It was the year of computing dangerously, and next year could be worse.

For some of the nation's newspapers, Google's offer was too good to pass up.

The Justice Department is building a massive database that allows state and local police officers around the country to search millions of case files from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal law enforcement agencies, according to Justice officials.

Tuberculosis did not take the day off to mark Christmas. Neither did cancer. Or arthritis. And so neither did Rama Raghunandan, a scientist in Rockville.

SEATTLE -- Amazon.com Inc.'s 2006 holiday season peaked with more than 4 million orders placed on Dec. 11, the Web retailer said Tuesday. That broke last year's single-day record of more than 3.6 million orders set on Dec. 12.

Frank Stanton, a broadcasting pioneer and CBS president for 26 years who helped turn its TV operation into the "Tiffany network" and built CBS News into a respected information source, died Dec. 24 at his home in Boston. He was 98.

It's the caged-mouse syndrome of air travel -- you feel crammed into your seat on a long-distance flight with little to munch on except a bag of pretzels.

NEW YORK -- As an online shopper, Claudia Race knows she must look out for scams. So as an Internet entrepreneur working out of her home in New Braunfels, Texas, Race wants to use all the tools available to assure customers they can trust the vacation-rentals service she is about to launch.

LOS ANGELES - Shoppers are standing in lines to snap up Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii video game consoles as they become available, and some analysts do not expect shortages to ease until March or later.

If only the some-assembly-required phase of computer ownership ended when you'd figured out what plugs go where, a new PC would be no harder to set up than a new DVD player -- not that manufacturers should take any pride in that accomplishment.

The online greeting card, or e-card, seems a natural progression of our increasingly wired society that ditches newspapers for blogs, television for YouTube and handwritten letters for e-mail. The new media is cheaper, customizable and on-demand. But for the holidays, some say it's better to forgo convenience for the sentimentality of a paper card....

Consumer advocates and others have complained bitterly in recent years that the Food and Drug Administration has veered from its scientific roots, making decisions on controversial matters -- such as the emergency contraceptive "Plan B" -- on political rather than scientific grounds.

With all the buzz over the new Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3, there's been little mention of one new feature available in both game consoles: Tucked into the interface of each are content-filtering software tools designed to give parents control over whether their children can play violent video games....

Call it the "year of computing dangerously." Computer security experts say 2006 saw an unprecedented spike in junk e-mail and sophisticated online attacks from increasingly organized cyber crooks. These attacks were made possible, in part, by a huge increase in the number of security holes identified in widely used software products. ...

Ten years ago, the Loudoun County school system was "limping along" when it came to equipping students with the latest technology, said Assistant Superintendent Sharon D. Ackerman. So school officials pushed up their sleeves and drafted a plan to invest $22 million in technology improvements.

Judging by its Web site, Michelle Ford, a 35-year old loan adjuster from Charlotte, said Fairview Lending Group looked like a reputable company. Over two months, she sent Fairview $2,856 in collateral for a $20,000 loan that never materialized.

I have been trying to rent an apartment. I have been taken aback by the information requested on application forms. I would like to know what information landlords have the right to acquire, what information it is prudent to provide, and what responsibility landlords bear to keep this information secure.