If you are planning a bus trip and want to watch TV shows or video podcasts, you may want to get them from places like the Zune Marketplace or the iTunes Store before you leave.
In a bleak start to the earnings season, Alcoa Inc. reported a quarterly loss of $497 million, as the stumbling global economy continued to erode prices and demand for the aluminum maker's products.
Barack Obama had difficulty pronouncing the name of his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, but people forgave him. In fact, they forgave him for almost everything: his aura seemed to glow ever brighter as he made his first foray into global, crisis-busting diplomacy.
Even as the recession cuts deeply into their revenue, some companies are opting to do the unconventional: They're keeping all their employees and finding other ways to trim costs.
First came the housing bust, followed by eroding job security and dwindling retirement accounts. Now, the worst downturn in decades is nibbling away at something so entrenched that people took it for granted: simple, everyday convenience.
Federal and state officials are cracking down on mortgage modification scams, accusing "criminal actors" of preying on desperate borrowers caught up in the nation's housing crisis.
