We’re trying to help make navigating Black Friday deals easy on you, but Amazon.com isn’t helping things much. instead of giving us a nice, tidy list of games and consoles that will be on sale for this holiday shopping week, they would rather slowly release timed deals every little bit, from now through Black Friday.

They do this every year, but the difference this year is that they’ve stepped it up to about 400 deals in all, and that’s just videogames alone. What’s great about doing your Holiday shopping at Amazon is no crowds. sure, you still have to get up early, but you can shop in your underwear, with your hair uncombed.

How do you find out what’s on sale? There’s Amazon’s Black Friday Video Game Deals page, which has all of each day’s timed releases teased. Look, DJ Hero is $50 off today! DualShock3’s are $42. Uncharted 2 is $10 off.

A better idea is to follow Amazon’s Twitter feed. there, followers will actually get the jump on the people checking the page, getting an early leak to the deals going up.

Check out the rest of our Black Friday finds.

After years of needlessly conducting countless Pap tests and subsequent follow-up exams on low-risk women, North American health organizations are finally moving to replace antiquated cervical cancer screening policies.

It’s a long-overdue change that some cancer screening experts say will reduce waiting lists for secondary tests and the need for some painful, and even harmful, procedures. it will also relieve an unnecessary burden on the health-care system while helping doctors identify patients who may be at risk of developing cervical cancer.

On Friday, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists unveiled new screening guidelines that advise women not to get a Pap test until age 21, after which they should be screened every two years until age 29. After that, women should be screened every three years.

It’s a major departure from previous recommendations in Canada and the United States, which advised women to have their first screening at 18 and be tested every year after that.

It’s a shift taking shape across North America as more experts recognize that, despite the traditional belief that more screening will result in lower disease rates, the evidence simply isn’t there when it comes to Pap tests.

“We haven’t really been very effective, and we’ve been causing harm to the women that have been coming in,” said Jim Dickinson, professor of family medicine at the University of Calgary, who sat on the provincial committee reviewing cervical cancer screening guidelines.

Although screening guidelines vary province to province in Canada, most have changed their policies to reflect emerging evidence that the traditional programs had serious flaws.

Last month, Alberta officially updated its guidelines, advising women to start getting screened at age 21 or when they become sexually active. instead of annually, women are now being told to get screened every three years.

It’s similar to advice offered by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. The group updated its guidelines in 2007 to say that Pap tests should be undergone within three years of becoming sexually active or by age 21. other provinces, such as Ontario and British Columbia, advise women to be tested soon after becoming sexually active. Those provinces advise women to be tested every year until they have three normal tests in a row, after which they can be tested every two to three years.

One of the major factors driving the shift is the rare incidence of cervical cancer among women in their late teens and 20s, who in the past have been prime targets of Pap screening campaigns. The disease can also take years to develop, which is why many medical organizations are moving toward screening women at intervals longer than one year.

“It’s been recognized that it’s probably overkill to actually recommend annual Pap testing, especially in younger women,” said Verna Mai, chairwoman of the Screening Action Group at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and provincial lead of public health at Cancer Care Ontario.

But the changes weren’t made to help low-risk women save time or avoid the hassle of yearly tests. Rather, the updated rules are designed to prevent numerous unnecessary follow-up exams and potentially harmful procedures from being conducted on women who don’t have cancer.

In a Pap test, also called a Pap smear, doctors swab the cervix and send the cells to a lab to look for changes or abnormalities that could signal the possibility of cancer. The problem is that human papillomaviruses, which are very common and are transmitted sexually, can cause abnormalities that are perfectly harmless.

But in order to determine whether abnormalities warrant serious concern, doctors must conduct one of several follow-up examinations, a process that may go on for months or years, until a woman’s test results come back normal more than once. In some cases, women may have biopsies or other medical procedures done, even though the cells will probably return to normal on their own.

“It creates a lot of anxiety and concern,” Dr. Dickinson said.

Experts say they hope the new guidelines become the practice in all provinces. In Saskatchewan, for instance, women are still told to begin getting screened at age 18.

Dr. Dickinson said it’s also important for public health officials to better target those most at risk from cervical cancer, such as women in their late 30s to 50s, those with numerous sexual partners and those who simply never get screened.

But the guidelines could also change again, depending on the outcome of campaigns to vaccinate girls against HPV. The vaccine guards against two strains of the virus that most commonly cause cervical cancer. As the girls who are currently being vaccinated grow up, the incidence of cervical cancer may fall and there will be less need to conduct Pap tests every two or three years.

However, that’s not to say girls who have been vaccinated don’t need Pap tests. Women shouldn’t be “falsely reassured,” Dr. Mai said, because the HPV vaccine doesn’t protect against all viruses that can lead to cancer.

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A cold front has brought sunny skies and drier and cooler air to Oklahoma this morning. but for western Oklahoma, it also brought northwesterly wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

In some areas, forecasters warn, the winds may be strong enough to affect some vehicle on the road.

For the extended Thanksgiving holiday, Oklahomans can expect dry and mostly sunny with mild days and seasonably cool nights.

In southeastern Oklahoma the weather service reports some areas could see areas of early morning fog today, but otherwise, skies should be mostly sunny with highs in the 50s and low 60s.

Tonight, residents across the state will see clear skies with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.

On Thanksgiving Day, highs will be in the 40s and 50s, and warm up to the 50s and 60s on Friday, the weather service said. Lows on Thursday and Friday nights will be in the 20s and 30s.

Saturday should bring in a few clouds with high temperatures remaining in the 50s and 60s and lows in the 30s and 40s, forecasters said.

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NC State offensive coordinator Dana Bible has been diagnosed with leukemia, and is currently in the UNC Cancer Center, where he will receive treatment for the next 30 days.

Technically, it’s called Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. O’Brien didn’t have any other medical information, other than Bible is still undergoing tests. O’Brien informed the quarterbacks this morning, and said he would tell the rest of the team this afternoon. He said it was a very difficult trip to Blacksburg on Saturday without Bible, and it’s only gotten tougher since then. O’Brien found out on Friday night, when he called Bible from the team hotel at Virginia Tech, and Bible was still in Raleigh waiting for the ambulance to take him to Chapel Hill.

O’Brien said he will temporarily hire Jay Civetti, who was a graduate assistant at Boston College when O’Brien was there, and followed him to Raleigh the first season O’Brien was on staff with NC State. Civetti, who is now offensive coordinator at Tufts, will try to help the offense prepare for this week’s rivalry game against North Carolina.

“This is tough news to hear,” said safety Bobby Floyd. “I don’t work as closely with coach Bible as some of the offensive players, but he’s such a fiery person on the field you couldn’t miss him. He’s a family man. this has to be tough news on him and his family and I’m sorry to hear it.”

So is the rest of the ACC.

It’s been an emotionally draining year for the Boston College family, which learned of Mark Herzlich’s battle with cancer this past May, and now Bible, who coached with O’Brien at Boston College and followed him to NC State. Herzlich’s story has been an inspiration to us all, as he is now cancer free, and O’Brien reached out for your thoughts and prayers with the hopes that Bible might be able to say the same.

Getting started

One of the first steps to build your social capital on Twitter is to let people in your current network know you’re on the microblogging site. By simply incorporating your username into other media platforms, you can connect with those in your immediate network.

If you maintain a blog, you can funnel your tweeting audience to your Twitter homepage by adding a badge to your site. often times, bloggers will incorporate Twitter Counter (a widget that displays your number of followers) to their homepage–as a measure of their influence on the microblogging site.

Or consider adding a link to your Twitter account to your digital signature. For FireFox users, there are add-ons like WiseStamp that allow you to insert your signature (with a link to your Twitter account) into e-mails or other text boxes. Business cards are also a great way to let people know you’re microblogging. At networking events or when you meet with new clients, letting them know you’re on Twitter can give you another communication touch point to carry on the conversation.

1. have Perspective
With millions of Twitter users, it’s important to stand out. Developing a unique perspective can help you stand above the crowd to attract more followers. First, define your role in the digital world. Are you a savvy shopper (consider reviews), a mechanic (maybe have, “Mechanics Tip of the Day”), or even a garbage man (you could blog about the craziest items you’ve found in the garbage). Inherently, people are attracted to people with a unique perspective or skill. Try to identify what makes you interesting and then focus on that one thing to grow your social capital.

2. be Authentic
Twitter is the home to many spammers. often times profiles marked with excessive re-tweets (or RT) are spammers. One way to differentiate yourself and prove your authenticity is through life-casting — where you discuss important events in your life. Politicians frequently life-cast. Political rallies, town hall meetings and other community-oriented events are often the subject of many tweets. Life-casting can help you connect with people that might be attending a similar event or spark a conversation surrounding the event.

3. Stay Consistent
Twitter users come and go. many of those you follow might not be using the service anymore. however, it’s always important to stay consistent. Growing your social capital takes a lot of time and effort. To reap the true benefits of social networks like Twitter, it’s crucial that you survive the dip — slog through the times you don’t want to tweet and in the end, your social capital will reflect your efforts.

It’s about keeping a balance — you don’t want to flood or create a drought. if you tweet too frequently, you are going to flood your followers’ Twitter streams and potential cause them to unfollow you. if you’ve already had some experience on Twitter, you might already have picked up on many of the annoyances of following certain users. Some Twitter users blast 10-15 tweets within the matter of a couple of minutes. Likewise, if you are a seldom tweeter, no one is going to discover you.
Consider tweeting throughout the day and put a cap on your tweets. Tweeting 5-6 times, throughout the day keeps you in your follower’s Twitter streams but does not create an annoyance.

4. Engage in the Community
Twitter offers many tools to interact with other users. if you put the @ symbol in front of a users name, you can send a message to them. when another user publishes a story you really enjoy, write them a note attached to an @reply. After you’ve sent your @reply, you can expose yourself to potentially hundreds of other Twitter users. Additionally, when others visit your page, they can see you’re actively engage in the community–making you more human and approachable. Games are also a great way to increase your visibility. with the use of hashtags (#), you can create groups of people. For instance, #ifiwerestrandedonanisland followed by your response can help expose you to whomever uses or searches for that hashtag. the more interesting your tweet, the more likely you are to add a few followers.

5. Promote your Personal Community
One of the main elements of social capital, particularly in the digital environment, is reciprocity. Promoting your community engenders a sense of goodwill. One way to promote your community is through Follow Friday. Simply type #FollowFriday (or #FF) with other Twitter users you really enjoy and you will expose them to other users. #FF is a powerful way to elevate the visibility of your network.

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On the eve of Black Friday, the retail sector has increased spending on ads featured by Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

by Matthew Shaer | 11.23.09

It’s up, up, and away for Bing.

For Microsoft’s Bing, it’s shaping up to be an especially good Black Friday. According to media research firm SearchIgnite, retailers spent 47 percent more on Microsoft search ads in the fourth quarter of 2009 than they did in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Moreover, Microsoft now accounts for 8 percent of all search ad spending by retailers – up from 6 percent at the same time last year.

Best yet: Average order values are up 21 per cent on Bing, outstripping the rest of the search market. of course, Bing did not exist at this point last year. The so-called “decision engine” was first unveiled in late may, and pushed live at the beginning of June. A concerted marketing effort has helped the upstart Bing leap into the midst of a market traditionally owned by Google.

Last month, comScore reported that Bing’s US market share rose from from 9.4 percent in September to to 9.9 percent in October. Compare that with Yahoo, which sunk from 18.8 percent in September to 18 percent in October. The math stacks up like this: Americans conducted 14.3 billion searches in October.

Of that 14.3 billion, 9.4 billion searches were conducted on Google Sites. 2.6 billion searches were keyed into Yahoo sites; Bing got approximately 1.4 searches.

In an open email to executives in September, CEO Steve Ballmer, who has helped spearhead the Bing campaign, said he was optimistic about the future of the IT industry, despite the sagging economy.

“I’m optimistic because there are encouraging signs that growth may resume in many parts of the world during the course of the next year,” Ballmer wrote. “More than that, I’m optimistic because I believe we are entering a period of technology-driven transformation that will see a surge in productivity and a flowering of innovation.”

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The sun shone and Table Mountain shimmered majestically in the distance as Jonathan Trott returned to one of the great cities of the world and the place he once called home.

But all he could think about was Birmingham. As an attempt to prove categorically that he is truly English, Trott’s insistence yesterday that he would rather be in Harborne than Cape Town took some beating.

And the thing was, he really seemed as though he meant it. it increasingly appears that England have unearthed another special South African-born talent in this 28-year-old from Rondebosch, just a stone’s throw from Newlands.

Looking good: England’s Trott showed promise with an exciting 87 in Sunday’s one-dayer

The similarity with Kevin Pietersen’s introduction to his adopted team five years ago is uncanny, except that Trott does not have enough hair to put a streak through it or indeed sign a 2million deal with Brylcreem.

While there is still something that does not seem quite right about Pietersen and Trott batting together for England, particularly in the country of their birth, there is no question that they look set to become a formidable middle-order double act.

Strong middle-order: South African-born KP and Trott back in their country of birth

‘There’s no sense of me coming home,’ said Trott as England left the rain and cold of the Highveld behind to arrive here for Friday’s third one-day international.

‘It’s a very different place to when I left in 2002. Honestly, the last few times I’ve been here, I couldn’t wait to get back to England.

‘My parents and family all live in England and my old friends from here have all got jobs and moved on. People talk about the weather and lifestyle of Cape Town and ask me if I’ll come back when I retire but there’s no way I’ll do that.

‘I’m very happy and content in Birmingham playing for Warwickshire and England. Maybe I’ll just have a holiday here every now and then.’

An admission. I was not sure whether Trott, with his penchant for playing across the line, would have the technique for international cricket when England put their faith in him ahead of the decisive Ashes Test.

I should have known better. it was in this same one-day series here early in 2005 that people were wondering whether Pietersen’s unorthodox and predominantly leg-sided technique would stand up to Test cricket.

Quick out the blocks: Trott has established himself in England’s batting line-up

He has gone on to be one of the world’s best batsmen and Trott has now demonstrated that he has a similar, dare I say, very unEnglish temperament.

To play with such assurance in scoring a hundred on debut against Australia in an Ashes decider and then follow that by making a match-defining 87 in his first proper one-day international at Centurion on Sunday indicates that Trott is destined for a highly-successful career.

Flying start: Trott scored a ton on his Test debut against Australia

He is a sort of sensible Pietersen. Surely there will be emotion when Trott walks out at his home ground, where he watched his half-brother Kenny Jackson playing for Western Province as a child, on Friday in the colours of England?

‘Yes, I’ve chatted to a few old school friends about that and said that I will have to control my feelings,’ he admitted.

‘It’s exciting to be playing at Newlands, especially with an England cap on, but I will have to put emotion to one side and view this as just another game.

‘It will be a big night because we have the chance of going 2-0 up in the series but I don’t want there to be too much hype about me.’

England have that chance largely thanks to Trott and the way he rode the early storm on Sunday in the face of an opening 91 miles per hour onslaught from Dale Steyn, the man he was accused of being too friendly with by South Africa coach Mickey Arthur.

Just as he did against Australia at the Brit Oval, Trott seemed to rise above the obvious pressure of the occasion.

‘I was a little bit nervous at the start but I opened for Warwickshire for two seasons so I wasn’t unused to the role,’ said Trott, who was preferred to Joe Denly at the top of the order.

Balding assassin: Trott has less hair to play with than team-mate KP

I didn’t want to think of it as a huge change to what I’m used todoing. I just try to keep my game the same and approach every matchwith the same preparation and intensity.

‘It was the same with the Ashes game. A simple approach doesn’t clog up your processes or the way you go about your cricket.it keeps your mind free to concentrate on the job in hand. Of courseI’m delighted with how I’ve started with England but it’s just thestart.’

His friendliness with South Africa’s players, first raised byMichael Vaughan in his autobiography, has been, Trott insists,exaggerated.

‘I didn’t even arrange to meet Dale Steyn for lunch,’ he said in answer to Arthur’s accusation.

Urn-ing respect: Trott celebrating last summer’s Ashes triumph with Ian Bell and captain Andrew Strauss

‘I just bumped into him and sat down for two minutes. I played withhim at Warwickshire. I would have felt bad if I hadn’t said, “Hi, howyou doing?”

‘Whatever South Africa decide is up to them but I’m not going to goout of my way to avoid them. once I cross that line, it’s game on andI’ll have my game head on.’

And then this man who is so ‘English’ that he is even a hugeTottenham fan – ‘I think Jermain Defoe had an even better day than meon Sunday!’ he smiled – was off, no doubt dreaming of the Bull Ring andSpaghetti Junction rather than Table Mountain and the beaches of theCape.and making a big score at Newlands on Friday.

Meanwhile, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni declared himself fitfor today’s second Test against Sri Lanka in Kanpur. There were fearsover Dhoni’s fitness after he damaged a finger in a practice session.

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will begin the match just 14wickets short of becoming the first bowler in Test history to reach the800-wicket mark. Sri Lanka are also considering recalling AjanthaMendis.

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ISLAMABAD — the Pakistani government has some advice the Obama administration may not want to hear as it contemplates sending additional U.S. troops to neighboring Afghanistan: Negotiate with Taliban leaders and restrain India.

Pakistan embraces U.S. efforts to stabilize the region and worries that a hasty U.S. withdrawal would create chaos, but Pakistani officials worry that thousands of additional American soldiers and Marines would send Taliban forces retreating into Pakistan, where they’re not welcome.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s office said Friday that he told visiting CIA Director Leon Panetta of “Pakistan’s concerns relating to the possible surge of the U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan, which may entail negative implications for the situation in Baluchistan,” the Pakistani province that borders Afghanistan to the south.

the Pakistanis’ advice is almost diametrically opposed to the strategy outlined by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan: Don’t send additional forces to protect Afghan cities, but send them to outposts along the Pakistani border – where McChrystal has withdrawn troops.

It’s just one example of how Pakistan, a critical U.S. ally in the struggle against Islamist extremists and a major recipient of American military aid, continues to deal differently with the violence that threatens not only the U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, but also impoverished, nuclear-armed Pakistan.

The two countries’ divergent views of the threat posed by Islamist extremists and the Obama administration’s efforts to press Pakistan to move against groups that menace Afghanistan have produced strains between the two countries and between Pakistan’s civilian government and its powerful military and Inter Services Intelligence agency, as well as a growing drumbeat of Pakistani allegations about alleged nefarious CIA activities in Pakistan.

“The Pakistanis say some things in public – often for reasons related to internal politics, it seems – that they don’t focus on in private,” said a senior U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because intelligence matters are classified. “That’s not to say that we see eye-to-eye on everything behind closed doors, but both sides realize that – whatever the disagreements of the moment might be – the long-term partnership is essential. after all, Pakistani contributions to counterterrorism since 9/11 have been decisive, and our government recognizes that.”

Instead of escalating the war in Afghanistan, however, top Pakistani officials are pressing the administration to try to negotiate a political settlement with top Taliban commanders that would allow the U.S. to exit Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials argue that that such a negotiating strategy can’t work unless the rebel leadership is involved, right up to Jalaluddin Haqqani, the head of the most dangerous insurgent faction, and Mullah Mohammed Omar, the one-eyed founder of the Afghan Taliban and Osama bin Laden’s ally and host.

Because Pakistan is a longtime patron of the Taliban and of the Haqqani network, Pakistani officials think they could broker a deal to reduce Karzai to a figurehead leader and divide power between the Pashtun Taliban and Afghanistan’s Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara minorities.

U.S. and some Pakistani officials, however, are skeptical, arguing that the Taliban have little incentive to negotiate when their strength and sway in Afghanistan is growing and public and international support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is waning.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon has shattered all competition by debuting at the top of the US box office with $140.7 million over the weekend.

The follow-up to Twilight, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, has broken The dark Knight’s opening day record with $72.7 million on Friday and has secured the third-biggest opening weekend off all time.

The sports drama The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock, debuted at number two with $34.5 million.

Breaking the $100 million dollar mark in its second week in release is John Cusack’s action drama 2012, which slips to number three with $26.5 million.

The animated feature Planet 51 debuts at number four with $12.6 million.

A Christmas Carol lands at number five with $12.3 million, while the Harlem drama Precious takes the number six spot and George Clooney’s comedy The Men who Stare At Goats drops to number seven.

Finally, claiming the number ten position is the thriller Law Abiding Citizen, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx.

The US box office top ten in full:

1. (-) the Twilight Saga: New Moon – $140,700,000
2. (-) the Blind Side – $34,510,000
3. (1) 2012 – $26,500,000
4. (-) Planet 51 – $12,600,000
5. (2) A Christmas Carol – $12,230,000
6. (3) Precious – $11,008,000
7. (4) the Men who Stare At Goats – $2,773,000
8. (7) Couples Retreat – $1,952,000
9. (6) the Fourth Kind – $1,730,000
10. (9) Law Abiding Citizen – $1,615,000

Retailers are joining the Facebook and Twitter bandwagons for this year’s Black Friday.

Companies from Staples to Toys “R” Us are using the social networking sites to give loyal customers the first looks at sales and other deals for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally marks the start of the holiday shopping season. They’re also launching new technology including mobile shopping in time for Nov. 27.

Meanwhile, the Black Friday Web sites that traditionally had the corner on aggregating and releasing deals before advertising circulars hit Thanksgiving newspapers – often from sneak peaks at leaked copies – also are stepping up their technology this year.

Framingham-based office supply chain Staples gave the first previews of its Black Friday specials on Tuesday via its Facebook fan page launched in June and Twitter, which it started using last month.

“We recognize that social media has become a growing channel, and that a lot of customers use it to stay on top of deals and bargains,” spokesman Mark Crowley said. “Second, it was an easy way to say thanks to our Facebook fans and Twitter followers.”

The deals include an HP laptop computer with Intel Celeron processor for $299.98 (marked down from $599.98) and a Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS priced at $119.99.

Staples will continue to use both social networking channels to give customers their first looks at Cyber Monday deals and other holiday specials.

Using social networking sites makes sense for retailers not only because they can reach large numbers of consumers who’ve opted to follow them, but they also can reach them basically for free.

“Social media will be an important part of retailers’ holiday promotions this year,” said Kathy Grannis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. “Some retailers will announce upcoming sales and promotions via their Twitter pages. some are encouraging people to join them on Facebook to retrieve a special promotional code that can be used online or at the register.”

More than 47 percent of retailers will use social media this holiday season, according to the trade group’s annual eHoliday survey of 70 online retailers. Approximately 60 percent have added or improved their Facebook pages and/or their Twitter accounts.

Toys “R” Us launched mobile shopping this weekend, allowing customers to shop its online inventory using their mobile phones. Customers can use the new mobile-enabled Toysrus.com or BlackBerry and iPhone applications to make purchases, get shopping help, research products during in-store shopping trips and check the availability of items that are out of stock at stores.

Toys “R” Us Facebook fans who access a special Black Friday application and submit an RSVP by 12:01 a.m. Monday will get a sneak peak of the chain’s in-store Black Friday specials that won’t appear in newspapers until Thanksgiving.

It’s the first time that the chain has done a Black Friday campaign using social media.

“We’re actually releasing our entire Black Friday circular on Facebook,” spokesman Bob Friedland said. “When we go live with our circular, they’ll be able to see it first. It’s really just a way to make our Facebook page more interactive and fun.”

Every message posted on the company’s Facebook page, which has more than 194,000 fans, also is condensed into a 140-character Tweet and distributed via Twitter.

Other companies also are launching new Black Friday technology, including BlackFriday.info. The Web site, which posts retailers’ Black Friday specials, partnered with AOL to launch a Black Friday toolbar to give Web users one-click access to its updates.