in their diets, and calcium is vital for preventing osteoporosis, few would argue against the use of supplements to boost your calcium intake.

DIY photo lighting

My friend told me he is working on his DIY softbox and light box for taking photo in his basement. That sounded like a good idea since photo lighting usually cost a lot, so I was looking to help him find something easier and affordable. The other day I saw some work light on sales at our local hardware store so I thought that might work, but after some study I found that the normal halogen light blub is too hot and color is not good for photography.

Then I came across this DIY online and it seems to work well, so hope others will find it useful. Link here...

The World's Billionaires

The world has become a wealth wasteland.

Like the rest of us, the richest people in the world have endured a financial disaster over the past year. Today there are 793 people on our list of the World's Billionaires, a 30 per cent decline from a year ago.

Of the 1,125 billionaires who made last year's ranking, 373 fell off the list--355 from declining fortunes and 18 who died. There are 38 newcomers, plus three moguls who returned to the list after regaining their 10-figure fortunes. It is the first time since 2003 that the world has had a net loss in the number of billionaires.

The world's richest are also a lot poorer. Their collective net worth is C$3 trillion (US$2.4 trillion), down C$2.5 trillion (US$2 trillion) from a year ago. Their average net worth fell 23 per cent to C$3.7 billion (US$3 billion). The last time the average was that low was in 2003.

Bill Gates lost C$22.3 billion (US$18 billion) but regained his title as the world's richest man. Warren Buffett, last year's No. 1, saw his fortune decline C$31.0 billion (US$25 billion) as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly 50 per cent in 12 months, but he still managed to slip just one spot to No. 2. Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helú also lost C$31.0 billion (US$25 billion) and dropped one spot to No. 3.

It was hard to avoid the carnage, whether you were in stocks, commodities, real estate or technology. Even people running profitable businesses were hammered by frozen credit markets, weak consumer spending or declining currencies.

The biggest loser in the world this year, by dollars, was last year's biggest gainer. India's Anil Ambani lost C$39.7 billion (US$32 billion) -76 per cent of his fortune--as shares of his Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Capital all collapsed.

Ambani is one of 24 Indian billionaires, all but one of whom are poorer than a year ago. Another 29 Indians lost their billionaire status entirely as India's stock market tumbled 44 per cent in the past year and the Indian rupee depreciated 18 per cent against the dollar. It is no longer the top spot in Asia for billionaires, ceding that title to China, which has 28.

Russia became the epicenter of the world's commodities bust, dropping 55 billionaires--two-thirds of its 2008 crop.

Among them: Dmitry Pumpyansky, an industrialist from the resource-rich Ural mountain region, who lost C$6.2 billion (US$5 billion) as shares of his pipe producer, TMK, sank 84 per cent. Also gone is Vasily Anisimov, father of Moscow's Paris Hilton, Anna Anisimova, who lost C$4 billion (US$3.2 billion) as the value of his Metalloinvest Holding, one of Russia's largest ore mining and processing firms, fell along with his real estate holdings.

Twelve months ago Moscow overtook New York as the billionaire capital of the world, with 74 tycoons to New York's 71. Today there are 27 in Moscow and 55 in New York.

After slipping in recent years, the U.S. is regaining its dominance as a repository of wealth. Americans account for 44 per cent of the money and 45 per cent of the list's slots, up seven and three percentage points from last year, respectively. Still, it has 110 fewer billionaires than a year ago.

Those with ties to Wall Street were particularly hard hit. Former head of AIG Maurice (Hank) Greenberg saw his C$2.4 billion (US$1.9 billion) fortune nearly wiped out after the insurance behemoth had to be bailed out by the U.S. government. Today Greenberg is worth less than C$124 million (US$100 million). Former Citigroup Chairman Sandy Weill also falls from the ranks.

Last year there were 39 American billionaire hedge fund managers; this year there are 28. Twelve American private equity tycoons dropped out of the billionaire ranks.

Blackstone Group's Stephen Schwarzman, who lost C$5 billion (US$4 billion), and Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts' Henry Kravis, who lost C$3.1 billion (US$2.5 billion), retain their billionaire status despite their weaker fortunes.

Worldwide, 80 of the 355 drop-offs from last year's list had fortunes derived from finance or investments.

While 656 billionaires lost money in the past year, 44 added to their fortunes. Those who made money did so by catering to budget-conscious consumers (discount retailer Uniqlo's Tadashi Yanai), predicting the crash (investor John Paulson) or cashing out in the nick of time (Cirque du Soleil's Guy Laliberte).

So is there anywhere one can still make a fortune these days? The 38 newcomers offer a few clues. Among the more notable new billionaires are Mexican Joaquín Guzmán Loera, one of the biggest suppliers of cocaine to the U.S.; Wang Chuanfu of China, whose BYD Co. began selling electric cars in December, and American John Paul Dejoria, who got the world clean with his Paul Mitchell shampoos and sloppy with his Patrón Tequila.

The math of a happy marriage

The eternal question: What makes a marriage last?

Now, thanks to a survey of 3,000 Brits, there's not just a pat schmaltzy answer, but a by-the-numbers recipe.

You need to say "I love you" daily, share two hobbies, and have sex three times a week.

And that's not all. You're supposed to communicate – phone, text or email – three times a day during work hours, enjoy two romantic meals a month and exchange four kisses and three cuddles daily.

In other words, you have to work at it.

Researchers interviewed people who had been happily married for 10 years or longer about their opinions and experiences. The survey was done for confetti.co.uk, a wedding website.

"People here are most surprised by the need for daily kisses and cuddles. Everyone seems amazed by that," says Confetti spokesperson Carol Richardson.

Brits need to relax that stiff upper lip? They're not smooching and snuggling enough?

"That's probably the case," says Richardson. "It's free, easy and we all should be doing it."

Researchers determined that the ideal couple in a good marriage likely met through friends and dated for three-and-a-half years before getting married. At the wedding, the groom was 31 and the bride was 29.

They waited two years and two months to have kids.

Somehow they manage to get away together three times a year for holidays and they spend three nights a week nestled together on the couch watching television. Presumably, to save time, this could be the same three nights a week they have sex.

But it's not all kissy-face. The ideal formula includes two separate outings a month – girls' nights and boys' nights.

"You need time apart to pursue your interests," says Richardson, "and bring something fresh back to the relationship."

by Nancy J. White