Thrust and Parry on the Senate Floor. A fight of galactic proportions over health care looms. Here's a playbook for aficionados of legislative war games.

Atlona's HDAiR wireless USB-to-VGA / HDMI adapter gains audio, usefulness. Remember that HDAiR adapter we reviewed with exceptionally high hopes earlier this year? Yeah, it wasn't exactly the dream device we wanted, but it seems as if Atlona may have just remedied the primary gripe we had against it. The all-new HDAiR wireless USB-to-VGA / HDMI adapter...

Enthusiasm for Palin, and Echoes of 2008 Divide. On her book tour, Sarah Palin has skipped the big cities authors usually visit in favor of smaller places where she and Senator John McCain performed well on the presidential ticket.

Under Mangini, Browns Are a Team in Turmoil. With one victory and five offensive touchdowns in nine games, the deterioration of the Browns under Coach Eric Mangini is at full boil.

Letter from India: India's Path Was Paved by Soviet Fall. For better or for worse - for better and for worse - India embarked on a path that has today made it one of the world's most unabashedly capitalist places.

Currents: Are Metrics Blinding Our Perception?. Welcome to the Age of Metrics - or to the End of Instinct.

Quotation of the Week. "My patients tell me they can live with a little anxiety and distress but they can't live with a little cancer."

Prime Number. 49 million: The number of Americans who lived in households that lacked consistent access to food in 2008.

Reading File. The paparazzi economy in recession; the case for keeping Al Qaeda alive; and the three kinds of fools.

65? Back of the Line for the Swine Flu Vaccine, Pal. Older patients are top priorities for flu vaccine. But not for swine flu. They face fewer risks because they've been exposed to H1N1.

Republicans Eye the Tiger of Populism. Sarah Palin brings a big question into focus for Republican leaders: Should they hitch themselves to the powerful but volatile strain of populism she embodies?

Get a Mammogram. No Don't. Repeat.. The current dispute over screening tests gives many people a sense of d0j0 vu. Here's a timeline of the debate, from 1963 on.

Plotting Thrillers in the Fog of China. So much of what is known of China's beating Communist heart is guesswork. But not for the spy novelist.

Thanksgiving Recipe: Just Chill. Face it, you're not going to be the next Bobby Flay. Understand that and you will survive the day.

Thrust and Parry on the Senate Floor. A fight of galactic proportions over health care looms. Here's a playbook for aficionados of legislative war games.

Wall Street's Spin Game. Big profits are back, and we're about to learn what happens when the banks try to make nice with the public. It'll be no bed of roses.

Best Soup Ever? Suits Over Ads Now Seek Proof. Companies that were once content to fight in store aisles and on commercials are choosing a different route 0 formal grievances challenging their competitors' claims.

Suspect in Ft. Hood Shootings to Remain in Hospital. The Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at the Fort Hood army base earlier this month will not be moved immediately to a military prison for pretrial detention.

Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle. With no margin left, Democrats advanced heathcare reform legislation in the Senate.

Purported Motorola Droid prototype turns up on eBay. Wishing you could get a Motorola Droid and stand out from all your Android-toting friends at the same time? Then you might just want to consider bidding on this "limited edition" Droid prototype that just turned up on eBay, which has a reasonably good chance of being an actual...

Senator, Clout Rising, Cements Role at Heart of Debate. In advance of her re-election bid next year, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas sided with her fellow Democrats for one vote, but was cautious about the overall health bill.

Toyota Partner Robots heading to the moon, offworld colonies inevitable. It started off innocently enough. Personal transporters , they told us, just robots to make life easier . Now look at them -- Toyota's Partner Robots are set for upgrades that include back-mounted solar chargers, spring-loaded jumping mechanisms, and a design hardy enough to...

Back to Business: Investment Funds Profit Again, This Time by Paring Mortgages. Investment funds are buying mortgages, trimming some of them to the benefit of homeowners, and shifting any risk to the federal government.

At a Software Powerhouse, the Good Life Is Under Siege. SAS, the giant private company that specializes in business intelligence software, is facing new rivals, as well as free alternatives to some of its products..

Ping: A Friend's Tweet Could Be an Ad. A group of start-up marketers see value in getting regular people to send a sentence or two of text to their friends and admirers.

Pundit Stakes Out a More Activist Role in Politics. The conservative firebrand Glenn Beck is planning voter registration drives and rallies, but he is cautious about how he might directly support particular candidates.

Knicks Beat Nets, Winning Battle in N.B.A. Basement. The Knicks (3-9) won their second in a row and kept the Nets winless at 0-13.

Nintendo DSi LL set loose in Japan. Feels nice when a company keeps its promises, doesn't it? Nintendo said it'd have the newly bulked up DSi LL out in Japan for November 21 , and shockingly enough that's exactly what's happened. Eager Japanese upgraders have today gotten their mitts on the 4.2-inch (both screens,...

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 heading to AT&T. Man, the loot you can uncover when you go snooping around spec pages. That most ambitious of Sony Ericsson projects, the XPERIA X10 , is still a long way from being released, but already we can narrow down the list of potential US carriers to just one: AT&T. The guys over at...

Windows drivers for Apple's Magic Mouse conjured from the ether. Hey Windows users: what would you risk for a mouse of such mystical persuasions that it has the word "magic" right in the product name? How about $69 for the mouse followed by a few sleepless nights after installing a .exe found in the murky shallows of the internet? That's what...

Palm Pre backups can be easily overwritten by a replacement device: replacers beware!. We've just been alerted to an unsettling trend in Palm Pre land, where strings of replacement devices are a bit too common for comfort: some users have been losing their Palm Profile backup, or a large majority of it, once they pair up their new device. The big issue is that...

Medical Marijuana: No Longer Just for Adults. Several Bay Area doctors who recommend medical marijuana for patients say their client base includes teenagers with psychiatric conditions including A.D.H.D.

Driven to Distraction: High-Tech Baby Sitters Get Drivers Off Phone. Which is safer: technology that disables a cellphone in a moving car, or that makes the conversation completely hands-free?

Wired shows off an Apple tablet-formatted copy of Wired on a fake Apple tablet. It's a wild land of imagination over at Wired and Condé Nast these days. The pair have managed not only to dream up a colorful, animated copy of Wired magazine for the so-far imaginary Apple tablet, but actually whipped up a concept of a Apple tablet to go with it. The...

Italy Arrests 2 Over Attacks in Mumbai. The authorities arrested a Pakistani father and son accused of providing logistical support and financing.

With $72.7 Million, 'New Moon' Sets New Opening Day Record. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" took in $72.7 million in its first day to break the single day domestic box office record previously held by "The Dark Knight."

Driven to Distraction: High-Tech Baby Sitters Get Drivers Off Phone. Which is safer: technology that disables a cellphone in a moving car, or that makes the conversation completely hands-free?

An Accused Plotter With Feet in East and West. The profile that has emerged of David Headley, a U.S. citizen accused of plotting revenge against a Danish newspaper, suggests a man pulled between two cultures.

Saturday Profile: In Iraq, a Blunt Civilian Is a Fixture by the General's Side. Emma Sky, a Briton, initially opposed the war but now has a place in Gen. Ray Odierno's inner circle.

Cleric Wields Religion to Challenge Iran's Theocracy. Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who played a role in the founding of the Islamic Republic, has emerged as the spiritual leader of the opposition.

Democrats Press Ahead on Debate Before Health Vote. Senate Democrats made a case for legislation to revamp the nation's health care system in a parade of floor speeches aimed at cementing party unity ahead of a first crucial vote.

As Afghans Resist Taliban, U.S. Spurs Rise of Militias. The Americans hope the militias will encourage an increasingly demoralized Afghan population to take a stake in the war against the Taliban.

Microsoft roadmap pegs Windows 8 release for 2012, or just after the world's end. It's somewhat hard to believe that we're already talking about Windows 8 given that Windows 7 just hit the shelves two months ago, but you know the engineers at Microsoft are already planning ahead. According to a roadmap constructed over at Microsoft Kitchen -- based around...

Sri Lanka to Free War-Displaced Tamils From Camps. A senior Sri Lankan official said that all ethnic-minority Tamil detainees would be freed from government camps on Dec. 1.

On the Hill: Legislative Pileup Looms in the Senate. This year in the Senate, even popular bills and generally acceptable executive branch nominees have had to traverse a time-consuming procedural thicket.

NY1 Reporter Guilty of Attempted Assault. Dominic Carter was cleared of a more serious charge of third-degree assault in the incident, the Rockland County district attorney said.

Life Requested for U.S. Student in Italy. Prosecutors asked an Italian court to hand down life sentences to an American student and her former boyfriend for their alleged roles in a fatal stabbing.

Life Requested for Student in Italy. Prosecutors have requested a life sentence for an American student and her former Italian boyfriend accused of killing a young British woman in Italy.

BlackBerry Curve 8530 now putting Verizon through the rounds. Right on schedule, the latest BlackBerry to grace the Verizon's CDMA spectrum, the Curve 8530 , is now on sale. A 2.5-inch display, OS 5.0, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and yes, WiFi -- take that, Tour . Price is $199.99 on two-year contract, with an added $100 discount if you buy it...

Arrests for Mumbai Attacks in Italy. Italian anti-terrorist police arrested two Pakistanis suspected of helping to finance the Islamic militant group responsible for the attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, which killed 166 people.

An Unsteady Future for Broadcast. Analysts and executives are wondering if the economic model of broadcast television, which is more heavily reliant on advertising than cable, is irreparably broken.

Pedicabs Will Now Be Inspected and Licensed. Bohemian no more, pedicabs in New York must take a ride on the legitimate side beginning this weekend.

China Mine Explosion Kills 37; Scores Trapped. The deadly gas explosion tore through a coal mine in northern China on Saturday, trapping scores of workers nearly a third of a mile underground, authorities said.

Tesla Motors IPO coming 'any day' now, says report. Word on the street -- and by that we mean Reuters -- is that Tesla 's looking to go public with the company "any day." The luxury electric car make, whose Roadster still goes for a cool $109,000, would be the first US auto company to offer an IPO since Ford way back in 1956,...

New Sony NXCAM is more camcorder than you ever need, but still you covet. Sony's latest professional-grade camcorder probably meets your needs and then some by quite a stretch, recording AVCHD up to 24Mbps and SD quality in MPEG-2 / 9Mbps. We're also looking at a 20x zoom lens, 3 x 1/3-inch Exmor CMOS sensor, and storage options including Memory Stick...

PlayStation 2 finally launches in Brazil for the bargain price of around US $462. You read that right. Sony's PlayStation 2 , which the great majority of the world has been enjoying since 2000, is just now officially touching ground in Brazil. We're pretty sure it's been making its way into the country for many years by not-so-official means, but if you've...

How would you change Motorola's CLIQ?. It's a funny thing, the CLIQ . When it was introduced at a low-key press conference, the world gasped as the flagging handset maker finally made its first really bold move since the RAZR by ushering in its first-ever Android handset. Here we a few months later, and the only...

system.verbs.apps.posterous. Initial app table for Posterous.

Panel to Consider Sanford Impeachment. A South Carolina legislative committee will convene to begin preliminary impeachment proceedings against Gov. Mark Sanford, according to the chairman of the state's House Judiciary Committee.

New Consensus Sees Stimulus Package as Worthy Step. A variety of economists say that economic stimulus legislation is helping an economy in free fall a year ago to grow again and shed fewer jobs than it otherwise would.

Tips for the Admissions Test ... to Kindergarten. Test preparation companies are now catering to a new demographic: youngsters who may well watch Big Bird and Elmo the morning of their exams.

 The hottest toy this holiday season is not a ticklish red monster. It's a fake hamster.

 EFF Looks To Bust Bogus Podcasting Patent; Needs Prior Art.

Philips launches 9704 LED Pro televisions in the UK. Philips has just announced a new 9704 LED Pro line of televisions bound for the UK. The two sets promise a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 200Hz refresh rate, and a 1-ms response time . Philips promises both models -- the 40-inch 40PFL9704 and the 46-inch 46PFL9704 -- are up to 50...

Proton Beams Are on Track at Collider. The successful operation of the the Large Hadron Collider marked the resumption of a $9 billion quest to investigate the universe when it was less than a trillionth of a second old.

Cadbury Bid Under Study at Hershey. Any Hershey offer would need to be at least $17 billion and would break from the financial conservatism that has long defined the American chocolate giant.

A Hamster Is the Season's Hottest Toy. For girls, the season's hottest toy is a set of fake hamsters; for boys, a series of battle cards and action figures inside small spheres.

Ex-Smoker Wins Against Philip Morris. If it survives an appeal, the verdict late Thursday would be the nation's largest award of damages to an individual suing a tobacco company.

Dynamic Controls unveils integrated iPhone app for wheelchair controls. Dynamic Controls has just taken the wraps off of its new iPhone application which should be of great interest to those who use a wheelchair on a daily basis. The application -- which connects with the wheelchair via Bluetooth and has a bulit-in charger for the iPhone or iPod...

To Blacks, Precious Is 'Demeaned' or 'Angelic'. "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" has sparked heated debate about its meaning since its limited release.

The TV Watch: The Fine Art of Quitting While She's Ahead. It's a measure of Oprah Winfrey's outsize stature that the news that she would shut down "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in September 2011 buckled the media world.

Large Hadron Collider is online, Higgs boson be damned. " We have captured it! First circulating beam of 2009!" And with that tweet, researchers at CERN announced that they did in fact activate the Large Hadron Collider , after quite a long delay and despite warnings of a looming, nefarious Higgs boson . Whether or not we will have...

Hacked E-Mails Fuel Climate Change Skeptics. The e-mails and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university will undoubtedly raise questions about the actions of some scientists.

A Look at California's New TV Energy Rules. While it will be a challenge, TV manufacturers believe that they'll be able to meet new California standards for HDTV power consumption.

Students Continue to Protest California Tuition Increases. Students occupied campus buildings at Berkeley and Santa Cruz on Friday, the day after a 32-percent increase in tuition was approved by the University of California Board of Regents.

Hershey Considers a Counterbid for Cadbury. Hershey is considering bidding for Cadbury, a proposal that would top the $16.7 billion hostile bid from Kraft, people briefed on the matter told DealBook on Friday.

 Students Continue to Protest California Tuition Increases.

Finland unleashes Blobo, the squeezable, all-too-cheerful game controller, on an unsuspecting world. What's a matter, guy? Wiimote seem "old hat?" Looks like a start-up in Finland has just what you need. Containing "industry-leading" sensors for keeping track of "movement, rotation, magnetic fields and pressure," Blobo is a squeezable game controller roughly the size and shape...

For the Soul. A lingering cold has one positive side effect: having a reason to explore chicken soup in a variety of ethnic cuisines, and finding all of them delicious.

Hearing Set for Fort Hood Suspect. An attorney for the Army psychiatrist charged in the mass shooting at Fort Hood says his client will have his first court hearing in his hospital room on Saturday.

Signs That Swine Flu Has Peaked in U.S.. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said flu activity was declining in all regions of the country.

Arrests in Europe Over Soccer Fixing Investigation. German law enforcement officials arrested 17 on Friday in connection with what was described as the biggest match-fixing scandal yet uncovered in European soccer.

Hacked e-Mails Fuel Climate Change Skeptics. The e-mails and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university will undoubtedly raise questions about the actions of some scientists.

 The Droid battery cover problem

 Droid with battery cover.

 Android's rapid growth has some developers worried.

 Verizon Droids already dropping in price.

Samsung unleashes two Diva-branded phones, divas everywhere faint. Samsung 's been showing off two new handsets of late. The S5150 Olivia is a clamshell affair with a mirrored body, an external LED, and we know that it will boast a 3 megapixel camera and a 2.2-inch QVGA display. The other - the S7070 - is an iPhone -esque job, with a crazy...

system.verbs.apps.wordPress.data.replaceTable. The beginning of a string replacement table.

system.verbs.apps.wordPress.savePost. Run the text through wordPress.data.replaceTable.

Obama Raised Issue of American Held in China. The Chinese government has held an American oil geologist on suspicion of stealing state secrets for nearly two years, prompting President Obama to raise the issue during his visit to Beijing.

The Engadget Show tapes this Sunday with HTC's Drew Bamford and Chris Grant of Joystiq!. The Engadget Show is happening again, humans! This Sunday, November 22nd, we'll be bringing that live magic back to the stage as we sit down with Drew Bamford (you can read a bit about him here ), director of HTC's Innovation Center (the place where things like the Sense UI are...

Mangrove WinMo tablet rough-handled, teased for being 'tubby'. Not too long ago C-motech popped up on our radar with Mangrove , the 7-inch touchscreen tablet that's been tragically saddled with Windows Mobile 6.5. The kids at SlashGear have just had a chance to play with the device, and to be honest they don't seem too terribly impressed....

The Engadget Podcast, live at 6:15PM EST!. Hey, it's Friday, and the Engadget Podcast crew is ready to blow out the week in news live -- and not only is there tech news to talk about, but we've got a hot new site to call home. It's all going down at 6:15PM EST, but the chat below is open, so settle in and we'll see you...

Archerfish Quattro video monitoring and recording system now available at Amazon. Cernium's just announced something that should really please the 'I know the cat is putting my stuff on Ebay while I'm at church' crowd. The Archerfish Quattro is a full scale, no messing aroung video monitoring and recording system that pays attention to the little details...

Hip-Hop's New Steps. Jerking is a Los Angeles dance phenomenon that comes with its own dress code.

Entelligence: Chrome OS, babies, and bathwater. Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going --...

Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Cellphones. Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide ! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks,...

Closing of Dialysis Unit Hits Illegal Immigrants Hard. When Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta closed its dialysis unit, many illegal immigrants had nowhere to turn.

U.S. Fears Iraq Development Projects May Go to Waste. After spending $53 billion for relief and reconstruction in Iraq since 2003, the U.S. is concerned that Iraqis won't be able to maintain the facilities once the Americans have left.

 My response to Twitter COO Dick Costolo re the role of RSS.