Orange Bikes; Washroom Trader

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

ORANGE BIKES

   This is the "white bikes" idea from Amsterdam.
   From THE BALTIC TIMES, June 14-20, 2001, pg. 6, col. 1:

_Hundreds of orange_
_bicycles stolen_
(...)  The action started on June 8, when 400 orange bicycles branded with the inscription "Vilnius City Municipality" turned up at special orange stands at different locations around the center of Vilnius.  Anyone interested was welcome to pedal to wherever he was going free of charge.  After their journeys, riders were asked to leave the bikes at the nearest orange stand.
(...)  By the end of the weekend, 300 bikes had disappeared and 25 were broken.
(...)  A similar scheme was put into action in Amsterdam, which had the same sad results at the beginning, but later, said Zuokas, the bikes became very popular there.

--------------------------------------------------------
WASHROOM TRADER

   From the FINANCIAL TIMES, 13 June 2001, pg. 13, col. 5:

JAPAN'S MOBILE INTERNET
_The rise of the washroom trader_
Has m-commerce at last found its killer application, asks Michiyo Nakamoto
   The popularity of mobile internet services in Japan has given rise to a new social phenomenon: the washroom trader.
   Unable to check on a computer how the market is doing during office hours, the washroom trader sneaks out with his mobile phone to the privacy of the toilet cubicle, where he can look up stock prices and even make a trade.

(If you see this happening, kindly ask that person: "Any liquidity problems?"--ed.)