This Week @ U.S. News
Highlights from the magazine and usnews.com
March 7, 2005
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COVER STORY: Taming your tech
More and more, it seems, the same tech tools we depend on to get through the day are often the source of our frustrations. Gadgets have gotten better: They do more, are smaller, and cost less. But they don't work quite the way we want them too, do they? Text-messaging and camera-phone features that obscure access to your voice mail. Camcorder batteries that die in the middle of your sister's wedding. The sick pc that sends copies of its virus to everyone in your E-mail address book.
But there is reason for renewed hope. More companies are discovering that one key to reining in unruly tech is simplicity itself; that is, less is actually more.
How to get satisfaction from overcomplicated and unfriendly devices
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a20--The skinny on the Mac Mini
The new Mac is priced to compete with Windows pcs
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a22--If a clown answers...
Pain-free ways to get help from the on-call support staff
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a16--A trunkful of tips
What you should know about digital cams, cellphones, and more
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a15------------------------------
NATION & WORLD
--Freedom rings in Lebanon
It is a sight that has been all too rare in the Arab world--crowds of people in the streets, demonstrating peacefully. The scenes of tens of thousands of Lebanese waving white, red, and green flags were even more poignant for occurring in a country best known for its fractious politics and a debilitating civil war. After protesters prompted Lebanon's Syrian-backed prime minister to resign--itself an unprecedented event--they continued smaller nightly protests demanding an end to Syria's military occupation of the country.
Protesters make their voices heard in Lebanon as talk of democracy echoes across the region
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a8--So how is World War IV going?
With the second Bush administration well underway--and now with a new terror alert to alarm the nation--it is hardly surprising that strategic thinkers are asking the question. What is surprising, though, is that so many leading analysts still disagree over the nature of the struggle: the origins, the stakes, the objectives, the definition of the enemy, and even the aptness of the word war itself. Differing loudly in a variety of print venues, from the popular monthly Esquire to the more scholarly Wilson Quarterly, they inadvertently drive home a common point: It's a curious war indeed that makes people argue over whether they are really fighting one.
Scholars and pundits trade dark prophecies--and high hopes--for the outcome of the struggle against terrorism
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a9--Bush's new campaign
No, as it turns out, his run for another four-year lease on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue wasn't George W. Bush's last campaign after all. His current battle to overhaul Social Security is taking on all the aspects of another national plebiscite, with its customary grass-roots hoo-ha, media sniping, and edgy tv ads. It's standard fare, Lord knows. But Bush's problem is that so far, it just doesn't seem to be working.
He takes his foundering Social Security plan on the road
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a10--Coffee, tea, or smart card?
The events of 9/11 affected many aspects of American life but perhaps none so much as commercial air travel. Since that fateful day, there have been unprecedented attempts to close security gaps at airports. The result is a commercial aviation system that is no doubt safer but also far more intrusive and time consuming. Behind the scenes, though, the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is in the midst of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on research and new technology aimed at taking some of the hassle out of the flying experience.
The feds are spending millions to improve airport security while reducing hassles for passengers
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a7MONEY & BUSINESS
--A mammoth of the mall
Last week, Federated, owner of Bloomingdale's and Macy's, announced a deal to acquire May Department Stores, parent of Robinsons-May, Hecht's, Marshall Field's, and others, in a deal valued at $11 billion, or roughly $35.50 per share, plus the assumption of $6 billion in debt. Should shareholders and regulators approve, Federated would become the second-largest department-store chain in the country with 950 stores and $30 billion in annual sales. The company, which has not had much of a Midwest presence, would gain a foothold in nearly every major market and would be second only to the new combination of Kmart and Sears, Roebuck, whose $11.5 billion pairing was announced in January.
Federated is buying rival May in an effort to revitalize the department-store chain
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a5--Baby boomers, we want your money!
The nation's 75 million baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, ought to be the most sought-after demographic cohort for American marketers. As a group, they are the most affluent Americans, with three quarters of the nation's financial assets and an estimated $1 trillion in disposable income annually. Yet while boomers are hurtling toward their retirement years--the oldest boomers will begin turning 60 next year--Madison Avenue continues to prize youth.
Smart marketers aim at the real big spenders
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a4HEALTH & MEDICINE
--M*A*S*H, Iraqi style
In Iraq, the United States has created a system of battlefield medicine that has moved doctors and nurses closer to the front lines than ever before. That has resulted in the lowest fatality rate in modern warfare; 98 percent of those wounded have survived. But that heartening number comes only because the medical staff takes extraordinary risks, day after day.
Trauma teams take huge risks as they treat the wounded
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a18--More than a bag of bones
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' annual meeting is a lucrative venue for companies looking to drum up business. This year at least 300,000 Americans will have a hip joint entirely or partly replaced, running up nearly $11 billion in hospital charges, based on 2002 cost data. More than 400,000 will have a knee replaced, billed at another $11 billion. All orthopedic procedures require a tool of some kind, whether it is a surgical instrument, imaging system, or office management software. And the number of painful hips, knees, shoulders, and other joints and muscles is headed straight up as baby boomers age.
Orthopedic surgeons shop a bazaar of medical devices
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a12--Health Watch
Voice your views about healthcare; delivering the Down syndrome diagnosis; the failure of the smallpox vaccination program
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a0DIVERSIONS
--The old look for spring
Instead of shopping until they drop a bundle, fashion-conscious consumers are drop-kicking the urge to shop this year. Spurred by conflicting demands for their discretionary dollars (home repairs, cable bills, cellular charges, et al.), changing priorities, or simply because they don't like what they see in stores for spring, frustrated fashionistas are cutting back on their clothes line of credit.
Store hope that conservative styles will woo reluctant shoppers
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a2COLUMNISTS
--A sudden, powerful stirring
Commentary by Fouad Ajami:
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a17--At the U.N., 'beating a wave with a hammer'
Washington Whispers by Paul Bedard:
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a1--Hail, the return of the diva
On Politics by Gloria Borger:
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a19--Time for a dose of Dr. No
On Society by John Leo:
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a14--Turning words into deeds
Editorial by Mortimer B. Zuckerman:
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15504a124413a272335445a13