MADE OF CARDBOARD, THIS GRAND PIANO IS REAL

Made of cardboard,this grand piano is real
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- It's a mover's dream and sure to capture the fancy of anyone who tickles the ivories: a grand piano made only of cardboard that sounds almost like the real thing.
But don't expect to find one at your local music store just yet. Researchers with Swedish packaging company SCA have only built a few, and those are still being used for tests.
The cardboard piano uses integrated circuits that are pressed onto paper instead of silicon chips or circuit boards. It's based on technology developed to make paper products that change color or include radio-frequency tags for inventory control.
Ulf Carlsson, SCA's head of development and research, said the cardboard piano features all 88 keys. Press one, and the circuit beneath it sends a signal to an external loudspeaker, which plays the appropriate sound.
"It sounds almost like the real thing, but it is much cheaper -- and lighter," Carlsson said.
There are no immediate plans to market the piano. Rather, Carlsson said, it's being used to show off the development of next-generation printing techniques.
Soundtrack arrivesfor 'Hitman: Contracts'
DALLAS -- First came "Hitman: Contracts," the video game. Now, there's "Hitman: Contracts," the soundtrack.
Sumthing Else Musicworks is releasing an album with 13 electronica-infused tracks by renown video game musician Jesper Kyd, whose previous works include last year's action game "Freedom Fighters."
In "Hitman: Contracts" for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PCs, you star as Agent 47, a bald, genetically engineered assassin who executes an assortment of terrorists and other bad guys.
A review by UGO Console Gameworld credited the score as one of the game's highlights, saying "music is where the game shines."
Though still unusual, "Hitman" is not the first to pair gaming and music.
The early '80s saw the collision of video games and pop music with Buckner and Garcia's hit single, "Pac-Man Fever." A decade later, creators of the immensely popular adventure game "Myst" debuted a soundtrack filled with the game's soothing, atmospheric sounds.
Last month, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale performed a sold-out concert featuring orchestral music from the "Final Fantasy" series of role-playing games.
Flurry of text messagesmake up man's protest
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A mobile-phone subscriber sent an average of 2,580 text messages a day in May to protest a price increase.
Allowing eight hours for sleep every day, Fraser Ray, 24, zapped off 80,012 messages from his phone after Telecom Corp. decided to end a deal giving subscribers unlimited text messaging for $6.29 a month.
His text attack was simple enough -- he repeatedly sent friends a message reading: "Hi. How are you?"
Ray said he was angry with Telecom because he had swapped cell-phone providers to take advantage of the text-messaging deal, which he thought would be in force until 2010.
Beginning this week, Telecom customers can text no more than 1,000 times a month without incurring extra charges.
At a maximum rate of 20 cents a text message, Ray would have tallied a bill of more than $10,060 for his protest.
Telecom spokeswoman Helen Isbister said a handful of people had sent more than 100,000 text messages in May.
"I suppose it's an indication of the kind of thing we wanted to discourage by putting a cap," she said.
Nokia's new option offersmore of an impression
HELSINKI, Finland -- Sending a text message with your mobile phone is poised to become en-lightening: A new messaging option on some Nokia handsets is more like semaphore than computing.
While it's not as convenient or utilitarian as sending a text message to someone in another city or country, wave messaging certainly can leave a lasting impression, particularly if you're in a nightclub and want to impress someone across the room.
Users of the upcoming Nokia 3220, slated for release this fall, must buy a special shell that snaps onto the phone. Users can then send a short message that, instead of going to another phone, is flashed on and off by 12 orange LED lights on the back of the phone shell.
Wave the phone back and forth, and a motion sensor tells which lights to fire. Done correctly, the message appears to be floating in space, bright as the stars.
Nokia says the image is visible from as far as 18 feet, but if it's cloudy or too bright, it might be better to send a regular text message or photograph instead.
Wave messaging isn't for the verbose, either. Only 15 characters can be displayed -- just enough for a phone number or a simple "I LUV U!"
Associated Press
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