Who: Co-founder and ambassador at-large of Ravenswood Wines; retired director, CEO, and chairman.

His favorite tee: Frequently seen in public with his t-shirt printed with Ravenswood’s motto, “No Wimpy Wines,” in 15 different languages. Pas de vins poules mouillees.

Who: President of Korff Enterprises, a sports and event marketing company that turned women's tennis into an extreme spectator sport.

Friends: Steffi Graf. Sure, anyone can get inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame, but how many get to record John Korff’s answering machine message?

Who: Dean of the School of Business at Clayton State University; former CEO of Arvida Company, a Florida-based real estate company.

Hometown: Lynn, Mass., where “there were no vacations—you just waited until the layoffs came,” he told the Atlanta Constitution.

Who: Candidate for president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Campaign Tactics: Kashala told Boston Magazine that he solicits donations and support from Washington insiders by arguing that “Because of chaos and social misery in [the DRC]…people may go to Al Qaeda or someone else, because they feed on this type of ground…If the United States wants to confine terrorism, Congo must be a factor.”

Who: Co-founder and managing director of Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm.

In his own words: No fuzzy math here: “In God we trust. All others bring data.” He also likens private equity investors to aliens: organizing the SunGard deal resembled “the bar scene in the Star Wars movie, with rooms full of a variety of odd and impressive characters.”

Who: Political blogger at TPMCafe; staff writer for the American Prospect; general commentator on all and sundry at his personal blog; a “proud member of the reality-based community.”

Enemies: Gawker seems to think he is most worthwhile when generating pithy one-liners of other columns; Barbarianblog named him “wanker of the day.”

Who: Former goalie for the New York Cosmos, a semi-legendary pro soccer team that once counted Pelé among its members.

Equipment: Fielding a question from the Crimson about why, of all the athletes in the world, Messing was selected to get naked for Viva, the Cosmos’ PR director said, “Some guys were too big, some guys were too small, and Shep was just right.”

Daley is leading one of three research teams that, as part of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute’s recently announced initiative, have won permission to do experiments involving stem cells extracted from cloned human embryos. Daley claims he’ll use the controversial technologies to investigate diseases of the blood; in reality, he’ll probably just create an army of mindless, genetically identical stormtroopers to do his bidding.

The four-time All American and three-time Olympic Medalist, fresh off helping the U.S. women's hockey team win a bronze in Torino, now brings her competitive fire to reality TV. Ruggiero is one of the contestants in this season's The Apprentice. Quoth The Donald: "We'll see if Angela can ice the competition as we take the boardroom to the West Coast." Advantage: anyone with even a modest facility for puns.

Following a successful launch of the shuttle Discovery on Tuesday, Stephanie Wilson is now officially the second African-American woman to travel to outer space. Her mission will help determine the future of the space shuttle program, as the crew works to test critical safety and repair modifications. They will also deliver a freezer, a cycling machine, a German astronaut, and a few “surprises” to the International Space Station, which relies upon the shuttles for maintenance.

The latest of Bush’s appointees may have more in common with Al Gore than with the man himself. After 32 years on Wall Street, Paulson hasn’t forgotten that money isn’t the only thing that’s green: when not chasing down the big bucks, he likes to hug trees, save coral reefs, and watch birds. That said, Paulson is pretty good at making money.