The Haggler: Telemarketer’s Tactics and Regulators’ Response Elicit Complaints

LAST month, the Haggler was sitting at home when the phone rang. “This is your second and final notice,” intoned the stern voice of a robocaller. This vaguely threatening opener segued quickly into a lilting spiel about credit cards and consolidation. Something about an offer to lower rates? It was hard to tell, but when the Haggler heard he could press 1 for more information, naturally,...

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Gunfire and deadly crash rattle the Las Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS — A spectacular predawn crash on the Strip — triggered when bullets fired from a black Range Rover peppered a Maserati...

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Welcome to 'The Deconstruction,' a Competitive Sport for Makers

There was a time when skateboarding and snowboarding were counter-cultural activities, but today Shaun White is a gold medalist, and Jason Naumoff is one of the big reasons why. Now, this former X-Games marketer is trying to turn “making” into a competitive sport with a project called “The Deconstruction” — a 48-hour DIY competition/telecast happening this weekend.Naumoff, who got his start developing...

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Madonna crowned top music earner in 2012 due to world tour

(Reuters) – Madonna was named the biggest money maker in music in 2012 on Friday, with a world tour helping her take home up to $ 34.6 million and highlighting the earning power of live performances as the industry increasingly goes digital.The 54-year-old Material Girl topped Billboard Magazine’s annual list of 40 top money makers for the second time after earning an estimated $ 32 million – 93.5...

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Question Mark: Acne Common in Baby Boomers Too

Pimples are no surprise on babies and teenagers, but boomers? You no longer have to gaze over a school lunchroom, hoping to find a seat at a socially acceptable table. You don’t rush to get home at night before your junior license driving restrictions kick in. And you men no longer have to worry that your voice will skip an octave without warning. But if adolescence is over, what is that...

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DealBook: Judge Sides With Einhorn and Halts an Apple Shareholder Vote

4:24 p.m. | Updated A federal judge on Friday ordered Apple to halt collecting shareholder votes on a contentious proposal to change some of its corporate charter, handing a victory to the hedge fund manager David Einhorn.The ruling issued Friday touches on a fairly narrow legal point. But it signals a clear win by Mr. Einhorn, who has taken up a fight with Apple over using some of its $137 billion...

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Bulgari shows off Liz Taylor's gems

It isn't easy sometimes to be an ordinary person in Los Angeles, so near to and yet so far from the city's glamorous events.You...

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Sony Will Lose the Console War With PS4's Lame Video-Streaming Strategy

Congratulations, Sony, you just lost the console war.Sony held reporters hostage for two hours Wednesday as it unveiled a new PlayStation controller, made a lot of promises about the PlayStation 4 and showed all the demos in the world. What it didn’t show us, aside from an actual PlayStation 4, is any kind of streaming-video strategy aside from the obligatory nod to Netflix. And thus it sealed...

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Living With Cancer: Arrivals and Departures

After being nursed and handed over, the baby’s wails rise to a tremolo, but I am determined to give my exhausted daughter and son-in-law a respite on this wintry evening. Commiserating with the little guy’s discomfort — gas, indigestion, colic, ontological insecurity — I swaddle, burp, bink, then cradle him in my arms. I begin walking around the house, swinging and swaying while cooing in soothing...

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H.P. Reports Decline in Revenue and Profit

SAN FRANCISCO — Battling a declining demand for personal computers, Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest maker of PCs, reported lower quarterly earnings on Thursday. The earnings were significantly higher than analysts had expected, however. “The turnaround is starting to gain traction as a result of the actions we took in 2012 to lay the foundation of H.P.’s future,” Meg Whitman,...

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