News In Brief

NICOLAS CAGE WAS TOO BUSY

CBS "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney delivered the commencement address last weekend at Gray-New Gloucester High School near Portland, Maine. So what: Don't celebrities speak at graduation ceremonies every year? Yes, but in this case, the TV veteran pretty much got the job by default. Hoping to lure a major attraction to their off-the-beaten-track community, the class of 2000 sent out dozens of invitations to Hollywood stars, former US presidents, and other high-profile people to address the graduates. Rooney alone said he'd do it.

CALL IT PERSON-TORY INSTEAD

If the political correctness police at Stockport College near Manchester, England, have their way, history would become just that - history. The discipline, or, rather, its name, is among their new list of 40 words and phrases deemed to be sexist. Or too class-conscious. Or otherwise insensitive to some group. Also on the list: "manmade," "man in the street," and "normal couple."

Silicon Valley suddenly has rivals as world high-tech hub

From South Asia to northern Scandinavia, globalization's reach has transformed a diverse set of locations into high-tech capitals of the so-called new economy. As a result, according to the new issue of WIRED magazine, California's Silicon Valley now has plenty of company as a hub of innovation and development. The magazine ranked areas based on their education and research facilities, presence of established multinational companies, entrepreneurial drive, and availability of venture capital to ensure that ideas make it to market. WIRED's top 10 high-tech hubs:

1. Silicon Valley, Calif.

2. Boston

3. Stockholm-Kista, Sweden

4. Israel

5. Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), N.C.

6. London

7. Helsinki, Finland

8. Austin, Texas

9. Bangalore, India

10. San Francisco

- Business Wire

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