■ Technology
Florist prints on roses
Roses have long conveyed love, but they can now carry a personal message on their petals with the use of computer technology unveiled yesterday. FarEastFlora.com and Hewlett-Packard Co launched what they say is the first full-color printing on fresh flowers. The message is printed on a "floral-safe membrane" by a color laser-jet printer and applied onto the roses, said Ryan Chioh, FarEastFlora's executive director. The technology, which was developed in Singapore, has a patent pending. The project has been two years in the making. The petal can accommodate about three lines of text or a picture slightly bigger than a postage stamp.
■ Fast food
McDonald's to explain fats
A judge has approved an US$8.5 million educational campaign by McDonald's Corp to settle lawsuits filed against the fast-food giant for failing to reduce its use of partially hydrogenated oil. In February, McDonald's agreed to pay US$7 million to the American Heart Association to educate people about trans fats in foods. It also agreed to spend US$1.5 million publicizing that it had not followed through on its 2002 pledge to switch to a healthier cooking oil. BanTransFats.com, a nonprofit advocacy group, sued McDonald's in California state court in 2003. In September 2002, McDonald's announced it would lower trans fat in its cooking oils and said the switch would be completed in five months. In February 2003, McDonald's announced a delay. The lawsuit accused the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company of failing to adequately inform consumers of that delay.
■ Airline industry
Caterer asks for volunteers
Ailing in-flight caterer Gate Gourmet and trade union officials said yesterday they have agreed to explore voluntary redundancies over the next week in a bid to resolve a crippling labor row. The breakthrough -- made in talks on Thursday night -- came as the US-owned company said it was investigating allegations made in a newspaper of security and hygiene breaches at its branch at London's Heathrow airport. Gate Gourmet said it will send letters to all 1,400 staff at Heathrow as well as 670 sacked workers asking them if they want to quit. The firm is expected to meet members of the Transport and General Workers' Union again next week to discuss the responses. Gate Gourmet said it needed to cut 675 jobs at its Heathrow operation, and that it retained the right to make forced redundancies if insufficient volunteers step forward.
■ Telecoms
Web phones menace Vonage
As Vonage Holdings Corp, a company that offers low-cost phone services in the US, plans for a share sale, competition in the virtually unregulated Internet phone service market is lowering profit, the Wall Street Journal said. Both Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Corp now offer Internet-based phone services, a number of cable companies and new businesses are providing similar facilities and within a year most major communications companies will be offering phone calls based on the Internet, the newspaper said. About 4 million Americans will purchase telephone services through the Internet by the end of the year and that number may increase to 17 million in three years, the Journal said, citing independent analyst Jon Arnold.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source