Sony will begin high-volume production of next-generation displays using organic light emitting diode technology. 


The consumer electronics and entertainment conglomerate announced on Tuesday in Japan that starting this month, it will produce OLED panels and use them in a new Sony Clie handheld device, the PEG-VZ90. Sony has stopped producing handhelds for every market except Japan. 

The display will measure 3.8 inches diagonally, offer a resolution of 480 pixels by 320 pixels and will be able to project 262,144 colors. Its viewing angle will be about 180 degrees, according to the company. 

Materials in an OLED display emit light when an electrical current is applied. Because of their luminescent nature, OLED displays don't require a backlight, consume less power and can result in thinner screens than LCDs, currently favored in the flat-panel industry. 

After a hardy West Virginia rainstorm filled all the potholes in the streets and alleys, a young mother watched her two little boys playing in the puddle through her kitchen window. 


The older of the two, a five-year old lad, grabbed his sibling by the back of his head and shoved his face into the water hole.


As the boy recovered and stood laughing and dripping, the mother runs to the yard in a panic. "Why on earth did you do that to your little brother?!" she says as she shook the older boy in anger. 

"We were just playing 'church' mommy" he said. "I was baptizing him in the name of the Father, the Son, and in the hole-he-goes."
Thanks Geri

Sep 17, 2004 (The Sun News - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Myrtle Beach is back to having one Harley-Davidson rally in May after area leaders put the brakes on a local dealer's plans to add another bike event that month.

Organizers of the second bike event, which was set for May 6-15, agreed to drop it Thursday after city, county and business leaders said they would not allow two Harley rallies in one month. During a special meeting Thursday, the city council voted to recognize only the event scheduled for May 18-21, which is the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association Rally at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

Ross Marowits Canadian Press Monday, September 13, 2004 MONTREAL (CP) - Two of Canada's most notorious Hells Angels bosses from Ontario were each sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for their role in Quebec's bloody biker war that claimed more than 150 lives. 

Walter Stadnick, 51, and Donald Stockford, 42, both of Hamilton, Ont., were convicted in June of five charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking and gangsterism. Stadnick was earlier acquitted of 13 first-degree murder charges and three counts of attempted murder. Lawyers for the pair said appeals of the convictions and sentences were likely. 

The men sat motionless as Quebec Superior Court Justice Jerry Zigman read his sentence for nearly 30 minutes. 

"(They) are hardened criminals who show little or no hope of being able to straighten out their lives and cease participating in criminal activities," Zigman said. 

"They are violent people who are a danger to society. They have expressed no remorse for their the acts." 

Zigman said the men callously dealt huge quantities of drugs without regard for "the vicious ravages of cocaine on our society." 

Stadnick and Stockford, who were tried in English, were among the last of those arrested during a massive police sweep in 2001 in Quebec to face trial. 

The men were founding members of the Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels in Montreal, which controlled the drug trade and led an eight-year bloody turf war with the rival Rock Machine. 

With time already served, Stadnick has about 13 years left in his sentence, while Stockford has about 13½ years left. They must serve at least half their remaining sentences before becoming eligible for parole. 

With time served, Stadnick and Stockford will have spent at least a decade behind bars before they can be released. Similar cases suggest they will likely have to serve two-thirds of their sentences before being released. 

Crown prosecutor Randall Richmond, who sought 24-year sentences, welcomed the judge's decision as vindication of efforts that have resulted in 109 convictions over the past 3½ years. 

"The sentences that were given today - 20 years for both accused - are among the heaviest given to any people," he told reporters outside the courtroom. 

Sheriff's deputies in Green Bay, Wis., would like to find the prankster who planted marijuana outside the department's headquarters at the county courthouse. The department's drug control officer found six small marijuana plants growing in a planter on the south side of the Brown County Courthouse Tuesday, WLUK-TV, Green Bay, reported. "Obviously, as a prank, somebody planted or dropped some seeds into the plants," the chief deputy said. Police in Van Wert, Ohio, arrested a 51-year-old Peru, Ind., man during the Labor Day weekend for allegedly selling marijuana from a concessions stand at the Van Wert County Fair. The Toledo Blade said Ernest Z. Dunnagan was arrested Sunday after a fairgoer tipped off officers. Marijuana was found in his camper. 
Dunnagan allegedly was recruiting people to sell pot after making sales himself. 

MUNICH (Dow Jones)--U.S. motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson's sporty Buell unit increased European sales by more than 75% in 2004, as riders flocked to Buell's "streetfighter" XB12S product line, Harley-Davidson Europe Ltd. Managing Director John Russell told Dow Jones Newswires. 

Buell's sales were traditionally in the 1,000-1,200 unit range, said Russell, until it launched the faster, stripped-down "streetfighter" line in 2003 that has appealed to European riders who grew up with high performance bikes make by Ducati, BMW, Suzuki or other Japanese producers, he said. 

Buell has sold 3,500 bikes in Europe as of the end of July, he said. 

Russell said he expects Harley-Davidson's European market share including Buell, which it acquired 10 years ago, to rise to 8%-9% in 2004, compared with 6%-7% last year. 

"That an American-made sports bike sells more in Europe than in the American market is new for a U.S. company," he said.