Trade show: COMDEX gets cancelled
The organizers of COMDEX Chicago, at one time one of the largest technology trade shows in the nation, announced the show's cancellation because of declining interest. Besides the show in Chicago, Key3Media Group said Wednesday it will no longer hold shows in Vancouver, Montreal, Atlanta and New York. It will continue to hold shows in Las Vegas, Toronto and San Francisco. The company also plans to close one of its largest offices in Needham, Massachusetts, on Dec. 18. "Our customers have told us that what would help them the most is for us to concentrate on a single show national strategy," said Fred Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Key3Media Group.
Publishing: Tom.com in China venture
Tom.com Ltd, a media and Internet venture controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, has announced an advertising and magazine distribution joint venture with a Chinese publishing company. Hong Kong-based Tom.com will pay about 312 million yuan (US$37.8 million) for a 49 percent stake in the joint venture with the mainland's Popular Computer Group, according to a statement issued late Wednesday. Popular Computer Group will hold the remaining 51 percent, injecting its advertising and distribution operations into the venture, it said. Popular Computer Group's flagship magazine, Popular Computer Week, has a weekly nationwide circulation of 700,000. It also publishes information technology reference books. Tom.com, whose IPO in March 2000 sparked a stampede among investors hoping to rake in quick profits during the dotcom boom, has shifted its focus from Internet ventures to conventional media and advertising, particularly in China and Taiwan.
PlayStation2: Shipments reach 40m
Sony Corp, the world's No. 1 supplier of video-game machines, said shipments of its PlayStation2 console reached 40 million this week, hitting that milestone about 14 months quicker than its original game console. Tokyo-based Sony shipped 10 million of the consoles in the past four and a half months alone, the company said in an e-mailed news release. PlayStation2, the second in the PlayStation series, reached stores in Japan in March 2000. The world's second-largest consumer-electronics maker has said it plans to ship 20 million PlayStation2s in the year to March 2003. As of March this year, the company had shipped slightly less than 29 million units. PlayStation2 is expected to grab about 60 percent of the global console market this calendar year, Japanese market researcher Nikkei Market Access forecasts.
GM fish: Dealers spurn mutations
About 200 restaurants, grocers and seafood distributors pledged Wednesday not to buy, serve or sell fish created by biotechnology, joining some environmental groups and fishermen in opposing genetically engineered seafood. "Scientists and corporations are playing with genetics without knowing the consequences," said Eric Ripert, executive chef of New York restaurant Le Bernadin. Among those signing the pledge were a dozen Alaskan seafood distributors and two dozen organic-food-oriented grocery stores and chains, including Whole Foods Market, which has more than 130 stores. The move was organized by Center for Food Safety, Clean Water Action and Friends of the Earth.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu