"Solicitarea pasaportului romanesc mi-a mancat, pana acum, peste patru ore. Mai greu de suportat este ideea ca am pierdut acest timp degeaba... Si am fost norocos, pentru ca altii, odata cu mine, au pierdut opt ore degeaba... Sau de trei ori cate opt ore..."

"The time is nearly upon us," said one, and Arthur was surprised to see a word suddenly materialize in thin air just by the man's neck. The word was LOONQUAWL, and it flashed a couple of times and the disappeared again. Before Arthur was able to assimilate this the other man spoke and the word Phouchg appeared by his neck.
"Seventy-five thousand generations ago, our ancestors set this program in motion," the second man said, "and in all that time we will be the first to hear the computer speak."

"An awesome prospect, Phouchg," agreed the first man, and Arthur suddenly realized that he was watching a recording with subtitles.
"We are the ones who will hear," said Phouchg, "the answer to the great question of Life!.."
"The Universe!.." said Loonquawl.
"And Everything!.."
"Shhh," said Loonquawl with a slight gesture, "I think Deep Thought is preparing to speak!"

There was a moment's expectant pause whilst panels slowly came to life on the front of the console. Lights flashed on and off experimentally and settled down into a businesslike pattern. A soft low hum came from the communication channel.

"Good morning," said Deep Thought at last.
"Er... Good morning, O Deep Thought," said Loonquawl nervously, "do you have... er, that is..."
"An answer for you?" interrupted Deep Thought majestically. "Yes. I have."

[read more]

"Cu ani ?n urma, primarul nostru a avut ideea poetica, plina de sens, ca orice cuplu sa sadeasca la casatorie un pom. Evident, asta e o metafora. Tu dai vreo suta cincizeci de mii de lei si primaria sadeste pomul pentru tine. Teoretic exista posibilitatea sa sadesti si tu pomul, dar numai ?n prezenta unui angajat al primariei, cu aprobare si cu pom certificat de primarie, care costa cinci sute de mii de lei. Am aflat ca taxa de pom se plateste la CITADIN. Din c?te stiu, asta-i o firma care aduna gunoiul. O data ajuns la CITADIN, gasesti un afis mare: TAXA DE POM SE PLATESTE LA RADET. RADET-ul e o firma care, dupa c?te stiu, ?ncaseaza banii pe apa. Sau pe aia-i cheama RAJAC. Ma rog, pe mine unul nu m-ar mira ca la firme precum DISTRIGAZ sa elibereze certificate de nastere. Ralu a gasit RADET-ul si ne-am luat adeverinta de pom. "

"In Deutschland wird das Kleingeld knapp. Deutschlands groesster Handelskonzern, die Metro, hat bereits damit begonnen, fuer die Kassen seiner Real-, Extra- und Praktiker-Maerkte Ein-, Zwei- und Fuenf-Cent-Muenzen lastwagenweise aus Oesterreich zu importieren. 'Die Bundesbank kann unsere Beduerfnisse gegenwaertig nicht decken', begruendete Metro-Sprecher Juergen Homeyer am Montag den ungewoehnlichen Import. "

"Adrian Vasilescu, consilierul guvernatorului Bancii Nationale a Romaniei, a criticat dur speculatiile ce se fac pe piata imobiliara, intr-un interviu acordat publicatiei electronice EurActiv.ro. Pentru ca preturile sunt nejustificat de mari, Vasilescu nu a exclus posibilitatea de a se ajunge la o posibila criza in domeniul imobiliar asemanatoare celei din Japonia."

In opinia lui Vasilescu, cele mai mari preturi la case din Europa se inregistreaza la noi in tara.,,Cu 100.000 de euro poti sa iti cumperi o casa pe Coasta de Azur. Subliniez, ma refer la raportul calitate-pret, din acest punct de vedere avem cele mai scumpe case din Europa?, a declarat Vasilescu.

"Lansat in urma cu un an si jumatate, procesul de rebranding al televiziunii publice a intrat in linie dreapta in 2004. Aceasta etapa a procesului de rebranding implica schimbarea logo-urilor pentru TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR Cultural, TVR International, reconfigurarea site-ului www.tvr.ro si a site-ului intern. TVR Cultural si TVR International vor trece la noua imagine in toamna anului 2004, odata cu noile grile. "

"Wegen eines Softwarefehlers ruft DaimlerChrysler rund 10.000 Transporter der Mercedes-Benz-Modelle Vito und Viano mit Dieselmotoren zuruck. In Deutschland sollen rund 3.000 Fahrzeuge betroffen sein. "

"Europas erste gemeinsame Verfassung ist unter Dach und Fach. Nach langwierigen Verhandlungen haben sich die Staats- und Regierungschefs der Europaeischen Union in Brussel auf den Vertragstext geeinigt."