(AP) — Q. Everywhere I go I see people checking their e-mail on BlackBerrys, Treos and Pocket PC’s. Is it difficult or expensive to get that kind of device and service? A. While every major wireless company sells handheld computers, they typically cost a hefty $500 or $600, and setting them up for wireless e-mail…

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As the cartoon kids blow gum bubbles, they begin floating away on your computer screen. With a series of speedy mouseclicks, you must prick the bubbles before the children fly over a rainbow. This is far from an elaborate Internet computer game. But the so-called advergame — a cross between a…

NEW YORK (AP) — New estimates put the federal budget deficit at $331 billion this year, and one reason it’s so big is that companies will be claiming billions of dollars in tax breaks for settling shareholder lawsuits accusing them of corporate malfeasance. For some companies, federal and state tax deductions will amount to as…

NEW YORK (AP) — The Internet’s key oversight agency agreed Tuesday to a one-month delay in approving a new “.xxx” domain name after the U.S. government cited “unprecedented” opposition to a virtual red-light district. Michael D. Gallagher, assistant secretary for communications and information at the Commerce Department, had stopped short of urging its rejection, but…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers who bought new cars last month enjoyed the biggest drop in prices in 30 years. They weren’t so lucky when they went to fill them up, as gasoline prices soared. A big jump in energy costs sent inflation racing ahead in July after two quiet months. However, price pressures were not…

Guess whose eyes these are and you could win $25! Play the Southern Standard’s Web Eye-D contest and you could win $25! Playing the game is simple. We display the eyes of a famous or noteworthy person at the Web Eye-D Contest link on our site. To win the game, and the $25, all you…

Rock Island resident and Warren County native Janie Elizabeth Fuqua, 60, died unexpectedly Aug. 15 at River Park Hospital.A cook with Wilma Jean’s Kitchen, she was the daughter of Ray and Naomi Breedlove Fisher of Rock Island, and was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Fuqua; grandparents, Agnes and Will Breedlove and Willie and…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The composite ACT test score for Tennessee was unchanged from last year at 20.5, mirroring the national result which also held steady at 20.9, results released Wednesday show. State Department of Education spokeswoman Kim Karesh said the result is encouraging because 5 percent more state students took the test this year than…

By William Rusher / Columnist “Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York.” Thus does Shakespeare’s Duke of Gloucester, soon to be King Richard III, sum up the striking improvement in his family’s fortunes.America’s Democrats could be forgiven for feeling that their party’s prospects have undergone an…

By Morton Kondracke / Columnist It’s hard to tell who’s in worse political shape right now: President Bush or Congressional Democrats. Polls show deep skepticism with Bush, but it’s not clear Democrats can take advantage.Historically speaking, the 2006 midterm elections should be a bonanza for Democrats. Since World War II, the party out of power…