Media Decoder Blog: A Resurgent Netflix Beats Projections, Even Its Own

6:14 p.m. | Updated For all those who have doubted its business acumen, Netflix had a resounding answer on Wednesday: 27.15 million.That’s the number of American homes that were subscribers to the streaming service by the end of 2012, beating the company’s own projections for the fourth quarter after a couple of quarters of underwhelming results.Netflix’s growth spurt in streaming — up by 2.05 million...

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Potential jurors questioned for Bell corruption trial

A lingering venom spilled out on questionnaires given to potential jurors for the trial of six former Bell city leaders charged...

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FTC study taking aim at online marketing of booze

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans this summer to recommend ways that the alcoholic beverage industry can better protect underage viewers from seeing its advertisements online.Distillers, brewers and wineries pour millions of dollars into brand promotion on Twitter, Facebook and other social media, and industry critics contend they are not doing enough to prevent young...

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Walhberg: Boy band union is strong for summer tour

NEW YORK (AP) — For Donnie Wahlberg it’s not a matter of why now, rather “why not?”The recording artist-turned-actor was referring to the news of a major tour with his New Kids on the Block, who’ll be joined this summer on “The Package Tour” by 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men.“The state of the boy band union is strong,” Wahlberg joked Tuesday. “Even though technically we’re not really boy bands, but we’re...

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Well: Have a Health Question? Ask Well

The Well section of The New York Times is starting a new online featured called Ask Well. If you have a question about fitness, nutrition, illness or family health, the staff of The New York Times Health section is ready to help you find the answer.How do you solve the problem of back pain caused by sitting in an office chair all day? Do you still need the flu shot even if you’ve had the flu? What’s...

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DealBook: Allergan to Buy MAP Pharmaceuticals for $958 Million

Allergan has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to acquire MAP Pharmaceuticals and gain full control of its experimental treatment for migraine headaches, the two companies announced Tuesday night.The purchase price of $25 a share in cash is a 60 percent premium over MAP’s closing price on Tuesday of $15.58 a share. The deal, worth $958 million in total, suggests that Allergan has great faith that MAP’s...

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Inauguration brings moment of festive unity to capital

WASHINGTON — Beyonce had belted her last note and President Obama, newly sworn in for a second term, had grabbed his last hand...

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At Obama’s church service, hymns, prayers – and a tweet?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There was preaching, praying and singing at President Barack Obama’s church service on Inauguration Day on Monday. But was there tweeting, too?As Atlanta pastor Andy Stanley wrapped up his sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House by urging Obama to leverage his power for the greater good, a tweet went out from the president’s own Twitter feed.“I’m honored...

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“Django Unchained” producers order end to slavery action-figures

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The producers of Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” on Friday ordered a halt to the production of action figures based on the Oscar-nominated slavery movie after criticism that they were offensive to African-Americans.The eight-inch (20-cm) dolls, which were intended for people 17 and older, included gun-slinging freed slave Django, his wife and cruel, white plantation...

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The Week: A Roundup of This Week’s Science News

“Science,” a colleague once said at a meeting, “is a mighty enterprise, which is really rather quite topical.” He was so right: as we continue to enhance our coverage of the scientific world, we always aim to keep the latest news front and center. His observation seemed like a nice way to introduce this column, which will highlight the week’s developments in health and science news and glance...

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