Etc...

HEY, THAT'S MY NAME TOO

Perhaps you recall an item in this space Aug. 19 about a London advertising agency's search for five adults to test a new "identity marketing" campaign. Each – chosen from more than 10,000 applicants – was to receive a £500 ($779) stipend, an Xbox console, and a new videogame. The winners: Andrew Boughflower, Paul Codling, Ross Davison, Matthew Grist, and Lheila Oberman. Or, rather: Turok, Turok, Turok, Turok, and Turok. All, you see, agreed to change their names legally for one year to become what game producer Acclaim Entertainment calls "walking, talking ads" for its latest release, "Turok: Evolution." By the way, that covers anything they may do – even marrying.

If that weren't enough, check out Acclaim's latest pitch: $10,000 in savings bonds to the first couple with a child born Sept. 1 who were willing to name him or her – yup – Turok. After generations of dubbing their progeny after sports and movie stars, an Acclaim spokesman predicted, "people are going to start naming their children for videogames." Just consider the possibilities: Frogger, Ikaruga, Wozz, Xardion ...

By a huge majority (81 percent to 15 percent), Americans have told pollsters they want no delays in the installation of screening equipment at airports that would detect explosives in passenger luggage. (Congress is considering extending the Dec. 31 deadline out of concern that such screening will add to delays.) In the same survey for the American Automobile Association, 87 percent also said they'd pay extra for tickets to offset the cost of such measures. How much respondents would be willing to pay, by percentage:

$1-$3 15%
$4-$6 11%
$7-$9 11%
$10-$14 22%
$15 or more 28%
Unwilling to pay more 10%
Don't know/no opinion 4%
– Business Wire