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A small wooden cabinet went up for auction on EBay. Inside were two locks of hair, one granite slab, one dried rosebud, one goblet, two wheat pennies, one candlestick and, allegedly, one "dibbuk," a kind of spirit popular in Yiddish folklore. The seller, a Missouri college student named Iosif Nietzke, described the container as a "haunted Jewish wine cabinet box" that had plagued several owners with rotten luck and a spate of bizarre paranormal stunts.

Here's a big oops for Ferrari, the maker of mega-bucks sports cars. It made a mistake building the crankshafts for the engines in its California and 458 Italia models and now will have to repair or replace them, depending on what the owner picks. Ferrari said it will recall the 2011 and 2012 model-year cars because the crankshaft error can cause the engines in the vehicles, which sell for $200,000 or more, to freeze suddenly and possibly cause a crash. The Italian automaker learned of the problem in a uniquely embarrassing way. The first of these models to have its engine freeze was the car the company was lending to critics to review.

Hero Complex, the Los Angeles Times blog devoted to caped crusaders, zombies, wizards and all things superhero, won a nod from the journalism world Saturday, receiving the award for best online commentary among large websites from the Online News Assn. The judges praised the blog as "elegantly executed" and offering "an extremely well-rounded perspective on pretty much everything" in the pop culture areas it covers. The blog is the creation of reporter Geoff Boucher and includes contributions from Jevon Phillips, Denise Martin, Gina McIntyre, Chris Lee, Susan King and Linda Whitmore.

Within a five-second span, Metta World Peace threw everything away. His vicious elbow didn't just damage Oklahoma City forward James Harden. It damaged World Peace's reputation. His ensuing ejection didn't just hang the Lakers out to dry as they somehow managed to escape with a 114-106 double-overtime victory Sunday over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It left them wondering if they can win without him, since World Peace probably will draw a lengthy suspension. And his apology afterward that it was an "unintentional elbow" isn't just laughable because the Lakers' public relations staff refused to allow him to take follow-up questions.

Practical Travel Gear speaks to the evolving needs of business travelers, parents, adventure enthusiasts and those who try to pack their bags lighter than they did the last time. What's hot: A shiny new makeover breathes life into the 4-year-old travel gear blog started by veteran travel writer Tim Leffel. The key difference: Practical Travel Gear is now written by three travelers who bring personal insight to reviews, whether it's a family-friendly iPhone app that turns digital photos into postcards or a handy cellphone power extender.

The Los Angeles Times Funland blog covers news, trends, issues and changes at major amusement and theme parks as well as the latest information on new rides, attractions, shows, parades and Halloween events. Funland categories: Theme Parks | Disneyland | Disney California Adventure | Disney World | Universal Studios | Six Flags | Knott's Berry Farm | New Rides & Attractions | Roller Coasters | Photo Galleries | Top 10s | Most Popular Stories | Celebrities | Halloween | Wizarding World of Harry Potter Contact Los Angeles Times theme park blogger Brady MacDonald at brady (dot)

If you're thumbing through your calendar of official health holidays, you already know Wednesday is National Women's Health and Fitness Day . No need to buy a card, just spend 30 minutes exercising that day -- and every day. One easy way to start, if you don't have a regular exercise program, is walking: It's free and you don't have to master any special skills to begin. Read "Walking: A Step in the Right Direction. " Need more inspiration to get moving? Check out a new health blog at the Baltimore Sun called Exercists that offers tips and ideas year-round, no matter where you live.

AOL Inc. is buying TechCrunch for as much as $40 million in a high-profile partnership that weds the struggling Internet giant trying to reclaim its former glory with one of the more influential blogs in the technology industry. AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong joined TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington onstage Tuesday to make the announcement at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco. Arrington, 40, an outspoken entrepreneur who built a hobby chronicling the rise and fall of young companies into a Silicon Valley powerhouse, said San Francisco-based TechCrunch would operate as a subsidiary and retain its distinctive editorial direction.

After dozens of bestselling novels, Danielle Steel still has words to spare: She's starting a blog. "It's like a letter to a friend, and fun to be able share something and say, 'Gee, I did this,' " says Steel, 61, whose run of hits includes three this year alone: "Honor Thyself," "Rogue" and "A Good Woman." "I've remained very remote and very private, partly because of all my kids [nine]. They're bigger now and I would like to communicate with my readers in a more informal way, not just through the list of my accomplishments on my publisher's Website."

Leroy Sievers, a broadcast journalist who candidly and poignantly commented on the disease that would take his life in My Cancer, a popular National Public Radio blog, has died. He was 53. Sievers, a former executive producer of ABC's "Nightline," died Friday at his home in Maryland, NPR announced. In 2001, Sievers was successfully treated for colon cancer, but four years later he was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer. He began his public conversation about the disease by saying, "Death and I are hardly strangers" in a that aired on NPR's "Morning Edition" in early 2006.

A lot has been made of organic cotton and other eco-friendly fabrics made from Tencel, hemp and bamboo as fashion rides the mega-trend of environmentalism. But recycled clothes purchased at thrift and consignment stores, as well as upcycled items reworked from out-of-date castoffs, may be an even greener choice. Almost half of the climate impact of clothing occurs before it reaches consumers. It was this idea I embraced when I hired a wardrobe consultant for a desperately needed eco fashion makeover.

The Lakers star pushed his opponent from behind. Then he approached him to show he wouldn't back down. He then earned a technical foul. Sounds like something Metta World Peace would do. Or Josh McRoberts. Or Kobe Bryant. But it was none of those players. It was Pau Gasol. The 18,997 fans at Staples Center expressed displeasure with the Humphries-Kim Kardashian split by booing the Nets forward whenever he touched the ball. But Gasol expressed his displeasure with Humphries by confronting him. "It's been a little physical," Gasol said after the Lakers' 91-87 victory Tuesday over New Jersey.

Twitter is taking the San Francisco startup Posterous under its wing. On Monday, the two companies announced that Twitter had purchased Posterous for an undisclosed amount of money and that the team that built the Posterous Spaces blogging platform would now be working on Twitter products. Spaces, a popular service in its own right with about 15 million users, won't be going away anytime soon in the takeover, Twitter and Posterous said. "Posterous Spaces will remain up and running without disruption," the two companies said in a statement.

He has only been on the job for two months, but Yahoo's new chief executive, Scott Thompson, is already preparing a bold plan to turn around the struggling Internet company. Thompson is weighing a significant restructuring of Yahoo that could include thousands of layoffs, according to technology blog All Things D. The moves, the first major ones from the former PayPal president, could be announced as early as this month, Kara Swisher reported, citing anonymous sources. Yahoo recently hired the Boston Consulting Group to focus on the cuts to its products group.

The joys of Clifton's Re "Clifton's Cafeteria peels back the years," Feb. 9 What wonderful memories I have of the old Clifton's Cafeteria when I was a young boy around 1951. I remember my mother patiently waiting for me to return home from my morning kindergarten class. We would take the trolley to downtown L.A.. My mother would shop, and we would end up at Clifton's for lunch. Can you imagine what this 5-year-old thought of the rain-forest motif, the endless display of foods and (of course, my favorite)

This is a test file. Trying out the p2p blog platform after fully mastering all the elements of Typepad. Should be a super experience. Looking forward to all things p2p. Could be blogging something about the Clippers .

The nonprofit group Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, said it had acquired Consumerist.com, an online consumer products blog, from Gawker Media. Consumerist.com has acted as a kind of consumer watchdog and advice site. Consumers Union said the blog would operate independently of its other publications under a new nonprofit organization called Consumer Media. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The gig: Heather Cocks, 33, and Jessica Morgan, 36, aka The Fug Girls, creators of the popular snarkoblog Go Fug Yourself. It was among the first to skewer celebrities for misguided fashion choices (they translate "fug" as "fantastically ugly"). Go Fug Yourself has made the lists of cool and influential blogs by such arbiters as Time magazine and the Guardian, and Cocks and Morgan can now be found covering many red carpet events, nitpicking the starlets for NYMag.com. Beginning to blog: One day at the mall, Cocks and Morgan began making fun of what celebrities were wearing in poster advertisements on the walls, and decided to start a blog for their friends.

Washington state is promenading down a controversial aisle that's familiar to Californians after its Senate approved a bill last week legalizing same-sex marriage. The lower house and the governor are expected to approve the bill as well. But such civil rights victories can be fleeting, as Californians learned after a court decision legalizing gay marriage was overturned by Proposition 8 in 2008. A similar battle is looming in Washington, where opponents plan to gather signatures for a November ballot initiative declaring marriage to be reserved for opposite-sex couples only.

Thunder power forward Nick Collison blogged for GQ about rookie hazing: "We make sure our rookies this season — Reggie Jackson and Ryan Reid — wear their pink Justin Bieber and 'My Little Pony' backpacks and carry their oversized teddy bears on all road trips. Kendrick Perkins says in Boston they made a rookie go out in a foot of snow and do 100 push-ups in only his spandex shorts. " The Magic's erratic play has raised questions about Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy's future.