Scooter mania

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jun 19, 2000

NEW YORK (AP) -- From youngsters and Wall Streeters in New York to dot-com types in San Francisco, everyone is embracing the same playful -- and practical -- gadget: the scooter. Grown-ups are being spotted with one foot on the pavement, one on a board, and their hands on the handlebars, doing the vehicular equivalent of skipping down city streets and sidewalks. "It's selling like the Hula Hoop. It's a natural," says Kevin Rankin, assistant manager of a Sharper Image store on Madison Avenue. "People come straight from Wall Street in pinstripe suits and pick up one for themselves, one for the kid and one for grandma. It's pretty wild."

The new scooter is a far slicker version of the child's toy, with lightweight fold-up frames, Rollerblade-style wheels and, in some cases, seats and even gasoline- or battery-powered motors. They have snappy names like Zappies, Xootrs, Hoverboards, Razors, Go-Peds and Know-Peds and sell for $100 to $600 or more.

Gadget purveyor Sharper Image and sports boutiques say they can't seem to keep enough of them in stock. "It's a phenomenally explosive trend and we don't see it ending," said Tony Farrell, a senior vice president of the San Francisco-based Sharper Image. "For many stores it's our top seller."

Readin', writin' an' recruitin'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With unemployment at near-record lows, companies scouring the labor pool to meet staffing needs are finding that fewer recruits make the grade when it comes to basic skills in math, writing or reading, a study shows. U.S. corporations that tested job applicants in 1999 for basic skills found 38 percent lacked "the ability to read instructions, write reports and/or do arithmetic at a level adequate to perform common workplace tasks," according to the American Management Association. In 1997, the figure stood at 23 percent. The AMA said the data reflect "the higher skill sets required in today's marketplace." Nonetheless, the AMA points out, U.S. corporations have cut back on their sponsorship of remedial training programs for those lacking basic skills.

A new showcase for rock

SEATTLE (NYT) -- The Experience Music Project, an interactive museum devoted to American popular music in general and rock `n' roll in particular, is scheduled to open Friday in Seattle. The building, at the base of the Space Needle, promises to become a landmark itself. Designed by Frank Gehry, the $100 million, 140,000-square- foot building is a cluster of large blobs, each clad in silver, gold, purple, red or blue metallic panels.

EMP, conceived and financed by Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen, combines traditional museum displays with hands-on activities, a virtual ride using motion platform technology, about 45 videotaped oral histories and other short films, and a performance hall. Opening exhibits will examine the development of the guitar, rock milestones, the roots of rock in jazz, blues and other genres, and more recent rock spinoffs such as hip-hop and grunge. One exhibit will be devoted entirely to Jimi Hendrix, a Seattle native and a particular passion of Allen, who amassed one of the world's largest collections of Hendrix memorabilia before donating it to EMP.

The museum has more than 80,000 artifacts, and roughly 1,400 of them will be exhibited at a time. Among the objects on display for the opening will be a Gibson Flying V prototype guitar from 1957 and a pink feather boa worn by Janis Joplin. A combination of headset and minicomputer, available without extra charge, will allow, for example, a visitor to hear Bo Diddley's guitar while viewing it.

And they say it's not as confusing

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It looks like George Washington might be a little jealous of all the attention Sacagawea is getting on the new $1 coin. One of the golden dollars, which are made at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, was discovered in Arkansas with the front of a Washington quarter and the back of a Sacagawea dollar. It is believed to mark the first error of its kind in the Mint's 208-year history -- and the coin could fetch as much as $100,000, experts say.

"It's ironic when you think that the U.S. Mint spent $40 million on an ad campaign about how George Washington is happy he's not on the dollar coin," said Beth Deisher, editor of Coin World magazine.

It is not known whether other coins with the same error are in circulation. An Arkansas man found the coin in an uncirculated roll of golden dollars purchased from a bank. A coin dealer will auction the coin during the American Numismatic Association's national convention in Philadelphia in August.

Read Stephen King before you pay

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Stephen King may release another book online, but wants to know what people think of the idea first. The Plant is an unfinished serial novel about a "vampire vine" that takes over the offices of a paperback publishing company and offers financial success for human sacrifices, King says on his Web site. King's assistant said the novel may be posted online in a manner similar to Riding the Bullet, the author's recent "e-book." People could read 5,000-word installments on the Web site for free, then send King a check or money order for $1. The offer would be limited to the first 50,000 who download the book. Unlike Riding the Bullet, The Plant could be downloaded to a printer.