JANUARY 30, 2002

Full News Archive

• Headline: Europe's Mobile Phone Subscriber Surge. Impact: The explosion of mobile phone users in Europe led to an unprecedented addiction to texting. Fast forward a few decades, and we find ourselves in a world where people can’t even look up from their screens during family dinners. Thanks, Vodafone!. Fact: Did you know that the average person now spends over 3 hours a day on their phone? Congratulations, Europe, you unknowingly set the stage for modern-day zombie culture!.
• Headline: Bloomberg's Challenges in Rebuilding NYC. Impact: Bloomberg's struggles with the World Trade Center rebuilding turned him into a political pinball. The resulting chaos led to an obsession with urban planning and architecture that still haunts mayors today, leading to far too many 'visionary' projects that go nowhere.. Fact: Isn't it funny how the fate of a mayor can hinge on a giant hole in the ground? Maybe if they’d just put a giant 'Under Construction' sign, it would have saved a lot of headaches..
• Headline: Wim Delvoye's Digestive Art Machine. Impact: Wim Delvoye's Cloaca machine inspired a new genre of art: 'Digestive Art.' Soon, galleries around the world were filled with artworks that literally digested food into compost. Who knew that art could also double as fertilizer?. Fact: Cloaca became so popular that it was rumored to be the only exhibit that could actually make you lose your lunch – literally!.
• Headline: Enron Says Shredding of Records Was Not Stopped Until Recently. Impact: Enron's shredding antics not only led to a corporate scandal of epic proportions but also gave birth to the phrase 'shredding evidence' in popular culture. Henceforth, every crime show had to include a scene where the villain frantically destroys documents.. Fact: Who knew shredding documents could become a pop culture staple? Thanks, Enron, for making it seem like every office has a secret stash of criminal evidence lurking in the paper shredder!.