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The Two-Way
8:34 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Book News: Chick-Lit Icon Bridget Jones Returns

Credit Universal Studios
Renee Zellweger in a scene from Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
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By editor

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:53 am

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

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The Two-Way
8:07 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Reports: Postal Service Will Move To Halt Saturday Mail

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Letter carrier Raymond Hou delivering mail on his route in San Francisco (March 2010 file photo).
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Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 3:57 pm

(We updated the top of this post at 10:37 a.m. ET.)

Calling it "absolutely necessary" if the U.S. Postal Service is going to stop losing billions of dollars a year and reach anything close to financial stability, Postmaster Gen. Patrick Donahoe confirmed Wednesday morning that USPS is moving to eliminate Saturday delivery of first-class mail.

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The Two-Way
7:27 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Boy Scouts Debate Accepting Gays; Pentagon May Extend Some Benefits

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A statue outside the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas.
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Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 10:48 am

  • From 'Morning Edition': Kathy Lohr on the Boy Scouts' debate

(We updated the top of this post at 10:45 a.m. ET.)

The Boy Scouts of America now intends to vote in May about whether its troops should be allowed to accept gay members and leaders, a spokesman says.

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All Tech Considered
3:05 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Using 3-D Printers To Make Gun Parts Raises Alarms

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Credit Courtesy of Defense Distributed Dev Blog
This AR-15 rifle's lower receiver (in soft green color) was produced with a 3-D printer. The 3-D printing industry has criticized the use of the technology for gun part making.
Credit Jae C. Hong / AP
A 3-D desktop printer on display at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas demonstrates how designs are translated into plastic objects.
Credit Courtesy of DEFCAD
This is a computer-generated design for a vital part, called a lower receiver, of the AR-15 rifle. The design can be used to make the part on a 3-D printer.
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Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 2:48 pm

You may have heard about 3-D printing, a technological phenomenon that uses a robotic arm to build objects one layer at a time. As people get imaginative and create items in a one-stop-shop fashion, one more creation has been added to the printing line: gun parts.

On the West Side of Manhattan, behind large glass windows, a dozen 3-D printers build plastic toys and jewelry. Hilary Brosnihan, a manager at 3DEA, an events company that sponsored a print pop-up store, says things are moving rapidly.

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All Tech Considered
3:01 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Is Online Gambling Legal If Bitcoins, Not Dollars, Are At Stake?

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An image depicts the SatoshiDice website, which exclusively uses Bitcoin, not dollars, for gambling.
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Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 10:51 am

With no government ties, Bitcoin is used to buy everything from blogging services to Brooklyn-made cupcakes. Theoretically, millions of dollars are being kept in the digital currency, and it's increasingly being used by specialized online gambling websites. But is Bitcoin gambling legal?

Purely in the interests of journalism, I decided to get my hands on some of the currency. When I did so, Bitcoin, which has been around for a few years now, was fetching around $17 on most exchange sites. It has since risen to more than $20.

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