WHAT IS IT? Two-door pickup that doubles as a roadster-convertible.

HOW MUCH? $39,890 base. $47,795 as tested with $815 manual transmission; $3,200 Preferred Equipment Group 3SS (includes heated seats with memory, running boards, premium audio); $1,995 chrome wheels; $1,000 chrome interior package; $895 simulated oak trim in cargo compartment.

WHAT'S UNDER THE HOOD? 6-liter V-8 (400 horsepower) with 4-speed automatic or 6-speed manual.

E.P.A. MILEAGE: 13 m.p.g. city, 20 highway. (Observed overall mileage: 17.)

GENERAL MOTORS' marketing mavens thought they had a sure thing when they rushed the head-turning SSR design study, the toast of the 2000 Detroit auto show, into production in 2003. Part retro truck (think 1949 Chevy pickup), part two-seat hardtop convertible (think Mercedes SLK), it would surely ride the same wave of nostalgia that made the New Beetle and Mini Cooper such hits.

But the SSR turned out to be more like the Plymouth Prowler and resurrected T-Bird: a tepid performer that cost way too much to be an impulse purchase. The 5.3-liter V-8 couldn't deliver satisfying zoom for a 4,700-pound vehicle with sporting pretensions, and the sole transmission  an uninspiring four-speed automatic  compounded the problem. Reviews, and sales, were tepid.

Give the General credit for trying again. Reworked last year, the SSR has been transformed by the substitution of the LS2 engine from the base Corvette  increasing horsepower by 25 percent  and a six-speed manual transmission, which is now optional. Road & Track magazine says the big toy can sprint from a stop to 60 m.p.h. in a mere 5.3 seconds.

Did I say "toy"? A vehicle that growls like a hot rod and looks like a prop from a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon certainly fits the description. But this toy is now a blast to drive. The bucket seats are supportive, the controls are nicely laid out and the chrome interior trim fits with the retro theme. I could have used more headroom when the top was up, but that's the price of the ultracool roofline. And speaking of roofs, the retracting hardtop works fine: at the push of a button, it disappears behind the passenger cabin in an intricate dance of machinery.

The stylized cargo area holds less than the business end of a small pickup. But at 22 cubic feet with the cover shut, it is bigger than the trunks of most full-size sedans. To keep stuff from rolling around back there, you need the optional cargo organizer ($125) or net package ($220). Drop $460 for a trailer hitch and you can tow 2,500 pounds.

If you expect the Chevy to handle like a sports car you will be disappointed. The humongous tires and tight suspension make the SSR sure-footed on curves and broken pavement, and the big engine guarantees plenty of grunt even at low speed. But the SSR never lets you forget that it's rather portly. Under full thrust, vibrations make this Chevy feel more like a truck than a car.

Given how much Americans love trucks, that is probably not the problem. Rather, a high sticker price, wretched mileage and limited functionality have kept the SSR, even with its improved powertrain, from flying off dealer lots.

What's more, the SSR will soon go to hot-rod heaven. G.M. is closing the Lansing Craft Center, the Michigan plant where the truck is assembled, on March 17. The SSR will die with it.

Summary: Give G.M. credit for trying again. The vehicle that growls like a hot rod and looks like a prop from a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon is now a blast to drive.


Telecom network equipment maker Nokia is likely to cut 10,000 to 15,000 jobs globally as part of a cost-cutting program following its acquisition of Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent, a Finnish union representative said.

Nokia nok kicked off the program in April with a target to slash €900 million ($1 billion) of operating costs by 2018, but it has yet to give a figure for how many jobs will be reduced in total.

“We haven’t heard any official numbers, but based on the information from our union contacts, I would estimate the global impact of this round would likely be around 10,000 to 15,000 jobs,” said Risto Lehtilahti, a trade union shop steward at Nokia’s Oulu site.

A Nokia spokeswoman declined comment on the 10,000-15,000 figure.

Nokia employs around 104,000 people worldwide. Last week the company specified its plan for its home country, saying it was cutting around 1,000 Finnish jobs, compared to an initial target of 1,300 jobs.

Nokia has said it is looking to reduce 1,400 positions in Germany. In France, it would cut around 400 jobs but also create 500 research and development posts—in line with a pledge to the French government during the Alcatel alu negotiations.

The Nokia spokeswoman said the company didn’t have any updates for France or Germany, and declined to give details on other countries. Nokia is holding talks with employee representatives in about 30 countries.

The savings plan is partly due to tackle the weak network gear market. Nokia forecast earlier this month that its network sales would fall this year.

“Some work will be completely terminated, some cuts come from Alcatel overlaps, and some work will be transferred to countries with lower costs,” said Tuula Aaltola, another Finnish shop steward.

According to Communication Workers of America (CWA), the company already started to reduce U.S. jobs a year ago in preparation for their €15.6 billion merger.

“We don’t know what Nokia’s plan is for the U.S.-based workforce. They have cut 500, cut our (unionized) workforce in half, and we hope that’s all that is going to be taken away,” CWA representative Lisa Bolton said.

Lehtilahti said he feared that Nokia would kick off another round of cuts at a later stage.

In Finland, Nokia has slashed thousands of jobs over the past decade as its once-dominant phone business was eclipsed by the rise of smartphone rivals. The phone business was eventually sold to Microsoft, which has continued cutting jobs in the country.

Summary: As part of a cost-cutting program with a target to slash $1 billion of operating costs by 2018.


Photo: Bruce White, Princeton University Art Museum. Anonymous Gift

Lewis Hine’s 1908 gelatin silver print of Cora Lee Griffin, one of the young spinners in the Whitnel Cotton Manufac turing Co.’s North Carolina plant, captures the reality of child labor.

Lewis Hine’s 1908 gelatin silver print of Cora Lee Griffin, one of the young spinners in the Whitnel Cotton Manufac turing Co.’s North Carolina plant, captures the reality of child labor.

Lewis Wickes Hine: Knoxville Knitting Works. Knoxville, Tenn. December 1910. Gelatin silver print.

Lewis Wickes Hine: Knoxville Knitting Works. Knoxville, Tenn. December 1910. Gelatin silver print.

Lewis Hine’s photos of child labor at Stanford museum

Lewis Hine’s gripping early 20th century images of American children working at grueling jobs — in coal mines, textile mills, factories and cotton fields — have become emblematic of photography’s potential to effect social change. His haunting photos of girls in threadbare dresses working massive cotton looms, taken during the decade Hine worked as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (1908-17), awakened middle-class America to the ugly truth of child mistreatment and helped change American labor laws.

“Soulmaker: The Times of Lewis Hine,” the new exhibition at Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center, showcases Hine’s social-documentary prowess, but also his incredible artistic mastery and “the enduring emotional and mystical appeal of Hine’s oeuvre,” says exhibition curator Alexander Nemerov, chairman of Stanford’s art and art history department.

One of Nemerov’s favorite images, “Mill Running at Night” — which he considers Hine’s self-portrait — shows a factory “burning,” or operating all night, its windows ablaze with light. “It amounts to someone working around the clock on all cylinders, trying to illuminate the darkness,” says Nemerov. “It’s as if Hine is saying, ‘I will answer injustice with righteousness.’”

Soulmaker: The Times of Lewis Hine: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Monday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday. Through Oct. 24. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, 328 Lomita Drive at Museum Way, Stanford. (650) 723-4177. www.museum.stanford.edu

Summary: Lewis Hine’s photos of child labor at Stanford museum  Lewis Hine’s gripping early 20th century images of American children working at grueling jobs — in coal mines, textile mills, factories and cotton fields — have become emblematic of photography’s potential to effect social change.  The Times of Lewis Hine, the new exhibition at Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center, showcases Hine’s social-documentary prowess, but also his incredible artistic mastery and “the enduring emotional and mystical appeal of Hine’s oeuvre,” says exhibition curator Alexander Nemerov, chairman of Stanford’s art and art history department.  “It amounts to someone working around the clock on all cylinders, trying to illuminate the darkness,” says Nemerov.


According to a recent report by an Alabama-based civil rights group, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of extremist and anti-government “patriot” groups in the United States declined to around 2,000 in 2013 — after reaching an all-time high of almost 2,400 in 2012. Rather than a positive development, however, the SPLC notes that the lower number of hate groups might well be the result of the mainstreaming of far-right ideas into state legislation across the U.S.

But even if the number fluctuates by a few hundred year over year, the fact remains that Neo-Nazis, “Christian Identity” cults, white supremacist militias and other anti-Semitic, anti-foreign nativist groups exist in all 50 states.

When it comes to extremist groups in America, of course, the longest-lived and most readily identifiable remains the Ku Klux Klan, which has been operating at varying degrees of influence and strength for close to 150 years. Hundreds of Klan groups are actively working and recruiting in the U.S., with more than two dozen in Texas alone. The KKK’s fortunes as a cultural and political force have waxed and waned over the decades, with Klan membership peaking in the 1920s, during the era of the “Second Klan.” (The First Klan, in the post-Civil War South, lasted from 1865 to 1874; the Second Klan from 1915 until about 1944; and the Third from roughly the end of WWII until today.)

The Klan claimed literally millions of members at the height of the Second Klan era; today, Klan watchers estimate that number to be fewer than 10,000. The good news is that’s a precipitous drop, to say the least, in the number of people officially associated with the KKK; the bad news is that many thousands of Americans who might have joined the Klan in the past have instead aligned with a host of extremist splinter groups, militias and other organizations, making the far-right fringe as dangerous as it’s ever been.

In May 1946, LIFE magazine ran a series of remarkable pictures from a Klan initiation in Georgia, at the start of the Third Klan era. Titled “The Ku Klux Klan Tries a Comeback,” the article noted that the KKK pledged initiates “in a mystic pageant on Georgia’s Stone Mountain.” The language that accompanied photographer Ed Clark’s pictures, meanwhile, made clear that, as newsworthy as the story of this particular initiation might have been, LIFE’s editors considered the figures in their white robes and hoods to be rather laughable — if their rhetoric and arcane, pseudo-mystic shenanigans weren’t so unsettling.

On the evening of May 9 at 8 p.m. a mob of fully grown men solemnly paraded up to a wide plateau of Stone Mountain outside Atlanta, Ga., and got down on their knees on the ground before 100 white-sheeted and hooded Atlantans. In the eerie light of a half-moon and a fiery cross they stumbled in lockstep up to a great stone altar and knelt there in the dirt while the “Grand Dragon” went through the mumbo jumbo of initiating them into the Ku Klux Klan. Then one new member was selected from the mob and ceremoniously “knighted” into the organization in behalf of all the rest of his fellow bigots.

This was the first big public initiation into the Klan since the end of World War II. It was put on at a carefully calculated time. The anti-Negro, anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-foreign, anti-union, anti-democratic Ku Klux Klan was coming out of wartime hiding just at the time when the CIO and the A.F. of L. were starting simultaneous campaigns to organize the South. . . . But it is doubtful that the Klan can become as frighteningly strong as it was in 1919. One indication of the Klan’s impotence was its lack of effect on Negroes, who were once frightened and cowed by the white-robed members. More than 24,000 Negroes have already registered for next July’s primaries in the Atlanta vicinity alone, where the Stone Mountain ritual was held.

As mentioned in one of the captions in the gallery above, the Stone Mountain ceremony was put off several times during the preceding year because of wartime sheet shortages. Or at least that’s what LIFE reported at the time.

The magazine also made a point of characterizing the garb and actions of members at Klan meetings (slides #10 through 15) as both creepy and pathetic. “Childish ritual and secretiveness,” the magazine noted, “have always been the great attractions for the kind of people who make good Klansmen.”

The more things change. . . .

Summary: In May 1946, LIFE magazine ran a series of remarkable pictures from a Klan initiation in Georgia, at the start of what's known as the "Third Klan era."


However, the president confirmed he did have a hand in its removal from the Oval Office, citing the lack of space and clutter in the room. As the first African-American president, he said he thought it was right to have a bust of Rev Martin Luther King Jnr “to remind him of the people who helped get him there”.

But he confirmed that there was still a bust of Churchill in the White House residence outside his office, which he saw every day.

“I love Winston Churchill, love the guy” he added.

Summary: Follow along for the latest updates from the trail, as Trump’s staff describes details of ‘the real person’ and Ted Cruz begins the hunt for delegates in Indiana


A swarm of more than 130 earthquakes has been detected beneath Mount St Helens over the last eight weeks, according to the US Geological Survey.

Since March, the rate of such earthquakes under the Washington state volcano has been “steadily increasing”, the USGS reported. At its peak, nearly 40 earthquakes have been located per week.

Most of the quakes have occurred about one to four miles beneath the active volcano, and most have been extremely weak at magnitudes of 0.5 or less, the largest a 1.3-level quake.

The USGS said there had been many more earthquakes that have been too small to be felt at the surface or precisely located. A 0.7-level quake “would not be felt if you were standing on the surface above it”, the seismologists wrote.

The quakes do not mean the volcano is any more likely to erupt in the near future, the USGS said, describing the earthquakes as common, “volcano-tectonic in nature [and] indicative of a slip on a small fault”.

They do, though, suggest the volcano is recharging its stores of magma, the scientists said. As the molten rock rises to fill the volcano’s magma chamber, it presses against the colder rock around it, increasing stress. This push and pull creates quakes.

The USGS noted that similar swarms caused minor convulsions beneath Mount St Helens in 2013 and 2014, and that earthquakes swarmed in the 1990s with more energy and at much higher rates.

The seismologists said they had detected “no anomalous gases, increases in ground inflation or shallow seismicity” and “no signs of an imminent eruption”.

“As was observed at Mount St Helens between 1987 [and] 2004, recharge can continue for many years beneath a volcano without an eruption,” they wrote.

Mount St Helens last erupted in 2008, after a surprise reawakening in 2004 and several years of sporadic activity. Swarms of earthquakes before the 2004 eruption averaged between magnitudes of two to four.

On 18 May 1980, it erupted to devastating effect, a column of ash reaching 80,000ft and pyroclastic flows of boiling ash, gas and rock cascading off its slopes. Part of the volcano collapsed, ash fell as far away as New Mexico and 57 people died as a result of the eruption.

The volcano is now one of the most closely monitored in the world. Researchers at three universities have placed thousands of sensors around the volcano, to investigate its bowels.

“It’s telling us [that] years to decades from now, St Helens will erupt again,” Seth Moran, scientist-in-chief at the Cascades Volcano Observatory, told local KOIN news.

“Our best long-term forecast is that the next eruption will be a lava dome building eruption, which will have some explosivity to it, but nothing as catastrophic as St Helens in 1980.”

Erik Klemetti, an assistant professor of geosciences at Denison University, noted in Wired magazine that recharging magma can take years.

“It might have been five years between the big recharge event in 1998-99 and the 2004 eruptions,” he said.

The swarms are normal volcanic activity, Klemetti wrote. Magma rising up within the sleeping volcano will have a long path through the remains of past eruptions before it can load Mount St Helens for a new one.

Summary: Scientists suggest volcano is restoring its stores of magma as rate of earthquakes has been ‘steadily increasing’ and reaching nearly 40 located per week


We’ve all been there. You aced the job interview and your credentials are a perfect fit for the position. Now comes the hard part – the ‘beer test’ or the personality test, a casual chat over drinks or dinner meant to determine how well you will fit with an organization on a personal level. Since your resume can’t really capture what kind of person you are, both you and the interviewer are walking into an unknown situation with unpredictable results.

But despite the dangers of the process, it’s possible to pass the test with flying colors if you recognize the priorities of your potential employer and the questions they are really trying to answer:

What else are you good at other than work?

This may seem irrelevant to the job but it’s not. While serving on the board of a mid-sized radio group, I was tasked with identifying and hiring a new Chief Operating Officer. The leading candidate was a long-time consultant for media companies who checked all the technical boxes for the job. However, learning about her passion for composing music in her spare time and sailing gave me a sense of a well-rounded person who could not only manage the firm’s logistical operations but also liaison with the quirky radio personalities that were our bread and butter.

She got the job and was extremely successful at securing popular new radio hosts for us, many of whom enjoyed discussing her music with her more than audience ratings. She also organized a sailing outing for the firm, which was a hit with the employees. Revealing your outside interests can help your interviewer see the three-dimensional person you are and (maybe) tap into some of your hidden talents.

There are two aspects to this. Some very smart and capable people are bad at social interaction. In some professions, such as medical research or back-office accounting, that might not matter. But in other jobs, such as in marketing, sales, or even general management, social skills are extremely important and can determine your ability to do your job. How well you engage with your interviewer during a beer test will show him or her how good you are at interpersonal communication.

In addition, your future employer may be trying to gauge if you know how to socialize with a work colleague, which is not necessarily the same as with your friends. When spending time with a colleague, you need to be aware of personal boundaries that would be dangerous to breach. You may not, for example, want to discuss the subject of dating, which a colleague might consider intrusive and which could cause problems in the work environment later. It also opens up the company to lawsuits.

Being friends with your co-workers without being too friendly isn’t easy but essential, especially in smaller organizations where socializing is inevitable. Too much closeness can lead to awkwardness, misunderstandings, and office gossip. When confronted with this type of challenge, your best bet is to show your acumen by using it – chat engagingly but casually, avoid sensitive topics, and show your interviewer that you know how to have a good time within boundaries.

Are you Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

In vino veritas as the saying goes. In wine (or beer) there is truth. This is probably the single most important reason for employers to want to meet a candidate socially. We all put on our best face during official interviews, but from an employer’s standpoint that can be a problem. After all, no one wants to hire the polished Dr. Jekyll and wind up with the wild Mr. Hyde instead – especially in the age of social media where that picture of you dancing on a table with your shirt off can go viral.

A social outing tends to entice people to let their guard down. That’s totally fine, as long as you don’t let it too far down and maintain the same decorum you would with anyone you respect. Another vital thing to remember is that just because it’s called a beer test doesn’t mean that you have to overload on the beer. Whenever you’re around co-workers, it’s always best to moderate your drinking, and this is something a smart interviewer will watch for.

And if you’re a party animal who just can’t help himself, and manage to offend your potential employer with your behavior, then you may be better off working at a different company or in another profession.

Why do you really want the job?

When interviewing analyst candidates during my investment banking days, I would routinely receive canned answers to this question, but what I was really looking for was that spark of honesty that gave me confidence the candidate was truly motivated to work at the firm and would go that extra mile for his or her job.

In a beer test, the logic is that without the pressure of being in an interview room, a candidate will feel more comfortable giving a heartfelt answer to the question. If you’re in this position, keep in mind that there isn’t one ‘right’ answer. In some cases, the fact that you want to use the job as a stepping stone to some other career in the distant future is perfectly acceptable – as long as it’s clear to the employer that you’ve really thought about it and have a convincing motivation to excel at the job.

The problem arises when you really don’t have a compelling reason for wanting the job except for being unemployed at the time. If all you want is a paycheck and the job you’re interviewing for requires deep commitment, then the job may not be right for you. That’s a reason to take a step back, be honest with yourself as well as your future employer, and decide if you have a better reason for taking that job.

Great employees flourish in great jobs, but only if the two are compatible. The beer test is designed to determine this very intangible.

Sanjay Sanghoee is a business commentator. He has worked at investment banks Lazard Freres and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, at hedge fund Ramius Capital, and has an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Summary: You're a perfect fit for the job. But that doesn't mean you're definitely going to get it


Congress is loaded, if you weren’t already aware.

The Center for Responsive Politics analyzed the personal financial disclosure data from 2012 of the 534 current members of Congress and found that, for the first time, more than half had an average net worth of $1 million or more: 268 to be exact, up from 257 the year earlier. The median for congressional Democrats was $1.04 million and, for Republicans, $1 million even.

To calculate the net worth of lawmakers, the Center added together members’ significant assets, such as corporate bonds and stocks, then subtracted major liabilities such as loans, credit card debt and property mortgages.

Here’s the breakdown: the median net worth for all House members was $896,000 (Democrats averaged $929,000 to Republicans’ $884,000) and, for Senators, $2.5 million. The median net worth for Senate Democrats was $1.7 million, down from $2.4 million in 2011; for Republicans: $2.9 million, up from $2.5 million in 2011.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who made his millions in the car alarm business, was the richest lawmaker in Congress with an average net worth of $464 million in 2012.

The least-wealthy member was Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), who reported an average net worth of negative $12.1 million. Valadao is in the red, the Center found, due to loans for his family’s dairy farm.

The group also analyzed the members’ investments. General Electric was the most popular holding; the minimum Democratic investment was $927,777 and the smallest Republican investment was $2,130,657. The top five rounded out with Wells Fargo, Microsoft Corp., Procter & Gamble, and Apple Inc.

The full list of 2012 personal financial disclosures from members of Congress can be found here.

Summary: For the first time, more than half of congressional lawmakers are worth at least $1 million


Ever since the Middle Eastern terrorist group known variously as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh first started intruding on the public consciousness, the organization’s savvy use of social media has been one of its calling cards. With YouTube videos of prisoners being beheaded or burned alive, and Twitter accounts that spread its message of radical Islam, ISIS has adopted social networks and the web as a distribution method a lot faster than many Western media organizations and governments.

Given that, it’s not surprising that governments have been trying to convince online services like Google and social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to help cripple ISIS in any way possible. The latest in that effort was a series of recent meetings in Washington, where about 50 different digital companies met with various members of the U.S. government’s anti-terrorism agencies to talk about cutting the flow of digital oxygen to ISIS.

The problem is that these attempts, as laudable as their goals may be, involve security agencies asking Google, Twitter, and Facebook to suppress and/or promote certain kinds of speech. And this is one of the slipperiest of slippery slopes imaginable. Who decides which speech is to be tolerated and which isn’t? The Pentagon? Facebook? The same secret FISA court that decides who the NSA can spy on?

As a number of observers like Electronic Frontier Foundation director Jillian York have pointed out repeatedly, we have already surrended much of what used to be public discourse to for-profit social platforms. While it’s true that free-speech laws technically don’t apply to corporations, it becomes a critical public issue when those platforms are being asked by the government to favor certain kinds of speech over others. Especially when the connection between a Twitter account or Facebook page and acts of terrorism is tenuous at best.

As a story that BuzzFeed wrote about the latest meeting makes obvious (it was the only media organization that was asked to attend, for unknown reasons), the Obama administration is not only unsure of how to accomplish its goal, but also seems unaware of just how far across the line it is asking companies like Google and Twitter TWTR to go. Or perhaps it doesn’t care.

For example, at one point the story notes that executives from a number of the technology companies involved have found some of the requests by the Pentagon and other government agencies to be “jarring.” Why? In at least one case, BuzzFeed says, “the Pentagon spoke with several companies—who asked not to be named as a condition of discussing the meeting with BuzzFeed News—about tweaking their algorithms to promote certain types of content.” According to a Google source:

That’s something that is always brought up in meetings. And it shows how little they understand us. This is a Pandora’s box we won’t open, because if we answer a request by the U.S. government to feature one search result over another, what’s to stop other countries from requesting the same? What’s to stop each country from tailoring the search results of their citizens to their agenda?

Google recently agreed to promote certain positive anti-terrorist messages, but only in the space at the top of its search results that is usually devoted to ads. But even this triggered fears that Google goog might also be tweaking its regular search results behind the scenes to promote or suppress certain content for political purposes, even though the company has said repeatedly that it would never agree to do this.

Evan Williams: Twitter is primarily a news system

It’s not clear what Twitter has agreed or not agreed to do. In the past, Twitter staked much of its reputation on being the “free-speech wing of the free-speech party,” and it fought repeated attempts by both the U.S. government and other governments to force the company to provide user information or to squash discussion on the network. And it couldn’t use an algorithm to do much of anything, because the main Twitter feed wasn’t filtered algorithmically.

More recently, however, Twitter has added more algorithmic features, and says it is planning to make these the default experience. In addition, the company has been much more active about banning users and accounts for various kinds of behavior including harassment (something many users have been calling for). And in a tangible sign of the pressure on it from the government, Twitter recently removed more than 125,000 accounts that were associated with violent extremists.

The problem is that once Twitter agrees to remove specific user accounts the government doesn’t like, or Facebook FB removes user pages, or Google promotes some search results over others, where will security agencies stop? It’s a little like the fight Apple is currently in with the FBI over unlocking a terrorist’s phone. It’s not just about that phone, it’s about the precedent that such a move would set for future cases.

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There’s an additional argument against this kind of strategy that isn’t free-speech based: Watching what ISIS and other groups do through Twitter and Facebook and YouTube can actually provide great intelligence on their activities. Journalists like Eliot Higgins and others have used these kinds of accounts to great effect in tracking who is doing what. But by far the biggest threat is that social networks will become an arm of government.

Not that long ago, the Justice Department was convinced that WikiLeaks and Julian Assange were an imminent threat to U.S. freedom, so the government put pressure on Amazon to remove leaked documents that WikiLeaks had put on its cloud servers, and pressure on Visa and PayPal to block people from using their payment systems to donate to WikiLeaks. Did it try to get Twitter or Facebook to block accounts or pages? We don’t know. But it wouldn’t be surprising.

There’s a big difference between WikiLeaks and ISIS, obviously. But the next time the government tries to block or ban specific people or groups from social networks, the differences might not be so obvious. The gray area between what the U.S. government defines as terrorist behavior and the normal flow of political speech on Twitter or Facebook might become a little grayer. And if we are letting the White House decide which social accounts should be blocked or banned, we are on a very slippery slope indeed.

Summary: Having the government determine which kinds of speech are permitted and which aren't is a huge problem.


Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

Who wore what this weekend: Kerry Washington dazzles in floral Erdem

Where: Dinner in honor of her April ELLE cover

Where: The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards

Where: The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 03: Actor Tom Hiddleston attends the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

Where: The 51st Academy Of Country Music Awards

Wore: An orange and tan beaded mini

Where: The iHeartRadio Music Awards

Who: Rose Leslie and Kit Harington

Wore: Rose in Malene Oddershede Bach

Red carpets were abuzz with stars this weekend -- attending the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, the iHeartRadio Awards in Los Angeles and the Olivier Awards in London. Needless to say with the variety of events, the looks that walked the red carpet were equally different from one to the next!

Kerry Washington attended a dinner in her honor to celebrate her April ELLE cover, dazzling us with a floral Erdem dress that shouted spring. Some of our favorite British actresses -- from Game of Thrones's Rose Leslie to Downton Abbey's Laura Carmichael -- looked resplendent on the Olivier red carpet, while country music stars Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood brought out their sultry side at the ACMs.

Click through above for our favorite looks from the red carpet this weekend.

Plus, watch below for the most talked-about ACM moments:

Summary: Washington attended a dinner in her honor to celebrate her April ELLE cover, while more stars stunned on red carpets from Las Vegas to London.


Silly online shows are a dime a dozen, but here’s a cute one to keep an eye on.

Shot on location in NYC, the web series “Brad Advice” follows the misadventures of Brad Johnston (writer/director and star Brandt Johnson), a self-proclaimed public speaking expert who offers horrible advice to his clients at his personal “institute” — a Manhattan apartment.

Over the course of five episodes — each less than 10 minutes long — he counsels a rapper (Keith Middleton), a mayoral wannabe (Stephen Bradbury) and a rabid bond trader (Judy Gold).

It’s all rough and low-budget, but the writing is sharp and funny, if a little bit uneven at times.

But “Brad Advice” knocks it out of the park with its most endearing episode which features members of his own family playing characters loosely based on themselves.

In it, Johnston’s real-life sister (Melissa Johnson Carissimo) drops off his real-life niece (Sophie Carissimo), and asks him to coach the girl because they’re moving back to New York from abroad and she might have trouble fitting in.

He suggests that Sophie might want to run for class president and offers her a ton of flimsy political advice that she immediately pokes holes in.

After she masters a firm handshake, he notes, “good, now“you can start promising things,” like “endeavoring to reduce homework.”

It’s sweet, funny and worth a look.

The whole season drops March 31 on YouTube and bradadvice.com.

Summary: Silly online shows are a dime a dozen online, but here’s a cute one to keep an eye on.


is giving a behind-the-scenes look at her

character in honor of the original film's 32nd anniversary today.

It all started on this day back in 1984, when the first

hit theaters – and in the new reboot, the

star is taking over as the heart and soul of the supernatural exterminators.

"My character has really always been a believer. Doesn't matter if people are making fun of her, which they always have," McCarthy says in a clip exclusive to PEOPLE.

In the clip, we see McCarthy's character, Abby Yates, trying to convince a police officer of the imminent threat ghosts are posing to N.Y.C., and she's met only with wisecracks about Patrick Swayze's

But, as Kate McKinnon points out, it's Yates' spirit that bonds the group together. "It's her enthusiasm that keeps everyone moving forward," she explains.

Kristen Wiig agrees: "She's the spirit of believing and not caring what people think." And Leslie Jones adds, "Abby is probably my favorite character because she's so driven."

Check out the clip for more with director Paul Feig and more bonus footage from the film.

Summary: "My character has really always been a believer. Doesnât matter if people are making fun of her, which they always have," Melissa McCarthy says in a clip exclusive to PEOPLE


For an appliance company, being a household name in real estate circles in the country's biggest city would seem a good thing; think of Viking ranges or Sub-Zero refrigerators, and their attendant marketing cachet.

If there is one brand that tests this theory, though, it is Fedders, the 93-year-old manufacturer of air-conditioners and humidifiers, which, increasingly in the last year or so, has unwittingly lent its name to a certain reviled species of apartment building.

"Fedders houses," as defined in a posting a year ago by the online slang dictionary doubletongued.org, are the kind of cheaply made structures that have through-the-wall air-conditioners with the manufacturer's name visible to the outside. A perusal of construction sites outside Manhattan reveals that the cooling units are often as not made by Friedrich or some other company. But it is the Fedders name that has stuck.

During his re-election campaign, Mayor Bloomberg took to using the term when referring to rezoning measures proposed for Brooklyn and Queens, and the appearance of the phrase on real estate blogs like Brownstoner.com and Curbed.com has sparked debates on aesthetics, snobbery and affordable housing.

Last month, an anonymous and possibly tongue-in-cheek Brooklynite writing on openwebletter.com identified a "rising resentment" against the company and called for action to halt "the deterioration of the brand," perhaps by removing its name from its products.

At Fedders headquarters, in Liberty Corner, N.J., company officials have been aware of the coinage for at least a year. In an article published on March 12, 2005, Robert Laurent, the company's chief financial officer, told The Brooklyn Paper, a local weekly, that the phrase was "not even on our radar." He added that he hoped the houses were as well built as the air-conditioners.

Since then, as Fedders houses have settled into the lexicon, the company has resolutely continued to look on the bright side. "Actually, we think that the connotation associated with them should be one of quality," said Judy Katz, a company spokeswoman. "We're proud that developers and architects and whomever designs the buildings choose to use our products in them."

As for the exterior sleeve covering that started it all, featuring the company's name in bold block letters and visible on boxy brick housing wherever there is open land and a thrifty developer, it does not seem to be going anywhere. "The Fedders sleeves," Ms. Katz noted, "have been a staple for about 50 years, at least."

In Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the company gets sympathy from an unlikely source, a local preservation advocate named Victoria Hofmo, who is credited with coining the phrase several years ago. "On the buildings, the Fedders air-conditioner is the most architecturally distinctive detail; that's the definition," she said last week, adding that any negative reflection on the air-conditioning manufacturer was purely coincidental.

And she expressed relief that company officials did not seem angry. "I didn't want to insult them," she said.

Summary: A brand of air-conditioners has unwittingly lent its name to a certain reviled species of apartment building.


WASHINGTON — Florida’s attorney general personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump around the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates.

The new disclosure from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s spokesman to the Associated Press on Monday provides additional details around the unusual circumstances of Trump’s $25,000 donation to Bondi.

The money came from a Trump family foundation in apparent violation of rules surrounding political activities by charities. A political group backing Bondi’s re-election, called And Justice for All, reported receiving the check Sept. 17, 2013 — four days after Bondi’s office publicly announced she was considering joining a New York state probe of Trump University’s activities, according to a 2013 report in the Orlando Sentinel.

After the check came in, Bondi’s office nixed suing Trump, citing insufficient grounds to proceed.

Bondi declined repeated requests for an interview Monday, referring all questions to Marc Reichelderfer, a political consultant who worked for her most recent re-election effort.

Reichelderfer told AP that Bondi spoke with Trump “several weeks” before her office publicly announced it was deliberating whether to join a lawsuit proposed by New York’s Democratic attorney general.

Reichelfelder said Bondi was unaware of dozens of consumer complaints received by her office about Trump’s real estate seminars at the time she requested the donation.

“The process took at least several weeks, from the time they spoke to the time they received the contribution,” Reichelderfer told AP.

The timing of the donation by Trump is notable because the now-presumptive Republican presidential nominee has said he expects and receives favors from politicians to whom he gives money.

“When I want something, I get it,” Trump said at an Iowa rally in January. “When I call, they kiss my ass. It’s true.”

In addition to the money given by his foundation, Trump himself has donated $253,500 in Florida since 1999, most of it going to Republican candidates, the state party or political committees affiliated with GOP officials. His daughter, Ivanka Trump, also gave a $500 check to Bondi a week before her father’s money came in, as well as another $25,000 to the Republican Party of Florida the following year.

The AP reviewed thousands of pages of records related to consumer complaints about Trump University and its affiliates filed with Bondi’s office. The documents — previously obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, which first reported Trump’s donation to Bondi — reveal a new reservoir of unhappy Trump University customers, despite recent claims from the presumptive nominee that the students of his real estate seminar company were overwhelmingly satisfied.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and a separate federal class action civil lawsuit in California allege that Trump University — which was largely owned by Trump himself — defrauded consumers by as much as $35,000 each with promises of a real estate investing education that they either did not receive or found to be worthless.

All told, more than 20 people requested help from the Florida attorney general’s office in obtaining refunds from Trump University and affiliates, with Bondi’s predecessor receiving numerous other complaints about the seminar company Trump partnered with. Many of the Trump-related consumers alleged that they paid money for training materials and personalized instruction that were never delivered.

“I was laid off work for the first time in my life and really need this money to support my family,” wrote one of the many people seeking help, adding that he had been promised a refund but never received it. “$1,400 is so much money for my family.”

The documents complicate prior claims by Bondi’s office that she received only one consumer complaint about Trump University at the time that she decided not to join the New York investigation.

Bondi’s office said its statement about receiving only a single complaint was accurate at the time because most of the complaints dealt with the Trump Institute, a separate corporate entity from Trump University, and were made before she took office at the start of 2011.

The Trump Institute was licensed by Trump to run his seminars, however, with Trump keeping a share of the profits, according to depositions in the Trump University case. In internal emails, Bondi’s own staff appeared to lump Trump University and the Trump Institute together — as New York’s lawsuit has done.

Bondi was not the only GOP attorney general to shy away from suing Trump.

The Associated Press first reported last week that then-Texas Attorney Greg Abbott received $35,000 from Trump, three years after his office in 2010 dropped a proposed lawsuit over Trump U. Following AP’s report, former Texas deputy chief of consumer protection John Owens said the case had been dropped for political reasons. He also made public a detailed internal summary of what he called his staff’s strong case against Trump.

A spokesman for Abbott, now the Texas governor, said the case was dropped after Trump’s organization agreed to stop offering his namesake real estate seminars in the state. Within months, Trump University was out of business nationwide.

By choosing not to pursue Trump in court, the GOP attorneys general left the unhappy students in their states on their own to try to get refunds from the celebrity businessman.

Summary: WASHINGTON — Florida’s attorney general personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump around the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud a…


The effects of having a few drinks can differ person to person, but often people may not realize just how risky their drinking patterns are, or what that alcohol is doing to them under the hood.

There are two definitions for “safe” drinking. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines say moderate alcohol consumption is OK, which means having up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has its own recommendation it calls “low risk” drinking, which sets limits for what levels of drinking will put you at a low risk for developing an alcohol abuse issue later on. This comes out to no more than three drinks on any single day and no more than 7 drinks per week for women, and no more than four drinks on any single day and no more than 14 drinks per week for men.

According to Dr. George Koob, director of the NIAAA, the current body of evidence doesn’t show whether there are significant differences between someone who drinks at this level versus someone who never drinks. In some cases, there’s strong evidence to suggest that moderate wine consumption could actually benefit the heart. Though Koob says some studies have been controversial and it’s not determined what it is about wine or other parts of a person’s lifestyle that could be at play. There are also individual patterns and sensitivities that people should take into consideration at this level. Some people can handle the amount better than others.

If you genuinely stay within the healthy drinking limits, you’re likely at a low risk for alcohol-related health problems down the line.

The concept of binge drinking is often associated with college students and drinking to get “drunk.” But evidence suggests that people beyond college age also maintain those heavy drinking behaviors. The NIH defines it as five or more drinks for men and four or more drinks for women within two hours. Some of the risks associated with binge drinking are well known. It increases the risk for sexual assault, violence and self harm. But the physical effects of such behaviors on the body are often less discussed. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there’s strong evidence to suggest that regular binge drinking can damage the frontal cortex and areas of the brain involved in executive functions and decision making. Alcohol slows down the pace of the neurotransmitters in your brain that are critical for proper body responses and even moods.

“Abstaining from alcohol over several months to a year may allow structural brain changes to partially correct,” the NIH says. “Abstinence also can help reverse negative effects on thinking skills, including problem solving, memory, and attention.”

Long term drinking can also hurt your heart muscles making them unable to contract properly. It can also harm liver, pancreas and immune system function. Heavy drinking can prevent the protective white blood cells in your body to attack bacterial invaders like they’re supposed to. Drinking too much alcohol can also increase your risk for certain cancers like mouth and breast. Regular heavy drinking also increases the risk for some alcohol dependence. “It creeps up on people,” says Koob.

You can calculate how many “drinks” your cocktail adds up to here and assess how risky your own drinking behaviors are here.

Summary: Social drinking is not always benign


WHILE long-time radio host Bernard Meltzer stopped doing his daily show about a year ago, he remains in touch with what he always called his "radio family," says his producer Bernadette Michaels. Meltzer, now in his 70s and a fixture for decades on WOR, described his show as a mixture of advice, help and entertainment. His subject matter ranged from investment strategies to the plight of stray pets and just about everything in between, punctuated with one-liners like "One of the great virtues of our democratic system is that only one of the candidates gets elected.

" About 10 years ago, he contracted Parkinson's disease, which he discussed openly on the air, and that contributed to his decision a year ago to stop doing the show, which had moved to WEVD. Today, says Michaels, Meltzer continues to deal with the condition, which largely affects motor skills. He keeps up with the news, she says, and he receives regular visits from family and friends, as well as correspondence from listeners. Those wishing to send well wishes or just say hello can call (212) 889-1509, where Michaels maintains the office, or write to Bernard Meltzer, 511 Sixth Ave., #246, New York, NY 10011. As for the radio show, Michaels took it over when he retired, and it continued on WEVD until the end of January. She is now looking for another station, she says, and meanwhile, the office is keeping up with the show's business. AROUND THE DIAL: Imus volunteered yesterday on WFAN (660 AM) to serve as judge in the O.

J. trial and speed things along. That presumably means he doesn't want the trial to last as long as his plug-a-thon last fall for his novel "God's Other Son.

" The book was, however, more entertaining than the O.

J. trial, which is made bearable largely by the art it inspires, like the fine Rob Bartlett-created "Subterranean O.

J. Blues" Imus has been spinning. . . . WFUV (90.

7 FM) has launched a daily "Now hear this!

" feature for new music by good artists most stations won't play. That's noon and 9 p.

m. weekdays. . . . Blue Magic, whose "Sideshow" is one of the best ballads recorded after 1958, guests tomorrow at 9 a.

m. with Michel and the Battman on WBLS (107.

5 FM). . . . Jeff Goldblum guests tomorrow on the WHTZ morning zoo (100.

3 FM). . . . WHTZ has also started an unusual collaboration. The morning show, 5-10 a.

m., is picking up Shadow Traffic reports three times an hour from Pete Tauriello at WINS (1010 AM). During last winter's nonstop storms, explains Z-100 Operations Manager Steve Kingston, "We did what everyone else did: We listened to WINS . . . which gave birth to our 'We're listening to WINS so you don't have to' strategy.


LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The 2-year-old boy who was dragged underwater by an alligator at an upscale resort at Disney World in Florida is presumed to be dead, the local sheriff said Wednesday afternoon.

Wildlife officials have so far removed five alligators from the water and cut them open but found no sign of the child.

The boy's family from Nebraska was on the beach of the Seven Seas Lagoon at about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday when he was snatched and the father tried to fight the alligator but failed to free him.

About 15 hours later, with no sightings of the boy, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said, "There's no question they'll lose a two-year-old child. It's not survivable at this point."

Demings said the search - which is covering a large, man-made lake and includes boats, helicopters and divers - will continue.

"Our ultimate goal is to try and bring some closure to the family by recovering their loved one," Demings said.

Many questions have arisen about the safety of the beach for visitors who might not be aware of the state's large alligator population. Demings said there was signage in the area of the attack advising no swimming.

The boy was said to be wading in ankle-deep water when the attack took place.

"Disney has a wildlife management in place and they have worked diligently to ensure their guests haven't been exposed," Demings said, adding that in the 45-year history of the resort, this is the first such attack.

Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), told CBS News that if a gator "attacks a human it's mistaken."

Wiley said he had nothing but praise for the resort for being "very proactive in dealing with alligators."

In the past, when Disney officials have discovered alligators in the large lagoons near their resort they have largely been removed and euthanized.

Disney has closed its beaches at all of its properties in Florida as they assess the incident.

Since 1973, 23 people have been killed by wild alligators in Florida, according to data compiled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Those fatalities were among 383 unprovoked bites not caused by someone handling or intentionally harassing an alligator.

Summary: After 15 hours since the 2-year-old was last seen being dragged under, the sheriff says"it's not survivable at this point"


The thrill is truly gone.

Blues giant B.B. King, whose six-string genius shaped generations of guitar gods from around the globe, died at home Thursday in Las Vegas, his lawyer said. He was 89.

The Mississippi Delta native, born Riley B. King, died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 p.m., said attorney Brent Bryson. Bryson said funeral arrangements are underway.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg confirmed the death.

Appreciation: B.B. King lifted blues to the mainstream

A cause of death was not immediately released, but the legend who was known as the “Ambassador of the Blues” across seven peerless decades of singing, songwriting, recording and performing suffered from diabetes and had been in hospice care.

King's eldest surviving daughter Shirley King of the Chicago area said she was upset that she did not have a chance to see her father before his death.

A list of his musical acolytes reads like a litany of the world’s most renowned guitarists: Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Jimi Hendrix, the Edge, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, Derek Trucks, Joe Walsh.

The self-effacing King was ranked as the No. 6 guitarist of all time on a 2011 Rolling Stone list — nestled neatly between Jeff Beck and Chuck Berry.

With his famous Gibson guitar “Lucille,” King earned 15 Grammys and kept the blues alive with relentless touring that continued into his 80s.

B.B. King dead at 89, draws Twitter tributes

In 1956, King and his band performed 342 one-night stands — taking off just 14 days in the leap year. In 2012, King played more than 200 live dates — including a gig at the White House.

King famously said playing the guitar was like sharing an intimate conversation with a woman. He christened his guitar after a nightclub fire started by a fight over a woman — named Lucille.

King’s unique style featured stinging single-note solos, with an instantly recognizable sound ringing from his hollow-body guitar. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three years later. King opened for the Rolling Stones in 1969, and jammed with U2 two decades later.

At the turn of the century, he collaborated with Clapton on the album “Riding With the King.”

His signature hit single, “The Thrill Is Gone,” was released in 1969 and reached No. 3 on the R&B charts and No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The son of a segregated South once said his musical message was meant for all races, colors and creeds: “Red, white, black, brown or yellow, rich or poor, we all have the blues.”

King was born on a cotton plantation outside Indianola, Miss., where he played his guitar on street corners for spare change as a child. Life in the rural South was unsparing: King didn’t see a light bulb until he was 16.

When not strumming or singing gospel, King absorbed the musical messages of bluesmen like T-Bone Walker and Sonny Boy Williamson. Walker’s landmark “Stormy Monday” was King’s first serious taste of the blues.

His decision to choose a musical career was simple: “I made $22.50 on a plantation driving a tractor all week. Playing guitar on a Saturday night I made $25.”

He hitchhiked in 1947 to Memphis, where he landed on local radio stations and became a fixture on the club scene. The singer-guitarist was billed as the Beale Street Blues Boy — later shortened to B.B. King.

His first hit, “Three O’Clock Blues,” was recorded in a Memphis YMCA and spent five weeks at No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1952. The song offered the first widespread exposure for King. His live shows highlighted King’s most famous musical quirk: He never played guitar and sang simultaneously, focusing full attention on either vocals or music.

The stage veteran later recorded a pair of classic live albums before two very different Illinois audiences: “Live at the Regal” in 1965 and “Live at Cook County Jail” in 1971.

In between, he opened for the Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour — the same year that he first appeared on the “Tonight” show.

In 1985, he memorably performed the title track for the movie “Into The Night,” starring Jeff Goldblum, David Bowie, Dan Aykroyd and Michelle Pfeiffer.

King was also featured in the U2 documentary “Rattle and Hum” in 1988, playing with the band on their song “When Love Comes to Town.” But his favorite singer was always Frank Sinatra.

King was also a licensed pilot. He was married twice, with the second ceremony officiated by the Rev. C.L. Franklin — father of Aretha.

The guitarist’s name also adorned a half-dozen nightclubs, including one on Beale St. in Memphis and another on 42nd St. in Times Square.

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Summary: Blues giant B.B. King, whose six-string genius shaped generations of guitar gods from around the globe, died at home in Las Vegas.


It ain't just Whole Foods that has an issue with the ingredients in

-- now, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the company that owns the brand.

In the suit, filed in federal court in California,

claims she and many other people have been duped by Beam Global Spirits for making "deceptive statements" on the label of Skinnygirl.

According to the lawsuit, Beam advertises the drink as "all natural" -- and claims it contains no preservatives. But Bonar says it's all BS because the drink contains a preservative called sodium benzoate.

-- after the market decided the drink was not using all natural ingredients.

Bonar is suing to force Beam to "engage in a corrective advertising campaign" ... and pay unspecified damages.

Beam has issued a statement saying, "In today's litigious society, nothing is surprising. The litigation filed in relation to the labeling of Skinnygirl Margarita is frivolous. We will defend our case vigorously, and we are fully confident we will prevail."

Summary: It ain't just Whole Foods that has an issue with the ingredients in Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl Margarita -- now, a class action lawsuit has been…


Have you ever wondered why some apps ask for access to the microphone on your phone? Be careful: In some cases, the only reason is because the app wants to collect marketing data about your media habits.

On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter to a dozen app developers that warned them not to abuse so-called “audio beacons,” which are capable of picking up secret noise signals embedded in TV shows. The beacon, which relies on your phone’s built-in microphone, can serve to confirm you watched a given program.

It’s unclear to what extent this is currently taking place in the United States. While the FTC shared a copy of the letter, it did not identify the app developers; however, it did refer to the use of “code published .. in the Google Play store,” which indicates the developers are focused on Android devices.

The FTC also describes an underlying technology offered by an Indian company called SilverPush. The letter cites a Forbes article that describes how SilverPush had used “inaudible sound to let brands keep tabs on people’s online lives across TVs and smartphones for more than a year.”

In the letter, the FTC also notes that the app makers have been embedding the SilverPush code and asking for permission to use consumers’ microphones—even though their apps don’t require the microphone to operate.

If you read between the lines, the fuss over SilverPush appears to be a new twist on an old scam: An app maker encourages a user to install an app (typically for free) that is marketed for one task—but whose real purpose is to suck up marketing information.

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The most famous example of this scam is an Android app called “Brightest Flashlight.” The developer of the app persuaded over 50 million people to download it, and then harvested their location data and sold to marketers.

While the FTC took action on the Brightest Flashlight issue in 2013, the agency didn’t impose any fine, in part because of rules that restrict the agency’s powers for first time offenses.

In the case of this new microphone ruse, the FTC appears to be sending an early warning shot across the bow of the developers— this could help them crack down harder later on, if the privacy violations materialize.

“These apps were capable of listening in the background and collecting information about consumers without notifying them,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. “Companies should tell people what information is collected, how it is collected, and who it’s shared with.”

Summary: Apps are using "audio beacons" to secretly track your TV watching.


Sara Ramirez and Kate Walsh

05/18/2007 AT 08:45 PM EDT

Once Kate Walsh leaves to star in her own spinoff, the set of

just won't be the same, says her costar Sara Ramirez.

"I think she is amazing, and I am going to miss her to death," Ramirez said Wednesday at a party in New York for

's "50 Most Beautiful" issue.

"[Kate] is an enormously talented woman, and I think she is so much fun to watch," added Ramirez. "I wish her continued success."

Walsh's character, Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, is

for a new life in California as the basis for her new show,

Asked about Walsh's real-life plans to marry Alex Young, a production co-president at 20th Century Fox, Ramirez says: "They're lovely people. I hope it'll be a beautiful wedding."

As for her own career, the

Tony-winning Ramirez, who plays Dr. Callie Torres on

, says she relishes the idea of being a role model for women.

"I'm very proud to be in this business at this particular time, and I just hope the opportunity will continue to come where I can show the world that there are other sizes, other personalities," she said. "Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes."

Summary: The actress wishes her Grey's costar "continued success" on her new spinoff


Actress Bijou Phillips says she knew her half-sister Mackenzie Phillips had consensual sex with their father, Mamas and the Papas leader John Phillips.

In a statement read by Oprah Winfrey on her talk show Friday, Bijou Phillips says she was 13 years old when Mackenzie Phillips told her about the sexual relationship.

Bijou Phillips, now 29, says the news was confusing and scary, and that it was "heartbreaking" to think her family would leave her alone with her father knowing what he did

PHOTOS: Click for photos of actress Bijou Phillips.

Appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Friday, Mackenzie Phillips said their father "had changed his ways as much as he was able to" and that she felt Bijou Phillips was safe.

But Mackenzie says she did go get her sister when she "felt like she wasn't being watched properly."

Mackenzie Phillips claims in a new book that she had a long-term incestuous relationship with her father, musician John Phillips of the 60’s group the Mamas and the Papas.

PHOTOS: Now & Then photos of Mackenzie Phillips.

In “High on Arrival,” her new tell-all book which hits stores today, the former “One Day at a Time” star says her first recollection of her father having sex with her was on the night before her wedding to Jeff Sessler, a member of the Rolling Stones entourage.

In an interview with People magazine, Phillips, now 49, pleads with readers “don’t hate my father.”

“On the eve of my [1979] wedding, my father showed up, determined to stop it,” Phillips, who was a teenager and strung out on drugs at the time, writes. “I had tons of pills, and Dad had tons of everything too. Eventually I passed out on Dad’s bed.

“My father was not a man with boundaries. He was full of love and he was sick with drugs. I woke up that night from a blackout to find myself having sex with my own father. Had this happened before? I didn’t know. All I can say is that it was the first time I was aware of it.”

According to Phillips, the relationship eventually became consensual and continued for ten years.

Phillips also told talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey that it was her father who shot her up for the first time with cocaine when she was just ten years old.

"I remember going into my room, I was crouched on the floor. ... He put the needle in my arm and put the plunger in and he missed," she says. "He missed the vein and my whole arm went numb."

The actress went on to endure severe drug addiction, which cost her role on “One Day at a Time,” divorce and an eventual felony cocaine possession charge in 2008.

Phillip's half-sister Chynna Phillips, who was the front-woman for the band Wilson-Phillips, said she was shocked when Mackenzie told her the news.

In an interview with Us magazine, she says "somebody could have dropped a piano on my head and I probably wouldn't have felt it. But I knew it was true. I mean, who in their right mind would make such a claim if it wasn't true?"

Upon hearing the news, she went into "a deep sadness and depression for about 10 days. A part of me died when I found out."

"After long nights of heroin use, she's claiming that she once woke up and that my father was on top of her having sex with her," Chynna told Us Weekly. "Was he actually raping her? I don't know. Do I believe that they had an incestuous relationship and that it went on for 10 years? Yes."

Summary: Sister Mackenzie says she did go get her sister when she felt like she wasn't being watched properly


Target tgt is following its North Star with its latest designer collaboration, a collection with Finnish design house Marimekko.

The collaboration, which features 200 items with Marimekko’s distinctive patterns and bright colors ranging from $7.99 to $499.99, is Target’s latest partnership as it continues to burnish its image for quirky but affordable temporary collections with brands that are normally pricier. This follows a partnership last year with Lilly Pulitzer and many others before that.

The Marimekko line spans outdoor décor, furniture, and items for entertaining, as well as beach and swimwear for women and girls. It goes on sale April 17. The Finnish brand, founded in 1951, has been known to Americans since Jackie Kennedy wore one of its dresses on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Under the supervision of Julie Guggemos, senior vice president, product design and development, a team of Target designers travels to different countries to get ideas to spruce up its merchandise. Such collections, limited and temporary, don’t make the needle move at all for the $74 billion a year retailer. But they are crucial for bolstering its image of cheap chic to stand out from a crowded retail landscape filled with the likes of everyone from Walmart wmt to Bed Bath & Beyond bbby .

“We’ve had our eye on Marimekko for quite some time,” Guggemos told a group of reporters at Target’s annual meeting with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday.

Target CEO Brian Cornell has made the broadly defined concept of “style” a key pillar of his strategy to make the retailer cool again. His team told investors to expect comparable sales to rise 3% a year starting in 2017, a performance that would mark an acceleration over recent years, including 2.1% last year. He is banking on the halo effect of collaborations like Marimekko to give Target’s everyday brands a lift. The store is in the midst of overhauling its in-house C9 apparel line.

Another of his priorities is to keep bolstering Target’s digital sales. Surely he’ll want to avoid a repeat of last year when the Lilly Pulitzer collection, most of which sold out in hours frustrating customers, almost caused target.com to crash. Still, the company won’t disclose whether it ordered more merchandise for this collection.

“We want to satisfy demand, but still ensure the collections are limited, which is part of what makes them special and so coveted,” Target spokesman Joshua Thomas told Fortune in an email.

Summary: The collaboration features 200 items.


While the ranks of billionaires form an elite club, there's even a smaller subset: women with more than $1 billion in assets.

Roughly 12 percent of the world's billionaires are women, representing a small but powerful group with interests in some of the globe's biggest corporations, according to Wealth-X, an advisory firm that specializes in what it calls the "ultra high net worth" clique.

Aside from being a smaller group than male billionaires, who number more than 2,000, women billionaires are more likely to have come by their enormous fortunes through inheritance, rather than via entrepreneurship. Only about 17 percent of women billionaires are self-made, compared with 60 percent of men, Wealth-X notes. But that's likely to change, according to David S. Friedman, president of Wealth-X.

"In general, the trend in the past has been that men are the ones that traditionally started businesses, but that's changing quickly," Friedman told CBS MoneyWatch. "You have the emergence of the "lean in" movement, and (Yahoo CEO) Marissa Mayer showing up on the scene, so you have the platform to develop more women entrepreneurs."

Take Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook (FB). With a net worth of just over $1 billion, she's one of a younger generation of women who are making their own fortunes, Friedman noted.

Women who are self-made may want to be more in the limelight than those who inherited their billions, Friedman said. Sandberg, for example, has made it her mission to boost women in leadership roles through her book "Lean In" and through her foundation of the same name.

In what Wealth-X calls the "ultra affluent" segment -- people with a net worth of up to $30 million -- about one-third of women are self-made, indicating that the next generation of the world's richest women will include more entrepreneurs along with those who inherited their money.

While the current crop of the world's richest women owe their fortunes to largely to inheritance, many have leadership roles in the businesses started by family members.

Read on to find out more about the world's nine wealthiest women.

Christy Walton owes her fortune to the founders of Walmart (WMT), the Walton family, although she married into the clan. Her husband, John Walton, died in 2005 at the age of 58 when he crashed a small experimental plane he was piloting in Wyoming. John Walton was one of Walmart founder Sam Walton's four children.

Her fortune is tied to the 12.4 percent stake she inherited from her husband, according to Bloomberg. She also owns a stake in solar-panel manufacturer First Solar (FSLR) and is likely to have more than $5 billion in cash and other investable assets, according to a Bloomberg estimate.

While a private person, Christy Walton in 2013 financed a film called "Bless Me, Ultima," based on a 1972 novel about a New Mexican boy who is guided by an older healer named Ultima. In an interview, Christy Walton said she was inspired by a near-death experience to make the movie.

While coming under fire for failing to take the Giving Pledge, which is the vow created by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates to donate most of one's wealth to philanthropy, Christy Walton has supported institutions such as the University of Arkansas and The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.

Being the youngest child of Walmart founder Sam Walton has its perks, such as a multibillion-dollar inheritance. Even though she owns 12.7 percent of Walmart's shares, she has been the least involved in Walmart's operations out of Sam Walton's surviving children, according to Forbes.

After a brief stint as a buyer for Walmart after she graduated from college, Alice Walton set out to work in finance, managing money at E.F. Hutton. Later, she worked at the Walton family's closely held bank, Arvest Bank, and in 1988 she started her own investment bank, called Llama Co., which closed in 1998 after the bond market crash.

Alice Walton, who now enjoys breeding horses and working on her art museum, has had her share of controversy and scandal, including being accused by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission of making "unsuitable" options trades in 1979. In 1989, she hit and killed a woman with her car, although no charges were filed. She also was arrested in 2011 for driving under the influence, but Texas prosecutors later dropped the case, according to Bloomberg.

Thanks to her spending on the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and her immense wealth combined with what critics say is lagging philanthropic giving, Alice Walton has come under fire from Walmart employees, who staged a protest outside her Park Avenue apartment last year.

While not as well known to Americans as the Waltons, Bettencourt's wealth stems from a familiar brand name: L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics maker. Bettencourt inherited her father's stake in the business. An only child, she started working at L'Oreal when she was just 15 years old.

Now suffering from dementia, Bettencourt was at the center of what the French call "L'affaire Bettencourt" in 2010, when her butler taped conversations between Bettencourt and her financial advisor that indicated she may have tried to avoid French taxes by shifting money into Swiss bank accounts.

In January, 10 people went on trial for allegedly trying to defraud Bettencourt by taking advantage of her dementia in order to gain gifts and donations. The defendants include her former night nurse and her former accountant. Bettencourt hasn't appeared in public since 2012, according to The Guardian.

Jacqueline Mars owes her fortune to sweet treats. Along with her brothers, she owns Mars Inc., the world's second-largest confectionary and maker of household candies such as M&Ms and Snickers.

Candy runs in the Mars family, with her grandfather Frank Mars starting his candy business from his home in Tacoma, Washington. Mars and her siblings aren't high-profile people, although she serves on the board of directors of the National Sporting Library and Fine Art Museum and is a trustee of the U.S. Equestrian Team, according to Forbes.

In 2013, Mars pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of reckless driving in connection with a fatal car crash, for which she received a $2,500 fine and a suspended driver's license for six months. The woman who died in the crash, Irene Ellisor, wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Mars said she fell asleep while driving.

After Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs died in 2011, his widow, Laurene Jobs, inherited his stakes in Walt Disney (DIS) and Apple, making her the world's fifth-wealthiest woman.

A graduate of Stanford's business school and the University of Pennsylvania, Jobs worked at Goldman Sachs under Jon Corzine as a fixed-income strategist for three years. While working on her MBA, she met Steve Jobs when he appeared at the university for a speech. Two years later, they were married.

A publicity-shy person, Jobs serves on the boards of the Emerson Collective and College Track, which focus on helping low-income students. She's also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the White House Council for Community Solutions.

Marshall owes her billions to Koch Industries, one of the biggest closely held companies in the world. She inherited her almost 15 percent stake in the business -- which makes products such as Quilted Northern toilet paper and Brawny paper towels -- from her late husband, E. Pierce Marshall.

Pierce Marshall's name might be familiar to some for his fight with model Anna Nicole Smith, who married his father, Howard Marshall. The 16-year-long battle over the family fortune reached the Supreme Court twice, although neither Pierce Marshall nor Anna Nicole Smith lived to see its outcome. Still, Anna Nicole Smith's marriage to Elaine Marshall's father-in-law means the one-time stripper was her mother-in-law.

Elaine Marshall prepares her own trust tax returns to the IRS, according to Bloomberg News.

Klatten ranks as Germany's richest woman, thanks to her 11.6 percent stake in luxury automaker BMW. She also owns stakes in other companies including the wind turbine developer Nordex and the chemical company Altana.

Her father, Herbert Quandt, saved BMW after World War II and expanded it into the world's largest luxury automaker. She inherited stakes in BMW and Altana when her father died in 1982. After interning at banks and management consultancies, Klatten started working at BMW under an alias, Susanne Kant. She met engineer Jan Klatten while working there.

Susanne Klatten hasn't been free of scandal or troubles. In 1978, police managed to thwart a kidnapping attack on her and her mother, while more recently she was threatened with blackmail from a Swiss investment banker named Helg Sgarbi, with whom she had had an affair. He ended up being sentenced to six years in jail in 2009 for his threat to release sex videotapes unless she paid him millions.

Quandt was the former secretary of BMW chief Herbert Quandt before she became his third wife. The daughter of art historians, she inherited an almost 17 percent stake in the luxury automaker when her husband died in 1982.

Johanna Quandt and other members of the family were the focus of a critical documentary called "The Silence of the Quandts," which looked at the family's wartime links to the Nazis. Harald Quandt, Herbert's half-brother, was a child from Magda Goebbel's first marriage, and the Quandt family factories used more than 50,000 forced civilian laborers, concentration camp workers and prisoners of war from 1940 to 1945, according to Bloomberg.

Fontbona is the head of Chile's wealthiest family, which owes its riches to copper producer Antofagasta and Quinenco, which owns Banco de Chile and other companies. She married businessman Andronico Luksic when she was just 18. While Luksic had started out as a Ford salesman, he ended up building a massive empire that included beach resorts, beer companies and media assets.

According to Bloomberg, the Luksic family makes investment decisions via a family council.

Summary: There are more billionaires than ever, but only about one out of 10 are women -- and these are most monied women of all


Knicks president Phil Jackson is out West, eventually heading to his Montana ranch at Flathead Lake.

After bolting New York last weekend, Jackson made a pit stop in Sioux City, Iowa, tweeting a photo of a Thai restaurant Tuesday. Later, his brother told a TV station that Jackson will drop him off at his home in Idaho before ending up in Montana.

The Zen Master has headed to the frontier to collect his thoughts on a coaching search mostly mocked for its relative inactivity and that has placed interim coach Kurt Rambis as front-runner.

“Still thinking it through,” one Jackson associate told The Post. “He’s always been such a quick thinker — always three, four steps ahead of everybody else. But that’s as coach. Being the executive is really different for him.”

In 2013, Jackson wrote in the Wall Street Journal of his Montana retreat: “The lake is my clinic. This is where I come to get back in tune with my innermost self after a long, emotion-draining season. … The Zen philosopher Alan Watts echoed the wisdom I’ve gleaned from the lake. ‘The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance.’ ”

While Jackson gathers himself, Pacers president Larry Bird will hold a press conference Thursday to clear up the uncertain future of his esteemed head coach, Frank Vogel, whose contract is expiring. A source said no negotiations have taken place in the last 24 hours.

It is unclear if Jackson will get off his horse if Vogel becomes a free agent. It had been a well-guarded secret that Vogel’s contract was expiring. If Jackson sits out the Vogel Sweepstakes, it could demonstrate the Knicks’ coaching search is more farce than fervent. The Rockets and Kings are the other two clubs still with openings.

Passing on Vogel, as Jackson did on Tom Thibodeau, likely will create widespread bitterness among already anxious Knicks fans. The deadline to renew season tickets without a price hike is Friday.

Thursday marks three weeks since Jackson’s end-of-season press conference when he declared he would embark on a search that would include candidates he “probably knows.” Jackson first reached out for a phone interview with his preferred choice, Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton, who, as expected, ran for the Lakers job once it opened.

Jackson and general manager Steve Mills sat down with former Cavaliers coach David Blatt last week, and he’s in the running, partly because of his longstanding friendship with Mills.

Then there’s Rambis, Jackson’s friend whose presence automatically makes the Zen Master more involved, but whose 9-19 interim stint and two-season disaster as head coach with the Timberwolves haven’t inspired the fan base.

“If you’re heading into free agency with Rambis on July 1, I want to get him named and let all the noise settle down before the selling begins,” the Jackson associate said.

Vogel falls into the category of a candidate Jackson “probably knows.” The winningest coach in the Pacers’ NBA history worked one season on Jackson’s Lakers staff as an advance scout in 2006. However, Vogel told The Post he had just one conversation with Jackson the whole season.

Vogel, who has reached two Eastern Conference finals, has said he hired Brian Shaw as his associate coach in Indiana because he wanted to learn from a Jackson disciple. Shaw could either be a top candidate in Indiana if Vogel leaves (Kevin McHale and Mark Jackson are two others) or perhaps join Vogel in New York.

Vogel could be a more attractive candidate than Thibodeau, who has been on the staffs of Jeff Van Gundy with both the Knicks and Rockets. During his Knicks days, Van Gundy openly mocked Jackson’s treasured triangle offense, branding him “Big Chief Triangle.”

In doing his due diligence on Thibodeau, Jackson was put off that in his only head-coaching job, he warred with Bulls brass. It reminded Jackson too much of his days in Chicago when his feud with former Bulls GM Jerry Krause prematurely ended the dynasty at six titles. Jackson said three weeks ago he wanted a coach who is “simpatico” with the front office.

Carmelo Anthony has lobbied repeatedly for Jackson to talk to multiple candidates. Two seasons ago, Anthony praised Vogel for outwitting then-coach Mike Woodson with halftime adjustments. Last week, Anthony said, “I just want to see the proper procedure gone through, the proper process. We give everybody a shot to come in and say what they have to say and see if you like that person or not.”

Summary: Knicks president Phil Jackson is out West, eventually heading to his Montana ranch at Flathead Lake. After bolting New York last weekend, Jackson made a pit stop in Sioux City, Iowa, tweeting a pho…


One of the biggest busts in NFL history was just sacked for allegedly stiffing a veterinarian ... and it only took the guy 11 years to notice.

A vet in Malibu just filed papers in small claims court against

never paid his pup's tab for "a week of boarding, grooming and a vaccine" ... which happened in September of 1998.

The tab -- $286.15 -- may actually be small enough for the former linebacker to tackle.

No word on how the vet plans to get around California's pesky four year statute of limitations.

Summary: One of the biggest busts in NFL history was just sacked for allegedly stiffing a veterinarian ... and it only took the guy 11 years to notice.A vet in…


Last Updated Sep 3, 2010 3:41 PM EDT

This article is part of a package of stories about consumers and Target. Read our other article on what not to buy at Target.

Target has long cultivated an image as a great place to buy "cheap chic" clothes and housewares designed by the likes of Zac Posen, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Michael Graves. Of course the nation's second-largest discount chain also offers the mundane staples of consumer retail — and over the past few years, it has expanded its offerings and now stocks exclusive products in a broad range of categories. Most recently, Target added fresh groceries to the line-up.

While Target will seldom beat Walmart on price alone, its prices are still competitive; and starting this fall, holders of its store credit card will get a 5 percent discount on all purchases. Here are four categories — other than clothes and tea kettles — where it makes particular sense to shop at the store whose fans use a French accent to emphasize their affection for “Tar-zhay.”

If you’re tempted to buy the popular e-book reader from Amazon, but want to try it out first and perhaps compare it to Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Target is the place to go: It’s the only national brick-and-mortar retailer to carry it. The brand new Kindle 3, which is smaller and lighter than previous models, will sell for $189 at Target, the same price as at Amazon.com. “Look someone up in the store who knows how to work the device, so you can get a feel for it,” suggests James McQuivey, a media technology research analyst at Forrester Research. If you’ve never seen someone use it, it can be a little bit tricky to figure out on your own.

When it comes to the burgeoning category of environmentally friendly cleaning and washing products, Target is tough to beat. Target was the first national retailer to carry the Method line of cleaners, which have built a cult following for their attractive packaging and all-natural ingredients, and it currently stocks more Method products (about 70) than any other big-box store. In addition, if you like niche brands of natural cleaning products such as J.R. Watkins Apothecary, Mrs. Meyer’s, and Seventh Generation, you can get them at Target too — as well as hard-to-find, green versions of mainstream products such as Tide Coldwater Free, which works with high-efficiency washing machines and is made without dyes and perfumes. “They are definitely there first before Walmart on these types of products,” says Sapna Shah, a principal at research firm Retail Eye Partners.

As part of its effort to bounce back from the recession, Target is rolling out an expanded grocery section, going head to head with Walmart and Kmart, which have already beefed up their fresh-food sections. Target’s new PFresh section, which sells a decent assortment of perishables such as meat, fruit, fresh produce, and baked goods, finally makes it possible to pick up the fixings for a complete meal while you are at Target shopping for other things. “It has about 70 percent of the things you would find in a full grocery store, and prices are going to be 10 to 20 percent less than at a typical grocery,” says Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Bernstein Research.

In addition, kids’ snacks such as granola bars and juices can be significantly cheaper at Target than at other big retailers and drugstores, and you can often save more money by registering on Target’s site to have coupons delivered to your smart phone, according to Stephanie Nelson, founder of CouponMom.com.

Target’s selection of cosmetics and bath and body products has traditionally lagged behind CVS and Walgreen, says Jim Joseph, president of Lippe Taylor, a brand communications firm in New York City that has worked for clients whose products sell at Target. But recently the retailer has extended its cheap chic strategy to carry more designer cosmetics with quality and selections comparable to more expensive department store brands. Recent offerings in this vein include lines from Napoleon Perdis, Petra Strand, and Jemma Kidd. Target is also a good source for hard-to-find makeup brands, such as the U.K.’s Boots beauty products and Iman Cosmetics, a makeup line for women of color, says Kathryn Finney, founder of The Budget Fashionista.

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

Summary: While the "cheap chic" retailer may be best known for fashion and home accents, here are four other product categories that should be on your shopping list.


In the pantheon of precious resources, time is at the top of the heap. You can’t create it, you can’t store it and you can’t delay it. It’s perfectly perishable.

So why is it that when many companies invest in technology they focus on the price tag and ignore the impact on the overall use of time? And why aren’t more purveyors of technology thinking along these lines?

These are the central questions of this new column, called The Objective. It is aimed at creators and users of technology (just about everyone at this point): the former, to help them come up with the next generation of not just cool but truly useful gadgets and systems; the latter, to help them get the most out of their precious technology budgets.

For all the progress we’ve made in the last 30 years, we are still a long way from getting the most out of what we have wrought. As just one example, at dinner the other night one of my guests joked about his firm’s collective gasp when management announced the rollout of a new expense-reporting system. The justification for the new technology: real savings to the organization. Translation: The finance department would get kudos for saving a few bucks while employees would end up torching more time submitting their reports. In the grand scheme of technology, this is some pretty basic stuff.

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Time isn’t just about minutes and seconds, though; it’s about the value of those minutes and seconds. We all lead busy lives and are always looking for ways to save time so that we can do the things we are passionate about. How many of us would be willing to put in a few extra hours at night on a project if it allowed us to make it to our kid’s school play, volunteer for a worthy cause or simply sit quietly with a good book?

There’s also a perceived value of saved time. Say you purchase a new device and set aside two hours on Saturday to set it up. You gear up mentally for the challenge. When Saturday comes, the total setup time takes 15 minutes. It’s as if you created, out of thin air, an extra hour and 45 minutes. Think you’re pretty happy with that purchase?

Here are three time-related benefits that manufacturers and customers should consider when mulling investments in new technology:

Progress–anytime, anywhere. Is your company process-driven (as opposed to running on the soup-to-nuts work of individual heroes slaving in silos)? Integrate process-approval steps into crucial systems, such as email. In my case, I can approve all expenses and purchase-order requests via e-mail, which means I can do it from my mobile phone–and the big wheel can keep right on spinning.

A sense of security. Many organizations have become paranoid about security breaches. Knee-jerk response: Install expensive tools that make it almost impossible for productive work to happen when someone is outside of the office. A better solution: an easy–and secure–access to your company’s Intranet. This allows everyone to put in a few extra hours on the road or at home.

The need for speed. Busy-work is not value-added work. That means automating what you can, and updating old systems that can’t keep up–even though they “still work.” I can hear you now: “You sell technology, of course you would say this!” Fair enough, but let me ask: Do you really know the cost of technology relative to your other costs? If the answer is “No,” you have plenty of company.

Here’s an order-of-magnitude comparison of how technology stacks up against other expenses in terms of total costs to an organization:

Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

In future columns, we’ll delve deeper into how you can get the most out of technology: the stuff you already have, what you are thinking about buying, and what you should be thinking about buying given where technology is going (and, believe me, things are changing fast).

For now, get back to work. Your kids are waiting for you.

Phil McKinney is Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group. He also blogs and podcasts on creativity and innovation at Killer Innovations. He can be reached at feedback@philmckinney.com. Follow him on Twitter @philmckinney.

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Summary: It's called time management--and it's woefully missing in too many buying decisions.


Nintendo’s smash hit Pokemon Go is likely to face hurdles in South Korea, where Google mapping functions are restricted due to security issues with North Korea—though some fans are already trekking out to one remote area where it can be played.

South Korea is the world’s fourth-biggest gaming market after China, the United States and Japan, according to Amsterdam-based research firm Newzoo, potentially representing a big opportunity loss for Nintendo and game publisher Niantic if it can’t be officially rolled out.

The augmented reality game where players walk around neighbourhoods in real life, searching out Pokemon to catch and train, relies on Google Maps to work. But in most of South Korea those functions have been limited by the government, which is technically still at war with North Korea, for national security reasons.

“Due to government restrictions on maps data, it’s impossible for Pokemon Go to work properly using Google Maps service in South Korea,” a person familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified as the person was not authorized to speak on the issue.

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Representatives for Niantic were not immediately available to comment. Nintendo ntdoy and Alphabet’s Google goog declined to comment.

Nintendo’s first venture into mobile gaming has only been officially launched in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, with other countries such as Japan slated to see a launch soon.

The craze has sent Nintendo’s shares skyrocketing and although they lost some ground on Wednesday as investors took profits. The stock has gained 46%, adding nearly $10 billion to the company’s market value since Thursday’s close.

Despite the limited rollout so far, users in other countries have sought to get in on the action either by downloading the game file in some way or masking their account so that it appears as if they have either an Australian or U.S. account, for example.

Those tactics are believed to be exacerbating login problems. By early Wednesday, about 1,300 Pokemon Go users had reported problems accessing the game in Australia over the last two days, according to website aussieoutages.com.

In South Korea, some impatient fans have rushed to Sokcho, a city close to the border with North Korea—an area where the game can be played, as it has not been classified as South Korean territory in Google map data.

“I didn’t go to some big tourist attraction; all I did was walk around for tens of kilometres to play a game. But I’m more satisfied with this than any other trip. I would still be in Sokcho had it not been for an urgent issue,” one user posted on an Internet message board.

Indeed, the city of Sokcho has been quick to capitalize on its unusual status, sharing maps of free Wi-Fi areas and advertising itself on social media as “the only Pokemon Go holy land on the peninsula.”

Summary: Thanks a lot, North Korea.


May 12, 2016 7:02 PM EDT CBS Evening News

A bold experiment to kill a vicious form of brain cancer has been granted breakthrough status by the Food and Drug Administration. Results in the earliest stage of testing have been so remarkable, the FDA wants to fast track the treatment to speed it to market.

The therapy uses the polio virus to attack glioblastoma. "60 Minutes" has been following patients in the clinical trial for the last two years.

One of those patients was Stephanie Lipscomb. In 2011, Lipscomb was a 20-year-old nursing student with headaches. A doctor told her she had a glioblastoma tumor the size of a tennis ball and that she had months to live.

She had 98 percent of the tumor removed. Then in 2012, the doctors told her the cancer had come back.

With recurrent glioblastoma, there were no options except the one that had never been tried. Lipscomb became the first volunteer for Duke University's experiment with the polio virus.

The virus is the creation of -- or, the obsession of -- molecular biologist Matthias Gromeier.

Gromeier re-engineered the virus, removing a key genetic sequence. The virus can't survive this way, so he repaired the damage with a harmless bit of cold virus. This new modified polio virus can't cause paralysis or death because it can't reproduce in normal cells.

But it can reproduce in cancer cells, and in the process of replicating, it releases toxins that poison the cell. This process also awakens the immune system to the cancer it never noticed before.

"Why didn't the immune system react to the cancer to begin with," CBS News' Scott Pelley asked Gromeier.

"All human cancers, they develop a shield or shroud of protective measures that make them invisible to the immune system," Gromeier explained. "This is precisely what we try to reverse with our virus. So by infecting the tumor, we are actually removing this protective shield. And enabling the immune system to come in and attack."

It appears the polio starts the killing, but the immune system does most of the damage. Stephanie Lipscomb's tumor shrank for 21 months until it was gone. Three years after the infusion, something unimaginable had happened.

An MRI in August of 2014 showed no active cancer cells at all.

Scott Pelley will have more on Duke University's breakthrough trial, Sunday on "60 Minutes."

Summary: A bold experiment from Duke University that uses the polio virus to fight a deadly form of brain cancer will now be fast-tracked by the FDA