 Friday, October 24, 2003
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Moscow Times:
Tired of his face appearing on vodka bottles and in pasta ads, the first and last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, has finally decided to trademark his famous forehead, name, and nickname (Gorby), his spokesman said Thursday.
Vladimir Polyakov, spokesman for the Gorbachev Foundation, declined to give details about the trademark, saying only that it is applicable "worldwide."
We don't make this stuff up.
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Couple of interesting news items:
- Hwang Jang-yop, the highest ranking North Korean defector, is finally visiting the US. Hwang's story is both aggravating and sad: for the longest time South Korea, fearing the North's irritation, refused to allow Hwang to leave. Sad because rumor has it that Hwang's wife, left behind in the North, "committed suicide," and most of his family has been placed in concentration camps in retribution, and probably to set an example.
- Meanwhile, a North Korean delegation has arrived on Cheju Island in the South for a "peace festival." Cheju, for those who have never been, is a gorgeous, luxurious resort of the southern coast of the peninsula. The volcanic island, dominated by Mt Halla, features many top of the line hotels, great food, and is a mecca for Korean honeymooners. So, hopefully, here are 190 more people who will go back to the North with tales of the South's prosperity.
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C|Net:
Toshiba launched on Thursday two updated Pocket PC handhelds, including a business-oriented model that features built-in wireless networking with voice over Internet Protocol capabilities. The company's Pocket PC e400 and Pocket PC e800, based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003 operating system, are also thinner and lighter than their predecessors. The e800 pairs 802.11b wireless networking with VoIP capabilities, allowing owners to make phone calls via the handheld while inside a wireless hot spot, Toshiba said.
Is long distance dead?
Maybe. I've said it before: the Internet makes geography irrelevant.
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I've been meaning to recommend Tacitus' remarkable essay on his visit to Lusaka, Zambia: as a description of quiet regional desperation it's both evocative and moving. Rather than excerpt it I'll just point you there.
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Amazon is introducing its Search Inside feature today which allows users to search inside, they say, over 120,000 books; Wired has an interesting article about the technology.
But allow me to grouse: Land of the Morning Storm hasn't been so indexed.
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Sep Nov
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