Quick news, quick links:

Nobel Prize winner and UC Berkeley professor Dr. Steven Chu has been named Obama's new energy secretary. Following the Wen Ho Lee scandal, in which the Taiwanese American scientist was falsely indicted for stealing nuclear secrets for the Chinese -- a manhunt pursued by then-Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson -- some might say this appointment somehow seems redemptive and fitting.

Chu shared the Nobel in physics with three other scientists in 1997 and has been director of the Berkeley National Laboratory since 2004. For more on him, read this New York Times profile.

In other news, the new FOX show Secret Millionaire will feature San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal tomorrow night. On the show, the Indian American "300 Million Dollar Man" and other self-made men (and women) set aside their suits and SUVs and venture to working-class neighborhoods -- working for minimum wage and living in tiny rentals -- to see how the other 99 percent lives. After that, they give away money. A reality show, yes, but a heartwarming holiday reality show. Might be worth checking out.