Do you fancy a chocolate tour?

Carmen Botez has come up with a most delicious business idea, while turning her old time passion for sweets into profit.
As Los Angeles Times reports, Carmen organizes a chocolate tour in Manhattan, New York advising on the best bites - fruity, boozy, smooth and nutty interiors, mixed with spices, etc.
Chocolate Zoom online magazine is the premier chocolate guide for NY. No matter where you are in the City, Carmen's team can help you locate a quick chocolate fix within only a few street blocks...yummy!

Dr.Rada Mihalcea: 'Recipe for Happiness'

Mr. Barack Obama thanked Dr. Rada Mihalcea and 99 other Top Scientists last Thursday in a special White House ceremony: "These extraordinarily gifted young scientists and engineers represent the best in our country. With their talent, creativity, and dedication, I am confident that they will lead their fields in new breakthroughs and discoveries and help us use science and technology to lift up our nation and our world."

Rada's research is vast and delves deeply into artificial intelligence, natural language processing and other computer science areas. One of her papers I particularly find intricate is the one on Finding Happiness related to Blogposts, since "blog entries are nonetheless much closer to what people think, as compared to other forms of public expression."

The words we use can show our own degree of happiness and a language processing program can lead to revealing facts. The thorough study of 10,000 blogposts shows that:

- Wednesday is the saddest day of the week, while Saturday the happiest;

- at 9 pm we are the happiest, while at 12 pm the saddest;

- the happiest words: love; God; father; baby; books; new;

- the saddest words: goodbye; don't understand; I wish; I miss

So, one interesting conclusion is that "happiness in today's society occurs most often around novelty"

Finally, Rada's "Recipe for Happiness":

- Something new
- Lots of food that you enjoy
- your favourite drink
- an interesting social place

Sebastian Burduja: Union of Change

While being both a Stanford University graduate and a Harvard University post-graduate, Sebastian Burduja is a proactive young man, with great dreams for his career and country.

Interested in politics, public administration and business administration, Sebastian published his research on corruption in Romania quite early:
"The Romanian post-communist judicial system and police force have proved unsuccessful in tracking down and punishing corrupt behavior."

"Paradoxically, corrupt politicians are hierarchically above judges, and hence above the law. In the absence of effective deterrents and mechanisms of punishment, Romanian political elites have weak internal incentives to reduce corruption."

With such a clear insight and also accumulated experience and knowledge in time, Sebastian is currently running The Romanians Abroad Student Union aiming at creating a worldwide network of students and prospective students alike - how I wish this Union had been created when I studied abroad...

2009 Nobel Prize: Herta Muller

Ms. Herta Muller, from Timisoara, wins the Nobel Prize for Literature this year.

Her texts reflect her own biography and the complex situations in totalitarian systems and the human decay and degeneration: "This is not a topic that I chose, but rather one that my life has chosen for me. I don't have that freedom of choice. I cannot say: 'I want to write about that thing, or about that other thing.' I am bound to write about what concerns me and about the things that won't leave me in peace."

Being an advocate for the respect of cultures, Ms. Muller says: "In Timisoara [the main city in Banat] one can hear on the street all kinds of languages: Romanian, German, Hungarian, Serbian, Romany -- that's how it used to be and that's how it should be. Nobody should hide their culture."

Personally, I admire Ms. Herta Muller for her decency, just and noble attitude to life and also for her talent as an international writer.

Silvia Pintilie: Visual Artist

Silvia is the Winner of Salermo Talent of the year - Italy, the Winner of History of Contemporary Art, Marche – Italy and exhibits in Notre Dame de Sion Gallery - Paris. And she fully deserves all the praise when you have a look at all her fantastic paintings and drawings and work...

"Vanish" - Protective Distruction of Data

Roxana Geambasu, a 28-year-old PhD student at Washington University, is part of the team who are devising a new system of self-destruction of digital data we no longer need. In a world where personal data is no longer 'personal', Vanish seems to be in great need.
Vanish seems to be user friendly and probably it'll catch on very quickly. As "The New York Times" writes, "the technology is at the heart of most modern electronic commerce systems".

Aurora Simionescu Discovers a Piece of Our Universe

Ms Aurora Simionescu, a PhD student and NASA scholar, together with a team of astrophysicists, has revealed and studied a gas bridge that connects two clusters of galaxies in the known cosmic matter, as opposed to the dark one. She continues her studies and research as an international astrophysicist and has yet more to reveal to the world.

Rukmini Callimachi: Pulitzer Finalist 2009

Ms. Rukmini Callimachi was among the Finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting "for her in-depth investigation of the exploitation of impoverished children in West and Central Africa".
Working at first as a freelancer, she made her mark in international journalism writing articles for "Time" Magazine, "Daily Herald” Chicago and now for Associated Press.

Rukmini left Romania during the communist regime with her mother, father and grandmother, for Switzerland and then the United States where she got a degree in English. Her first name shows her grandparents' love of Indian culture, while her family name goes back centuries deep into the Romanian history. She is a direct descendant of one of the oldest Romanian families (Moldavian Phanariotes).

During the Resurrection night she went to St Pantelimon Church to take holy light and then she went home to eat traditional food.

Ioana Barsan: Dior Manager

Ms. Ioana Barsan is Christian Dior Top Manager for Northern Italy and is a young woman with a lot of charm, determination to overcome life difficulties and also a passionate professional.
In love with Dior since her childhood, she turned her affective memory into a life profession: "I grew up with a very stylish grandfather and father who used Dior perfumes. I remember that gentleman smell, fresh and strong - a smell that has stayed with me." Her first salary that she earned at 18 in Brasov, her native city, was spent on a Dior perfume...In Italy, after just 8 months she became in charge with the biggest perfume store in Italy.

Ms. Ioana Barsan has also great plans to encourage women to educate their style and tastes and there simply seems to be no better height-of-fashion adviser!