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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Moonray who wrote (12524)	2/6/1998 2:29:00 PM
From: jhild	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

Uncharted territory: Cosmonauts to appear on home-shopping network Copyright c 1998 Nando.net Copyright c 1998 The Associated Press NEW YORK (February 6, 1998 08:49 a.m. EST nando.net) -- Just when you thought late-night television couldn't get any weirder, Russian cosmonauts are taking over QVC. Two cosmonauts will appear on the cable shopping channel via satellite from the orbiting Mir station Saturday as ex-flight engineer Alexander Lazutkin offers comments from the stage of a New York comedy club. No joke -- the Russians are hawking space suits, meteorites and Mars rocks. Just what they get out of the deal isn't clear. But QVC says some proceeds will be donated to Russia's shaky space program. The 40-year-old Lazutkin lounged in a Times Square hotel lobby Thursday, looking out on the city he had previously seen only from space. "It is one of the brightest," he said. He arrived from Russia with glove in hand -- a thoroughly used one from his 186 days aboard the oft-troubled Mir. The three spacesuits up for grabs also were worn on Mir, but obtained from other sources, QVC producer Terry Torok said. Although the shopping channel paid his way, "I didn't come here to sell," Lazutkin said through an interpreter. "I came to educate the public -- that's my primary role." Whatever the roles, the TV auction is the latest commercial venture for the Russian space program and cosmonauts who grew up under Soviet communism. In July, a month after Mir collided with a cargo ship, commander Vasily Tsibliyev swallowed a floating blob of milk for an Israeli dairy commercial. Two days ago, Russian space chief Yuri Koptev told the ITAR-Tass news agency that Mir would be used regularly as an advertising prop. "It doesn't make any difference for us what to advertise -- cars or foodstuff. The only condition is that advertising doesn't contradict legal and ethical norms," Koptev said. [I shudder to think what that might be in today's climate.] Don't look for Andrew Thomas, the U.S. astronaut aboard Mir. He won't take part in the latest sales promotion, though NASA is aware of it. QVC's legion of fans will be offered a crack at 11 tiny Mars rocks, encased in plastic cubes. QVC officials said the rocks, authenticated by scientists, will go for $90 to $2,500, depending on size. There are 15 meteorites at prices ranging from $850 to $2,500. And buyers can plunk down $25,000 for each of three Russian-made Sokol KV-2 spacesuits, the type worn by cosmonauts and American astronauts during space walks outside the Mir. Each weighs 22 pounds and comes with boots, gloves, a pressurized hood and "all the fittings," QVC said. The least exotic items? U.S.-made "space pens," already available at some earthly outlets. The cosmonauts' job will be to demonstrate how the pens write at any angle without gravity. "We built a 20,000-square-foot house in our studio to demonstrate home products," said Fred Siegel, QVC's senior vice president and executive producer. "If you want to demonstrate a space pen, where else would you go but space?" By RICHARD PYLE, Associated Press Writer nando.com

To: Moonray who wrote (12524)	2/6/1998 2:35:00 PM
From: jhild	Respond to of 22053

Novel defense rejected: Anthropologist proves drug suspect is not a juvenile Copyright c 1998 Nando.net Copyright c 1998 The Associated Press BOSTON (February 6, 1998 1:37 p.m. EST nando.net) -- A drug dealer who claimed to be too young to be tried as an adult was foiled by an anthropologist who used X-rays of his teeth and bones. Carlos Medrano, who was arrested in 1996 and accused of selling cocaine to undercover officers, had claimed he was 16 at the time. But Dr. Ann Mires, an anthropologist with the Suffolk County Chief Medical Examiner's office, testified Thursday that based on X-rays of Medrano's wrists, hands and teeth, he was at least 18 and possibly even 25. Midway through the testimony, Medrano, who has a moustache and receding hairline, pleaded guilty and got five years in prison. nando.net

To: Moonray who wrote (12524)	2/6/1998 2:55:00 PM
From: jhild	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

Aplix, PFU Show Palm-sized NC Using JavaOS February 6, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Aplix Corp. and PFU Ltd. displayed a prototype of their palm-sized network computer (NC) running on the JavaOS operating system at the NET & COM '98, an exposition for corporate information systems and networks held Feb. 4-6 at the Makuhari Messe hall in Makuhari, Chiba prefecture. BlueMountain (a system code name) is the world's smallest NC, weighing less than 100 grams. It can be operated with just one hand. The model's button arrangement is designed for single-hand operations. (See chart.) The product is equipped with Hitachi Ltd.'s SH-3 series 32-bit microprocessor, 4MB of flash memory and 4MB of random access memory (RAM). The NC has a liquid crystal display (LCD) with 320 x 200 pixels, a touch panel, and an infrared communication port compatible with IrDA 1.1. The machine is powered by two AAA batteries. It is implemented in JBlend software, and the JavaOS is based on the ITRON kernel. Aplix and PFU said they expect BlueMountain to be used as a terminal for Jaccas, a Java-based system to control home electric appliances using a Java applet. Using the NC, people can download to BlueMountain a Java applet with a remote controlling capability for a television. They can also use the NC to connect with an information kiosk. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com