When in Rome...

Crème de la crème

For beauticians, this is one face pack worth its weight in gold. Or, for that matter, in tin. An archaeological dig at a Roman site in London has led to the discovery of a container full of face cream preserved through the centuries. And according to Bristol University scientists, this patrician ladies? cosmetic secret contains nothing more exotic than the plebian compound tin oxide. The pot of cream was also found to contain other substances like animal fat and starch. The concoction was possibly used as a somewhat white foundation.The tin compound, quarried at Cornwall, was gradually substituting the lead compound used earlier, since the harmful properties of lead were already recognised by then.

 

The babe rolls of bollywood have added a new name ? former ?Baby Spice? Emma Bunton. Spice Girls may be history, but Bunton certainly isn?t as she flies into India for a BBC2 documentary on celebrity lifestyles in India.

The search ends here

If you?re a tad tired of searching the Web through the same old Google, try a little refreshment. Get ready to log on to Kazhugu, the new multilingual search engine developed by the K.B. Chandrasekar Centre of Anna University in Tamil Nadu. As of now the search engine is ready for use on all Tamil Websites despite the difference in fonts. Work on the project was begun way back in 2000 by the university?s language technologies group. The engine also has a translingual tool which can search particular key-words in other languages, for example English keywords, and then display the results after translating them into Tamil. The engine will be tested on the Sify portal. You can even look forward to other engines in Hindi, Malayalam and Telugu soon.

 

Art for fund?s sake

More news of babes, but not of the celebrity kind. The charity organisation for children, Khushii, held an art auction in New Delhi on November 4 to raise money for an orphanage. But the evening wasn?t all about high bids. The auction was preceded by a performance of the play Zen Katha, directed by actor Lilette Dubey. While Kapil Dev is the president of the organisation, adman Suhel Seth and beautician Vandana Luthra were around to lend a helping hand.

 

Easy on the wallet

Fare deal

If you have your mobile phone with you, there?ll be no need to carry any loose change, not at least in Germany. If things go right, Nokia and Philips will test-run a system early next year which will allow commuters at Hanau near Frankfurt to pay for their bus fares with their handsets. All the passenger will have to do is swipe his Nokia 3220 set against a reading device on the bus to register for the journey. The 3220 handset will also be made available in Asia in late 2005.

 

AWARD OF THE WEEK

Goes to filmmaker Alexandra Kerry, who scored a victory despite her father?s loss in the US elections. John Kerry?s daughter was voted the sexiest daughter coming from a political family in a poll conducted by a Website.