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February 2, 2010 Russia’s Evolution, Seen Through Golden Arches By  ANDREW E. KRAMER MOSCOW — Viktor A. Semenov was growing lettuce on a collective farm outside Moscow in 1990 when a representative of  McDonald’s  stopped by. The company had just opened a restaurant. Could he sell it a few boxes of lettuce each week? Mr. Semenov’s assistant turned it down. One restaurant was too small an order. “I said, ‘My friend! You see how many McDonald’s there are in the West?’ ” Mr. Semenov recalled recently. “I said, ‘Sell them lettuce at any price. It’s our new strategy.’ ” With that, Mr. Semenov started a company that has all but cornered the market on packaged fresh vegetables in  Russia . With a buy-one-get-one-free deal on hamburgers and a traditional Russian accordion band, McDonald’s celebrated on Monday the 20th anniversary of the opening of its first store in the Soviet Union, a restaurant that drew long lines. But the company celebrated a different milesto...

Known as "Captain Organic," Ross Lovegrove embraces nature as the inspiration for his "fat-free" design. Each object he creates -- be it bottle, chair, staircase or car -- is reduced to its essential elements. His pieces offer minimal forms of maximum beauty. http://www.rosslovegrove.com/ from TED Ideas Worth Spreading

2006 TED Prize winner Cameron Sinclair is co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit that seeks architecture solutions to global crises -- and acts as a conduit between the design community and the world's humanitarian needs. http://www.cameronsinclair.com/ http://architectureforhumanity.org/ http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/ http://www.worldchanging.com/ from TED Ideas Worth Spreading

Founder of the influential studio Morphosis, and co-founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne marries conceptual ideas with form, challenging the way we perceive structure, building and the environment. http://www.morphosis.com/ from TED Ideas Worth Spreading

Let the Games begin A construction worker stands on the top of a temporary stage being constructed for Winter Olympics festivities in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday. Over the past few weeks the city has been transformed with businesses being decorated and Olympic banners and advertising going up. The games open on Feb. 12. from msnbc.com