But eventually she and her son were allowed to carry on satisfying the Scots' craving for soft ice-cream.

ECONOMIST: Obituary

The firm generates about one-third of its income there, with its 85% share of the American market for machines that make posh Italian ice-cream and 30% for machines that make soft ice-cream.

ECONOMIST: Italian champions (2)

Instead of the fail whale Thursday, some people who tried to log onto Twitter's website saw what looked to be a cartoon duo of an inch worm and a soft-serve ice-cream cone.

WSJ: Twitter Blames Data-Center Failures for Outage

Haier keeps producing new ideas such as fridges with locks on them (to keep dormitory mates from snaffling your tofu), compact washing machines (for clothes for pampered Japanese pets) and freezers with compartments that keep ice-cream soft (for impatient gluttons).

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter

So, he pulled his trailer into the parking lot of a pottery store and touted his partially-melted, soft ice cream as a brand new type of dessert.

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