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By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Initials C and E are often found hidden on products, like the
underside of electronic items. Here it's also on the back
of a plastic toy humpback whale.
To which we responded, "Huh?"
And he showed us. It's everywhere. It's the letters C and E, often in an elegant Art Deco typeface, and it's on many, many consumer products. Electronics. Games. Stuffed animals. Sunglasses. Office supplies. The rear end of computer monitors.
It's clearly some sort of consumer-product label, and most manufactured products have plenty of them. FCC on electronic products means they meet Federal Communications Commission codes. UL or UL-Approved means the product matches or exceeds the home-safety standards of Underwriter Laboratories.
A check of the vaunted World Wide Web turns up nothing conclusive, except that there's a Microsoft Windows CE product that gums up the search engines. And there are a couple of sites in which college students hypothesize that CE has something to do with a world-wide conspiracy. And there is a theory that it's probably tied in with that creepy staring eye on the dollar bill.
The odd thing is that the initials are often hidden on products. It can be on the INSIDE of a battery compartment of an electronic item, or on circuits buried deep within a computer motherboard.
Maybe it's the rare element cerium, CE on the atomic table.
Maybe it stands for Chemical Engineering.
Maybe it stands for Church of England. (Yeah, that's it!)
Thanks to the guys at the state's Consumer Protection office, there's a clue that CE stands for items approved to ship in and out of the European Union. So it may stand for Compliance Europe.
If you have a definitive explanation of the CE label, let us know.
Curious about something you've seen? Ask us: WatDat?, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, HI 96802, fax at 523-7863 or e-mail at features@starbulletin.com.
The co-anchor position has been vacant since Ron Mizutani left the Morning News to replace Bob Hogue, who was released as the station's sports director, on KHON's 6 and 10 p.m. news.
In addition to his morning news duties, Matthews will cover education in depth. Meanwhile, weekend anchor Malia Mattoch will replace Matthews on Action Line, the station's consumer reporting segment.
Rounding out the morning news team are Manolo Morales and Linda Jameson.
Featured will be food booths, a country store, white elephant sale, silent auction, children's games, arts and crafts, and a sale of produce and plants.
There will also be entertainment, including a concert by Baba B at 9 p.m. April 14, the KCCN All-Star Band at 8:30 p.m. April 15, and demonstrations by chefs George Mavrothalassitis and Jean-Marie Josselin from 2:30 and 4 p.m. April 15.
Call 943-2339.
The free event will feature Easter egg hunts at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., continuous entertainment and an open house featuring the school's new science building, with marine and aerospace displays.
Call 235-7433.
