How new Kindle Fire compares with rivals

Amazon.com Inc. started shipping a larger version of its Kindle Fire HD tablet computer on Thursday. Here’s a look at how it compares with the iPad and other tablets with similar screens.Amazon.com Inc.‘s Kindle Fire HD 8.9″: — Price: $ 299 for 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 369 for 32 GB.— Screen size: 8.9 inches diagonally—...

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Israel Steps Up Aerial Strikes in Gaza

Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesA man injured by bombing in the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Saturday that also killed one person. More Photos »GAZA CITY — Israel broadened its assault on the Gaza Strip on Saturday from mostly military targets to centers of government infrastructure, obliterating the four-story headquarters of the Hamas prime minister with a barrage of five bombs. The...

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No. 23 Michigan tops Iowa 42-17 with Gardner's TDs

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Devin Gardner accounted for six touchdowns to help No. 23 Michigan rout Iowa 42-17 Saturday.The Wolverines (8-3, 6-1 Big Ten) weren't stopped on offense by the hapless Hawkeyes (4-7, 2-5) until Gardner threw an interception early in the fourth quarter.Gardner threw three touchdowns and ran for three scores. He became the first Michigan quarterback to account for six TDs since...

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Privatizing Greece, Slowly but Not Surely

Eirini Vourloumis for The International Herald TribunePotential privatization hit a wall at Katakolo, a seaside town where Christos Konstantopoulos paused near abandoned beachfront homes. More Photos »THE government inspectors set out from Athens for what they thought was a pristine patch of coastline on the Ionian Sea. Their mission was to determine how much money that sun-kissed shore, owned by...

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Samsung goes after HTC deal to undercut Apple-filing

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – When Apple Inc and HTC Corp last week ended their worldwide legal battles with a 10-year patent licensing agreement, they declined to answer a critical question: whether all of Apple‘s patents were covered by the deal.It’s an enormously important issue for the broader smartphone patent wars. If all the Apple patents are included...

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Benghazi, Not Petraeus Affair, Is Focus at Hearings

Jose Luis Magana/Associated PressSecurity was high on Capitol Hill as closed sessions of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees met on Friday. WASHINGTON — In closed sessions before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on Friday, David H. Petraeus apologized to lawmakers about his affair with Paula Broadwell, which led to his resignation last week as the director of the Central Intelligence...

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Booker scores 19 as Colorado upsets No. 16 Baylor

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Colorado coach Tad Boyle always has a backup plan. The Buffaloes sure needed it Friday to take down No. 16 Baylor at the Charleston Classic.Boyle knew his young players struggled from the foul line and watched them do it again, going 4 for 18 against Baylor."That's when you rely on defense and rebounding," he said, smiling.The Buffaloes (3-0) got plenty of both to defeat the...

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Personal Health: Quitting Smoking for Good

Few smokers would claim that it’s easy to quit. The addiction to nicotine is strong and repeatedly reinforced by circumstances that prompt smokers to light up.Yet the millions who have successfully quit are proof that a smoke-free life is achievable, even by those who have been regular, even heavy, smokers for decades.Today, 19 percent of American adults smoke, down from more than 42 percent half...

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Advertising: A Formerly Button-Down Brand Loosens Up

WITH so many young men spending their college years shuffling to class in pajama bottoms and sweatshirts, it should come as no surprise that they are largely ambivalent about fashion. Only 29 percent of men agree with the statement “I like to keep up with the latest trends in fashion,” according to a survey of men 18 and older conducted by Mintel, a market research firm. What men most want...

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GameStop profit beats forecast; cautiously eyes holiday

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – GameStop Corp, the world’s largest retailer of videogame products, reported a stronger-than-expected profit on Thursday but lowered its sales forecast for this year due to uncertainty around the holiday shopping season as the video game market struggles.Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop forecast same-store sales in 2012 would drop...

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Palestinian Rockets Kill Three Israelis and Trigger Air Sirens in Tel Aviv

KIRYAT MALACHI, Israel — Israel and Hamas widened their deadly conflict over Gaza on Thursday, as militants fired dozens of rockets — including one that killed three civilians in an apartment block in this small southern Israeli town — and two longer-range rockets aimed at Tel Aviv, causing no harm but triggering the first air raid warning there set off by incoming fire from Gaza. The death toll in...

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NFL commissioner says sport will evolve, get safer

BOSTON (AP) — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says football will evolve and get safer.Speaking to a packed auditorium at the Harvard School of Public Health, Goodell said the league will do what it needs to do to protect the safety of its 1,800 players.Goodell discussed some of the rules that have been created to limit concussions. He says they are working, and there will be more changes as necessary.The...

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I Was Misinformed: The Time She Tried Viagra

I have noticed, in the bragging-rights department, that “he doesn’t need Viagra” has become the female equivalent of the male “and, I swear, she’s a real blonde.” Personally, I do not care a bit. To me, anything that keeps you happy and in the game is a good thing. But then, I am proud to say, I was among the early, and from what I gather, rare female users. It happened when the drug...

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Computer Problems at United Delay Travelers

NEW YORK (AP) — A computer outage at United Airlines delayed thousands of travelers on Thursday and embarrassed the airline at the time when it's trying to recover from glitches earlier this year. The two-hour outage held up morning flights around the globe. From Los Angeles to London, Boston to San Francisco, frustrated fliers tweeted snarky remarks about the glitch. It was United's third...

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NASCAR’s Keselowski can’t tweet in car anymore

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Brad Keselowski became a social media darling after hopping on Twitter during a lengthy delay in the Daytona 500.Keselowski was the center of attention, and NASCAR seemed trendy and hip — a description its executives surely adored. Turns out, tweeting from the car isn’t cool with NASCAR.Keselowski...

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Israelis Launch Major Assault on Gaza, Killing Hamas Commander

GAZA — Israel on Wednesday launched one of the most ferocious assaults on Gaza since its invasion four years ago, hitting at least 20 targets in aerial attacks that killed the top military commander of Hamas, drew strong condemnation from Egypt and escalated the risks of a new war in the Middle East. The Israelis coupled the intensity of the airstrikes with the threat of another ground invasion...

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Marlins' latest payroll purge prompts fan backlash

MIAMI (AP) — The attendance-challenged Miami Marlins have antagonized fans yet again by deciding a low-budget team is good enough for their new ballpark.A blockbuster trade sending three stars to Toronto could save Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria $150 million, which prompted a backlash from South Floridians angered by the team's latest payroll purge."Everybody in the world wants to talk about the Marlins...

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Well: How Many Calories Do We Really Eat at Thanksgiving?

A reader writing in to The Times’s Thanksgiving Help Line asked this question: “What is the average number of calories a person consumes at Thanksgiving dinner?”The commonly cited statistic is that the average American will consume more than 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day alone. That’s according to the Calorie Control Council, which represents the people who bring you diet foods. After thinking...

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Samuel Adams Brewer Counsels Small Businesses

Gretchen Ertl for The New York TimesJim Koch, who started brewing Samuel Adams Boston Lager at his house in 1984, and Carlene O'Garro, who runs a cake business, participate in a program in which big businesses help small ones. Carlene O’Garro’s cake business was barely a month old when she arrived at the Samuel Adams brewery in South Boston recently to meet with business counselors, but she brought...

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