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發布時間：2009-08-12
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手機游戲上演美國大選
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Sorrent, a maker of video games for cellular telephones, has released August 23, 2004, 'Bush versus Kerry Boxing,' a game that puts players in the role of either United States President George W. Bush or Democratic hopeful Sen. John Kerry. Bush is pictured in the game in this undated publicity photograph. Players can either head directly into a Bush versus Kerry match-up or pick a side and fight through 'Campaign Mode' against the other party's leading figures. The $3.99 game can also report live match results to a scoreboard on Sorrent's Website. The company said it would donate 10 percent of its proceeds from sales of the game to youth organization Rock the Vote. NO SALES REUTERS/Sorrent/Handout REUTERS
詞匯：
cellular adj.【生】細胞的；多孔的；蜂窩狀的
release vt.釋放，發表
hopeful adj.懷有希望的，有希望的
undated adj.未標日期的
publicity n.公開
versus prep.對（指訴訟,比賽等中）， 與……相對
live adj.活的，實況轉播的
scoreboard n.記分板
donate v.捐贈，贈予
proceeds n.收益
外星生命在聯系我們嗎？
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A woman dressed as an extraterrestrial. Hopes that intelligent life is trying to contact us briefly rose a notch last week when New Scientist reported that an intriguing radio signal was being closely examined by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project.
詞匯：
extraterrestrial n.外星人，外星球的生物
intelligent adj.聰明的，有才智的
briefly adv.暫時地，簡要地
notch n.槽口，凹口 n.<美語>山間小路
intriguing adj.迷人的，引起興趣（或好奇心）的
百萬英鎊的玉腿
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German-born supermodel Heidi Klum's legs have been valued at 1.1 million pounds (1.62 million euros, 1.96 million dollars) by a London auction house that specialises in putting estimates to jewelry.
詞匯：
supermodel n.超級模特
value vt.估價，評價
auction n.拍賣
specialise v.專門研究
estimate n.估價，評估
jewelry n.珠寶
“蝙蝠俠”大鬧白金漢宮
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A police officer, left, watches a protester dressed as Batman, right, who stands on a ledge at London's Buckingham Palace, Monday, Sept. 13, 2004, near the balcony where the royal family appears on ceremonial occasions. The protester was identified as Jason Hatch, 33, a member of the Fathers 4 Justice group which is campaigning for greater custody rights for divorced or separated fathers. No member of the royal family was at the palace Monday. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was at her Balmoral residence in Scotland. Seen at rear is a Buckingham Palace official. (AP Photo/PA)
詞匯：
protest n.抗議
ledge n.壁架，架狀突出物
Buckingham Palace n.白金漢宮（英國王宮）
balcony n.陽臺，包廂，（戲院）樓廳
ceremonial adj.正式的，禮儀的
campaign vi.參加活動，從事活動
custody n.監護權；監管
divorced 離婚的
separate v.分開，隔離
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麥當娜重新經營電影事業
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麥當娜又重新經營電影事業了。從影態度謹慎的麥當娜此次選擇為一部高成本的電腦動畫片《亞瑟》獻聲。兒童奇幻題材的3D動畫《亞瑟》根據法國著名電影人呂克·貝松個人創作的同名繪本小說改編，描述一個10歲孤兒亞瑟在尋找祖父的過程中被小精靈帶進魔法世界的冒險旅程。此次，麥當娜為和亞瑟一同經歷冒險的賽琳娜公主配音。
Madonna will head the voice cast of the big-budget animated film "Arthur," directed by Luc Besson, sources close to the movie told the Hollywood Reporter.
"Arthur" is adapted from a series of children's books written by Besson, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie.
Ten-year-old Arthur, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from developers, goes in search of treasure hidden in the land of the Minimoys, a tiny people living in harmony with nature.
Madonna was said to be voicing the part of Princess Selenia, a character who travels with Arthur to a mysterious forbidden city where an evil being dwells.
The film, scheduled for a 2006 release, will include some live-action sequences.
湯姆·漢克斯的新影片
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索尼公司根據丹·布朗同名暢銷小說改編的懸疑驚悚片《達·芬奇密碼》已經敲定由湯姆·漢克斯主演。這也是本片導演郎·霍華德、制片人布萊恩·格雷澤和湯姆·漢克斯的第三次合作。
Actor Tom Hanks is being lined up to star in the movie adaptation of the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code. Director Ron Howard, who won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind, said Hanks was the man he wanted to play Professor Robert Langdon in the thriller.
"Tom is an exciting actor to watch thinking," Howard told Newsweek.
Meanwhile, Hanks' animated Christmas tale The Polar Express set a $2.1m (￡1.1m) record for the biggest opening at Imax cinemas in the US.
The film, which was shown on the giant screens of 59 Imax cinemas, beat the previous records of movies including Harry Potter and the Matrix sequels.
"We're extremely pleased in terms of its absolute performance in Imax," said co-chief executive Brad Wechsler.
"We've set a new weekend record for us, we've had a ton of sold-out shows and our advance sales to consumers have been great."
The film, which is said to have cost $270m (￡189.3m) to make, was directed by Forrest Gump's Robert Zemeckis with Hanks as an executive producer.
But The Polar Express failed to make a dent in the fortunes of the Pixar/Disney adventure The Incredibles which has remained at the top of the box office chart.
Hanks is one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, with his presence in a movie almost guaranteeing box office success.
Hanks' representatives confirmed he was in negotiations to work on The Da Vinci Code, which would see him once again team up with Howard, who directed Hanks in Splash and Apollo 13.
The book by Dan Brown has become a publishing phenomenon, consistently topping book charts in the UK and US.
The proposed movie adaptation would almost certainly be a hit, with or without Hanks.
"We probably don't need his (Hanks') status from a box-office standpoint, but he gives Langdon instant legitimacy," said Howard.
劉嘉玲首次進軍商界
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劉嘉玲從事演藝事業二十年，首次進軍商界。劉嘉玲昨天出席在香港尖沙咀舉行的記者會，宣布出任TVMart的行政總裁一職。TVMart是一個24小時的電視購物頻道，股東涉及到韓國、日本多個地區，香港幾個股東的總投資接近兩億。該頻道將在12月登陸香港。
Hong Kong evergreen beauty Liu Jialing, alias Carina Lau gears up in the business arena by running an around the clock commerce TV Mart channel.
At a huge press conference, Carina Lau was announced and warmly welcomed as the mart's CEO.
The project has already cost 188 million Hong Kong dollar in preparations.Several partners from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong are reportedly financing the TV channel.
女子馬拉松記錄保持者雷德克里夫
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女子馬拉松世界記錄保持者保拉·雷德克里夫日前表示她希望參加北京2008年奧運會的比賽，并希望能一直跑到2012年奧運會。這位英國人的長跑驕傲，在今年的雅典奧運會上先后退出了馬拉松和一萬米的比賽，并因此在國內飽受指責。
Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe, undaunted by her disastrous showing at the Athens Olympics, hopes to run in Beijing in four years and possibly even at the 2012 Games.
Briton Radcliffe, 30, pulled out of the marathon and 10,000 metres in Athens in August and was subjected to a storm of criticism in the media.
"It was never a case of if I get what I want in Athens I will back off," Radcliffe was quoted as saying in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper.
"I always wanted another Games. I hope to make 2012 too, maybe not at the same level but I hope to make the team," added Radcliffe, who is an ambassador for London's bid to host those Olympics.
In Athens, Radcliffe broke down in tears six kilometres from the end of a marathon she was favourite to win before failing to finish the 10,000 metres five days later.
As Radcliffe had just slipped to fourth in the marathon when she slumped out, the suggestion was made in the media that she had stopped after realising she would not win a medal.
She later said she had been struggling with a stomach injury and described her experiences in Greece as the most traumatic of her life.
"Underneath it all, it has made me more determined to come back and show what I can do," she told the paper.
"I've had a lot of criticism for not slowing down and continuing but I don't think I could have carried on whatever the pace.
"I like to think the critics won't change me but probably you grow a more protective shell around yourself."
美國NBA開出史上最大罰單
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美國NBA聯盟周日開出自創立以來最大的一張罰單，嚴厲處罰在周五活塞與步行者隊比賽中參與群毆和毆打現場觀眾的球員。處罰涉及9名球員，被罰停賽總場次超過140場，其中步行者隊的阿泰斯特被罰本賽季禁賽。
Overall, the NBA banned nine players for more than 140 games, some of the harshest penalties ever issued. Artest is the first player to be suspended for nearly an entire season for a fight during a game.
Indiana's Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and Jermaine O'Neal for 25. Detroit's Ben Wallace - whose shove of Artest after a foul led to the 5-minute fracas - drew a six-game ban, while Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got five games.
Four players were suspended for a game apiece: Indiana's Reggie Miller, and Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman.
All of the suspensions are without pay.
"We have to make the point that there are boundaries in our games," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "One of our boundaries, that have always been immutable, is the boundary that separate the fans from the court. Players cannot lose control and move into the stands."
Artest, O'Neal and Jackson - who all threw punches at fans in the stands or on the court at the end of the nationally televised Pacers-Pistons game Friday night - began serving their suspensions Saturday. Indiana, limited to just six players because of the suspensions and injuries, dropped an 86-83 decision to Orlando.
The NBA also has to "redefine the bounds of acceptable conduct for fans attending our games and resolve to permanently exclude those who overstep those bounds," Stern said.
He added that security procedures in all NBA arenas will be reviewed and rules need to be added to prevent a repeat of what happened at Auburn Hills, Mich., on Friday.
For Sunday night's home game against the Charlotte Bobcats - Detroit's first outing since the melee - the Pistons doubled the number of armed police to about 20 in the arena and increased other arena security personnel by about 25 percent.
When some spectators lined up to take pictures with Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter on the court before the game, two police officers stood just a few feet away.
The brawl was particularly violent, with Artest and Jackson bolting into the stands near center court and throwing punches at fans after debris was tossed at the players. Later, fans who came onto the court were punched in the face by Artest and O'Neal. Nine people were treated for injuries, and police are investigating possible criminal charges.
Wallace began the fracas by delivering a hard, two-handed shove to Artest after Wallace was fouled on a drive to the basket with 45.9 seconds remaining. After the fight ended, the referees called off the rest of the game.
The initial skirmish wasn't all that bad, with Artest retreating to the scorer's table and lying atop it after Wallace sent him reeling backward. But when a fan tossed a cup at Artest, he stormed into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.
Jackson joined Artest and threw punches at fans, who punched back. At one point, a chair was tossed into the fray.
The most recent example of an NBA player going into the stands and punching a fan came in February 1995, when Vernon Maxwell of the Houston Rockets pummeled a spectator in Portland. The league suspended him for 10 games and fined him $20,000.
Among the harshest non-drug-related penalties in NBA history was a one-year suspension of Latrell Sprewell - later reduced to 68 games - for choking Golden State Warriors coach PJ Carlesimo at practice.
可口可樂在我國東北設新廠
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全球第一大飲料生產商可口可樂公司在我國東北地區花費2000萬美元投資的第四家工廠吉林中糧可口可樂正式開業，至此，可口可樂在東北地區形成了完整的戰略布局。
Coca-Cola, the world's leading beverage supplier, formed a manufacturing network in Northeast China, with a bottling plant that started operation yesterday in Jilin Province.
The newly established plant, located in Changchun, capital city of Jilin, is Coca-Cola's fourth plant in Northeast China, with others in Harbin, capital city of Heilongjiang Province, as well as Shenyang and Dalian of Liaoning Province.
Involving an investment of US$20 million, the Jilin-based plant covers 50,000 square metres, with a building area of 15,490 square metres.
It has two internationally advanced production lines and is capable of an annual production output of 43 million standard boxes of carbonated beverages , including Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta.
The new bottling plant, operated by Jilin COFCO (China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation) Coca-Cola Beverages Co Ltd - a joint venture of two world top 500s - is expected to satisfy the surging market demand in Jilin Province.
Paul Etchells, president of Coca-Cola (China) Beverages Co Ltd said Northeast China is a market with huge potential for Coca-Cola's long term business expansion in China.
"The Chinese Government's policy to invigorate Northeast China, a national industrial base, will spur the rapid economic development of the region, which offers vast market margins for us," said Etchells.
Based on the manufacturing capacity of the new bottling plant, Coca-Cola will enlarge its distribution system and sales networks in the region to meet increasing demands.
According to Luan Xiuju, president of Jilin COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages Co Ltd, the new plant will make contributions to the local economy.
"In addition to creating new job opportunities for Jilin, the bottling plant may attract some upstream and downstream enterprises of Coca-Cola, engaged in beverage raw materials, packaging and logistics , to set up their branches here," said Luan.
Re-entered into China since 1979, Coca-Cola has joined hands with COFCO, Hong Kong Swire and Malaysia-based Kerry to pool over US$1.1 billion into the Chinese mainland and boasts 28 bottling plants, including three under construction in Lanzhou, capital city of Northwest China's Gansu Province, Zhanjiang of South China's Guangdong Province and Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.
萬圣節來臨前市場空前繁榮
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10月31日是外國人的鬼節（即萬圣節），家家戶戶除了會在當天準備很多南瓜食品及糖果來慶祝之外，更會在當日扮鬼扮馬上街游行，有些國家還會提早幾天甚至一個多星期來盡情狂歡。在萬圣節即將來臨的時候，美國節日市場空前繁榮。今年萬圣節前的銷售情況有望造最高記錄，越來越多的成年人和寵物加入到慶祝萬圣節的隊伍中。
Halloween is expected to scare up record sales this year as more adults -- and pets -- join in what was once mainly a children's dress-up event, filling a void before the key Christmas shopping season.
After four months of sluggish retail trade and lackluster back-to-school sales, shops are decorating windows with witches, skeletons and pumpkin lanterns ahead of Oct. 31, when Americans don masks, throw costume parties and go door-to-door asking for treats.
The National Retail Federation (NRF), the largest U.S. retail trade group, said its 2004 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey estimated a record $3.12 billion would be spent on Halloween this year, up from $2.96 billion last year.
"Halloween has become a seasonal event, not just a one-night party, and this is creating a nice chunk of cash in the void between the back-to-school period and Christmas," NRF Vice President Scott Krugman said.
"There's always been candy and costumes, but it's really decorations driving sales now with people turning their homes into haunted houses for the whole month of October," he said.
While $3 billion is a blip for mega retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., whose annual sales hit $256 billion, even big players are stocking larger selections of Halloween goods.
Wal-Mart declined to comment on its outlook for Halloween, but said it recognized the importance of the event to its customers and has updated its merchandise to meet demand.
With Halloween now the second most popular holiday for decking out homes, the appropriate decorations are a hot ticket.
"We have for Halloween this year stocked 8-foot inflation yard decorations," a Wal-Mart spokesperson said.
Toys R Us Inc.,the No. 2 toy retailer after Wal-Mart, said it stocked a wide range of costumes, candy and books for Halloween without giving sales projections, while the nation's largest chocolate maker, Hershey Foods Corp., declined to comment on its forecast for sales this month.
Smaller players, however, were more open about Halloween trade, with Party City Corp., the largest party goods chain in the United States, seeing strong growth. Halloween accounted for 25 percent of its sales last year, a rise of 13.9 percent from Halloween 2002.
"Halloween has clearly become very significant," a spokesman for Party City said.
Halloween now ranks as the No. 6 spending holiday in the United States after the winter holidays, which pull in an estimated $219.9 billion.
The NRF survey found the average consumer will spend $43.57 on Halloween this year with sweets accounting for $14.83.
The largest portion of the total will be spent on costumes, with Spider-Man outfits, frilly princess dresses and witches' robes and peaked hats topping the favorites list for children this year.
Retailers have increasingly found that Halloween, whose traditions were brought to America in the 1840s by Irish immigrants, is appealing to a wider audience, not just pint-sized ghosts making the neighborhood rounds with trick-or-treat bags.
A survey by Shopping in America, conducted for The Macerich Co., found 59 percent of Americans expected to join in some type of Halloween activity, spending an average $49.27 each, with many shoppers predicting a President Bush mask to be the biggest seller for adults in this election year.
But costumes are not limited to adults and children. They are also in demand for pets, with both of the top U.S. pet supply chains, Petsmart Inc. and Petco Animal Supplies Inc. offering a variety of choices.
Both company Web sites feature a gallery of dog outfits, with a basset hound dressed as a devil, a Pug dog in a hula skirt and a Jack Russell clad as Dracula.
克林頓在心臟手術后恢復正常
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美國前總統克林頓9月6日在紐約的一家醫院接受了心臟搭橋手術。克林頓夫人、現任紐約州參議員希拉里在手術后表示，克林頓已經接受手術，目前他的一切正常。
Former US President Bill Clinton has successfully undergone a five-hour quadruple heart bypass operation to relieve clogged arteries, say doctors.
Dr Craig Smith, who led the operation at New York Presbyterian Hospital, said Mr Clinton was recovering normally.
Mr Clinton, 58, was admitted to hospital three days ago suffering chest pains and shortness of breath.
More than 26,000 people from all over the world have sent messages wishing him a speedy recovery.
Dr Smith, the hospital's chief of cardiothoracic surgery, told a news conference four hours after the operation: "He is recovering normally at this point. I think right now everything looks straightforward."
Another member of the medical team, cardiology chief Dr Allan Schwartz, said Mr Clinton was awake but still sedated and had not yet spoken.
The former president's wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea were by his bedside as he recovered from surgery.
Bypass operations, in which sections of the patient's own blood vessels are grafted to bridge over blockages in the heart's arteries, have become a common and usually successful procedure in recent years.
Mr Clinton's operation began at 0700 local time on Monday and lasted nearly five hours.
Mr Clinton served two terms as president, during which he became known for his love of fast food and jogging.
Correspondents say he may now have to scale down his role in the Democrat campaign for November's elections.
During his own presidency, Mr Clinton showed no signs of heart problems during rigorous health examinations that were made public.
In recent months, Mr Clinton has appeared trim and well - which he attributed to following the "South Beach Diet" of lean meat and unprocessed food.
The former president and his family issued a statement on the Clinton Foundation's website on Sunday, saying they felt "blessed and grateful for the thousands of prayers and messages of goodwill we have received these past few days".
President George W Bush and Democratic presidential contender John Kerry, both busy on the campaign trail ahead of November's elections, sent their best wishes to Mr Clinton before the operation.
The BBC's Jeremy Cooke in New York says the former president had promised to be a loyal "foot soldier" in Mr Kerry's drive to win the White House, but his involvement may now be limited.
However, our correspondent says Mr Clinton had a 90-minute telephone conversation with Mr Kerry on Sunday to discuss campaign strategy.
Known as a formidable campaigner, Mr Clinton gave a speech to the Democratic Party convention in Boston in July that was seen as one of the highlights.
Observers say his natural flair among crowds could have been used to boost the campaign of Mr Kerry, who is regarded as somewhat aloof .
中國奧運金牌精英抵港
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國家奧運金牌精英抵港，所到之處皆引起一陣旋風，其中跳水金牌得主田亮、郭晶晶以及蛙泳金牌得主羅雪娟，昨日甫抵港便忙里偷閑到中環一家珠寶金行購物，不過行程始終讓神通廣大的傳媒得悉，以致三人最終不能像一般游客一樣，盡情享受在港的購物樂趣。
They may be Olympic gold medalists, but like thousands of mainland tourists they went shopping for gold jewelry in Hong Kong on Monday.
In the end, however, they left empty-handed, a media frenzy hampering their efforts to choose their pieces.
Tian Liang and Guo Jingjing, China's diving prince and princess, went looking for gold immediately after their arrival.
The pair was also accompanied on their shopping tour by Luo Xuejuan, who won the women's 100m breaststroke.
However, because they only had a short amount of time, the three gold medalists were unable to pick out anything while they were mobbed by the media.
To compensate, the shop gave them each a diamond pendant .
Hua Jia and Yang Jinghui, who also won diving golds, had more success with their shopping by not attending a press conference. Hu chose a jade bracelet for his mother, while Yang bought some digital products from an electronics store.
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劉翔承諾將創造跨欄新紀錄
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9月23日，奧運冠軍劉翔在日本橫濱國際田聯全明星賽上擊敗了老對手阿蘭·約翰遜，贏得了男子110米欄的冠軍，這是中國飛人在奧運會后的首次亮相。賽后，劉翔表示自己將再接再厲，同時“承諾”將力爭打破12秒91的世界紀錄，并要讓這項紀錄一直為中國人所保持。
World record holder Liu Xiang of China defeated four-times world champion Allen Johnson to win the men's 110-metre hurdles at the Yokohama track and field meet on Thursday.
And the 21-year-old Olympic champion wasted no time in declaring that he would set a new world record in his event.
"My goal is to set a new world record. I believe I have potential. I'm still 21 and you will peak at around 25," said Liu.
"I promise that I will break the world record some day and keep the record for China forever."
In May the 21-year-old set a new Asian record of 13.06 to beat Johnson in winning the Japan Grand Prix in Osaka, boosting his confidence for the Athens Olympics.
In Athens Liu tied the world record of 12.91 to win the gold medal, becoming the first-ever Olympic champion from Asia in a track event. Johnson failed to reach the final in Athens after a fall in the second round.
In Yokohama Liu clocked 13.31 seconds, ahead of Maurice Wignall of Jamaica in 13.33 and Johnson, the American Atlanta Olympic gold medallist, in 13.41.
"I defeated Allen again today but this is not a big race, it doesn't mean anything. Nobody is on top form. I want to beat him again in a big race," said Liu.
"The victory in the Olympics has changed everything for me. At home in China, everybody receives me enthusiastically. I'm always fearing that people might rob me of everything, including my clothes," he joked.
"But the Athens Olympics already belongs to the past. I need quiet conditions for my training, looking forward to the Olympics to be held at home in four years' time. I'm going to keep myself calm."
英國人一個月狂發20億條短信
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據電信貿易組織移動數據協會稱，英國人在今年3月共發送了21億封短信，平均每天發送6900萬封。這一數字較之去年同期增長了將近25%。
雖然短信在英國快速普及，但英國人卻并非是歐洲短信之王。據最近一項調查顯示，德國人每天發送的短信數量高達2億封，而在全球頭號手機制造商諾基亞公司的故鄉芬蘭，當地的民眾每天發送的短信數量也超過7500萬封。
LONDON - Britons sent 2.1 billion text messages in March, thumbing an average of 69 million per day, according to figures released this week by telecommunications trade group The Mobile Data Association.
The figure, while not an all-time record, is nearly 25 percent up on the same period a year ago.
But while texting is rising fast, Britons are not considered the message kings of Europe.
Germans send a staggering 200 million texts a day, according to a recent survey, while mobile-phone-savvy Finns tap out 75 million per day.
Google上市潛在受益者多多
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Google是否以及何時上市最近幾天成了美國硅谷最熱門的話題，雖然Google一直對這一話題表示低調，但這家全球最大的互聯網搜索引擎毫無疑問已經成了自從4年前互聯網泡沫破裂以來最令人期待的IPO對象。而一旦Google真的上市，隨著其股價一路攀升，那些給Google投過資的富人將變得更富。
業內人士估計，Google如果今年決定向投資者出售股票，那么其上市第一天交易結束時的市值最終可能達到200億到250億美元。如果Google市值達到250億美元，其將超過洛克希德-馬丁、聯邦捷運以及耐克等大公司。
Sun公司的創始人之一安迪-貝奇托爾謝姆是Google公司外部第一個向Google投資的人，他表示，Google上市是遲早的事。如果Google在上市第一天股價就飆升，那他在1998年向Google投入的20萬美元就將至少價值3億美元。
分析人士稱，將因為Google上市而受益的企業包括Google的競爭對手AOL和雅虎。幾年前，當Google還是雅虎搜索服務提供商時，雅虎曾為Google投資1000萬美元。另外根據2002年達成的一項協議，AOL有權以2200萬美元購買將近200萬股Google股票。
硅谷的高技術業界精英當中將因為Google上市而受益的包括Netscape創始人馬克-安德利森eBay創始人之一皮埃爾-奧米德亞以及最近離開Sun的軟件專家比爾-喬伊
Tiger Woods has his small stake. So do Shaquille O'Neal, Henry A. Kissinger and Arnold Schwarzenegger. All can be counted among that small club of people lucky enough to own a sliver of Google, one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley and what could be the hottest deal on Wall Street this year.
Michael S. Ovitz, once a top Hollywood agent, pulled strings in an effort to enter a pool that was being offered to a group of rich investors and would eventually own a small piece of Google. But that was in the late 1990's, and apparently his star was already fading. Mr. Ovitz was turned away.
The question of if and when Google, the world's most popular search engine, might finally proceed with an initial offering of shares to the public has captivated Silicon Valley in recent days. That is because it nears a deadline this week to provide a financial disclosure document required under the 1934 securities law.
The company has not declared its intentions, but Google is the most anticipated public offering since the dot-com bubble burst four years ago.
People speculate. People dream. And if the numbers are to be believed, people will drool. The current prediction is that Google, if it decides to sell shares to investors this year, would probably end up with a market value of $20 billion to $25 billion by the end of its first day as a publicly traded company.
A $25 billion market value would instantly make Google worth more than Lockheed Martin, the big military contractor; Federal Express, the package delivery service; or Nike, the sports clothing maker.
As a great many people have learned the hard way in recent years, things don't always happen as the experts predict, especially when a company is involved in the high-risk realm of technology.
"It's bound to happen," Andy Bechtolsheim, who was the first person outside the company to invest in Google, said of the long-awaited public offering. Mr. Bechtolsheim, a founder of Sun Microsystems, said he owns a little more than 1 percent of Google. Assuming a huge opening day, the $200,000 he invested in Google in 1998 could be worth at least $300 million. Not everyone would fare as well. Many own a small stake in Google through an investment syndicate that included lots of Internet failures, and would stand to make only a modest profit on their total investment, if anything.
The list of those expected to profit handsomely if Google proceeds with an initial public offering certainly includes the usual suspects. Start with the company's two young founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who started Google as graduate students at Stanford and are known affectionately as "the boys" among Silicon Valley insiders.
Mr. Brin and Mr. Page, now in their early 30's, together own an estimated one-third to one half of Google, depending on which insider's number deserves credence.
"In a way, it doesn't make a difference whether the boys own a third of the company or half," said a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who spoke on the condition he not be identified because Google is a secretive company. "We're all living in a Google world now. You can safely say," he said, that "both of them will be worth in the many billions."
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital, the two venture capital firms that invested in Google in June 1999, just as Google was becoming a daily tool of the digital elite, each own 11 percent to 14 percent of the company, several Silicon Valley venture capitalists say.
The list of institutions that stand to make a small fortune from Google includes two of its potential rivals, America Online, now part of Time Warner, and Yahoo.
"People made fun of Yahoo for its licensing deal," said an executive at a search-related start-up company that is a partner with Yahoo and Google, who insisted on anonymity to avoid spoiling his relationships. "They helped to create a big competitor. But this deal that hurts them strategically will make the company a lot of money."
Yahoo invested $10 million several years ago, when Google was the search engine powering Yahoo's operations on its Web portal. Yahoo owns a small stake, a person who has seen the terms of the deal said.
Under a different deal struck in 2002, America Online has the right to buy nearly two million shares of Google for roughly $22 million, according to Time Warner.
A list of the others who stand to be enriched should Google go public seems to prove that the rich get richer. It reads like a "Who's Who" of Silicon Valley insiders, including Frank P. Quattrone, the former investment banker now on trial in Manhattan on charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
It includes some of Silicon Valley's greatest entrepreneurial successes, including Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape; Pierre M. Omidyar, a founder of eBay; Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster; and Bill Joy, the software innovator who recently left Sun Microsystems.
Stanford, one of the country's richest universities, also stands to add considerably to its bottom line. Mr. Brin and Mr. Page, who met in 1995 at a party for incoming computer science graduate students, worked together on a university-funded data-mining project. During that collaboration, the pair invented the search technology that would eventually be Google's core technology.
"The university owns the technology," said Katharine Ku, the director of Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing. "We license it to Google, which back then was just these two kids. They pay Stanford royalties annually. We also took a bit of stock in the deal."
Under the terms of that deal, the royalties are evenly split three ways among Mr. Brin and Mr. Page, the computer science department and the university's engineering school. That deal was struck in 1996.
For two years, the university tried to license the deal to existing search companies; at least one company "offered a significant amount of money" to buy Google, but in 1998 "the two decided to start their own company."
Ms. Ku declined to share the terms of the licensing deal, which is still in effect, or to speculate on the potential value of the university's equity stake.
David R. Cheriton, a computer science professor at Stanford, introduced Mr. Bechtolsheim to Google's founders. In August 1998, the four sat on the porch of Mr. Cheriton's Palo Alto home, where Mr. Page and Mr. Brin tried to demonstrate their product for Mr. Bechtolsheim. Before the pair could finish, he had decided to write them the first of two $100,000 checks.
"They needed money to pay the lawyers to incorporate the company," he said. "And I wanted to make sure I was part of this company."
The founders raised roughly $1 million that September, including Mr. Bechtolsheim's investment. Other early investors include Mr. Cheriton and Ram Shriram, a former Netscape and Amazon executive.
"Basically they needed money to buy the machines so they could prove out the concept," Mr. Bechtolsheim said.
The company closed on a second round of financing in June 1999. By then, much of Silicon Valley's elite wanted a piece of Google, which had become the default search engine of choice among the area's digerati.
That is when Ron Conway and Bob Bozeman, two partners in a venture fund called Angel Investors, discovered Google — and, according to an investors list prepared by Angel Investors, brought along many famous people, including Mr. Woods and Mr. Kissinger, and some of the Valley's best-connected entrepreneurs and financiers, among them at least five billionaires.
A former executive at the personal computer maker Altos Computer Systems, Mr. Conway had been investing his money in Internet start-ups. Enough wealthy friends asked him if they could piggyback on his investments that in late 1998 he created Angel Investors as an Internet index fund that would invest in an array of Web-related start-ups. That year, under the title Angel-1, he raised $30 million; the next year, under Angel-2, $150 million, Ultimately Mr. Conway raised money from more than 500 people, only a few of whom he had known before entering a business relationship.
Anyone who invested in Angel-1 or Angel-2 owns a small stake in Google, though those in Angel-1 own shares obtained at a much better price (roughly 50 cents a share, compared with $2.34 a share), given that the investments were made six months part.
"If I decide I want something to happen and I'm very motivated," Mr. Conway said in 2001. "I try real hard to make it happen."
Mr. Conway, Mr. Bozeman said, is "the premier elbow guy in the business." Mr. Conway declined to comment for this article.
Based solely on the Google deal, Angel-1 should "make each of us several times our original investment," an investor in both funds said. This investor, who receives updates from Angel Investors, insisted on anonymity because of a confidentiality agreement.
Most of the companies in which Mr. Conway and Mr. Bozeman invested with money raised in Angel-2 in 1999 and 2000 have gone out of business. But such is the potential power of Google that, though Angel-2 includes nearly 200 worthless investments, an investor said, "we might actually get our investment back, if not make a little extra."
The typical Silicon Valley start-up endures several rounds of venture financing before reaching profitability, and no longer needing additional outside money. With each round the founders' shares are further diluted, until they end up owning only a small share of the company.
Yet Google raised only one round of venture capital. In June, Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia, two of the Valley's most highly prized venture capitalists, bought a total of roughly one-quarter of the company, according to financial documents spelling out the terms of the deal. There was the deal with Yahoo, and the hiring of a new chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, in 2001, who undoubtedly received a handsome stock package — yet one rival venture capitalist marvels at the size of the equity stake the two founders retained.
"That's what makes this deal so unusual," the venture capitalist said. "There's been no almost no dilution of financing. The founders did a first round, they basically did a deal with the C.E.O., there's the deal with Yahoo, and that's it."
Andrew Anker, an entrepreneur and former venture capitalist, said: "This is the deal of the century as far as I'm concerned. No matter how you cut it, this will make a lot of people very happy."
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