Technology Review :: The Web's New Currency
Article

> Down the road, cell phones, personal digital assistants, and
> smart cards equipped with micropayment technology could
> even supplement cash in the real world.

Eventually they will replace cash. And we won't need money at all. We will be able to work and spend to our heart's content, whatever our occupation, whatever our bank balance. (Kinda like now, but even better.)
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 11:48 PM

New York Times :: Blush While You're Flushing and All for Art's Sake
Article

> It has been in place for only a few weeks, but "Don't Miss
> a Sec.," a contemporary art installation that is in essence
> a mirrored outhouse on a construction site near the Thames,
> has been raising heated, even violent emotions. While it
> may provide a fine opportunity to indulge in voyeurism and
> exhibitionism at the same time - like going to the bathroom
> in the bushes, if the bushes were in the middle of the
> street - in reality the experience is proving prohibitively
> unnerving to some.
>
> "I'd worry that there's an act of subterfuge," said Martin
> Dukes, who found that he was, frankly, too scared to go
> into the bathroom. "You flush the loo and suddenly the
> mirror is reversed, and everyone can see in." He decided
> against it.

A bit of British toilet humor.
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 10:39 AM

New York Times :: Looting the Future [Paul Krugman]
Article

> Nothing in our national experience prepared us for the
> spectacle of a government launching a war, increasing farm
> subsidies and establishing an expensive new Medicare
> entitlement - and not only failing to come up with a plan
> to pay for all this spending in the face of budget
> deficits, but cutting taxes at the same time.
>
> Recent good economic news doesn't change the verdict. These
> aren't temporary measures aimed at getting the economy back
> on its feet; they're permanent drains on the budget.
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 5:15 PM

New York Times :: Necessity Is the Mother of Invention
Article

> Frayne ducks down, pointing to the base of the trash can.
> ''If we were in Haiti, we'd use dirt to seal up the bottom
> of the can,'' he says. ''But I couldn't find any dirt
> around here, so I used duct tape.''
>
> Smith nods approvingly. ''In Cambridge, duct tape is the
> equivalent of dirt,'' she says.

Duct tape -- the true philosopher's stone.
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 10:58 AM

New York Times :: Internet Sex Column Thrills, and Inflames, China
Article

> Her biweekly column in City Pictorial began in January. Her
> topics included recommendations on the best music for good
> lovemaking, the aphrodisiacal benefits of eating oysters
> and technical pointers on making love in a car. It was racy
> stuff for China, but hardly without precedent.

Can you say "Mr. Big" in Chinese?
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 2:52 PM