Business Notes

Absentminded when using credit cards? For one of those problems you may not have known you had, a Tokyo company has created an ingenious solution: a card- size device that plays Ave Maria, Yankee Doodle Dandy or one of 100 other tunes when exposed to light and won't shut up until returned to the darkness of a pocket or purse.

Company president Hiroshi Majima says he hatched the idea when a fellow traveler in China lost his passport, causing the tour group annoying delays. His invention, sold in four-packs for about $72, is meant to be attached to a wallet or passport, where it will noisily remind people not to leave such valuables behind. Most fabrics -- with the exception of sheer swimsuit materials -- should block enough light to stop the music.