GOOD DAY FOR: Chaste online adventures, after IBM unveiled a 3-D virtual tour of Beijing’s Forbidden City that lets visitors assume one of nine roles, including court eunuch. The virtual eunuchs, modestly called “imperial servants,” can meet palace courtesans, but that’s about as racy as it gets. The virtual tour took three years to develop at a cost of more than $3 million. (Reuters)
BAD DAY FOR: Russian oligarchs, after the combined wealth of the top 25 Russian billionaires, as counted by Forbes, dropped 62 percent between May 19 and Oct. 6, erasing more than $230 billion in wealth. The biggest loser was steel magnate Vladimir Lisin, 52, whose worth dropped by $22 billion. Foreign investors have pulled $74 billion out of Russia since early August, amid the credit crunch, falling commodities, and the war with Georgia. (Bloomberg)
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