In September 2000, the Italian Post office issued the first digital signatures for individuals, formerly considered a major speed bump on the information “superstrada.”

Banking customers or businesses wishing to purchase domain names, for example, were required to either fax a signature or have a signature witnessed and authenticated. Interesting to see whether security-conscious Italians–who never mail checks and are wary of credit cards–will change their habits.

Related resources:
For more info http://web.poste.it

80% regularly exceed speed limits (1998)
61.5% regularly exceed speed limits (2000)
76.1% refused to wear seat belts (1998)
42.6% refused to wear seat belts (2000)

Italians are stereotypically reckless drivers, but a recent seems study to show an improvement.
A relative improvement: compared to fellow EU nationals, Italians are in first place for speeding, second for not wearing seatbelts and fourth for running red lights.

*Source: Study by ACI-Censis www.aci.it/Variabili/LucchesiACI_CENSIS.htm

Florentines will burn wooden gallows in Piazza della Signoria Nov. 30 to commemorate the end of the death penalty in Italy–the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was the first to abolish it in 1876. A somewhat gruesome way to celebrate what’s also considered “Tuscany day,” especially in the same square Savonarola went up in smoke… Public sentiment is high following the Sept. 14 2000 execution of Derek Rocco Barnabei, an American with Tuscan roots. The positive news: officials will announce the restoration of Donatello’s St. George statue, considered a symbol of the Florentines’ fight against governmental tyranny…

Related resources:
A close-up on the St. George statue, currently housed in the Bargello museum.
www.thais.it/scultura/image/sch00011.htm

20-25% Italians suffer from chronic anxiety (2001)
9 out of 10 have monotonous, underpaid jobs
Northerners most anxious about interpersonal relationships
Southerners about lack of public services
15-50 age group considered “most anxious”
Women suffer twice as much as men
According to psychiatrists, Italians are most preoccupied by measuring up to modern society. Top worries include not being able to use Internet, not knowing English and choosing the right model cell phone. In a recent convention entitled “A Turning Point for Anxious People,” Pier Luigi Scapicchio, ex-president of the Italian Psychiatrists’ Society, noted that certain people are “born worriers” but the modern enviornment detonates chronic anxiety.

Related resources:
www.risateonline.it
Jokes & general stupidity to ease the strain.

26% Get headache even thinking about planning vacation
17% Anxious because doesn’t know where to go
12% Worried will end up alone on vacation
1 tasteless villa vacation rental

A slightly more serious study in an avalanche of frivolous summer polls (we skipped “hot weather turns up office romances” & “the female body hair debate”) which appears to illustrate Italians famed lack of planning causes some distress. Of the 965 Italians queried, 40 year-olds and women were hardest hit, and especially concerned about not having enough money to take long vacations.
One Italian was determined not to wait until the last minute to make plans–an unidentified businessman offered circa $50,000 a month for Villa Altachiara in Portofino, according to newspaper reports. The villa, built in 1874 by Lord Carnavon, boasts 40 rooms, a helicopter pad, swimming pool–but is also where countess Vacca Augusta fell to her death on Jan 8, 2001. Investigators have made little headway in discerning whether her tumble from the villa’s cliff was murder or suicide.
The story rivals any mystery novel– a scheming ex-husband, handsome foreign butler/lover, various hangers-on and several wills. The proposal may be accepted to settle the debts discovered after her death.

466,000 students taking high-school finals
60/100 minimum passing grade
3 written tests + 1 oral exam
4 minutes for "hints" to appear on web
1 site offering "emergency help" via WAP

High-school compulsory exams, which mark the end of 5 years of school, often provoke years of nightmares for Italian students. In fact, this crucial rite of passage (called “maturity,” maturit?) was recently deemed ‘traumatic’ by the European Association of Psychologists (EPPA).
No wonder students have long taken to getting unauthorized ‘help’ –usually in miniscule scraps of paper called "papyrus" (papiri) or "accordions" (fisarmoniche). The 2001 session, however, was the first time mass cheating was through mobile phones and the internet. The pre-exam sequester of the little ringers did no good, as translations of passages in Greek and interpretations of Cesare Pavese sped over the internet minutes, and not hours, after exams started.
Authorities have decided not to make students re-take tests, but Education Minister Letitzia Moratti commented: "Obviously, we’ll have to adopt adequate measures to combat new technologies."

Related resources:
www.studenti.it
Most notorious "student-aid" site. Offers the "prof-search" data base, so test takers know whether, for example, emphasis will be on dates..

Italians, not a particularly patriotic bunch, have been ordered by European law to fly both the Italian flag and the flag of the European union in front of public offices and schools.
Actually, the decree was issued in 1998, but these things take time. In fact, the flags will be displayed in front of schools for the first time this month, during exams the 14th and the 21st of June 2000.
Perhaps the complicated rules didn’t help this civic cause: the Flag Person, who must be officially appointed by each school or office, has quite a job. In general, for schools the Italian flag flies on the right, the European flag on the left.
During special occasions (holidays or state visits) the far right slot is for the “visiting” country.
For public offices, however, the order is reversed– the European flag is on the right, followed by the Italian flag and the regional flag takes the place of honor.

Related resources:
For more on the Tricolore
www.fotw.stm.it/flags/it.html

Daydreams:
75% erotic

Dream erotic adventure:
27% sex with complete stranger, on the beach
15% fling with sexy coworker

Daydreams:
75% erotic

Dream erotic adventure:
27% sex with complete stranger, on the beach
15% fling with sexy coworker

Dream Object:
54.4% villa in the Tropics
9.5% a Ferrari

Dream Vacation
41.5% Polynesian islands
17.5% The moon

Italians would forgo a trip to the moon and a Ferrari in exchange for a ticket to a far-flung isle, preferably with an attractive colleague. The poll, conducted by a leading news weekly, asked 1,000 Italian men and women between the ages of 25-50 what they dream about.One small surprise: making a micro-comeback as the top “dream woman” was long-forgotten 36-year -old TV movie queen Francesca Dellera, an actress more noted for sending her plastic surgeon into early retirement than for her on-screen abilities.

http://ssmax.supereva.it/Dellera/francesca01.htm
One Francesca Fan page

Transport minister Pietro Lunardi made his mark on the new administration by proposing to raise freeway speed limits to 99 mph (160 kph) as Italians get ready to hit the road for summer vacation. Critics point to 1999 ISAT statistics that attributed 26,770 accidents and 1,430 deaths from excessive speeding. Current Italian speed limit on the autostrada is 80 mph.

Related resources
www.radio24.it/newsletter/out/newsletter_editoriale.htm
The ongoing debate…

White storks, once common in the swampy areas of Lombardy and Piedmont, became a rarity around 300 years ago. Italy’s League for Bird Protection (LIPU) is trying to help them make a comeback by “seducing” the birds, symbol of fertility and love, into artificial nests. The initiative started after attentive birdwatchers noticed storks trying to nest, but were often discouraged by farmers. Today, over 60 pairs have successfully nested thanks to the Stork Center in Racconigi (Cuneo). What convinces a stork to stay? A bit of healthy voyeurisim: the artificial nests are topped with two decoys of birds in courtship. The League announced more love nests will be planted areas surrounding Milan and Lodi.

Related resources:
The association also organizes vacations in Italy’s wildlife reserves for adults and children.
Here’s the 2001 calendar.
www.lipu.it/Fp_ea.htm