"We wanted to help increase IFAW's success rates and raise awareness of the threats against these incredible animals," said Elisabeth Robert, President and CEO of Vermont Teddy Bear. "It was important to all of us at Vermont Teddy Bear to provide funding from the sale of each of the new bears to help to sustain IFAW's efforts and to support what they are doing to instill change."

IFAW works to improve the welfare of wild animals throughout the world by reducing commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats and assisting animals in distress. In China, home of the pandas, IFAW works to protect wildlife habitats and promote animal welfare and conservation. Through animal rescue, rehabilitation and release, IFAW is working to save moon bears in Asia and brown bears like the grizzly in Russia.

"Real bears around the world today face many threats; they need our help," said Patrick Ramage, IFAW Public Affairs Director. "Vermont Teddy Bear's contributions will directly help care for bears orphaned by the winter den hunts in Russia, provide essential funding to the moon bear center in India, support studies of climate change and its effects on marine animals, and conservation efforts."

Each year IFAW cares for about 18 bears at its center in Russia and has successfully released more than 110 bear cubs back into the wild. Globally, IFAW promotes actions to protect our shared environment, such as addressing the effects of climate change on polar bears and other marine mammals.

Two copies of the book -- which was dropped by the HarperCollins publishing house amid a flurry of controversy -- were placed on the Internet auction site and have been drawing numerous bids ever since, the newspaper said.

"If I Did It" tells a hypothetical story of how Simpson would have committed the infamous murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. O.J. Simpson was found not guilty in a sensation trial in 1995.

HarperCollins had said it would destroy all copies of the book after its parent company, News Corp., announced the book release and a TV special promoting it would be canceled. Somehow, two copies of the book found their way onto the Web site.

"We decided to investigate the optimal screen size for high definition viewing," wrote analyst Jeff Evenson in the note. "We conclude that 65 inch to 75 inch is the right size for a 10 foot viewing distance."

Evenson said LCD televisions are free of three barriers that limited the size of traditional TV screens -- weight, thickness and cost -- meaning large-sized LCDs could become more prevalent in homes.

While a 34-inch bulky tube TV could weigh roughly 200 pounds, Evenson said a 57-inch flat-panel LCD TV weighs only 125 pounds, making it more manageable.

An LCD TV is also not inhibited by a thickness that increases dramatically as the TV gets larger -- like it does with a tube TV.

"We believe that a TV's depth creates a barrier to purchase in two ways: it decreases the effect distance viewers sit from the screen and thicker screens can not fit through small doorways and tight turns," he said.

The measure, approved on a 5-3 vote, prohibits stores of more than 90,000 square feet that use 10 percent of space to sell groceries and other merchandise that is not subject to sales tax. It takes aim at Wal-Mart Supercenter stores, which average 185,000 square feet and sell groceries. Mayor Jerry Sanders will veto the ban if the Council reaffirms it on a second vote, which will likely happen in January, said mayoral spokesman Fred Sainz. The Council can override his veto with five votes. "What the Council did tonight was social engineering, not good public policy," Sainz said.

Supporters of the ban argued that Wal-Mart puts smaller competitors out of business, pays workers poorly, and contributes to traffic congestion and pollution. Opponents said the mega-retailer provides jobs and low prices and that a ban would limit consumer choice. "Quite simply, I do not think it is the role of the San Diego City Council to dictate where families should buy their groceries," said Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who opposed the ban.

Councilman Tony Young, who joined the 5-3 majority, countered, "I have a vision for San Diego and that vision is about walkable, livable communities, not big, mega-structures that inhibit people's lives." Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin McCall said the Bentonville, Ark.-based company may consider a legal challenge or voter referendum if the measure becomes law. "Certainly we're disappointed but there's still a number of steps left in this process," he said. "We need to look at what our options are."

The ban is modeled on a law in Turlock, a city of 70,000 people 85 miles southeast of San Francisco. Turlock prohibited big-box stores over 100,000 square feet that devote at least 5 percent of their space to groceries. Wal-Mart recently dropped its challenge to the Turlock ordinance, which prevented it from building a planned 225,000-square-foot Supercenter store. In July, a federal judge in Fresno said Turlock's zoning law did not infringe on the company's constitutional rights. The state Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Kors' 25-year-old company is counting on his unprecedented visibility to kick-start its ambitious plans for expansion. The question is whether Kors' vision can keep pace with his celebrity. Kors faces challenges that eager Runway contestants can only imagine. To take on profitable giants like Ralph Lauren, Kors must devise a look that seems essential and current. Today, Kors makes uncomplicated, classy sportswear—the industry term for coordinating blazers, pants, shirts, skirts, and knits—and to succeed financially and creatively, he must find an inventive way to make these classics new, as other great American designers have.

*****

In the absence of much choice, Kors' many die-hard customers—well-heeled women who work and well-heeled women who don't, but want to convey the efficient independence of those who do—rely on his easy way with chic. But in order to expand the business, the company must attract a larger pool of clients. In 2003, industry veterans Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll bought a controlling interest in the Michael Kors brand, and in August they announced plans to open 100 stores worldwide. The company is banking on a cross-merchandising strategy aimed at drawing big spenders and budget-conscious shoppers into the same stores. Each will sell clothes at several price points: The Collection—or runway—label will hang alongside two accessibly priced "diffusion" labels: Kors Michael Kors at the "bridge" price and Michael Michael Kors at the lower tier. The plan also calls for expansion of the men's offerings and the potentially lucrative accessory collections.

The partners clearly mean business: Company President John Idol spoke of the brand's $1 billion potential. But it's not clear that Kors' newfound TV stardom will make this effort more successful than earlier, failed strategies.

A set of Lincoln Logs might not make a child's eyes light up quite like a new video game would, but retailers say parents' concerns about inundating kids with electronics are making construction sets hot items this holiday shopping season.

"We're seeing a real resurgence in some of the basic toys," said Ernie Speranza, chief marketing officer at retailer KB Toys Inc. "Legos, K'Nex and Mega Blocks are all moving better than they have in recent years."

Lego Systems Inc.'s spokesman Michael McNally said the vast selection of electronics may have some parents unsure of what to buy. "There comes a point when they want to make a safe, easy purchase, and that leads to a retreat back to the classics," he said.

Sales of traditional Lego blocks are at their highest levels since 2001, McNally said. "Kids may be putting gadgets on the wish list, but parents are also slipping in something traditional."

Bilibo is a plastic kids' toy that can be used, depending on the child and circumstance, as a seat, a rocking chair, a hat, a raft, a sled, or a turtle shell. "I love that adults always ask 'what is it?' but kids never do," says Lisa Mahar, proprietor of the New York children's store. "Children are very open to Bilibo's play potential and instinctively know what to do with it." Developed by Swiss designer Alex Hochstrasser for Active People in collaboration with childhood development experts from University Children's Hospital in Zurich, the nearly unbreakable, brightly colored shell is meant to encourage creative play. The piece appeals to both boys and girls in a remarkably wide age range-from 2 to 7—and is praised by everyone, Mahar says, "childhood development experts, designers, parents, and most importantly, children."

Now eBayers are getting excited about Syd all over again, as a bunch of his posessions are being sold off on the site by his estate. They include this artificial Christmas tree, which was found in his upstairs back bedroom, and is still festooned with tinsel and baubles. Its starting price is £100. 77 items are being sold in total: you can find the full details here.

Because the implants made of silicone gel are softer than the saline implants currently available, plastic surgeons said they would quickly become preferred among the more than 300,000 women in this country who have breast implants each year. Critics of the decision lambasted it and said that longstanding safety concerns had not been resolved. But supporters of the implants, including leading surgeons, applauded it.

"For us, it's a triumph of science," said Dr. Richard A. D'Amico of Engelwood, N.J., president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "We’ve always felt that the science would bear out the use of the implants." Dr. Daniel G. Schultz, director of the F.D.A.'s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said that the agency's review, based on company-sponsored studies as well as long-term use of the implants abroad, had determined that their sale is in the best interest of women.

But Dr. Schultz warned that no device is foolproof and that there was a possibility that women would have to have the implants replaced at some point, sometimes because they rupture. Studies have found that the majority of women with silicone implants would have a rupture at some point. According to the federal agency, one study found that 69 percent of women had a rupture. "Women should know that breast implants are not lifetime devices," he said in a telephone briefing for reporters last night. "Women having these procedures done need to be prepared for the fact that there is a likelihood they will require additional surgery," he said. He also recommended regular M.R.I.'s to monitor the devices for "silent rupture," which can occur without a woman’s knowledge. He said the first M.R.I. should be performed when the implants are 3 years old. Because many of the procedures are cosmetic, it was not clear whether those M.R.I.'s would be covered by insurance.

*****

Defending the decision to lift the ban, Dr. Schultz said, "we have been looking at this data continuously for the last 10 years. We have been watching as data had been collected, we have been watching as data has accumulated. We believe that from a scientific standpoint, the decision that we'e making tonight is, in fact, in the best interest of American women."

But he said the agency would require the companies to conduct post-approval studies involving a total of 80,000 women to continue monitoring the safety of the implants. He said that information would be collected about rates of rupture, cancer and autoimmune diseases and effects of the implants on reproduction. That would enable the agency to evaluate concerns about the implants in a large number of women.

The comedy, starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick as dueling neighbors, thrusts intelligent LED lighting into the national spotlight as DeVito's character attempts to turn his house into the world's biggest and most brilliant holiday display. His ambitions are realized when the entire house is transformed into a traffic-halting multimedia light show made possible by Color Kinetics' LED technology.

"This is a film that literally hinges on the lighting -- where the lights are a central character. Anything less than spectacular would have failed the story," said Jason McKinnon of Electric Aura Lighting Design, who conceptualized the ground-breaking lighting sequences along with Rob Sondergaard. "Based on their highly programmable and durable nature, we knew that LEDs were the only feasible choice to make our concept a reality. Color Kinetics' technology exceeded our expectations, allowing us to turn the house into a three-dimensional video display that is the movie's climatic centerpiece."

The project was achieved using Color Kinetics iColor Flex SL, which resembles a traditional holiday string light, but allows precise digital control of every node on the strand. Each thimble-sized node houses a tri-color LED that's capable of producing 64 billion colors through additive color-mixing of red, green and blue light -- much like a pixel in a video screen. Strands of iColor Flex SL lined the home's exterior from top to bottom -- comprising 14,300 nodes in all and essentially wrapping the home in a digital skin. Based on the vision of Deck the Halls director John Whitesell and production designer Bill Brzeski, holiday-themed light animations were designed and streamed via a media server to the LED nodes, which projected the content back.

At full intensity, the 14,300 LED nodes drew just 7,150 watts of energy -- the equivalent of four average hairdryers.

By comparison, wrapping the house in the same fashion with conventional exterior string lights would have drawn approximately 100,100 watts -- 14 times more than the LED installation -- yet without the capability for programmable effects.

The electrical current draw of the entire LED installation was 126 amps -- which is the approximate draw of 1.3 average households.

By comparison, the same configuration using conventional exterior string lights would have drawn 812 amps -- approximately 6.5 times more than the LED installation, or the equivalent of 8 houses' worth of power.

Each tri-color node of iColor Flex SL incorporates a microchip that was custom-designed by Color Kinetics, making it an individually programmable "pixel."

Filming was interrupted numerous times by small aircraft that were attracted to the set by the lights.

We reported earlier that bids for Sony PS3s had reached $9,000 this morning. By Friday afternoon bidding on eBay had jumped over $10,000 for a new, unopened 60GB unit. (Thanks to Evan J. for the tip.)

One entrepreneurial young man, asking $16,000, pleads on his seller's page, "FREE OVERNIGHT!!!! Help fund my college education!" The accompanying grainy photo of him holding his receipt and PS3 is slightly reminiscent of those ransom videos where a kidnap victim is forced to hold that day's newspaper to prove he or she is still alive. But despite the creepiness factor, we can't fault "discounts-from-philly"'s desperation for higher education. But we can if he just uses the money to get bigger tires and a paint job for his truck.

Yesterday it emerged that the couple had already married in secret in America. Cruise's agent Arnold Robinson said they had "officialised" the marriage in Los Angeles before travelling to Italy for the three-day Scientology wedding, said to have cost £5million. For some, the announcement cast a shadow on the event at Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, near Rome. It was criticised for being a stunt to raise awareness of the Scientology religion.

Local priest Father Nicola Fiorentini said: 'It wasn't a wedding at all. It was just for publicity. I can't believe such an event was allowed to take place at all.' The Church of Scientology's influence was explicit throughout the event. Cruise's best man was the church's leader David Miscavige. A Scientology adviser was thought to have been at each table at the wedding banquet.

Miss Holmes, who wore an off-the-shoulder Giorgio Armani ivory gown with a silk Valenciennes lace train and Swarovski embroidered crystals, walked down the aisle with her father Martin. Cruise, wearing a navy, single-breasted Armani tuxedo, and Miss Holmes then exchanged bizarre Scientology vows and swopped rings designed by Italian silversmith David Orgel. The 45-minute service ended with red and white rose petals - the colours of Scientology - falling from nets held in the hall ceiling. As the flowers fell, the couple enjoyed a rather excruciating three-minute kiss - stopping only after embarrassed guests begged them to. Then a 15-minute, £100,000 firework display was set off in the grounds of the castle.

Guests, who included Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey, Will Smith, Brooke Shields and Victoria Beckham, were then led indoors for a three-course wedding breakfast and all-night dancing. After a champagne toast, waiters served a parma ham, buffalo mozzarella and vine tomato platter, then an Italian beef dish. Guests left with £5,000 Armani goodie bags. The next morning the couple flew to the Maldives for their honeymoon.

The Ronaldinho signature collection in the U.S. includes a new boot, the Tiempo Ronaldinho, as well as state of the art equipment including a ball, shin guards and a sport inspired bag. The Tiempo Ronaldinho reflects personal insight from Ronaldinho's futsal past and his current style of play -- as richly crafted, refined and elegant as its namesake's football skills.

In tribute to Ronaldinho's personality both on and off the field, the iconography and visual design of the collection reflects his rich and fabled story. Tri-colored stitching represents Ronaldinho's three major passions in life: Yellow for family, sun, and Brazil; Orange for samba, spice, and food; and Red for the passion and joy he feels for life and soccer. Gold outlines the "10" and stylized "R" that mimics the start of his own signature. According to Ronaldinho, "Everything I know, everything I have, I owe to my family. I play with music in my head ... as long as there is a ball, I am happy."

Nike Designer Tetsuya Thomas Minami, although born in the United States, lived in his family's home town of Osaka, Japan since the age of one. His lifelong passion for the game both on and off the pitch allowed him the opportunity to play on many levels. He moved back to the U.S. to study Industrial Design at Cal State University while playing on the university's soccer team in 1999. Since joining Nike, and in addition to designing the Tiempo Ronaldinho footwear collection, Minami has worked on additional football products such as the successful Mercurial Vapor collection, the Air Zoom Control II and the Nike First Touch II.

Katie Holmes wore a fitted, off-the-shoulder ivory silk bridal gown with a train by popular Hollywood designer Giorgio Armani when she married Tom Cruise on Saturday in a medieval castle near Rome. The dress was adorned in Valenciennes lace and Swarovski beaded crystal embroidery, featuring a delicate crinoline frill at the shoulders and a silk soleil border around the hem, the couple's publicists said in a statement. She wore an ivory tulle floor length veil and ivory silk shoes.

The bride carried a bouquet of flowers made by Armani, including calla lilies wrapped in leaves of galax and steelgrass. For the wedding reception, Holmes changed into an asymmetric champagne Giorgio Armani Prive evening dress of silk organza decorated in Swarovski crystal beads. The 72-year-old designer also dressed the groom, the wedding party and immediate family.

Cruise wore a single-breasted navy blue Armani handmade tuxedo, a matching four-button vest and an ivory silk French collar shirt made of the same fabric as the bride's gown.

With shortages resulting from production problems, many had camped out for days without knowing if they'd be going home empty-handed. At some stores, the crowds got rowdy and stampeded for the shelves, injuring a man in Wisconsin and forcing authorities to shut down a Wal-Mart store in California.

In Connecticut, two armed thugs who got wise to the PS3's high price and tried to rob a line of people waiting outside a Putnam Wal-Mart store at 3 a.m. One person who refused to give up the money was shot, state police said. In Lexington, Kentucky, four people waiting outside a Best Buy were hit by BB pellets, though none was seriously injured, according to television station WKYT, whose own reporter was hit as she interviewed buyers.

*****

With Sony promising only 400,000 systems for the nationwide launch, the chance of disappointment was high. While retailers tried to keep expectations low, lines snaked around the block at many stores -- even those that weren't going to begin sales until later Friday. Saby Madrigal, an 18-year-old college student who worked for a month at a liquor store to save for a PS3, waited in line outside the Circuit City for 24 hours without success. Still, she vowed to keep looking. "For the work we had to do to get all the money to get the stupid system, I'm going to search every single store in town," she said. "I don't care, I'm going to get it." Some who saw long lines at the midnight launches simply went to another location, with later openings and smaller crowds. Nonetheless, about 50 people were in front of Ahmad Mustafa, 24, outside a New York Best Buy with only 34 units available.

*****

Nathaniel Lord, who camped out for three nights at a Best Buy in West Hollywood, California, spent more than $700 on a console and game. "I thought about going home to shower first because I haven't showered in three days, but I think I'm just going to get another energy drink, log on and get started," said Lord, a recent graduate of California Institute of the Arts. Sony, which has contended with laptop battery recalls and trails rivals in key products such as music players and liquid crystal displays, is counting on the PS3 to maintain and build its market lead in consoles. Some customers were buying PS3 machines for themselves or as gifts, but many were hoping to resell them at a profit. Units were fetching several thousand dollars early Friday at the eBay Inc. auction site.

A Bowman "Signs of the Future" autographed card, issued by The Topps Company, Inc., features a photo of Washington from the waist up in his green Jets jersey with his arms folded across his chest - and appearing to make obscene gestures with both hands.

Washington said Wednesday there was nothing naughty about the photo, which was taken during a shoot with Topps a few months ago. He said he was making an `E' with both hands to honor his hometown, but some fingers are hidden under his armpits.

"All it is is that I'm from the east side of Jacksonville - that's my community," Washington told The Associated Press. "It looks funny, but maybe I should've taken the picture a different way. That's all it really is - nothing more than that."

The apparent obscenity has increased the popularity of the card. Topps is offering collectors the chance to return the card and receive another in its place after saying its release was an oversight by editors.

The online shopping services of Britain's biggest supermarkets have been condemned as "dismal". A secret shopping survey found the home-delivery arms of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Asda - as well as specialist company Ocado -to be slow and inaccurate.

The five internet supermarkets were asked to provide 33 everyday grocery items in the test, but none could do so. Basic products, such as cherry tomatoes and a baguette, were not listed on some websites and only one of the five could deliver the next day. Mystery shoppers from trade journal The Grocer found it easy to use the websites, but all said they were disappointed with the service they received.

Sainsbury's was the worst for substituting items it did not have in stock with four, followed by WaitroseDeliver with three, Tesco with two and Asda and Ocado with one. Both Asda and WaitroseDeliver turned up with items that were not on the list and the latter charged for a packet of chicken breasts that had not been ordered. There was also concern about the number of plastic bags used. Sainsbury's.co.uk needed 14 and Asda.com 12, compared to six for Tesco. The orders were placed on a Wednesday morning. The slowest delivery was Asda.com, with the first available slot at 6pm to 8pm on the Saturday.

Only WaitroseDeliver offered a next day delivery, while Ocado - which also supplies Waitrose products - turned up 40 minutes early when the shopper was not in. The Grocer said all the drivers were helpful and friendly and the websites easy to use but the issue of substituting items was still a major problem. A spokesman said: "While the online retailers have improved in terms of the items they select for substitutions, the sheer number of switches still disappointed our mystery shoppers."

Over the years, it's become quite common for shoppers to purchase new consoles at launch not to play them, but specifically for the purpose of reselling them for a profit on eBay or other sites. These people are probably best likened to scalpers at the ballpark who will sell you a ticket for three times the price. Some would say it's a despicable practice, but when consumers are desperate for the latest console at launch they'll apparently pay almost anything.

"With limited supplies expected this holiday for both Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii consoles, we expect that many gamers will turn to eBay (and other online marketplaces) to locate new hardware. Already, our survey of completed auctions on ebay.com indicates that nearly 2,000 pre-ordered PS3 and Wii consoles have been resold on the marketplace to-date," commented Sebastian.

He continued, "In addition, the consoles are selling on eBay for approximately two and one half times the suggested retail price of console hardware, on average $1,500 for Sony's PS3 vs. $599 and $550 vs. $249 for Nintendo's Wii. We continue to believe that initial demand for the new hardware platforms will exceed supplies."

Only one of each console can be listed per eBay account prior to the launch of the console (PS3 is expected to be available on 11/17/06, Wii on 11/19/06).

The seller must only accept payment through PayPal, and have at least 50 feedback with a 98% or greater positive rating so that they qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection.

The pre-sale item must be listed in the 3, 5, 7 or 10-day formats, and cannot use Buy It Now.

The listing must include a photo of your pre-order receipt in the description.

Dozens of the world's biggest media moguls and investment bankers, dressed in perfectly pressed suits, mingled in the lobby of the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan yesterday at the annual FourSquare conference. And then there was Mark Zuckerberg, the 22-year-old chief executive of the social networking site Facebook, wearing Adidas flip-flops — sans socks — with a blazer and jeans. Welcome to Web 2.0, Wall Street style.

The FourSquare conference has become the East Coast incarnation of Allen & Company’s annual summer gathering in Sun Valley, Idaho, which has been the hatching place for all kinds of major and minor deals. And if Chad Hurley, the chief executive of YouTube, was the belle of the ball at Sun Valley this summer, then Mr. Zuckerberg was the "it" boy of FourSquare.

Mr. Hurley was also in attendance yesterday, still basking in the glow of his company's sale to Google for $1.65 billion — and also wearing a blazer and jeans, though he had shoes on.

What do Ray Romano, NOGGIN and First Book all have in common? The trio, among others, is joining forces to help generate new books for at-risk children with NOGGIN's Get Ready To Read Auction. On Monday, November 6, the commercial-free educational preschool network from Nickelodeon will launch its first online charity auction featuring collectible lunchboxes designed by Isaiah Washington, Ray Romano, Rosie O'Donnell, Kelly Ripa, Patricia Heaton, Reba McEntire, John Lithgow and Sara Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Proceeds from the auction will benefit international nonprofit organization First Book, which gives children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.

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