December 7, 2005

PLASTIC created the age of whimsical forms. Suddenly a radio could look like a moo cow. A chair could look like an egg. Toy ray guns could bulge and swoop. The exuberant designers of the golden age of plastic explored all the wacky, nonfunctional, decorative shapes that household objects could take. Now that same plasticity is coming to microcontrollers, the computer chips that act as brains for the chirping, dancing, listening and seeing devices that line our knickknack shelves and dashboards and fill our pockets. The proliferation of cheap and cheerful programmable chips promises a new age of ''whimsical logic,'' chips that power devices whose functions are as delightfully impractical as their forms, the sort of thing you find in a stocking but keep on your desk forever.

Alessandra Stanley reviews HBO Signature series Epitafios starring Paola Krum and Julio Chavez; photos (M)

New York Knicks defeat Seattle SuperSonics, 104-101; photo (M)

Charles Isherwood reviews Shakespeare's Globe production of play Measure for Measure, directed by John Dove and starring Mark Rylance; photo (M)

Mel Gibson Developing Mini-Series on Holocaust Mel Gibson, whose ''Passion of the Christ'' was assailed by some critics as an anti-Semitic Passion play -- and whose father has been on record as a Holocaust denier -- has a new project under way: a nonfiction mini-series for television about the Holocaust. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 4 Die in Queens Fire Three young children and an 87-year-old man were killed when a fire swept through their basement apartment in Elmhurst. The mother of the children was able to rescue their 1-year-old sister. PAGE B1 Syria Attacks U.N.'s Evidence Syria has become highly critical of the evidence in the United Nations investigation of the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister as the bizarre case is beginning to show some cracks. PAGE A3 SPECIAL TODAY Circuits/Holiday Guide From video games to intelligent blenders to plasma TV's and digital stocking stuffers, gifts to help make every wish list a reality. SECTION G ONLINE Red Carpet A new Web feature from The New York Times surveys the movie awards season. It has a blog by David Carr and a column by Joyce Wadler and can be found at nytimes.com/redcarpet.