Dec
16

Dr. William F. House, Inventor of Cochlear Implant, Dies

Dr. William F. House, a medical researcher who braved skepticism to invent the cochlear implant, an electronic device considered to be the first to restore a human sense, died on Dec. 7 at his home in Aurora, Ore. He was 89. The cause was metastatic melanoma, his daughter, Karen House, said. Dr. House pushed against conventional thinking throughout his career. Over the objections of...
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Dr. William F. House, Inventor of Cochlear Implant, Dies

Dr. William F. House, a medical researcher who braved skepticism to invent the cochlear implant, an electronic device considered to be the first to restore a human sense, died on Dec. 7 at his home in Aurora, Ore. He was 89. The cause was metastatic melanoma, his daughter, Karen House, said. Dr. House pushed against conventional thinking throughout his career. Over the objections of...
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As Gold Is Spirited Out of Afghanistan, Officials Wonder Why

Zalmai for The New York TimesA Kabul jewelry shop. Officials are concerned about gold being flown out of Afghanistan. KABUL, Afghanistan — Packed into hand luggage and tucked into jacket pockets, roughly hewed bars of gold are being flown out of Kabul with increasing regularity, confounding Afghan and American officials who fear money launderers have found a new way to spirit funds from the country....
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Dec
15

Currents: School Takes New Tack on Work Study

NEW YORK — “I was raised into believing that money is everything,” said Maire Mendoza, 19, crying at her own tale. Her parents are near-invisibles in this city that they’ve heard called a city of dreams. They left Mexico before Maire was born and have toiled anonymously ever since — her mother a baby sitter these days, her father a restaurant worker. They raised their girls as pragmatic...
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Tool Kit: A Trove of Tablets for Young Hands

Parents take note. For approximately the price of a child’s bicycle — about $200 — you can purchase what may be the 21st-century equivalent: a tablet computer. Children take their tablets, a term defined loosely, as seriously as they do their bikes. So if you are going to buy one that is for them — not you — you had better involve them in the process. They understand that this single device...
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The Neediest Cases: Disabled Young Man and His Protective Mother Deal With Life’s Challenges

Though he would prefer to put his socks on without his mother’s help, Zaquan West, 25, does not have a choice. Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesJoann West is a constant caretaker for her son, Zaquan. Though Ms. West works as a receptionist, the family fell behind on rent. For the past 100 years, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund has provided direct...
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The Neediest Cases: Disabled Young Man and His Protective Mother Deal With Life’s Challenges

Though he would prefer to put his socks on without his mother’s help, Zaquan West, 25, does not have a choice. Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesJoann West is a constant caretaker for her son, Zaquan. Though Ms. West works as a receptionist, the family fell behind on rent. For the past 100 years, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund has provided direct...
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After Fighting Markets, Europe Now Prefers Working With Them

BRUSSELS — Buoyed by an agreement to establish a single supervisor to watch over the biggest banks in countries that use the euro, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, declared victory Friday over global financial markets, declaring them “totally wrong” for “seriously questioning whether the euro and indeed European integration would survive.” Mr. Barroso’s triumphal...
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Dec
14

World Briefing | Africa: Mali: Interim Prime Minister Sworn In

Mali swore in an interim prime minister on Thursday, just days after soldiers behind this year’s military coup arrested his predecessor and forced his resignation. The new prime minister, Diango Cissoko, officially took office in the capital, Bamako, where he said the former prime minister, Cheick Modibo Diarra, would be available as needed during the political transition. In recent weeks though,...
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State of the Art: Google Maps App for iPhone Goes in the Right Direction - Review

60 Seconds With Pogue: Google’s Map App: David Pogue reviews Google’s newly released map app for the iPhone.It was one of the biggest tech headlines of the year: in September, Apple dropped its contract with Google, which had always supplied the data for the iPhone’s Maps app. For various strategic reasons, Apple preferred to write a new app, based on a new database of the world that Apple intended...
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