Ice storm on horizon for Sunday

As icicles hang from Cloud Gate, Jay Ing of Chicago walks through Millennium Park in Chicago last February. ...

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4 tips for creating a successful Twitter parody account

The guy behind @GowanusDolphin learned his lesson the hard wayA chorus of Twitter elite got really angry on Friday when an opportunistic user decided to register @GowanusDolphin, a horrible account that premised itself on a dolphin trapped in New York‘s murky Gowanus Canal. Not sure how I feel about parody account @gowanusdolphin. Poor guy. Don’t find funny at all.SEE MORE: Connecticut...

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Fox orders futuristic cop drama pilot from J.J. Abrams, J.H. Wyman

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Fox has given the green light to a police drama pilot from “Fringe” executive producers J.H. Wyman and J.J. Abrams, the network said Friday.Described as an “action-packed buddy cop show,” the untitled project takes place “in the near future, when all LAPD officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids.”Wyman is writing and executive-producing the one-hour...

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Diner’s Journal Blog: PepsiCo Will Halt Use of Additive in Gatorade

PepsiCo announced on Friday that it would no longer use an ingredient in Gatorade after consumers complained.The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, which was used in citrus versions of the sports drink to prevent the flavorings from separating, was the object of a petition started on Change.org by Sarah Kavanagh, a 15-year-old from Hattiesburg, Miss., who became concerned about the ingredient after...

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Shedd Aquarium looks to slice energy bill

Bob Wengel's job at Shedd Aquarium makes your typical thermostat war seem laughable.For him, keeping everybody comfortable means...

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Streak of days without inch of snow finally over

A relatively meager snowfall created huge headaches for commuters...

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Al Shabaab says enemies closed its Twitter account

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Al Shabaab on Friday said its Christian enemies had closed its Twitter account, which the Somali militant group used to parade hostages, mock rivals and claim responsibility for bombings and assassinations.The group’s official Twitter account, which has thousands of followers, was offline on Friday with a message saying “Sorry, that user is suspended”.It was not immediately clear...

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‘Dallas’ returns with J.R. Ewing’s final schemes

NEW YORK (AP) — J.R. Ewing wouldn’t hesitate to cheat his fellow man. He also famously cheated death.In the second-season finale of “Dallas” back in 1980, he was shot by an unknown assailant in his office and left for dead. But he recovered nicely, and the cliffhanger question that gripped the nation (Who shot J.R.?) was answered that November in an episode seen by 80 million viewers.This time, J.R....

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Well: Ask Well: Squats for Aging Knees

You are already doing many things right, in terms of taking care of your aging knees. In particular, it sounds as if you are keeping your weight under control. Carrying extra pounds undoubtedly strains knees and contributes to pain and eventually arthritis.You mention weight training, too, which is also valuable. Sturdy leg muscles, particularly those at the front and back of the thighs, stabilize...

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Burnt circuit boards snag Japan's 787 probe

The chairman of the NTSB said the seriousness of two recent Boeing Dreamliner battery incidents "cannot be understated." (Source: CBS) ...

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Girl: 'My sister's on fire'

3 children were injured, 1 critically after a fire started inside their apartment. (WGN - Chicago) A 4-year-old girl was in critical condition this morning after she...

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Samsung’s iPad mini rival, the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, revealed in leaked images

While Samsung (005930) has had tremendous success over the past year with its Galaxy brand of smartphones, the company hasn’t been able to generated the same amount of buzz for its Galaxy tablet line just yet. But now SamMobile points us to the first leaked pictures of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 8.0 that the company hopes will become its flagship tablet in 2013. The pictures, posted on Italian website...

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Charlie Brown voice actor pleads not guilty to threats, stalking

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – The former child actor who was the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1960s “Peanuts” animated television specials pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges he threatened his girlfriend and a surgeon who carried out her breast enhancement surgery.Peter Robbins, 56, from Oceanside, California, pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to two counts of stalking and 10 counts of...

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Well: Can You Read the Face of Victory?

Picture a tennis player in the moment he scores a critical point and wins a tournament. Now picture his opponent in the instant he loses the point that narrowly cost him the title. Can you tell one facial expression from the other, the look of defeat from the face of victory?Try your hand at the images below, of professional tennis players at competitive tournaments. All were included in a new study...

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U. of I. launching Chicago tech center

Plans to launch a University of Illinois-affiliated technology research center in Chicago will be unveiled Thursday — the latest...

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Pearl Jam announces July concert at Wrigley Field

The Buzz; Pearl Jam reunion, Beyonce lip synched, Shakira has...

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Google Earnings Reveal Beginnings of a Facebook Problem on Search Revenue

Google beat Wall Street expectations with its fourth-quarter revenues of $ 14.42 billion, but the value of its ads continue to decline, an especially tricky problem with the company’s new search competition from Facebook. Google’s average cost-per-click decreased 6 percent from one year ago, meaning each ad it runs on its biggest business has less value than it did a year ago, continuing a fairly...

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Actress Lake Bell finds her directorial voice “In A World”

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) – In a world where men rule the voice-over industry, actress Lake Bell brings a tale of women versus men and old versus new in her directorial debut comedy.“In A World,” which premiered at the Sundance Film festival this week, follows voice-over artist Carol (Bell) attempting to follow in the daunting footsteps of her father (Fred Melamed), a famous and respected voice who...

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Well: Have a Health Question? Ask Well

The Well section of The New York Times is starting a new online featured called Ask Well. If you have a question about fitness, nutrition, illness or family health, the staff of The New York Times Health section is ready to help you find the answer.How do you solve the problem of back pain caused by sitting in an office chair all day? Do you still need the flu shot even if you’ve had the flu? What’s...

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Chicago hotel occupancy climbs back

Visitors filled downtown hotel rooms in 2012 at a rate not seen since before the recession.Hotel occupancy rose to 75.2 percent,...

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3 seriously hurt in fire at South Side high-rise

A fire in a high-rise residential building on the South Side injured three people. (Source: CBS Chicago) Two men and a woman...

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Canada wants RIM organic growth, may have to review handset sale

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian government wants BlackBerry maker Research in Motion to continue to be a global leader and grow organically, and Ottawa may have to review a future sale of its handset business, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said on Tuesday.“We hope to see RIM remain a global leader and player, and make sure it grows organically,” Paradis told Reuters by phone from Germany, where...

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Sundance 2013: Relativity Acquires Joseph Gordon-Levitt-Directed ‘Don Jon’s Addiction’

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Relativity Media has acquired Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut “Don Jon’s Addiction” for $ 4 million, an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.The film premiered at Sundance on Friday to great fanfare, and several distributors have been bidding for it.Relativity won out with a substantial financial commitment and plans for a wide theatrical...

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Well: The Appetite Workout

Every January, many people start working out, hoping to lose weight. But as studies attest, exercise often produces little or no weight loss — and even weight gain — and resolutions are soon abandoned. But new science suggests that if you stick with the right kind of exercise, you may change how your body interacts with food. It’s more than a matter of burning calories; exercise also affects hormones.A...

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Area home sales up 19% in December

More than 7,000 consumers in the Chicago-area bought themselves a home last month, the best finish for the year since December...

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