Virtual pet newest rage

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, May 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

It's hungry, tired and needs its diapers changed. Meet your new virtual reality pet, Tamagotchi.

Introduced last year in Japan by the Bandai company, Tamagotchi is an egg-shaped cybercreature that comes on a key chain and requires about as much attention as an infant. When it's hungry or wants to play, it beeps to get your attention.

If it's nurtured and loved, your Tamagotchi (loosely translated as "loveable egg") will grow into a contented cyberpal. But if it's neglected, it transforms into an ugly digital alien and dies.

Originally intended to teach Japanese girls the realities of raising kids, the toy's popularity spread like wildfire (the company has sold 4 million in Japan). Tamagotchi recently reached select FAO Schwartz stores around the country -- at $20 a pop -- and are slated to go nationwide next month.

Meanwhile, a virtual knock-off by Tiger Electronics, called Giga Pets are coming soon to Toys 'R' Us outlets nationwide. Costing about $10, they feature electronic cats, dogs and dinosaurs.

Other breeds of virtual pets, which live inside your computer, are available for "adoption" on the Computer Petz wedsite (www.dogz.com) or from Na Software (www.nasoft.com). The Virtual Pet home page (www.virtualpet.com) links with other pet sites, including a Japanese memorial to deceased tamagotchi creatures.

SAY WHAT?

Here's another soon-to-be overused catch phrase to add to your vocabulary: "Yadda, yadda, yadda."

Sound familiar? You've probably already heard the line a thousand times on NBC's "Seinfeld," where the cast tossed it about with abandon until George learned his girlfriend was cheerfully using it as a euphemism for some unpleasant realities.

The Y-phrase, synonymous with the better-known "blah, blah, blah," joins the ranks of other Seinfeldisms, including "puffy shirt" and "master of your domain," and will likely be in vogue for a while.

But does it have the staying power of utterances launched on other TV shows?

Saturday Night Live probably holds the record with, "Well, excuuuuuse me!," "Makin' copies" and "Schwing!," among others. And lest we forget, "Sock it to me!" ("Laugh-In"), "Dy-no-mite!" ("Good Times") and "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" ("Welcome Back, Kotter").

OUTDATED ARTFORM

It's time to bid a fond farewell to shorthand, that grand old lexicon of dots, squiggles and slashes favored by secretaries.

These days, PC-pecking executives are typing their own letters and giving dictation via microcassettes.

A survey conducted this year by Professional Secretaries International-The Association for Office Professionals revealed that only 14 percent of 850 of its members are required to use shorthand on the job, down from nearly 34 percent in '93.

Even people who spent two years learning the skill in high school, which enables them to write up to 120 words a minute, are finding they have little use for shorthand.

"I impress and amaze my friends," Nancy Fox, an administrative assistant for the University of Maryland at Baltimore, told Gannett News Service.

"Shorthand is a nice skill that comes in handy," said PSI's spokesman Rick Stroud. "But if I were a student and had a choice between learning how to manipulate a spreadsheet or taking shorthand, I'd go with the spreadsheet."