16 Apr 2006
Wristwatches Get the Back of the Hand

My wristwatch left in 2002, when we bought the farm. But since my cell phone doesn't really work too well out here (I have to stand in the east paddock and kind of dance about to get enough signal to carry on a conversation) I now carry a pocket watch. Set to Eastern Standard Time, of course.

Is time running out for the wristwatch? Surveys and sales data show that young shoppers are shunning watches for snazzier time-telling gadgets, such as cellphones and iPods.

(link) [LA Times]

23:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Elvis has left the building. Now 30,000 impersonators may have to go as well

Just when I thought I'd seen every possible travesty committed in the name of "intellectual property" I run across this gem. Turns out that the businessman in question is none other than Robert Sillerman, the billionaire media entrepreneur who owns American Idol. I wonder what I'll take to get his "authorization" to impersonate Elvis?

America’s estimated 30,000 Elvis impressionists are really shook up. They fear that they are about to be put out of business. In a move that has made the ranks of the lookalikes queasier than the thought of a deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwich — the King’s favourite snack in the bloated autumn of his life — a New York businessman has bought the rights to Elvis’s name and likeness and has threatened to ban “unauthorised” Elvis clones.

(link) [UK Times Online]

via MyAppleMenu:Reader

23:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Less antibiotic use in food animals leads to less drug resistance in people

Well, duh!

Australia's policy of restricting antibiotic use in food-producing animals may be linked with lower levels of drug-resistant bacteria found in its citizens, according to an article in the May 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

(link) [EurekAlert! - Breaking News]

23:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link