The Blair witch-hunt project that Italy had to ban

A controversial production, which was cancelled by Italy's leading opera house because of its vicious lampooning of world leaders, is to be staged in London.

Life Style

Why MP3 faces the music

LONDON: The vast majority of songs on file-sharing systems have been in the MP3 file format since Napster propelled the idea of digital music into the mass market in 1999. But that could change over the next decade. Files encoded in the newer and better AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format could become more popular, as people start to share unprotected songs bought from Apple's market-leading iTunes Music Store.

Reality check for virtual fortune hunters

COLOGNE: It sounds like a dream: sit comfortably at your computer and get rich playing online games.

Technology allows ebooks to turn a new page

MAINZ, Germany: As the last millennium came to a close, many experts were beside themselves with predictions of the golden future that lay ahead for ebooks. Yet most publishing houses were ultimately unable to bring themselves to sell the rights for electronic books, particularly for their best sellers and fine literature.

A hamster, a mouse, and a vacuum cleaner in every port

HAMBURG: A laptop, a mouse and a printer: that's the complete list of standard equipment for many workstations. There has however been a certain trend of late to add more color to the picture: cup warmers, small "swan neck" fans and even mesmerizing lava lamps have begun to make inroads into the uniformly gray PC desk landscape.

Life Travel

In search of a scholar's spirit

Viewing flowers from horseback zouma kanhua is what the Chinese call superficial tourism. Many of us would prefer to stay awhile and try to absorb the culture of an unfamiliar place. But in a country as vast and variegated as China, you'll miss a lot if you avoid brief trips entirely. You'll learn at least a little on a short visit, and if the place is alluring, you can start to imagine making a longer one someday.

Vibrant maple leaves ride on the crest of a cultural wave

TORONTO: Bruce Bell points to the meat counter. "That's where the Steamboat Hotel used to be, the place where the founding fathers of this city liked to drink each other under the table." The boozy behavior may have taken place back in the 1830s, but sales staff at the Front Street Dominion Grocery prick up their ears nonetheless.

Life Art

Not everybody's cup of tea

The sensual pottery making scene featuring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in the blockbuster movie Ghost put a sexy spin on this ancient art. Now there is a new spin on clay modeling and its attracting major attention.

The fine art of tea

Teapot making flourished in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when people changed their manner of tea drinking using teapots, instead of individual cups.