The folks athave compiled a visual list of the Top 10 cities with the highest percentage of residents waiting to file their taxes, last minute. San Francisco, CA tops the list, and other notable areas include several more cities in California, NY and multiple counties in Texas.

Wheres everyone else at with their tax work?

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(Reuters) - Shares in Barnes & Noble Inc soared 22 percent on Thursday after a report that Microsoft Corp is considering an offer to acquire the tablet and e-book business of B&N's Nook Media unit.

The technology website TechCrunch reported that Microsoft, which already owns a 17 percent stake in Nook Media, was proposing a $1 billion offer to buy all of Nook's digital assets.

The report also suggested that Nook would stop selling Android-based tablets entirely by the end of fiscal 2014 in favor of distributing content via other publishers' platforms.

A source familiar with the documents cited by TechCrunch confirmed their authenticity. The source said the documents dated from March, suggesting that any deal - if one is even pending - was not imminent.

It was not clear from the TechCrunch story whether Microsoft had formally made an offer to B&N or whether B&N had replied.

B&N and Microsoft declined to comment.

Microsoft acquired its stake in the Nook Media unit a little more than a year ago in a deal that valued the entire unit at $1.7 billion. In December the British publisher Pearson Plc bought a stake in the unit at a $1.8 billion valuation.

But Nook Media sales have disappointed since. Revenue dropped 26 percent in the most recent holiday quarter as Nook sold fewer digital readers and tablets and had to cut prices. Just this week B&N slashed the price of its best tablet by one-third as a special promotion for Mother's Day.

It was not immediately clear why Microsoft would want to buy Nook's digital assets, unless it wished to make a preemptive strike against Google and shift Nook away from the Android platform. There is already a Nook app for Windows 8 devices.

Microsoft's recent acquisitions - such as online chat service Skype and business networking site Yammer - have not been content-focused.

Barclays analyst Alan Rifkin, in a note to clients on Thursday, said a lower valuation for the Nook Media unit was appropriate and that $1 billion was even higher than he had modeled.

B&N shares rose 22 percent to $21.70 in afternoon trading. The stock last traded at those levels a year ago, around the time of the Microsoft investment.

The stock is heavily shorted, with almost 36 percent of its float sold short as of April 15. Short sellers borrow stocks and sell them, betting the price will fall. Where short interest is high, that can exacerbate a rally, as people rush in to cover their positions.

Credit Suisse, in a note to clients, said the suggested terms of the Microsoft offer implied that Barnes & Noble was worth about $27 per share.

COLLEGE BOOKSTORE CHAIN

Nook Media also includes a college bookstore chain, but the TechCrunch report suggested the Microsoft offer would include only the e-book, digital reader and tablet assets.

If Microsoft carves the college bookstore chain out of the Nook Media unit, and B&N takes back those stores, Credit Suisse said the valuation of B&N could rise even higher.

While the college bookstore chain has provided B&N with much needed cash, sales have been weak. In the first three quarters of the fiscal year, sales fell 0.3 percent, while operating profit fell 7 percent to $115.8 million.

The college textbook business is undergoing a transformation with the shift to digital, as publishers move away from large, heavy books that last for years to multiple packages with smaller bites of content.

Companies like News Corp and Apple have started to make plays on the digital textbook market as that shift accelerates.

COULD SPEED OTHER SALES

Earlier this year, B&N Chairman Leonard Riggio said he wanted to buy the company's chain of nearly 700 namesake bookstores. Selling off Nook could simplify that process, especially if it reunited Riggio with the college bookstore business, which he sold to B&N in 2009.

B&N first indicated it might spin off the Nook business in early 2012. The retailer has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the unprofitable unit, trying to make its devices competitive against devices from Amazon, Apple and Google, among others.

The latest IDC market share data for tablets, released earlier this month, leaves B&N out of the industry's top five vendors, suggesting its share of the global market is negligible. Microsoft's new Surface tablets - the first of which hit the market last October - have only a 1.8 percent share.

B&N has typically launched a new edition of the Nook every year. But this year it simply updated its high-definition tablets by adding Google's app store, which a number of analysts saw as an easy way for the company to launch a "new" Nook.

One uncertainty in any Microsoft bid is how Liberty Media would respond. It holds preferred shares in B&N that, if converted, would represent 17 percent of the company. Liberty was not immediately available to comment.

One analyst following Barnes & Noble said a Microsoft deal, if it happens, would be dramatic but not necessarily surprising.

"We must be careful here because details are lacking, but with devices phasing out, we see sale of the digital assets as an effective sale of the entire Nook business, unless co-ownership or leasing of digital content is arranged," Stifel analyst David Schick said in a research note.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba and Ben Berkowitz; Additional reporting by Liana B. Baker and Bill Rigby; Editing by Alden Bentley, Theodore d'Afflisio and John Wallace)

The 49ers and Levi Strauss & Co. announced an agreement Wednesday for a $220 million, 20-year naming rights deal for the team's stadium in Santa Clara.

Levi's CEO Chip Bergh and 49ers CEO Jed York announced the deal at Levi's Plaza in San Francisco. Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee also attended the news conference.

While the stadium will be in the heart of technology-rich Silicon Valley, the San Francisco-based apparel company best known for its jeans will hold the name. The proposal, which also has an option to be extended for an additional five years, will be submitted to the Santa Clara Stadium Authority for approval Thursday.

"Levi's jeans were designed for the 49ers during the gold rush," York said. "It was a good fit for them then and it's a good fit today."

The upcoming season will be the 49ers' last at historic Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The team is planning to move to the new $1.2 billion stadium, about 45 miles south in Santa Clara and adjacent to the 49ers practice facility, for the 2014 season.

The naming rights deal will not only help fund the project, it will likely give another boost to the 49ers' hopes of hosting a Super Bowl soon. The 49ers are bidding for the Super Bowls played in February 2016 and 2017 with hopes of landing one.

A decision on which cities will host the upcoming Super Bowls is expected to be made during the NFL's meetings in Boston from May 20-22. Miami and San Francisco-Santa Clara are in the running for the 2016 Super Bowl and the runner-up will compete with Houston for the following year's game.

The annual average of $11 million is believed to be the second-largest stadium naming rights deal in the NFL and largest for a single team. MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Giants and New York Jets, has a $400 million deal for 25 years.

The 49ers and Levi's both touted their deep roots in the Bay Area in coming together.

Levi's, which reported net revenues of $4.6 billion for the 2012 fiscal year, was founded in 1853 when German immigrant Levi Strauss opened a dry goods store in San Francisco. In 1873, Levi's created the first blue jean by adding copper rivets to denim pants for workers in the American West. The 49ers have won five Super Bowls and were the first major professional sports team to be based in San Francisco more than 60 years ago.

"Levi's Stadium will connect two iconic Bay Area brands that share similar values, a rich heritage and a pioneering spirit," Bergh said. "Joining the incredible legacy of the 49ers organization is a perfect fit for the Levi's brand and a chance for us to engage with sports and music fans across the Bay Area and around the world."

SILVERSTONE, England, May 1 (Reuters) - Formula One drivers have been promised a properly functioning electronic cockpit warning system for next week's Spanish Grand Prix after problems prevented its use in the first four races of the season.

"We've been told they've got an upgrade which is going to Barcelona and then it'll be working from there," former F1 driver and occasional race steward Derek Warwick told Reuters on Wednesday.

The telemetry link between race control and cars is provided by Riedel Communications and acts as an electronic marshalling system with drivers alerted by red, yellow or blue cockpit lights in addition to the conventional warning flags waved around the track.

The governing FIA has had to disable it for the opening long-haul races due to malfunctions.

Warwick, who will be a steward at his home British Grand Prix as well as in Belgium, Singapore and South Korea, said the problems had led to some leniency in dealing with flag infringements but there had been no instructions for officials to go easier on drivers otherwise.

"You can't blame a driver if we've messed up in terms of the support package," said the president of the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), the owners of Silverstone circuit.

"The FIA has asked us to be lighter on fines for the drivers, but we still have the same tools available to us for other punishments."

Drivers had a hefty rise in the cost of their mandatory super-licences after last season but were assured by the governing body they would be fined less for rules infringements where a financial sanction is at the stewards' discretion.

That does not include the offence of speeding in the pitlane, with fines laid down in the sporting regulations.

Under article 30.12, a limit of 60kph is imposed for all free practice sessions and 100kph for the race. Drivers face a 200 euros ($260) fine for every kph over the limit in practice and qualifying. ($1 = 0.7580 euros) (Editing by Alison Wildey)

Yet the most likely first-time homeowners, especially young professionals and couples starting families, won't buy these days. Or they can't. Or they already did, during the housing boom. And their absence helps explain why the housing industry is still depressed.

The obstacles range from higher down payments to heavy debt from credit cards and student loans. But even many of those who could afford to buy no longer see it as a wise investment. Prices have sunk 15 percent in three years.

"I've looked for a home, but the places we can afford with the money we have are not that great," says Seth Herter, 23, a store manager in suburban St. Louis. "It also doesn't seem smart anymore to buy with prices falling. Buying a home just doesn't make sense to us."

The proportion of U.S. households that own homes is at 65.1 percent, its lowest point since 1996, the Census Bureau says. That marks a shift after nearly two decades in which homeownership grew before peaking at 70 percent during the housing boom.

The housing bubble lured so many young buyers that it reduced the pool of potential first-timers to below-normal levels. That's contributed to the decline in new buyers in recent years.

In 2005, at the height of the boom, about 2.8 million first-timers bought homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. By contrast, for each of the four years preceding the boom, the number of first-timers averaged fewer than 2 million.

Still, the bigger factors are the struggling economy, shaky job security, tougher credit rules and lack of cash to put down, said Dan McCue, research manager at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. The unemployment rate among typical first-timers, those ages 25 to 34, is 9.8 percent, compared with 9 percent for all adults.

"The obstacles facing first-time buyers are big, and it's changing the way they look at home ownership," McCue says. "It's no longer the American Dream for the younger generation."

First-timers usually account for up to half of all sales. Over the past year, they've accounted for only about a third.

A big reason is tougher lending standards.

Lenders are demanding more money up front. In 2002, the median down payment for a single-family home in nine major U.S. cities was 4 percent, according to real estate website Zillow.com. Today, it's 22 percent.

And one-third of households have credit scores too low to qualify for a mortgage. The median required credit score from FICO Inc., the industry leader in credit ratings, has risen from 720 in 2007, when the market went bust, to 760 today.

Homes in many places are the most affordable in a generation. In the past year, the national median sale price has sunk 3.5 percent. Half the homes listed in the Tampa Bay area are priced below $100,000.

The average mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan is 4 percent, barely above an all-time low. Five years ago, it was near 6.5 percent. In 2000, it exceeded 8 percent.

When the economy eventually strengthens, the housing market will, too. More people will be hired. Confidence will rise. Down payments won't be so hard to produce.

The question is whether first-time buyers will then start flowing into the housing market. That will depend mainly on whether they think prices will rise, said Mark Vitner, senior U.S. economist at Wells Fargo.

"It's a guessing game as to when things will turn around," Vitner said. "But until they do, you won't see young people buying homes."

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The 31-year-old has not represented his country since the 2011 Copa America due to a combination of injuries and inconsistent form. He returned last Wednesday with an impressive second-half cameo in Gremio's 2-1 Copa Libertadores Round of 16 first leg victory over Independiente Santa Fe, reports Xinhua.

"I won't give up on a return to the national team. I think the squad is still open. I just have to keep doing my job and prove my worth on the pitch," Elano said Saturday.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will announce his squad for June's FIFA Confederations Cup May 14.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales rose 5.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in November. That's up from 4.76 million in October.

Previously occupied home sales are on track for their best year in five years. November's sales were the highest since November 2009, when a federal tax credit that was soon to expire spurred sales. Excluding that month, last month's sales were the highest since July 2007.

Sales are up 14.5 percent from a year ago, though they remain below the roughly 5.5 million that are consistent with a healthy market.

"The report is encouraging, and the positive momentum established in the housing market during 2012 appears likely to continue into 2013," Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital, said in an email.

Superstorm Sandy delayed some sales in the Northeast, the Realtors' group said. Those delayed purchases will likely close in the coming months, though the increase will be modest, the group said.

Even so, sales rose 6.9 percent in the Northeast last month compared with October. Sales increased 7.2 percent in the Midwest, 7.9 percent in the South and 0.8 percent in the West.

Job growth and low home-loan rates have helped drive purchases. Prices are also rising, which encourages more potential buyers to come off the sidelines and purchase homes. And more people may put their homes on the market if they feel confident they can sell at a good price.

In addition, the excess supply of homes that built up during the housing bubble has finally thinned out. The number of previously occupied homes available for sale fell to nearly an 11-year low in November. The supply of new homes is also near its lowest level since 1963.

At the current sales pace, it would take 4.8 months to exhaust the supply of homes for sale. That's the shortest such span since September 2005.

At the same time, more people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.

As low supply and rising demand push up prices, builders will likely be encouraged to start work on more homes in coming months, economists said.

"That's a good reason to feel optimistic about housing next year," said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. "We just don't have enough homes right now, and we need to start building."

Builder confidence rose in December for a seventh straight month to the highest level in more than 6 years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.

The pace of home construction slipped in November, but it was still nearly 22 percent higher than a year earlier. Builders are on track this year to start work on the most homes in four years.

Economists note that the increase in building should lead to more construction jobs, though it hasn't yet done so. That could mean more construction hiring is coming.

DEAR REALLY READY: Although you think you are ready to start dating, your parents will have to make the ultimate decision on when you enter the "dating game." Their decision will most likely be based on whether you have demonstrated the beginnings of emotional maturity.

Here's how: You need to have proven to them you can handle responsibility, carry out school assignments and chores, be honest with them and keep your word. It will also depend upon whether they know the boy in question, and whether he is responsible enough to be trusted with their most precious possession, which is you.

DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 27 years to a man who is a church pastor. We have had to move every six to eight years, partly because he was repeatedly unfaithful. We have gone through his alcoholism, gambling and womanizing, and my two suicide attempts. We have been trying to work things out, but I suspect that he's back to his old ways.

I work part-time, but haven't been able to find a full-time job after our most recent move, so I am financially dependent on him. I have two adult children who don't live near me. Most of the people I know are through the church, and they are all great supporters of my husband.

I feel trapped, and I don't know how to fix my life at this point. Have you any suggestions? -- TRAPPED ON THE EAST COAST

DEAR TRAPPED: You will have to do it in stages. The first should be to talk with a licensed therapist who is not associated with the church. It will help you to clarify your thinking and become more emotionally stabilized.

Next, continue looking for full-time employment. If necessary, start by volunteering. It will help to widen your circle of acquaintances and perhaps lead to a job.

Then, once you are feeling better about yourself, you will be better able to decide what to do about your unhappy marriage.

DEAR ABBY: After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year, I moved 900 miles from home. Shortly after the move, my dog had to be put to sleep. Because of all the stress, my M.S. flared up and I was admitted to the hospital.

After my third day there I was lonely, so I went to the gift shop (the Pink Smock) and bought myself some pretty flowers and knick-knacks as a pick-me-up. While I was paying for them, the ladies behind the counter asked me if I needed a card for the flowers. I explained I was buying them for myself because I was alone.

After I returned to my room, about an hour later more flowers arrived. I thought my mom had sent them to me from afar. The card read: "Feel Better Soon! From the Ladies at the Pink Smock."

Abby, that has to be the most thoughtful thing a stranger has ever done for me, and I wanted to share it. I am so touched! -- RACHEL IN SANFORD, N.C.

DEAR RACHEL: Your letter is an example of what strong medicine an act of kindness can be. I don't know which hospital the Pink Smock is in, but whoever runs it should know what an asset those caring women in the gift shop are. Kudos to them, and I hope you are doing much better now.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

What teens need to know about sex, drugs, AIDS and getting along with peers and parents is in "What Every Teen Should Know." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Teen Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

LONDON (Reuters) - Robert Redford said on Wednesday that the future of London's Sundance film and music festival was by no means certain, as he launched the British version of an event that aims to boost interest in independent film.

Last year was the first time that the U.S. actor-director had ventured outside the United States with a version of the Sundance Film Festival, the world's leading independent film festival, that he set up in Park City, Utah, 35 years ago.

Redford said last year was "a toe-in-the-water experiment" and had been successful enough to repeat, with this year's line-up including the U.S. rock band the Eagles and the Canadian musician and performance artist Peaches.

But he was noncommittal on its future.

"It is hard to declare a length of commitment until you let it play out and see how it goes," Redford told a news conference before the festival at London's O2 venue from April 25-28.

Last year he told reporters that he hoped Sundance London would prove a success with audiences and allow him to expand the festival to other parts of the world as a counterweight to the Hollywood blockbusters that dominate cinemas globally.

When asked on Wednesday if he still planned to take Sundance to other countries, he replied with a curt "No".

Redford, 75, set up the Sundance Institute in 1981, which led to the film festival, to encourage emerging and aspiring filmmakers working outside Hollywood's major studios. But he said the sector continued its uphill battle.

"Independent film has always had to struggle for a place in the universe ... overall mostly due to the economy it is difficult," he said.

A slate of 119 films from 32 countries were shown at Sundance in January, and 21 U.S. and British films were selected for London as well as musical performances by Peaches and indie rock band British Sea Power. The Eagles are not performing.

This year's films include nine documentaries, which focus on a variety of themes ranging from a struggling British dairy farmer in "The Moo Man", the ill-fated 2008 K2 climb in "The Summit", and the "History of The Eagles Part One".

Others British premieres include Michael Winterbottom's "Look of Love", in which Steve Coogan plays porn king Paul Raymond; Lynn Shelton's comedy "Touchy Feely" about a massage therapist; and Barbara Kopple's documentary "Running From Crazy" about Mariel Hemingway.

Redford said he was particularly fond of documentaries and proud of the advances made in this genre in recent years, which he attributed to encouragement by the independent film sector.

"We kept pushing documentaries forward so that now in our festivals they take up pretty much the same space as others films do," he said.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)