The baobab goes global

Growing up in Africa, I never gave much thought to the baobab tree even though it was pretty familiar to me. But now the baobab is about to hit the big time as experts have discovered the varied and healthful uses of the tree, which is “rich in antioxidants, potassium and phosphorus, and has six times as much vitamin C as oranges and twice as much calcium as milk.”

Africans have long used parts of the baobab to heal everything from malaria to toothaches. But if the essence of the tree becomes popular in the Western world, there are potential consequences for the supply in Africa and the few other parts of the world where it grows.

I’ll have to check out how it ends up being packaged and marketed to us next time I’m at Whole Foods, but in the meantime, here’s the New York Times look at What Will Happen When the Baobab Goes Global?

Profiting from our digital relationships

Mining our digital relationships for insights that could lead to lucrative revenue streams — MIT, IBM and every company rushing to find a successful social media business model is looking into this. BusinessWeek takes a look at how companies are Learning, and Profiting, from Online Friendships.

International man of misery: Jeffrey Sachs

This month on Portfolio.com, an interesting in-depth profile of philanthropist and poverty’s chief public intellectual Jeffrey Sachs: International Man of Misery.

A festival of electronica: Short Circuit

I wish I was in London for this one … Short Circuit: A Festival of Electronica, held at the Roundhouse, May 14-17th. But fortunately, there’s a live broadcast of the whole thing, a chronology of noteworthy artists in electronica over the decades.

The impressive lineup features producers, labels, artists and influencers from Germany, Barcelona and the UK. Sounds like a great primer for those into elecronic music.

Thinking of Sri Lanka

Given the recent onslaught of turmoil in Sri Lanka, I wonder when I’ll manage to return for a visit to the place where I was born. The stories are abundant of the killing, the homelessness and suffering. It has been at least two decades since I was last in Colombo with my family, and it’s taken me many years of growing up to grow into my culture and truly appreciate it.

The New York Time’s bureau chief in India, Somini Sengupta, captured for the Times her return to her birth place of Calcutta and I read her account, which is filled with great tips for travelers, pondering what my own return to Sri Lanka might be like.