The James Logan Courier

By Alex L. Goldfayn
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

Distraught and scrambling off the United Airlines plane, the man ran out of the jet bridge past passengers waiting to get on board, clutching his laptop. Smoke poured from it.

He ran to a relatively unoccupied area of the gate and threw the Lenovo computer on the ground.

It ignited, shooting a 2-foot flame upward.


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By Alan Schmadtke
The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)

ORLANDO, Fla. — Newspapers publish updated points spreads every day. Self-proclaimed expert football prognosticators buy television time every week. And cable-network programmers seem to discover ever more Texas Hold `Em tournaments.

All of the above are legal.

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By Martha McKay
The Record (MCT)

HACKENSACK, N.J. — The rise in laptop use, increased thefts and tightening of internal corporate controls have led companies to look for ways to safeguard their machines and boost the chances of getting them back.


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By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

GEARS OF WAR
For: Xbox 360
From: Epic/Microsoft

Bill Gates caught a case of foot-in-mouth disease last year when he declared that people coming out for the Playstation 3 launch would walk straight into "Halo 3," which since has (oops!) been pushed to a 2007 release date. But if Gates' intention was to dazzle would-be PS3 owners with a game that's better than anything the new console on the block can offer, Epic has bailed him out with something every bit as fierce.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

SONY PLAYSTATION 3
Price: $599/$499 (20 GB)
Available: Now (if you're lucky)

Sony's Playstation 3 will force you to use your mind, body and whatever courage you have to engage the enemy in ways you never imagined possible. And that's just to get into the line to buy one.

Marilyn French (born November 21, 1929) is an American author, known for her feminist novels and non-fiction.

Hear Marilyn French discuss her work on the Woman's Hour, a radio program streaming in RealAudio format, free from the British Broadcasting Company.