Whispering Vultures

  • Whispering Windows. As if Advertising weren’t already obnoxious enough, some company’s decided to go an invent a store window that talks to passers-by, coaxing them to enter the store, buy the product, etcetera. Yes, so talking shop windows will undoubtedly lure more people into stores, at least until everyone’s accustomed to the chatterpanes. But at what cost? My guess is, another significant (or maybe not-so-significant) chunk of our sanity, gone down the toilet. Alas. (Whispering Windows web site; Reuters: “Talking Windows?” [May 12, 2004])
  • National Geographic has an update, sort of, on the vultures of South Asia. If you missed the first time I brought it up (ahem), the Nat’l Geo article is a good backgrounder, though it doesn’t paint a particularly bright picture—unless you consider the fact that these vultures aren’t already extinct a bright spot, or the positioning of various groups to plan for captive breeding better than nothing at all. (National Geographic News: “Can Captive Breeding Rescue Vultures from Extinction?” by John Roach [May 11, 2004])