While sales at furniture stores have been down this year, the American invention that linked lazing in the living room to television is one of the few bright spots in a well-worn U.S. household furniture industry. ...more

October 17, 2009

I believe we should exhaust every resource we have to discover and develop new sources of energy, including nuclear, solar, wind and so on. The problem is we are decades from any suitable replacement for oil. ...more

September 19, 2009

Mexico has replaced all 700 of its customs inspectors with agents newly trained to detect contraband, from guns and drugs to TVs and other big-ticket appliances smuggled to avoid import duties. ...more

August 17, 2009

Television ratings for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals are up from the first game. The NBC telecast drew a 3.4 rating and a 6 share. That's up from the 2.6 rating and 5 share of Saturday's Game 1. Detroit beat Pittsburgh 3-1 in Sunday night's game to take a 2-0 lead in the series. ...more

June 1, 2009

So this is what it feels like to start a baseball season after finishing the previous year with a winning record. Nearly six months after the Rays' first World Series appearance, TVs at Bay-area sports bars, homes and businesses were tuned Tuesday to the team's season-opening game against division rival Boston Red Sox. The Rays lost the game 5-3 but have a chance today to even the series. The first time fans can clang their cowbells at Tropicana Field will be Monday, when the Rays play their home opener against the Yankees. In preparation for that, the team held "Rays University" classes for all employees at Tropicana Field on Tuesday. The theme: excellent customer service. ...more

April 8, 2009

During their efforts to identify a con artist, the man Largo police dubbed "Plasma Pat" called detectives to say he's scammed thousands of people. ...more

March 25, 2009

People who got digital TV converter box coupons but let them expire now can apply for new ones. ...more

March 25, 2009

More than 400 hundred television stations across the nation switched from analog to digital on Feb. 17 and hundreds more will make the transition on June 12, leaving millions of bewildered viewers asking what happened to their "Matlock" reruns. ...more

February 22, 2009

At 11:59 tonight, about half the TV stations in the Tampa Bay area will unplug their traditional analog broadcasts and send only new and improved digital TV signals. ...more

February 17, 2009

Forget for a moment that our country's economy is sinking. Forget that we have two wars going on. Forget that people are out of work, losing their homes and struggling to get by. Our Congress cranked out legislation Wednesday to postpone changing the nation's TV signals to digital until June 12. Thank goodness they came to our rescue! ...more

February 6, 2009