Honolulu Star-Bulletin from Honolulu, Hawaii • 18

DILBERT Scott Adams BUSINESS I'D LIKE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR, NEW FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICY. THREE OF MY KIDS HAVE BRONCHITIS, TWO HAVE DENTAL APPOINTMENTS, ONE IS IN A SCHOOL PLAY, AND ONE HAS A RUGBY GAME. IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, YOU UJILL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN. Uf DIDNT THINK THIS THROUGH. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2007 HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN 1 B2 FAST FACTS HAWAII AGRICULTURE WAGES HIT ALL-TIME HIGH As the number of agricultural workers dropped 9 percent from last year, wages have increased.

Tfl $13.19 I Average hourly wage for agriculture workers in October 2007 Source: US. Department of Agriculture Stocks move higher in shortened session When creating en entirely developers used NASA data game will allow users to live iff COURTESY AVATAR REALITY new world from scratch, a tropical paradise Is a good place to startAvatar Reality Inc. game to map the surface of Mars for its online multiplayer game, due out in beta format next year. The in all types of climates, but will initially start out with a beach town that looks similar to Hawaii. STAR DATE: BfflAR Isle company creates virtual world, complete with tropical beaches yr I ByTimParadis i Associated Press NEW YORK Stocks rose as Investors capped a capri- clous week by engaging in a I bit of Black Friday bargain hunting while awaiting word of how retailers might fare during what is expected to be a tough holiday shopping sea- son.

I Today's holiday-shortened session ended three hours early and followed fractious trading that on Wednesday saw the Oow Jones industrial average and the Standard Poor's 500 index give up more than 1.5 percent. The climb today put the index back into positive territory for the year. The day's gains weren't enough to reverse losses for i the week, however, and ob- servers cautioned the session could prove more an aberra-J tion than a reversal of recent trends. With many of Wall Street's principal players on vacation, volume was light as is typical on such days. I While I love to celebrate this rally, it is on very thin vol- ume and we have to really wait until next week to get a 1 sense of the true direction of this market," said Jack Ablin, chief Investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chi-' cago.

Still, he said it's a good sign that stocks didn't extend Wednesday's slide. "It looks like a little rebound rally," Ablin said. "Maybe the day off for Thanksgiving enabled investors to reflect that maybe the bottom isn't falling I out of the economy." The Dow rose 181.84, or 1.42 percent, to 12,980.88, finishing at the highs of the ses- sion rather than losing steam in the final minutes as has oc- curred often in recent weeks. Broader stock indicators Yv Increase In average hourly wage for agriculture workers from a year ago. also rose.

The Standard Poor's 500 index advanced 23.93, or 1.69 percent, to 1,440.70, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 34.45, or 1.34 percent, to 2,596.60. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies rose 14.73, or 1.99 percent, to 755.03. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 670.4 million shares. For the week, the Dow lost 1.49 percent, the Slid 1.24 percent and the Nasdaq gave up 1.54 percent. Government bonds showed little movement.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves Inversely to its price, stood at 4.01 percent, flat with late Wednesday. The dollar was lower against other major currencies, while gold prices rose. With no major economic data arriving and not much in the way of corporate news, some investors appeared to make some pro forma trades and search for any insights Into the health of the economy, particularly with the arrival of Black Friday, the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Oil prices, which flirted with $100 per barrel earlier in the week, gained as heating oil rose amid concerns about tightening supplies. Light, sweet crude for January delivery advanced 89 cents to settle at $98.18 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Today's advance comes after the 500 on Wednesday slipped Into negative territory for the year unwelcome news as many investments such as mutual funds mirror the index. By today, however, the had rebounded and was up 1.58 percent for the year. 10.88 10.88 0.01 11.22 11.69 0.01 1 1.07 1 1.07 0.06 i.os o.ua u.uu 9.70 9.92 0.02 RICHARD WAIKERRW ALKERSTARBULLETIN.COM Kazuyukl Hashimoto, president of Avatar Reality showed renderings of some of the items that would be for sale in Blue Mars, a virtual world set in 2 1 77. Basic entry to the game is free, but users pay to buy everything from a standard non-furnished apartment for about $5 a month to a certain hairstyle or walk for less than $1. By Jennifer Sudlck jsudickstarbulletin.com The year is 2177, and flying cars speed over the surface of Mars.

Giant oceans make way for pristine beaches, and white-capped mountains border newly constructed luxury villas. Welcome to Blue Mars, a virtual world set millions of miles away that is helping to breathe life into Hawaii's tiny game-development industry. The online multiplayer game brings together a team of game designers who left the state in 2002, when Square USA studios collapsed under losses of more than $100 million after producing the computer-animated film "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." In April 2003, Square Co. merged with Enix best known for its "Dragon Quest" Nintendo Entertainment System games, to become Square Enix based in Tokyo. Blue Mars is set 170 years in the future, when advancements In technology have allowed humans to terraform Mars into a habitable planet.

The world Is the creation of former Square developer Henk Rogers, who founded Avatar Reality Inc. in mid-2006. Rogers is also the chairman of another Honolulu company, Blue Planet Software which licenses the Tetris computer game. "The Idea is pretty unique," said Avatar President Kazuyukl Hashimoto. "We know that it's difficult to make an interesting game." Occupying one of the six floors of airy Industrial downtown office space that Square's 240 game developers once used, Avatar's 15 employees weave a world of high-tech imagery.

On one computer screen, the Interior of a luxury condo overlooks one of the fantasy AWARDS The Psychological Association has honored the Retina Institute of Hawai'l with the 2007 Healthy Workplace award in the small for profit business category. i The company was also recognized for its mobile community outreach service "Project Vision," offering free retina exams at schools, rural areas and community events. The award recognizes small businesses based on seven criteria: employee Involvement, health and safety, world's two oceans. On another, leather handbags and high-heeled shoes await buyers in a shopping district. "We are still targeting the casual user," said Li-han Chen, vice president of development at Avatar.

"Most of the companies think the casual user doesn't care about the fancy 3D graphics. We would like to offer a beautiful world that is also enjoyable." Unlike San Francisco-based Linden Research Inc's Second Life, an online world where users create and determine the content, most Blue Mars cities are created by professional "city developers," or gaming companies that contract with Avatar. And unlike World of Warcraft, made by Blizzard En HAWAII STOCKS VOLUME PRICE CHANGE Alexander Baldwin 98,557 48.20 0.28 Bank of Hawaii 208,100 50.36 1.40 Barnwell Industries 1,600 14.21 0.37 Boyd Gaming 267,400 37.09 0.72 Central Pacific Financial .102,200 19.70 0.63 Cyanotech ..2,550 1.230 Hawaiian Electric Industries 306,600 23.31 0.28 Hawaiian Holdings 22,900 4.63 0.01 Hoku Scientific 268,702 5.92 0.05 Maul Land Pineapple 4,800 28.80 Mera Pharmaceuticals 27,500 0.007 0.000 ML Macadamia Orchards 1,000 4.05 Tesoro Petroleum 1,138,805 55.92 0.92 Source: Bloomberg News HAWAII MUTUAL FUNDS i SELL BUY CHANGE Bishop St. Hawaii Municipal Bond Fund .10.55 10.55 0.01 Bishop St. High Grade Income ..10.17 10.17 0.01 Bishop St.

Large Cap. Core Equity 10.62 10.62 i Bishop St. Strategic Growth Fund 15.24 15.24 Hawaii Intermediate Fund 5.18 5.18 0.00 tertainment Inc. in Irvine, users won't pay a monthly subscription fee to play. "The city developer can go out and talk to an advertiser and build interesting shops and have a tie-in to real-world economy," Chen said.

"They basically lease the land and do business there and we share the revenue with them." In another turn from Second Life, which has 11 million users, Avatar regulates player behaviors in all areas. There are no weapons, killing or nudity on Blue Mars, and some places, such as casinos, are age-restricted using initial registration and credit card information. Basic entry into Blue Mars is management consulting, information and education for the design and construction Industry. The American Medical Association Foundation has honored Dr. Dileep G.

Bal with the 2007 AMA Foundation Award for Education. The award recognizes physicians who have led, developed or implemented professional and public health education activities. He currently serves as district health officer for the Island of Kauai and has contributed to the cancer research and tobacco control efforts for free, but users pay to buy everything from a standard non-furnished apartment for about $5 a month to a certain hairstyle or walk for less than $1. Gamers can also work as tour guides, functioning much like customer support, to earn some extra virtual cash. Avatar will debut a beta version of Blue Mars in mid-2008, with the goal of having 1 million users by 2010 and 10 million by 2013.

To meet that target, the company is hiring another two game developers this month and plans to double its workforce by the end of the year. Some 3D imaging work will also be outsourced overseas. On the Net: www.avatar-reality.com more than 20 years. The North American Securities Administrator's Association has honored The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Office of the Securities Commissioner with the 2007 Investor Education Outreach Award. The award recognizes the state, province or territory in North America with the greatest consumer outreach through the securities administrator's Investor education program.

The award was presented to Hawaii's Investor education specialist, Theresa Kong Kee. HAWAII IMC. Hawaii Municipal Fund Hawaiian Tax-Free Trust Japan Smaller Companies Fund Lord Abbott Tax-rree income Pacific Cap. Sh.Intrm. U.S.

Treas employee growth and development, worklife balance and family support, employee recognition, communication and community service. ZweigWhite has named Architects Hawaii to its annual "Hot Firm" list, which ranks the country's top 200 fastest-growing architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms. The 2007 list Is based on gross revenue for fiscal years 2003-2006, In which Architects Hawaii had a 66 percent increase over the last three years. ZweigWhite is the nation's leading source of raCUiC lap. uivcia.

i iacu iiiiviuc Pacific Cap. Tax-Free Securities 10.06 10.48 0.01 Pacific Cap. Sh.Intrm. Tax-Free .10.08 10.31 0.00 Pacific Cap. Ultra Short Govt.

Bond 10.22 10.46 0.01 Pacific Cap. Growth Stock 9.51 10.04 Pacific Cap. Growth Income .14.02 14.80 Pacific Cap. New Asia Growth Fund Int'l .23.23 24.52 Pacific Cap. International Stock 13.66 14.42 Pacific Cap.

Value Fund .9.86 10.41 Pacific Cap. Small Cap Fund .16.98 17.92 Sources: First Hawaiian Bank First Pacific Capital Bank of Hawaii and Prospect Asset Management.