■ Internet
Scented e-mail a possibility
Internet users in Britain might soon be able to spice up their e-mails with an added whiff of a well-chosen scent, according to a report yesterday. A British Internet service provider plans to market a "scent dome," which would plug into customers' computers much like a printer, The Times said. Inside the device would be 20 disposable pockets of different scents, which could be combined -- much like the colored-ink cartridges on a printer -- to make up to 60 identifiable different smells, the paper reported. These would be released by electronic signals sent along a broadband Internet line. Telewest Broadband, the company involved, is testing the scent pods and hopes to make them available for around ?200 (US$380), the paper added.
■ Copyrights
US accused of being unfair
A maker of DVD-copying software accused the US and its movie industry of unfairly influencing copyright and privacy matters overseas, perhaps accounting for the product being pulled off shelves in Australia. Though Australia is a sliver of 321 Studios Inc's global market, a distributor's yanking DVD X Copy from Australian store shelves under threats of lawsuits by a movie industry lobbying group reflects Hollywood's troubling reach, 321 chief executive Rob Semaan said Wednesday. The company since has replaced the original software with a version unable to unlock copyright-protecting encryption, though such tools readily can be bought from 321 or other Web sites.
■ Banking
Shinsei IPO goes well
Japan's Shinsei Bank Ltd -- bailed out by the government then bought by foreign investors -- made a strong debut with its initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. Massive buying orders were received for the 440 million shares being offered at ?525 (US$5). The stock rose to ?872 in the afternoon before finishing at ?827, about 57 percent higher than the IPO price, according to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A total of 247 million Shinsei Bank shares changed hands, making it by far the most actively traded issue on the TSE's first section. Shinsei Bank was created in 2000 from the remains of the collapsed Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. The government piled more than ?7 trillion (US$66 billion) of public money into LTCB, and the nationalized institution was then bought by a consortium led by US investment firm Ripplewood Holdings.
■ Cars
Beijing to rein in purchases
Beijing is considering putting limitations on the number of government procured automobiles in a move that could have a large impact on China's booming car industry, state press said yesterday. Deputies at the ongoing Beijing municipal congress have urged the city government to limit the number of cars used exclusively by government officials in an effort to relieve the Chinese capital's increasingly snarled traffic congestion, the China Daily said. "To cancel cars exclusively used by government official will also save a big amount of money and gasoline," Zhang Yun, a delegate to the congress, told the newspaper. According to official statistics at the end of 2002, Beijing had a total of 1.12 million passenger cars, of which only 729,000 were privately-owned, non-government cars, meaning some 471,000 were government or state-owned-enterprise vehicles.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from