Stars help retailers reach Hispanic market
From the QVC to Kmart, mass retailers are banking on Hispanic celebrities.
Venezuelan Barbara Palacios, a former Miss Universe, has become the latest in a string of high-profile Hispanics to join forces with major retailers whose image has been more apple pie than empanada.
( BY KATHRYN WEXLER, kwexler@herald.com, 01/30/2004 03:01 AM EST)

VIDEO GAME REVIEW
Just you vs. the evil forces
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II continues the story of Baldur's Gate, a medieval city threatened by dark forces, with new characters and combat features that make up for the lackluster graphic improvements in the dungeon-crawling game.
( BY LISETT FERNANDEZ, lfernandez@herald.com, 01/30/2004 03:01 AM EST)

WINE
Pop goes the prosecco, to woo beer drinkers
A dry, gently fizzy, unassuming Italian wine is beginning to take on the trappings of a fad. It's called prosecco. It's arriving now in South Florida -- at Joe's Stone Crab, Norman's, Gardner's markets, Portofino Wine Bank -- under the brand name ''Il,'' Italian for ''The.'' Because, one presumes, it's ''the'' new thing.
( BY FRED TASKER, ftasker@herald.com, 01/29/2004 03:01 AM EST)

THE EDGY VEGGIE
Penalty-free snack choices
It's Super Bowl season and everyone's jonesing for junk food. So how do you satisfy the urge without dealing your body a crushing defeat?
( BY ELLEN KANNER, ellenink@aol.com, 01/29/2004 03:01 AM EST)

CYBER BITE
Shopping for chopsticks
Once you master chopsticks, they become essential. Asian cuisine tastes funny when you eat with a fork. Practice by picking up matches and pennies from a straight-sided dish.
( Knight Ridder News Service, 01/29/2004 03:01 AM EST)

What's in store
OIL CHANGE: Olivado touts its cold-pressed, extra-virgin avocado oil as a step up from olive oil.
( 01/29/2004 03:01 AM EST)

SALES
Rack without ruin: Tips on winter sales
With winter sales in full swing, it's time to scour the racks and turn leftovers into a fresh spring wardrobe.
( BY MADELEINE MARR, mmarr@herald.com, 01/28/2004 03:01 AM EST)

PROFILE
Designer leaps from sportswear to bridal wear
Besides fancy bridal gowns, Julian Chang's line includes sexy matte jersey dresses and footwear.
( BY ADRIANA CORDOVI, acordovi@herald.com, 01/28/2004 03:01 AM EST)

The look
COLOR ME CORRECT: Bobbi Brown goes hearts and flowers -- with a true heart -- just in time for Valentine's Day.
( BY SHELLY ACOCA, sacoca@herald.com, 01/28/2004 03:01 AM EST)

FIVE STYLE TIPS
Men: Splash on the sweet smell of success
Smelling good is the terrain of all sexes. In addition to a hearty anti-perspirant, guys need an alluring, subtle, clean and yet virile smell.
( BY MADELEINE MARR, mmarr@herald.com, 01/28/2004 03:01 AM EST)

FASHION RX
The problem | The solution
Need bag that holds lots of stuff.
( 01/28/2004 03:01 AM EST)

PRODUCT REVIEW
Lumix a worthy start to digital photography
If you've got the money to purchase a 3- or 4-megapixel digital camera, you'll be so much more pleased with the output than if you buy a 2-megapixel offering. In that vein, it's hard not to consider Panasonic's Lumix DMC-FZ10 4-megapixel camera ($599) as a solid choice for entering the realm of digital photography.
( BY KEVIN WASHINGTON, The Baltimore Sun, 01/27/2004 03:01 AM EST)

New devices link your PC to your TV
Consumer electronics companies are intent on bridging the gap between your computer and your television.
We've seen how computers have transformed the way consumers listen to music. Not only has song downloading -- both paid and unpaid -- become popular, but people are copying audio CDs to their computers, carrying MP3 players in their knapsacks and cars, and generally treating music like just another form of data. Which, of course, it is.
( BY JOHN MORAN, The Hartford Courant, 01/27/2004 03:01 AM EST)

To your health
GET FIT: If you like the elliptical machine, there's a good chance you'll like the FITTREK System. It features FITTREK poles, which can be used alone or with a P3 Belt, which attaches to the poles with power cords and adds resistance to your walking routine.
( 01/27/2004 03:01 AM EST)

PROFILES IN STYLE
The eyes have it -- eyewear, shiny eye jewelry and more
Iris Chase mixes new with old when she designs and assembles her eclectic eyewear and Art Deco jewelry.
( By ADRIANA CORDOVI, acordovi@herald.com, 10/22/2003 02:01 AM EST)

THE LOOK
FOR PAMPERED PUPS: Move over, Burberry, best-dressed tea-pups (and their slightly larger friends) have something new to pant over.
( SHELLEY ACOCA, sacoca@herald.com, 10/22/2003 02:01 AM EST)

TO YOUR HEALTH
Check out some of the latest gadgets and products suggested this week for your health.
( 10/21/2003 02:01 AM EST)

Novelist's debut light and sweet
The problem is not so much that Ellie Winters is turning 30. The problem is everything else: her hated job in litigation, a string of boring boyfriends, overbearing parents and a dictatorial dog. But all those issues fade when she finds herself a rather unattainable man, and he becomes the problem.
( BY HANNAH SAMPSON, hsampson@herald.com, 10/21/2003 02:01 AM EST)

Going shopping? Bring a bra
The landmark Kendall market Norman Brothers Produce will resemble a fraternity house throughout October as customers bring in bras -- and grocers hang them over the aisles and on trees -- to raise money during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
( BY DANIEL CHANG, dchang@herald.com, 10/21/2003 01:27 PM EST)

BABY TALK: Talk with your tot long before your tot can talk
Tiny tots learn to sign before they can speak, communicating before they can form words. Buoyed by a growing literature on ''baby signing,'' many parents are opting to teach their pre-verbal children a rudimentary sign language.
( BY SHARI RUDAVSKY, srudavsky@msn.com, 10/18/2003 02:01 AM EST)

KIDS' BOOKS
'Erika's Story' tells truth about Nazi Germany, heights of humanity
Here's a provocative question for a young student of history: Are there any circumstances under which the right thing to do would be to throw a baby from a moving train?
( BY SUE CORBETT, scorbett@herald.com, 10/18/2003 02:01 AM EST)

IN PRINT
IN PRINT A Baptist Among the Jews. Mary Blye Howe. Jossey-Bass, 215 pages, $21.95. Why would a lifelong Southern Baptist decide to become a serious student of Judaism? Because she acknowledged that ``unlike me, [Jews] still lived aspects of the religious life described in Scripture . . . still practiced rituals that my own religion had discarded . . . [were] connected to the Bible in a way I would never be.''
( 10/18/2003 02:01 AM EST)

WHAT'S NEW
Sephora says little girls like to splurge, too
What's New is a weekly feature to give parents perspective on new items on the market. Few women can deny themselves a splurge when inside a Sephora store -- shimmery eye shadows and a rainbow of lip colors just scream for attention. Now Sephora is trying to hook our daughters as well. It has introduced Sephora Girls, girlie bath and body goodies, funky makeup and accessories.
( By CINDY KRISCHER GOODMAN, cgoodman@herald.com, 10/17/2003 03:17 PM EST)

VIDEO GAME REVIEWS
Along for the ride
The Simpsons: Hit and Run What does Matt Groening's wry animated series have to do with car-crash games such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City? Nothing. But Hit and Run fuses the concepts anyway. It borrows Grand Theft Auto's basic frame, minus the carjackings, guns and hookers, to put players on the streets of Springfield.
( The Washington Post, 10/17/2003 09:43 AM EST)

GEAR
Mixed up about blenders? You can't judge by price
A blender is a blender is a blender -- or so we've always thought. After all, other than a sleek design or a choice of a dozen different speeds, basically they all do the same thing: whirl stuff around.
( BY VALLI HERMAN-COHEN, Los Angeles Times, 10/16/2003 02:01 AM EST)

GEAR
Steps to banishing kitchen junk
You know that drawer in your kitchen? The deep one you can barely open and in which you rarely find what you are looking for once you do?
( BY REAGAN WALKER, Cox News Service, 10/16/2003 02:01 AM EST)

Wine, Fred Tasker
New Zealanders know sauvignon
Ask any enthusiastic sipper to name the five hottest wines in the market today, and in almost every case, one of them will be a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand.
( 10/16/2003 02:01 AM EST)

What's in Store
SO SQUARE IT'S HIP: Wine in a box is gaining cachet as better wineries begin using the packaging system.
( 10/16/2003 02:01 AM EST)