Slim majority supports L.A. sales tax increase

A Los Angeles sales tax hike being promoted as vital to preserving public safety and helping end years of budget deficits is...

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Evernote Hack Exposes User Data, Forces Extensive Password Resets

Evernote joins Twitter, Apple, and Facebook on the list of tech companies hacked in recent weeks.Evernote “has discovered and blocked suspicious activity on the Evernote network that appears to have been a coordinated attempt to access secure areas of the Evernote Service,” according to a statement posted on the company’s website earlier today. “As a precaution to protect your data, we...

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England Develops a Voracious Appetite for a New Diet

LONDON — Visitors to England right now, be warned. The big topic on people’s minds — from cabdrivers to corporate executives — is not Kate Middleton’s increasingly visible baby bump (though the craze does involve the size of one’s waistline), but rather a best-selling diet book that has sent the British into a fasting frenzy. “The Fast Diet,” published in mid-January in Britain, could do...

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DealBook: Buffett’s Annual Letter Plays Up Newspapers’ Value

Over the last half-century, Warren E. Buffett has built a reputation as a contrarian investor, betting against the crowd to amass a fortune estimated at $54 billion.Mr. Buffett underscored that contrarian instinct in his annual letter to shareholders published on Friday. In a year when Mr. Buffett did not make any large acquisitions, he bought dozens of newspapers, a business others have shunned....

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Bell jurors ordered to begin anew after panelist is dismissed

After nearly five days of deliberations, jurors in the Bell corruption trial were ordered Thursday to begin anew after a member...

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Thruster Problem Forces SpaceX to Reschedule ISS Docking

An anomaly with the thrusters aboard its Dragon spacecraft caused SpaceX to miss a scheduled burn to adjust the capsule orbit on Friday, causing SpaceX to delay by at least 24 hours Saturday’s planned rendezvous with the International Space Station.SpaceX engineers have been working full-throttle to resolve the thruster issue, which followed a picture-perfect launch atop the Falcon 9 rocket....

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Well: A Rainbow of Root Vegetables

This week’s Recipes for Health is as much a treat for the eyes as the palate. Colorful root vegetables from bright orange carrots and red scallions to purple and yellow potatoes and pale green leeks will add color and flavor to your table.Since root vegetables and tubers keep well and can be cooked up into something delicious even after they have begun to go limp in the refrigerator, this week’s Recipes...

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A Volatile Week Ends With Modest Gains

Stocks advanced modestly on Friday, leaving the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index with slight gains after a volatile week, as strong economic data overshadowed growth concerns in China and Europe and let investors discount the impact of federal spending cuts. Data reported early in the day showed that Asian factories were slowing and European output was falling, setting off a sharp...

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Jury in Bell corruption trial may be deadlocked

A court spokeswoman said Thursday the jury in the Bell corruption case appears to be deadlocked.“The jurors may be at an impasse,”...

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Groupon CEO Fired as Daily-Deals Biz Bottoms Out

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason has been fired after another quarterly earnings whiff from the onetime darling of the daily-deals business. It’s a business that doesn’t really have any darlings now. Groupon under Mason’s leadership infamously spurned Google’s $6 billion buyout offer. Google promptly turned around and launched its own daily deals site. Today Groupon is worth less than half of what...

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Doctor and Patient: Why Failing Med Students Don’t Get Failing Grades

Tall and dark-haired, the third-year medical student always seemed to be the first to arrive at the hospital and the last to leave, her white coat perpetually weighed down by the books and notes she jammed into the pockets. She appeared totally absorbed by her work, even exhausted at times, and said little to anyone around her.Except when she got frustrated.I first noticed her when I overheard her...

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Advertising: A Shared History in Detroit Is an Ad Inspiration

THE Chrysler Group is bringing to life the advertising theme for its Chrysler brand, “Imported from Detroit,” through an innovative partnership with a coming Broadway show that bears the Detroit-inspired name of one of the most famous brands in music. The partnership unites Chrysler and “Motown: the Musical,” about the musical legacy of Berry Gordy and Motown, the record label he founded...

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Race for L.A. city controller heats up

A previously low-profile race for Los Angeles city controller has begun to heat up as opponents of City Councilman Dennis Zine...

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Meet the Common Man's Robot: Headless and Adorable

LONG BEACH, California — Go into the typical American home and you’ll find a television, a computer, perhaps a videogame console, and even an iPad. But you won’t find a robot. What’s wrong with us?We haven’t found the right robot. Or at least that’s Keller Rinaudo’s take on the problem, presented at the TED conference Tuesday along with his creation: A $150 robot named Romo, which can stream...

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Global Health: After Measles Success, Rwanda to Get Rubella Vaccine

Rwanda has been so successful at fighting measles that next month it will be the first country to get donor support to move to the next stage — fighting rubella too. On March 11, it will hold a nationwide three-day vaccination campaign with a combined measles-rubella vaccine, hoping to reach nearly five million children up to age 14. It will then integrate the dual vaccine into its national...

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Groupon Shares Crumple After Dismal Outlook, Take-Rate Cut

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Groupon Inc lost a quarter of its market value on Wednesday after the company revealed it began to take a smaller cut of revenue on daily deals during the holidays, sacrificing revenue and profits to attract and keep merchants. The cut in its "take rate", which some analysts had said was needed to revive flagging interest among merchants in its Internet offers, was...

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Tribune Co. hires advisors to explore sale of newspaper unit

Tribune Co. has hired investment bankers to advise the media company on the potential sale of its newspaper publishing unit.The...

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Cablevision Sues Viacom Over Bundled Channels

You pay too much for pay TV because your cable company is forced to purchase channels in bundles from media companies like Viacom — if it wants to offer MTV, it has to pay for CMT Pure Country and Teen Nick as well. Now one cable provider has had enough, and is suing for the right to purchase channels à la carte. Cablevision, a New York-based cable TV provider, filed an antitrust lawsuit against...

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Advanced Breast Cancer May Be Rising Among Young Women, Study Finds

The incidence of advanced breast cancer among younger women, ages 25 to 39, may have increased slightly over the last three decades, according to a study released Tuesday. But more research is needed to verify the finding, which was based on an analysis of statistics, the study’s authors said. They do not know what may have caused the apparent increase. Some outside experts questioned...

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DealBook: Wall Street Pay Rises, for Those Who Still Have a Job

7:39 p.m. | Updated Wall Street may be shrinking — cutting thousands of jobs over the last year — but for those who remain, the pay is still very lucrative.The average cash bonus for those employed in the financial industry in New York last year rose roughly 9 percent, to $121,900, Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State’s comptroller, said on Tuesday.Cash bonuses in total are forecast to increase by roughly...

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A cosmic gift to L.A.

One night on Mt. Wilson about 1908, a short, powerfully built man with a handlebar mustache looked through the largest telescope...

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