USA Today put the cameras of three leading smartphones to the test. The newly revamped iPhone 5s, the Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows Phone and the Samsung Galaxy S4. Despite being the most “basic” of the three, the iPhone 5s actually performed the most consistently. VIDEO

A group of Chicago researchers this week unveiled a new prototype for a bionic leg controlled by the user’s mind. The Chicago Tribune says it’s part of a shift in prosthetic technology aimed at younger, more active patients. The leg works by using recorded nerve signals. Researchers say it could transform the lives of wounded veterans, accident victims and the elderly.  VIDEO

Still images from surveillance video of the D.C. Navy Yard shooter are on the front page of dozens of papers this morning, including the Washington Post. The FBI said yesterday Aaron Alexis was being driven by delusions that he was controlled by low-frequency radio waves. He also scratched the words “End the torment!” on the barrel of the shotgun he used to kill 12 people last week.

You may need a few more pennies to mail a letter come next year. The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service is plans to raise the rate for a first class stamp from 46 cents to 49 cents beginning in January. Pricing for other types of mail would go up as well. The Postal Service says the hike would raise an additional $2 billion in revenue. The Postal Service posted a net loss of $15.9 billion last year.

Nirvana fans have a chance to live in the home where Kurt Kobain grew up. His mother is putting the Aberdeen, Washington bungalow up for sale for $500,000, complete with the late frontman’s old mattress. The home was last assessed for less than $67,000. His family says it would welcome a partnership to turn the house into a museum.

Has your puppy put on a few pounds? Fitness programs for canines have been popping up across the country. More than half of all dogs in the U.S. are overweight and at risk of a host of serious ailments. Pet experts say the same advice that works for humans also works for out of shape dogs: Put down the snacks and get off the couch.

Bumper stickers may be almost as old as bumpers. But what do they say about us? The Philadelphia Inquirer says you can get a good sense of someone’s priorities by taking a look at the back of their car. Trends are hard to predict, like the popular stick figure family. The head of the company that came out with them 8 years ago says he knew he’d gained traction after seeing the backlash to his stickers, like the decal with the chainsaw-wielding figure who says “No one cares about your stick figure family.”

Good news for salmon lovers. Improvements in aquaculture have made farm-raised salmon better than ever. The Washington Post says salmon farmers have cleaned up their acts after years of criticism about the industry. The result is farm-raised salmon is now becoming a viable option to wild-caught. Industry watchers say there is still work to be done to make salmon farming more sustainable, but much progress has been made already.

Seaweed, kale, black beans, just some of the ingredients showing up in the snack aisle these days. The Wall Street Journal says more companies are coming out with chips made from foods with a proven nutritional value. Researchers say consumers are looking for a “permissible indulgence.” This comes as more Americans are snacking throughout the day. Nearly one in three people report eating three to four snacks a day in addition to meals.

The New York Times says the “Obama Doctrine” is once again evolving. The Times analysis says President Obama has publicly struggled with the question of when to act as the world’s policeman. In his first term, the president seemed comfortable using military force to confront threats. But Obama told the UN yesterday he’s devoting the remainder of his presidency to two diplomatic initiatives: negotiating an end to the Iran conflict and creating a separate state for the Palestinians. The Times says the question now is when Obama will once again be willing to use force after five years of mixed experiences.

Michael J. Fox returns to television this week, more than a dozen years after leaving Spin City. Instead of hiding his symptoms, on “The Michael J. Fox show,” he plays a TV anchor who suffers from Parkinson’s. USA Today credits Fox with helping to change our understanding of Parkinson’s in the 15 years since he announced his diagnosis. Researchers are closer to a cure though they acknowledge it will be more difficult to achieve than they first thought.

The New York Times has some advice for landing a table at a popular restaurant. Waiting until the last minute can pay off - as reservations get cancelled or tables set aside for VIPs and family members get released back into the pool. There are now online services that will scan for open reservations and alert you by text or email when tables pop up. Or you can try grabbing a drink at your desired restaurant, then asking if there is a table available for the following weekend.

Self-described “recovering ‘CrackBerry’ addict” Jon Swartz of USA Today laments the fall of the BlackBerry. An investor known as the Warren Buffet of Canada has offered $4.7 billion for what’s left of Research in Motion.  At this point the value is mostly patents that it owns and about 2 billion dollars in cash that the company has from the days when business was good. Swartz says the descent of BlackBerry feels like a death in the family to him.

Disney theme parks are eliminating a policy that allowed disabled guests to skip to the front of the line for attractions. The Los Angeles Times says the move is partly in response to reports that visitors to Walt Disney World were hiring disabled people to go with them to the park to help them skip lines. Instead disabled guests will now get a version of the FastPass ticket that gives them a scheduled time for faster access to the attraction. Disney says it wants to create a more consistent experience for its visitors.

The Wall Street Journal says the old rule of not fighting in front of your children has changed. Studies have found kids who witness constructive marital conflict from their parents end up happier and with better problem solving and coping skills. The Journal offers some tips for fighting in front of your kids: Try to keep arguments to 5 minutes, stop if your child seems distressed and avoid fighting about serious topics in front of your children.

Atlantic City cocktail waitresses are warning their Las Vegas counterparts: Don’t let your boss replace you with an iPad. The Las Vegas Sun says “beverage ambassadors” that have been in use in Atlantic City casinos for several years may be making their way to Las Vegas. Armed with an iPad, the young, sexy beverage ambassadors take orders from customers. The cocktail waitresses are now only responsible for delivering drinks, often within a set time limit. Career cocktail waitresses say it takes away their interaction with customers and leads to fewer tips.

High school football place kickers in Ohio are still doing things the old fashioned way. The Wall Street Journal says many young kickers in Ohio still subscribe to the old toe-style kicking for kickoffs and field goal attempts. Soccer-style kicking with the instep of the foot has been the norm in the sport for decades. One manufacturer of special shoes for toe-kicking says 98% of the shoes he makes get shipped to Ohio. VIDEO

With the International Bluegrass Music Association convention getting underway, the Charlotte News & Observer has a quirky piece on how to go about joining a bluegrass jam session. You can’t just pick up your banjo and join in. “Prepare to join a bluegrass jam session as you might a poker game in the Wild West, with some respect, knowledge of the art and willingness to take a chance.” Be realistic about your own ability, wait your turn, and please, no country and western.

The horrific mall massacre in Nairobi hits close to home for Washington Post writer Sudarsan Raghavan. He lives a mile away from the Westgate Premier Shopping Mall where militants killed dozens over the weekend. A journalist who has covered wars all over the globe for the past two decades, Raghavan says this attack at his family’s “oasis” felt much more personal. He says for the first time in his career he thought, that could have been him.

Research meant to quell the spread of malaria in the developing world could have some benefits here in the U.S. The Seattle Times says better mosquito repellents could hit the market in the coming year. One promising product is called the Kite Patch, a cloth square said to render you invisible to mosquitoes for 48 hours by blocking the bugs’ ability to detect carbon dioxide.

Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times takes a look at last night’s Emmy Awards. Stanley points out that while host Neil Patrick Harris joked about the irrelevance of traditional television in the area of streaming internet and on-demand cable, the Emmy producers chose to virtually ignore innovations in the field. Instead the show featured several references to broadcast television’s past. Stanley wonders why there were so many song and dance routines that had nothing to do with the Emmys.

Chocolate prices are on the rise. The Wall Street Journal says a shortage of cocoa beans is being made worse by our developing taste for dark chocolate. The Journal says consumers are drawn to dark chocolate for its highly publicized health benefits and lower sugar content. But dark chocolate takes more cocoa beans to produce than the same amount of milk chocolate.

Super Bowl XLVIII at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey will be missing a staple of major sporting events; the blimp. The Newark Star Ledger says the threat of snow for the cold weather Super Bowl is too much of a risk for the massive, lighter than air, ships. Even Met Life, which has two of the blimps operating in the U.S. says it won’t be flying over the stadium for the big game.

Britney Spears is getting set to begin a two-year run at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas in December. But the word on the street is that she won’t actually be singing during the “Britney: Piece of Me” show. Sources tell the Daily News the pop star will be lip-syncing her greatest hits. Spears will rake in $15 million per year for her performances. A rep tells the Daily News Britney will be singing and has been in vocal training for months.

The New York Times says diplomacy is suddenly alive and well with Syria and Iran after a decade of war in the Middle East. The Times says the Obama administration feels “these are the long-delayed fruits of the administration’s selective use of coercion in a part of the world where that is understood.” Critics fear President Obama will be dragged into drawn out games of “hide and seek” that will do little to change the status quo.

Pope Francis is making waves again. In an interview with an Italian Jesuit magazine, the Pope said the Catholic church has become obsessed with issues of dogma, such as abortion, homosexuality and contraception. He says the church needs to reorder its priorities, paying more attention to the poor and disenfranchised. The LA Times says the interview has underscored the sea change the Pope has brought in just his first six months on the job.

After months of searching, NASA says its rover, Curiosity, has failed to find methane, which would be a possible indicator of the presence of microbes. The New York Times says the lack of methane doesn’t mean there is definitely no life on mars, just that there is no scientific evidence so far that any life exists on the red planet.

Don’t let kitty get a hold of your new iPhone. Turns out the fingerprint reader everyone is raving about can actually be programmed to accept a cat’s pawprint. Like human fingerprints, a cat’s pawprints are unique. So a tech blogger grabbed a friend’s cat - and found the paw he programmed worked to unlock the phone, but the other paw did not. VIDEO

The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern offers up a defense of the current state of the movie industry. He acknowledges the vast improvements in television and the number of flops hitting movie screens in recent years. But Morgenstern says the feature film form is “uniquely rewarding.” He says the best films enchant, instruct or prophesy. He also offers up his list of some overlooked gems to help restore your faith in the genre.

The younger generation is losing speed. The Wall Street Journal says some in the running community are pointing out a “growing embrace of medocrity.” Many new runners are content with just finishing a race. Older runners say that may explain why the U.S. hasn’t won an Olympic marathon medal since 2004. One running commentator says it’s an alarming sign of America’s overall lack of competitiveness.

Major League Soccer officials are trying to rid stadiums of a popular, yet vulgar chant. The New York Times says the insult, directed at the opposing team’s goalkeeper has become ubiquitous at stadiums around the country. Fans chant, “You Suck, %$#hole!” as the goalkeeper launches a goal kick. The league has told teams to solve the issue on their own, but the threat of league action looms for those who can’t control their fans.

Despite a history of arrests for shooting incidents and disorderly conduct, the military’s background check system failed to prevent Navy Yard Gunman Aaron Alexis from getting an all-access pass to several military installations. The Washington Post says the government is now looking into how background checks are performed and how long a security clearance can last without a review. Alexis was granted secret-level security clearance in 2008, even though he had been arrested in 2004 for shooting out the tires of a car.

The reviews of the iPhone 5s and 5c are in - and all seem to be in alignment. David Pogue of the New York Times says the age of annual mega leaps is over. But he praises the 5s’ fingerprint reader which he calls “genuinely awesome.” Pogue also gives high marks to the new LED flash, and the new operating system, ios7 that comes along with the phone. In the Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg says after using the new fingerprint reader, he found it annoying to go back to typing in a password on his old phone. He also calls the iPhone 5c a nice option for newcomers and thrifty upgraders. USA Today‘s Ed Baig agrees about the scanner, the flash and ios7, though he does lament the lack of a slightly larger screen and stereo speakers.

We’ve all heard how important it is to eat dinner as a family. But what if you don’t have a whole lot of time? The Wall Street Journal has some tips on making the meal last a few minutes longer; serve at least two courses and involve kids in the preparation of dinner. Researchers say each additional family dinner has a positive correlation on kids’ mental health.

Street chess is a tradition in many big cities. But in San Francisco, the police department recently declared checkmate. Officers confiscated the game boards, tables and chairs where dozens of people, mostly homeless, gather to play chess. Police officials say it’s become a public nuisance. Advocates for the homeless say it’s important for people to have something to do. The captain of the police department says he hopes to work out a plan for chess in the future.

The movie James Gandolfini shot before his death opens this week. In the New York Daily News, Joe Neumaier gives “Enough Said” a three-star review, opening with these words: “What a treat it is to discover a totally new actor inside one we already loved. And how sad to know we won’t see that from him again.”

Becoming a YouTube sensation has paid off for “Grumpy Cat.” The feline, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, has “inked” a deal with pet food giant, Nestle Purina PetCare. The St. Louis Post Dispatch says she’ll be the new “spokescat” for Friskies cat food and treats. The brand manager for Friskies says the cat “ironically, makes you smile seeing her face, even if you’re sick or having a bad day.” Check her out on YouTube

Nearly all the papers across the country have front page coverage of yesterday’s shooting rampage at the Washington D.C. Navy Yard. The Daily News points out that the weapon used yesterday, the AR-15, is the same gun used by the shooters in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut. Columnist Mike Lupica says this time the shooting happened in the “do nothing capital” where lawmakers could’ve put restrictions on that type of weapon.

How long do you want to live? USA Today’s Snapshot Infographic details the ideal life span for Americans. Only 8 percent of us want to live to more than 100. The 81 to 90 years category was most popular. For the record, a girl born in the U.S. today can expect to live to age 81 and a boy to 76.

Not a huge surprise here, but something to keep in mind if you’re looking to drop a few pounds. The Wall Street Journal says researchers have determined that small obstacles, like a candy wrapper, can help people who want to lose weight. In a study using two bowls of candies, participants in front of a bowl with wrapped candies took an average of 3.6. Those with unwrapped candies in their bowl grabbed 5.5.

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Frank Bruni says he went to Costco recently—and now knows why Americans are overweight. He says it’s not just Costco—but we are unique in the world in the extent to which we think bigger food is better. Bruni compares the U.S. to Italy. He says in the US we have the Denny’s “Grand Slam.” The more restrained Italians are content with a “base hit.”

These days it’s not all that uncommon to see a major league pitcher throw 100 miles per hour. But will someone come along who can throw 110? The New York Times says biomedical engineers have determined that pitch speeds have topped out. With better conditioning, more pitchers will be able to throw in the high 90s, but the frailty of ligaments and tendons makes it unlikely pitchers will be able to throw any harder.

No longer just a toy for superheroes, jet packs are coming to an airspace near you. The makers of the machine set to debut next year say it can travel up to 7,000 feet in the air at speeds of 50 miles an hour. The Wall Street Journal says New Zealand officials are scratching their heads to figure out how to regulate the devices. Pilots will need to be licensed, but it’s unclear where exactly they’ll be allowed to fly. VIDEO

The New York Times introduces us to Don Ramos. The 80-year-old competitive body builder was recently busted for elevated testosterone levels, making him the oldest steroid doper ever caught by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Ramos says he’s been taking doctor-prescribed synthetic testosterone for 20 years. He’s vowing to return to competition after he serves his two-year suspension.

Helicopters took advantage of a break in the weather Sunday to help people stranded by Colorado’s floods. The Denver Post says water is still rising in downstream communities. Boulder has received between 14 and 18 inches of rain since storms began on Tuesday.

How bad is it for your health to live near a highway? The San Francisco Chronicle details a program in the Bay Area to monitor emissions near highways. The information will be used to determine what new regulations may be needed to improve air quality. Similar monitoring will take place in cities across the country under new EPA requirements.

In light of the recent Chobani Yogurt recall, USA Today answers 10 questions about mold in food. It turns out, most people won’t get sick from eating a little moldy yogurt, and many people wouldn’t even feel any effects if they accidentally ate some. But you’ll still want to toss any yogurt or bread if you notice even a little bit of mold.

Now that Gmail has tabs that separate regular email from promotional and social network emails, retailers are feeling like their marketing messages are being ignored. The New York Times says some retailers feel their emails are being banished to an “inbox ghetto.”  Researchers found the rate at which users open promotional emails has dropped only 1% since the changes were introduced. But users are waiting longer to open promo emails, which is an issue for flash sale sites.

C is for cookie, but R is for restraint. According to USA Today, Sesame Street’s beloved Cookie Monster will be learning when to say when this year. That means when he won’t always get a cookie when he wants one, but when he’s good, he’ll get two. The show’s producers are trying to teach children so-called “executive function” skills like self-control, patience and flexible thinking. VIDEO

Miss New York has become the first Miss America of Asian descent. Nina Davuluri of Syracuse won the crown last night in Atlantic City. The Philadelphia Inquirer says the 24-year-old’s pageant platform was “Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency.” The Miss America pageant returned to its Atlantic City roots for the first time since 2005.

NASA’s Voyager spacecraft is anything but technologically up-to-date—it’s got an 8-track. But the New York Times says despite being three decades old, it has become the “Little Spacecraft That Could.” Yesterday, the Voyager became the first probe to exit the solar system, something scientists hailed as “‘Star Trek’ stuff, for sure.” It’s unclear what data Voyager will provide now that it’s 11.7 billion miles from Earth. Scientists say it depends on how much power remains as it travels further into the unknown.

In a bid to get their drivers to slow down, the state of Florida has turned to magic, reports the Sun Sentinel this morning. The state is installing optical illusions on the road in the form of hash marks like those you might see on a football field. The idea is that when the marks appear at gradually closer intervals, drivers get the sense that they are driving faster than they really are and will (hopefully) tap the breaks.

Winnipeg holds a distinction few communities would seek out: Mosquito Capital of North America.  So many mosquitos call the Canadian city home, in fact, that there’s been talk of making it the city’s official bird. There’s also lots of talk about how to kill the stinging pests and some novel ideas have come up. Like rubbing mosquito carcasses on your body as repellent. Or enlisting the pests natural predator, the dragonfly.

The Washington Post says scientists have discovered an insect with gears on its backside, gears that allow it to jump extraordinarily fast. How fast? Up to 200 G, which is close to the highest level of acceleration ever survived by a human. The tiny planthopper is about the size of a flea but scientists say it’s serves as a great example of how “man and nature independently converged on the same idea.” VIDEO

Looks like he mixed up his lily pad for a launch pad. The New York Daily News has a crazy photo caught by one of NASA’s remote camera during a rocket launch yesterday. Yes that’s a frog on the far side of the shot. The unlucky fellow inadvertently photobombed the NASA launch of two moon-bound vessels. The agency says it’s been unable to confirm whether the frog survived its blast off but it has confirmed that the photo is real. VIDEO

Good news for “Wizard of Oz” fans in the Wall Street Journal this morning. The 1939 classic will be released in Imax 3-D for one week starting September 20th. The Journal explains how you make a movie into 3-D when it’s so old they barely had color film. One complication: you see more detail when it’s blown up to Imax size. Like the scarecrow’s mask, which looks like little more than a burlap bag in its latest incarnation.

USA Today puts together its list of ten fall TV shows not to miss in this morning’s paper. TV critic Robert Bianco says although there’s nothing like “Modern Family” or “Lost” that will be a hit right out of the gate, there are several shows you might want to add to your DVR list. Like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” on Fox, the new project from SNL’s Andy Samberg, which Bianco calls the best new comedy. Or James Spader’s return to television, “The Blacklist,” which debuts on NBC later this month.

This year’s Miss America pageant will feature a first, says the Wichita Eagle. Miss Kansas Theresa Vail will be the first contestant to compete while openly flaunting her tattoos. Vail, who is a member of the Kansas National Guard, initially wanted to show off her archery prowess in the talent portion of the competition but was thwarted by a rule that prohibits “projectiles.” Instead, she’ll sing opera.

There’s a really interesting article on the front page of the New York Times this morning about men and estrogen. It’s common for middle-aged men to blame their growing midsections on a drop in testosterone. But what’s actually to blame is a fall in the level of estrogen they produce. A new study has found that falling levels of estrogen result in fat accumulation, for both sexes. Researchers say it’s too early to make recommendations based on their findings, which are in their early stages. But no one is suggesting men take replacement estrogen, a therapy that produces feminine features like breasts.

There will be no pope-mobile. The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis plans to drive himself around in a used car. The New York Daily News says his security detail is “in a tizzy” about the plan. The car, an 1984 Renault, was a gift from a priest in northern Italy who used it to visit poor parishioners. At first, Pope Francis was reluctant to accept the gift, sources say, thinking it would be better if it went directly to the poor. But he was finally convinced that taking the car, which has 180,000 miles on it, would be acceptable.

The New York Times has a good run-down of a new crop of pet tech objects on the market these days. At one end of the spectrum there’s Whistle, an accelerometer you clip to your dog’s collar, which registers its every move.  And then there’s something called the PASSport Pet Access Smart System, which, thanks to radio frequencies, allows “up to 20 animals to have unique time restrictions for going in and out of the house.” For overweight pets, there’s a whole host of treadmills to choose from, and even a feeding device that makes your cat work for its food.

The Sacremento Bee has a primer on the latest sport to sweep the nation. FootGolf is a hybrid of, yep, soccer and golf and it’s quickly becoming a popular pastime all over the country. Developed in Europe, it’s like “soccer — without the sprinting or sweating.” Using a regulation soccer ball, players kick their way through a golf course that’s been retrofitted with 21-inch holes. As one enthusiast puts it: “You don’t have to be in shape and dribble past somebody. It’s like target shooting, and you get to enjoy a nice day.”

A battle over rubber band jewelry is detailed in the Wall Street Journal this morning. Rainbow Loom claims Fun Loom is an illegal knockoff. The main point of contention? A tiny six millimeter-wide clasp, which the former says was overtly copied by the latter. For those not in the know, three-year-old Rainbow Loom, which allows kids to string together colorful bracelets, has become one of the hottest toys on the market in the past few years.