Rubio Calls Reports of Immigration Deal ‘Premature’

As several of the senators taking part in a bipartisan effort to overhaul to the nation’s immigration laws appeared on the Sunday talk shows to sound an optimistic note, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida and a member of the group, offered a strongly worded note of caution: “No agreement on immigration legislation yet,” read a headline, in all capital letters, of a statement released by his office on Sunday.

“I’m encouraged by reports of an agreement between business groups and unions on the issue of guest workers,” Mr. Rubio said in the statement. “However, reports that the bipartisan group of eight senators have agreed on a legislative proposal are premature.”

Mr. Rubio was referring to news reports on Saturday saying that the nation’s leading business and labor groups had reached an agreement on a guest worker program for low-skilled workers â€" an issue that had been among the final sticking points in the overall immigration negotiations among the group of eight senators.

“We have made substantial progress, and I believe we will be able to agree on a legislative proposal that modernizes our legal immigration system, improves border security and enforcement and allows those here illegally to earn the chance to one day apply for permanent residency contingent upon certain triggers being met,” Mr. Rubio said. “However, that legislation will only be a starting point.”

On Saturday, as news of the deal between business and labor broke, Mr. Rubio sounded a similar refrain of caution, sending a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, warning Mr. Leahy not to take up immigration reform with “excessive haste.”

Mr. Rubio, one of four Republicans in the group, was elected in 2010 as part of a Tea Party wave, and seems determined to emerge from any immigration bargain with his conservative credentials intact; at the outset, he went on something of a one-man media tour, trying to sell the broad principles behind an immigration overhaul to conservative hosts on television and radio. Recently he has been saying that he believes an immigration bill needs to be the result of a deeply deliberate process.

Speaking on the CNN program “State of the Union” on Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a member of the group, said that while the eight senators still needed to sign off on the language of an immigration bill, they had largely reached an agreement in principle and he was confident that a bill would be introduced imminently.

“I think we’ve got a deal,” Mr. Graham said. “We’ve got to write the legislation.”

Mr. Graham added: “It will be rolled out next week.”

Mr. Rubio’s statement, meanwhile, called for a healthy debate if and when the group does introduce an immigration bill.

“We will need a healthy public debate that includes committee hearings and the opportunity for other senators to improve our legislation with their own amendments,” he said. “Eight senators from seven states have worked on this bill to serve as a starting point for discussion about fixing our broken immigration system. But arriving at a final product will require it to be properly submitted for the American people’s consideration, through the other 92 senators from 43 states that weren’t part of this initial drafting process. In order to succeed, this process cannot be rushed or done in secret.”

Sunday Breakfast Menu, March 31

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Two members of the bipartisan Senate group working on overhauling immigration policy â€" Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona â€" will be on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Business and labor leaders reached a deal on a guest worker program for low-skilled immigrants on Friday.

NBC will also have a conversation about immigration and guns with David Axelrod, former White House adviser, and Tom Davis, former Republican congressman. In addition, a panel including Rob Reiner, the actor and director who is a critic of California’s same-sex marriage ban and attended last week’s Supreme Court arguments, and Brian S. Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, will weigh in on the decisions now up to the court.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” to talk about immigration, guns and the budget. Also on the program are Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, the lawyers who joined forces to fight California’s same-sex marriage ban.

CNN also talks to the chaplain of the Senate, the Rev. Dr. Barry C. Black, and of the House, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York will appear on ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Easter Sunday to talk about the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis.

Mayor Cory Booker of Newark and Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, will also join ABC to talk about politics, and the program will feature a panel discussion about the intersection of religion and politics.

CBS will also have a conversation about religion in the United States with the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston, Suhaib Webb; Rabbi David Wolpe of the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles; Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington; and Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. of Hope Christian Church in Baltimore.

Mark E. Kelly, the astronaut and husband of the former United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords, discusses his push for stronger gun control measures on “Fox News Sunday.” Also, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington joins the program to weigh in on the debate over same-sex marriage and the pope.

Univision’s “Al Punto,” which is on Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern, will feature an interview with President Obama, among other guests. In the pre-recorded segment, he discusses his efforts to revamp the immigration system.

C-Span’s “Newsmakers” features Richard Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., who will discuss the immigration debate and its effect on American workers.

On Bloomberg’s “Capitol Gains,” Charles Ward, a retired Air Force general, will talk about cuts to defense spending, and Clay Jones, chairman and chief executive of Rockwell Collins, a defense contractor, will discuss the effects of sequestration on his company. The program airs Sundays at noon Eastern.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, appeared on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital,” which is on Fridays with repeats over the weekend.

TV One’s “Washington Watch” will air a special edition, “Amazing Grace: Drama in the Black Church,” Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern, which will run again Sunday at 11 a.m.

Sunday Breakfast Menu, March 31

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Two members of the bipartisan Senate group working on overhauling immigration policy â€" Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona â€" will be on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Business and labor leaders reached a deal on a guest worker program for low-skilled immigrants on Friday.

NBC will also have a conversation about immigration and guns with David Axelrod, former White House adviser, and Tom Davis, former Republican congressman. In addition, a panel including Rob Reiner, the actor and director who is a critic of California’s same-sex marriage ban and attended last week’s Supreme Court arguments, and Brian S. Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, will weigh in on the decisions now up to the court.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” to talk about immigration, guns and the budget. Also on the program are Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, the lawyers who joined forces to fight California’s same-sex marriage ban.

CNN also talks to the chaplain of the Senate, the Rev. Dr. Barry C. Black, and of the House, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York will appear on ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Easter Sunday to talk about the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis.

Mayor Cory Booker of Newark and Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, will also join ABC to talk about politics, and the program will feature a panel discussion about the intersection of religion and politics.

CBS will also have a conversation about religion in the United States with the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston, Suhaib Webb; Rabbi David Wolpe of the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles; Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington; and Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. of Hope Christian Church in Baltimore.

Mark E. Kelly, the astronaut and husband of the former United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords, discusses his push for stronger gun control measures on “Fox News Sunday.” Also, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington joins the program to weigh in on the debate over same-sex marriage and the pope.

Univision’s “Al Punto,” which is on Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern, will feature an interview with President Obama, among other guests. In the pre-recorded segment, he discusses his efforts to revamp the immigration system.

C-Span’s “Newsmakers” features Richard Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., who will discuss the immigration debate and its effect on American workers.

On Bloomberg’s “Capitol Gains,” Charles Ward, a retired Air Force general, will talk about cuts to defense spending, and Clay Jones, chairman and chief executive of Rockwell Collins, a defense contractor, will discuss the effects of sequestration on his company. The program airs Sundays at noon Eastern.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, appeared on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital,” which is on Fridays with repeats over the weekend.

TV One’s “Washington Watch” will air a special edition, “Amazing Grace: Drama in the Black Church,” Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern, which will run again Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Weekend Word: Checkpoint

Today’s Times

• Top business and labor groups were near agreement Friday on a guest worker program for low-skilled immigrants, a sticking point that would eliminate one of the last significant obstacles for a broad immigration overhaul, Ashley Parker and Steven Greenhouse report.

• After a week absorbed by social issues like gun control and gay rights, President Obama spoke at the ocean port in Miami on Friday to promote his plans to rebuild the nation’s “raggedy” infrastructure, Peter Baker reports.

Weekly Address

• President Obama used this week’s address to wish Christians around the world a happy Easter, and to recognize Jewish families as they commemorate the Exodus from Egypt and the triumph of faith over oppression. “From Judaism to Islam; Hinduism to Sikhism; there echoes a powerful call to serve our brothers and sisters,” he said. “That’s the common humanity that binds us together. And as Americans, we’re united by something else, too: faith in the ideals that lie in the heart of our founding, and the belief that, as part of something bigger than ourselves, we have a shared responsibility to look out for our fellow citizens.”

Around the Web

• The Texas Department of Transportation will be paying to keep 13 air traffic control towers open that the federal government was going to shut down because of the sequester, The Hill reports.

• One gun-control advocacy group is using Ronald Reagan to be the face of a new ad promoting the expanded use of background checks, The Hill reports.

Bipartisan Rebuke for Republican Congressman Who Used Slur

Under pressure from Congressional leaders and advocacy groups, Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska, has apologized for describing Hispanic farm workers who picked tomatoes on his father’s ranch as “wetbacks” in an interview.

“I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska,” Mr. Young said in a statement on Friday. “There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I’m sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform.”

On Thursday, after the interview was released, Mr. Young tried to explain his remarks, saying that he “meant no disrespect” by using the term in a discussion about the labor market. He said that its usage was common when he was growing up in central California.

But leaders from both parties demanded a fuller apology. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said Friday that there was “no excuse” for the remarks, which he deemed “offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds.”

“I don’t care why he said it - there’s no excuse and it warrants an immediate apology,” Mr. Boehner said.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said the remarks did not reflect the party’s views.

“Migrant workers come to America looking for opportunity and a way to provide a better life for their families,” he said in a statement. “They do not come to this country to hear ethnic slurs and derogatory language from elected officials. The comments used by Representative Young do nothing to elevate our party, political discourse or the millions who come here looking for economic opportunity.”

Mr. Young, 79, is serving his 20th consecutive term.

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, demanded an apology on Twitter for “deeply offensive comments that were not appropriate in his youth or now.”

Representative Rubén Hinojosa of Texas, the Democratic chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Friday that his colleague should have known better than to use the “hateful” word.

“He has served alongside Hispanics in Congress since 1973, so he should know terms like ‘wetback’ have never been acceptable,” Mr. Hinojosa said.

Mr. Young’s gaffe came as a bipartisan group of lawmakers is set to unveil legislation to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws and create a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.

“When elected officials use racial slurs, it sets back our nation and sets back legislators who are seriously working toward real, bipartisan solutions,” Mr. Hinojosa said.

In recent weeks, leading Republicans have expressed a desire to change the party’s tone toward Latinos and immigration policy, with the Republican National Committee pledging to spend $10 million on outreach to women and minorities, after a report revealed deep disconnects with those pivotal groups.

Reince Priebus, the party chairman, said Mr. Young’s words “emphatically do not represent the beliefs of the Republican Party.”

“As I have continued to say, everyone in this country deserved to be treated with dignity and respect,” he said in a statement. “Our party represents freedom and opportunity for every American and a beacon of hope to those seeking liberty throughout the world.”

Mr. Young, the second most senior Republican member of Congress, is no stranger to political difficulties. He has held on to his Congressional seat for 40 years, despite a number of missteps and tough races. The House is currently investigating whether he broke House rules by improperly using campaign funds for personal use and not reporting hunting trips he took that were paid for by an unknown third party, after an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Original Digital Pet Returns for a New Generation

The Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. app from Bandai.

Making the most of a recent nostalgia trend in technology that has brought back brands like Furby and Pac-Man, Bandai is reintroducing Tamagotchi, the digital pet from the 1990s, as a lifestyle brand called Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. (for Love Is Fun Everywhere).

The original Tamagotchi was a tiny toy that fit on a keychain; the new version is a smartphone app. An iOS version was released on Thursday, following the introduction of an Android app last month. The app is free, but comes with banner ads; an ad-free version is available for 99 cents.

Tamagotchi appears to be aimed at girls and young women. The app recreates the same nurturing play that Tamagotchi offered when it was introduced in the United States 16 years ago. It eats, it sleeps and it poops. It can die, too, so you have to take care of it by feeding it, playing games with it and giving it medicine when it gets sick. To increase awareness of your parenting duties, the little guy sends alerts when it needs attention, at least a half-dozen times a day. Fortunately, Tamagotchi sleeps through the night.

The app has color graphics and better resolution than the original Tamagotchi, but it still has the same pixelated appearance of the original. If you’re feeling really nostalgic, a toy mode replicates the look of the original, including the shell that housed it. The app also includes a few extras, like a rock-paper-scissors game and the ability to share photos of your bouncing baby blob on Facebook.

The app is a simple pastime, but I can see how it could get tedious after a few days for anyone over the age of 7. The Tamagotchi’s incessant appetite is bested only by the piles of stinking poop it makes (you can tell they are stinky because they have wavy stink lines rising above them).

Unlike other mindless apps, there are no ropes to cut or fruit to slice or birds to sling at pigs. Bandai may have updated the brand for a new audience, but it forgot to advance the concept.

A Big Picture From a Small Projector

Sometimes even a four-inch smartphone screen may not seem enough. If so, would 200 inches do

The iPower Sight can â€" according to the manufacturer, iPowerUp â€" take what is on your phone, tablet or computer screen and enlarge it, projecting an image up to 200 diagonal inches from a device that is itself pocket-size.

Both measures may be a shade optimistic. No doubt the projector is small, at about 4 by 4 by ¾ of an inch and just over three ounces, but you would still need a pretty big pocket. And while it can project a focused image at up to 200 inches, you wouldn’t want to do that unless you had a completely darkened room and a nicely reflective projection screen.

It was easy enough to watch an image enlarged to around 50 inches on a white wall on an overcast day. Considering the size of the projector, the quality was quite good. The Sight uses a DLP chip, which is covered with minuscule mirrors to reflect LED light to the screen. It is the same technology that has long been used in many full-scale, high-end projectors.

The Sight’s lamp kicks out 85 lumens, which is brighter than most similarly sized projectors, and it has resolution of 854 by 480 pixels, which qualifies as high definition, but you will not want this to replace your 1080p plasma TV. Unlike your TV, the Sight can run about two hours on battery power, or plugged in for a movie marathon.

The videos I projected from YouTube looked good. Noise didn’t distract me from Psy’s horsie dance, but I could find it if I looked for it.

The projector’s built-in speaker is as anemic as the one you would find on your phone or tablet. If you want to add some quality sound, you will need to connect to a separate speaker dock.

If what you’re looking for is a decent picture from a small package, perhaps for presentations, entertaining the kids on a trip or making video games wall-size in a dorm room, the iPower Sight is far, far superior to huddling around your phone.

Currently the projector is only available direct from iPowerUp for $350.

App Smart Extra: For the Garden

This week, App Smart was all about gardening because spring has sprung, or is about to. There are many apps that can help you in the garden, like plant reference guides or advice about garden bugs, and even apps that can help you manage your garden and its plants over time.

A useful reference is the free Android app Garden Plants Growing Guide. Unlike some of its peers, this app is a little pedestrian in design because of its plain lists of plants and simple pages full of text. But it contains an impressive database of flowers, vegetables and herbs â€" with more of an emphasis on flowers â€" and each entry has a photo and detailed advice on when to sow a plant and how to take care of it. You’ll have to know the Latin name for many of the flowers, though, because that is how the app lists them and there are no thumbnail photos in the flowers list to help identify them.

Fruit Garden is a slightly similar $0.99 Android and $1.99 iOS app with a focus on fruit plants. It’s a list of common varieties, with details on each to help you understand how to best plant and grow them. The app lacks useful extras like garden management facilities, and its list of plants is not exhaustive. But it has taught me how to better feed the orange trees in my garden.

The Gardening Guide is a much more detailed app that has lots of advice about planting and tending your garden. It’s aimed more at vegetable gardening than flower gardening, but each entry is well written and has comprehensive advice on each crop. For example, I learned that it’s a good idea to harvest lettuce in the morning, after the leaves have plumped with water overnight. It’s listed as The Gardening Guide From Mother Earth News on iTunes, and as Garden Guide in Google’s app store.

If you’re planning a bit of a spring garden redesign, the aptly named Garden Design Ideas, free on Android, may help. It’s a large list of photos of gardens, with no extra details or data on plants and so on because it’s all about a garden’s visuals. It shows all sorts of gardens, like modern ones or Japanese-style ones. This app is fairly simple, but it may frustrate you if you fixate on a particular design and want to know more about it.

Quick call

Pandora, one of the hottest music streaming apps out there, is finally available as a free Windows Phone 8 app â€" and as a sweetener, the app has no ads and no monthly streaming limit through the rest of this year.

The Early Word: Hints of Agreement

In Today’s Times:

• President Obama and Congressional Republicans have quietly brought up making broad changes to Medicare, a move that could result in significant savings and possibly lead to a budget deal, Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear report.

• With Congress increasing its resistance to tougher gun laws, Mr. Obama asked lawmakers and the nation Thursday not to forget about the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., Jeremy W. Peters and Peter Baker report.

• The focus of recent cyberattacks on American financial institutions has shifted to destroying data, with suspicions cast on Iran and North Korea, though a smoking gun has yet to be produced, Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger report.

• The Obama administration’s balancing act on enforcement of the Defense of Marriage Act is up for discussion this week after Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. accused the president of not having “the courage of his convictions” by continuing to enforce a law he deemed unconstitutional, Peter Baker reports.

• Craft beer brewers descended on Washington this week for the industry’s first conference, sampling the hometown brew and lobbying Congressional staff members for a tax cut, Andrew Siddons reports.

Washington Happenings:

• Mr. Obama will travel to Miami on Friday to tour a tunnel project and talk about investing in infrastructure.

• The presidents of Cape Verde, Malawi, Senegal and Sierra Leone will speak about encouraging prosperity in Africa at the United States Institute of Peace on Friday.

Obama Order Establishes Bipartisan Voting Commission

President Obama signed an executive order on Thursday establishing a bipartisan commission to examine problems of voter access after complaints of long lines at polling stations during last year’s election.

Mr. Obama promised during his State of the Union address last month that he would appoint such a panel, saying that “we are betraying our values” if voters end up sacrificing their franchise “because they can’t wait for five, six, seven hours just to cast their ballot.”

The commission will be headed by the lawyers for last year’s presidential campaigns: Robert Bauer, who represented Mr. Obama, and Benjamin Ginsberg, who represented his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. Mr. Bauer has long been Mr. Obama’s legal adviser and served a stint as his White House counsel. In addition to Mr. Romney, Mr. Ginsberg represented former President George W. Bush during both of his campaigns and the 2000 recount.

Mr. Obama’s order directed the new commission to submit a final report within six months of its first public meeting, but it was not clear when it would gather because seven other members are still to be appointed by the president.

The commission was charged with finding ways to shorten lines and “to promote the efficient administration” of elections.

“That report is intended to serve as a best-practices guide for state and local election officials to improve voters’ experience at the polls under their existing election laws,” said Josh Earnest, a deputy White House press secretary.

As Court Considers Marriage Law, Chief Architect Seeks to Return to Congress

A day after a majority of justices at the Supreme Court appeared to express doubts about the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, one of the lawmakers most responsible for its passage announced he would try to return to Congress.

Bob Barr, who wrote the legislation defining marriage as between a man and a woman for purposes of the federal government, and who sought the presidency in 2008 as a Libertarian Party candidate, announced on Thursday that he would seek an open House seat in Georgia.

Just announced I’m running for #GA11. It will take experience to right the wrongs. Will you help me http://t.co/jRsqT72F3z #GAGOP #GAPOL

â€" Bob Barr (@bobbarrcongress) 28 Mar 13

Mr. Barr, a Republican who represented an Atlanta-area district from 1995 to 2003, is running to fill the seat of Representative Phil Gingrey, a Republican from Georgia’s 11th District, who announced Wednesday that he would seek the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Saxby Chambliss. Mr. Gingrey’s planned exit created an opening for Mr. Barr, who said a couple of weeks ago that he would not declare his political intentions until Mr. Gingrey had made his own clear.

Mr. Barr rose to some political prominence in 1996 when he sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act, which was challenged Wednesday at the Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Windsor. In 1996 as the bill was being debated, Mr. Barr gave a memorable speech on the floor of the House vigorously defending the law:

Mr. Chairman, as Rome burned, Nero fiddled, and that is exactly what the gentlewoman and others on her side who spoke yesterday and last night would have us do. Mr. Chairman, we ain’t going to be fooled.

The very foundations of our society are in danger of being burned. The flames of hedonism, the flames of narcissism, the flames of self-centered morality are licking at the very foundations of our society: the family unit.

But following his unsuccessful bid for the presidency, during which he largely disavowed his record in Congress, Mr. Barr called for the repeal of his own law in 2009. On his new campaign Web site, he pledged to focus on a smaller government that “can perform its constitutionally enumerated powers.”

In keeping with the theme of smaller government, Mr. Barr made his announcement at Adventure Outdoors Mega Superstore, in Smyrna, Ga., which boasts of having “10,000 guns on display” and three shooting ranges on site. On its Facebook page, the company’s chief executive, Jay Wallace, said that Mr. Barr’s candidacy would be “great news for your Second Amendment rights and personal liberties.”

Mr. Barr is not the only former Republican representative from the 1990s who has sought to return to Washington. Representative Steve Stockman, who was defeated in a 1996 primary after one term in office, made a successful comeback bid last November. Mr. Stockman raised eyebrows in February when he invited the musician and vocal gun rights advocate Ted Nugent as his guest to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Tip of the Week: Beware of Tax Season Scams

The deadline for filing federal (and many state) tax returns is just a few weeks away, so the level of scam e-mail messages claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service are likely to increase in the coming days. Remember, the I.R.S. does not initially contact taxpayers by e-mail or text message to request PIN codes, Social Security numbers or other financial data. Do not click on any Web links or open attachments included with these types of messages because you could inadvertently install malicious software on the computer. You can report suspicious mail by forwarding the messages to phishing@irs.gov and the agency’s site has a page with additional safety information.

The Early Word: Definition

In Today’s Times:
Returning for a second day to the topic of same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court seemed poised to invalidate a central part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, Adam Liptak reports. If the justices strike the provision, same-sex spouses in jurisdictions where their marriage is legal would start to receive federal benefits.

The political momentum behind legalizing same-sex marriage could hinder its legal progress. Peter Baker writes that while the Supreme Court appears inclined to strike the federal definition of marriage, the justices might see the movement’s progress as reason not to intervene further.

Jeremy W. Peters describes the brief appearance outside the court of Edith Windsor, the 83-year-old plaintiff in the Defense of Marriage Act case.

In the fight for same-sex couples to have the right to marry, Mary Bonauto has achieved a status akin to Thurgood Marshall’s, the advocate for civil rights who went on to become a Supreme Court justice. Sheryl Stolberg profiles Ms. Bonauto, the top civil rights lawyer for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, whose decade of legal work to advance same-sex marriage has won her praise from her supporters and critics alike.

The Senate barber shop is about to feel the effects of budget cuts. Jeremy W. Peters writes that the shop, which has served senators since the 19th century and has survived the Civil War and Newt Gingrich, will be privatized over several years as the Senate sergeant-at-arms seeks to cut its losses.

Happening in Washington:
Economic reports expected Thursday include fourth-quarter gross domestic product and weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by weekly mortgage rates.

President Obama will be surrounded by mothers, law enforcement officials and victims of gun violence when he delivers remarks Thursday urging Congress to act on legislation to protect children from gun violence. His remarks in the East Room begin at 11:40 a.m.

Several sub-Saharan African leaders are in Washington for several days of events that include an honor cordon at 9:45 a.m. and a meeting with Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at 2:10 p.m. The guests are President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde.

The president and vice-president’s schedule also includes meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry at 3:45 p.m. and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew at 4:15 p.m.

Menino to End Long Run as Boston Mayor, Reports Say

BOSTON â€" Mayor Thomas Menino, the longest-serving mayor in Boston history, has decided not to seek re-election this year, according to media reports.

Mr. Menino, 70, who has been mayor for the last two decades, is planning to announce his decision Thursday afternoon at Faneuil Hall, an historic site reserved for important ceremonial occasions but not the place where Mr. Menino had announced his re-election bids for his previous five terms.

Mr. Menino was hospitalized for several weeks late last year with a variety of ailments, including diabetes. But he put up a feisty front when questioned about his plans to run again. The uncertainty surrounding his intentions had frozen many political egos in this highly political city; challenging the mayor has long been perceived as a career-ending move, given the strength of his political organization and his ability to raise money.

A Boston Globe poll earlier this week showed he remained immensely popular and that he would trounce the only major candidate, City Councilor John Connolly, who had announced his candidacy regardless of the mayor’s decision. The poll affirmed the finding of previous polls â€" that more than half of the city’s constituents had met the mayor personally, an astounding feat for the chief executive of a major American city.

But the poll also showed that voters were concerned about his health and ambivalent about returning him to office for an unprecedented sixth term. Only 43 percent said they wanted him to run again, and 36 percent said they did not.

He leaves office with Boston on the upswing of the economic recovery. Commercial and residential building is booming across town, more people are moving in to Boston than are moving out and the city is riding high as the home of an innovative economy, particularly attractive to technology startups.

The longevity of Mr. Menino’s tenure and his bowing out on a high note are already earning him comparisons to Ted Williams, the legendary Red Sox “Splendid Splinter,” who left at the top of his game.

“It will mark the end of an era, a watershed moment in Boston akin to Ted Williams’ retirement after his two-decade run at Fenway Park,” wrote Andrew Ryan in The Boston Globe.

In Boston, there could be no higher accolade.

A suddenly open mayoral seat is likely to unleash a flood of pent-up ambition among politicians who have been stifled for nearly a generation. And a competitive mayoral race could easily eclipse the current special election to fill the Senate seat of John Kerry, who left to become President Obama’s Secretary of State. Indeed, as news of Mr. Menino’s decision broke Wednesday night, first on Twitter by David Bernstein of the defunct Boston Phoenix, it distracted many of those attending a debate with the Senate candidates in Needham.

The Senate race â€" the third since 2010 â€" had only seemed to highlight a sense of voter fatigue, with vast segments of the public undecided and analysts predicting a low voter turnout in the Senate primaries on April 30. But a rough-and-tumble mayor’s race could get the adrenaline flowing again.

Mr. Menino had until May to announce whether he was seeking re-election, and all indications were that he might wait until the last minute. But his announcement now suggests he was listening to those who implored him to make his intentions known sooner rather than later to allow his potential successors to have as fulsome a debate as possible.

The Boston Herald reported Thursday that Mr. Menino had conducted his own poll at the end of February to help him decide whether to run again.

“The disclosure that Menino was conducting a poll, even while insisting he was worrying only about getting better, paints a behind-the-scenes picture of the 70-year-old mayor agonizing over whether his popularity might be slipping because of his health battles,” the Herald said.

The paper quoted Paul Maslin, the mayor’s pollster, as saying that Mr. Menino had told him: “I just want to know after the last three or four months where do I really stand before I have to make a decision.”

The poll showed that 80 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of him, but it also said that 51 percent said he had been a good mayor but it was time for new leadership.

Democrats Stake Positions in Special Election for Massachusetts Senate Seat

NEEDHAM, Mass. â€" At the first Democratic debate in the special election to replace John Kerry in the United States Senate, Representatives Stephen Lynch and Edward Markey took entirely different approaches Wednesday night as they introduced themselves to Massachusetts voters.

Mr. Lynch cast himself as the defender of the little guy and painted Mr. Markey as the defender of big banks, big telecommunications companies and trade treaties that shipped jobs overseas.

At one point, Mr. Lynch accused Mr. Markey of supporting the Wall Street bailout for banks but voting against the interest of taxpayers in the debt limit crisis. (Mr. Markey said his votes prevented an even worse economic calamity.)

Mr. Markey was less confrontational and instead emphasized his steadfast support for issues that are important to many Democratic activists here: gun control, abortion rights and President Obama’s health care law. And he repeatedly invoked the name of former Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

When given the chance to question Mr. Lynch, Mr. Markey threw him a softball, praising his work for veterans and allowing Mr. Lynch to note that he had helped prevent the closing of three veterans’ hospitals.

The candidates have little time in which to make an impression on voters, who, polls suggest, have not tuned in to the campaign. A recent poll by WBUR, the National Public Radio affiliate, also said that while Mr. Markey was ahead of Mr. Lynch, voters had a more favorable view of Mr. Lynch.

The Democratic debate was the second part of a doubleheader here at the studios of WCVB-TV, following a debate by the three Republican candidates. Each debate lasted 30 minutes.

The party primaries are on April 30, and the winners of each will face off on June 25.

The Republicans â€" Michael Sullivan, a former United States attorney; state Representative Dan Winslow; and Gabriel Gomez, a businessman and former Navy SEAL â€" were meeting for the second time and found it more difficult to distinguish themselves from one another.

In a display of what it means to be a Republican in deep blue Massachusetts, they all spoke favorably of same-sex marriage and supported overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The act was the subject of arguments Wednesday before the Supreme Court.

But they also all spoke against the Obama health care law, which is popular here, suggesting that there may be more leeway for Massachusetts Republicans to side with their national party on fiscal issues than on social issues.

One of the striking differences between the Republican and Democratic debates was that the Democrats are both in Congress and have voting records to defend on the big issues of the day. None of the Republicans has served in Washington before â€" Mr. Gomez is a newcomer to politics altogether â€" and do not have votes that can be used against them or that can help define them.

Mr. Sullivan sought to underscore Mr. Gomez’s lack of political or government experience, grilling him at one point about his history with managing budgets and making cuts.

Mr. Gomez said he had sat on the board of a large company that was responsible for managing a budget of $3 billion. But he indicated that he thought his life experience was more valuable. “People don’t want someone who’s been in politics for a good part of their life,” he said. “I’ve got leadership experience, and I’ve been effective my whole life.”

Among the five candidates, there seemed to be three positions on abortion, without regard to party. Mr. Markey and Mr. Winslow said they supported abortion rights without qualification. Mr. Lynch and Mr. Gomez called themselves “pro-life” but said they believed Roe v. Wade was settled law. Mr. Sullivan called himself “pro-life” without qualification.

Pardon Me, Is That Rihanna in Your Purse

Was I expecting too little of the Stellé Audio Couture Audio Clutch

I have to wonder when a speaker-in-a-purse sounds so good. At a price of $300, maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised.

The Audio Clutch appears to be a woman’s handbag, but springs open to reveal two 1.5-inch speakers. It connects to a music source by Bluetooth or 3.5-millimeter phone jack, and pumps out very good sound.

The device is 9 by 4.5 by 2 inches when shut. While weightier than an evening bag, it shouldn’t be too burdensome to carry.

The Audio Clutch’s Bluetooth connection, however, had glitches â€" it had to be reset several times. In subsequent uses, it did not reconnect reliably, and when it did reconnect, it did so slowly.

The speakers handled a variety of music quite well, providing clear, full sound, with one exception â€" the Overture to “The Mikado” caused distortion. No other music I tried did, however.

I could blast jazz, rock, blues and hip-hop music at maximum, and while the volume was louder than I would like, it wasn’t quite room-filling. You’ll be disappointed if your goal is to rattle the windows at a dorm party.

The fit and finish is good, with a glaring exception. The charging and accessory port is covered with a loose flap of faux hide material. How long before that little flap becomes worn

Carrying the Audio Clutch might look cooler than toting a speaker dock, except people may wonder why you are carrying two purses. The Audio Clutch is so crammed with electronics, it can’t be used to carry anything else.

Obama to Visit Mexico and Costa Rica in May

In a trip aimed at reinforcing cultural, familial and economic ties with Mexico and Central America, President Obama will visit Mexico and Costa Rica in May, the White House announced Wednesday.

The president’s trip is scheduled for May 2 to 4.

In Mexico, Mr. Obama plans to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto for talks that the Mexican foreign ministry described earlier as focused on security, immigration and trade. The two leaders, who spoke by phone on Wednesday, last met when Mr. Peña Nieto visited the White House in November, shortly before he was sworn in to a six-year term.

The White House said Mr. Obama “welcomes the opportunity to discuss ways to deepen our economic and commercial partnership and further our engagement on the broad array of bilateral, regional and global issues that connect our two countries.”

Mr. Obama will focus on the same issues in Costa Rica, where he plans to meet with President Laura Chinchilla and the leaders of other Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

The United States maintains deep trade ties with Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and it is a partner in combating drug trafficking there and in Central America.

Mr. Obama would be the first American president to visit Costa Rica since Bill Clinton visited in May 1997, to meet with then-President José María Figueres. Mr. Obama and Ms. Chinchilla last met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

In an interview released Wednesday, President Obama told the Spanish-language network Telemundo that he was anticipating the trip.

“I’m looking forward to having a couple of days of important consultations and emphasizing, underscoring, how important it is for us within this Western Hemisphere to be able to strengthen our economic ties,” he said. “Because that will be good for all the parties concerned. They’ll have a greater chance of success and opportunity.”

Ashley Judd Passes on Senate Run in Kentucky

After a high-profile flirtation with a Senate race, the actress Ashley Judd announced Wednesday that she would not seek the Democratic nomination in 2014 from Kentucky.

“I realize that my responsibilities and energy at this time need to be focused on my family,” Ms. Judd wrote to her 171,000 followers in a Twitter message on Wednesday afternoon. “Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate.”

Ms. Judd’s interest in the seat, held by Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, drew national attention, a foretaste of the media barrage that one of her champions, Representative John Yarmuth, Democrat of Kentucky, predicted if she took the plunge. Mr. Yarmuth and others hoped it would unleash a gusher of campaign donations from across the country.

But Ms. Judd, 44, who campaigned last year for President Obama, was also the target of fierce pre-emptive attacks by Republicans. Some Democratic strategists in Kentucky also expressed worries that her liberal views would be too unpopular in a state Mr. Obama lost by 23 percentage points in November. The strategists fretted that a loss by Ms. Judd to Mr. McConnell, a five-term senator, would drag down other Democrats on the state ballot and threaten the party’s control of the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Ms. Judd, who spent part of her youth in Ashland, Ky., but now lives in Tennessee, was mocked by Republicans, including the strategist Karl Rove, as a carpetbagger and “radical Hollywood liberal.”

But as a measure of how much Mr. McConnell seemed wary of her, he commissioned an early poll attempting to highlight her vulnerabilities and produced an attack ad of his own.

Ms. Judd had seemed seriously poised to enter the race. She met with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and hired experienced consultants in Washington and New York. She indicated she would announce her intentions near Kentucky Derby Day in early May.

Her Twitter decision was unexpected. “I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people and new leader,” she wrote. “While that won’t be me at this time, I will continue to work as hard as I can to ensure the needs of Kentucky families are met by returning this Senate seat to whom it rightfully belongs: the people and their needs, dreams and great potential. Thanks for even considering me as that person and know how much I love our Commonwealth. Thank you!”

Sit! Staaayyyy. Play Music! Good Dog!

The TechPet from Bandai.

Riding on the popularity of other interactive pets, like Hasbro’s Furby and Mattel’s Figit, comes the TechPet from Bandai.

TechPet is basically an update of the Tamagotchi, the virtual pet that Bandai introduced in the 1990s. It has a rather generic name for a playful, interactive puppy; fortunately, you can rename it once it’s yours. You can also feed it, pet it, groom it and teach it tricks â€" everything you would normally do with a live puppy, except clean up after it.

The TechPet is compatible with the iPhone 3, 4 and 4S and the fourth-generation iPod Touch. After downloading a free app, place your device in the TechPet’s cradle, and it displays the puppy’s smiling face. But that face can also frown and get sick, so you have to give it lots of attention.

At first, the TechPet has a limited supply of digital food and accessories. But the more attention it gets, the more features it unlocks. It can also walk and dance, although I couldn’t get it to take more than a few jerky steps. Maybe I need better doggie treats.

It’s easy to get bored playing the games and activities the TechPet offers. They are either too simple or too clunky. Bandai says this toy is intended for children ages 12 and up, but that target age seems a little high. Granted, I’m not a tween, but I can’t imagine anyone older than 12 getting much enjoyment out of the TechPet.

But my biggest issue with the TechPet is Bandai’s shortsighted decision to make it compatible only with older Apple products. If you have a newer phone like the Samsung Galaxy S3 or the iPhone 5, you’re out of luck. Why make a new tech gadget that works only with older devices

The TechPet;s retail cost is $60 and is available at Toys ‘R’ Us and Amazon.com, but some might prefer a live pet, because this puppy needs some remedial training.

Updates on Supreme Court Hearings on Same-Sex Marriage

The Lede is following developments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, where the justices will hear arguments about the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996.

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A Slimmer Keyboard for the iPad

It’s easier to type on a tablet with a keyboard, but it’s so much easier to carry a tablet without a keyboard.

The accessory manufacturer Belkin has sought a compromise with its new Ultimate Keyboard Case, which it calls the thinnest iPad keyboard available.

The keyboard, at about a quarter-inch thickness, is about half as thick as the iPad itself when snapped into the case’s plastic shell, which holds it to the cover. The keys have a definitive motion, so you can tell when you’ve hit them, although the keyboard, which is backed with iPad-style matte aluminum, is a bit cramped.

The iPad can be set at three angles, using magnets on top of the keyboard to hold it in place. The magnets could stand to be a little stronger, because the iPad occasionally flopped loose when I used my knees as the typing surface. That is partly because the hinge is made of a kind of flexible faux hide.

The magnet that holds the case closed, however, seemed to do the job.

The case also can be folded so that its pad alone can be used when you only want to use the touch screen.

The top row of buttons has shortcut keys, like video controls; access is made by hitting the Fn key on the lower left. A key in the upper left marked only with a square can summon Siri. The keyboard’s Bluetooth paired easily with the tablet, although it occasionally seemed to lose the connection.

The company said the battery would last 160 hours under constant use, and six months in standby mode.

The $100 keyboard case becomes available online through Belkin in April.

The Early Word: Too Soon

In Today’s Times

• Six of the Supreme Court justices on Tuesday seemed to share a sense of something akin to buyer’s remorse after accepting the momentous case of whether gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry, Adam Liptak writes. They appeared torn over whether this was the right time and right case for a decision on a fast-moving social issue.

• Senator Tim Johnson, Democrat of South Dakota, announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election in 2014, opening up a potential opportunity for Republicans in the state, which President Obama lost by a large margin last year, Jennifer Steinhauer writes.

• President Obama appointed Julia A. Pierson to be the first woman to lead the Secret Service, an agency best known for protecting the president, vice president and their families â€" in spite of last year’s prostitution scandal, Peter Baker reports.

Around the Web

• A gun store in Arizona blocked Mark Kelly, the husband of former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, from buying an assault rifle after the owner learned that he was buying it as a “political stunt designed to demonstrate how easy it was,” The Hill reports.

• Politico: Former Representative Todd Akin’s infamous “legitimate rape” comments have been turned into an episode of “Law & Order: SVU.”

Happenings in Washington

• There will be a vigil in front of the White House on Wednesday in support of the prisoners in their seventh week of a hunger strike at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp.

The Fine Print on T-Mobile’s New No-Contract Cellphone Plans

Now that T-Mobile’s new “Simple Choice” price plan is official (a bit anticlimactic considering it was available on the Web on Monday), there are still a few questions that may nag current T-Mobile customers and potential new customers.

Under the new plan, there will be no contracts, and phones will not be subsidized.

Services will be paid for month by month, at a cost of $50 to $70 for a single phone, depending on how much data you buy.

There will be two ways to purchase a phone. Either you can buy it outright, or you can make a down payment, then pay off the rest in installments over two years. So while you will not have a phone service contract, you could have a two-year handset contract.

If you currently have a contract with T-Mobile, you cannot convert to the new plan until you finish out your contract.

Of course, some people are wedded to the idea of a contract plan. If you already have one with T-Mobile, you can renew it, even though it is no longer offered. A T-Mobile representative said customers could extend current contracts as many times as they like.

What happens if you want to end your service with T-Mobile and go elsewhere If you bought your phone outright, it’s “See you later, no hard feelings.” If you are on a payment plan, you are still responsible for making the remaining payments.

While carriers have sometimes replaced broken phones that are under contract, that will not be the case under the new T-Mobile plan. If you lose or break your phone, you are still responsible for the payments on the old phone, and you will have to buy your own replacement.

That may make having phone insurance worthwhile. But keep in mind that carrier insurance plans are usually much more expensive than third-party insurance plans.

Pro-Obama Group Details Fund-Raising and Policy Goals

New details are emerging about the ambitious financial goals of Organizing for Action, the tax-exempt group created by former Obama campaign operatives to advance the president’s agenda.

In addition to the previously reported “advisory board” whose members are expected to raise at least $500,000, it turns out there is an even higher tier of donors who are granted entree to the board of directors if they raise $1 million for two consecutive years, according to a memo that describes the organization’s “finance leadership levels.”

The 30-member board will include a 10-person council made up of “leaders in industry” committed to supporting the group’s agenda. The organization is also creating a task force on policy, whose chairmen will be expected to raise at least $250,000 to finance advocacy work on specific issues, the memo said.

So far, Organizing for Action has gotten involved in the fight over gun control and immigration legislation, and in a conference call with fund-raisers on Tuesday, the group’s leaders said they expect to take on climate change issues later in the spring. On the call, Kathy Gasperine, the group’s national finance director, said she is in the process of “targeting” donors to fill the various positions.

“We’re trying to push for as much money as early as possible,” she said.

Polls Show Consistent Gains in Support for Same-Sex Marriage

With the Supreme Court hearing arguments on Tuesday about the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the 2008 California ban on same-sex marriage, a number of recent polls show that a majority of Americans support legalizing it.

A CBS News poll released Tuesday showed that 53 percent of Americans say it should be legal for same-sex couples to marry, up from 46 percent in a New York Times/CBS News poll last July.

The poll found that a third of Americans who support legal marriages for same-sex couples said they did not always feel that way and had changed their thinking for a variety of reasons. Among those who changed their minds, one in five said that personally knowing someone who is gay or lesbian influenced them. Other reasons volunteered by respondents included increased tolerance (17 percent) or education (17 percent) and that support for same-sex marriage is the modern way of thinking about the issue (12 percent).

More Americans now report having a friend, family member or work colleague who is gay or lesbian, with 61 percent saying so, up from 44 percent in 2003. Among those with a close relationship to someone who is gay or lesbian, two-thirds support legalizing same-sex marriage; among those who do not know someone close who is gay or lesbian, 56 percent say gay marriage should not be legal.

Support for legalizing same-sex marriage is higher among Democrats (63 percent) and independents (56 percent) than Republicans (37 percent). Among younger Americans support is higher, with nearly three-quarters of those under 30 in support, compared with slightly more than half of those over 65 who say it should not be legal.

The CBS News poll was conducted by telephone from Wednesday through Sunday among 1,181 adults nationwide, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

A Pew Research Center report released last week described the increase in support for same-sex marriage over the last 10 years as among the largest shifts in American public opinion on any policy issue. In 2003, nearly 6 in 10 Americans opposed same-sex marriage, while about a third favored allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. Pew’s recent survey found Americans have shifted substantially on the issue, with 49 percent supporting and 44 percent opposing same-sex marriage.

Other recent surveys have found similar trends, although variations in question wording produce slightly different levels of support among the polls. A CNN/ORC poll conducted March 15 to 17 found 53 percent of Americans said that marriages between gay and lesbian couples should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages, and 44 percent said they should not - numbers that flipped from 2008, when 44 percent said the law should recognize these marriages as valid.

A poll conducted the first week of March by ABC News/Washington Post showed 58 percent of Americans saying same-sex marriage should be legal, and 36 percent saying it should be illegal. Support for same-sex marriage has steadily tracked upward in ABC/Post polls, from 37 percent in favor a decade ago, to a narrow majority supporting legalizing it in 2011.

A Fox News poll conducted March 17 to 19 showed 49 percent of voters in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, up from 42 percent last year.

And a Gallup poll found that a slim majority of Americans said they would vote for a hypothetical law giving marriage benefits to gay federal government workers who are legally married. Fifty-four percent of Americans said they would vote for a law providing marriage benefits, including insurance, tax benefits and Social Security to same-sex partners of federal employees, while 39 percent said they would vote against such a law. The poll was conducted March 11 and 12.

All polls were conducted by live interviewers nationwide using landlines and cellphones, with margins of sampling error ranging between three and four percentage points.

Soros to Give $1 Million to NAACP Legal Fund

George Soros, the billionaire financier and philanthropist, has pledged $1 million to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the country’s leading civil rights legal advocacy group, officials there said Tuesday.

The gift, which Mr. Soros is making through his Open Society Foundations, is the largest grant the group has ever received from a named donor.

It comes as the fund and other legal advocacy groups are locked in battles around the country over states’ efforts to impose tighter restrictions on voting.

The fund is closely involved with a case now before the Supreme Court, Shelby County v. Holder, which challenges the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act. The group is also active in cases involving the death penalty, classroom integration and housing discrimination.

Mr. Soros and his family were among the largest donors in the country to Democratic “super PACs” during the 2012 elections. He is also a longtime supporter of voting rights and voter registration initiatives, a major focus of the NAACP fund.

In a statement, Mr. Soros said, “We need bold and courageous civil rights strategies if we are to achieve racial equality in this country.”

Sherrilyn Ifill, who took over as the legal defense fund’s top official last year, was previously the board chairwoman for United States programs at Open Society Foundations.

“L.D.F. is a great American institution that remains vigorously engaged in the fight for justice in the areas of voting rights, access to economic and educational opportunity and in challenging injustice in the criminal justice system,” Ms. Ifill said in a statement.

Q&A: Erasing Saved Web Site Passwords

Q.

I’ve been clicking the button to have my Web browser save user names and passwords for sites I visit frequently, but now I’m thinking this may not be safe if my laptop is stolen. How can I make the browser forget them all

A.

In Mozilla Firefox for Windows and Mac OS X, go to the Tools menu in the menu bar and select Options. In the Options box, click the Security tab and click on “Saved Passwords.” Click on “Remove All” to dump all the saved passwords, or click “View Saved Passwords” to selectively eliminate information.

In Google Chrome for Windows, click the wrench icon, select Options and click the Personal Stuff tab. Click the “Show Saved Passwords” button and select the entries you want to eliminate. On the Mac version of Chrome, go to the Chrome menu, select Preferences and then Settings. Click the “Show Advanced Settings” link, and under “Passwords and forms,” click “Manage Saved Passwords” to edit the information.

To clear all saved passwords in Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 and later, go to the Tools menu, select Safety and choose “Delete Browsing History.” In the box that appears, turn on the checkboxes next to “Form Data” and “Passwords” and click the Delete button; turning off the checkbox next to “Preserve Favorites website data” clears cookies and other temporary files that sites have stored on your computer as well. (You can delete individual saved passwords by selecting the username and password that appear in the login field when you visit a saved site, and then pressing the Delete key.)

In the latest version of Apple’s Safari browser, go to the Safari menu and select Preferences. In the Preferences box, click the Passwords tab and choose which ones to remove from the browser’s memory. You can also remove passwords and other information from Web sites by going to the Safari menu, choosing Reset Safari, and selecting the data you want to delete.

T-Mobile Unveils New Pricing Plan, Kind Of

T-Mobile has unveiled what is presumably its new pricing plan. I say presumably because the company will not confirm or deny that the plan appearing on its Web site is its new plan.

Assuming it is (and how can you not), what kind of deal is it

T-Mobile appears to be going to all prepaid with no monthly contract plans. For an individual, $50 gets you unlimited talk and text with 500 MB of data. After you use that 500 MB, you can still go on the Internet, but at a glacial speed. For another $10 a month, you get 2 GB of data before being slowed down, and for $20 a month you get “unlimited” data, although I suspect there is some fine print that I couldn’t locate.

This puts T-Mobile up against other prepaid plans, including Boost Mobile, which is on the Sprint Nextel network and has usually been the most competitive plan from a major carrier.

Here’s how the two compare.

Unlimited service for a smartphone - voice, text and data â€" on T-Mobile would be $70 a month. Unlimited service from Boost is $55 a month, or $60 a month for a BlackBerry. The price on Boost declines by $5 a month after six on-time payments, even if they are not consecutive. A Boost user can reduce the monthly bill by up to $15 a month that way.

As with other prepaid services, both require you to buy the phone up front. Usually a contract plan hides part of the cost of the phone in the monthly fee.

Boost smartphones range from $30 to $300. T-Mobile has a larger selection of smartphones priced at $50 to $680 and gives you the option of paying in full up front or making a down payment with a monthly fee for 24 months. The high-priced example is the Samsung Galaxy Note II, which is listed online at $200 down and $20 a month for two years, equal to the $680 cost to buy it outright. So although it’s a no-contract service, you still have a two-year commitment to pay off the phone.

Of course, you have to consider the network itself. If you want the fastest data speed, Sprint offers LTE, which is the speediest signal, but T-Mobile doesn’t. However, Sprint’s LTE is in a limited number of places. If you are not in a Sprint LTE city, T-Mobile may be faster, because its non-LTE network averaged higher speeds than competitors.

The Early Word: Marriage

In Today’s Times

• Rarely has a former commander-in-chief declared that an action he took in office violated the Constitution, but former President Bill Clinton is now urging the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, which he signed into law in 1996, Peter Baker reports.

• A spring snowstorm that blew into the nation’s capital on Monday did little to deter the few dozen people waiting outside the Supreme Court for one of the coveted seats inside for a pair of same-sex marriage cases this week, Jeremy W. Peters writes.

• The modern fight for gay rights is less than a half-century old, and as the Supreme Court hears two landmark cases on same sex-marriage this week, the speed and scope of the movement are astonishing supporters, John Harwood reports.

Around the Web

• Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive officer of Facebook, is starting a lobbying firm that will include executive donors from the tech world and prominent Washington political consultants, The Hill reports.

• The government spent nearly $3.7 million on pensions, travel, office space and postage for former presidents last year, The Associated Press reports.

Happenings in Washington

• President Obama will greet the Los Angeles Kings, Stanley Cup champions, and the Los Angeles Galaxy, Major League Soccer champions, in the White House on Tuesday.

• Supporters of same-sex marriage will hold a rally at the Supreme Court ahead of oral arguments on Hollingsworth v. Perry, the case challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Bachmann Is Subject of Ethics Investigation

WASHINGTON â€" Representative Michelle Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, is the subject of an ethics investigation examining allegations of wrongdoing that emerged in the aftermath of her failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, a lawyer for the lawmaker confirmed Monday.

The inquiry by the Office of Congressional Ethics â€" a quasi-independent agency that acts like a grand jury to address allegations of wrongdoing by House lawmakers and their staff â€" follows claims by her former campaign aides that Ms. Bachmann may have improperly used money raised by one of her House-affiliated political action committees to assist her presidential efforts in advance of the Iowa presidential caucuses in January 2012.

Peter Waldron, a Florida evangelical organizer who once served as national field coordinator of Ms. Bachmann’s presidential campaign, is among those who raised the accusations, which he also brought to the Federal Election Commission, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported in January.

Separately, a former Iowa staff member for Ms. Bachmann has accused her campaign of stealing a database of names and e-mail addresses of Christian home-school families in Iowa, a matter that has reportedly resulted in a criminal complaint in Iowa.

William McGinley, a lawyer at Patton Boggs, a prominent Washington firm, said on Monday in a statement that an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics is underway, as had first been reported by The Daily Beast. But Mr. McGinley said he is confident it will be concluded without any findings against Ms. Bachmann.

“There are no allegations that the congresswoman engaged in any wrongdoing,” Mr. McGinley said in his statement, adding that he and Ms. Bachmann are “constructively engaged” with the investigators on the Office of Congressional Ethics, as he is convinced it “will conclude that Congresswoman Bachmann did not do anything inappropriate.”

At a minimum, the Congressional Ethics inquiry demonstrates the messy aftermath of Ms. Bachmann’s failed presidential bid. She has been the subject of continued disputes by her former campaign aides that have hurt her reputation among conservatives, particularly in Iowa.

The fact that Congressional Ethics is examining the matter suggests that allegations involve at least someone on her House congressional staff, if not the lawmaker herself. The Office of Congressional Ethics does not have the jurisdiction to look into claims of wrongdoing if they only involve political staff members not on the government payroll; its jurisdiction is limited to the operations of the House of Representatives itself.

Still, the acknowledgment by her attorney that a review by Congressional Ethics is underway does not mean that any charges will be filed. In many cases, allegations are reviewed by the Congressional Ethics staff and then dropped, even before the matter becomes public.

Typically, such investigations only become public after the Congressional Ethics staff has found convincing evidence of wrongdoing and recommended that the House Ethics Committee â€" which has the power to advocate punishment of lawmakers â€" looks into a matter.

In Ms. Bachmann’s case, the Ethics Committee has not received a referral, one official on Capitol Hill said Monday, suggesting that Congressional Ethics has not yet concluded if there is probable cause to recommend a formal ethics investigation.

Spokesmen for Congressional Ethics and the House Ethics Committee declined to comment Monday.

Portman’s Son Describes Personal Side of Senator’s Shift on Same-Sex Marriage

When Senator Rob Portman, the Ohio Republican, announced his support for same-sex marriage, he said his son’s admission that he was gay prompted the change of heart. But the timeline left some puzzled: If the son, Will, came out two years ago, why did the senator’s announcement come 10 days ago

The younger Mr. Portman answers that question in a deeply personal essay in the student paper at Yale, where he is a junior. As he describes sending a letter to his parents, Will Portman suggests that his own reticence to make his sexuality public explains much of the timeline.

“Part of the reason for that is that it took time for him to think through the issue more deeply after the impetus of my coming out,” Will Portman writes. “But another factor was my reluctance to make my personal life public.”

He also describes how his father told the Romney campaign that his son was gay when he was being vetted as a potential running mate, and that the family would have been open about that on the campaign trail.

In yet another reminder of how simply knowing gay people seems to influence one’s position on marriage, Senator Claire McCaskill announced on her blog on Sunday that she, too, is getting behind same-sex marriage rights.

“My views on this subject have changed over time, but as many of my gay and lesbian friends, colleagues and staff embrace long-term committed relationships, I find myself unable to look them in the eye without honestly confronting this uncomfortable inequality,” writes Ms. McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat.

However, the center of the marriage debate is a few blocks from the Senate at the Supreme Court, where justices will hear arguments over bans on same-sex marriage on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the audience will be Jean Podrasky, a cousin of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and a lesbian from California who hopes to marry her girlfriend, according to the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

On the organization’s Web site, Ms. Podrasky writes that the Portmans’ experience “got me thinking a little more about family relationships and the impact that living your life proudly, and honestly, may have on those who have yet to become allies.”

She continues, “I know that my cousin is a good man. I feel confident that John is wise enough to see that society is becoming more accepting of the humanity of same-sex couples and the simple truth that we deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and equality under the law.”

Q&A: Screening Callers on Skype

Q.

I use Skype on the Mac. How can I set it so only people I know can call me directly

A.

With the default privacy settings, anybody else using Microsoft’s Skype service can search you out and call you, but you can change your visibility so that only people you have added to your Skype contacts list can contact you. (These same default settings keep your Skype profile picture hidden from anyone who is not already on your contacts list, though.)

To change your Skype settings, log into your account. Under the Skype menu in the Mac’s upper-left corner, choose Preferences and then click the Privacy tab in the box that pops up on screen. Next to the “Allow calls from:” line, choose Contacts instead of Anyone. If you have signed up and paid for a Skype Number, you can change the settings for that as well so that only people on the Contacts list can call you there.

People who want to call you must now send a request to be added to your Contacts list before they can call you. If you know people using Skype that you would like to add to your Contacts list, you can send a request yourself.

Recent versions of Skype also allow you to link your Facebook and Skype accounts together so that your friends are all grouped in a Facebook section of the Contacts list. (Later, if you decide connecting your Facebook and Skype accounts is too much social networking, you can always unlink them.) To make sure you are using the latest version of Skype for Mac OS X, open the program and under the Skype menu in the upper-left corner, choose “Check for Updates.”

New Roku Box Makes Streaming TV Even Easier

The Roku 3 streaming media player comes with a remote control and ear buds.

Roku’s new streaming media player, the Roku 3, looks remarkably like its predecessors: a hockey puck. Instead of upgrading the appearance, the company has improved the way the device works, while keeping the price at $100.

For starters, browsing the menus on the TV screen is more intuitive and smoother, which helps because Roku now has more than 750 channels to scroll through. Nine channels appear onscreen, as opposed to three on the older devices. And the flow from screen to screen has improved, making it much easier to navigate and search for new channels and content. A universal search features allows you to find content. (The new interface will be available for older Roku models as a free software update in coming weeks.)

Other improvements include dual-band wireless connectivity, as well as a port for an Ethernet connection. The Roku 3 also includes a USB port and a microSD slot for storage and a remote control app for iOS and Android devices. Even the Angry Birds video game that came on older models has been upgraded, to Angry Birds Space.

The most convenient enhancement is to the remote control, which now has a headphone jack. Roku even supplies a pair of ear buds. Just plug them into the remote, and the TV mutes for private listening.

However, not all change is good. The media player no longer comes packaged with a standard-definition audio/visual cable. In fact, there is not even an input for it. The exclusion means that you have to use an HDMI cable, which provides better resolution anyway, up to 1080p. However, you have to buy your own HDMI cable, because Roku did not include that with the new model, either.

If you don’t have an HDTV, you’re out of luck. Fortunately, I do own one; however, it has only one HDMI port, which is occupied by my cable company. To use the Roku 3, I have to unplug the cable TV, which is really inconvenient, or buy a switch box.

Pushing Immigration Overhaul, Obama Swears In New Americans

President Obama presided over a ceremony swearing in new American citizens at the White House on Monday as part of his pitch for legislation that would overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.

Mr. Obama offered a testimonial to the benefits of immigration after watching 28 men and women, including some who have served in the United States armed forces, take the oath of citizenship. The ceremony came as momentum builds for a plan to legalize millions of other foreigners now in the country illegally.

“After avoiding the problem for years, the time has come to fix it once and for all; the time has come for comprehensive, sensible immigration reform,” Mr. Obama told the invited audience in the East Room.

He noted that lawmakers were working across party lines to develop proposals. “I applaud them for that,” he said. “We are making progress. But we’ve got to finish the job. This issue is not new. Everyone knows what’s broken, everyone knows how to fix it.”

Mr. Obama said he expected a bill to be put forward soon and for debate to open in Congress next month. Any solution to the problem, he said, should include a pathway to “earned citizenship,” meaning that illegal immigrants must pay back taxes and penalties and get in line behind those who have sought citizenship legally.

“Let’s get this done,” he said. “Let’s do it in a way that keeps faith with our history and our values. No other country on earth welcomes as many new arrivals as we do.”

Mr. Obama, who has had such naturalization ceremonies at the White House several times over his four years in office, singled out new citizens from Ukraine, South Africa, Nigeria and St. Lucia.

“I know this is an incredibly special moment for you, for your families,” he said, “but I have to say it’s a special moment for the rest of us as well, because as we look out across this room, we’re reminded that what makes somebody American isn’t just their bloodlines, it’s not just an accident of birth; it’s a fidelity to our founding principles, a faith in the idea that anyone, anywhere can write the next chapter in this American story.”

N.R.A. Chief Says He Will Counter Gun-Control Campaign by Bloomberg

The chief executive of the National Rifle Association said on Sunday that his organization would lead a national campaign against efforts by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York to persuade Congress to adopt stricter gun controls.

The mayor and the rifle association executive, Wayne LaPierre, appeared separately on the NBC program “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire and a registered independent, said he was spending $12 million on advertising in support of pending federal legislation to curb gun violence. But Mr. LaPierre, said, “He can’t buy America.’’

“He can’t spend enough of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American public,” Mr. LaPierre said. Referring to Mr. Bloomberg’s well-known campaigns against smoking and junk food, he said: “They don’t want him in their restaurants, they don’t want him in their homes, they don’t want him telling them what food to eat. They sure don’t want him telling what self-defense firearms to own.’’

Mr. Bloomberg formed a “super PAC’’ last year to donate to candidates and causes that he supported. The causes include gay rights and tougher gun laws.

Mr. LaPierre said that gun owners would be a political counterweight to the mayor. “We have people all over, millions of people, sending us $5, $10, $15, $20 checks, saying, ‘Stand up to this guy that says we can only have three bullets,’ which is what he said,’’ Mr. LaPierre said. “ ‘Stand up to this guy that says ridiculous things like the N.R.A. wants firearms with nukes on them.’ I mean, it’s insane, the stuff he says.’’

Mr. Bloomberg, on the same program, said the power of the rifle association was “vastly overrated.’’ Moreover, he said he was “cautiously optimistic’’ that Congress would follow public opinion and vote for stricter gun controls. The Senate is expected to begin debate on gun legislation next month soon after it returns from a two-week break for the Easter and Passover holidays.

“Ninety percent of the public, 80 percent of N.R.A. members even, say that they think we should have reasonable checks before people are allowed to buy guns,’’ Mr. Bloomberg said. “They all support the Second Amendment, as I do. There are an awful lot of people that think that this is one of the great issues of our times. We have to stop the carnage.’’

Mr. Bloomberg said lawmakers could pay a political price for opposing stricter gun controls. “If 90 percent of the public want something and their representatives vote against that, common sense says, they are going to have a price to pay for that,’’ Mr. Bloomberg said.

“We’re running ads around the country,’’ Mr. Bloomberg added. “We’ve got people manning phone banks and calling. We’re trying to do everything we can to impress upon the senators that this is what the survivors want, this is what the public wants.’’

The bill going to the Senate floor is expected to include enhanced background checks for gun buyers.

Asked if his lobbying efforts were thwarting the will of the American people, Mr. LaPierre said, “No, not at all.’’ And he added: “The whole thing, universal checks, is a dishonest premise. There’s not a bill on the Hill that provides a universal check. Criminals aren’t going to be checked. They’re not going to do this. The shooters in Tucson, in Aurora, in Newtown, they’re not going to be checked. They’re unrecognizable.’’

Mr. LaPierre criticized the current National Instant Criminal Background Check System, set up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether prospective buyers have criminal records or are otherwise ineligible to purchase guns.

“It’s not fair, it’s not accurate, it’s not instant,’’ Mr. LaPierre said. “The mental health records are not in the system, and they don’t prosecute any of the criminals that they catch. It’s a speed bump for the law-abiding. It slows down the law-abiding and does nothing to anybody else.’’

Mr. LaPierre said gun control advocates “want to take this current mess of a system and expand it now to 100 million law-abiding gun owners.’’

Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, predicted that the Senate would approve some kind of universal background check. But he said that Congress must recognize concerns that the federal government would keep and possibly misuse records of gun purchases.

“I don’t know a Republican that doesn’t want to have significantly enhanced and universal background checks,” Mr. Coburn said on the C-SPAN program “Newsmakers.” “How you do that and protect the Second Amendment at the same time is very important.’’

“Remember,’’ Mr. Coburn said, “there are a lot of people in this country that â€" and rightly so, given the behavior of the federal government, in terms of its fiscal capability, in terms of regulatory overreach, in terms of poking its nose into every area of everybody’s life, in terms of domestic drones, in terms of all this other stuff â€" that you’ve created a certain level of paranoia in this country, and some of it’s justified.”

Mr. Bloomberg said he still hoped Congress would approve a ban on assault weapons, which appears to have little chance of being adopted. “I don’t think we should give up on the assault weapons ban,’’ Mr. Bloomberg said.

Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat, appearing Sunday on the CNN program “State of the Union,’’ said that a ban on assault weapons was “a tough sell.’’

Colorado recently adopted gun control bills that call for an expansion of background checks and limits on the size of ammunition magazines. But the State Legislature did not ban assault weapons.

“I think the feeling right now around assault weapons, at least in Colorado, is that they’re so hard to define what an assault weapon is,’’ Mr. Hickenlooper said.