European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday december 13,1993 today a rates following Are fixed tates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to ,. Personnel for personal use German Mark 1.66 British Pound 1.54 dutch Guilder .1.85 greek drachma 237.8444 not the rat Eft above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies italian lira 1,675.00 turkish lira 13,895.80 Spanish peseta  139.25 portug usaa escudo Itaya Amalia 173.53 austrian Schilling 11.9725 saudi rival 3.749 bahraini Dinar 0.3767 kuwaiti Dinar 0.298 norwegian Krone 7.39 danish Krone 6.65 British Pound 4ii�ia4a44�4aa44mh 1.4957 German mark1.7013 Salaa franc French franc dutch Guilder belgian franc Canadian Dollar �?��?�44444�4l4aa4444444t4t� 1.4595  5.8265 1.9065 35.74 a  1.3275  a eee eee eco eee Yeeee be i note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quota $382.30 an ounce Silver quota 14.96 an ounce Playboy turns 40 years old Chicago a it started with a restless Young Man plotting an Empire from his Kitchen table. He had Little Money and a big plan to remove the Plain Brown wrapper from americans most taboo topic sex. Soon he had the recipe the Bunny. The photo of Marilyn Monroe. And of course the name Playboy. Playboy celebrates its 40th anniversary this month and both the Magazine and Man have changed. Hugh Hefner once the guru of hedonism is a cocooning senior citizen and family Man his Empire is run by a feminist a his daughter Christie a and his Middle age creation has gone from scandalous to just naughty. Yet it remains a Success. A Playboy is no longer at the leading Edge of sexual Shock Quot said Bernard Beck an associate sociology professor at Northwestern University. A a it a  a it s no longer cutting Edge. But its still the biggest menus Magazine and probably the Best in the country Quot declares James Kobak a new York Magazine consultant who has worked with Playboy. A they really changed with the culture. Or maybe the culture changed with  one change is that this James Bond Jike fantasy Empire Long accused by feminists of regarding women As sex Kittens is run by a no nonsense woman who has lectured at Harvard business school. Christie Hefner chairman and chief executive officer of Playboy enterprises inc., who was i year old when the Magazine was born rejects the criticisms. A a in a very secure in what the values of Playboy Are. And am proud of its humanism and political values a she says. A i Don t think you have to Trade feminism for being a  Christie Hefner also agrees playboys Niche has changed. A Playboy is now in the mainstream because of the changes in the culture and in attitudes about nudity a she said. In an Era when or Quot Ruth blithely chats about orgasms on television and Madon Cable companies nation into Era of to Send new York a imagine using your television to pick out a new car and have it delivered to your Home for a test drive. What about watching Clint Eastwood Model that leather jacket you be had your Eye on you could even Call up those football highlights you missed on the news last night. These Are some of the services the nations Cable to companies plan to provide in the next few years. They gave financial analysts a detailed look Friday at the annual Paine Webber inc. Media conference. A a we re headed toward Art unparalleled Era of consumer Choice and convenience a said Robert Thomson senior vice president of Tele communications inc., the country a biggest Cable company. Over the next year these companies will be testing so called interactive services in a handful of cities while building fiber optic Cable networks to deliver them nationwide in the latter half of the decade. Geoff Holmes senior vice president of technology for time Warner inc., which operates the no. 2 Cable provider used videos to show How viewers in time Warners test Market Orlando fla., would use Remote controls and their Tele we re headed toward an unparalleled Era of consumer Choice end  a Robert Thomson Tele communications inc vision screens to Access the new services. The Only new costs will be for the things Consumers buy and the Cable companies will get a a a healthy commission be said. One service wit be the Sega Channel where for a monthly fee viewers will have Access to 50 of the most popular video games made by Sega enterprises Ltd. Sixty movies on demand will be offered at first later increasing to 200. Viewers will be Able to watch when they want and pause fast Forward or rewind just As they do now with a videocassette player. On the Warner Brothers retail Chan net viewers greeted by bugs Bunny and Jelt Cohen managing editor of photography for Playboy Magazine goes through negatives in the Chicago office. Playboy celebrates its 40th birthday this month. Nays private parts Are in Public View nudity is everywhere movies prime time television Cable videos. But when Playboy debuted in the Button Down 50s a a nude Monroe picture Hefner bought for $500 appeared in the first Issue a Bare bosoms and Bottoms were relegated to Gas station calendars. Hefner then working for a kiddie Magazine started Playboy from his apartment a graphic designer Art Paul created the Rabbit head logo. Hefner brought nudity into the Homes of american males or at least into their Dresser drawers where Young boys could sneak a peek at Wojner named Anna Marie and Fawna. In breathless prose these pinups would reveal lofty ambitions a to become a an ambassador of Goodwill a or gush about being a playmate a a it a like you re part of american  today playboys . Circulation is 3.4 million half its Peak in the 1970s about 80 percent Are subscriptions. It has 1.6 million readers of 17 foreign editions. The Empire which in the �?T80s closed its . Playboy clubs featuring Cotton tailed waitresses has expanded into videos Cable and other electronic Media. While playboys Content has changed from the atomic age to the aids age a the Magazine has very much remained entertainment for men and it always will be a Christie Hefner said. A the women who read it Are Over the shoulder  Hugh Hefner 67, who suffered a minor stroke in 1985, remains Active in shaping Playboy. A a he a the Universal conscience Quot beams publisher Michael Perlis Hugh Hefner still approves the playmates. He married one in 1989, they have two sons. Though the playmates get the most attention some Media experts say Playboy often is overlooked for providing a forum for great american fiction. Among writers it has featured Joyce Carol Oates John Cheever Philip Roth John Updike and Joseph Heller. Its interview subjects have ranged from Jimmy a lust in my heart Carter and Fidel Castro to David Bowie and Bob Hope. Perlis who is As old As Playboy does no to worry it will become passe. Being 40 Isnit what it used to be he boasts. A a we re just in the Middle of our Best  cohorts will be Hole to order to shirts after clicking their remotes to View which cartoon character they a like to have on the front. On the Spiegel interactive Catalon full motion models will show off clothes that viewers can order by punching in their credit card numbers. While travelling on the Auto mall viewers can browse at cars by maker category color and Price and get detailed specifications about the engines steering or transmissions. Click a yes Quot for a test drive and someone will be on the phone in a couple of minutes asking where to deliver the car. A a it san infomercial on demand where the consumer requests the information a said Holmes. Time Warner also plans to put a computer Printer in every subscribers Home allowing people to receive discount coupons Home delivery restaurant menus maps or tickets instantly. By clicking a your news a  be Able to Check out sports highlights watch an in depth interview with the president of Mexico on the North american free Trade agreement or get printouts of background articles sports stats or Stock prices. Market rises but there s no eur new York apr the Stock Market appears to be staging an annual event a year end rally. This years Coda is coming with Little fanfare though and the Blase attitude on Wall Street toward a string of new highs in the Dow Jones average shows investors Are worried about where the Market will head in 1994, a even though the markets up and reaching new highs there a not a lot of widespread happiness a said Hugh a. Johnson chief economist at first Albany corp. A no ones indy there a not any euphoria. Its a timid unconvincing move upward in  a cautious mood prevails despite a spate of recent statistics pointing to better economic conditions that could Lay a foundation on which to build bigger corporate profits. One reason for the wariness could be a spreading belief that interest rates have nowhere to go but up. Low rates have eroded returns on interest bearing investments and thereby helped steer Money into stocks prolonging the markets Advance. It is feared that a rebound in rates could halt the flow of funds into equities. A by and Large the message of the Market has been that things Are looking upbeat a said Johnson a but there Are sceptics who think the fed will raise Short term interest  fear of rising rates has been aroused by speculation that faster economic growth will Stoke inflation. So far however inflation looks tame. A 0.2 percent increase in november a consumer Price Index and an unchanged Reading in its wholesale Price counterpart supported that View. But that pair of inflation reports released thursday and Friday May not have been As benign As they seemed after excluding the effect of sharply lower crude Oil costs. And James r. Holloway director of research at Argus research corp., said the Federal Reserve Board might not feel comfortable with current inflation Levels which Are running around 3 percent on an annual basis