illustration by Julie Teninbaum
photograph courtesy Ferrari
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wed, october 01
Don't Leave Home
50TH Anniversary of the American Express Card
The piece of purple Yahoo paper that went out to some 200,000 Americans (including Elvis) in 1958 has evolved into the iconic green card, as well as one in black titanium (the ultraexclusive, can't-even-apply-for-it Centurion Card). But such prestige and longevity haven't translated into stock-market joy this year. Visa's stock rose 30% in the four months following its March 18 IPO, while MasterCard was up almost 40%. AmEx saw a measly increase of just 1%. -- Chip McCorkle
wed, october 01
Compute
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
Keystone, Colorado
Nearly 60% of college undergrads are female, yet they earn just 12% of computer-science degrees, down from a 1985 peak of 38%. That disparity is unmatched even in related fields such as math and engineering, and Deanna Kosaraju, program director for this eighth annual pep rally, blames an image problem: "There's the stereotype of the nerd in his Birkenstocks, who sits in his cubicle coding all day." So at this four-day get-together, named in honor of a pioneering computer scientist, 1,600 women will reaffirm that computing can be social -- mixers and mentoring events abound. They will also discuss their profession's civic influence, which extends far beyond the cube, from improving cell-phone service in Africa to designing clothing sensors for wandering Alzheimer's patients. -- Kate Rockwood
thu, october 02
Endure
UBS Extraordinary Shareholder Meeting
Basel, Switzerland
The name UBS originally stood for Union Bank of Switzerland, but these days, Under Big Stress would be more appropriate. So far this year, it has posted $22 billion in losses, was sued for fraud by the the State of New York, and is under investigation by the U.S. government for allegedly helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. Against that extraordinary backdrop comes this extraordinary meeting, at which four members of its board will be replaced. UBS's new chairman, Peter Kurer, may wish to show more humility than his predecessor, Marcel Ospel, did at the last special meeting, in February. On that occasion, Ospel responded to the criticism of unhappy shareholders (one told him to "stick to your knitting") by proclaiming: "Popularity is not a benchmark against which we measure our actions." Six weeks later, he was forced to resign. -- Jeff Chu
sat, october 04
Drive
Paris Motor Show
Paris
Fuel-efficient autos will dominate the world's biggest car fest. Several new Prius rivals will be on display, incsluding Honda's Global Hybrid and GM's Chevrolet Volt. But we're betting that the star of the biennial show, which draws 1 million attendees, will be a new, sexy, and surprisingly green machine from Ferrari called the California. This sports car has specs as seductive as its lines: 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds, and 21 mpg. In Ferrariland, that's thrifty (even if the car's expected sticker price of $300,000 isn't) -- the automaker's 612 Scaglietti notches 11 mpg, 4 mpg less than a Hummer. -- Theunis Bates
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