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The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games are more than just gratuitous displays of nationalism. They’re also the most watched fashion shows in the world. The theatrics of these multi-hour spectacles have much in common with high-fashion runway shows, and the ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will have the couture to match.

Canadian-born designer twins Dean and Dan Caten, the founders of Milan-based Dsquared², were named official costume designers by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee last year, and are outfitting the performers for the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games this month. Wh

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Of all the firms to go off the cliff in the fourth quarter of 2008, nVidia took the hardest hit, with sales plunging 60 percent year-over-year and the company posting a loss. One year later, its sales have more than doubled and it could have done better if it had all the supply it needed.

The graphics vendor reported net income for the period ended Jan. 31 of $131.1 million, or 23 cents a share, compared to the loss of $147.7 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same quarter one year earlier.

Revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter more than doubled year-over-year from $481.1 million in fiscal 2008 to $982.5 million this year. Revenue was also up 9 percent sequentially from the third quarter.

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The big homebuilders  are lining up for their tax refund, thanks to an expansion of stimulus legislation. Toll Brothers announced that it will be receiving a 2009 tax refund of $162 million. Lennar estimates a whopping $320 million anticipated tax refund!

But here’s the good news for your business — you don’t need to be a massive corporation with a powerful Washington DC lobby to get your own little bailout package!  If your once flourishing business has taken a hit in 2008 and 2009, you might not need to see red anymore.

L

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Triple H, a superstar wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment, poses with his FlexForce action figure Friday at the New York Toy Fair. Mattel and WWE have joined forces to market the line of action figures and accessories. AP Photo

NEW YORK — If the Zhu Zhu Pets taught a lesson, it’s that a bit of technology and a low price tag can go a long way. Toy makers are taking that experience to heart.

From a digital Scrabble game that checks the words to a hovering UFO to miniature radio-control cars, toy makers are amping up the tech quotient but not prices.

Zhu Zhu Pets, the furry mechanical hamsters that zoom around, were the runaway hit of the holiday season. O

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Albany Broadcasting has replaced WROW with the easy-listening music it airs at 100.9 FM, andwill soon launch a new format for that WKLI spot on the FM dial. So here’s a question: What format would you like to hear there?

Round-the-clock Glenn Beck? The soothing sounds of ocean waves? Poetry readings?

Here’s a serious suggestion: Adult Album Alternative. It’s a format missing among Capital Region commercial stations, although non-profit WEXT comes close. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s basically a mature version of alternative music. Beck. Nora Jones. Peter Gabriel. (WXRV in

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