Simplify

An added service charge is a given in Europe. It's understood and expected in Singapore. The United States is one of only a few countries where restaurant tipping, and just how much is appropriate, is still a question. Some restaurants have gone so far as listing the amounts of "suggested gratuities" on the check--showing the customer how much 15%, 18% or 20% of the bill is--for the customer to simply choose from.

Amy Reiley had resigned herself to joining the ranks of the uninsured. The part-time L.A. resident and owner of a boutique cookbook publishing company had a group insurance plan that for three years covered her and another full-time employee. But when Reiley's employee became eligible for Medicare, she lost the group policy and was left to search for insurance on her own. Reiley, in her 30s, has a history of headaches resulting from neck spasms, which she manages with a muscle relaxant.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Meet Nick D'Aloisio, the 17-year-old British entrepreneur sensation who just sold his popular news-reading app to Yahoo Inc. for close to $30 million, instantly becoming one of the world's youngest self-made technology millionaires. It's the classic Silicon Valley success story of a young software prodigy striking it ridiculously big. But this time it's unfolding on the other side of the pond. D'Aloisio, who taught himself to write software at the age of 12, built the free iPhone app Summly that automatically summarizes news stories for small screens in his London bedroom in 2011.

A new pay-TV receiver from Fanhattan tries to solve three problems vexing TV viewers: clunky program guides, a proliferation of often similar Internet video services and overly complex remote controls. The new receiver, dubbed Fan TV, uses its own image-rich menus in place of the grid of channels and time slots on conventional pay-TV guides. It combines broadcast and cable networks with Netflix, Apple's iTunes and numerous other online video sources. And it's much sleeker than conventional set-top boxes.

As authorities investigate the potential use of fake identification in the recent terrorist attacks, a state audit released Thursday said the California Department of Motor Vehicles lacks the technology to use fingerprint matches to verify the identity of driver's license and identification card applicants. Without the technology, DMV officials are handicapped in their ability to guard against someone assuming the identity of another person whose fingerprints already are on file.

For those confused VCR owners who have pitched a permanent tent in front of their television sets so as not to miss their favorite TV shows, it's time to break camp. This week marks the local introduction of a user-friendly gadget that its developers claim can program the most complicated home VCR with the ease of using a touch-tone telephone. It's called VCR Plus--a remote-control device that automatically records programs by entering a code number printed in TV listings.