The James Logan Courier

By Martha McKay
The Record (Hackensack N.J.) (MCT)

HACKENSACK, N.J. — Few gadgets are as much fun as a digital picture frame.

It frees your pictures from the tyranny of storage on a PC or camera memory card. And having one on your desk makes you feel a tiny bit like you're living in Bill Gates' house.

A lot of companies have jumped into the business of digital picture frames, but it made sense to take a close look at Smartparts, a leading manufacturer that's based in New Jersey.

The company is the brainchild of Stefan Guelpen, originally from Cologne, Germany, who spent years working as a manufacturers' representative selling digital camera gear before starting his own company a little more than two years ago.

By Carolyn Jung
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On a recent weekday afternoon at Kuya's Asian Cuisine in San Bruno, Calif., an older white couple timidly wandered in.

"Is this Chinese?" the gentleman asked a group of nearby diners enjoying an assortment of stewed and fried dishes.

"It's Filipino," one replied.

"Ohhh ... it looks ... uh ... good," the gentleman stammered, before he and his companion abruptly hightailed it out of the restaurant.

More often than not, that's the reception Filipino food has received in this country.

By Anne Chen, Editor-in-Chief

San Francisco celebrated it's 21st annual AIDS Walk on July 15th. The walk has proven to be California's largest AIDS fund raising event. People from all corners of the Bay Area, including James Logan High School, joined together to help prevent the spread of AIDS. The 25,000 participants this year succeeded in raising $4,503,716 compared to last year's $4,135,925. It did not matter whether you were gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual,or straight- everyone was welcome to keep the battle against AIDS alive.

By Sam Mellinger
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Please, put down the fork. You're embarrassing yourself.

Your Sunday breakfast is strictly amateur. What is that, one waffle? Two eggs? And you're taking your time? You're chewing?

Dude, you are a French poodle in the pit-bull world of competitive eating.

"Have you ever seen somebody eat 10 pounds of meatballs in 12 minutes?" asks Bob Shoudt. "That's more meatballs than a normal person eats in probably a year."

By Eric Benderoff
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

CHICAGO — If you're chatty, the iPhone will be costly.

But if you like to use your phone to watch videos from YouTube or as a mobile e-mail device, the highly anticipated gadget will cost roughly the same as any other smart phone.

Apple Inc. and AT&T Inc, the iPhone's exclusive wireless carrier, said Tuesday that pricing plans for the phone, which costs as much as $600, will range from $59.99 a month for 450 minutes to $99.99 for 1,350 minutes. In all plans, data usage _ surfing the Internet or sending e-mails — is free and includes 200 text messages.

The phone went on sale June 29.

By Michelle Caruso
New York Daily News (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — Just days after getting a new cell phone number, college student Shira Barlow was the most popular co-ed in the country.

She had inherited Paris Hilton's old digits.

With them came all the calls from the celebutante's B-list friends who didn't rate a heads-up on her new line.

By Amy Culbertson
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

FORT WORTH, Texas — In terms of tacos, America has come a long way since Glenn Bell opened his first Mexican-American restaurant in 1954. But we've been a long time getting there.

"The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink" (Oxford University Press, $49.95) suggests that we have Bell to thank for the widespread American corruption of the Mexican taco. Bell invented a prefabricated hard taco shell that didn't have to be cooked before serving.

Bell, who went on to found Taco Bell in 1962, overcame American distrust of ethnic fare by making tacos analogous to hamburgers: ground meat, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, yellow cheese, with the crunchy shell standing in for the bun.

By Jackson Muneza Mvunganyi, VOA News
Washington

This Isn't the America I Thought I'd Find: African Students in the Urban U.S. High School, by Rosemary Traore, Robert J. Lukens
Paperback: 258 pages
Publisher: University Press of America (May 28, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761834559
ISBN-13: 978-0761834557

Thousands of African students attend high school in the United States. Most come to gain an education that many of their peers back home can only dream of. They also want to share their experiences as Africans with their American schoolmates. But an American researcher says some of these students have been frustrated in their efforts to reach their goals, in part because of negative stereotypes about Africa in American schools and the media. Educator and writer Rosemary Traore says negative ideas held by American students about Africa often make it difficult for African students, “whether immigrants or refugees, to accomplish their goals of getting a quality education.”

Traore researched and co-wrote a book about the experiences of African students in an urban Philadelphia high school with a large number of African-American students. The book is called This Isn't the America I Thought I'd Find: African Students in the Urban U.S. High School. She says that the title of the book "came from a student as a direct quote from a student in a Philadelphia high school" , that she shadowed along with other students.She adds that the African students " were definitely having a hard time. There was harassing, teasing and name calling….”

By Tracy Connor
New York Daily News (MCT)

NEW YORK — It was 30 years ago this month that a letter landed on columnist Jimmy Breslin's desk at the New York Daily News from the madman known as the .44 Caliber Killer or Son of Sam, later unmasked as serial murderer David Berkowitz.

With ominous words in block printing that Breslin likened to "cinders from the flame," the note marked a fascinating turn in a drama that would terrorize the city all summer.

The thirst for details was so enormous that when the New York Daily News ran the letter with Breslin's column that Sunday, it sold more than 2 million copies.

By Reid Kanaley
The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

Internships have become a gateway to permanent jobs, and the Web helps employers craft internships while telling prospective interns how to get the edge for the internships they want.

OFFER INTERNSHIPS
Businesses considering an internship program might start with the simple guide posted here by Indiana University. The how-to publication says internships boost a company's recruiting image, and provide a way of screening and grooming prospective employees.
Learn "How to Build an Internship program," free from Indiana University.

By Stephanie Allmon
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

FORT WORTH, Texas — Forget spray-tanning (too orange) or fake-baking (too dangerous). This year, the best way to get the look of sun-kissed skin may be to slow-glow.

Gradual" self-tanning lotions promise to deliver plenty of hydration as well as a touch of sun. And almost every brand of moisturizer has one in its line now.

We tested 10 of the newest, reformulated or repackaged ones on shelves this spring. Here are the three that worked the best:

McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

During the warm weather months, many vacationers head for the hills on camping trips. Typically on these trips, many campers bring along portable stoves, heaters and lanterns to help make the experience a bit more comfortable.

It's important to remember that many of these items emit carbon monoxide, and can pose a safety hazard if used in a tent or other enclosed space. Each year, approximately 30 deaths and 450 injuries occur from carbon monoxide poisoning from heaters, lanterns or stoves operating inside tents, campers, and vehicles. Carbon monoxide reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen, and low blood oxygen levels can result in loss of consciousness and death.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission suggests consumers follow these guidelines to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning on a camping trip: