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  • When dictionaries add trendy words like "twerk," they're prioritizing the fleeting language habits of the young, says Geoff Nunberg. And our fascination with novel words tends to eclipse subtle changes in the meanings of old ones — "which are often more consequential," he says.
  • California-based Google says it will soon launch a pilot project to store personal medical records online. Privacy watchdogs say let the buyer beware. KPBS reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
  • Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, a literary journal known for publishing experimental fiction and emerging writers alongside household names, celebrates its 15th birthday with an anthology of selected works. Editor Dave Eggers remembers the magazine's early days, when it was a "land of misfit writings" that had been rejected from more mainstream publications.
  • A bill approved the California Senate is the first step toward legalizing cars that can drive themselves.
  • Patty Gold may be the loudest spectator at the bottom of the half-pipe, with her cheers, gasps and the yelling of her children's names. She mostly stands perfectly still with her hands clasped to her face, waiting for scores, safe landings, and possibly medals.
  • When a former IT contractor at the National Security Agency gave The Guardian U.S. government surveillance information, he told the paper that his only motivation was to spark a public debate about government surveillance.
  • Claire Messud's new novel, The Woman Upstairs, delves into the inner life of the quiet, friendly — and secretly furious — woman upstairs, a frustrated artist named Nora who becomes obsessed with a glamorous immigrant family.
  • Some Christians, Jews, and Muslims are abandoning Google and Yahoo and turning to search engines like SeekFind, Jewogle and I'mHalal that yield results they believe are more likely to have God's seal of approval.
  • The technology that lets you instantly download new books to your Kindle, iPad and other e-reader devices can also tell manufacturers whether you stopped reading on Page 45. "Ultimately, this sort of thing scares the hell out of me," author Stephen King says. Privacy advocates are also worried.
  • Upcoming U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which the north frequently protests, may also have inspired the show of belligerence, reports NPR's Jason Strother.
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