Microsoft's Great Wall of SmartGlass Connects Xbox to Everything

Microsoft has officially acknowledged that its new Xbox SmartGlass companion app will be available with the launch of the Windows 8 operating system later this week. The application will be a new addition to the Games section of Windows 8, and will be supported on devices running Windows RT. The free-to-download app is also designed for Windows Phone 8, as well as iOS and Android devices.

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8 Last-Minute, Printable DIY Halloween Decorations

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Founders' choice: the electoral college

It's widely criticized, but it's part of our Constitution's philosophy — carefully crafted as a compromise between competing interests to guarantee checks and balances.

The electoral college is one of the most controversial and ridiculed parts of the Constitution. It is not just for the obvious reasons — the "wrong winner" elections of 1876, 1888 and 2000. The college has also focused the nation's attention on a few swing states, allowing candidates to ignore a large percentage of the voters in their campaign. Today, the three largest states get little attention, except as ATMs for campaign fundraising.

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Syria activists adapt to new roles as relief volunteers

Onetime demonstrators seeking the government's ouster now risk their lives to aid the displaced and wounded civilians and rebels as Syria's humanitarian crisis grows.

DAMASCUS, Syria — When Hytham was released from a Syrian prison in the spring after his third incarceration for being an opposition member, he expected to return to the streets with thousands of other activists to call for the fall of the government.

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U.S. sues BofA, calling loan fraud 'brazen'

The $1-billion civil suit alleges that BofA's Countrywide fraudulently deceived mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into believing the company's risky loans were safe and sound.

Bank of America thought it was laying claim to a crown jewel of American mortgage lending when it scooped up Countrywide Financial Corp. at the depths of the housing crisis in 2008.

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Pace of tuition hikes slows at four-year public colleges

The 4.8% increase in public college tuition nationwide in 2012 is the smallest hike in more than 10 years, a study finds.

Average college tuition again rose faster than inflation this year, but the 4.8% increase at four-year state schools nationwide was the smallest rise in more than a decade, according to a College Board study released Wednesday.

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Clint Eastwood, without empty chair, returns to tout Mitt Romney

Hollywood doesn’t usually make sequels to flops, but Clint Eastwood doesn’t typically follow convention. So less than two months after the actor-director’s infamous “Empty Chair” speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Eastwood is back supporting Gov. Mitt Romney in a new advertisement backed by the "super PAC"� American Crossroads.

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Hiring, orders and earnings news lifts stocks

Stocks are starting higher on Wall Street after investors finally got some better news on the economy and corporate earnings.

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Jury gets murder case in woman's '81 disappearance from Torrance

The prosecution cites inconsistent recollections by the husband, while the defense says there is no definitive evidence against him. No body was ever found.

It has been more than three decades since Michael Lubahn Clark's high school sweetheart vanished from their Torrance home.

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Pope canonizes 7 saints, including 2 Americans

Several of the new saints were missionaries, making clear the pope hopes their example will be relevant today as the Church is challenged by evangelical movements, growing secularization and disenchantment over the abuse scandal.

Pope Benedict XVI added seven more saints onto the roster of Catholic role models on Sunday, saying their example would strengthen the church as it tries to rekindle the faith in places where it's lagging. Two of them were Americans: Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint from the U.S. and Mother Marianne Cope, a 19th century Franciscan nun who cared for leprosy patients in Hawaii.

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Gadget Lab Show: Google's $250 Chromebook, Motorola's New Razr HD

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In-Flight Entertainment: Almost All the Comforts of Home

The in-flight entertainment sphere has expanded far beyond showing movies on hard-to-see overhead screens. Passengers want constant availability of media, entertainment and connectedness wherever they happen to be, and in-flight systems are simply trying to keep up with that demand.

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