And that' s as true of Beijing' s preservation movement as it is of the nation' s ferocious building boom.

I would be very surprised if we saw a boom in the name Palin.

Now everyone, from the movie critic to the average movie-goer, can participate in Oscar fever by trying to predict who the winners might be.

But for a lot of people the appeal lies in the chance to get rich quick by getting in early on the next Internet craze.

Several factors are fueling the trend, he says, including the weakening of long-standing cultural taboos and new waves of immigrants from Asia and Latin America.