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If 'read receipts' on emails weren't annoying enough, a San Francisco-based firm has taken the art of tracking emails to the next level. The Streak plugin lets Gmail account holders monitor which of their sent items have been opened, who opened them, the exact time they were opened and how many times those emails have been viewed since. It also reveals details about the device used to read the email, and even the reader's approximate location. Streak is aimed at sales and marketing professionals, and the company calls it a 'Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) in your inbox.' However, the plugin...

Liberal Democrats were often befuddled by President Reagan's "Teflon presidency." By their lights, Reagan could commit the most heinous acts, but their criticisms were usually shrugged off by the American people, who judged him a "nice guy" who deserved the benefit of the doubt. President Obama has enjoyed something similar during his first 2 1/2 years in office. Even as public opposition mounted to his policies -- Obamacare, the failed economic stimulus program, cap and trade, skyrocketing government deficits -- Obama retained a reserve of public good will reflected in consistently strong personal favorability ratings. People who didn't like his...

On Tuesday's CBS Early Show, substitute co-host Russ Mitchell announced that "the lame duck session of Congress could hand President Obama yet another victory" with possible passage of the START nuclear arms treaty. Moments later, Mitchell declared that "The President seems to be on a hot streak." Mitchell got analysis from Republican strategist Dan Bartlett and Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons. Bartlett hardly offered an opposing viewpoint, as he completely agreed with Mitchell's assessment of Obama: "It's a great streak he's on. He's on a hot streak...

Brett Favre was listed as inactive for the Minnesota Vikings' game against the New York Giants on Monday night -- snapping a legendary run of 297 consecutive starts (321 including playoffs) that dated to his first NFL start on Sept. 20, 1992. Favre, 41, suffered a sprained sternoclavicular joint near his throwing shoulder on the third play of last weekend's win over Buffalo on a hit from Bills linebacker Arthur Moats. His practice time was extremely limited last week, but as late as Sunday afternoon, Vikings interim coach Leslie Frazier said he expected Favre to try throwing before the game.

Dallas police are looking for a serial flasher in the Lake Highlands area. Exposure incidents in the neighborhood, believed to involve the same man, might go back to 2005, according to police. snip Once inside the backyard, he either danced naked, or if there was a swimming pool, swam naked. Once, he jumped up on a backyard air conditioning unit and danced atop it. Descriptions have been spotty. Witnesses told police the man is white, about 30, about 6 feet tall, with pasty skin and a pudgy belly.

LAKE DELTON, Wis. — Good-quality snow makes some people want to make a snowman. Others play snow sports. But for one 33-year-old man, the fine powder seemed like a reasonable excuse to run naked through it. The man was cited for disorderly conduct Sunday after a neighbor at the Woodland Park Apartment complex reported him cavorting nude. He was "running back and forth jumping up and down wearing no clothes," the police report quoted the witness as saying. The neighbor was with her two children and a friend's child, all of whom saw the bare display. "It was disgusting," the...

SACRAMENTO – Stunned by a string of industry-friendly appointments and a tight budget for coastal resources, some of the state's leading environmentalists are questioning whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has retreated from a once-lofty green agenda. "What is the governor doing?" wondered Paul Mason, who tracks forestry issues for the Sierra Club. "It's like he's abandoned his claims to being the good environmental governor." Schwarzenegger still receives relatively high marks for initiatives to scrap smog-spewing vehicles and old diesel buses, as well as for his support for alternative energy sources and a commitment to combat global warming. However, environmentalists say more...

IRVING, Texas - The moment was packed with the kind of tension usually seen only at a major. In the locker room at the Byron Nelson Championship, players huddled around the television as Tiger Woods stood over a 15-foot putt. Upstairs in the family dining area, about 60 people set down their silverware and stopped their chatter to watch. On the course, the 1,500 fans surrounding the 18th green went stone silent. They witnessed something that had not happened on the PGA Tour in seven years and 142 tournaments. Woods missed the cut. "Every guy in the locker room was...

Go to the website to see the footage. Its a bit slow right now because everyone is checking it out. Explanation: What in heavens-above was that? Not everything seen on the night sky is understood. The Night Sky Live (NSL) project keeps its global array of continuously updating web cameras (CONCAMs) always watching the night sky. On the night of 2004 December 17, the fisheye CONCAM perched on top of an active volcano in Haleakala, Hawaii, saw something moving across the night sky that remains mysterious. The NSL team might have disregarded the above streak as unconfirmed, but the Mauna...

Ben Roethlisberger can take it full circle today against the Ravens. Back on Sept. 19 in Baltimore, the rookie quarterback was flung into the NFL's high seas, sink or swim. Today, he can skipper the Steelers to the AFC's treasure island, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. "That first game, he got his feet wet,'' receiver Hines Ward said. "He's in the water now." Roethlisberger went from "some little young kid who's just out of college" -- Alan Faneca's infamous description -- to royalty in Pittsburgh in the past three months. He's 12-0, a Pro Bowl alternate, Dapper Dan...

DALLAS -- The gloves have come off in the tight election race between two Texas congressmen -- and every other article of clothing appears to be fair game as well. Democrats on Monday circulated old newspaper clippings of a 1974 college streaking stunt staged by hundreds of students -- including then-18-year-old Pete Sessions -- at Southwest Texas State University. The conservative Republican congressman -- who wrote a column condemning Janet Jackson's nude display during her 2004 Super Bowl halftime performance -- apparently bared his bottom with about 300 others in a stunt that ended with arrests and a clash with...