December 30, 2003

Alan Ralsky, who has made successful business of spamming, is on hiatus, but says he will soon resume bulk e-mailing in compliance with federal antispam law; calls law unfair, but adds it would be stupid to violate it; chart shows many common spamming practices that will be allowed under new law; photo (M)

Article on Italian-born artist Matteo Pericoli and his 32-foot-long and 14-inches-wide oil pastel-and-pencil panoramic drawing of Midtown Manhattan skyline as seen from within Central Park; drawing has been reproduced, on accordion-fold paper, in Pericoli's book Manhattan Within, which includes journal he wrote while producing work; original drawing, excerpts from journal and hundreds of snapshots taken to create work are subject of exhibition at Municipal Art Society; photo (M)

Americans wonder how many other cows are infected with mad cow disease; answer is difficult, because numbers are so vague; it seems almost inevitable that some part of diseased cow was eaten, because it was ground up and shipped to groceries in eight states and Guam after it was killed on Dec 9, but its disease was not found until Dec 23, after which recall order was issued; even if meat was eaten, risk to humans seems low; in Britain, where millions of people ate meat from nearly 200,000 cows that were infected, only 150 Europeans died of it; some research indicates that not everyone is equally at risk; if, as Agriculture Dept says, only muscle meat from Washington cow was ground up, risk is probably far lower; brain and nerve tissue is thought to be million times more infectious than muscle meat; photo (M)

U.S. Bike Makers Seek Dominance in Eu

Former bus driver David M Slade is charged with criminal possession of stolen property and driving while intoxicated after police say they found him in bus owned by Peter Pan Bus Lines that had been stolen from Port Authority over nine hours earlier; police say Slade drove bus to Kennedy International Airport, where they found him drinking beer; security questions arise about how bus could be taken and not reported missing for seven hours during time of heightened security: photo (M)