Business, Technology & Lifestyle

Thousands flee as Indonesian volcano erupts again

TANAH KARO, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian volcano dormant for four centuries erupted for the second straight day Monday, shooting clouds of hot ash more than a mile into the air and forcing 30,000 people to flee. Some domestic airplanes had to be diverted because of poor visibility. Many villagers living along the slopes of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province wore masks as they packed their...

Weekend Game Hunting: Wall-crawling edition

It’s officially the fall season for video games, judging by the full office mailbox and my growing weekend selection of games. With that in mind, let’s dig right in: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. We’ll have a review here next week. What I think will be key for this game is how different each of the four Spider-Man characters will handle. Players control web-slingers from four...

Astronomy: Starburst galaxy comes into focus

A gravitational tug-of-war between galaxies sparks stellar eruptions in a nearby “starburst” galaxy, astronomers report Wednesday. European Southern Observatory astronomers released views of the NGC 4666 galaxy, some 80 million light-years away (one light year is about 5.9 trillion miles), to capture its “superwind” of escaping gas. In a statement, they report: A combination...

Target to sell Facebook Credits gift cards

The social-network giant is getting into the gift card business, starting Sunday, with Facebook Credits cards. The new Facebook gift cards will be available in values of $15, $25 and $50 at all of Target’s 1,750 retail stores and at Target.com. Two or three more national retailers will start selling the cards in coming months. This will be the first time Facebook has had any presence in a retail...

New Kindles reinforce e-reader’s best-seller status

For all the glitz that surrounds first models of high-profile tech products, it often behooves consumers to wait awhile. Exhibit A: the new Kindle e-readers from Amazon. Compared with previous models (which I liked), new, smaller and lighter Kindles have better battery life, superior glare-free displays and enough storage for up to 3,500 books. What’s more, the new entry-level Wi-Fi-only Kindle...