Consumer Issues
Hot toys for the holiday
By HELEN MALANI
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
If there's one shopping lesson to be learned from the ghost of Christmas' past, it's that the early bird gets one of the 400,000 Play Station 3s that Sony will release in the U.S.
Gamers learn to work on the railroad or fly with Snoopy
By CHRIS CAMPBELL
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
("Sid Meier's Railroads!" Platform: PC. Genre: Strategy. Publisher: 2K Games. ESRB Rating: E for Everyone. Grade: 4.5 stars out of 5.)
No matter how old you are, odds are there's always been a moment when you've been fascinated by toy trains.
Sony prepares to launch PlayStation 3
By RYAN KIM
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Sony officials like to say the next generation of video gaming doesn't start until they say so.
After some fits and starts and mounting expectations, the world will finally be able to see how the No.
What to know before buying a digital camera
By ANNA WALLNER and KRISTINA MATISIC
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
With the holidays just around the corner, you may be thinking it's time to upgrade your camera so you can better document all those wonderful family memories.
Lenders look to serve Latino market
By TIMOTHY PRATT
Monday, November 13, 2006
At 24, Reina Sanchez could be considered an overachiever: She finished law school in her native country of Mexico, she's a mother of a 2-year-old boy, and eight months ago she and her husband, Alvaro, bought their first home.
Gift cards appeal to holiday shoppers
By BILL MEDLEY
Monday, November 13, 2006
For those hard-to-shop-for folks on Santa's list this holiday season, the perfect gift may be a thin piece of plastic.
Gift cards, which are available from nearly every major retailer and restaurant chain, carry the cachet of thoughtfulness without the crassness of cash.
Treat your job search seriously
By MARVIN WALBERG
Monday, November 13, 2006
Resume and cover letters critiques are part of my fee-based services, but because I see so many basic errors in cover letters, I'd like to offer this advice free of charge.
_Never send out cover letters that are created as form letters, whether they are individually printed or photocopied.
Firms compete to create digital living rooms
By RYAN KIM
Monday, November 13, 2006
AT&T is unveiling plans to create a digital living room with a multimedia service that integrates satellite television and Internet access through a set-top box.
Professor finds cell phones vulnerable to attack
By CLINT SWETT
Monday, November 13, 2006
Talk about a tempting target.
With 219 million cellular phones in use in the United States, a cyber-attack could potentially wreak as much havoc as a virus on PCs.
That's where Hao Chen comes in.
Along with two graduate students, the assistant professor of computer science at the University of California, Davi, is studying the vulnerabilities of cellular phones, hoping to fend off potential attackers.
"Cellular phones are part of our critical information infrastructure," said Chen, talking in his spartan office on the UC Davis campus.
Games that will spook you .... and challenge you
By CHRIS CAMPBELL
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Since it's Halloween season once more, it's time to take a look at two particularly excellent games that capture both the fear and tension-filled excitement of the holiday _ and also mock it campy qualities.
"F.E.A.R."
_ Platform: Xbox 360
_ Genre: Shooter
_ Publisher: Vivendi Games
_ ESRB Rating: M for Mature
_ Grade: 4.5 stars out of 5
Shooting games always try to inject a little bit of something spooky into the plots, whether you are battling it out against flesh-eating zombies ("Resident Evil") or trapped in a deserted and creepy town or island ("Silent Hill," "The Suffering").
