Plans begin to crystallize for shopping plaza

WHAT: A development group wants to revitalize the downtrodden Regency Plaza shopping center at the intersection of Shannon Road and University Drive.It would be called University Marketplace and would be a mixed-use project with retail shops on ground level and apartment or condominium units stretching four or five floors.WHO: The development group, a Boston firm coupled with a Charlotte real estate company, Hawthorne Capital, plans to put at least $50 million into the project.WHY: The current Regency Plaza is a half-empty strip shopping center that lost its anchor in 2004 when Kroger moved out. It currently has just a smattering of small businesses including an Indian restaurant, an ice cream shop and a tanning salon.SIZE: Plans call for up to 140,000 square feet of commercial space and up to 389 residential units.WANT TO SEE MORE? To see this proposal, as well as another in color, go to the Bull's Eye blog at www.newsobserver.com.

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Car bombs kill 15 in Baghdad shopping area

BAGHDAD, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed 15 people in a mainly Shi'ite area of Baghdad on Saturday in the latest in a series of attacks by militants on crowded shopping areas in the Iraqi capital. A weeklong string of bombings has further disrupted life in Baghdad, spreading fear among the city's 7 million residents awaiting a planned U.S.-backed offensive to tighten the government's fragile grip over its largely lawless capital. Saturday's attacks struck New Baghdad in the east of the capital, targeting weekend shoppers thronging shops and market stalls selling fruit and exotic birds. A Reuters journalist saw eight bodies being loaded into ambulances and body parts lying in the street in the aftermath of the explosions. Dead birds lay in cages in an area that appeared to have been reserved for a bird market.

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IBM makes it possible for shopping pseudonymously on the net

A new software from IBM allows people to hide or "anonymise" their personal information on the web, protecting against identity theft and other misuse. Developed by researchers at IBM's laboratory in Zurich, the software, Identity Mixer, will let consumers make purchases on the net without disclosing personal information. As consumers hand over personal details when downloading music or subscribing to online newsletters, they leave a data trail, that can be traced back to them, that reveals information about the size, frequency and source of their online purchases. Identity Mixer eliminates the trail by using artificial identity information, known as pseudonyms, to make online transactions anonymous. With the software, a computer user can get an anonymous digital credential, or voucher, from a trusted third party, like a bank or government agency.

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