Etc...

I just know they'll lap it up

Perhaps you remember an item in this space Tuesday about the Seattle soft-drink company that - just in time for Thanksgiving - introduced turkey and gravy-flavored soda. Well, borrowing that theme, now comes word that an Australian entrepreneur is marketing what he calls "a sports drink for dogs." One-pint bottles of Andrew Larkey's Dog Plus K-9 are sold in pet shops for $2.95 (US $2.10) each. The flavors: liver and bacon, beef, and chicken and corn. Larkey says each bottle is "purified" and delivers half of the daily intake of vitamins recommended for canines by veterinary scientists. And he's doing this because? "Dogs get bored with plain water," he told reporters. "They deserve variety, just as much as people." He plans a comparable line of drinks for cats next year, to include pork and roast chicken flavors. As for humans, he says the drinks can be consumed safely, although they undoubtedly won't have quite the appeal of, oh, cola or ginger ale.

As employers struggle to hold down costs in the competitive US economy, an online business travel service suggests they may want to consider Jacksonville, Fla., for that next corporate conference, retreat, or convention. For a second straight year, the city tops a list of affordable meeting sites by GetThere. The service used a hypothetical four-day gathering of 100 attendees from the nation's 50 most populous areas and evaluated destinations with at least 25 three- or four-star hotels that specifically offer business services. The top 10 most cost-effective locations as rated by GetThere:

1. Jacksonville, Fla.
2. Columbus, Ohio
3. Raleigh, N.C.
4. Knoxville, Tenn.
5. Nashville, Tenn.
6. Indianapolis
7. Greensboro, N.C.
8. Norfolk, Va.
9. Milwaukee
10. Harrisburg, Pa. - PR Newswire