NEW YORK — It's May. Memorial Day and the end of the school year are in sight. Suddenly, you're thinking about a summer vacation. A little advance planning — and some insider tips — can save you a lot of money. Whether you're booking airfare, a car rental or a hotel room, there are questions you should ask first.

The jury has rendered its verdict — Jodi Arias is guilty of first-degree murder — but the trial is far from finished.

It’s May. Memorial Day and the end of the school year are in sight. Suddenly, you’re thinking about a summer vacation. A little advance planning — and some insider tips — can save you a lot of money. Whether you’re booking airfare, a car rental or a hotel room, there are questions you should ask first.

It all started in 1961 in Jean Nidetch's living room in New York City. A few overweight friends met each week to talk and troubleshoot their way through a sensible but strict diet from the health department's obesity clinic.

LONDON — Tesco, Britain's largest retailer by sales, is to pull out of the U.S., selling off its lossmaking Fresh & Easy supermarket chain after it failed to transfer its winning formula from the U.K. to the western states.

Many of us are familiar with keyless entry -- where a vehicle recognizes when you get close to your car, and unlocks the door.

Desert Rivers Audubon, which hosts monthly nature programs for families in Gilbert and Chandler, will give outdoors enthusiasts a primer on using smart phones to connect with nature.

In recent national news, three major car crashes claimed the lives of 15 teenagers in Ohio, Illinois and Texas. Unfortunately, that is more of a common occurrence than we realize, and those are just the ones that made national news. The Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) recently reported that teenage driver fatalities were up in 2012 from previous years. Until now, the numbers were beginning to trend downwards and many attributed it to Graduated Drivers License (GDL) Laws that were being enacted around the country.

Q: Is a VPN the safest way to use an unsecured (public) Wi-Fi connection? Are there other ways to stay safe? Are there any free VPNs out there for personal use? — Kevin

I am trying to find a way to legally copy DVDs we own to an external hard drive for storage connected to my laptop. When we take long road trips it would be nice to not have to haul all our movies along. — Bill

My interface with Hollywood chiefly consists of driving each weekday underneath the Interstate 10 sign downtown saying “Los Angeles” near my exit, thinking that I should just keep going west, to take a long-delayed shot at pitching my screenplay.

Q: Where can I take my old computers and cell phones to be recycled properly? - Suzanne

George Orwell, in his “1984” book, used the word “groupthink” to mean the making of sheep-like decisions as a group while discouraging individual thought. Well, here’s an antonym I call “Reverse-Think,” meaning to NOT think like the group.

Q: Does it affect your iPhone’s battery life when you charge it every night? I have found a lot of conflicting answers on the web. — Madeline

With outstretched condolences and a reignited concern for school security after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., local school districts and officials were prompted this week to reassure parents and the surrounding community that students are kept safe and staff members are prepared.

Q: How do I know if I downloaded the (Facebook Photo Sync) app (by accident)? - Donna

Here are 10 tips to keep your holiday shopping season a little more jolly and a lot less jarring on the wallet.

The city of Phoenix Public Information Office and the Information Technology Services Department are gearing up to update the city’s official website, phoenix.gov, in 2013 and are seeking feedback from residents on the current website and ideas for enhancements.

Black Friday often means incredible deals, right? It’s the truth we’ve all been led to believe, but it’s only the case in some of the circumstances.

Starting in January, Arizona State University students will no longer arrive to news racks carrying daily copies of The State Press, the student-run newspaper.

Google has started shipping a larger version of its Nexus tablet computer, one that comes closer to competing with Apple’s full-size iPad and other tablets. Here’s a look at how the Nexus 10 compares with other tablets with similar screens.

Valley residents may not have to worry about hurricanes or earthquakes, but being prepared for an emergency — either individually or as a community — should be at the top of every resident’s to-do lists, public safety leaders said.

Q: I have thousands of songs in my iTunes at home that I would like to listen to at work and I don’t want to pay Apple to use iTunes Match. Any other suggestions? — Nicholas