Phillip Phillips looks at life beyond “American Idol”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Like the 10 winners before him, Phillip Phillips faces the uneven road from “American Idol” victor to pop-chart mainstay.After the success of his Top 10 hit, “Home,” the Georgia native is facing a new challenge – to replicate the mainstream successes of past “Idol” winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson on his debut album,...

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DealBook: Hewlett-Packard Takes $8.8 Billion Charge

Hewlett-Packard said on Tuesday that it had taken an $8.8 billion accounting charge, after discovering “serious accounting improprieties” and “outright misrepresentations” at Autonomy, a British software maker that it bought for $10 billion last year.It is a major setback for H.P., which has been struggling to turn around its operations and remake its business.The charge essentially wiped out its...

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Existing-home sales and builder confidence rise

WASHINGTON -- The housing market recovery showed signs it is continuing to strengthen as sales of existing homes increased 2.1%...

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Apple Eyes First Overseas Data Center in Hong Kong

Apple’s data-center empire has yet expand oversees, but it seems this is about to change.Citing three unnamed sources, the Chinese-language Hong Kong Economic Times reports that Apple is planning to open a data center in Hong Kong, following in the footsteps of Google, its biggest rival.This would be Apple’s first data center outside the U.S. Currently, the company serves up iCloud and other...

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Rock band AC/DC releases entire catalog on iTunes

NEW YORK (AP) — AC/DC is finally releasing its music digitally on iTunes.Columbia Records and Apple announced Monday that the classic rock band’s music will be available at the iTunes Store worldwide. Sixteen studio albums will be released, including “High Voltage” and “Back in Black.” AC/DC was one of the few acts that...

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Teenage Boys, Worried About Body Image, Take Health Risks

Béatrice de Géa for The New York TimesDavid Abusheikh at a gym in Brooklyn. He goes six days a week and says he uses protein supplements to help build muscle. It is not just girls these days who are consumed by an unattainable body image. Take David Abusheikh. At age 15, he started lifting weights for two hours a day, six days a week. Now that he is a senior at Fort Hamilton High School in...

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Investors Rush to Beat Threat of Higher Taxes

Business owners and investors are rapidly maneuvering to shield themselves from the prospect of higher taxes next year, a strategy that is sending ripples across Wall Street and broad areas of the economy. Take Steve Wynn, the casino magnate, who has been a vocal critic of higher tax rates. He and his fellow shareholders in Wynn Resorts, the company announced, will collect a special dividend...

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A young shooting victim wrestles with his fears

After the nightmares started, Davien Graham avoided his bicycle.In his dreams, he pedaled his silver BMX bike through his neighborhood,...

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Amazing Time-Lapse Video Features Ever-Changing Earth and Sky

.Heaven meets the Earth in this moving time-lapse video showing gorgeous landscapes underneath an ever-changing night sky.“Within Two Worlds” was created by photographer Brad Goldpaint. The film features shooting comets, a giant tilting Milky Way, and glowing purple and pink auroras peeking over the horizon. Stunning sequences watch day turn to night and night to day,...

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The Neediest Cases: Emerging From a Bleak Life to Become Fabulous Phil

For years, Phillip Johnson was caught in what seemed like an endless trench of bad luck. He was fired from a job, experienced intensifying psychological problems, lost his apartment and spent time in homeless shelters. At one point, he was hospitalized after overdosing on an antipsychotic drug. “I had a rough road,” he said. Since his hospital stay two years ago, and despite setbacks,...

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