Word: startingly
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...midnight shows, not a seat in the house was vacant, even at $125 a pop. Perhaps it's a final party before things get leaner. For the first time in decades, Greeks seem to have had an epiphany of their own and understand that they will have to start living within their means. A recent poll in the newspaper Ethnos reported that 73% of those surveyed said they were willing to make sacrifices to turn the crisis around. "Greeks know the easy days are gone," says the paper's editor George Harvalias. A sprinkle of holy water might also help...
...nothing new: since 2007, analysts estimate that users have spent more than $50 million to send virtual presents that are basically online stickers to put on profile pages. Facebook has developed its own currency, worth 10¢ per unit, and plans to take a cut as people on the site start buying everything from online games to off-line gifts for every possible occasion. (See five Facebook no-nos for divorcing couples...
...expansion into tangible goods was the brainchild of RealGifts, a start-up that three Web developers launched with a $25,000 grant from Facebook. It has partnered with vendors to offer such things as flowers, hams and Slankets (sorry, Snuggies), and there's a broader array in the pipeline. RealGifts co-founder Tommy Sanguinetti touts the convenience factor: the entire shopping experience is contained on Facebook. Quick and easy. "People who get it love it," he says...
...these plans feasible? Most of Europe's projects have hardly left the racing pits. Vehicle production by a major automaker won't start for at least a year or so. Renault looks set to be the first off the line, with plans to roll out four mass-market models in 2011 and 2012. And then there's the problem of the lack of a universal charging standard - European countries have yet to agree on a single plug and socket for electric cars, a process that could take years. And some analysts still question whether there will be enough demand...
...country, however, appears to be better prepared than the others: Denmark. The biggest Danish power company has partnered with a California start-up company, Better Place, to build a nationwide grid to support electric cars, composed of thousands of charging poles in towns and cities and service stations along highways where depleted batteries can be swapped for fresh ones on long trips. (They're called "switching stations.") This isn't pie-in-the-sky stuff, either - Better Place announced last week that it had raised $350 million to support the venture, one of the largest rounds of venture capital...