DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH) today reported total revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, a 2.1 percent increase compared with $2.84 billion for the corresponding period in 2008.

Net income totaled $313 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, compared with $259 million during the corresponding period in 2008. Basic earnings per share were $0.70 for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, compared with basic earnings per share of $0.58 during the corresponding period in 2008.

DISH Network lost approximately 94,000 net subscribers during the quarter ended March 31, 2009, giving the company approximately 13.584 million subscribers as of that date.

But the Postal Service's red ink is already deep. Postal Service officials said today that they ended the fiscal second quarter on March 31 with a net loss of $1.9 billion. The primary reason was what the service described as an "unprecedented" decline in mail volume as customers either mailed less often or switched to using the Internet.

“The economic recession has been tough on the mailing industry, and we have seen an unprecedented decline in mail volumes and revenue that continued to accelerate during the second quarter,” Postmaster General John Potter said. In the second quarter, the Postal Service said, its mail volume totaled 43.8 billion pieces, down 7.5 billion pieces, or 14.7%, compared to a year earlier.

"We understand that the economy has affected many people in a very profound way, and we want to help," Brian Philips, president and CEO of FedEx Office, told Reuters. "In January, nearly 600,000 people found themselves out of work. I understand that in February, by the time they add up the numbers, it could be worse."

Philips, who said hard copy resumes have not fallen out of favor despite the growth of online job search sites, admitted that there is nothing to stop a job hunter from getting free resumes at more than one of its stores.

"We weren't worried so much about people going to multiple stores and gaming the system. We just want to make sure people have access to this service in a time of need."

"They are all the people that want to speak with me through internet, because I will talk with them," said Cavalli yesterday afternoon at his Via Senato showroom. "They can ask me what to wear that night, they can ask me how to look fantastic with a boyfriend--and once a month, I will decide, maybe in New York, to have dinner with people."

"We sent the offer out to a select number of card members," said Molly Faust, a company spokeswoman. "We are looking at different ways that we can manage credit risk based on the costumers overall credit profile."

The company did not say how many card holders would receive the offer and did not disclose the total of their card balances.

Card holders have until the end of February to accept the offer and must close their accounts in March or April. Each card holder will receive a $300 pre-paid American Express card.

American Express, often seen as catering to relatively wealthy customers and companies, has been expanding its credit card business in recent years by reaching out to a wider range of clients.

"We've never seen one this well coordinated," the FBI said.

Then shortly after midnight Eastern Time on November 8, the FBI believes that dozens of the so-called cashers were used in a coordinated attack of ATM machines around the world.

"Over 130 different ATM machines in 49 cities worldwide were accessed in a 30-minute period on November 8," Agents Rice said. "So you can get an idea of the number of people involved in this and the scope of the operation."

Here is the amazing part: With these cashers ready to do their dirty work around the world, the hacker somehow had the ability to lift those limits we all have on our ATM cards. For example, I'm only allowed to take out $500 a day, but the cashers were able to cash once, twice, three times over and over again. When it was all over, they only used 100 cards but they ripped off $9 million.

Postmaster General John E. Potter asked lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week.

Faced with dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year and, "if current trends continue, we could experience a net loss of $6 billion or more this fiscal year," Potter said in testimony for a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

If the change is made, that doesn’t necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day, such as Tuesday.

The recession and economic turmoil is creating a new class of casualties: married couples who can't afford to get divorced. In these tough times, many people are finding it's cheaper to stay together, even when they can't stand each other.

"The reason that the economy has such an enormous impact on divorce is that most people in the middle-income brackets are getting by on whatever income they have. They're just getting by," said Bonnie Booden, a family-law and divorce attorney in Phoenix.

Financial-industry downsizing makes it easier for unemployed and underemployed professionals to minimize alimony by claiming their plunge in fortunes isn't short-lived, said Cynthia Hartwell, a divorce lawyer in Greenwich, Connecticut.

"If the breadwinner or your employer has been affected by the downturn, it is a good time to get divorced," Hartwell said. "They can come to court with a compelling argument that they can no longer earn what they used to earn. The court is not going to impose an order on someone whose job situation has changed dramatically."

Of 3,000 people surveyed by Nielsen in early October, 84% reported being just as confident - or more so - in their primary financial institution as they were six months ago. Ninety-five percent of those surveyed said they consider their financial assets at their primary bank to be relatively safe.

Although they remain confident in their personal banks, a significant percentage of the respondents said they had already been adversely affected by the current financial crisis.

Twenty-five percent reported significant losses in their retirement savings. Among consumers age 55 and older, that percentage was even higher: 29%.

On a cold day in January, Dan Stoicescu, a millionaire living in Switzerland, became the second person in the world to buy the full sequence of his own genetic code. He is also among a relatively small group of individuals who could afford the $350,000 price tag.

Mr. Stoicescu is the first customer of Knome, a Cambridge-based company that has promised to parse his genetic blueprint by spring. A Chinese executive has signed on for the same service with Knome's partner, the Beijing Genomics Institute, the company said. Scientists have so far unraveled only a handful of complete human genomes, all financed by governments, foundations and corporations in the name of medical research. But as the cost of genome sequencing goes from stratospheric to merely very expensive, it is piquing the interest of a new clientele.

"I'd rather spend my money on my genome than a Bentley or an airplane," said Mr. Stoicescu, 56, a biotechnology entrepreneur who retired two years ago after selling his company. He says he will check discoveries about genetic disease risk against his genome sequence daily, "like a stock portfolio."

But while money may buy a full readout of the six billion chemical units in an individual's genome, biologists say the superrich will have to wait like everyone else to learn how the small variations in their sequence influence appearance, behavior, abilities, disease susceptibility and other traits.

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Biologists have mixed feelings about the emergence of the genome as a luxury item. Some worry that what they have dubbed "genomic elitism" could sour the public on genetic research that has long promised better, individualized health care for all. But others see the boutique genome as something like a $20 million tourist voyage to space -- a necessary rite of passage for technology that may soon be within the grasp of the rest of us.

Apple's application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes a process for placing an order and then notifying customers when an order is ready to grab at a pick-up station. One goal, the patent application notes, is to avoid an "annoying wait in a long queue if the purchaser arrives before completion of the order."

U.S. Patent Application #20070291710 describes a device that also would keep tabs on where a user shops and what he or she likes to buy. Computers at participating stores would keep track of regular customers and their favorite orders.

Customers might tap a button to order their favorite drink, say a double-shot mocha, as they stroll up to the nearest coffee shop. When the drink is ready go to, the device--such as an iPhone--would chime or blink to let the thirsty one know it's time to scoop up the order at the counter.