McDonald's gets wired

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Mar 20, 2000

HEREDIA, Costa Rica (Cox) -- From the outside, it looks like any other McDonald's, golden arches and all, plucked out of Middle America and plunked down in Central America. But on the inside, this McDonald's has some slightly different combination meals. In addition to Big Macs, it has iMac computers. And if you buy a combo meal and supersize those papas fritas, you get 30 minutes of Internet access.

Known as MiMac Cafe ("My Mac" in Spanish), this McDonald's has become increasingly popular with students from the National University of Costa Rica just up the street in this suburb of the capital, San Jose. But young businessmen also find it convenient to stop in for a quick bite and some quick bytes, checking e-mail, reading the latest news, or trolling for job opportunities. Parents with young children also come here to see what the Internet is all about.

The 10 computers were installed five months ago when other Americanized fast-food restaurants began popping up in the area, said Grettel Gonzalez, hostess at the MiMac Cafe. Within a block are a Burger King, a Kentucky Fried Chicken, a Papa John's Pizza and a cyber-cafe that has drinks but no food. "It was necessary for us to do something different to stay competitive," Gonzalez said.

Getting online here is as simple as ordering one of McDonald's standard combination meals, including a McBurger Supreme or a Cuarto de Libra (a quarter-pounder) and saying: "Papas fritas super." One of the online assistants provides a special code that allows Internet access.

Thousands playing at a time

SAN FRANCISCO (CNET) -- LucasArts Entertainment will create an online multiplayer game based on the popular Star Wars movies together with Sony and a computer game company. The game, which is being developed under the working title Star Wars Online, is expected to be released in late 2001 and will involve "literally thousands of players competing against each other at the same time," LucasArts spokesman Tom Sarris said.

Sony Online Entertainment, a division of Sony, and Verant Interactive will team with LucasArts to produce a role-playing game in which participants create their own characters and goals, Sarris said. Game play will feature scenarios based on a combination of combat and quests in the Star Wars universe. The game will be developed by Verant Interactive, the San Diego-based game developer that created EverQuest, an online game with 120,000 daily players, the company said. San Rafael, Calif.-based LucasArts, one of five companies that comprise the Lucas group, will distribute the game in shops. Players will pay to buy the game, as well as a monthly fee for playing at Sony's online gaming site, Sarris said. Prices have not been determined.

No more brochures

WASHINGTON (WSJ) -- American University's Kogod School of Business, Washington, now requires all students to apply online. Kogod's main recruiting tool now is its Web site, not the expensive brochures used by most schools.

Four ways to save on your taxes

WASHINGTON (NYT) -- With the deadline for filing income taxes just more than a month away, here are some suggestions from Sidney Kess, a New York tax lawyer and accountant, on ways to limit one's liability. He discussed them at seminars for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

* Mutual fund sales represent a huge tax trap for many people. If you sell a holding on which you have paid taxes on reinvested dividends and capital gains in previous years, remember to add the dividends and gains into your cost basis to calculate your gain or loss. People who simply subtract their original purchase price from the selling price may end up paying capital gains tax on money on which they have already paid taxes.

* A Roth IRA should be established before this year's April 17 filing deadline in order to start the clock running on the five-year holding period required before tax-free distributions can be taken on earnings. Of course, you must also be 59.5 to take those distributions. If you wait until after the filing date, you will not be able to take distributions as soon.

* Filing for an extension is preferable to submitting a return with errors. If you are missing any Forms W-2 or 1099 or are uncertain how to handle certain items, file Form 4868 for an automatic four-month extension. Then you will have until Aug. 15 to file your Form 1040. Although only a small percentage of returns are audited, IRS computers will find any omissions of income that payers have reported.

* Estimated taxes should be paid by people who have sizable amounts of income not subject to withholding -- from investments or self-employment, for example. Taxpayers must pay an amount equal to either 90 percent of their liability for the current year or 100 percent of the previous year's tax. (For the 2000 tax year, under the second option, the percentage is rising to 108.6 for taxpayers with 1999 adjusted gross incomes above $150,000.) Penalties kick in if they don't pay enough. The quarterly estimates are due on Form 1040ES on April 17, June 15 and Sept. 17 this year and Jan. 16, 2001.