TIME EUROPE
June 5, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 22
Techwatch
THE INTERNET IS KIDS' STUFF
The Tale of a Boy and His Website
Asia has a reputation for cranking out talented and highly sought-after software designers and programmers. But the region's latest computer whiz kid hasn't mastered anything more complicated than creating his own Web page. That's not bad, though, considering that Ajay Puri, who lives in Bangkok, is only three years old. "Look, magic," Ajay chirps as he creates animations with his home computer using Microsoft Front Page. Ajay — who at 18 months shocked his parents Ravi and Mamta by figuring out how to send e-mail to his grandfather — knows his way around Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. With the help of his father, an IT manager, he has designed and assembled his own website: www.microsoftkid.com. Microsoft has donated software to the family and Ravi says the company is considering using his son in an advertising campaign. While visiting his birthplace, Hyderabad, in March, Ajay dazzled Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and ministers with his abilities. Although he shook hands with U.S. President Bill Clinton during the Hyderabad trip, Ajay has even higher ambitions. "I want to meet Bill Gates," the toddler told Clinton.
WIRELESS WEB
I'm (Still) on the Train
Using Bluetooth technology, Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson and Swedish Railways are enabling travelers to carry on with their lives while in transit. Wireless information services are on trial at Stockholm's central railway station and on the X 2000 train. At the station, passengers with wap and Bluetooth-enabled devices can look up train times, book tickets and confirm reservations. Once on the train they can use a cell phone, pda or laptop to connect to the Internet and an "in-flight" network offering news and entertainment..
WEB RADIO
All Talk, All the Time
Interactive radio is coming to WAP-enabled mobile phones and the Web. U.K. multimedia production company Somethin' Else and Ericsson have joined up to create the technology, and Somethin' Else and BT's Genie Internet are launching the XY Network on the Web to broadcast music, news, soaps and fiction to cell phones and PCs. From July wap mobile phone users can order up their choice of content from www.xynetwork.com, which went live last week. The site's offerings — which include dance, pop and world music, arts and entertainment news, and readings from the classics and contemporary novels — are tailor-made for the medium. Around August sport, news and business channels will be added, as well as a daily soap opera.
SITE SEEING
Help save the world's tropical rain forests by clicking on "Donate Land — Free" at www.therainforestsite.com. For each daily click corporate sponsors pay for the purchase of .25 sq m of rain forest or for forest protection programs. The funds are distributed by the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy.
Idealive of San Francisco has joined up with five other entertainment companies to form an arts marketplace. Talent scouts can search www.idealive.com for the Next Big Thing, while pop wannabes and aspiring filmmakers can cherrypick among investors and production facilities or find photographers and designers.
WHAT'S NEXT
Download golden oldies from the Web for your children to dance to — and turn into new compositions — with Cyber Cartridge from U.S. toymaker Neurosmith (www.neurosmith.com). Thanks to a deal with EMI, children can add songs like Splish Splash and Land of 1000 Dances to Music Blocks, a set of blocks that lets children compose tunes by combining groups of notes. Now tots can mix and match these songs' components to create over a million possible musical variations. Roll over Beethoven!
Golfers can improve their games using the Net. Arizona-based Golflogix.com's pocket-size devices beam ball coordinates to a global positioning satellite. Statistics on all shots are posted on a Web page so players can analyze their performance.
Local newspapers are usually unavailable in big hotels, but NewspaperDirect plans to change that. The New York-based firm delivers selected local papers to luxury hotels over the Net. Indicate your preference at check-in and NewspaperDirect digitally sends that day's issue to the hotel, where a two-thirds size version is printed.
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June 5, 2000
COVER
Baby, It's Cold Outside
Tony Blair gave birth to a new Labour Party, but the Prime MinisterŐs promise of a Ňmodern BritainÓ is going to take much longer to deliver
New Kid on the Block
An open letter to Leo Blair, BritainŐs youngest celebrity
EUROPE
A Difficult Performance
David Trimble squeezes a close vote from his party to rejoin Northern IrelandŐs government
All Quiet on the Eastern Front
A decade after the end of the cold war, Germany plans to revamp its army
Guilt by Association
In an apparent postwar payback, a Serbian court jails a group of Kosovo Albanians for ŇterrorismÓ
MIDDLE EAST
Courage under Fire
In a defining moment, Prime Minister Ehud Barak makes good on his promise to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon
The Time Had Come To End a Tragedy
IsraelŐs Prime Minister insists that withdrawing from Lebanon will not harm security, and he warns against a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state
AFRICA
Showdown to Savagery
After Ethiopian forces blitz their way into Eritrea, a bloody two-year war may be closer to its conclusion
Hope Springs Internal
African women may be the key to saving the chaotic continent
BUSINESS
The Money Game
Even as footballŐs cup runneth over, there is a growing sense of unease among fans that riches may ruin their sport
For Love and Money
Why shouldnŐt a top-level footballer earn as much as an actor does?
Beenz Counters
An upstart firm tries to make its new product the first legal tender of the World Wide Web
THE ARTS
Dark Victory
At Cannes this year, the jury danced with Björk, but some fine Asian films made a lasting impression
The Art of Science
The eclectic but elegant Musée des arts et métiers reopens in Paris after a decade-long restoration
DEPARTMENTS
Techwatch
World Watch
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