New Service

Amtrak, in its most aggressive move to lure commuters off the highways and out of the skies, unveiled yesterday its first high-speed rail system, trains with plush seats, work stations and bistros that will glide at 150 mph from Washington to New York and Boston.Long-planned and viewed skeptically by critics, the service is scheduled to begin in October, Amtrak officials said at a news conference in New York.The trains will knock 2 1/2 hours off trips from Baltimore to Boston, cutting travel time from eight hours to 5 1/2 hours.

Medical Advisory Systems Inc., a fast-growing company that provides health information over the Internet, yesterday began offering a phone service to allow callers to speak directly with a doctor for answers to medical questions.The service, known as Doc-Talk, is considered one of the few, if not the only, widely available fee-based health information phone services in the country.The Calvert County-based company is hoping to tap into Americans' growing interest in health information and their frustration with getting time with doctors to discuss medical concerns.

T. ROWE PRICE Associates Inc. has launched a service for investors who are about to retire that some people believe could reshape the face of the company.Price's new program uses sophisticated computer modeling as well as the firm's financial experts to help retirees determine how much money they can spend without draining their nest egg.The company has spent millions of dollars developing "Retirement Income Manager," and it believes that the service is far more precise than the competition's.

Sprint Corp., the nation's No. 3 long-distance company, yesterday introduced a new service designed to allow customers to get simultaneous phone, fax and Internet service from a single phone line.However, critics said Sprint's splashy introduction of the new service was more about marketing than true technological advancement.In the wake of massive deregulation and industry change, telecommunications companies have vied to offer business and residential customers one-stop shopping: long-distance and local telephone services from a single carrier issuing a single bill.

Young entrepreneur Joseph A. Mathews was looking for a business venture that would improve communications between advertisers and consumers when he struck on a simple idea that he thinks takes traditional Yellow Pages directories to another level.Next month, by dialing 555-NEED, people who live in the Baltimore area will be able to make a free call to an operator who can provide product and service information previously obtained from printed telephone directories."We wanted to take all that purchasing and buying information and build a brand around it," said Mathews, 28, CEO and founder of Nexus Communications, based in Hanover.

Four new steamship deals will bring in 500,000 tons of cargo to the port of Baltimore annually, the Maryland Port Administration said yesterday, accelerating a recent upward trend in business after several years of decline.In the largest deal, the allied lines Cosco North America Inc., Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha will make a second weekly call at the Seagirt Marine Terminal.The alliance now stops in Baltimore every Monday on its Far East route. Beginning Oct. 21, it will also stop here Wednesdays on its North European route.

A FEW DRIED pine needles, some mangled candle stubs and tinsel-encrusted dust bunnies are all that remain of the holiday season.Now it's time to act on those resolutions to lose weight, eat more healthful foods and exercise more often. And the county Department of Recreation and Parks is offering winter fitness programs in Pasadena to help you get started.Adults can sign up for evening aerobics classes at Northeast High School, learn country line dancing at George Fox Middle School or join a co-ed recreational volleyball program at Riviera Beach Elementary School.

Atlantic Coast Airlines, which operates on the East Coast as United Express, will begin nonstop round-trip service Oct. 1 between John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Baltimore.United Express will offer four round-trip flights every business day between JFK and Baltimore-Washington International Airport, with less frequent service on weekends. The airline will also begin service between JFK and Pittsburgh.The company, which operates a hub at Washington-Dulles International Airport with more than 200 daily departures, said its flights from BWI are conveniently timed for business and leisure passengers to connect with United Airlines' worldwide network.

A Howard County Internet service company is beginning to sell subscriptions to a kids-only Internet service, an innovation it says can help parents -- and corporations -- control access to pornography on the Internet.The new service from Clark Internet Services Inc., called KidzNet, is being introduced as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to uphold last year's Communications Decency Act (CDA), which makes it a crime for a person knowingly to circulate "patently offensive" sexual material to on-line sites accessible by those under 18.Opponents of the law say the Constitution allows most limitations on free speech only when censorship is the least restrictive way to protect a "compelling" government interest.

A new way to send messages to wireless telephone users through the Internet was introduced yesterday when AT&T Wireless Services launched its new Digital Personal Communication Service in the greater Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas."

Geeks of the world, arise! You have nothing to lose but your isolation - your illusion that government has no relevance for you. Your immunity to politics is over. You might even have to make campaign contributions. Now, you really understand that epic American warning: "You snooze, you lose - unless you have a lobbyist." With virtually no representation in Annapolis (and, probably, no idea who represents you in the House of Delegates or state Senate), your industry was hit last fall with a new service tax totaling an estimated $200 million.

Acquisitions Bob Davidson Ford has acquired assets of Towson Ford, which closed its doors this month. To accommodate former Towson Ford and new clients, the Davidson dealership will expand its East Joppa Road sales and service facilities. Expansions Webb/Mason, a national print and brand management company, expanded its corporate headquarters in Baltimore as well as the Chicago office. New contract Eyemaginations, based in Towson, has signed an agreement with the American Optometric Association to provide eye care images and animations for educational and marketing materials.

Awards Paul A. Dorf, a senior member of law firm Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler LLC, was presented with the Charles H. Dorsey Jr. Mentor Award for 2006 by the Bar Association of Baltimore City. New client DPR Group Inc., a Germantown public relations and marketing agency, signed ClearOrbit, a Texas-based supply chain software company, as a client. New contract Capuco Consulting Services was awarded a contract by the Maryland State Chamber of Commerce to assist in the updating of its strategic plan.

Two new laws seek to protect military service members from being financially taken advantage of on the home front. One aims to prevent agents and brokers from using misleading tactics to sell high-priced insurance and investments to troops. The other caps the annual interest rate payday lenders can charge service members for advances on their paychecks. The help is needed. Last week, the Associated Press reported that thousands of troops are so far in debt that they are losing their security clearances and, as a result, are unable to serve overseas.

NEW YORK -- AOL, Time Warner Inc.'s Internet unit, and Intel Corp. started an online video-on-demand service yesterday that lets users watch films, concerts and sports programs on their television sets. The service allows users to search for videos available on AOL with a TV remote control, said Kevin Conroy, executive vice president at AOL. Personal computers based on Intel's Viiv semiconductors and software will make it easier to search, record and watch music and video files. "The partnership with Intel enabled us to bring this experience to the living room," Conroy said in an interview, referring to watching videos online.

New service offers help for elderly Elder Care Options, a new service of Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland, is accepting clients. The service provides care managers who coordinate health care, safety, legal services and other resources for older adults. The managers are licensed social workers or registered nurses familiar with Howard County and its resources. They help families and the elderly through medical crises and discharge planning, conduct assessments, develop a written summary with recommendations, arrange for and monitor services, and are available when family caregivers need a break or live far away.

Welcome Back, Kotter and Wonder Woman. Perfect Strangers and Pinky and the Brain. Sure, the TV series themselves are a little dated, but they'll air in a revolutionary way this winter when America Online offers them on the Internet, on demand and for free. For media companies, AOL's new service, In2TV, pioneers a fresh source of advertising revenue from about 100 classic programs, some of which have been shelved for years. For couch potatoes, the new service is not just an opportunity to relive the glory days of Maverick and Eight Is Enough.

Sweeping changes to Baltimore area bus routes take effect Sunday, part of what the Maryland Transit Administration is calling a "new, improved, expanded" bus system. State Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan says the changes to about 30 routes will bring better service - with bigger and more frequent buses on many lines and improved on-time performance - for tens of thousands of customers. "We are poised for a successful transformation of the MTA," Flanagan said. But for Robin Dranbauer and her neighbors in the eastern Baltimore County neighborhood of Chesaco Park, the MTA's new Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative looks more like a cutback.

Starting today, Marylanders who simply must know whether it will rain or shine will be able to find out by tuning in to a 24-hour digital weather channel provided by WBAL-TV, Channel 11, Baltimore's NBC affiliate. Available to Comcast subscribers on digital cable Channel 208, the 11 Insta-Weather Plus service will feature continuous local weather updates and five-day forecasts, plus regional and national reports provided by NBC, the station's partner in the venture. In addition, the station's regular meteorologists - Tom Tasselmyer, John Collins, Neal Estano and Domenica Davis - will provide live and taped updates on the new service.

WASHINGTON -- A new spymaster will for the first time coordinate clandestine activities across all 15 U.S. intelligence agencies, a move aimed to address one of the key recommendations of a presidential commission on intelligence failures. The new chief -- known publicly only by his first name, "Jose," because he is still an undercover officer -- will head a new National Clandestine Service, responsible for running spy operations at the CIA and managing the spy activities of the other intelligence agencies.