June 20, 2005

David Carr column on changes in way movie stars, pop music idols and other celebrities are being covered in fan magazines and on entertainment television shows, particularly with regard to their love lives; notes how Britney Spears, Brad Pitt and others have learned to profit from sale of intimate interviews, photo opportunities and videos; says magazines, for their part, are going for unposed photography to give their readers the down-low, juicy and not-yet-known about celebrities (M)

Chief of credit card processing company whose computer system was penetrated by data thieves, exposing 40 million cardholders to risk of fraud, acknowledges that company should not have been retaining those records; John M Perry of CardSystems Solutions says 200,000 of 40 million credit card records are known to have been stolen from Visa, MasterCard and other card issuers; says data was in file stored for 'research purposes' to determine why certain transactions registered as unauthorized or uncompleted, even though rules established by Visa and MasterCard forbid processors from retaining cardholder information after transaction is handled; says company no longer stores sensitive data on files; details about CardSystems' handling of data raise new questions about effectiveness and enforcement of standards established by card companies for data protection and storage; chart describing steps in consumer credit card transaction (M)

It was a subtle message, a quick, nonverbal transmission from first base to the home dugout that said a lot about the Yankees right now. With one out in the fourth inning yesterday, and the Yankees trailing the Chicago Cubs by a run, the ultimate station-to-station player took a risk. Jason Giambi, the runner at first, peered into the dugout and met Manager Joe Torre's glance.

Thousands of patients and their doctors must weigh competing risks of replacing faulty heart defibrillators following Guidant Corp's recall; company says 29,000 defibrillators can potentially short-circuit when they are needed; for some patients, surgery to remove defibrillator would pose even bigger risk; doctors say each assessment on surgery will be personal one, based on patient's age and health, how dependent patient is on device and patient's attitudes toward risk; some patients feel sense of betrayal that Guidant did not disclose problem three years ago when it found electrical flaw in one model, and that it even kept selling that version after developing version not prone to short-circuiting; issue could impact Johnson & Johnson's proposed $25.4-billion acquisition of Guidant if matter could materially hurt Guidant's business (M)

Defense Sec Donald H Rumsfeld's reported consideration of promotion for Gen Ricardo S Sanchez seen as sign of Pentagon's growing confidence that Abu Ghraib abuse scandal is behind it; Sanchez, former American commander in Iraq, has been cleared of wrongdoing in Army inquiry of prison scandal; Senate outrage over Abu Ghraib had earlier ruled out nominations of new posts for him and for Gen Bantz J Craddock; Craddock had no role in Abu Ghraib but his service under Rumsfeld at time of abuses made him target for opposition from Senate; photo (M)