News In Brief

NEXT TIME, FAX IT TO ME

Los Angeles County district attorney candidate Steve Cooleyhoped a certain local judge would attend his fundraiser. So he sent a "talking greeting card" invitation. A bit out of the ordinary? Yes, especially when you consider what happened next. The judge, noticing the package contained no return address and was of an irregular size, called authorities. A metal detector showed what looked like a battery and wires. The conclusion: It was a bomb. So the item was taken to a parking lot and blown to bits. Cooley claims not to know if the judge ended up attending. As for his honor: He wasn't commenting.

AND THEY TASTE JUST AS GOOD

If you have a vegetable garden, and you just can't keep animals from nibbling in it, you might want to borrow an idea from Tony and Sue Donato. The Bushkill, Pa., residents grow their crops in pots on the roof of their backyard tool shed. Until squirrels and deer learn how to use a ladder, the vegetables appear to be safe.

Never mind its legal woes, Microsoft brand name soars

Despite its ongoing troubles with the US Justice Department, Microsoft Corp. remains golden as a consumer brand, a new survey has found. In fact, the New York-based consulting group Interbrand rates the software giant as the world's second-most valuable after Coca-Cola, which has had its own image problems over the past year. Among other findings: Technology companies dominated the top 10, and 42 of the top 75 brand names belonged to American companies. The 10 most valuable brands, based on such factors as expected future earnings (in billions) and the role of each brand in generating them:

1. Coca-Cola $72.5

2. Microsoft 70.2

3. IBM 53.2

4. Intel 39.0

5. Nokia 38.5

6. General Electric 38.1

7. Ford 36.4

8. Walt Disney Co. 33.6

9. McDonald's 27.9

10. AT&T 25.5

- Reuters

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