Windows

With Windows 8, Microsoft will dump the familiar multicolored flag logos that have adorned Windows for the last two decades in favor of something much ... blockier. The new Windows 8 logo isn't a flag, it's a block made up of four squares that is either jutting out or sliding away, depending on how you look at it. There is no curve, no wave, no flex, just flat, hard lines. Love it or hate it, this is the new Windows logo and it decidedly invokes the "metro" user interface found in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7, which is made up of square and rectangular "live tiles" for apps for use with touchscreens on phones and tablets.

It was the end of a long day in a stuffy Simi Valley office building. Ann Romney had been under oath for more than four hours, testifying in a sometimes contentious deposition about a pricey horse she sold that may or may not have been afflicted with a condition that made him unrideable. In the airless room, Romney was getting annoyed. "That really is -- that really is irritating," she said when the opposing attorney implied she didn't know who looked after her horse in Moorpark when she was at her home in Boston.

Some may wonder whether there's room for Microsoft to carve a niche for itself with a behemoth like Apple's iPad dominating the tablet market.  According to a  Bloomberg report , Microsoft is said to be preparing Windows 8, a touch-friendly operating system, for a fall launch. Although the iPad is a dominant critical and commercial success by most accounts, there's a sizable gap between it and the nearest comparable Android tablet, presenting...

ANCHORAGE - With his Boy Scout good looks and schoolboy cap, Schaeffer Cox was known for striding happily through the treacherous backwater between rabble rousing and revolution. In university auditoriums and community meeting halls throughout the West over the last few years, the 28-year-old Cox has preached the gospel of free will, no taxes and unregulated firearms. He's also warned growing legions of supporters that the dictionary defines "terrorism" as government through intimidation - and that its logical antidote is "horrible rebellion.

Paul Conrad suggests in his cartoon (Aug. 24) that Pope John Paul II, in firing Father Charles Curran of Catholic University of America, has shut the windows of the Catholic Church opened up by Pope John XXIII. Yet is is hardly clear that John XXIII wanted to open windows in order to throw out the Ten Commandments. If the Vatican permits Curran to teach in the name of the church, it puts an implicit stamp of approval on infanticide, sodomy or masturbation--activities that Curran seems to think are acceptable.

Set on a corner lot in Manhattan Beach's Hill Section, this modernist house makes the most of walls of windows that frame the ocean views. The U-shaped concrete, steel and glass structure centers on a walled interior courtyard that the living space surrounds. Location: 904 Highview Ave., Manhattan Beach 90266 Asking price: $3.6 million Architect: Gerald Horn Year built: 1996 House size: Three bedrooms, 31/2 bathrooms, 3,643 square feet Lot size: 6,761 square feet Features: Solid teak wood windows, steel truss beams, living room fireplace, formal dining room, family room, two-car garage About the area: In the first half of the year, 177 single-family homes sold in the 90266 ZIP Code at a median price of $1,489,000, according to DataQuick.

Microsoft Corp. said it fixed a glitch with its Windows Live program that shut users out of e-mail accounts and other online services. The problem, which prevented most customers worldwide from signing on, was resolved, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant said. Windows Live ID, originally called Passport, gives users access to services such as Hotmail e-mail, the MSN Internet portal and Xbox Live video games with a single user name and password.

REGARDING the comment by Arthur Frommer: "Most of QM2's inside cabins don't have windows" ["Live Large on QM2, Except for the Cabin," On a Budget, Dec. 17]: Could he give us an example or two of inside cabins with windows? The old P&O Canberra (and I believe the Oriana, as well) had a feature called "court system," which allowed daylight into premium inside cabins, but I don't think this was ever equated with the feature usually referred to as a "window." HERBERT R. MILLER Glendale

Preventing the spread of disease in a hospital may be as simple as opening a window, an international team of researchers reported Monday. The low-tech solution could help prevent the spread of airborne infections such as tuberculosis -- and old-fashioned hospitals with high ceilings and big windows may offer the best design for this, they reported.

Comforting, in its way, how, wherever you may be, The effect's so much the same--walking in Rome, say, or Reykjavik, or one of those rust-red Missouri rivertowns where we all were born and grew, you merely glance right up into somebody's home, catching the sky, out back, through two sets of windows, and are in a sense home free: free of everywhere you've lived, everything you've read.

A 1928 Tudor once owned by Broadway star Mary Martin is on the market in Bel-Air at $10.5 million. Nicknamed the Peter Pan House for the role that the former resident is often associated, the two-story plus basement house sits on about an acre with a guesthouse and swimming pool. Features include leaded-glass windows, half-timbered details and a gabled roof. There is a library/study, a breakfast room, seven bedrooms and five bathrooms. Martin, who died in 1990 at 76, also was known for stage roles in "South Pacific" and "The Sound of Music.

Microsoft has released a full version of a Skype app for the Windows Phone operating system. The free app, available in 18 languages, adds Windows Phone users to the 200 million people using Skype on computers, smartphones and tablets monthly. Users can connect over the Internet telephony and chat service via 4G, 3G and Wi-Fi.  In beta from February, the formal app adds video calling in portrait mode and friend management capabilities including invite, accept invitations, block, and unblock contacts.

If you've perused the selection of apps available for Windows Phone, you might have noticed that some of the greatest hits for iPhone and Android users aren't there -- yet. But that appears to be shifting somewhat. Some, like MapMyFitness, are slowly dipping a toe in Microsoft's mobile waters. Two MapMyFitness apps -- the original offerings of MapMapRun and MapMyRide -- are now available as free apps in the marketplace. "We think that there will continue to be competition across the operating systems, and Microsoft is certainly a big player," said Robin Thurston, co-founder and chief product officer for MapMyFitness.

A condominium in West Hollywood owned by comic actor Milton Berle and his wife, Lorna, has come on the market at $695,000. The Shoreham Towers condo has views of downtown L.A., Santa Monica and the ocean. The one-bedroom, 11/2-bathroom unit features an updated kitchen and motorized window shades. Floor-to-ceiling stacking glass doors open to a balcony with a counter and seating. The high-rise building includes a pool, a gym and a doorman. Berle, who died in 2002 at 93, was an early television star following work in vaudeville, on the stage and in radio.

Actress and historic home renovator Diane Keaton has listed a live-work town house in downtown Los Angeles for lease at $2,800 a month. She recently bought the condominium for $570,000. The three-level unit in a Arts District building dating to 1906 features exposed brick walls and steel beams, skylights, clerestory windows, wide-plank wood floors, vaulted ceilings, a patio, a rooftop terrace and an open floor plan. The 1,285-square-feet of living space contains two bedrooms and 21/2 bathrooms.

At dawn, Jeff Lynn sat cradling a cup of coffee at Philippe's, a downtown restaurant drenched in dusky light and Los Angeles memories. He considered the changes afoot less than a mile away at Dodger Stadium, hallowed ground for generations of Angelenos. Like many people across the city Wednesday, he was happy - very happy - with the news that the Dodgers were being sold to a group headed by Magic Johnson, and was more than ready to say goodby to seller Frank McCourt. "There's no greater son of Los Angeles than Magic Johnson.

Re "Bratton's 'broken windows,' " Opinion, April 20 Professor Bernard E. Harcourt's criticism of Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton's adherence to the "broken windows" theory of dealing with crime misses the mark. Law enforcement should be mostly concerned with working closely with the individual, widely varying communities that make up the city. Law enforcement generally has done a much better job the last decade in partnering with neighborhoods and finding out what the people think are the problems that should have priority attention.

When taggers spray-painted the windows of Rosa Bobbio's tiny upholstery shop in Anaheim, she called the police, who told her it was the city's responsibility. But the city told her she owed it $466.66 in fines and fees for not replacing her defaced windows at Century Custom Upholstery. Bobbio's experience is similar to that of other business owners in Southern California who find themselves caught between the zero-tolerance policies of municipal governments and the persistent destruction of taggers.

Some may wonder whether there's room for Microsoft to carve a niche for itself with a behemoth like Apple's iPad dominating the tablet market.  According to a  Bloomberg report , Microsoft is said to be preparing Windows 8, a touch-friendly operating system, for a fall launch. Although the iPad is a dominant critical and commercial success by most accounts, there's a sizable gap between it and the nearest comparable Android tablet, presenting...

Nokia announced it will launch its Lumia line of Windows Phones in China next month. The Nokia 800C will lead the Finnish company's entry into the world's largest consumer market, to be followed at some point in the second quarter by the Nokia 610C, according to a news release issued by the company Wednesday. "We're excited to introduce our first Lumia smartphone, the Nokia 800C, to this important market," said Stephen Elop, Nokia chief executive, in a statement. "We've created a compelling, locally relevant experience on the Nokia 800C especially tailored for people in China.