TIME EUROPE
December 4, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 23
Tech Watch
OFFICE ETIQUETTE
Sites for Sore Eyes — and Noses
It's an unpleasant and all-too-familiar situation. You're engaged in conversation, a comfortable buffer of personal space between you and your interlocutor. Everything is just fine until that protective zone is breached and you catch a pungent whiff of halitosis. Until now, your options for dealing with such a dilemma were limited. You could quickly proffer a breath mint, find an excuse to end the conversation or simply inform the offender of the reason for your discomfort. To the rescue comes the Internet, with new ways of broaching such sensitive subjects without friendship-straining embarrassment. Floss.com (www.floss.com) sends free, anonymous e-mails bearing helpful messages like "It's not easy for me to tell you this ... You have bad breath." To send a floss-o-gram ("the card with a little hint"), simply log onto the site, choose from one of the four picture "breath cards" on offer and enter the recipient's e-mail address. At www.coworkerhints.com, etiquette intervention comes at a price ($9.95), but also with the option of addressing a host of other social challenges, like body odor and flatulence. And you need not worry that the recipient will be traumatized by the experience. The CoWorkerHints.com missive admonishes gently. The nose-picking sample letter, for instance, informs us that "over 90% [of people surveyed] admitted to picking their nose," but the message goes on to counsel that this is a practice best "done in private."
SITE SEEING
A Bookmark for Bumbling Blokes
What do you get that lazy, forgetful, insensitive man in your life who just can't shop? How about a Web browser bookmark for Giftsforbirds.com (www.giftsforbirds.com)? Giftsforbirds.com is an e-commerce site for males who are clueless when it comes to finding gifts for the women in their lives. Enter your price range in the box marked "It's all she's worth!" to view a selection of gifts, from candles to lingerie. The service includes free delivery and gift wrapping as well as an e-mail prompting service to remind you of birthdays and anniversaries.
The Internet has proved the perfect place for booking last-minute flights and weekend getaways, but of limited use for more complex travel plans. The eGulliver website (www.egulliver.com) plans to change that by connecting customers to online travel specialists. Users enter their travel preferences on the site, which matches the chosen itinerary with at least one specialist who has firsthand experience of the required destination and activities. The customer selects the specialist they prefer by reviewing an online profile. Each client also receives a personal website to post travel plans, itineraries, comments and photographs.
WHAT'S NEXT
Kid Tech: No Time for Numbers
It sounds like something Harry Potter might wear: a wristwatch for children that doesn't have any numbers. Instead, the clockface displays animations representing different activities appropriate to the time of the day — in the morning, a toothbrush and cereal bowl, for example. The Prim'Time watch, from French firm Xelia (www.xelia.com), can be set for either school or holiday mode and allows children to keep track of time until they're old enough to read numbers.
Domain Names: Connect the Dots
With the demand for Internet site names growing, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) — the body that oversees the worldwide Internet address system — approved the creation of seven new domain names to join already common suffixes like .com, .org and .net. Six new domain names — .museum, .pro, .coop, .info, .biz and .name — will be available for relevant companies and individuals, while the seventh, .aero, is reserved for firms in the aerospace sector.
Egyptian IT: The Desert Blooms
Egypt is pushing ahead with plans to become a regional IT hub by setting up high-tech business parks called smart villages around the country. The first such settlement — due for completion by the end of next year — will be built at Giza outside Cairo, with others planned for Alexandria, Mansoura and Assiut. The Smart Village Project is a joint venture between the government and the private sector designed to provide facilities for Egypt's growing Internet and software businesses. The Giza village, close to a similar development for media and movie production, will also sport hotels, restaurants and a convention center.
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COVER STORY
Bush's Contested Lead
Now it goes to the courts as Gore challenges Sunday night's Florida tally
Heart Murmurs
Dick Cheney's brief but sudden hospitalization raises questions about fitness and truthfulness
Just How Bad Was It?
TIME's Christine Gorman on the vice-presidential candidate's diagnosis
Mob Scene In Miami
We look at the players behind the 'spontaneous' protest that preceded the shutdown of Miami-Dade's recount
Two-Headed Senate
With a potential Democratic victory in Washington State, the likelihood of gridlock and bickering looms large
EUROPE
Ready, Aim ... React
What can a Rapid Reaction Force from 14 E.U. countries do that NATO can't? Not much
In a Legend's Steps
Shackleton's brave Antarctic trip still awes the world. On his trail are three Britons
MIDDLE EAST
Into the War Zone
Palestinians are now directly attacking Israeli settlements. It's a new - and dangerous - tactic
THE ARTS
Full-Screen Press
French television program Arrêt sur Images entertains audiences by taking the media to task
Pictures From An Exhibitionist
Elton John has put together a big, brainy collection. Now Atlanta, his adopted city, is showing it off
The Vulnerable Woman
Jessica Lange tackles O'Neill's Long Day's Journey and shows she is more than just a great ape's date
Some More Good Men
The plot's predictable, the characters are clichés. Yet this naval drama sails through with flying colors
Fallen Angels
The stars of 'Charlie's Angels' try to soar, but the plot clips their wings
DEPARTMENTS
Techwatch
Worldwatch
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