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http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Dad-ballpark-will-live-on-in-shared-memories-5087001.php

http://web.archive.org/web/20131223221914id_/http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Dad-ballpark-will-live-on-in-shared-memories-5087001.php

Dad, ballpark will live on in shared memories

20131223221914

Candlestick Park has been my part-time office for more than two decades. But, from a sentimental standpoint, it has always felt more like a room in my childhood home, full of faded memories, familiar smells and an odd kind of (cold, windy and damp) comfort. Candlestick Park will always be for me, first and foremost, not about Joe Montana or Willie Mays but about my dad. When a team moves to swanky new digs and the building left behind becomes an empty shell, and eventually a pile of rubble, where do all our memories go? The Stick is packed with the ghosts of family legends, traces of generations' worth of outings, spirits of memorable moments of bonding. My dad's spirit is there. My 100 percent Irish father loved good stories, a big laugh and sports drama. And Candlestick Park provided plenty of all three. My father was thrilled when the Giants moved west, standing on Montgomery Street to greet them as ticker tape showered down upon him and my older brother, who was perched on his shoulders. Dad was excited when Candlestick Park opened. When then-Vice President Richard Nixon dubbed it "one of the most beautiful baseball parks of all time," it was probably the only time my father agreed with the man. My father made it to the first World Series at Candlestick Park in 1962, waiting through four days of rain delays that puddled water on the field. That was nothing compared to the 27 years he'd have to wait until he saw his next World Series there, and by that time Candlestick was considered decrepit and outdated. But our family loyalty to the place was strengthened even then because my dad and brother, as well as everyone else, emerged unscathed from the 1989 earthquake. Candlestick became, as with so many families, a part of Killion lore. A piece of our tribal understanding. There was the day - a scorching hot afternoon in Mill Valley - when my parents went to a ballgame together. My mother wasn't a huge fan, so it was a notable occasion. Though my mother was a Bay Area native and my father had lived here long enough to understand the winds and weather patterns, they figured it was a perfect day for a ballgame. That game became famous: Willie McCovey's towering flyball dropped for a triple because Dodgers outfielder Duke Snider couldn't see it in the fog. Umpire Frank Dascoli waved the players off the field and delayed the game for 24 minutes. My parents shivered before escaping. Umpires soon learned there was no strategy that could circumvent the fog. That wasn't the only opinion that became cemented that day. "Your mother never wanted to go back," my dad told me. But my dad did. He wasn't a regular. He was content to experience most of his baseball games through the brown transistor radio that resided in his breast pocket throughout baseball season. But he made periodic pilgrimages to both the Giants and the 49ers. He was a loyal San Franciscan: He couldn't believe we were lucky enough to have the world's best baseball player and the best quarterback of all time playing in that windy old ballpark. The dramatic contrast between Candlestick and the athletes that played inside was just one part of the stadium's mystique. It was with my father that I first experienced the green expanses (which, sadly, I believe was AstroTurf in my earliest memories), towering escalators and chain link outfield fence of Candlestick. Thanks to him, I have faded but real memories of seeing Mays play. As I grew older, I created my own Stick experience. Sitting with my high school friends in the upper deck, swaddled in puffy down jackets with pockets big enough to hold a flask. Watching the Friday night fights in the stands when the Dodgers were in town. Walking into a 49ers game without tickets, because no one really checked back then when the team was so bad. Sneaking down into the "box seats" - which were regular seats barricaded by metal railings. Very fancy. Eventually, Candlestick stopped being a location for fun and became a place where I worked. The first time I covered a game at Candlestick, the creaky press elevator and drafty multi-tiered box were mysterious and intriguing, not annoying. The first thing I did when I got settled was to call my father. "Guess where I am, Dad. In the press box at Candlestick." My dad responded as if I had said the White House. Later, we took my parents and their grandkids to games. My father liked sitting on the top deck, looking at the expanse below him. He kept his transistor in his pocket, ate his peanuts and was perfectly content. When the Giants said they were going to move to Florida, I took my father and my young son to say a wistful goodbye, and ensure there was one more moment of family bonding. But the Giants stayed. And in April 2000, I took my dad on a tour of brand new Pacific Bell Park, days before the season opened. My father was frail and in a wheelchair, but he was overwhelmed by the beauty of the new ballpark. We promised to get to a game in that inaugural year. But a few weeks later Dad fell and broke his leg and his health spiraled downward. That October, not long after the Giants had been eliminated in the playoffs, my father died. He never made it to a game at the new ballpark. Candlestick was his park, always and forever. Soon, the concrete will be crumbled by a wrecking ball. But it can't destroy the memories. After 54 years of historic wins and losses, Candlestick Park is closing down. To commemorate the stadium's rich history, a team of Sporting Green writers share their most cherished memories. To follow the entire series, along with much more Candlestick content, go to sfchronicle.com/candlestick. Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @annkillion

[...] from a sentimental standpoint, it has always felt more like a room in my childhood home, full of faded memories, familiar smells and an odd kind of (cold, windy and damp) comfort. When a team moves to swanky new digs and the building left behind becomes an empty shell, and eventually a pile of rubble, where do all our memories go? The Stick is packed with the ghosts of family legends, traces of generations' worth of outings, spirits of memorable moments of bonding. Though my mother was a Bay Area native and my father had lived here long enough to understand the winds and weather patterns, they figured it was a perfect day for a ballgame. Willie McCovey's towering flyball dropped for a triple because Dodgers outfielder Duke Snider couldn't see it in the fog. The dramatic contrast between Candlestick and the athletes that played inside was just one part of the stadium's mystique. Sitting with my high school friends in the upper deck, swaddled in puffy down jackets with pockets big enough to hold a flask. Sneaking down into the "box seats" - which were regular seats barricaded by metal railings. The first time I covered a game at Candlestick, the creaky press elevator and drafty multi-tiered box were mysterious and intriguing, not annoying. When the Giants said they were going to move to Florida, I took my father and my young son to say a wistful goodbye, and ensure there was one more moment of family bonding. To commemorate the stadium's rich history, a team of Sporting Green writers share their most cherished memories.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jan/08/tate-modern-record-visitor-numbers

http://web.archive.org/web/20131228181635id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jan/08/tate-modern-record-visitor-numbers

Tate Modern reveals record visitor numbers

20131228181635

Damien Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991) at the Tate Modern. Photograph: Kerim Okten/EPA A major retrospective of Damien Hirst's work helped Tate Modern attract a record-breaking 5.3 million people last year. The gallery on the South Bank in London recorded a 9.5% increase in visitor numbers, making 2012 the busiest year in its history, figures released by Tate show. The Hirst exhibition, which ran from April to early September and featured his 1991 work The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living in which a shark is suspended in formaldehyde, was the most popular solo show in the gallery's history, attracting about 463,000 visitors – equating to almost 3,000 a day. Other highlights of the show were A Thousand Years (1990), in which flies emerge from maggots, eat from a rotting cow's head and die. About 1.5 million people visited Tate Britain in Pimlico, London, over the same period, up 4.3% on 2011. Tate's deputy director Alex Beard said: "It has been an extraordinary year at Tate Modern, opening the world's first museum galleries permanently dedicated to exhibiting live art, performance, installation and film works alongside an outstanding exhibition programme which has undoubtedly fuelled the increase in visitors."

Gallery had 5.3 million visitors last year, up 9.5% on 2011, with Damien Hirst exhibition its most popular ever solo show

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/01/14/state-give-for-backup-power-systems-coastal-protection-climate-concerns-grow/aAhGixnTxshzoBEEGFDqgN/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140118184627id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/01/14/state-give-for-backup-power-systems-coastal-protection-climate-concerns-grow/aAhGixnTxshzoBEEGFDqgN/story.html

State to give $50m for backup power systems, coastal protection as climate concerns grow

20140118184627

Governor Deval Patrick will commit more than $50 million on Tuesday to help Massachusetts communities and utilities prepare for and protect themselves from the increasing number of destructive storms and rising sea levels blamed on climate change. Most of the money, about $40 million, will be distributed as grants to help cities and towns install backup power systems using clean technologies, such as advanced batteries that store energy from solar panels. An additional $10 million will pay for seawalls and similar improvements along the coast, where storm surges and rising sea levels have flooded communities, severely eroded beaches, and caused extensive property damage. Several studies have predicted that many Boston neighborhoods could be at risk of severe flooding if nothing is done to stop the ocean’s encroachment into developed areas. Bruce Carlisle, director of the state Office of Coastal Zone Management, said sea levels have risen about a foot over the past century, but at an accelerating rate in recent years. Some scientists project sea levels could rise more than 6 feet by 2100. “Tomorrow’s flood plain is going to be beyond our current flood plain,” Carlisle said. This is the first time the state has awarded these funds, which are partially financed by payments that retail electricity suppliers must make if they fail to procure enough power from renewable sources such as wind and solar. Power plants that burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas are considered among the major producers of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. The program is the latest move from an administration that has spent the last seven years implementing some of the most stringent renewable energy and environmental laws in the country. Those include a mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by the end of this decade. Climate change has gained increasing urgency in recent years following a series of destructive storms. Patrick administration officials noted in particular Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Tropical Storm Irene, the October snowstorm in 2011, and powerful winter storms, such as the nor’easter this month. “If Sandy had come a little further north or the timing on that had been a bit different, the impacts would have been dramatic,” said Richard K. Sullivan Jr., the state secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. “We can’t just go into every single storm and just kind of cross our fingers.” As part of the initiative, the state plans to assess roads, bridges, and other parts of the transportation system that might be vulnerable to severe weather. In addition, Sullivan said, the state will develop regulatory incentives to spur more investment by utilities into technologies that can reduce power outages and improve communication and service to customers. The spate of severe storms has challenged utilities, which have grappled with widespread power outages lasting more than a week in some areas. The state’s largest utilities, National Grid and NStar, said they already have made some changes. NStar, for example, has installed “self-healing” switch technology that locates power interruptions and automatically reroutes power around the problem to limit the extent of the outage. “A crew can then respond to fix the outage, but the total number of customers affected is significantly decreased,” said Caroline Pretyman a spokeswoman for Northeast Utilities, NStar’s parent company. National Grid employs a tool designed with help from MIT that uses data from past storms to predict potential damage. Mapping software also provides more real-time information about the location of crews and power outages. “Electricity and natural gas companies have always provided the energy backbone for this country,” said Jake Navarro, a spokesman for National Grid, “and that backbone now needs to respond to a changing climate that will bring more extreme and frequent weather events.”

Governor Deval Patrick on Tuesday will commit more than $50 million to help Massachusetts communities and utilities prepare for and protect themselves from the increasing number of destructive storms and rising sea levels blamed on climate change. Most of the money, about $40 million, will be distributed as grants to help cities and towns install backup power systems using clean technologies, such as solar panels and advanced batteries that store the energy. Another $10 million will pay for seawalls and similar improvements along the coasts, where storm surges and rising sea levels have flooded communities, severely eroded beaches, and caused extensive property damage. Several studies have predicted that many Boston neighborhoods could be at risk of severe flooding if nothing is done to stop the ocean’s encroachment.

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http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140307-guesthouse-dreams-buying-a-bb

http://web.archive.org/web/20140307214010id_/http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140307-guesthouse-dreams-buying-a-bb

Sunny side up? How to buy a bed and breakfast

20140307214010

Friend and Barber continued to work in London for two years to finance the renovations, which cost about 400,000 euro ($555,720) for new plumbing, additional bathrooms, rewiring electricity and adding an outdoor pool. La Villa de Mazamet opened for business in 2009 in Mazamet, a town in southwestern France. Owning a bed and breakfast is a dream of city-weary professionals attracted to the idea of tossing aside the 9-to-5 life, yet still earning a living, making friends and working for themselves. The price tag and the day-to-day work and expenses of running a meal-serving inn might seem steep, but there are plenty of people turning the dream into reality. “You’ve got to love working with people, but enjoy the solitude of running the business side,” said Friend, adding that the freedom of time and space — something impossible when he had a corporate job — is gratifying to Friend. “I can stand and chat with guests for 30 minutes.” Small hotel or pension (Japanese for B&B) owners say business is booming now because in-the-know travellers crave a one-of-a-kind experience that comes with staying in someone’s home. Visitors value the close attention from proprietors and eating gourmet meals while staying in a well-appointed, unique private home. There’s certainly money to be made — even if buying a bed and breakfast isn’t always inexpensive at the start. Bed and breakfasts are seeing more guests than ever with an average room price of $160 per night — $50 more than the average nightly cost of a hotel room, according to a 2012 survey from the US-based Professional Association of Innkeepers International. Many visitors want to explore locales not served by a large hotel chain, said Jay Karen, association president. “Travellers want to go off the beaten path a bit,” he said. Owners get to live in a beautiful location of their choice while schmoozing with guests and charging rates that cover their mortgage and living expenses. But be aware: the lifestyle takes plenty of effort, said Stefano Zocchi, who in 2006 opened La Palazzetta del Vescovo, a nine-bedroom guesthouse in Umbria, Italy, with his wife, Paola. The couple bought the place in 2000, but took their time with renovations and kept working their former jobs for several years before opening the guesthouse. During the high season, “for almost eight months, we are living in a sort of golden jail without the possibility to take some time just for us,” he said. Being busy makes the bed and breakfast profitable, but it can be tiring. Owners tend to take time to rest in long holidays. Friend and Barber, for instance, use quiet time over the winter to reinvest in the property and take a month-long vacation. How to choose and pay for a property Depending on size, location and the extent of renovations or retrofitting needed, an operational bed and breakfast could cost as little as $200,000 in rural or lesser-travelled locales and upwards of $600,000 or more in parts of Europe or in historic towns. A common strategy is to convert a residential home into a guesthouse that can accommodate visitors. Such a home might cost less to buy, but retrofitting and renovations can more than double the purchase price. The first question to ask: Will buying be a lifestyle change (that is, you plan to operate the inn yourself) or purely an investment (you’ll pay others to do a chunk of the work and reap profits)? The answer will help you determine the size of property to purchase, said Karen. Real estate agents specialising in holiday properties can help would-be owners find a property that’s viable for conversion or already operating as a bed and breakfast. When converting a residential property, most banks only provide financing based on your current income and won’t consider the potential income from the bed and breakfast, said Rick Wolf, a real estate agent and co-founder at the B&B Team, consulting firm in Maine in the US. Existing bed and breakfasts are typically sold as commercial properties and that allows owners to get a commercial mortgage in many countries. As for the payoff, in the US, an average bed and breakfast has 9 rooms and between $200,000 and $500,000 in annual revenues. More than 30% of that is profit post-expenses (such as food, payroll, utilities and maintenance of the guesthouse), according to Professional Association of Innkeepers International survey. Bed and breakfast businesses can be a solid long-term investment — or a money loser, depending on where you buy. Wendy Snodgrass purchased the Bellavista Bed & Breakfast after a major hurricane, which brought prices down on St. Thomas, a part of the US Virgin Islands. Snodgrass said the purchase price was about 30% of current market rates, which start at around $600,000. Snodgrass, 47, and her partner, Doug Kriebel, run the inn without full-time employees. “We live pretty simply on the side and put the money back into the house,” she said. Kate Warburton, 32, who owns a guesthouse on Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras, said a “constant demand for beachfront rooms” has made her choice of locale a smart one. She is adding two more rooms to her six-bedroom bed and breakfast later this year. “The location helps us a lot,” Warburton said. Hiring a staff of six has allowed her year-old business to flourish without the need for her to be on site all of the time. Warburton, currently spending a few months in the UK, pays her staff between $500 and $1,000 per month. That strategy allows her more freedom, but it’s also risky as it can be hard to find good staff. Figuring out the right place to buy can take several years. Snodgrass purchased her bed and breakfast after she had lived on St Thomas for five years. The Zocchis saw more 50 properties in the Tuscany area in Southern Italy over two years, before stumbling upon La Palazetta with their real estate agent. The property had been abandoned for 40 years and needed two years of renovation. “We bought it in two weeks,” Zocchi said. For those dreaming of a quaint life, keep in mind, running a bed and breakfast yourself might be more work than the day job you left. Days can run from the break of dawn until well after dinner and include preparing meals, cleaning rooms, advising guests and marketing work, said Snodgrass. Online review sites including TripAdvisor and Yelp can make a dramatic difference in boosting visitor rates so business owners must constantly work to improve feedback from guests and battle the competition. Proprietors use Facebook fan pages to keep in touch with former guests and spending time on online marketing is critical. For eight months of the year, there’s a seven-day workweek and zero personal time, but bonding with guests has been rewarding, said Zocchi — some 40% are now repeat customers and have turned into lifelong friendships. “We can go to almost every country in the world, pick up the phone up and call somebody,” he said. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

If you’ve always wanted to move to the country or an historic town to open a guesthouse, here’s how to make it happen.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/apps/10702920/The-Telegraphs-mobile-apps-for-iPhone-and-Android.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140319234807id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/apps/10702920/The-Telegraphs-mobile-apps-for-iPhone-and-Android.html

The Telegraph’s mobile apps for iPhone and Android

20140319234807

Our new iPhone app is coming soon. In the meantime you can install the current version. Details follow below. Subscriptions to our apps start with a free 14-day trial and include unlimited access to the Telegraph website. 1. If you have not yet subscribed, get started with a free 14-day trial by subscribing direct with the Telegraph. (Link to telegraph.co.uk/subscriptions/mobile). Alternatively, monthly subscriptions can be purchased from Google Play or iTunes for £1.99, and will auto-renew until you choose to cancel. 2. Telegraph newspaper subscribers can use the app free of charge by validating their subscriber number and postcode within the app. 3. Telegraph digital subscribers can use the app free of charge by validating their Telegraph Login within the app. The Telegraph for iPhone from the iTunes App Store Tap on the iPhone's app store icon. Search for "Telegraph for iPhone". Press "Install". OR if you already use the app you will find the latest version on the "Updates" page. You may need to enter your iTunes account password to download it from the iTunes App Store. The app will download automatically to your iPhone. Touch the icon to launch. The Telegraph for Android from Google's Play Store Visit the Google "Play Store" app on your Android phone. Search for "Telegraph". Tap on ‘The Telegraph for Android’ icon and 'Download'. If I already use the existing app, will I need to log in again? If you already use the news app, the new version should automatically launch the next time you open it. In some cases you may be asked to revalidate your subscription, in which case you simply need to follow the ‘I already have a Telegraph subscription’ link and input either your email address and password (digital subscribers) or your subscriber number and postcode (newspaper subscribers). For more help, visit ourhelp site Does the app work on all Android phones? The new app works on devices running on the Android 4.0 operating system and above. Please check in your phone’s Settings to find out which version your device is running. Will there be a new iPhone app as well? Yes, we are currently updating the Telegraph news app for iPhone, which will also be available soon. - Visit our Subscriptions page to find the answers to more Frequently Asked Questions and more details about The Telegraph's Apps. For more details of our subscription packages visit our Subscriber page.

Our Android phone app is now completely redesigned and offers faster, easier access to the news you want, wherever you are

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/04/05/seven-things-you-should-know-about-kent-griffin-president-biomed-realty/0UcZ99N6h89GEo73fkKd6J/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140413112033id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/business/2014/04/05/seven-things-you-should-know-about-kent-griffin-president-biomed-realty/0UcZ99N6h89GEo73fkKd6J/story.html

SEVEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT... Kent Griffin, president of BioMed Realty

20140413112033

BioMed Realty Trust Inc., a publicly traded real estate investment trust, has the largest portfolio of life sciences office and lab space in the United States. The company is based in San Diego, but its largest holdings are in Kendall Square, where it has built 1.4 million square feet of space, owns 3.3 million square feet, and has another 63,000 square feet under construction. Globe reporter Robert Weisman spoke with BioMed president and chief operating officer Kent Griffin during a recent trip to Cambridge. Here’s what he learned: 1Griffin, 44, who joined BioMed as chief financial officer in 2006, grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., graduated from Wake Forest University, and earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina. He has worked in commercial real estate financing in New York, San Francisco, and currently San Diego — but never in the Boston area. Despite the importance of Cambridge and Kendall Square to BioMed’s business, Griffin has no plans to move its headquarters east. “You have to be a tough cookie to withstand the Boston winters,” he said. “I don’t know if our whole team could stand the winters here.” 2Griffin believes density rules in life sciences. BioMed owns and manages property in US medical technology hubs such as Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and San Diego, as well as Cambridge, England. But Kendall Square offers the densest cluster of biopharmaceutical activity. “The life science industry is a global industry. But when you look at it from a macro picture, the United States still is the dominant provider of research and development globally, and Cambridge is the center of that. So because Cambridge is the center of the life science industry, it’s the center of our business. It is our largest market and represents over a third of our total portfolio. It’s a very tight concentrated location.” 3BioMed owns and manages some of the highest profile Kendall Square biotechnology properties, including 500 Kendall St., the 349,000-square-foot headquarters of rare diseases giant Genzyme, now owned by French drug maker Sanofi SA. It also owns the Kendall Square Apartments with 37 rental units and the 350 East Kendall Street Garage containing 1,400 parking spaces. “All of our buildings are always in some form of evolution as the companies are always adapting and changing. So we’re always retooling the buildings to meet the tenants’ needs.” 4Griffin thinks the life sciences boom still has a lot of running room, despite the recent choppiness in biotechnology stocks. “We are firm believers that the life sciences industry is going to grow faster than the broader economy. If you look at the biotech [stock] index as one data point, over the last three years it’s dramatically outperformed the broader S&P. In fact, if you look at commercial real estate in general, the markets where the life science industry is strong — Cambridge, San Francisco — those are the markets where commercial real estate in general is doing well.” 5Griffin worries that steadily rising office prices may be pushing startups out of Cambridge, eroding a key foundation of the life sciences cluster. With Vertex Pharmaceuticals abandoning its warren of old industrial buildings to consolidate on the Boston waterfront, Griffin hopes to redevelop the property to accommodate companies from early stage to mature. “Part of what we hope to provide is space for the whole ecosystem.” 6Griffin is watching the emergence of the Innovation District across the Charles River in Boston. But he is not yet sold on that area as an alternative to Kendall Square. “Our focus is Cambridge. The Fan Pier project [home to Vertex] is a great site, but I think most companies are going to continue to focus first on Cambridge. If they can’t find a home here, they may be forced to go across the river or out to the suburbs.” 7Training on trail runs outside San Diego, Griffin has completed a few half-marathons and is signed up for the Chicago Marathon later this year. But his true love is sailing. “It’s convenient, because all of our properties are in coastal markets.”

BioMed Realty Trust Inc. has the largest portfolio of life sciences office and lab space in the United States. Reporter Robert Weisman spoke with BioMed chief operating officer Kent Griffin.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2005/08/200841014551247911.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140418221759id_/http://www.aljazeera.com:80/archive/2005/08/200841014551247911.html

Jail term for US army interrogator

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military intelligence interrogator has been sentenced to two months in prison for abusing an Afghan detainee who later died. In addition to the prison sentence, Specialist Glendale C Walls was on Tuesday reduced in rank and pay and will receive a bad-conduct discharge. Walls pleaded guilty earlier in the day to dereliction of duty and assault. He admitted that he stood by as former Sergeant Selena M Salcedo lifted a detainee known as Dilawar by his ear when the two worked at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Walls also admitted to pushing Dilawar against a wall during the interrogation.He said he also stood by as a third military intelligence soldier, former Specialist Joshua R Claus, made another detainee roll around on the floor and kiss Walls' boots. Dilawar was detained during December 2002 and died the same month.Pay cut sought Prosecutors had sought a sentence of six months' confinement, a six-month, 75% pay cut, the demotion and the bad-conduct discharge. The maximum sentence Walls could have faced was 12 months confinement, a 75% pay cut for 12 months, a reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge. The Afghan detainee in question died in December 2002Walls' attorney asked for a letter of reprimand and reduction in rank. Salcedo pleaded guilty to similar charges this month. Tearfully apologising for her conduct, she told a military judge that Walls was with her when she mistreated Dilawar and that Walls had pushed Dilawar. The Afghan detainee in question died in December 2002 Salcedo will be demoted, given a letter of reprimand and ordered to forfeit $250 a month for four months. Claus has announced his intention to plead guilty in the abuse cases and is scheduled to stand trial in September. At least six other enlisted soldiers have been accused of mistreating Dilawar a little more than a week after arriving at the detention centre in Bagram. The most serious charges were levied against Private First Class Willie V Brand, a reservist and military police officer, who initially was charged with Dilawar's death.A military jury convicted Brand last week of assault, maltreatment, maiming and making a false official statement. Bagram has served as a US basesince the post-9/11 invasionThe same jury spared Brand jail time, instead ordering that he be reduced in rank and pay to a private, the army's lowest rank. Specialist Brian E Cammack pleaded guilty in May to abuse charges and was sentenced to three months in prison. Bagram has served as a US basesince the post-9/11 invasion Cammack testified against Brand. Sergeant James P Boland, also a reservist from Ohio, was given a letter of reprimand citing him for dereliction of duty for his work at Bagram. Boland, who has left the army, was initially charged with chaining Dilawar's hands above his head and other abuse charges.

A <?xml:namespace prefix = "st1" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> military intelligence interrogator&nbsp;has been&nbsp;sentenced to two months in prison for abusing an Afghan detainee who later

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2014/04/23/documentary-offers-poignant-portrait-late-somerville-artist-jon-imber/H2kq05h2eGR5ppHfk6hgSO/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140425150038id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2014/04/23/documentary-offers-poignant-portrait-late-somerville-artist-jon-imber/H2kq05h2eGR5ppHfk6hgSO/story.html

Documentary offers poignant portrait of late Somerville artist Jon Imber

20140425150038

There is one moment in “Jon Imber’s Left Hand,” a one-hour film about the career, the remarkable family life, and the late creative flowering of a painter diagnosed with ALS, that takes the wind out of you. It comes near the end, when Imber, a renowned Somerville artist reduced to painting with a brush strapped to his hand, asks his college-age son, Gabe, for his take on several recent works. One of them is still on the easel. It’s a portrait — one of scores Imber painted in energetic, highly focused, and increasingly impeded sessions right up to his death last week at the age of 63. “What do you think?” he asks, his words already slurred by the disease, which causes nerves controlling voluntary muscles to atrophy. “Any of these grab you?” Gabe, a tall, good-looking kid who appears laid-back but reticent, has wandered in from outside the studio in Maine, where Imber and his wife are spending what they sense will be his final summer. “None of them grab me especially,” he says. “But they’re alright. They’re good.” Pressed for more, Gabe mutters something about one portrait’s “weird perspective” before concluding “It’s fine. I don’t love it.” Gabe’s brave — and, as I understood it — loving judgment is arrestingly out of tune (in a helpful way) with the rest of the film, which marshals old friends, art historians, and curators to lavish praise on Imber, and to explain what makes his late work so remarkable. “Jon Imber’s Left Hand” screens on Saturday at the Somerville Theater as part of the Independent Film Festival Boston. Produced and directed by Richard Kane, the film is generously sprinkled with images from all the different phases of Imber’s consistently impressive career. A protégé of the New York painter Philip Guston, he created early work that included monumental figure paintings of great tenderness and originality; his later work became increasingly abstracted, loosely brushed, and open — influenced both by Willem de Kooning and the Maine landscape he loved, wryly but deeply. In the film, Imber himself speaks with articulate honesty and fizzing passion about his work. His wife, the gifted and accomplished painter Jill Hoy, is full of insight; she warms the film from within. And there is lots of intelligent commentary from others. “Somehow,” notes Deborah Wye, a curator from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, “limitations actually can be liberating. I see that with Jon: The limitation has somehow given him another kind of road in to making a painting that I wouldn’t have expected.” But Gabe is having none of it. Off camera, we hear him again: “Everyone else is kind of afraid to say anything bad. No one’s gonna say anything, ’cept us.” It’s really the moment that makes this beautiful film, because it’s the toughest, the most honest. “Jon Imber’s Left Hand” is about more than the legacy of a painter. Instead — or so it seems at first — it’s about that painter’s decision to double down on art at a time when he could easily, and forgivably, have done the opposite. The response, in all who looked on, was admiration, esteem, and even — perversely — a kind of envy. ALS is a cruel disease, one that no one (as Imber himself often said) would wish on anyone. But watching this film, many will find themselves thinking, as I did, Would that I could die so well — with such courage, energy, integrity, and good humor – and so thoroughly loved. But of course the story of every death is layered. It looks one way from the outside. It looks different to insiders. And it looks different again — unimaginably so — to the one who is dying. Art and empathy can take us only so far. As someone who has probably been giving honest, trustworthy feedback to both his painter parents for much of his life, Gabe, one imagines — wandering in from the Maine gloaming, faced with a camera crew, an ailing father, and yet another painting on the easel — had his own priorities. It is beautiful to see him hold onto them. Kane does a fine job knitting together the achievements of Imber’s career with the exceptional bravery (from the outside, it looked heroic) of his final two years. He gets over Imber’s infectious passion for painting and his many insights with an urgency and elan that are a pleasure to watch. He gives everything its proper weight. But in the end, I felt this was a film not about art but about love. Love, and a really remarkable family. At one point, Hoy worries aloud about Imber’s ability to cope when he can no longer paint. “Being a painter is who he is through and through,” she says. But a minute earlier, Imber (already drifting unnervingly into the past tense) has shaken up the whole film’s narrative by offering the thought that “being a parent was more important than being a painter.” “I’m gonna keep painting ’cause that’s what I do, it gives me pleasure,” he continues. “But I don’t necessarily think it’s what my life was all about. I’m a painter but I’m also a husband, a father and a friend, and my life like that has really felt very full, gratifying, and I don’t know if I need to paint to be who I am.” And at this point, you might just about be ready to cry. The film screens Saturday, 12:30 p.m., at the Somerville Theater. Tickets are available at www.iffboston.org. Other screenings are June 29 at the Strand Theatre in Rockland, Maine, and July 22 at the Stonington Opera House in Stonington, Maine.

“Jon Imber’s Left Hand,” a one-hour film about the career, the remarkable family life, and the late creative flowering of a renowned Somerville artist diagnosed with ALS, screens on Saturday at the Somerville Theater as part of the Independent Film Festival Boston.

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http://time.com/101003/stephen-colberts-favorite-restaurants/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140515180023id_/http://time.com/101003/stephen-colberts-favorite-restaurants/

Stephen Colbert’s Favorite Restaurants

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Long before he agreed to take over as host of the Late Show, Stephen Colbert was just another Charleston boy—swimming, fishing, and skateboarding down the quiet streets of what he recalls as a “sleepy Southern town.” Today, the South Carolina city is still one of his favorite vacation spots. Read on for Colbert’s down-home haunts. Stay: Growing up, Colbert helped his mother run a now-defunct B&B in their house in the South of Broad neighborhood. “Back then, if I booked a guest, I got ten percent. A kid could have a whole weekend of fun on fifteen bucks.” Hotels he remembers from boyhood: the Francis Marion Hotel($)—with views of the harbor—and 1853’s Mills House Wyndham Grand Hotel ($). Eat: “I want shrimp and hominy when I’m in Charleston, at whatever place doesn’t call hominy grits,” Colbert declares with the emphatic authority of his Colbert Report persona. He gets that or the catch of the day at Hominy Grill ($$). Another pick? “Husk ($$$) has fantastic fried chicken skin and a watermelon salad that’s really delicious. I like that everything there is focused on being from south of the Mason-Dixon Line.” Shop: King Street is the de facto center of retail and antiques stores. “In the past, it had no chains,” Colbert says. One of the oldest merchants, George C. Birlant & Co., has carried 18th-century furniture and silver since 1922. Do: Colbert spent most of his salad days outside. “We’d go swimming off Sullivan’s Island. Afterward, we’d walk in to local bars with any kind of fake ID—a piece of paper that just about announced you were 18—and they’d serve you a beer.” MORE: America’s Best Beer Cities MORE: America’s Best Cities for Hipsters

The next host of the Late Show dished on his favorite Charleston joints to Travel + Leisure

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http://web.archive.org/web/20140521014314id_/http://time.com/106535/nor-layoffs-cancels-tell-me-more/

NPR Cuts 28 Jobs, Ends Tell Me More Broadcast

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NPR announced Tuesday that come August 1, the public broadcaster will eliminate 28 jobs and end its weekday show Tell Me More due to budget cuts. An NPR spokesperson told Poynter in an email that eight of the eliminated positions are not currently filled. Tell Me More host Michel Martin and executive producer Carline Watson will stay at NPR to continue covering race, faith, gender and family. “These times require that we organize ourselves in different ways and that we’re smarter about how we address the different platforms that we reach our audiences on,” Kinsey Wilson, NPR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, said in a statement. “We’re trying to make the most of the resources that we have and ensure that we keep radio healthy and try to develop audience in the digital arena.” The network hopes to reduce its costs by $7 million a year with the aid of these cuts and a combination of buyouts. Last March, NPR canceled Talk of the Nation, although executives said that it had nothing to do with the company’s deficit.

The radio network, which has hundreds of member stations across the U.S., announced the cuts as part of a larger effort to cut costs by $7 million this year

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http://web.archive.org/web/20140522020212id_/http://time.com/107393/charlie-day-graduation-speech/

Actor Charlie Day Delivers Merrimack College Commencement Address

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Graduation season is upon us, which means hordes of famous (and, to the disappointment of many graduates, not-so-famous) people will trudge across auditoriums and football stadiums around the country to deliver speeches full of vaguely uplifting platitudes. Of course, plenty of these speeches will actually be quite good: witty, insightful, and genuinely inspirational. See, for instance, Charlie Day’s recent speech at his alma mater, Merrimack College. The actor and writer — best known for his role as the erratic, emotional, illiterate Charlie Kelly on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – was of course hilarious, offering commentary on everything from the graduation robes which made everyone look like “some sort of medieval pastry chef” to the sound of his own voice, reminscent of “a ten-year-old with a smoking problem.” But Day’s real message to the graduates comes later in the speech when he shares tales of his own post-college years and the many failures he faced before eventually finding professional and personal success. “You do not have to be fearless,” he says. “Just don’t let fear stop you.” Wise words from a man whose favorite hobby is magnets.

Perhaps the only graduation speech you really need to hear

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http://web.archive.org/web/20140522151549id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/boy-foul-ball-trick-baseball

Boy's Foul-Ball Trick Charms Women Sitting Behind Him at Baseball Game : People.com

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05/19/2014 at 12:00 AM EDT The Blue Jays won the game, but this kid A pint-sized lothario used some quick sleight of hand to convince his crush he'd given her a foul ball at a – but a look at the replay confirmed he'd been planning ahead. In the fourth inning of Saturday's game between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays, a young fan caught a ball from Blue Jays third-base coach Luis Rivera and immediately turned around and handed it to a gaggle of women sitting behind him. Or so it appeared. In reality, the kid brought a decoy ball to the game, seemingly for this very purpose, and it was ball which he gave away. The real one he likely kept as a treasured memento of the day he went viral. Watch the video above. It's cute now, but if he's still doing this in 20 years, it's going to be "Walking with Dinosaurs" puppet throws out first pitch at Petco Park

A pint-size lothario used quick sleight of hand to convince his crush he'd given her a foul ball

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http://web.archive.org/web/20140523232608id_/http://time.com/111036/isidro-garcia-california-kidnap-suspect-lawyer/

Isidro Garcia’s Lawyer Calls 10 Year Kidnap Story Unbelievable

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The lawyer of the 41-year-old Isidro Garcia, who is charged with multiple counts of kidnapping and abuse, says the victim’s story is false. “He was devoted to her. He did what she wanted. She was happy. She had her own car. She had her own job,” Charles Frisco, Jr. told reporters on Thursday. Garcia is being held at the Orange County jail in Santa Ana, California on $1 bail and has been charged with five felonies, including committing lewd acts with a minor, kidnapping for rape, and false imprisonment. He has not entered a plea. Earlier this week, Garcia’s alleged prisoner of ten years called police and told them that Garcia kidnapped her back in 2004 when she was 15 and had held her against her will ever since then. The woman, whose name has not been released, contends that Garcia sexually assaulted and forced her to marry him. They had a child together in 2012. Garcia’s lawyer says the ordeal stems from a bitter break up, though authorities adamantly back the woman saying she was a kidnapping victim. The case strikes a particular cord with the public as year ago to the month, three women in Cleveland were freed from their kidnapper, Ariel Castro, who later hung himself in prison.

The lawyer of the man who is charged with multiple counts of kidnapping and abuse says the victim’s story is false.

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http://web.archive.org/web/20140524205922id_/http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/breaking-ocd-23853008

Breaking Away from OCD

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Reporter: After spending nearly half a year living away from her own family, Bridget is finally back, and so is that trademark smile she's so often flashed as a little girl. So now, I can touch my... Reporter: After spending nearly half a year living away from her own family, Bridget is finally back, and so is that trademark smile she's so often flashed as a little girl. So now, I can touch my mother and my brother and my father, and I'm living back at home. So I guess it's pretty much full circle. Reporter: Sharing a meal with the same family that she was once so terrified of, terrified that they would contaminate her. She takes us to her room. So I do my school work on the floor here, just here. And then I sleep here. I can't actually use a blanket because I don't know who has used the blankets before. Reporter: And Bridget, every day, remembers Dr. Weg's words. You have to face your fears. It's flying into the darkness. Reporter: But flying into the darkness still isn't as easy as it sounds. She takes us through the house to the doorway of the den where she stops. She tells us she can't go in. Do you feel like it's creeping back a little bit? Yeah, absolutely. Because I'm very good at avoiding things and making it look like that I'm not avoiding it. That's how my mom doesn't know it. And I don't even think she noticed that I haven't been in the den. So I'm very sly at that. But, it's -- Reporter: Mom, did you notice? Oh, I noticed. It would be, you know, "Bridge, come sit in the den," so she would come sit in the den for, you know, maybe five minutes, and that would be it. Reporter: Now, Bridget admits she can't make herself go into the den at all. It is a major step backwards. Do you sense pressure from other parents who might say, "Why don't you just make her go in there?" Because I've tried that and she just breaks down completely when she's not ready. And that's a horrible thing to see someone, you know, go through. Reporter: We notice her brother sitting in the den. He knows his sister is still tormented by fear. I'm curious what goes through your mind as you're watching your sibling struggle through this. We know that this isn't her fault, you know? I think that there's probably a point when she thought that we were blaming her for this. And that's definitely not the case. Reporter: He told us he's proud of his sister, and then he revealed something about his mother. How proud of his mother he is, too. Do you feel sorry for your mom at all, given what she's been through? Oh, well, I always knew, like, if anyone ever asked me, I would say that my mom is the nicest person in the world, and I'd, you know, stake my life on that. And it's definitely a difficult process for her and I think she's a great woman and I'm good -- I'm glad she's my mom. That's very nice. Becker, come here. Reporter: The whole family taking it one day at a time, all for Bridget. While for Michelle, that time has arrived, that prom she so feared. We snake our way through all of those kids looking for the 14-year-old who once couldn't get out of her own house, the teenager who couldn't step inside her own school. Now after all of that, on the other side of the dance floor, we found this. Michelle, dancing with her friends. And just outside, her mother, out of sight, wondering if her daughter is out of the woods. How is she doing? Reporter: She's tearing up the dance floor. No, really? Reporter: She's on the dance floor. Oh, that's a big thing for her. Reporter: Big smile. Oh, mom's proud. Reporter: Are you proud? Really proud. Reporter: And another moment we thought unimaginable when this journey began. Bridget getting into the front seat of the car with her mother, something she couldn't do just a few months ago. And where were they going? To the pool Bridget has so missed, the water she so loved as a little girl. We are about to try it again. Are you ready? I'm ready. Reporter: Bridget told us it is hard to believe she's here. What are you gonna show me, the butterfly? I'll show you some butterfly. Yep. Reporter: Show me how it's done. Yeah. Reporter: We were there the day you told Dr. Weg -- Mm-hmm. Reporter: -- That you were going through this therapy so that you could swim again. Yes. Reporter: And we're here. Yes, we are. Reporter: Should I time you? No. Reporter: That wouldn't be fair. We watched, and she was off. Bridget back in the pool. And that butterfly has come back to life. And for the mother who never gave up? I can't put it into words. It's just such a good feeling. Reporter: You've come a long way. Yes, I have. Reporter: But we all knew that day that this was just the first lap. We promised we would stick by them for the journey, and tonight, five years after we all first met, where is Bridget now? Where is Michelle who made it to that prom? And where is Rocco, so worried to leave his house? We go back for one more visit. And you're about to see a holiday weekend reunion we will never forget. ] This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Act 5: While she has finally returned home, Bridget still struggles to face her fears.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/26/not-paying-artists-gallery-culture-publicaly-funded-exhibitions

http://web.archive.org/web/20140527065520id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/26/not-paying-artists-gallery-culture-publicaly-funded-exhibitions

Not paying artists deeply entrenched in gallery culture, research suggests

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Paying Artists campaign is backed by galleries such as The Showroom, London, which pays artists to show work including Turner prize-nominated printmaker Ciara Phillips. Photograph: The Tate/PA The image of the hard-up artist toiling away day and night for little or no reward is nothing new but research published on Monday may still surprise. It shows that more than 70% of contemporary visual artists who took part in publicly funded exhibitions in the last three years received no fee. Almost as many are now saying no to galleries because they cannot afford to work for free. The figures are published as part of a new campaign called Paying Artists, which is seeking a more equitable system. Susan Jones, director of artists membership organisation a-n, said most people would be surprised that contemporary artists often "did not get a bean" for taking part in shows at publicly funded galleries. She said the practice of not paying artists was now deeply entrenched in gallery culture "and presents a worrying trend". Research suggests artists are £6,000 a year worse off, in real terms, than they were in 1997. "Artists … are not always thinking or talking about money. But we live in an expensive society, overheads have gone up for everybody and the research shows how staggeringly worse off artists are while at the same time more people are enjoying the visual arts and visiting galleries. There is an imbalance that needs redressing." A-n represents 18,000 artists, from emerging talent to people nominated for the Turner prize. More than a 1,000 were surveyed revealing: • 71% taking part in publicly funded exhibitions received no fee • Of those, 59% did not get their expenses paid • 63% have turned down gallery requests to exhibit because they cannot afford to work for nothing • 72% of artists made less than £10,000 in a year from their art practice. Jones said artists were at the frontline of the squeeze on already cash-strapped galleries, forced to make savings as levels of funding, nationally and locally, go down. "If you're short of money, where do you save it?" The Paying Artists campaign was not a battle with galleries, she said. "There is a symbiotic relationship – artists need galleries and galleries need artists otherwise there's nothing for people to look at. "Many curators are extraordinarily supportive of artists and really help their careers but the bottom line is 'everyone needs some money'." The campaign is supported by galleries such as The Showroom in north-west London which gets 40% of its income from Arts Council England. Its programme has four shows a year which are new commissions from artists and it pays an average of £2,000 for each one. One of those shows was printmaker Ciara Phillips who was nominated for this year's Turner Prize as a consequence. The gallery's director, Emily Pethick, said she would like to be able pay more because the key thing with artists was time. "In order to have that time artists need to be paid. It's really important to make this issue of the artists' economy visible. There is a lot of cultural production in this country but the people who are paid the least within it are the artists. It really does need a big rethink."

A-n finds 71% of contemporary visual artists received no fee for taking part in publicly funded exhibitions in last three years

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/02/16/consumer-reports-how-save-car-rentals/HWhmodAH1W5rmKJmQGMQlO/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140605094046id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/business/2014/02/16/consumer-reports-how-save-car-rentals/HWhmodAH1W5rmKJmQGMQlO/story.html

Consumer Reports: How to save on car rentals

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How does a $69 car rental end up costing more than $200? Easy. The advertised rate is just the beginning. Tod Marks, who covers shopping for Consumer Reports as “Tightwad Tod,” tried booking a Hertz economy car for two days in Charlotte, N.C. His best rate: $69. That jumped to $99 after four layers of taxes, concession and facility surcharges (imposed when renting at an airport), and a fee to recoup the cost of plates and registration. Next came a pitch for other extras: a waiver to relieve Marks of responsibility for damage, theft, and loss of vehicle use, $58 for two days; supplemental liability insurance, $28; personal accident insurance/effects coverage to pay some medical bills and replace stolen items, $14; and emergency roadside assistance, $10. The new total: $209. How do you keep the bill from going through the sunroof? Consumer Reports asked experts for tips and invited its Facebook fans to share lessons from past rentals. The first rule: Plan ahead to avoid making decisions under pressure at the rental counter. Other advice: Shop early. Compare rates at rental car websites and on Expedia, Hotwire, and TripAdvisor. Airlines may offer a fly-and-drive discount, though in Consumer Reports’ experience it’s not steep. AAA, AARP, and Costco dangle deals, too. Contact your insurer. You may be adequately covered through your auto policy, says Jeanne Salvatore, senior vice president of the Insurance Information Institute. Check on collision and comprehensive coverage, and be sure you’re protected for the “full value” of a loss, plus “loss of use,” to offset revenue lost while a car is out of service. If there are coverage gaps, consider loss (or collision) coverage. Check your credit card. Some cards automatically provide secondary coverage for collision damage, after you have paid the deductible. For $25 per rental of up to 42 days, American Express offers more extensive protection (theft, damage, medical, no deductibles), and the insurance is primary — you don’t need to notify your insurer. Steer clear of airports. Marks’s cost rose by $16 because the site was on airport property, where there are additional mandatory fees. Examine the car. “Inspect the car in a bright-light zone before leaving the lot and be as nitpicking as the rental company,” advised a Facebook fan who had to pay for a damaged wheel he failed to see before driving off a dark lot. Note damage on the contract, and have it signed before driving off. Take photos. Avoid penalties. Facebook posters reported penalties for canceling a reservation without ample notice, for returning a car more than a half-hour late or a few hours early, and for returning it to a different site. If the car smells of tobacco smoke, you could face a $250 cleaning fee. Skip accessories. Wolf German of Westbury, N.Y., was talked into taking a Sunpass transponder (like an E-ZPass) to avoid toll plaza bottlenecks when visiting Disney World. All told, he spent $4 on tolls and $34 on the transponder fees.

How does a $69 car rental end up costing more than $200? Easy. The advertised rate is just the beginning. Tod Marks, who covers shopping for Consumer Reports as “Tightwad Tod,” tried booking a Hertz economy car for two days in Charlotte, N.C. His best rate: $69. That jumped to $99 after four layers of taxes, concession and facility surcharges, and a fee to recoup the cost of plates and registration. Next came a pitch for other extras: a waiver to relieve Marks of responsibility for damage, theft, and loss of vehicle use, $58 for two days; supplemental liability insurance, $28; personal accident insurance/effects coverage to pay some medical bills and replace stolen items, $14; and emergency roadside assistance, $10. The new total: $209

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/05/shard-evacuated-reports-smoke-basement

http://web.archive.org/web/20140606060710id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/05/shard-evacuated-reports-smoke-basement

Shard evacuated after reports of smoke in the basement

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About 900 people were told to leave the Shard in London – western Europe's tallest building – as a precaution after reports of smoke in the basement. No fire has so far been apparent according to London Fire Brigade, which was called at 10.30am. Seven fire engines and about 50 firefighters went to the scene, and office, restaurant and hotel workers tramped down the stairwell of the building, which is 1,016ft (310 metres) tall. The fire brigade said: "There is no suggestion at this stage that there is a fire. As a precaution the building is being evacuated. No injuries have been reported. "Seven fire engines and around 50 firefighters are at the scene, this is normal for this type of building. Firefighters from Dockhead, Lambeth, Old Kent Road, Soho, Shoreditch, and Whitechapel fire stations are at the scene." A 50-metre cordon was in place round the building as fire officers continued their investigations two hours after the alarm was raised. Police and London ambulance service also attended, although there were said to be no patients. The 87-storey building includes exclusive apartments, a five-star hotel, restaurants, as well as a viewing platform, and is seen a jobs-generator for the London Bridge area. The incident also caused chaos for traffic.

About 900 people told to leave western Europe's tallest building as seven fire engines and 50 firefighters attend scene

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http://www.people.com/article/amy-van-dyken-severs-spine-accident-olympics

http://web.archive.org/web/20140609231440id_/http://www.people.com/article/amy-van-dyken-severs-spine-accident-olympics

Olympic Swimmer Amy Van Dyken Severs Spine in ATV Accident

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06/09/2014 at 06:55 PM EDT Six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken severed her spine in an all-terrain vehicle accident over the weekend, and told emergency workers she could not move her toes or feel anything touching her legs. The 46-year-old swimmer, who goes by her married name Van Dyken Rouen, was injured Friday. She was airlifted to a hospital and had surgery to stabilize her spine. Hospital spokeswoman Alice Giedraitis didn't provide details Monday on Rouen's injuries. She said the swimmer was in good condition. A letter from the Van Dyken and Rouen families said she severed her spinal cord at the T11 vertebrae and that the broken vertebrae came within millimeters of rupturing her aorta. A report by the Show Low Police Department said the ATV that Rouen was driving hit a curb in a restaurant parking lot and sent her over a drop-off between 5 to 7 feet. Rouen was found lying on the ground next to the ATV. She was strapped to a backboard and airlifted to Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center. A witness said he saw Rouen launch over the curb and found her unresponsive when he arrived on the scene, the report said. Rouen was not wearing a helmet at the time. Her husband, former Denver Broncos punter Tom Rouen, told police officers he had changed the throttle mechanism on the ATV from a thumb accelerator to a twist accelerator a few days before the accident, though wasn't sure if it was a factor in the accident. He said his wife had not been drinking alcohol that evening. Rouen starred at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where she became the first U.S. female athlete to win four gold medals in a single games. She captured the 50-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly and also competed on the winning relay teams in the 400 free and 400 medley. Four years later at Sydney, she added two more golds in the 400 free and 400 medley relays before retiring from competition. In 2003, she was among numerous prominent athletes who testified before a grand jury investigating the BALCO doping scandal. Rouen never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during her career. "The USA Swimming family is devastated to learn of Amy Van Dyken's unfortunate accident this weekend," the organization said in a statement. "We're happy to hear that she escaped and is now in great care. That she is already 'acting like her typical spunky, boisterous, ebullient self' shows she's on a great path." "Amy is a champion who has proven throughout her life that she is a fighter who takes on challenges and comes out on top. We know Amy will tackle her rehabilitation with vigor and be back on her feet sooner rather than later," it said. Pick up your copy on newsstands Click here for instant access to the Digital Magazine

She was the first U.S. female athlete to win four gold medals in at a single Olympic Games

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http://www.people.com/article/love-locks-break-paris-bridge

http://web.archive.org/web/20140613090426id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/love-locks-break-paris-bridge

Pont des Arts Bridge in Paris Breaks Under Weight of Love Locks : People.com

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06/10/2014 at 11:35 AM EDT People write inscriptions onto a panel on the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris The thousands of locks that cling like barnacles to the Pont des Arts in Paris have become a symbol of danger, rather than love, after a chunk of fencing fell off under their weight. The fencing tumbled late Sunday on the pedestrian bridge, which crosses the Seine. Thousands of couples have latched padlocks to the bridge and thrown their keys into the river as symbols of lasting love, resulting in what some decry as an eyesore. The locks are periodically removed by the city, but spring up ever faster. Deputy mayor Bruno Julliard said the city was already soliciting suggestions from artists on what to do to the locks when the fencing collapsed. Officials are hoping to persuade visiting lovers to show their undying affection in less disruptive ways. Married couple poses in front of the love padlocks of the Pont Des Arts bridge Julliard told BFM television on Monday possible alternatives included ribbons and – if lovers insist upon the padlocks – a dedicated sculpture. "Then there were some radically different ideas. Why not use new technology so that couples could write each other messages that could be projected somewhere in Paris?" he said. No one was hurt when the approximately two-meter (6.5 feet) stretch of fencing came down on the Pont des Arts. But Julliard said there are real safety concerns, as the Seine is heavily traveled by tour boats and barges. View of Paris from Pont des Arts bridge Locks also increasingly adorn a bridge near Notre Dame Cathedral and some have even cropped up on the Eiffel Tower. "We don't lack for ideas, but now it's rather urgent for reasons of aesthetics and security. We have to find an alternative to these padlocks of love," Julliard said. Post from Zach Hines's Instagram account @fromga2wi

Not everything can handle the powerful weight of romance

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/17/one-cent-stamp-mona-lisa-record-auction/print

http://web.archive.org/web/20140617225628id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/17/one-cent-stamp-mona-lisa-record-auction/print

'Mona Lisa' of stamps could break records at New York auction

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A one-cent postage stamp from a 19th century British colony in South America is poised to become the world's most valuable stamp – again. The 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta could bring $10m to $20 million when it goes on the auction block at Sotheby's at 7pm ET on Tuesday. Three times in its long history, the little stamp has broken the auction record for a single stamp. Measuring 1in-by-1¼in, it hasn't been on public view since 1986 and is the only major stamp absent from the British Royal Family's private Royal Philatelic Collection. "You're not going to find anything rarer than this," according to Allen Kane, director of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. "It's a stamp the world of collectors has been dying to see for a long time." David Beech, longtime curator of stamps at the British Library who retired last year, has compared it to buying the "Mona Lisa" of the world's most prized stamps. Its first owner was a 12-year-old Scottish boy living in South America, who added it to his collection after finding it among family papers in 1873. He soon sold it for a few shillings to a local collector, Neil McKinnon. McKinnon kept it for five years before selling it to a Liverpool dealer who recognized the unassuming stamp as highly uncommon. He paid £120 for it and quickly resold it for £150 to Count Philippe la Renotiere von Ferrary, one of the world's greatest stamp collectors. Upon McKinnon's death in 1917, the count bequeathed his stamp collection to the Postmuseum in Berlin. The collection was later seized by France as war reparations and sold off in a series of 14 auctions with the One-Cent Magenta, bringing $35,000 in 1922 – an auction record for a single stamp. Arthur Hind, a textile magnate from Utica, New York, was the buyer. King George V was an under-bidder. It is the one major piece absent from the Royal Family's heirloom collection, Beech said. After Hind's death in 1933, the stamp was to be auctioned with the rest of his collection until his wife brought a lawsuit, claiming it was left to her. The next owner was Frederick Small, an Australian engineer living in Florida who purchased it privately from Hind's widow for $45,000 in 1940. Thirty years later, he consigned the stamp to a New York auction where it was purchased by an investment consortium for $280,000 – another record. The stamp set its third record in 1980 when it sold for $935,000 to John E du Pont, the last owner and an heir to the du Pont chemical fortune who was convicted of fatally shooting a 1984 Olympic champion wrestler. It's now being sold by his estate, which will designate part of the proceeds to the Eurasian Pacific Wildlife Conservation Foundation that du Pont championed. While multiple examples of the four-cent stamps have survived, only the tiny one-cent issue is known to exist today. Printed in black on magenta paper, it bears the image of a three-masted ship and the colony's motto, in Latin, "we give and expect in return." It went into circulation after a shipment of stamps was delayed from London and the postmaster asked printers for the Royal Gazette newspaper in Georgetown in British Guiana to produce three stamps until the shipment arrived: a one-cent magenta, a four-cent magenta and a four-cent blue. An 1855 Swedish stamp, which sold for $2.3m in 1996, currently holds the auction record for a single stamp.

1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta could bring $20m after history from South American colony to war and convicted du Pont heir

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http://www.people.com/article/camille-grammer-adrienne-maloof-rumor-return-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills

http://web.archive.org/web/20140706155415id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/camille-grammer-adrienne-maloof-rumor-return-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills

Camille Grammer & Adrienne Maloof to Return? : People.com

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07/02/2014 at 09:20 AM EDT Camille Grammer and Adrienne Maloof head back to the 90210? reports that the former reality stars are set to return to next season, shooting some scenes with the show's leading ladies: Kyle Richards, Kim Richards, , Yolanda Foster and Brandi Glanville. Fans, however, shouldn't place their bets on a full-fledged reunion just yet. PEOPLE has learned that although Grammer and Maloof were indeed at Kyle's annual White Party as guests while the show was filming, there are no plans to have them back on in any full capacity. (Photos of the duo's appearance at the party were posted on Instagram.) Still, season 4 has two open spots for main housewives after Bravo Grammer, 45, brought plenty of drama early in the series: Cameras rolled as her marriage to crumbled amid a cheating scandal. But she left after season 2, appearing in a recurring role on season 3. Maloof, 52, had an infamously explosive exit after season 3, engaging in a bitter war of words with Vanderpump, 53.

Reports are swirling that the original costars are slated to appear on the show's fifth season

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http://www.people.com/article/madonna-jury-duty

http://web.archive.org/web/20140710143529id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/madonna-jury-duty

Pop Legend Performs Civic Duty at Manhattan Courthouse : People.com

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UPDATED 07/08/2014 at 12:00 PM EDT • Originally published 07/08/2014 at 11:25 AM EDT , there are all kinds of phrases that immediately leap to mind, word pairings like "Material Girl," "boy toy" or "pointy bra." Now you can add "jury duty" to that list. Sort of. The 55-year-old pop star did report to a Manhattan courthouse on Monday morning to perform everyone's least favorite civic duty – but she was treated like, well, Madonna. According to , she was immediately taken into the clerk's office instead of having to wait in the jury assembly room with everyone else who'd received a summons in the mail. She was dismissed less than two hours later, which barely gave her time to of a courthouse doorknob. ("Serving my country!" she captioned the picture. "Reporting to jury selection! #itshotinhere") A spokesman for the court system says that Madonna wasn't selected for a jury partially because there were plenty of other potential jurors on hand and partially because having Madonna around could prove rather chaotic, the kind of chaos that would require additional security. "The greater good here is that her appearance really goes to show that everyone gets called," David Bookstaver said. "The intent here was not to create a distraction to other jurors or the business of the court." And although it's tempting to roll our eyes, he does have a point. Last September, Tom Hanks was selected for the jury of a Los Angeles domestic violence trial and his presence to break all kinds of rules by approaching him during a lunch break. The case was brought to an early end and the defendant was allowed to plea to lesser charges because of it. Madonna is now exempt from jury duty until 2020. The

The superstar was dismissed after less than two hours

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jun/15/artist-week-jessica-rankin

http://web.archive.org/web/20140724162338id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jun/15/artist-week-jessica-rankin

Artist of the week 194: Jessica Rankin

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Meshed words … detail from Stooped (2012) by Jessica Rankin. Click to enlarge. Photograph: Shootart Mobile/Courtesy White Cube The organza that forms the backcloth to Jessica Rankin's embroideries barely seems able to take the weight of her glittering metallic threads. It's as fine as mist, as fragile and apparently insubstantial as thought. Yet this gossamer material can support cascades of loose, twirling gold and quartz-coloured silks, carefully sewn scraps of landscapes, stitched star maps and black, blocky words. Surreal, collaged snatches of overheard chatter, quotes from books, or Rankin's own fleeting reflections appear without pause: THINANDSKYSTRETCHES; EARLYDARK; SHALL END IT. Abstract and landscape painting are two comparisons frequently levied at the Australian-born, New York and Berlin-based artist's embroideries; so too are concrete poetry and Chinese calligraphy, forms of writing where the visual quality is as important as what's being said. Born in Sydney in 1971 to a poet mother and painter father (David Rankin), her interest in words and abstraction date back to her childhood, although she was first taught to sew by her babysitter. She turned back to embroidery after graduating from art school in the US, building on the innovations of 70s feminists who'd brought new life to traditional women's work, developing her own distinctive voice at the same time. Needlework might be methodical and repetitive, but it's great for letting the mind wander. Tapping into this, Rankin's embroideries are like mental maps, working through recollections, impressions of places and immediate experience. In her early work Hinterland, from 2007, words fall vertically down the canvas like spider's threads beneath the outline of mountains; here, she also weaved together reminiscences of a trip to the Australian countryside, her son's drawings of train tracks and the experience of creating the embroidery in a barn full of creepy crawlies. It comes on like memory, a tumble of language and images – but slowly and painstakingly realised by the sewer's hand. Why we like her: For her current show, Skyfolds 1941-2010, which is full of glimmering silvery embroidery that suggests torrential downpours, ghostly visions or abstract expressionist paintings. By contrast, vast works on paper, such as A Line in the Air, resemble embroidery but turn out to be drawings. Dense patches of circular pencil marks accumulate around tiny bare white dots, like a thicket of gorse, a cloud, fungus spores or the dark universe brooding between the stars. Pot boilers: Rankin's been inspired by all sorts of writing, from Apollinaire to the ghost stories of MR James and Chinese scrolls. One of her major touchstones, though, is Lunch Poems by the New York school figurehead and art critic Frank O'Hara. This brilliant collection of impressionistic verse – meshing reflections on pop, city life and art – was written during, and with a view to be easily read, in the lunch break. Where can I see her: White Cube, Hoxton Square, London, to 7 July.

Skye Sherwin: Rankin's works on organza are like mental maps, combining spontaneous words and thoughts with the labour of embroidery

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http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/07/23/05/16/us-to-release-intelligence-on-mh17

http://web.archive.org/web/20140725182501id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2014/07/23/05/16/us-to-release-intelligence-on-mh17

MH17 shootdown may have been 'mistake'

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July 21, 2014: A second video that possible shows a missile launcher heading into Russia has emerged, with the Ukrainian government claiming it could be the weapon that shot down MH17. Malaysian flight MH17 may have been shot down by "mistake" by ill-trained pro-Russian separatists, US intelligence officials say, dismissing Moscow's accounts of the incident. Evidence gathered so far suggests separatists launched the SA-11 surface-to-air missile that blew up the Malaysian airliner, but it remains unclear "who pulled the trigger" and why, said a senior intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The most plausible explanation ... was that it was a mistake," and that the missile was fired by "an ill-trained crew" using a system that requires some skill and training, the official said on Tuesday. The intelligence official cited previous incidents over the years in which both Russian and US forces have mistakenly shot down civilian airliners. A Korean airliner was downed by a Soviet fighter jet in 1983 and US naval forces mistakenly shot down an Iranian civilian passenger plane in 1988. "We've all seen mistakes in the past," the official told reporters. July 19, 2014: The Ukrainian government has released footage it claims shows a stolen Buk missile launcher with missiles missing, which could have been used to shoot down MH17. Russian operatives have been spotted on the ground in eastern Ukraine but the US intelligence community had no explicit proof that Russians were with the SA-11 unit that fired on the airliner, officials said. US satellite and other "technical" intelligence confirmed the airliner with 298 people on board was hit by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile from an area controlled by the pro-Russian rebels. Although the United States had observed a flow of heavy weapons, including air defence systems, into Ukraine from Russia, intelligence agencies had not seen the larger SA-11 missiles being moved into the country before the airliner was downed, officials said. The Russian military had been training the rebels at a large base in Rostov on various weapons, including air defence systems. But US officials said there was no explicit evidence of the Russians training the separatists on the SA-11 missile batteries. July 23, 2014: There is international outrage this morning after forensic experts confirmed 80 bodies expected to be delivered to them from the crash site are missing. The senior intelligence officials said they chose to brief reporters partly to counter what they called misleading propaganda from Russia and its state-controlled media over the incident. Allegations that the Malaysian Boeing 777 took evasive action in the air, similar to how a military plane might manoeuvre, had no basis and the reports amounted to "a classic case of blaming the victims", the senior official said. The claim that the Ukrainian government had shot down the plan was not realistic, as Kiev had no such missile systems in that area, which is clearly under the control of the rebels. That scenario would mean Ukrainian government troops would have had to fight their way into the area, fire at the passenger plane and fight their way out again, the official said. July 23, 2014: 9NEWS reporter Damian Ryan is in eastern Ukraine where investigators have finally gained access to the MH17 crash site. "That is not a plausible scenario to me," the official said. The Ukrainian government had no reason to be deploying anti-aircraft weapons, as the separatists were not flying helicopters or staging bombing raids from the air, officials said. But the separatists had a motive to use surface-to-air missiles, as they faced offensives by Ukrainian government troops relying on helicopters and cargo planes, they said. July 22, 2014: Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine have released footage to the BBC showing flight MH17 directly after it crashed. Do you have any news photos or videos?

A White House spokesman has confirmed the US will release more information on the downing of flight MH17.

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http://fortune.com/2014/07/22/simplereach-raises-9-million-as-native-advertising-booms/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140729131653id_/http://fortune.com:80/2014/07/22/simplereach-raises-9-million-as-native-advertising-booms/

SimpleReach raises $9 million for content marketing

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SimpleReach, a New York-based content marketing startup that tracks how information spreads on the Internet, among other things, has raised a $9 million in funding to further develop its product and expand its team. MK Capital led the Series A round with investments from Atlas Venture, Village Ventures, and High Peaks Venture Partners. The funding comes as venture investors pour money into the content marketing category in hot pursuit of advertising dollars. (Native advertising pulled in an estimated $2.4 billion last year, moving the category from “experimental” to become a permanent line item on many advertisers’ budgets.) Earlier this year, the sponsored content company NewsCred raised $25 million, bringing its total funding to $46.8 million. Contently and Percolate, other competitors, have raised $12.3 million and $34.5 million, respectively. All three startups compete in the category with slightly differentiated offerings. SimpleReach’s position is that it offers marketers a single performance report for all of its branded content, spanning several sites and social media channels. SimpleReach can also claim something few of its competitors can: it was founded four years ago, long before venture capitalist Fred Wilson coined “native advertising” and marketers and publishers became obsessed with the term. SimpleReach was doing native advertising before native advertising was cool. Of course, that’s no guarantee of success. (As startup wisdom goes: “Being early is the same as being wrong.”) SimpleReach almost didn’t live to see the heyday of native advertising. “We were close to death several times because we were too early to the market,” founder Edward Kim says. “We nearly ran out of money a lot of times.” The company’s pitch hasn’t changed, but SimpleReach didn’t get the time of day from publishers or brands in its early years. “[We] had to scrape by with super small checks, trying to stay alive month to month,” Kim says. Times have changed. Several hundred publishers now use the company’s sponsored content platform, which costs about $2,500 per month for brands to access the most basic version. (SimpleReach also takes a cut of any paid promotions of the content.) Forbes, which was early to move into branded content, was its first client. Publications including the New York Times, Huffington Post, The Atlantic and yes, even, Fortune, followed suit. Media buyers such as DigitasLBi and VivaKi, as well as companies like Intel, are spending money to promote their content through SimpleReach. The company has grown to 25 employees, mostly on its own income. (It raised $3.1 million across several seed rounds.) The company will now enjoy additional capital to expand its product. The “next generation” of content measurement and distribution, according to SimpleReach, is being able to show actual return on investment on content for advertisers and brands. Kim views content marketing as in its early days, even though he’s been doing it for four years. First, the industry was focused on content creation, he says; the next step, just like what happened with online video, is that people realize they need distribution. “In the early innings, people are focused on routing money into workflow management and creating the content. Now people have [that] and it’s like, wait a minute, nobody is reading this,” he says. Surprise: That’s where SimpleReach steps in. And what of reports that readers say they hate sponsored content and native advertising? Kim recites the same line most native advertising advocates tout—disclosure is everything!—but also clarifies why native advertising is considered in recent years as The One True Answer to both publishers and advertisers: It’s the only thing left. “It’s the answer by process of elimination,” he says. Banners don’t work on tiny mobile screens, so advertisers have to get users’ attention in the main stream of content with native and sponsored content. Still, that disclosure thing is tricky. “If you are publisher, this is both the greatest thing to happen to you and also most dangerous thing to happen to you,” he says.

Investors continue to pour money into the content marketing category in hot pursuit of advertising dollars.

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http://fortune.com/2013/12/05/inside-jack-welchs-mba-school-of-tough-love/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140729203307id_/http://fortune.com:80/2013/12/05/inside-jack-welchs-mba-school-of-tough-love/

Inside Jack Welch’s MBA school of tough love

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(Poets&Quants) — He’s there in the flesh. Jack Welch, the legendary chairman and CEO of General Electric Co. Well, maybe not exactly in the flesh. But certainly live, unplugged, and on a computer screen, with his trademark tell-it-like-it-is persona, a trace of the Salem, Mass. accent still in his scratchy voice at the age of 78. Sitting in front of a camera with an open blue shirt and a sports jacket, he’s fielding questions from his MBA students. “What would be a winning strategy for helping to get the U.S. economy growing at a faster pace?” “What does it really mean to provide exceptional customer service?” “Can you discuss skills on listening to and accepting candid feedback?” Welch handles each question with casual self-confidence and personal anecdotes, often drilling down with follow-up questions. Welcome to the Jack Welch Management Institute. This is Welch’s online MBA program, and each quarter he shows up on webcam for little more than an hour to engage with students. All told, the executive MBA program consists of a dozen required courses, each 10 weeks long, delivered online with “synchronous opportunities” (Translation: You can do the class in real time if you’re able to). Besides the quarterly Q&A videoconferences with Welch, video messages from him populate the school’s website and he’ll often respond to half a dozen messages on the bulletin boards two or three times each term. At a time when many business schools are reporting declining enrollment in their full-time MBA programs, Welch’s Management Institute is doing a brisk business. The institute currently has 538 active students, up by a healthy 36% in the past year. But Welch is far more ambitious, having a stated goal to enroll 5,000 students within five years, far eclipsing Harvard’s 1,800 MBA candidates or Stanford Graduate School of Business’ 800 students. Students say they are drawn to the program because of Welch’s name and reputation, the flexibility of studying online, and the low cost of the program. At $36,000, it’s considerably less expensive than the online offerings of highly ranked business schools, such as Indiana University, the University of North Carolina, and Carnegie Mellon, where the total cost ranges between $60,000 and $118,000. Steven Scott, chief engineer for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, says it wouldn’t be possible for him to get an MBA any other way. Scott works long hours and travels frequently, making commitment to a traditional MBA program impossible. The same is true of Kathleen Thompson, 31, director of acquisition and integration for PGi, a web conferencing company. Thompson says she has taken classes from hotel rooms in Dallas, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, New York, and Orlando — as well as from numerous airplanes 35,000 feet in the sky. “Thank God for GoGo Internet,” she laughs. What differentiates this online program from many others is its emphasis on the pragmatic. The curriculum is infused with Welch’s core beliefs and ideas on business, from the importance of candor in managing employees to the more controversial differentiation policies he made famous at GE GE . Welch wants the students, as he puts it, to “learn it on Monday, apply it on Tuesday, and share it on Friday.” The courses most heavily influenced by Welch’s teachings are Leadership In The 21st Century, Strategy, and People Management. Those so-called signature courses come early in the curriculum, which ends with a capstone business simulation done with virtual teams of students. The program can be completed from a computer anywhere in the world — from a hotel room to an airplane flight — in two years. Most students, however, take one course at a time, requiring anywhere from 15 to 20 hours of work a week, which would allow them to pass through the program in two-and-a-half years. The institute itself is run like a business, not an academic enterprise. Welch is constantly asking students what they think of the program and how it can be improved. He treats them as customers as well as students. He also keeps close tabs on the institute’s “net promoter score” (NPS) — used to gauge the loyalty of a firm’s customer relationships. The institute claims a highly impressive score of 65% which would put it in a class that includes such companies as Apple AAPL and Google GOOG . The average is 10% to 15%. Customer satisfaction surveys at the institute are as common as final exams. “They ought to know that when they fill out a survey we are all over it,” insists Welch. “We look at that NPS score like an animal. We want to find out every detail about it and we want to fix something whenever we have a score that is not at the top of the range. Everybody at our school is measured on it.” The latest satisfaction survey, completed on Oct. 31 by a sample of 94 current students, found that 93% said it was highly likely that they would recommend the program to others, while 98% said it was a valuable investment (with 27% saying it was the most valuable investment they have ever made). Perhaps even more surprising, 54% of the responding students said they have received a promotion, a raise, or some professional recognition since they started the program. One in four students said they are achieving significant career advancement since starting the Welch MBA. From 2012 to 2013, the institute says that the average salary of its graduates has increased 20% since graduation to $122,984. Based on the average pay boost, Backman says that the payback time for the Welch MBA degree is about 1.8 years. Welch initially started his institute in 2010 with for-profit education provider Chancellor University. After two years, he moved the institute to Strayer Education Inc., a stronger player with deeper resources in the for-profit education market. So far, there are more than 130 graduates of the program. It goes without saying that this is not anything like a two-year MBA with a summer internship that lines up a student for a new job at graduation. Online MBA programs are best suited for managers who want to learn the business basics and who generally want to advance in their own organizations. A Welch MBA won’t have the cache of the imprimatur of a Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale, or Harvard degree. After all, applicants to Welch’s institute do not have to take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) to get into the program, although they must have five years of professional experience and a 3.0 undergraduate GPA. What of the often-stated notion that online learning is hardly equal to on-campus study? “Even the best schools are moving into the online space,” argues Andrea Backman, dean of the institute, who has worked in the distance learning at DePaul University and the University of Virginia. “People aren’t going to want to sit in a lecture hall for two years.” When Welch recruited Backman from the University of Virginia, where she was director of online and off-grounds programs, earlier this year, she asked him why he was so interested in online business education. “I’m not in it to make money,” she recalls Welch saying, “‘but I want to rid the world of bad managers and I don’t think there is a program out there that does this.” Just how involved is Welch in this enterprise? “He is incredibly involved and students have access to him,” says Backman. “I was hoping when I made the move that I would have a lot of interaction with Jack and get to learn from him. That has been 100% the case. The ability to get coached by Jack is way more than I anticipated.” The Welch curriculum is filled with case studies, role-plays, podcasts, business games and video snippets of counsel and advice from a number of executives, many of whom reinforce the Welch message and several of whom worked directly under him at GE. They include Boeing ba CEO James McNerney, who Welch once considered as his successor at GE, and Nielsen CEO David Calhoun, a former vice chairman of GE. Backman says incoming students are assigned a “success coach” who helps students fit the program into their schedules. “We also have writing coaches for students, especially if they come from an information technology background or speak English as a second language.” About 30% of the grades at the Welch Institute are based on discussion questions and student responses to them. And the faculty? The institute says that its professors have taught at such places as Cornell, Northeastern, the University of Virginia, and Boston University. They have graduate degrees from Wharton, Harvard, the London School of Economics, and the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Students include a wide range of managers and executives from small-to-mid-sized private companies to such major corporate players as Boeing, FedEx FDX , Home Depot HD , Marriott MAR , Nielsen NLSN , and Verizon VZ . When Thompson signed up for the program, she was initially concerned about whether she could bond with fellow students and faculty who were not in the same room. “It is a virtual experience but it is still intimate,” she says now. “I’m a very social person and that was important to me.” Now into her third course—Financial Management I—Thompson still meets with her original study group at 9 a.m., using web conferencing software. Her fellow students are piped in from Egypt, Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois. Backman came away with several ideas to improve the program after a recent feedback session with students. She says the institute expects to launch shorter five-week courses, introduce more business simulations in classes, and explore the possibility of a graduation ceremony where Welch hands out diplomas in person. During the recent videoconference, Welch was asked by one student for advice on how to accept criticism from a boss. In typical Welch tough-love fashion, he told the manager to buck up and take the heat. “You have to sit back and show the person giving you the candor that you are receptive and that you are not trying to get ready on the edge of your chair to combat the arguments,” Welch instructed. “The only person that counts in this discussion is your boss. You have to show your boss that you are wide open to suggestions and you really want to learn. Suck it up and try to deal with the criticisms, even if you don’t think they are valid.” Welch paused and reflected. “I got a lot of candid feedback in my career: Most of it was, ‘You are too damn abrasive, you are too aggressive, slow down, be patient.’ I never got all the way there, but I got a lot better at it.”

At a time when many business schools are reporting declining enrollment in their full-time MBA programs, Welch’s Management Institute is doing a brisk business. A look at Welch's approach to B-school.

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2014/07/24/douglas-and-keaton-star-and-goes/eF7m5iNzQePJK7PUCANtYO/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140729234845id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/arts/movies/2014/07/24/douglas-and-keaton-star-and-goes/eF7m5iNzQePJK7PUCANtYO/story.html

Douglas and Keaton star in ‘And So It Goes’

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“And So It Goes” is the title of Rob Reiner’s new movie, but it might as well be a eulogy for his career. Not that he seems very upset about it. There he is in this low-budget geriatric farce, rocking an ironically hideous toupee in a supporting role and grinning away — the director who once gave us “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “The Sure Thing,” “When Harry Met Sally,” all of them class entertainments and one of them (”Tap”) a bona fide classic. They seem very far away. The new movie stars a frail-looking Michael Douglas as widower Oren Little, a realtor on Connecticut’s Gold Coast who delights in being nasty to people he likes and a racist to people he doesn’t. Still trying to sell the mansion in which his wife died two years earlier, Oren lives in a run-down beach-front complex he owns, where he makes life miserable for the other tenants. Chief among these is Leah, a widow played by Diane Keaton, who, unlike Douglas, seems to get stronger with each passing year. As in 2012’s “Darling Companion” — a limp misfire from Lawrence Kasdan, another ’80s survivor — Keaton holds the proceedings together through grace, kindness, and that moonbeam connection to the great beyond. In one scene she spies another character and calls out, “Woo-woo! Woo-woo!” Who even says “woo-woo” anymore? And why don’t they? “And So It Goes” looks like it was shot on outdated video equipment and has a forced, jokey script by Mark Andrus (”As Good As It Gets,” “Georgia Rule”). It convincingly paints Oren as someone you would never, ever want to meet. What he needs, of course, is a granddaughter he didn’t know he had, deposited on Oren’s doorstep by son Luke (Scott Shepherd), a former addict turned stand-up businessman who’s going to jail for a white-collar crime he didn’t commit. (Because any actual malfeasance on his part would spoil the movie’s black-and-white moral calculus.) “Heroin’s an ugly drug, but it gave me a beautiful girl,” says Luke. The girl, Sarah (Sterling Jerins), is a shy 10-year-old who takes one look at Oren and flees to neighbor Leah, whom she quickly dubs “Grandma.” And so begins the slow, sweet, obvious process of this Scrooge becoming human again. The journey involves dogs humping giant teddy bears, tenants giving birth on Oren’s couch, and one jarring, tone-deaf scene in which the hero locates Sarah’s junkie mother (Meryl Williams) in a — gasp — poor neighborhood, only to snatch the girl back after the mom becomes distraught from seeing her child for the first time in years. They leave her writhing on the sidewalk and hit the rides at an amusement park. No harm, no foul. There are a lot of jokes about geriatric whoopee — Oren’s idea of making a pass is “The last time I had sex, I tore my ACL” — and a daft little subplot about Leah’s sideline as a cabaret singer. The early sequences are as charming as “And So It Goes” gets, Keaton warbling “Cheek to Cheek” before bursting into tears at the thought of her late husband. That’s the act. Then Oren takes over as her manager, gets her to loosen up and be “as the kids say, ‘cray,’ ” and soon Leah is crooning Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” in a club owned by Frankie Valli. I don’t know about you, but I liked the character better when she was a mess. “And So It Goes” has its heart in the right place, and it may go over with aging boomers who automatically perk up when they hear “Both Sides Now” under a film’s opening credits. It’s still as generic and facile as its title — a cut-rate TV movie with front-rank stars that somehow escaped into movie theaters. As the kids say, Cray.

Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton star in ‘And So It Goes.”

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/07/24/michelle-singletary-column-hope-for-those-who-have-fallen-hopelessly-behind-student-debt/QOB36QJP9NfxA3lMJpSgHP/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140729235850id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/business/2014/07/24/michelle-singletary-column-hope-for-those-who-have-fallen-hopelessly-behind-student-debt/QOB36QJP9NfxA3lMJpSgHP/story.html

Michelle Singletary column: hope for those who have fallen hopelessly behind on student debt

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I volunteer at a correctional institution for women. During one financial literacy class, I was struck by something that was disturbing two inmates who were scheduled to be released within the next two years. They were worried about defaulted student loans. Once out of prison, they feared that if they found a job, debt collectors would come after their paychecks. They were concerned that late fees, additional interest, and other collection costs would make it impossible for them to get out of default. They knew, like so many others who have defaulted, that student loans really never go away. Having them is like being in a debtor’s prison. But there is hope for those who think they have fallen hopelessly behind. As of July 1, borrowers in default have to be offered a standardized payment option to rehabilitate their defaulted loans. Default has serious financial consequences. You can lose eligibility for deferment, forbearance, and access to more affordable repayment plans. The government can snatch your federal and state tax refunds. And a default can severely damage your credit rating. A default occurs when you fail to make a payment for 270 days. Under new Department of Education rules, a borrower can qualify to rehabilitate defaulted federal loans by making nine voluntary on-time and full monthly payments over 10 consecutive months. (The extra month allows a borrower to be late on a payment and still qualify.) The rules apply only to federally guaranteed student loans. Loan rehabilitation was supposed to be “reasonable and affordable,” based on a borrower’s financial circumstances. Except there was no clear definition of what reasonable and affordable meant. Payments varied among lenders. In some cases, those payments were calculated based on a percentage of the outstanding loan balance, typically 1 percent. As a result, many borrowers complained that their rehabilitation payments were unreasonable and unaffordable. “The change is intended to make sure everyone is treated the same way,” said Betsy Mayotte, director of regulatory compliance for American Student Assistance, a nonprofit that aims to help people manage and repay their college loan debt. “A default rehab was supposed to be based on people’s financial circumstance rather than their balances.” Under the new rule, the rehab formula is based on the one used for the federal Income-Based Repayment program, or IBR. This plan allows borrowers with federal student loans to have their monthly payments set to a reasonable amount based on their income, family size, and state of residence. So like an IBR, a loan rehabilitation payment is equal to 15 percent of adjusted gross income that exceeds 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline. American Student Assistance has a rehabilitation calculator on its website. Using the 15 percent formula, let’s say a borrower and spouse have an adjusted annual income of $35,000. The monthly rehab payment would be about $143. But that same borrower in a family of four would pay just $5. Their family size helped lower the payment to the minimum. Keep in mind that you’ll have to figure out how to make your regular payments after you get out of rehab. Also, while the calculation is similar to the one used under IBR, you’ll still need to apply for IBR or another payment option if you still need a lower payment amount once you rehabilitate your loan, Mayotte pointed out. If you apply for rehabilitation and find that the payment is too high, you can fill out a form to have the loan holder consider an even lower payment by considering in more detail your income and expenses. Ask your lender for the financial disclosure form, or search online for “financial disclosure for reasonable and affordable rehabilitation payments.” If you are being forced to make payments because of a wage garnishment, such payments do not count toward your rehabilitation payments. However, an order can be suspended if you make the first five voluntary payments under rehab, Mayotte said. It’s also possible that the loan holder may adjust the garnishment amount to help make the voluntary payments manageable, she said. “It stands to reason that a lot of people didn’t try to get out of default because they didn’t know what to expect,” Mayotte said. Regarding the soon-to-be-released inmates, Mayotte suggested that they resolve the defaulted loans right away — either through rehab or consolidation. “I would hate to see them obtain employment, only for the new employer to receive a garnishment order,” she said. “If they resolve the default before obtaining employment, they can apply for an unemployment deferment or economic hardship or even income-based repayment.” If you’ve been scared to deal with your defaulted loan, now’s the time to face your fear.

Defaulted student loans never go away. Having them is like being in a debtor’s prison. But there is hope for those who think they have fallen hopelessly behind. As of July 1, borrowers in default have to be offered a standardized payment option to rehabilitate their defaulted loans. Default has serious financial consequences.

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http://www.people.com/article/drew-barrymore-half-sister-jessica-dead

http://web.archive.org/web/20140730183030id_/http://www.people.com/article/drew-barrymore-half-sister-jessica-dead

Drew Barrymore's Half-Sister Jessica Found Dead : People.com

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Jessica Barrymore; Drew Barrymore (inset) Jessica Barrymore/Facebook; Inset: Sara De Boer/Startraks 's half sister, Jessica Barrymore, was found dead in a car early Tuesday in National City, California, just north of San Diego. Jessica's body was discovered when a woman trying to leave for work found her driveway blocked by a car, She reportedly found Jessica unresponsive and reclined in the seat, an energy drink between her legs, dozens of white pills scattered on the passenger seat. An autopsy had yet to be scheduled. "Although I only met her briefly, I wish her and her loved ones as much peace as possible, and I'm so incredibly sorry for their loss," Drew said in a statement released to PEOPLE Wednesday. Though police have not released an identity, Lt. Robert Rounds confirmed to PEOPLE that a female body was found behind the wheel of a car in National City on Tuesday morning. "She wasn't moving and was unresponsive, and the officers confirmed she was deceased," he said, adding that the cause of death remains unknown as the medical examiner's office continues to investigate. Drew and her half sister – who would have turned 48 on July 31 and attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts – had the same father, John Drew Barrymore. In a cryptic final post on her page, Jessica shared a photo from "Life doesn't always introduce you to the people you WANT to meet. Sometimes, life puts you in touch with the people you NEED to meet to Help You, to Hurt You, to Guide You, to Leave You, to Love You, and to gradually Strengthen You into the Person You Were Meant to Become." "Yes!" Jessica wrote above the message.

Jessica Barrymore would have turned 48 on July 31

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http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/03/19/21/08/dramatic-scenes-as-mh370-families-dragged-away

http://web.archive.org/web/20140801043606id_/http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/03/19/21/08/dramatic-scenes-as-mh370-families-dragged-away

Dramatic scenes as MH370 families dragged away

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March 19, 2014: Family members of some Chinese passengers on board flight MH370 have burst into a press room screaming for help and claiming they have been imprisoned by Malaysian authorities. Angry Chinese relatives have tried to gatecrash Malaysia's tightly controlled daily media briefing on the missing plane in chaotic scenes underlining the frustrations surrounding the 12-day search. Shouting and crying, a handful of relatives of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight 370 unfurled a protest banner on Wednesday reading "Give us back our families". They accused Malaysian authorities of withholding information and doing too little to find the plane. The dramatic protest unfolded just before Malaysian officials arrived for the briefing, in which they announced no progress in determining what befell the plane. FULL COVERAGE: The search for MH370 "They give different messages every day. Where's the flight now? We can't stand it anymore!" one woman wailed as reporters mobbed her and other relatives. Shortly afterwards, Malaysia staged a shorter-than-usual press conference during which officials indicated the investigation was zooming in closer on the pilot. March 10, 2014: Authorities in charge of the search for Malaysian Airlines flight 370 have said that they have found no trace of wreckage, despite earlier reports from Vietnam that an ‘aircraft door’ may have been seen floating on the ocean surface. Authorities said investigators had discovered that data had been deleted from the home flight simulator of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah about one month before the plane vanished early on March 8. But they cautioned against a rush to judgment. "Some data had been deleted from the simulator, and forensic work to retrieve this data is ongoing," said Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. Officials gave no details on the simulator data. Zaharie, a 33-year veteran of the airline, was highly regarded by his peers. But suspicion has clouded him since investigators concluded that the plane's communication systems were manually disabled and the Boeing 777 was deliberately diverted by a skilled aviator. Hishammuddin said Malaysia's own investigations, and background checks received from other countries, had so far raised no indications that any of the plane's 227 passengers might have been responsible. "So far, no information of significance on any passengers has been found," he said. The aircraft also carried 12 crew. The international quest to find the jet came up empty again, 12 days after it mysteriously vanished, with the Malaysian government acknowledging red tape was slowing a massive search. Relatives of passengers have become increasingly agitated at the failure of the airline and Malaysian government to explain what happened, especially the families of the 153 Chinese nationals aboard. Security had to intervene to stop the uproar at the press venue in a hotel near Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Family members were bundled out of the room, with two of them physically carried out, still protesting and shouting. "I fully understand what they're going through. Emotions are high," Hishammuddin said. But he had no progress to report from an international search across a huge arc of land and sea the size of Australia. Do you have any news photos or videos?

Dramatic scenes have erupted tonight at a media briefing for missing flight MH370, with the family members of some Chinese passengers storming the room in an emotional protest.

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http://fortune.com/2014/07/31/can-targets-new-ceo-get-it-back-on-target/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140803003633id_/http://fortune.com:80/2014/07/31/can-targets-new-ceo-get-it-back-on-target/

Cornell wows Target’s troops with selfies-but he faces a big challenge

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The Great Hall at Target’s Minneapolis headquarters was bustling this morning. Usually a low-key place where employees sip coffee, hold relaxed meetings and take a few minutes of R&R, this morning there was a line about 200 people long, according to Dustee Jenkins, Target’s vice-president for public relations. They were there to meet Brian Cornell, who this morning was named Target’s new CEO and showed up in the Great Hall for an impromptu meet and greet, though he won’t officially start until Aug. 12. “It has been absolutely electric,” Cornell says in an exclusive phone interview from the Hall. “There’s a really fun, positive energy here. It’s great to meet so many employees.” He posed for selfies, shook hands, and tried to set a tone of openness—a marked change from his predecessor, Gregg Steinhafel, who was not known for socializing with the rank and file (or talking to the press, for that matter). The first outsider to take the job in the company’s history, Cornell, 55, joins from PepsiCo, where he was head of the snack-and-soda giant’s $25 billion Americas Foods division. He also did stints running Sam’s Club and Michael’s Stores, and once held a senior position at Safeway. Says Frank Blake, who knew him when he served on Home Depot’s board: “I’m a big fan of Brian’s. He’s a terrific business executive and leader and was a great contributor to Home Depot.” Says another executive who knows him well: “Everywhere he’s gone, he’s made a huge difference.” Cornell will need to make a huge difference at Target, which has been stuck in a rut for a few years now. Not only have same-store-sales declined, but an enormous security breach rocked the company’s credibility last December. That, a disastrous expansion into Canada, and internal tensions led to Steinhafel’s unceremonious ouster in May. The company’s stock has slumped over the past year. The CEO search, which was led by Korn Ferry and completed in three months—incredibly quick for a search of this caliber–included both insiders and outsiders. Jenkins says Cornell’s leadership skills ultimately swayed the board of directors. “We wanted someone transformational, someone who understood retail,” she says. Yet retail expert Robin Lewis notes that Cornell is really more of a packaged goods specialist, and that the track record of outsiders in the retail business is not great. “The risk is bringing an industry outsider into an industry that is much more complicated.” Cornell’s departure may also be a blow for PepsiCo, which reportedly had been considering him as a potential successor to CEO Indra Nooyi. But over in Minneapolis, Cornell seems to be garnering some goodwill in the Great Hall, at least today. Here’s hoping it lasts.

Brian Cornell wowed his new troops with handshakes and selfies this morning. But the challenge facing the well-regarded former Pepsi executive is substantial.

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http://fortune.com/2012/11/16/coffee-table-book-nirvana/

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Coffee table book nirvana

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FORTUNE — Coffee table books typically dominate the publishing world at this time of year, and 2012 is no exception. Hundreds of new titles have appeared in recent weeks, all vying for your gift shopping dollars. From this vast selection I chose five very different but equally sumptuous volumes. First up: Howard Schatz’s At The Fights: Inside The World of Professional Boxing. An 11-by-14-inch work of art that weighs in at a healthy seven pounds, six ounces, it includes 320 photos of current and former boxers and interviews with more than 50 boxing insiders. It’s a one-two punch that anyone with the slightest interest in photography or the sport of boxing should be thrilled to find in his or her stocking. Schatz devoted six years to the book. As multi-talented as you can get, he spent 23 years as a retina specialist, clinician, and professor of ophthalmology before swapping his medical practice in San Francisco for a photography studio in New York. That was in 1995. Since then he’s won dozens of prestigious photography awards. His work appears regularly in Harper’s Bazaar, Sports Illustrated, Vogue, and other major publications. (At the Fights was produced by Sports Illustrated Books. Sports Illustrated and Fortune are both published by Time Inc.) Assisted by his wife Beverly J. Ornstein, he has also created a small library of books. At The Fights, his 19th published work, grew out of an earlier book that focused on athletes in general. “When I was working on it,” Schatz says, “I saw how different boxers are from other athletes. The courage to box is beyond anything I can understand. It is fascinating.” Schatz’s interview subjects include trainers, judges, referees, managers, promoters, writers, announcers, commissioners, and physicians. Brutality is a common thread. So are skill and performance. “You can see a million guys go 20 or 30 minutes shooting basketballs,” says Emanuel Steward, a trainer, “but nothing is as devastating as seeing someone who can slip and slide punches.” Nigel Collins, an ESPN analyst and former editor of The Ring magazine, provides another perspective: “I love boxing. If you’re in love with a dangerous woman, it’s very exciting. But because you know the facts about that woman doesn’t make you stop loving her. That’s how boxing is with me.” The fighters have their say. “To me, boxing is the most gentlemanly sport there is,” says heavyweight Chris Arreola. “There’s two guys that don’t know each other, go in the ring, beat the living shit out of each other, and after they’re done they shake hands like nothing ever happened. I don’t hate the guy, and he doesn’t hate me. We both know it’s a sport, and you both know you’re going to go home and kiss your kids.” As good as the words are, the pictures tell the tale, including powerful shots taken at ringside. Schatz is a studio photographer at heart, however, and he convinced most of his subjects to visit him at his place of work. “My major goal,” says Schatz, “was to use each boxer to make art, to create remarkable and unique images that surprised and delighted me.” He does that and more, starting with straightforward studio portraits and moving on to kinetic action shots. Schatz gets amazing results by dousing boxers with water or having them punch their way through sheets of salt and powder. And his stroboscopic multiple exposures of fighters jumping rope and hitting a punching bag are out of sight. The book includes a seven-foot gatefold with images of 37 former and current champs. It also features dozens of shots of muscular boxers doing their thing, plus studio portraits of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Lennox Lewis, Leon Spinks, and Joe Frazier. My favorite is a two-page spread that contains 55 photos of Shane Mosely, swinging and swaying his way across the page. Like At the Fights, James Balog’s Ice: Portraits of the World’s Vanishing Glaciers is actually two books in one. The first showcases strikingly beautiful photographs of glaciers in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Canada, the Himalayas, the U.S. and Canadian Rockies, and other locations around the world. The second consists of time-lapse photos that record the changes the glaciers experienced over a six-year period. To make it happen, Balog and his team embedded some 40 cameras in strategic spots in and around the glaciers. Programmed to take one picture during every half hour of daylight, year-round, the cameras recorded roughly 8,000 frames a year, working through temperatures that dropped to minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit, winds of up to 160 miles per hour, dozens of feet of snow, torrential rain, rock falls and more. “We are in the midst of a gigantic, unplanned, uncontrolled experiment involving the entire planet,” Balog says in the introduction. His time-lapse photos provide stark and irrefutable evidence of what the results of climate change look like. A similar story is told in Chasing Ice, a feature-length documentary that Balog and his team produced about their work. It brings the melting glaciers pictured in the book to the big screen. The film, which opened earlier this month, just might make it to the Oscars. Balog is an award-winning photographer who has produced five other books and shoots for publications like National Geographic and Vanity Fair. He started work on Ice following a 2005 New Yorker assignment to photograph Icelandic glaciers. In addition to making an environmental point, the photos in the book display the grandeur and majesty of centuries-old ice and snow sculptures in a way I’ve never seen. Many are breathtakingly beautiful. The Postcard Age, published by the Boston Museum of Fine Art, introduced me to another world I knew little about. It began in 1869, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire authorized the post office to deliver mail without envelopes. Postcards became an overnight hit. They were the new media of that era, playing the role that e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and the like handle today. The difference, of course, is that each snail mail card came with a bonus flip side that showcased a picture, a painting or other work of art. Some were crafted by well-known artists, others by unknowns, who used the tiny canvases to play, experiment, make political points and much more. The nearly 400 images in the book, all part of the museum’s Leonard A. Lauder collection, cover historical and cultural themes from the late 19th century through the First World War, from the evolving role of women to breakthroughs in technology to soldiers in uniform. The book contains wonderful turn-of-the century pictures of the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, and Moulin Rouge. There are also loads of new-fangled autos, planes, and railroad cars, plus dozens of images of women riding bikes, playing tennis, and cavorting on the beach. India In My Eyes is another book that looks and feels good. New York City photographer Barbara Macklowe has traveled often to India, and the images she brings back capture not only the warmth, beauty, and energy of the country but also the hardships its people endure and the triumphs they celebrate. The book features plenty of classic Indian scenes: royal palaces, the Ganges River, landscapes with camels in the foreground and mountains in the distance. Macklowe is at her best, however, when she focuses on young women on their way to market with baskets on their heads. A master of color photography (“I think, see and dream in full color,” she tells us in the introduction), her skill is particularly apparent in the close-up portraits of women, children and soldiers, decked out in beaded caps, red turbans, silver necklaces, and decorative earrings. The Seasons of New York is small by coffee-table standards (8 ½ by 8 ¼ inches), but it tackles big subjects and gives them a nice twist. We’ve all seen a million pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge, for example, but photographer Jim Kahnweile breathes new life into an old icon by showing a woman in a black coat and umbrella crossing the bridge with a white dog in a snowstorm. The book is divided into the four seasons, and yes, the city’s landmarks look very different in spring, summer, winter, and fall. Charles J. Ziga, who took most of the photographs, also wrote a brief intro that sets the stage for the images that follow: “New York City is magical and vibrant. Simply eyeing the famous tourist attractions is enough to excite even the most seasoned traveler, but to truly experience this splendid city I encourage you to linger.” Our Weekly read column features Fortune staffers’ and contributors’ takes on recently published books about the business world and beyond. We’ve invited the entire Fortune family — from our writers and editors to our photo editors and designers — to weigh in on books of their choosing based on their individual tastes or curiosities. Lawrence A. Armour is deputy editor of custom content for Fortune, Time, Money, and Sports Illustrated.

New, beautifully illustrated doorstoppers on boxing, glaciers, antique postcards, modern India, and New York City.

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http://fortune.com/2014/08/08/cybersecurity-women-cyberjutsu/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140808150218id_/http://fortune.com/2014/08/08/cybersecurity-women-cyberjutsu/

These women are training to be hackers

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Just when a hacking workshop was about to begin in McLean, Va., last weekend, a technical glitch and a tell-tale blue screen brought everything to a halt. “Anyone have a Cat 5 cable?” asked Lisa Foreman-Jiggetts from the front of the gray classroom. Several of the students’ laptops had purple covers. Their footwear ranged from gold sandals to sparkly white flip-flops. Purses of many shapes and sizes littered the floor. Without missing a beat, one of the students, wearing a tiny pink stud in her nose and matching nail polish, quipped, “Now I know what to pack in my purse.” Laughter ensued. Welcome to the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu, or WSC for short, where students are encouraged to make comments, ask questions, admit what they don’t know, and take on cyber security with moxie. Although some men have registered for the workshop remotely, the classroom is for women only, according to the society’s rules. Exceptions are made for male guest instructors, because, as WSC founder and CEO Foreman-Jiggetts jokes, “They know some stuff too.” On a beautiful Saturday, two dozen women showed up for a five-hour class. All were here because they wanted to learn more about how to defend digital information from unauthorized access, and preferred an environment in which they weren’t the only woman in the classroom. “This is fun for us, coming here and geeking out,” Foreman-Jiggetts said. “I found that women want to be technical. They want to play with these tools, but they’re not given a chance or don’t know where to start.” Foreman-Jiggetts is a cyber security contractor for the federal government. She began tinkering with computers when she was a child. She founded the Washington, D.C.-based society because she recognized that there was a lack of resources for women interested in cyber security, and also for what she said were selfish reasons: “I wanted a group that would teach me how to use these very technical tools.” Like other women in the field, she was used to being one of a few females, if not the only one, in computer classes and hacker groups. She was eager to learn and yearned for a mentor. “I’ve seen this myself, being the only woman in a technical class,” she said. “You’re talked down to. So one of our main things is to have a comfortable, empowering learning environment.” The group’s first class—Intro to Linux and Backtrack, the open source operating system—was held two summers ago. A dozen women attended. Today, WSC has 1,500 active participants worldwide and virtual chapters in five other cities. The society holds two workshops per month—one covering a technical area, and one covering soft skills such as résumé-writing—several 10-week certification-preparation classes, and a Cyberjutsu Girls Academy to teach middle-school students about technical subjects. Washington has several women’s tech groups, but Foreman-Jiggetts’s is the only one focused on “cyber,” as they call it. Classroom space is donated, and instructors volunteer their time. Foreman-Jiggetts dreams about having a dedicated building to share with other women’s tech groups, so at any given time, one can find hacker space and a handful of classes in state-of-the-art labs, along with laser tag, a café, art gallery and day care center. According to Foreman-Jiggetts, cyber security is significantly more gender-imbalanced than the information technology industry, which is roughly 30 percent women, she said. She added that women tend to problem-solve differently than men. Foreman-Jiggetts gets a kick out of playing against what she considers the stereotype of the female hacker—a woman that spends her time holed up in her basement 24/7, looking like a bum. Instead, she leads a group of chatty professional women who get fired up about hacking. “It’s amazing to see them strive,” she said, “coming back month after month. They’re hungry, and they’re very driven. They just need a little help, and they’re off to the races.” On this day, the workshop’s topic was “IPv6 Tracking and Hacking,” a reference to the current version of the Internet Protocol. While Foreman-Jiggetts and her instructor ironed out the technical snafu, each student introduced herself and gave her favorite color. More than half said purple. The women identified themselves by name and current job: computer repair shop technician, law firm tech analyst, electrical engineer, desktop support technician. Many said they were transitioning between careers or getting degrees in cyber security. Gina Sharp, who has worked in IT for 15 years and recently received a bachelor’s degree in cyber security, said the group’s mentoring program and online discussion forum were initially helpful in navigating the field. She has since decided to focus on ethical hacking and penetration testing—trying to infiltrate an organization’s network to make them aware of their vulnerabilities. Sometimes, Sharp said—her shoulder-length earrings bobbing with every word—she thinks about the other hackers. If she is learning about the vulnerabilities of IPv6, she reasons, so too are the bad guys. “I think, if they’re learning this, and I’m learning this, what’s the difference between them and me?” she asked. “The difference is intent. That’s the beauty.” After the class finished introductions, Foreman-Jiggetts announced details of an upcoming hacking competition, a Cyberjutsu awards dinner, the CyberLympics, and several volunteer opportunities. The instructor, Terrence Kimbrough, then introduced himself. “I’m a nerd,” he said. (His favorite color? You guessed it—purple.) Kimbrough is actually a cyber security technician for the government and does the same job as a Marine Corps Reservist. He talked about preparing for the world’s shift from IPv4 to IPv6—and the inevitable new batch of hacks that would arise from it—by leading the students through some exercises with Wireshark, a program that allows you to see network activity at a microscopic level, and an intrusion detection system called Snort. Kimbrough later said that when he teaches all-female classes, he observes an “air of confidence and self sufficiency that simply isn’t present in a mixed course.” During breaks in this class, he said, he noticed students turning to one another for assistance and lots of “lightbulbs of understanding.” Victoria Ho, a computer security software company developer, said the workshops have helped her build technical knowledge and confidence. “There is such a wide range of skill level,” she said. “The person sitting to your left can learn from you, and the person sitting to your right can answer all your questions. Everyone is positive, encouraging and non-judgmental.” As a volunteer for the Cyberjutsu Girls Academy, Ho learned how to program a Raspberry Pi—a single-board computer the size of a credit card—code in the Python programming language, and create an Android application. “It’s just a whole different atmosphere here,” Foreman-Jiggetts said. “Everyone knows I don’t tolerate any negativity. There are no stupid questions you can ask.” To learn among other “chicks” is also great for networking, she added. “We’re doing techie stuff, but it’s fun,” she said. “We’re mingling with like-minded women.”

And they don't need men to do it. Step inside the Women's Society of Cyberjutsu, a Washington, D.C.-area group for women to learn cyber security on their own terms.

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http://www.people.com/article/miley-cyrus-selena-gomez-paparazzi-drones

http://web.archive.org/web/20140810023420id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/miley-cyrus-selena-gomez-paparazzi-drones

Are Drones Spying on Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez?

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SteadiDrone QU4D aerial drone fitted with a GoPro video camera, and (inset) Miley Cyrus Drones. They're not just for warfare anymore. , unmanned aerial vehicles have come to be used well beyond the military. But are they now being deployed by paparazzi to sneak photographs of celebrities like "Drone Pap wtf," the "Wrecking Ball" singer recently, along with a video of what appears to be a drone flying overhead. If the pop star did indeed spot a drone sent by paparazzi, it wouldn't be the first such incident. "They tried to stop us from taking pictures and we said, 'You know what? Release the drone,' " one paparazzo after being blocked from getting footage of at a photo shoot in March. "When there is a lot of fandemonium and people are trying to block us, we'll send a drone up and get great footage … It's going to be big." That prospect is exactly what has California state senator Alex Padilla calling for legislation that would restrict the use of drones. "We have enough paparazzi issues as it is," the former Los Angeles City Council member tells PEOPLE. "We certainly don't need drones with cameras or video recorders hovering over nightclubs, restaurants or the streets of L.A." in the California State Senate that would limit the use of drones. He hopes celebs lend their support to it in the same way did in the fight to and Steven Tyler did to But those who oppose the proposed restrictions say many existing laws protect people's right to privacy. "If you trespass, harass or stalk someone, you can be criminally charged or you can be sued. There are laws that already protect people and celebrities from having those things happen," says Mickey Osterreicher, who was a photojournalist before becoming a lawyer representing the National Press Photographers Association. "It's unfortunate that the California legislators feel the need to pander to their celebrity constituents. The bottom line is that it is going to limit the ability to gather news. It's a First Amendment issue, and we don't need any more laws that infringe on First Amendment rights." Osterreicher says the Federal Aviation Administration has been tasked with regulating the use of drones but the rules are currently "in limbo" as "unfortunately they are behind schedule." And any eventual rulings by the FAA can impact non-celebrities as well. "The federal government has made it policy to say that by 2020 we want tens of thousands of these in U.S. airspace," says Sen. Padilla. "I am fearful that we will go too far down that road without providing protections for people first." Not that everyone is as concerned. "When the [first portable] camera was invented in the late 1800s, there was the same cry of how the right to privacy was gone," says Osterreicher. "But we developed privacy laws and we've got those in place now. The world didn't come to an end."

"They tried to stop us from taking pictures and we said, 'You know what? Release the drone,' " a paparazzo said

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http://fortune.com/2011/06/16/who-knifed-aapl/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140811130126id_/http://fortune.com:80/2011/06/16/who-knifed-aapl/

Who knifed AAPL?

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With the Dow up and no negative news on the wire, the stock fell off a cliff Thursday Thursday was another one of those bizarre trading days for Apple AAPL . The stock opened higher, flirted with some prices north of $328 in the morning and made it through the early afternoon without suffering much damage, despite the turmoil in Greece. Then, at about 1:50 p.m., the volume jumped and the stock fell off a cliff, dropping at one point to 318.33, more than $10 below its high for the day. The last time Apple closed below $320 was in early December. Since then, the company has reported two quarters of 75.2% and 92.2% earnings growth, respectively. It’s not clear what it has done to deserve this kind of treatment. [UPDATE: As it turns out, Research in Motion RIMM was the stock that deserved to be disrespected Thursday. When the company reported quarterly revenues that were worse than expected and warned of future layoffs, the stock fell 16% in after-hours trading.] Among the dwindling numbers of retail Apple investors, there were the usual cries of market manipulation and calls for reform of the weekly options markets, which some believe have become the tail that wags the underlying stock. A check of the open interest in Apple weeklys Thursday showed nearly 40,000 puts at $320 and tens of thousands of outstanding calls at every price point between $330 and $360. If Apple closes anywhere between $320 and $330 on Friday — the so-called Max Pain point — all those options will expire worthless. The stock recovered somewhat in the last hour of trading to close at $325.16, down $1.59 (0.49%) for the day. Below the fold: A snapshot of Thursday’s open interest in Apple weeklys.

With the Dow up and no negative news on the wire, the stock fell off a cliff Thursday Thursday was another one of those bizarre trading days for Apple . The stock opened higher, flirted with some prices north of $328 in the morning and made it through the early afternoon without suffering much damage,…

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http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/08/11/00/24/famed-boxing-promoter-to-undergo-gender-reassignment

http://web.archive.org/web/20140812205935id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2014/08/11/00/24/famed-boxing-promoter-to-undergo-gender-reassignment

Famed British boxing promoter to undergo gender reassignment

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August 11, 2014: After years of secrecy, English boxing promoter Frank Maloney has opened up about his desire to become a woman. Frank Maloney, the man behind Britain's former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis's march to the top, is undergoing a sex change and living as a woman called Kellie, she told the Sunday Mirror. The 61-year-old Englishwoman - who stood for election to be London Mayor for the UKIP Party in 2004 - has been married twice and has two daughters, but she told the newspaper she had always felt she was a woman. "I was born in the wrong body and I have always known I was a woman," said Kellie, who as Frank Maloney engineered Lewis's 1993 world heavyweight title victory. "I was born in the wrong body and I have always known I was a woman," said Kellie. (AAP) "I can't keep living in the shadows, that is why I am doing what I am today. Living with the burden any longer would have killed me. "What was wrong at birth is now being medically corrected. I have a female brain. I knew I was different from the minute I could compare myself to other children. "I wasn't in the right body. I was jealous of girls." Maloney, who once had aspirations to be a Roman Catholic priest but grew disillusioned when he started studying to become one, said she had not felt it possible to reveal her secret desire to those involved in boxing. "I thought maybe I can earn enough money that one day I can disappear and live a new life completely away as a female and no one would ever bother me," said Maloney, who ended his involvement in boxing last October. "Once you come out of sport you are soon forgotten and that was what I was hoping would happen to me." Maloney, who also tried to be a jockey and a footballer without success, said she intended to live as a single person and was now "mentally preparing" herself for the rest of her life. Maloney, who suffered a heart attack in 2009 after discovering one of his boxers Darren Sutherland had hanged himself, caused a stir during the mayoral campaign when he remarked he would not campaign in one borough because there were too many gays living there. "I'm not homophobic but in public let's live a proper moral life - I think that's important," said Maloney, who was also instrumental in four other pugilists being crowned world champions. "I'm more for traditional family values and family life. I'm anti same-sex marriages and I'm anti same-sex families." Do you have any news photos or videos?

Frank Maloney, the man behind Britain's former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis's march to the top, is undergoing a sex change and living as a woman called Kellie, she has said.

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http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/08/10/19/38/us-steps-up-airstrikes-in-iraq

http://web.archive.org/web/20140812214747id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2014/08/10/19/38/us-steps-up-airstrikes-in-iraq

US steps up Iraq airstrikes

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August 10, 2014: US warplanes have carried out further strikes in Iraq in an attempt to stop Islamic extremists attacking the Yazidi minority group. A little boy has shed tears after winning a human lottery, and safety from the advancing ISIS militants in Iraq. There were 20 places on an aid helicopter, and he and 19 other Yazidis were the ones who made it, even if it meant risking their lives to beat dozens of others left begging to be saved. While Kurdish military threw cases of water and food down to the families left behind, American fighter jets stepped up their attack, dropping bombs on ISIS rebels spotted firing at the innocent refugees stranded on Mount Sinjar. “The American aircraft are positioned to strike ISIL terrorists around the mountain, and help the Iraqi forces break the siege and rescue those who are trapped there,” President Barack Obama said. The US airstrikes have the militants vowing revenge. They have taken to social media to make brutal threats of retaliation against American soldiers and civilians. “We have to make sure that ISIL is not engaging in the actions that could cripple a country permanently,” Mr Obama said. The US is getting support from allies including Australia, which has two Hercules jets on standby in the Middle East. But all parties are adamant this mission is not the start of another full-scale engagement. Do you have any news photos or videos?

The US military has carried out more airstrikes on ISIS positions in Iraq, while militants take to social media to threaten America.

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http://www.buzzfeed.com/911remediation/why-hurricanes-named-only-after-women-vrge

http://web.archive.org/web/20140812225539id_/http://www.buzzfeed.com:80/911remediation/why-hurricanes-named-only-after-women-vrge

Why Hurricanes Named Only After Women

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Nobody messes with Mother Nature – and even if they tried, they wouldn’t be able to make her change. Just like your own mother, once Mother Nature has decided what she’s doing, she’s doing it, and there’s no stopping her. You want to go to the beach today? If she’s not having a good day, you’re not having a good day. But if you think Mother Nature’s a beast, what about her whirlwind children? Yes, those little babies that can wreak complete havoc with their torrential rains, fierce winds, and flash floods. Hurricanes are a force to be reckoned with, which is perhaps why they are often named after women! After all, isn’t that how women are? Unpredictable, dangerous, and they leave chaos in their wake? Actually, the myth that hurricanes are named only after women isn’t true. It USED to be true – before 1978 all hurricanes were named after women. The exclusively male club of meteorologists up until that point must have thought that was pretty funny. But then a few women’s rights movements fought the sexist implications of the idea, especially when women started becoming meteorologists. So now we alternate between male and female names for hurricanes. Now the question is does it mean anything different for a hurricane to be named after a woman versus after a man? Not really. YET, people think it does. According to some studies, people don’t take female hurricanes as seriously as they do male names (as though the “gender” of a tropical storm actually means something). Newsflash: the name doesn’t matter! Ever hear of Hurricane Sandy, or Hurricane Ike? What about Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Mitch, or Hurricane Andrew? I don’t think the name made any difference in how dangerous any of these guys (or girls) were. And I don’t know about you, but when I hear that a hurricane’s coming my way, I don’t care what its name is – I only care about getting away as fast as possible and calling 911 Remediation to restore my home when I get back. Now that you’ve learned that hurricanes really aren’t exclusively named after women (and that their name doesn’t matter anyway), you can forget about gender issues with tropical storms. And the next time you find yourself coming up against a hurricane, don’t stop to ask its name. Just get out of the way, because Mother Nature’s coming through!

The weather outside is hard to predict; it may be sunny, rainy, snowy, stormy, or mild from one day to the next, or it might be any number of these all in one day. Eventually you just learn to deal...

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http://www.people.com/article/outlander-sam-heughan-facts

http://web.archive.org/web/20140817192324id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/outlander-sam-heughan-facts

What to Know : People.com

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We already know that Sam Heughan is a breakout star on to learn – and love! – about the Scottish heartthrob who plays the dashing Jamie Fraser. Here are five things to know: Heughan, 34, grew up in converted stables on the grounds of a castle in New Galloway, Scotland. Since the books describe Jamie as a ginger, Heughan colored his hair auburn for his role as the who sweeps married war nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) off her feet. This involves hiking the mountains in Scotland and then journaling about it. that he tried out for multiple roles on the HBO drama, such as playing a member of the Night's Watch. "It's funny about those things," he told the website. "You're up for so many things, and coming from those auditions and testing on other shows, I had more experience, more experience with the process. And maybe I was more confident. I don't know, something about this one just felt right. This part felt different. I knew this character. I felt a connection with him." For more on Heughan and his costar Caitriona Balfe, watch this Costar Challenge:

The hunky actor, who plays Jamie Fraser, auditioned seven times for Game of Thrones

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/08/16/state-robocalling-thousands-demanding-repayment-undeserved-unemployment-benefits/WmauSDGQ2xzN57QBOzLYsK/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140818050144id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/08/16/state-robocalling-thousands-demanding-repayment-undeserved-unemployment-benefits/WmauSDGQ2xzN57QBOzLYsK/story.html

State robocalling thousands demanding repayment of undeserved unemployment benefits

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The automated message sounds like one of those dreaded spam calls: “You are required to pay this debt,” the voice says. “Failure to repay your overpayment may affect your ability to collect future unemployment insurance benefits as well as impact your state and/or federal income tax refunds.” State officials, using automated phone messages or “robocalls” that began in July, are targeting 63,000 people, about 1,000 per day, who they say received undeserved unemployment benefits as far back as 1985. The average amount of the debts the state is seeking to reclaim is about $2,500 a person, but some cases involve amounts as little as $100, according to internal e-mails obtained by the Globe. Ignoring the calls, no matter the amount owed, carries serious consequences; a person could ultimately lose the ability to collect unemployment benefits in the future or have their future tax refunds garnished. The state, which for years has mailed letters to some of those targeted, has made some 17,000 calls and collected more than $400,000 in overpayments since late July, officials said, and could recover at least $157 million through the program. The money will go into the state unemployment insurance trust fund to pay future benefits. While the Massachusetts initiative is part of a broader national crackdown by many states to recoup unemployment benefits that were erroneously or fraudulently obtained in recent years, few, if any states, are pursuing collections as aggressively as the Commonwealth, which is looking all the way back to 1985. “Wow,” said Rebecca Dixon, a policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, a New York think tank specializing in worker and employment issues. “We’re generally aware of these things among the state and advocacy groups we work with, and I don’t know of anybody saying they’re going back that far.” This is the first time Massachusetts has deployed robocalling to collect overpayments, said Ann C. Dufresne, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. She said the robocalls are the latest, and a more aggressive effort, to recoup the money after years of sending letters to many of those targeted. To collect on an old overpayment, the state has a number of legal hurdles it must clear. State officials said there is no statute of limitations for pursuing collection of an overpayment. However, the state has one year to establish that an overpayment was made to a person. For example, it must have proof by 1999 that a 1998 overpayment that it wants to collect occurred. State officials said there is also a six-year limit on pursuing a civil action, such as filing a lawsuit. Dufresne said those who think they have been targeted for overpayments in error can appeal to state hearing officers. But Shannon Liss-Riordan, an employment rights lawyer in Boston, said it’s inherently unfair to go back so far into a person’s past to collect a debt. It would be difficult for people to defend themselves because few keep records for that long. “It’s not realistic to expect people are going to be able to challenge it,” Liss-Riordan said. “Who’s going to be able to pull out evidence from 30 years ago? You’re only supposed to hold onto your tax returns for something like seven years.” Massachusetts could not provide data about the number of overpayments in each year, including how many date beyond 20 years. Officials said more than 20 percent of the overpayments, totaling $29 million, occurred within the last year, after the state’s launch of a new and problem-plagued online computer system to manage unemployment claims. Those problems delayed benefits for thousands of unemployed workers. Additionally, the new system erroneously mailed bills to some workers claiming they owed the state for past overpayments; some people even had unemployment benefits cut as a result of the mistakes. One Dracut man received a bill for $45,000, which state officials later acknowledged to him was a mistake. Dufresne said the majority of the billing errors related to the computer system were resolved before the latest robocall collection effort was launched. She said about 40 percent of the 63,000 people receiving messages were overpaid as a result of alleged fraud. In most cases, they might not have reported partial earnings during a period when they were collecting full unemployment benefits. Massachusetts allows people to work part-time and still collect benefits, but the unemployment checks are adjusted to reflect those earnings. Some states have stepped up collection activities after the enactment of a 2011 federal law that allowed garnishment of federal tax refunds to recover overpayments of unemployment benefits. The same law removed a 10-year limit on collections. Oregon recently began seeking to recover overpayments dating back 10 years from 16,000 claimants. Colorado collected $20 million between 2012 and 2013 of more than $100 million the state says it is owed. Illinois recently attempted to recoup $2 million in overpayments to scores of prisoners. Research by the National Employment Law Project, however, shows that workers are more likely to lose out on unemployment benefits that are underpaid or improperly denied than they are to benefit from overpayments because of fraud. In 2010, about $2.2 billion in benefits was erroneously reduced or denied by states; overpayment because of fraud totaled about $1.6 billion.

State officials, using automated phone messages or “robocalls” that began in July, are targeting 63,000 people, about 1,000 per day, who they say received undeserved unemployment benefits as far back as 1985. The average amount of the debts the state is seeking to reclaim is about $2,500 a person, but some cases involve amounts as little as $100, according to internal e-mails obtained by the Globe.

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http://fortune.com/2014/08/27/volvo-xc90/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140827162144id_/http://fortune.com/2014/08/27/volvo-xc90/

Volvo’s XC90 signifies return, with Chinese help, of storied brand

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Volvo took a big step toward regaining a foothold in the U.S. and worldwide with the introduction of its XC90 full-size crossover, a vehicle that constitutes the first report card for China’s Zhejiang Geely’s acquisition of the Swedish automaker from Ford Motor F in 2010. The premium seven-seater, powered by a newly-designed four-cylinder engine, will contend against models like the Lexus RX350, BMW X5 and Chevrolet Tahoe. Its arrival is critical for Volvo dealers in the U.S., who have watched sales plummet since Ford, in the midst of financial difficulties, unloaded the brand for $1.8 billion. Volvo executives say they regard the XC90 as the first model they’ve been able to create as an independent company since 2000, when Ford bought Volvo cars from the larger Volvo Group. Volvo’s partnership with Zhejiang Geely has been primarily a financial one, which has allowed the Swedish partners to pursue car development independently. “This is one of the most important days in our history,” said Hakan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo, at the introduction in Stockholm. “We are not just launching a car but relaunching our brand.” Under Ford’s management, Volvo reached sales of roughly 140,000 in the U.S., a level that has dropped since then to 60,000 or so, a pace that has prompted some of the approximately 300 U.S. dealers to sell or abandon their franchise. Volvo executives say the automaker’s new SPA (for “Scalable Product Architecture”), developed for XC90, will be the basis for a number of new sedans and station wagons. Zhejiang Geely, led by its billionaire founder Li Shufu, is counting on growing Volvo sales in China, as well as a sharing of technical, marketing and design expertise that it can use to strengthen its Geely brand of vehicles. Li, a self-made engineering graduate with a taste for poetry, founded Geely (which means “lucky” in Mandarin) in 1986 as a maker of refrigerators. The company moved on to motorcycles and finally to cars. Geely originally aimed to export its cars to the U.S. – a feat it will have accomplished, in a sense, with its $11 billion invested resuscitating Volvo and developing the XC90. The XC90, starting at about $48,000, will begin arriving at U.S. dealers as a 2016 model next spring. Volvo, founded in 1927, had been a niche brand prior to Ford’s purchase, known for its individualistic approach to design and innovative safety features. With the XC90, the automaker hopes to recapture its reputation, mostly with electronic features such as adaptive cruise control and front collision avoidance, meant to avert accidents altogether, rather than simply to make mishaps more survivable with fewer and lighter injuries. The goal, say Volvo executives, is to sell 800,000 Volvos worldwide on an annual basis by 2020, roughly four times what’s selling now – an ambitious number. And even more ambitious – perhaps unimaginable – target is Volvo’s resolve that by 2020 no one will be killed or severely injured in one of its new cars, which will be equipped with the latest safety features. For the big automakers like Toyota and Volkswagen, Volvo’s reemergence is too small to cause concern. For the budding Chinese car industry and automotive safety advocates, the progress and fate of the XC90 will be closely scrutinized.

Automaker's ambitious goal is have no one killed or seriously injured in one of its new cars by 2020.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/feb/05/chastleton-house-cotswolds-panoramic-architecture

http://web.archive.org/web/20140829213749id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/feb/05/chastleton-house-cotswolds-panoramic-architecture

10: The long gallery, Chastleton House, Moreton-in-Marsh, 1607-1612

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The long gallery was the special contribution of Elizabethan and Jacobean society to architecture that deals with the passing of time: it was a place for walking in bad weather, for contemplating and showing off art and ancestral portraits and, therefore, combined the rhythms of exercise, meteorology and genealogy. A smallish but satisfying example is in Chastleton House in the Cotswolds, built by a rich wool merchant (or possibly lawyer), whose family later dissipated his wealth and so were unable to alter the original building. Nikolaus Pevsner called the decoration of Chastleton "blatantly nouveau riche, even barbaric, uninhibited by any consideration of insipid good taste", but it now it looks gentle and charming, softened by wobbles in wood and plaster and the fall of light. It is also more bare than it would have been, in the absence of its original artworks and tapestries. What is particularly pleasurable is the way the stuff of the ceiling – ornamental plaster – descends, while the stuff of the floor – wood – rises in the form of panelling and the two meet at mid-height. It gives a boat-like sense of enclosure and protection.

Rowan Moore, introduces a spectacular interactive 360-degree panoramic view of this classic example of the Jacobean long gallery

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http://fortune.com/2010/05/04/career-counseling-goes-global-in-silicon-valley/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140831044428id_/http://fortune.com:80/2010/05/04/career-counseling-goes-global-in-silicon-valley/

Career counseling goes global in Silicon Valley

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Guest Post by Katherine Kelly Lutton, Principal and Global Head of Litigation, Fish & Richardson PC At last week’s Fortune Most Powerful Women dinner in Washington, I found myself sandwiched between CNN National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin and Jane Roberts, former litigator and law firm leader and wife of Chief Justice John Roberts. Jessica and Jane, meanwhile, were sitting between two mentees from Haiti—two courageous women among 33 who are part of Fortune‘s Mentoring Partnership with the U.S. State Department. I’m a mentor. How can I not be? Every April, Fortune invites women who come to its Most Powerful Women Summit to mentor rising women leaders from emerging countries around the world. The program seems right for the time. We have globalization on all fronts including the globalization of “communities.” Think about it. While social relationships and values and “mentoring” used to spring out of physically cohesive groups of people connecting according to commonalities (beliefs about God, job types, organizations), connecting this way too often meant a senior Caucasian man taking a junior Caucasian man “under his wing.” Mentoring women leaders across the globe turns traditional concepts of community and mentoring on their head. I was inspired when I first saw this in action at the MPWomen Summit in 2008. Where do I sign up?! I did sign up—but I felt empowered to do more. What if I mentored with one other woman from Silicon Valley who would showcase her skills, experiences and contacts?. Or what if I teamed up with two women or three…or 50? On behalf of all the women I knew, I signed up to “community” mentor. Fast forward about nine months (the birth of anything worthwhile takes about that long), and “our” mentee, Susan Rammekwa, steps off the plane from her home country, South Africa. Susan is a highly religious woman who runs an NGO called Tshepang (“Have Hope”) Programme and an “empowerment village” for children whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS. For 200 homeless and parentless children ages three to 17, Tshepang provides daily care, access to education, social skills and a balanced meal. She was the truly powerful one, She just needed resources, so the challenge for us began. During her month in the U.S., Susan was mentored by no fewer than 50 women who reached out to connect her with their communities of fellowship, business, religion, innovation, technology, social networking. The mentors in this totem pole included venture capitalists Ann Winblad and Heidi Roizen, politician Sally Lieber, Google GOOG executives Susan Wojcicki and Megan Smith, Intel CIO Diane Bryant, and women at Apple , eBay , Cisco , Palm (PALM), and even Wal-Mart …plus lawyers and judges, chefs, government employees, and all sorts of entrepreneurs. Before Susan arrived, she asked me to sign her up for the gym, as she feared having too much free time and being bored. The only time she went to the gym was at 6 a.m. one day. She was anything but “bored.” Susan arrived into the U.S. with a passion for what she could do for her community and left with the passion for exploring what her community could do for her. In the one year since her return, she has called on the community in Silicon Valley to buy a bus for her children so that they can safely travel to school. We collected $43,800 for Susan, and she bought her bus. Susan, encouraged by her mentors here, also called on the women in her village to start a sewing project to make garments for her children. They sell some of these garments into the community, helping to raise money for her organization. Also, Susan’s orphan children are now operating a bakery, as she recently explained in a post on Facebook (one of the Valley’s resident startups). So, I raise a glass to Susan and all those who are part of the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. This year, I’m co-mentoring a woman from Haiti named Gaelle Pierre. Gaelle co-owns GaMa Consulting in Port-au-Prince. Her firm provides offsite consulting in the ICT sector. Gaelle also founded the Foundation ETRE Ayisyen (“Be Haitian”), which empowers children and young adults to become entrepreneurs. If that’s not enough, Gaëlle has started a Cactus business making liquor and jam. She’s remarkable. Google’s Susan Wojcicki and Megan Smith, who are officially my co-mentors, are learning a lot about Gaelle’s world, as she learns about technology and business-building in ours. But the real prize here is the community mentoring. We have 50 or so mentors again—on the bus, and it’s a great ride. As a member the firm’s seven-person Management Committee, Principal Katherine Kelly Lutton manages the county’s largest Intellectual Property law firm. As the firm’s Global Head of Litigation, she manages the firm’s largest practice group of 260 lawyers in 11 offices worldwide. Before joining Fish & Richardson, Lutton had a very different life as a systems and software design engineer at General Electric GE . She graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Binghamton University and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University. She earned her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She lives in Menlo Park, California with her husband and their two children, Liam and Trey. In her spare time, Lutton runs marathons.

Guest Post by Katherine Kelly Lutton, Principal and Global Head of Litigation, Fish & Richardson PC At last week's Fortune Most Powerful Women dinner in Washington, I found myself sandwiched between CNN National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin and Jane Roberts, former litigator and law firm leader and wife of Chief Justice John Roberts. Jessica and Jane,…

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/08/10/social-security-surplus-dwarfed-future-deficit/8DnaKpY55ZYR6saaPfrNIP/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140901080005id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/08/10/social-security-surplus-dwarfed-future-deficit/8DnaKpY55ZYR6saaPfrNIP/story.html

Social Security surplus dwarfed by future deficit

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WASHINGTON — As millions of baby boomers flood Social Security with applications for benefits, the program’s $2.7 trillion surplus is starting to look small. For nearly three decades Social Security produced big surpluses, collecting more in taxes from workers than it paid in benefits to retirees. The surpluses also helped mask the size of the budget deficit being generated by the rest of the federal government. Since 2010, Social Security has been paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes, adding to the urgency for Congress to address the program’s long-term finances. ‘‘To me, urgent doesn’t begin to describe it,’’ said Chuck Blahous, one of the public trustees who oversee Social Security. ‘‘I would say we’re somewhere between critical and too late to deal with it.’’ The Social Security trustees project the surplus will be gone in 2033. Unless Congress acts, Social Security would only collect enough tax revenue each year to pay about 75 percent of benefits, triggering an automatic reduction. Lawmakers from both political parties say they want to avoid such a dramatic benefit cut for people who have retired and might not have the means to make up the lost income. Still, that scenario is more than two decades away, which is why many in Congress are willing to put off changes. The projected shortfall in 2033 is $623 billion, according to the trustees’ latest report. It reaches $1 trillion in 2045 and nearly $7 trillion in 2086, the end of a 75-year period used by Social Security’s number crunchers because it covers the retirement years of just about everyone working today. Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue said he is frustrated that little has been done to solve a problem that is only going to get harder to fix as 2033 approaches. If changes are done soon, they can be spread out over time, perhaps sparing current retirees while giving workers time to increase their savings. Social Security’s finances are being hit by a wave of demographics as aging baby boomers reach retirement, leaving relatively fewer workers behind to pay into the system. In 1960, there were 4.9 workers paying Social Security taxes for each person getting benefits. Today, there are about 2.8 workers for each beneficiary, a ratio that will drop to 1.9 workers by 2035, according to projections by the Congressional Budget Office. About 56 million people collect Social Security benefits, and that is projected to grow to 91 million in 2035. Monthly benefits average $1,235 for retired workers and $1,111 for disabled workers.

As millions of baby boomers flood Social Security with applications for benefits, the program’s $2.7 trillion surplus is starting to look small. For nearly three decades Social Security produced big surpluses, collecting more in taxes from workers than it paid in benefits to retirees. The surpluses also helped mask the size of the budget deficit being generated by the rest of the federal government. Those days are over.

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http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/08/31/21/01/putin-wants-east-ukraine-statehood-talks

http://web.archive.org/web/20140902180940id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2014/08/31/21/01/putin-wants-east-ukraine-statehood-talks

Putin wants east Ukraine 'statehood' talks

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Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Getty) President Vladimir Putin has dramatically raised the stakes in the Ukraine conflict by calling for the first time for statehood to be considered for the restive east of the former Soviet state. "We need to immediately begin substantive talks ... on questions of the political organisation of society and statehood for southeastern Ukraine with the goal of protecting the lawful interests of the people who live there," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on a TV show broadcast in the far east of the country. Russia has previously only called for greater rights under a decentralised federal system to be accorded to the eastern regions of Ukraine, where predominantly Russian-speakers live. In the program, taped on Friday, Putin did not directly address additional Western sanctions on Russia. Putin however blamed the crisis in Ukraine on the West, accusing it of supporting a "coup" against pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych in February. "They should have known that Russia cannot stand aside when people are being shot almost at point-blank," said Putin, adding that he did not have in mind "the Russian state but the Russian people." Putin has denied that Moscow has sent regular troops to fight in Ukraine, but pro-Russian rebels have said that many Russian soldiers have volunteered while "on vacation". Do you have any news photos or videos?

Russian President Vladimir Putin says talks are needed on statehood to be considered for the restive east Ukraine region.

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http://fortune.com/2013/08/19/5-big-rumors-about-apples-september-event/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140909023904id_/http://fortune.com:80/2013/08/19/5-big-rumors-about-apples-september-event/

5 big rumors about Apple’s September event

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FORTUNE — Fall holds different meanings for different people, but for many technorati, this September will likely see the unveiling of another all-new iPhone. Indeed, next month’s news may prove more newsworthy than years past if some of the speculation is right. Will Apple AAPL finally introduce a new, cheaper iPhone? Could the high-end model sport fingerprint-sensing technology? What else is in store? Until Apple’s reported September 10 event, we’ll have to content ourselves with the rumors. Here’s a roundup of what the blogosphere is currently salivating over: Truth or misguided gossip? Analysts, pundits, and blogs have long talked about a new, “cheap” — largely dubbed in the press as the iPhone 5C — iPhone for over a year now. Last January, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White told Fortune that there’s substantial market opportunity abroad in China for such a product, where the average consumer doesn’t have as large a discretionary income. More recently, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster suggested such a device would replace the older 4S model and possibly exclude software features like the voice-activated assistant Siri. When Apple acquired fingerprint-sensor maker AuthenTec Inc. for $350 million last year, some wondered how such technology could find its way into iPhones, iPads and the like. KGI Securities argues the new high-end iPhone — let’s just call it the iPhone 5S — will integrate a sensor allowing users to potentially log in by simply pressing a finger to the screen. A security feature like that would prove even quicker, easier, and more secure than the current method of inputting a four-digit code. Once in a while, Apple likes to get colorful. (Look no further than today’s iPod Touch or iPod nano as proof.) The buzz around the crop of iPhones is that they may come in flavors other than black and white, which let’s face it, aren’t even technically colors, according to scientists. The 5C could come in an array of hues not unlike the Touch or nano; the 5S could expand to models with a gold frame. When Apple announced the iPhone 5 last fall, Jony Ive, senior vice president of design, explained why 4 inches was a sweet spot: “By making the screen taller, but not wider, you can see more of your content but still comfortably use it with one hand.” But as devices from competitors bear out, there’s a large swath of users who prefer their smartphones screens even larger . To wit, although sales of Samsung’s 5-inch Galaxy S4 are lower than analysts expected, the company still sold 10 million units within a month of launch. In Apple’s case, reports claim the new iPhone — or at least one iPhone — may sport a screen between 4.5- to 5-inches. Some bloggers are calling for the end of the iPod Touch entirely, but more likely than not, Apple won’t kill its iPhone-like music player any time soon. This May, Apple reported it had sold 100 million units since the Touch hit the market in late 2007. Clearly, demand for the device is still there, so chances are Apple will introduce a new Touch with slightly-beefed up parts inside, keeping in lockstep with the company’s oft-held tradition of tossing in a Jobs-ian “one more thing” toward the end.

A highly anticipated fall announcement from Apple could bring some of the long-awaited upgrades that fans and investors have been calling for.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/aug/23/architecture.artsfeatures

http://web.archive.org/web/20140909180424id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/aug/23/architecture.artsfeatures

Millbank's office politics | Art and design | The Guardian

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Peter Mandelson must have loved the smell of Millbank on the morning of May 2 1997. A heady mix of diesel fumes, brake dust and the breeze along the Thames, maybe, but to the new government's chief spin doctor, it would have smelt like... victory. The Labour party - New Labour - had been returned to power, after 18 cold years, with a majority of 179. "Operation Victory", Labour's pugnacious election campaign, had been fought and spun as much in the party's new headquarters, a floor in Millbank Tower - a shiny, Grade II listed 60s skyscraper overlooking the Tate Gallery on one side, the Palace of Westminster on the other - as it had been on hustings and in the press. Today, with a rent rise looming (up from £300,000 to £900,000 a year), the party's deficit rising, membership falling and a new office close to the Houses of Parliament to move into over the Bank Holiday weekend, Labour is ditching Millbank. In five intense years, its Thamesside HQ has served its purpose well: a machine for making Labour electable and capable of government. A decade earlier, the squabbling party had seemed all but washed-up and incapable of winning. "Those were the days of Walworth Road," says Mandelson, of Labour's former headquarters housed in a rabbit-warren of historic buildings in the shadowlands of Elephant & Castle in south-east London. "I first went there as director of campaigns and communications in 1985. I was sat down in a wobbly, revolving chair at a three-legged desk with a spider plant and a second world war-style phone. The place was dominated by the policy department, which specialised in mass-producing election-losing policies. I'd been there about six months when I came across an office I'd never noticed before. It was, I learned, a part of my department. Inside, I met a chap who said he was the 'sign-writer'. He painted very nice signs, but said it wasn't really a full-time job; so, he ran a small import-export business from the office on the side... believe me, we really did have to modernise, there and then, or melt down completely." All of which explains the move to Millbank. Millbank Tower - originally Vickers Tower - was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners and completed in 1963. It was everything the Labour party offices on Walworth Road in the early 1990s were not: tall, gleaming, sleek, modern, aloof and close to the heart of power. Its 32 storeys were topped with a plethora of communications equipment. It was long a favourite location for filming episodes of Dr Who. Millbank Tower owes nothing to the history of the street it rises from, nor to local architectural styles. It might have been equally at home rising above the streetscapes of Frankfurt or Brussels. A clean break with history, it was, at 387ft high, one of the very first buildings in London to rise higher than St Paul's; an overt symbol of a newly confident free-market economy and one that went, hand in slippery hand, with the removal of historic planning controls. Its architects, like those of other early London skyscrapers, made a splash with this one big gesture and then appear to have vanished into obscurity. Their one major earlier work was the slick, 260ft high St George's House, Croydon, the refurbished UK headquarters of Nestle today. Buildings such as Millbank Tower and its contemporary, Euston Tower, were meant to be domineering, yet at the same time all but anonymous command posts of both the embyronic computer age and of burgeoning global capitalism. It was almost waiting for New Labour to come its way. Rising from the glazed lobby, lifts gave access to floors lined for the most part with neat rows of cellular offices. When New Labour moved in, office partitions were stripped away. The new headquarters - a cool, simply designed space - was to be open-plan. Not only could everyone communicate with one another easily, everyone could be watched. This was a perfect home for anyone who wished to control and dominate. Within months, Millbank was known as the centre of government spin and control. MPs were paged from the new command centre; the whole party, electronically tagged, was on-message, on-line. After his victory in the 1964 general election, Harold Wilson had moved the new National Economic Development Council, an alliance of government, business, unions and academia, into the tower. They conspired here to launch Britain into the era of what Wilson and his postmaster general, Anthony Wedgewood Benn, liked to call white-hot technology, and to plan and control its economy. Curiously, it was at this time that the government, and its enemies within MI5 and elsewhere, became obsessed with conspiracies and spies. Perhaps appropriately, Millbank Tower had opened as From Russia With Love premiered in the West End. Even today, the high-security building - you need your passport to visit several organisations here - is occupied with outfits which sound like fronts for some sinister secret service. Take your pick from: the Judicial Studies Board, Command Software Systems Inc (Europe) or Technology Colleges Trust. Was that John Steed you saw shimmering into the lift? This image appeals to the many journalists who have depicted Mandelson's Millbank as the dark, furtive and controlling heart of New Labour. For political correspondents such as BBC's Nick Jones, author of The Control Freaks, "the very word Millbank has come to mean a sinister place". "Journalists have never been welcome here," says Jones. "I've long liked to imagine Mandelson in a dark cloak in Millbank at night, spinning the mystery of the New Labour message, teaching his baby vampires the dark political arts of control and manipulation of news, before they fly off, gorged, to lucrative roosts in political consultancies, media companies and public relations. All the Charlie Whelans, Dolly Drapers and Jo Moores of a world in which the blood of media and politics mingles unhealthily." Jones is teasing - up to a point. Yet the word Millbank struck fear in Londoners' hearts long before politics' Prince of Darkness came here to spin and foil his opponents. The Millbank Penitentiary, based crudely on the reformist ideals of the political philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, brooded here from 1821 to 1903. In the 19th century, Millbank spelt control, surveillance and locked doors. It did again, for journalists at least, at the end of the 20th century. Deep inside Millbank Tower, so the legend went, whirred the mighty Excalibur, a computer possibly even nastier than Hal, dark star of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Excalibur was an intelligence gatherering machine that kept tabs on national and international news. In the mythical world of Millbank, Mandelson presided over this evil engine like the Wizard of Oz. Attended by 10 hand-picked acolytes, Excalibur was the machine by which he would turn Tony Blair into Britain's first, all-seeing, all-knowing president. "What a lot of tosh," says Mandelson. "Excalibur was a news gathering program. We live in a world hungry for news; Excalibur was a database of tens of thousands of press cuttings. Since McLuhan, we've all known that the media is the message, and the massage. In the lead-up to the 1997 election, we needed to be acutely aware of what was going on, what was being said. We had to sharpen our act, and we did. All the talk of skullduggery is plain silly." "The press found it hard to believe we had become so good at our jobs", says David Hill, Labour's chief media spokesman from 1993 to 98, and now a director of Good Relations, a London-based PR firm. "Some of them wanted to believe that we'd invested in some sort of all-intrusive machine, something from a James Bond film. The turning point for us was in November 1996. The Tories issued a report in the morning, putting a blow-by-blow cost on the likely spending plans of a future Labour government; by 6pm, we were able to issue a rebuttal, a counter-report, that proved them wrong on every one of 80 or 90 points. We couldn't have done that without an enormous amount of readily get-attable material; that's what Excalibur was all about. There was no mystery, just hard work, speed and the kind of professionalism that was new to European politics." Even so, Millbank's talk of an "Opposition Watch", of an "Attack/Rebuttal Task Force", of a "Media Monitoring Unit", and even a campaign "war room" for 1997's Operation Victory, and of the very real bullying of journalists that went on in the first two or three years of Blair's government, gave the place a special, gargoyled nook in the annals of British political history. "Realistically, you have to see where we were coming from," says Mandelson. "I remember attending a transport policy sub-committee meeting of the National Executive Committee of the TUC at Transport House, the Labour party HQ before the Walworth Road rabbit-warren. This was in the 70s. I was working as an assistant in the economics department of the TUC. Bill Rogers, the secretary of state responsible for transport at the time, was pushing an innovative proposal for road-rail freight interchanges. The door flew open. In came Jack Jones and three other trade union officials. They sat down. Jones said they took exception to the policy. They didn't want it. And here's the extraordinary thing; when challenged, Jones said: 'We're the landlords here; we want it off the agenda.' This was a defining moment in my politics. The Labour party had long shared premises with the unions, but surely the relationship between them had got too close for comfort?" Although the party's next home, Walworth Road, was the backdrop to the epic struggle between the modernisers and the old left, it never evoked as clear an image, or political style, as its successor. Remarkably, the irony that Millbank Tower just happens to stand on the site of the house Tony Benn was born in passed most of the apparatchiks by. "I think it [Millbank] was very good in its time," said David Triesman, General Secretary of the Labour Party, talking to BBC Radio Four's The Westminster Hour earlier this week. "It was a good place to organise. It was physically the right environment, but I think that it's true that it's now become lumbered with a good deal of history and mythology. And I will be quite glad [to move]." The new headquarters - low-key, low-rise refurbished modern offices in Old Queen Street in the heart of Westminster - will, says Triesman, "symbolise a new openness". The building will be nameless, working through the night, yes, yet spinning a little more gently, a little less shrilly than its over-spun and myth-engulfed predecessor. As for Millbank itself, the traffic fumes and the breeze along the Thames will still be there. So, too, the mysterious organisations that toil and spin in the stainless-steel tower. But, of the early days of New Labour, not a trace. Not so much as the electronic squeak of a pager on the belt of a tagged and gagged member of parliament.

As the Labour party moves out of Millbank, Jonathan Glancey assesses the building that defined an era.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/dec/09/20yearsoftheturnerprize.turnerprize1

http://web.archive.org/web/20140910093137id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/dec/09/20yearsoftheturnerprize.turnerprize1

Comment: Adrian Searle on Keith Tyson winning the 2002 prize

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Will the prize go out with a bang, or will the lights flicker on once more as another deal comes forward? And will yet another quartet of artists set themselves up, or will they run and hide, joining the throng of contenders who turn down the chance to be parodied, mocked and misrepresented? The Turner Prize is a big deal in Britain, but winning it has less impact on an artist's career than might be supposed. For Tyson, the inclusion of his work in the international section of the last Venice Biennale was surely more significant than last night's award. Only the money counts. With every year, the prize becomes more meaningless. Art is not like novel writing here, not everyone is speaking the same language. For all that, Tyson's work can be appreciated on many levels: it is often funny and calls up big issues. It manages, paradoxically, to be highly accessible yet incomprehensible: why is that toaster under the table, and why is it plugged in to the exploded rear end of a Trafalgar Square lion? Maybe the prize is a bribe, so Tyson will tell.Such obscure motives are part of his play with meaning. Tyson's art, clearly, beguiles people. They stand and laugh and scratch their heads. They smile at his drawings, and brows furrow over his sculptures, and that black meta-computer of his which belongs somewhere between the portentous black monolith in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 and Rodin's Thinker. Tyson's conceptually inventive and quirky games - like watching Douglas Adams meet Marcel Duchamp over chess- leave me a bit cold. I find the profligacy of his art wearying. I would have liked Fiona Banner to win the prize, and not just because only two women have won since the Turner Prize 's 1984 inception. This anomaly goes beyond the laws of chance - though the twisted logic of Tyson's painted machines might come up with an equation which can prove otherwise. The real twister is that the judges can never get it wrong, because there is no right.

Keith Tyson has won the Turner Prize . My first reaction is to feel relief that we can now drop the whole thing until next year, when Channel 4's sponsorship deal comes to an end

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/oct/14/paintings-first-actresses-national-portrait-gallery

http://web.archive.org/web/20140911103110id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/oct/14/paintings-first-actresses-national-portrait-gallery

Rouges gallery: paintings put first actresses in the spotlight

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Is it any wonder actresses are neurotic about their appearance? If anyone ever doubted the sexist scrutiny they are up against, Michael Parkinson's 1975 interview with Helen Mirren (a YouTube sensation) is a sobering reminder. "Critics spend as much time discussing her physical attributes as assessing her acting ability," says Parky, by way of introduction for the "sex queen" of the RSC, that byword for "sluttish eroticism". Nor does he seem much interested in Mirren's acting, either. "You are, in quotes, a 'serious actress'; do you find what might best be described as your equipment hinders you in that pursuit?" You can understand why many women on stage and screen prefer the title "actor" – as an assertion of their professionalism and to fend off the prurient personal remarks the "actress" has suffered since she first trod the boards in the 1660s. The emergence of the actress on the Restoration stage was revolutionary. As every pupil of Shakespeare knows, it was men in drag who took the ladies' parts before. Imagine the frisson, then, when Nell Gwyn first showed herself aged 14 to a packed house at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1664. This unprecedented female exhibition provoked salacious frenzy, which theatre companies hoped to harness to their profit. The showcasing of beauties in "breeches roles" exploded ideas of decorum. Actresses welcomed the chance to demonstrate the virtuosity demanded by parts such as Viola and Rosalind. But the display of their shapely legs was condemned as an exercise in "brazenness" which confirmed the shameless immodesty and sexual availability of the actress. That both theatre-land and prostitution had their metropolis in Covent Garden was not lost on the press. From the first, the "actress" of popular imagination was a shimmering mixture of whore, coquette, talent and celebrity. Nell Gwyn, still one of history's most famous Englishwomen, might justly claim to be the original female celebrity. Born in obscurity, barely literate and no conventional beauty (red headed and hazel eyed), Gwyn was as celebrated for her ready wit as her legs – which she revealed even when cast as an angel in The Virgin Mary. Within months of her debut, Nell was known to the public by her first name. In becoming mistress to Charles II, but never hoity toity, she became the people's Cinderella, and a Protestant one at that. "Nell" was both star and brand. A new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, The First Actresses: Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons, investigates the concept of the "actress" in all its troubling contradictions. The artists include Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hoppner, Lawrence, Zoffany and Gillray. The exhibition is the brainchild of Gill Perry. When she was writing her book Spectacular Flirtations: Viewing the Actress in Eighteenth Century Art and Culture, she realised that the NPG had an exceptional collection of early actress portraits – "And not only that they are in Covent Garden," she says. The idea appealed to Lucy Peltz, the NPG's curator of 18th-century portraits, because this "will be the first show to explore the importance of women in early English theatre, through portraiture, highlighting themes that are close to the Gallery's heart – gender, identity, representation and the history of celebrity culture." The first actresses benefited from an emerging publicity machine that anticipated aspects of the modern star system. The explosion of print after the relaxation of censorship in the 1690s spawned theatre reviews, gossip columns and puffs, as well as adoring and salacious biographies. The burgeoning art market served their image too. Fans could gaze on their idols in glowing portraits in popular exhibitions and mass-produced prints. They could even take home a model of their favourite in porcelain (Kitty Clive as Mrs Riot or Sarah Siddons as Lady Macbeth) or a transfer printed on snuffbox, fan or screen. Portraits of actresses were always crowd-pleasers at the Royal Academy, hanging next to the flower of the nobility – a juxtaposition that inflated the prestige of the performing arts. The actress was usually depicted in full theatrical make-up and flamboyant costume, posed seductively to beguile the viewer. "Portraiture is always a form of dazzling performance, not a mirror image," Perry points out. But the audience conflated the painted lady with the real woman, and the actress with her role. The canniest performers stage-managed their public appearances to enhance their reputations. Mary "Perdita" Robinson used her well-reported outings in "her chariot" to advertise her versatility. As Laetitia Hawkins wrote in her diary: "Today she was a paysanne, with her straw hat tied at the back of her head … yesterday she perhaps had been dressed as a belle of Hyde Park, trimmed, powdered, patched, painted to the utmost powder of rouge and white lead; tomorrow she would be the cravatted Amazon of the riding house." Artists, critics and dramatists were as interested in the public persona and desirability of the actress as in her acting. Even singing and dancing were described as theatrical flirtation and coquetry. But women were not passive victims of the new cultural marketplace. They constituted an opinionated section of the audience for plays, as for opera, concerts, assemblies and exhibitions. Meanwhile the first female journalists, novelists and playwrights managed to live by their pens. Many actresses including Susanne Centlivre, Charlotte Charke, Kitty Clive, Eliza Haywood, Elizabeth Inchbald, Susanna Rowson, Siddons and Robinson enjoyed a second career as playwrights and authors, some deliberately writing challenging roles for women. Others like Lavinia Fenton, Elizabeth Farren, Frances Abington and Dorothy Jordan used their charisma to scale the social ladder. Their leap "from gutter to royal mistress or aristocratic wife might surprise the Hello! generation", Peltz says. The skill with which actresses managed and manipulated their public reputations is striking. Clive, for instance, was a separated wife, who shone in breeches parts, comedy and oratorio, attracting numerous admirers. By 1744, she enjoyed a salary of £300 a year – twice the annual income of the director of the British Museum. She shrewdly maintained a reputation for chastity. At her death, Horace Walpole sniffed: "The comic muse with her retired. And shed a tear when she expired." Critics lingered over Siddons's perfection of form. "Her height is above the middle size, but not at all inclined to em-bon-point. There is sufficient muscle to bestow a roundness upon the limbs. The symmetry of her person is exact and captivating." But Siddons conveyed the impression she was above such tosh. She harped on her love for her children and vaunted her aristocratic contacts, carrying herself with regal dignity. This air of moral rectitude and personal nobility leant credence to her tragic performances and informed the grandiloquence of her portrait by Reynolds. However, as Perry acknowledges, the "construction of the actress as a celebrity brand was a fickle process". A reputation could be as easily demolished as made in print, especially by dredging up a scurrilous sexual history. Being a lofty vehicle of erotic fantasy was one thing, a whorish backstory was quite another. No wonder so many actresses turned to autobiography or commissioned self-portraits to frame their own story. "Artists – even in satirical prints – paid less notice to the breasts of actresses than critics did," comments Shearer West in her essay on beauty in the catalogue. Jordan's "bosom concealed everything but its own charms", frothed one reviewer. Commentary on the appearance of actresses was not always positive. Beautiful females were supposed to be symmetrical, irrespective of the demands of the role, and performers could be castigated for being either to fat or too thin. Farren, a comedienne, was mocked for her flat chest and bottom. Most actresses had no choice but to soldier on through heavy pregnancy and inevitably feared for their livelihood when they could no longer convince as pert ingénues. When Garrick was urged to restage The Jealous Wife for Hannah Pritchard (then aged 57) he recoiled at her "great Bubbies, Nodding head & no teeth – O Sick – Sick – Spew". When modern critics rate a female performance on whether it's theatrical Viagra or doubt that a woman is thin enough to play Juliet, they invoke a long and dishonourable tradition. "Modern actors should see the first actresses as trailblazers, fighting prejudice and innuendo," Perry concludes. Certainly women today might take comfort that so many of their forebears managed to seize the public relations initiative and shape the culture that so objectified them.

An obsession with the looks and love lives of actresses is nothing new, as an exhibition of portraits of the first women on the stage makes clear

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/dec/09/photography

http://web.archive.org/web/20140912175339id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/dec/09/photography

Gerhard Richter: Atlas, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London

20140912175339

A lexicon of passing clouds, veiled suns and reflections on water. Early-1960s newspaper photos of murdered student nurses, which once ended up in a Gerhard Richter painting. A family snap of Uncle Rudi, proud in his army uniform; crinkle-edged postcards and pictures from other people's family albums. Mountains and aerial views of cities, and similarly hovering views of towns that exist only as architects' models. Portraits of famous dead men, of Hitler at dinner, of Mao like a babyish, grey, blurred blob. Flowers, some wilting. This is an image-hoard. Shown for the first time in Britain, Richter's Atlas fills the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London. There is also a small selection of Richter's paintings. Dispersed through the gallery, they pace Atlas, just as Atlas paces the development, and the subjects, of Richter's painting in all its variety and modes. It goes on: country lanes winding between cornfields, corpses piled in the road with vultures waiting. Mothers and babies and a food-spattered toddler trapped in his high chair. Innocent things: a toilet roll dangling in cool morning light, an acrobat diving, stags at bay. And guilty things: two women doing something with a cucumber, a man doing something to another woman with a length of pipe, a woman sucking a man's penis, a Nazi hanging a boy who has something almost like a smile on his face. Humiliated Jews, the camps. Emaciated victims in the hut, touched up with vivid happy colours. Photos of trains going by near the artist's studio in Cologne. Is it now possible, in Europe, to watch trains without thinking where the lines once led? Is it possible to look at so many images - whether mundane, or titillating and pornographic, or inhuman and horrific and filled with despair - without becoming aware of just how much we like to look, that looking drives us where it will, that we keep on looking? Atlas is an ever-growing bank of images, encyclopedic, compendious. Many of the photographs were taken by Richter himself, while others are re-photographed images whose origins slip away the more they have been reproduced. Arrays of standard processed snapshots - ordinary, inartistic photographic information that could have come from anywhere - have found their way into this vast cache, including close-up details of the artist's own brushwork and pictures of his children and grandchildren. The anonymous and universal vie with the personal and sentimental. Most images that have found a place here never migrate beyond it. Stalled images, then: some suspended in groups and others lain out singly, all behind glass in identically sized frames, then ordered and presented in juxtapositions that, the artist has remarked, are sometimes "weird and seemingly cynical". Some groups contain material collected as a resource for specific paintings. At one point Richter, obsessed with Caspar David Friedrich's painting of a ship mired in a frozen sea, travelled to the pack ice and icebergs off Greenland and took numerous photographs there. These colour works are now presented in a huge block of images that fills a wall of the smaller upstairs gallery at the Whitechapel. Other groups stand out, such as the magazine photographs and police archive documentation related to the lives, imprisonment and mysterious deaths of the Red Army Faction in jail, for Richter's most important ensemble of works, titled October 18 1977. Certain images erupt from the wall as we scan. There are stories here, chains of coincidence, runs of images like repetitive thoughts that won't go away. Atlas has been presented in exhibitions around the world since 1972, although Richter began to compile and order his stockpile a decade before, soon after his move to the west when he was 30. He has continued to add to his Atlas to this day. It has been in a work in progress for more than 40 years, its origins lying not so much in his art as in a job he once had as a darkroom assistant to a commercial photographer. Richter is one of the world's leading painters, if not the most impressive painter working today. He is also a somewhat bewildering artist, in that his work ranges from portraiture to thickly worked, agglutinative abstract paintings, from intractable monochromes to softly focused, photographically derived landscapes. Always preoccupied with questions of subject matter, and of manner and genre, Richter has continually asked himself the most basic and fundamental questions an artist, working alone in his studio, can ask: questions of what to paint as much as how to paint. These, one might say, are the first things an artist might ask right at the beginning of a career. They are the questions a child often asks: what shall I paint, what shall I draw? That the artist, now in his 70s, is still faced with what I regard as an existential as well as a creative problem is one of the keys to his art, as well as being its submerged subject. Born in Dresden in 1932, Richter moved to West Germany only months before the erection of the Berlin Wall. His formative years were spent under not one but two totalitarian regimes, National Socialism and East German communism. He came from what he has described as a pious family. Moving to Düsseldorf in 1961, he found himself in a Germany preoccupied with forgetting, or, perhaps more precisely, repressing its own recent past, suspended in a state of moral ambiguity. All of which has led Richter to distrust ideologies, and to make an art that is the product of doubt and ambiguity - that also defines what artistic freedom he sees himself as having. It is worth adding that Richter's art is extraordinarily tough-minded. What Atlas shows us, cumulatively, is an entire world of images, some of which Richter regards as unpaintable. A dozen years ago, Neil Ascherson wrote: "Richter's sensibility, although it is in many ways carefully unpolitical, is a product of this endlessly idealistic, endlessly disillusioned Germany." The key word is Ascherson's repeated "endlessly". Images, too, are without end. Walking among the banked grids of Atlas, one has a growing sense of their proliferation, of Richter's logic and also of the randomness and multiplicity of the world, its intractability. But there is also a growing sense of Richter brooding, brooding over the images that have made their way into Atlas. It is a dark undercurrent in his art. Richter's fellow East German and contemporary, Sigmar Polke, seems to me to evince the opposite in his art, a kind of hysteria. Ascherson also wrote of what some people saw as Richter's inner coldness and indifference. For all the hot colour in certain Richters - his sunny landscapes, his broken-textured, scraped-over abstract paintings, his colour charts - there is something one might describe as a chill, an inner greyness. And, ultimately, Atlas might seem to be a product of indifference. Or is it that photographs themselves provoke indifference? What appears as Richter's distance - a wariness and inconclusiveness, a blurring and shadowiness in his portraiture, his cityscapes and still lives - can also be read as a kind of terrible doubt, which goes beyond painting itself, and beyond his painting's frequently close relationship to photography. Richter once said: "The image of the artist as a misunderstood figure is abhorrent to me... I'm increasingly in favour of the official, the classic, the universal." This I take as a kind of provocation. To those who cling, however naively, blindly or idealistically, to an idea of an avant-garde pitched against the "official" and the "classic", this is anathema. In some quarters Richter has come to be regarded as a pompier painter, a bourgeois salon painter for the kind of society that a more "committed" art should be pitted against. But Richter has always been too complex a painter, and a thinker, to fit so simplistic a view. What Atlas shows us (and what his greatest work, the Baader-Meinhof October 18 paintings, also shows us) is an artist committed not to his own aggrandisement or to bolstering society, but pitted, rather, against indifference, and against the numbness of the world. He is also, in a certain way, fiercely mistrustful of images and what they convey. Some photographs, especially those of the Holocaust, are irreducible, and perhaps unpaintable in themselves. He keeps picking them up and putting them down again. You can tell he is in there, thinking them through and unable to think about them. When we look at them, we do the same. And do our own brooding. · Gerhard Richter: Atlas is at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London E1, until March 14. Details: 020-7522 7888.

Gerhard Richter has spent 40 years amassing photographs that shock, chill and amuse. Adrian Searle sees a remarkable collection.

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http://fortune.com/2010/10/29/crowd-sourcing-your-investment-portfolio-with-quovo/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140915162926id_/http://fortune.com/2010/10/29/crowd-sourcing-your-investment-portfolio-with-quovo/

Crowd-sourcing your investment portfolio with Quovo

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From the wreckage of Lehman Bros., a young, pedigreed banker has a new take on using the wisdom of the crowds to help users make wise investment decisions. As Lehman Brothers slid towards its demise in the summer of 2008, many of the investment bank’s younger staffers found themselves with time on their hands. One banker, Lowell Putnam, says his team passed the hours by working on their personal portfolios and sharing investment theses. The collaborative experience, he says, was a blast — and he wondered if he could expand it beyond the trading floor. When Putnam was laid off a few months later, he decided to pursue that inkling of an idea. The result is a website called Quovo, whose name combines the words “quote” — as in stock quote — and “vote.” The site, which is currently only open to users on a selective basis, is a registered investment advisor that picks securities for separately managed accounts by polling its user base. Every week, the team puts new stock and market trend ideas up to a vote, and then makes purchases for the accounts based on the results. Putnam, now 28, created Quovo with the help of a former Harvard classmate, Niko Karvounis, and Michael Del Monte, a programmer. They’ve financed the site by friends and family, and they plan to fully open it to the public by the beginning of next year. Quovo is built on the idea that wisdom of the crowds can generate better investing ideas — but it isn’t a democracy. Some people’s votes count more than others, depending on how they’ve actually performed on real world investments (and, to a lesser degree, by their responses to polls about investment choices). Like the personal finance site Mint.com, Quovo can access its users’ brokerage accounts on a read-only basis to give them “IQs,” which also weigh the users’ response to polls. Continue reading on Fortune Finance

From the wreckage of Lehman Bros., a young, pedigreed banker has a new take on using the wisdom of the crowds to help users make wise investment decisions. By Mina Kimes, writer As Lehman Brothers slid towards its demise in the summer of 2008, many of the investment bank’s younger staffers found themselves with time on their…

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http://www.people.com/article/inside-cheyenne-jackson-jason-landau-wedding

http://web.archive.org/web/20140916081747id_/http://www.people.com/article/inside-cheyenne-jackson-jason-landau-wedding

Inside Cheyenne Jackson's Dream Wedding

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Jason Landau and Cheyenne Jackson 09/15/2014 AT 05:05 PM EDT Talk about a night to remember. is still on Cloud 9 after with boyfriend Jason Landau on Saturday evening. "There was so much love coming at us," Jackson, 39, tells PEOPLE. "We're both just love hungover." Set atop the converted tennis court of a friend's lavish estate in Encino, California, the ceremony and reception scene melded nature with glam elements. "I grew up in the woods with no running water and outhouses, so I wanted the woodsy look. Jason wanted glitz," says Jackson. To outfit the space, 1540 Productions brought in 20 trees and 100 chandeliers. What they hadn't planned for were the bluebirds who chirped overhead as the grooms exchanged vows beneath a "At first I thought they were bats!" says Jackson. "But it was just perfect." Following an emotional ceremony – "I lost it as soon as Jason came around the corner with his mom. I cried throughout the whole thing," says Jackson– the two grooms took to the dance floor and put on a show. After dancing to a cover of Fleetwood Mack's Song Bird by Ava Cassidy, "All of a sudden the music changed and Jason and I did a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson's 'PYT,' " gushes the newlywed. "It came out of nowhere, everybody went crazy." From left: Justin Mikita, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Cheyenne Jackson and fashion photographer Karl Simone The dancing didn't stop there. Out of their 200 guests, including friends , "We were the last ones to leave the dance floor." All in all, "It was over the top, but not like the gay wedding in ," Jackson says with a laugh, "It was over the top but in the best way, because it was still us." Now the two, who head off on their honeymoon to Bora Bora this week, can relax and revel in the memories. "All Jason and I wanted to do was create an environment of love," says Jackson, "and that's what happened."

The Glee actor says he's still "love hungover" from his big night

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http://fortune.com/2012/12/03/could-fiscal-cliff-spark-stimulus/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140917040706id_/http://fortune.com:80/2012/12/03/could-fiscal-cliff-spark-stimulus/

Could fiscal cliff spark stimulus?

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FORTUNE — Most everyone believes that America will become recessionary if we fall off the fiscal cliff in 28 days. What has gotten less attention, however, is what might happen were Washington to actually get its act together. I’m not talking about how taxes might rise for some and not for others, or how particular programs might be cut or saved. Instead, I’m simply talking about the notion that a deal — any deal — pass through Congress and get signed by President Obama’s famous pen. Would such an agreement not only prevent recession, but actually prove stimulative? That’s the thesis of Jason Thomas, director of research at private equity firm The Carlyle Group CG . Thomas today published a paper arguing that a credible fiscal cliff resolution would finally prompt corporate America to begin investing its record cash hoards. Even if corporate taxes were to rise. “A lot of CEOs are risk-adverse and part of that is behaving as if it’s going to be the worst-case scenario,” Thomas explained in a phone call. “But if what comes out is even mildly better than they anticipated, then they could begin making investments. It also would give them some confidence that our government has the ability to function.” “Q1-2010 marked the first time in history that corporate profits exceeded business fixed investment. Unlike prior cycles where an increase in corporate profits led to faster investment growth as cash was reinvested in plant and equipment, business investment has increased very modestly since 2009 even as corporate profits have nearly doubled as a percentage of GDP. Were businesses simply to reinvest cash flow at historic rates, fixed investment would add nearly 4% to GDP ($695 billion) by the end of 2016 and more than offset the fiscal drag from reduced disposable personal income.” To be sure, Thomas is largely rehashing the uncertainty argument that I find so asinine. But, if he’s right, then we could be talking about the fiscal cliff representing much more than a six point swing from (nearly) 3% GDP to -3%. Instead, it could be a 10-point swing. Thomas also rejects arguments that America would be better off, in the long-run, by going off the cliff. He believes that the short-term effects could be so damaging that they could change the baseline assumptions going forward. “You have the potential for a real confidence shock, and then there’s the debt limit that’s going to have to be raised,” he says. “If you reach an impasse, the prediction of 3% contraction could be optimistic.” Also worth noting that Thomas’ employer seems to be betting on a deal. The firm committed to invest $4.4 billion of equity in the first three quarters of 2012, almost two-thirds of which was in industrial or manufacturing plays. It also has developed a reputation for being the top bidder in several competitive situations. Part of this activity is prompted by debt market conditions, but those aren’t unique to Carlyle. If the firm believed there was a strong chance of shock recession — and the aforementioned long-term repercussions — then it probably wouldn’t be making so many new deals. Thomas declined to comment on Carlyle’s investment decisions, as he is not a part of them. Here is the entire paper: Sign up for Dan’s daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com

Fixing the fiscal cliff isn't just about avoiding disaster.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/oct/31/art

http://web.archive.org/web/20140917044530id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/oct/31/art

Best of British | Art and design | The Observer

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Coco Chanel, asked to explain the difference between fashion and art, elegantly replied that 'art appreciates in interest and value over time, fashion depreciates.' But art has lately become intensely fashionable. Its current dual status, as sexy but potentially enduring, makes it an immensely valuable tool of communication: cool, but capable of speaking viscerally at deeper levels of meaning. Which is how a group of British artists come to be in Mexico City, putting together a stunning exhibition of installations, video and works on paper. Vast, sprawling and polluted, Mexico is a multi-layered city: ancient, Spanish-colonial, modern. But not, probably, the first place you'd look for a major exhibition of cutting-edge British art. Not where you'd immediately expect to find Martin Boyce from Glasgow, installing his work 'Our Love Is Like the Flowers, the Rain, the Sea and the Hours', with its tree-like structures of fluorescent tubes, screens of metal fencing and shapes recalling half-destroyed park benches, the whole thing reminiscent of a crepuscular public space. Not, either, the first place you'd look for Mark Titchner, the London artist who has explored modernism through wall paintings, banners and billboards. But that would be to reckon without the British Council, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this week, and which has been quietly amassing an impressive collection of modern art for all of that time and showing it around the world. The British Council has sponsored Boyce, Titchner and other British artists to come to the teeming, steaming cacophony of Mexico City. What they achieve here, politically, will not be easily measured: art can only offer a subtle, slow-burn sort of diplomacy. It may be very valuable; we'll almost certainly never know. The British Council's job is to sell Britain around the world by way of culture. This can be an uphill struggle. Recent research by the Council in China, for example, found that among people aged between 25 and 34 who were well educated and had high incomes, only five per cent thought of Britain as a modern country. A British diplomat in Mexico told me that when Mexicans think of Britain, they typically think of beefeaters. As a result, British public diplomacy there is geared to getting across two messages: Britain is hi-tech; and Britain is a modern country. Art may be useful here: no one could argue that British art is not vibrant, intellectually engaged and global in its outlook and ambitions. At the same time, you can't go around telling people what they should find interesting about you. When, three years ago, the British Council approached the Tamayo Museum in Mexico City proposing an exhibition of our art, it was with the idea of sending a major Gilbert and George retrospective. But the Tamayo's director, Ramiro Martinez, didn't want Gilbert and George and he didn't want the YBAs. He wanted to know what was happening in Britain now, and he wanted his museum to be involved in deciding what about that was relevant to Mexico. As a result, the artists who are here installing their works for the opening were jointly selected by Tobias Ostrander, a US-born specialist in Latin American art who works at the Tamayo, and a curator from the British Council, Ann Gallagher. The show they have come up with is not intended to be a summation of where British art is now, even if such a thing were possible; 'rather,' according to Ostrander, 'it's a themed show with British artists.' The theme is the city. Mexico is the biggest city in the world (depending how you measure it) and one of the most dangerous (locals told me the only place riskier was Bogotá). Some of its inhabitants are off-the-scale rich: Mexicans would be well represented in a list of the wealthiest people in the world. Prices are as high as in London. At the same time, it is also extremely poor. This is the capital of a country whose second-largest source of GDP, after oil, is receipts from nationals working abroad, mainly in low-grade jobs in California. Vast areas of the city are dirt-poor. The infrastructure seems unable to take the strain: visitors are advised not to take taxis because the drivers may be in league with kidnappers. Mexico is a thick soup of cultures, often highly sophisticated; 'a city that's exotic for foreigners, where people are acutely aware of its foreignness,' as Martinez says. But it is also a city that provokes passionate attachment: 'People defend their belonging to the city, in a way like they do in New York.' So the artists selected from Britain, with their works on paper, videos and installations, all have something to say about this - about the sensory experience of the city, its smells, noises, and textures, about our relationship with its modernist ambitions and motifs, and about the emotions engendered by living with its artificiality and gritty realities. The show is to be called Sodium and Asphalt, words that, helpfully, are almost identical in English and Spanish. Twelve British artists are showing, although Oliver Payne and Nick Relph, who work together, should perhaps count as one. Six are in Mexico for the opening (David Batchelor, Kathrin Böhm, Martin Boyce, Rosalind Nashashibi, Melanie Smith and Mark Titchner); Jim Lambie and his technician have been and gone. Others will come in a few months, when the show moves north, to Monterrey. Tobias Ostrander visited Britain twice, seeing the studios and galleries of artists who interested him, concentrating in the end on London and Glasgow (the Glaswegian art scene is particularly vital at present; four of the selected artists were from the city). Before starting on the project, he knew the work only of a handful of the artists. 'I knew Richard Wright's work, so when I went to Glasgow I made sure I saw him. I'd seen Jim Lambie's work in New York, and also David Batchelor's; I also knew of David Batchelor as an important writer and teacher.' (Batchelor is the author of an influential, and in this context highly relevant, book about colour, Chromophobia.) 'In Glasgow we saw Rosalind Nashashibi's video, "The State of Things",' Ostrander says. The video features women sorting through old clothes at a jumble sale, and is lingeringly, almost languorously shot. 'We were both drawn to it. That ended up influencing considerably how we thought about the textures of the city - its recycled materials, trash, its slowness.' Ann Gallagher paid reciprocal visits to Mexico City to explore the preoccupations of local artists and identify points of contact. She and Ostrander were in email contact for months, exchanging images and ideas. 'Although this is a show about British artists,' Ostrander says, 'it also questions what it means to be British.' Melanie Smith arrived in Mexico City a decade ago and never left: one local critic told me that as far as the Mexicans were concerned, she was only on loan to Britain for this exhibition. Another of the artists, Kathrin Böhm, is German by birth, although she did postgraduate work at Goldsmiths, lives in Hackney and has an office/studio in Camden. Rosalind Nashashibi, who is based in Glasgow, is half-Palestinian. Nick Relph and Oliver Payne do much of their work in New York. In Albion, one of the best of the small landfill of books and academic papers that has been produced in the last 20 years agonising over what Britain stands for in a globalised, post-Cold War world, Peter Ackroyd argues that 'the power of Anglo-Saxon culture springs in part from absorption and assimilation ... it can be maintained that English art and English literature are formed out of inspired adaptation; like the language, and like the inhabitants of the nation itself, they represent the apotheosis of the mixed style.' One of the most appealing things about the British Council's proselytising on behalf of British culture is its inclusiveness about what our culture might be. When I visited the Council's permanent collection, Andrea Rose, head of visual arts, had told me of her department's eagerness to claim Anish Kapoor for Britain. Kapoor, who arrived in Britain from India at the age of 17, represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1990, a move that kick-started his career; he has maintained a warm relationship with the Council ever since, and donated works to the collection. Only a couple of elements in Sodium and Asphalt are from the British Council's permanent collection: a couple of glittery turntables by Jim Lambie, made from his usual recycled, junk-shop materials, alluding to the club scene in Glasgow, where Lambie was a band member and DJ; and a work on paper by Richard Wright '(not titled 31.3.04)', a faux-wood surface, beautiful in the way of meticulously executed original work, and yet representing something entirely cheap and fake. If Ostrander and Gallagher hadn't wanted so much that was site-specific, they could have put together any number of exhibitions from the permanent collection. The Council mounts an average of 60 shows a year, featuring 4,000 works. A couple of weeks before going out to Mexico, I'd visited the warehouse round the back of a bus garage in Acton, west London, where its store of treasures is housed, to see how the operation works. No sooner was I through the door than I came face to face with a vast yellow and primary-hued piece, 'Diana As An Engine' by Eduardo Paolozzi, which was just back from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tehran and Pakistan. Round the corner I almost tripped over a dizzying Bridget Riley; hanging on the wall beside it was an Antony Gormley sculpture, a huge nude with outstretched arms. I spotted a Grayson Perry pot on a table and a Tracey Emin blanket, which someone said offhandedly was 'probably going to Colombia'. It was all very odd: tucked under the Tube line where it peters out into west London was one of the most extraordinary and least-known collections of modern and contemporary art in this country - 8,000 works, representing every significant artist of the past 60 years, from Henry Moore to Damien Hirst, Lucian Freud to Rachel Whiteread, Bridget Riley to Sarah Lucas. The collection is quintessentially British, but only 10 per cent is ever in this country at any one time. Its role is to be out on the road, in Tehran and Turkmenistan, Bangalore and Mumbai, Bogotá and São Paulo. Co-curated exhibitions such as Sodium and Asphalt are not the norm, although increasingly, many shows involve some reciprocal local involvement - so, for example, a design exhibition that has been touring India this year and is due to travel to Australia early in 2005 has acquired a tour 'appendix' from every country or region visited, exploring the exchange of design ideas to and from the host area and other cultures. Featured artists often give lectures and host workshops: Richard Deacon, Bill Woodrow and Anthony Caro all flew out to a show of 20th-century British Sculpture in Iran this spring and met young Iranian artists, while Michel Muller of the Henry Moore Foundation ran a bronze conservation workshop and Tim Marlow, director of White Cube, and Tate Britain's director Stephen Deuchar both gave lectures. The operation is all the more impressive given the limitations of the British Council's budgets: in practice, there is roughly £100,000 a year available (out of a total grant of £2.2m) to buy new work. This requires that the Council buys cleverly, mainly when artists are young and their influence unproven. One reason the acquisitions policy is so successful is that the Council has a very high-powered advisory committee. Currently chaired by the director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, this includes the directors of the National Gallery, Tate Britain, the V&A, the Whitechapel, the Hayward, the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, the Liverpool Biennial and the Henry Moore Foundation, plus one art critic (Richard Dorment at present) and one artist (currently Richard Wentworth, who also happens to be Master of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Oxford). It meets twice a year, but is feeding through information and insights all the time. The Council doesn't buy speculatively; it acquires works because of their fit for a particular set of projects. Andrea Rose shows me a recent acquisition by Toby Ziegler: a huge, hi-tech piece that's almost mystically reflective. It was purchased with a view to touring the Middle East, currently a high priority, but where figurative work can be seen as anti-Islamic and the sex-and-scatology content of some contemporary art can be a problem. It will form part of a New Abstraction show, for which it may take two years to assemble the right pieces. Obviously it would be easier and cheaper to borrow, and the Council will happily do so. But much of the work sitting in the warehouse on the day that I visit (including a new Damien Hirst, 'Resurrection', featuring a human skeleton) has just come back from Tehran. When the Iran exhibition was first being discussed, so was war in Iraq. The places that the British Council most wants to go are precisely those that the owners of much-loved, fabulously expensive artworks are least likely to want to risk sending them for months on end. In the warehouse, I see the first work the British Council's visual arts department ever acquired: a chocolate-boxy painting of a farmhouse, by Duncan Grant, a bucolic idyll of a certain kind of Britain. This inward-looking nation is not the one that the Council wants to promote any more. Its activities are much better summed up by its decision to send Sam Taylor-Wood to St Petersburg this winter to premiere two new videos; or indeed, by its eagerness to work with a Mexican curator on exploring common preoccupations in Latin American and British urban centres. 'The foreign office sets the geopolitical agenda - the mission to younger audiences, East rather than West, the Islamic world and China. Editorially, we are independent,' says Andrea Rose. 'When we went to Iran earlier this year there was a definite sense on the part of people we were meeting and talking to of, "Why aren't we part of the rest of the world?" We can use this collection far more subversively than people realise.' In Mexico City, a pollution smog hangs over the city, obscuring the surrounding mountains: the altitude-thin air is thick with fumes and the press of people. It's the day before the opening. But the Tamayo Museum is air-conditioned and peaceful in the way of big, concrete modernist spaces, and the artists are managing to remain fairly calm, despite last-minute hitches. 'There's a very different energy in Britain now from the YBAs,' says Ostrander; 'especially the Glasgow scene: it's much more relaxed. There's far less ego: a really generous attitude.' The artists who have come out for the opening are distinguished by a thoughtfulness and intellectual seriousness: one of the strongest themes in the show is a powerful, shared critique of formal abstraction. But they are also friendly, unprecious and easy-going. Kathrin Böhm is still sticking bits of paper to the gallery walls. Her work is part of an ongoing project called 'and millions and millions', which involves her pasting cut-up pieces of hand-printed and offset posters on the wall in a collage of flat, coloured, geometric shapes, often layered on top of each other. She works slowly, cutting out shapes, tacking them up with tape, on different parts of the wall and even different walls at the same time. The process is hypnotic, and confusing - why has she built up so much over there and nothing over here? It looks as if she will never be ready. Martin Boyce has spent the last few days installing his half-lit urban park, to which I keep returning, because in spite of its evocation of a vandalised space, I find it mysteriously inviting. But one of his three fluorescent tube-trees is too bright. Since Mexican dimmer switches won't work, another has had to be sent from Britain. Unfortunately, Mexican customs are holding it to ransom and want $150 for its release. Mark Titchner's giant billboard went up more easily than he expected A maelstrom of colour and patterning, it makes reference to computer punchcards, to the way that utopian and radical ideas are seized by the market, by advertising and hype, and reduced to banal slogans. The effect is compelling, resonant with colour and life. Unfortunately, it is also too long for the wall, which isn't straight. Obviously, he doesn't want to cut the end off, but neither does he want it hanging off the wall. Melanie Smith's piece involves a series of paintings in bright synthetic colours, using airbrush techniques, to produce linear optical effects recalling the work of Bridget Riley. She has stacked these against the gallery wall, and shows them in conjunction with five videos (the monitors resting on cardboard boxes): images of Mexico's streets, alluding to the sensation of groundlessness experienced in the city. She has been into the gallery and turned up the sound so that it's aggravatingly loud. Richard Wright isn't here, but he's sent a set of posters that he wants flyposted around the city, in addition to the works he is showing inside. Tobias Ostrander has the posters spread out in front of him on Jim Lambie's reverberating gaffer-tape floor. The posters are beautiful and I'm not surprised when Ostrander tells me a set is worth about $15,000. He's talking to someone who flyposts for Mexican wrestling about where to put them. 'They'll be photographed. And then they'll probably be damaged. But that's good. That's what he wants.' Richard Gough, the technician who is here to oversee the unpacking and installation, takes me out to the back of the museum, where the British Council's trademark powder-blue packing cases are stacked (the Tate uses yellow cases; the National Gallery dark green) and talks about his work with nerdy enthusiasm: 'This case was made for a Rachel Whiteread exhibition seven months ago. It's been to São Paulo and Rio.' Like several of the other British Council technicians, Gough was trained as a fine artist. He has reason to be proud of his packing: Diana Eccles, who is in charge of the collection, told me that nothing had been broken in 70 years of constant shuttling around the globe. The objects and paintings being transported are often terrifyingly valuable, uninsurable other than by government indemnity. 'If we did break something,' says Eccles, 'we'd probably go out of business.' The works for Mexico, or the materials required to make them, were wrapped in acid-free tissue, hermetically sealed in polythene, padded around with inert foam (to prevent vapours) and carefully packed in blue boxes to be air freighted. Swaddled and sealed like this, they are safe from cold, heat, humidity and vibration. They must be unpacked in the presence of someone from the British Council, and the contents and precise disposition of each layer noted, so that they can be packed up again in exactly the same fashion. Eventually, the dimmer switch is released. The gallery's lighting is fine-tuned so that it doesn't bleed into the wrong spaces. Melanie Smith's volume is turned down. The last pictures are secured on the wall and the fixings painted over. (They are lower, Ann Gallagher notes, than in Britain, because people in Mexico are shorter; in Germany pictures are hung higher.) The Tamayo technicians manage to build an extra bit of wall behind Mark Titchner's overhanging billboard. Kathrin Böhm stops, apparently randomly. She puts out posters for people to take, so they can try it at home. The floors are swept for the 20th time, tea lights are placed all round the walls of the foyer. Everything is more or less ready for the opening. The target audience is the usual one for the Tamayo; the director of the British Council in Mexico makes the point that he's not running a development agency, so his target market is not the inhabitants of the city's slums. It's key decision makers, such as the Minister of Culture; then advisers and the press; and thirdly, young people who themselves aspire to be decision makers, and who may also be interested in studying in Britain, since the Prime Minister has pledged himself to increasing the number of foreign students at British universities. Everyone is pleased, because the Minister of Culture turns up, and she doesn't usually bother with openings. A leading Mexican critic talks to me approvingly about bridging the cultures, about pop influences, references to the grid of the city and the poetry of its patterns. The British ambassador tells me that the Mexicans and the British share a sense of humour and predilection for not taking ourselves too seriously. The embassy, she adds, is working with the Mexican government on reform of the civil service and of the judiciary. With a nod to the customised nature of this show, she says, 'They like working with us, because we don't say: "Here's one we made earlier."' One critic tells me he can't find enough political statement, and was expecting something 'more crude and direct'. But on the whole there's an atmosphere of goodwill. The leading critic, Cuauhtemoc Medina, says he's intrigued by the 'rather peculiar, not easily explicable dialogue between Mexico City and London'. (At the time of Sodium and Asphalt, six Mexican artists are exhibiting in different venues in Britain.) This dialogue is curious, he adds, given that Britain wasn't the colonial power, isn't the real power now, and there's no large immigrant population. In common with the British ambassador, he thinks it must have something to do with sensibility, 'with sense of humour and directness'. Nicholas Serota, who sat on the advisory board of the visual arts department for 30 years, once claimed the British Council offered a Rolls-Royce service. Andrea Rose prefers to think of it as a Land Rover service: 'I like to think that, like the World Service, we're there when everyone else is asleep.' The Council goes into places that are often tough and inhospitable, with its James Bond mission to show what we're capable of, in all our diversity and heterogeneity, our eclectic, adaptive pragmatism. It is impossible to measure what might be the effect of sending the work of a dozen British artists to Mexico, either now or in the future. But it seems only common sense for artists to share their intellectual and emotional insights. Like the World Service, the British Council's visual arts department isn't susceptible to the current obsession with targets, but one senses, nevertheless, that it's an institution about which we can probably allow ourselves to feel proud. The UK - four countries with an uncertain commitment to being a nation - seems particularly troubled by the legacy of its past and its part in the global future. It is a paradox that a nation so uncertain about its place in the modern world does propaganda for its place in the modern world really rather well.

From Henry Moore to Sarah Lucas, from Tehran to Tokyo. For 70 years the British Council has been using art and culture to sell its idea of Britishness to the rest of the world. Geraldine Bedell joins the packing cases and artists on the latest tour of duty - to Mexico City.

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http://fortune.com/2014/09/19/logitech-harmony-home/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140919103616id_/http://fortune.com/2014/09/19/logitech-harmony-home/

Beyond mice: Logitech targets the connected home

20140919103616

Imagine a world where, upon waking, you can reach for a remote, hit a button and presto: the blinds in your bedroom rise, the coffee maker in the kitchen burbles, and the TV in the living room flickers on. Magic? Not quite. Logitech. On Wednesday the company released its Harmony Living Home line, which allows people to control thousands of devices—including August locks, Honeywell thermostats, Zuli plugs, and Philips Hue lights—using a single system. Logitech, the Swiss provider of computer and tablet accessories such as mice and keyboards, already had a Harmony line of remote controls that could sync to multiple entertainment devices. The Harmony Touch, released in 2012, let users control Phillips Hue lights, for example. The new line adds additional hardware, from a $100 “hub” to a $350 remote control, to allow more control over Internet-connected objects in the home. The additional functionality allows someone to program customized activities lists such as a bedtime routine where lights turn off and soft music begins playing simultaneously. The user can also scroll through a list of all their devices organized by category—lights, entertainment, and so on—and control them remotely. The Harmony Living Home line is intended to simplify life for “smart home” enthusiasts who, in these early days of the technology, have to contend with a plethora of apps and devices that don’t work together. “Any product that harmonizes this is a step in the right direction,” says Lisa Arrowsmith, director of connectivity at IHS Technology, a research firm. That connected devices remain the domain of early adopters is also a challenge for Logitech. The company’s new products assume that your house is already kitted out with automated blinds, electronic locks, and smart devices galore. If not, it presumes that you’re willing to spend heavily to transform your home into a smart haven, which may mean replacing perfectly good but “dumb” appliances. And intelligent though it may be, the Harmony line has its limitations. It might be necessary, for example, to scroll through a list of all the lights in the house rather than reaching up to flick off your bedside reading lamp the old-fashioned way. According to IHS Technology, 5.6 million households worldwide have installed home management systems. In a recent survey of the North American market, IHS found that well over 50% of respondents wanted more than one smart home device. Yet most respondents had never heard of smart homes until they participated in the survey. Arrowsmith, the market researcher, noted that Americans are excited about safety features while Europeans are more concerned with energy saving devices. IHS projects that by 2018, 44.6 million households will have home management systems. The business opportunity is rich. Transparency Market Research, a business intelligence company, valued the industry at $3.6 billion in 2012 and projects that it will grow to $16.4 billion by 2019. “The market is an attractive one, but I’m not sure one great, focused product will drive transformation,” says Marco Iansiti, a professor who researches technology and operations strategy at Harvard Business School. “Awareness is going up, prices are going down, and demand will go up,” Arrowsmith says. “But there’s always a segment of the market that’s going to want to keep it simple.” In other words, there are plenty of people out there who appreciate that it’s sometimes easier to get up to open the blinds instead of fumbling for a remote.

The Swiss peripherals maker launches the Harmony Living Home line in a bid to simplify the so-called smart home.

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/09/17/more-than-app-automatic-lifesaver-for-cars/zoUVKEWhc9qhc0XH3QN0SP/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20140920103229id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/business/2014/09/17/more-than-app-automatic-lifesaver-for-cars/zoUVKEWhc9qhc0XH3QN0SP/story.html

More than an app, it’s an `Automatic’ lifesaver for cars

20140920103229

Nearly every car on the road these days has a “black box” data recorder, like the ones in commercial airplanes. But the boxes in our cars have short memories — less than 10 seconds. That’s enough to preserve some pretty important evidence, like how fast you were going when you hit that lamppost. But maybe you’d like a longer, deeper history of life behind the wheel. How far did you drive, and where? What route did you drive, how long did it take, and where did you park? For that, you’ll need to take careful notes, or get the right smartphone app. I’ve been testing one that is actually more than an app. Automatic is a $99 piece of hardware that plugs into the digital interface found in most vehicles made since 1996. This little dongle uses a Bluetooth radio signal to connect with an app running on an iPhone. It’s a handy way to keep constant tabs on your driving habits. It can also tell you why the car’s “check engine” light just came on. And it has a built-in crash sensor that can call for a rescue if you’re in an accident. About that digital interface — it’s called an OBD II port. It’s a plug mounted beneath the steering wheel, where the guy at the garage plugs in his computer to test your car during a state-mandated inspection. But the port has other uses. The auto insurer Progressive offers a plug-in device called Snapshot that reports your motoring habits to the company, which uses the data to award discounts to safe drivers. An Oregon company called CravenSpeed makes a $45 unit for performance fanatics. It tracks air temperature and barometric pressure, engine coolant temperature, revolutions per minute, and horsepower output, among other things. The Automatic app costs considerably more, and does a lot less, but does it with style. Just plug in the dongle, download and install the free app on an iPhone or Android phone, and pair it up with the phone’s Bluetooth feature. Then enter the car’s Vehicle Information Number. It’s on a barcode attached to the doorframe of most cars. The app lets you enter it by scanning the code with the phone’s camera. Hiawatha Bray talks about the device Automatic, an auto accessory which records your driving habits and gives feedback on how to improve the driving experience. From then on, you don’t have to remember to launch the app — just keep the phone nearby, and start the engine. The app immediately begins collecting data. Set the phone aside and focus on driving. You’ll forget all about Automatic, unless you step hard on the gas, or slam on the brakes. A little warning tone will sound and the app will make note of your carelessness. It’s treated like a game — you get a score of 100 for every “perfect” trip, but you’re docked a few points for every blunder. It’s a handy training aid for driver discipline. Automatic also preserves a record of every trip, telling you how long it took and estimating the cost of the fuel burned. The app uses VIN data to look up its estimated mileage ratings, and then does an online search for average gas prices in your neighborhood to calculate cost per drive. A satellite map displays the driving route, with a little pin to identify where you parked. Not long before trying Automatic, the “check engine” symbol lit up on my 2002 Ford Taurus. According to Automatic, vapor is escaping from the fuel system — a faulty gas cap, perhaps. The app switched off the light, and used the consumer rating service Yelp to suggest a few local repair shops, just in case. Many newer cars have a system that beams out a call for help when you’re in an accident. Automatic can do the same. When the phone’s accelerometer chip detects a crash, the app will contact an emergency call center and relay the GPS location. It can also send a text message to as many as three people. You can get some of Automatic’s tracking features without paying a dime. An excellent free app called DriveScribe will map trips and warn you if you’re breaking the speed limit — something Automatic doesn’t do. But Automatic’s engine diagnostics and its crash alert feature make it more than a data recorder. For some, it could be a lifesaver.

Nearly every car on the road these days has a “black box” data recorder, like the ones in commercial airplanes. But the boxes in our cars have short memories--less than 10 seconds. Maybe you’d like a longer, deeper history of life behind the wheel. For that, you’ll need to take careful notes, or get the right smartphone app.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/apr/20/orhan-pamuk-make-museums-much-smaller

http://web.archive.org/web/20140921090449id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/apr/20/orhan-pamuk-make-museums-much-smaller

State museums are so antiquated

20140921090449

I love museums and I am not alone in finding that they make me happier with each passing day. I take museums very seriously, and that sometimes leads me to angry, forceful thoughts. But I do not have it in me to speak about museums with anger. In my childhood, there were very few museums in Istanbul. Most of them were simply preserved historical monuments or – quite rare outside the western world – they were places with an air of the government office about them. Later, the small museums in the back streets of European cities led me to realise that museums – just like novels – can also speak for individuals. That is not to understate the importance of the Louvre, Metropolitan Museum, Topkapı Palace, British Museum, Prado, and Pinacoteca – all of which are veritable treasures of humankind. But I am against these precious monumental institutions being used as blueprints for future museums. Museums should explore and uncover the universe and humanity of the new and modern man emerging especially from increasingly wealthy non-western nations. The aim of big, state-sponsored museums, on the other hand, is to represent the state. This is neither a good nor an innocent objective. I would like to outline my thoughts in order: 1 Large national museums such as the Louvre and the Hermitage took shape and turned into essential tourist destinations, alongside the opening of royal and imperial palaces to the public. These institutions, now national symbols, have presented the story of a nation – in other words, history – as much more important than the stories of individuals. This is unfortunate: the stories of individuals are much better suited to displaying the depths of our humanity. 2 We can see that the transitions from palaces to national museums, and from epics to novels, are parallel processes. Epics are like palaces, and speak of the heroics of old kings who lived in them. National museums, then, should be like novels; but they are not. 3 We are sick and tired of museums that try to construct historical narratives of a society, community, team, nation, state, people, company or species. We all know that the ordinary, everyday stories of individuals are richer, more humane and much more joyful than the stories of colossal cultures. 4 Demonstrating the wealth of Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Iranian or Turkish history and culture is not an issue – it must, of course, be done, but it is not difficult to do. The real challenge is to use museums to tell, with the same brilliance, depth and power, the stories of the individual human beings living in these countries. 5 The measure of a museum's success should not be its ability to represent a state, nation or company, or a particular history. It should be its capacity to reveal the humanity of individuals. 6 It is imperative that museums become smaller, more individualistic, and cheaper. This is the only way that they will ever tell stories on a human scale. Big museums with their wide doors call upon us to forget our humanity and embrace the state and its human masses. This is why millions outside the western world are afraid of going to museums. 7 The aim of present and future museums must not be to represent the state, but to recreate the world of single human beings – the same human beings who have laboured under ruthless oppressions for hundreds of years. 8 The resources that are channelled into monumental, symbolic museums should be diverted into smaller museums that tell the stories of individuals. These resources should also be used to encourage and support people in turning their own small homes and stories into exhibition spaces. 9 If objects are not uprooted from their environs and their streets, but are situated with care and ingenuity in their own natural homes, they will already portray their own stories. 10 Monumental buildings that dominate neighbourhoods and entire cities do not bring out our humanity; on the contrary, they quash it. It is more humane to be able to imagine modest museums that turn the neighbourhoods and streets, and the homes and shops nearby, into elements of the exhibition. 11 The future of museums is inside our own homes. 12 The picture is, in fact, simple: Groups, Teams v the Individual Large and expensive v Small and cheap • The Museum of Innocence, Istanbul, opens on 27 April.

Orhan Pamuk: Monumental state treasure-houses such as the Louvre or the Met ignore the stories of the individual. Exhibitions should become ever more intimate and local

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http://fortune.com/2014/09/22/gms-ignition-switch-death-toll-rises-to-21/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140924092004id_/http://fortune.com:80/2014/09/22/gms-ignition-switch-death-toll-rises-to-21/

GM's ignition switch death toll rises to 21

20140924092004

The number of deaths due to General Motors’ faulty ignition switches has risen to 21 as compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg starts providing weekly updates of the compensation claims he thinks are legitimate. After last week’s initial report of 19 deaths from the GM Ignition Compensation protocol, headed by Feinberg, today the commission updated the numbers and revealed that he has deemed two more death claims valid, bringing the total deaths to 21. Prior to hiring Feinberg, GM GM had said there were only 13 deaths resulting from the faulty ignition switches, which have resulted in a string of recalls starting earlier this year. A spokesman told Fortune, though, that the Detroit automaker is accepting the Feinberg protocol’s determination of death claims as the final number. Camille Biros, the deputy administrator of the compensation protocol, said that there would not be more information given about how many of the 21 deaths were in single-fatality accidents versus crashes with multiple deaths. “There’s been so much press around some of these [cases] that we don’t want to provide any way to identify them,” she said. The number of total approved claims, including both death and injuries, has also increased, growing from 31 to 37. Since the protocol started receiving claims, on Aug. 1, Feinberg and his team have received a total of 675 claims, including 143 death claims. That includes 230 total claims and 18 death claims in the past week. Biros said it is standard practice for Feinberg’s compensation protocols to release weekly numbers, mostly to appease a media hungry for updates. Feinberg has previously worked on compensation protocols for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Virginia Tech shooting. This is another bit of bad news for GM, which announced another recall — unrelated to the ignition switch problem — earlier Monday.

We'll be getting weekly updates on the ignition switch compensation protocol now.

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http://www.people.com/article/missing-uva-student-suspect-extradited

http://web.archive.org/web/20140926020142id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/missing-uva-student-suspect-extradited

Suspect in Hannah Graham Disappearance Awaits Extradition : People.com

20140926020142

sophomore has been captured in Texas and is awaiting extradition – but there is still no sign of the student, authorities said. Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. was in the Texas community of Gilchrist by Galveston County Sheriff's authorities, Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said Wednesday night. He appeared briefly Thursday morning via video link from jail before Galveston County Judge Mark Henry. Henry read Matthew his rights, and Matthew – in a dark green jail jumpsuit, his hands cuffed – signed several papers. Henry told KPRC-TV that he expected Matthew would be extradited to Virginia within a day or two. City of Charlottesville / Reuters / Landov The capture came less than a full day after police Matthew on charges of abduction with intent to defile Hannah Graham, an 18-year-old sophomore who went missing on Sept. 13 in Charlottesville. Longo said an intense search for Graham continues. "This case is nowhere near over," he told a news conference late Wednesday. "We have a person in custody, but there's a long road ahead of us and that long road includes finding Hannah Graham." The search is focusing on rural and wooded areas around Charlottesville, Longo said Thursday on NBC's Matthew was captured at a beach in the sparsely populated community of Gilchrist around 3:30 p.m. after police received a call reporting a suspicious person, the reported. The newspaper quoted Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset as saying a deputy responding to the call found a man who had pitched a tent on the beach with his car parked nearby. Trochesset said a check of the car's plates revealed it was the vehicle sought in connection to the case. Authorities were trying to get a warrant to search the car, he added. Matthew was being held Thursday morning in Galveston County. A dispatcher at the sheriff's office in Galveston referred questions about the arrest and timing of Matthew's extradition to Charlottesville police, who did not provide details at the news conference and did not immediately respond to telephone messages afterward. The case has spread fear through Charlottesville, a quiet community about 70 miles west of Richmond. Authorities have increased patrols and a late-night transportation program for students, who also have begun walking in pairs at night and are paying closer attention to their surroundings. Graham was an alpine skier and alto saxophone player who had earned straight A's six years in a row, according to family members and police. Graham met friends at a restaurant for dinner on Sept. 12 before stopping by two parties at off-campus housing units, authorities said. They said she left the second party alone, and sent a text message to a friend saying she was lost. and at some points running, past a pub and a service station and then onto the Downtown Mall, a seven-block pedestrian strip where police believe she entered a bar with Matthew. The latest revelations came late Tuesday, when police, who have searched Matthew's car once and his apartment twice, decided they had probable cause to charge him in the disappearance. Longo declined to say what new information police had, but authorities sent several items, including clothing, to a state forensics lab for testing. "One of the reasons we're so cautious is we're waiting for additional evidence from the lab," Longo said Thursday on The university said Matthew had been employed at the University of Virginia Medical Center since Aug. 12, 2012, as a patient technician in the operating room. The charges against the 6-foot-2, 270-pound Matthew surprised Dave Hansen, who first met him about 11 years ago when Hansen served as an assistant pastor at an area church. "I always thought he was a gentle giant, just a nice guy," Hansen said. "He seemed genuine with his faith and spirituality – I don't see him doing this at all, but that's usually the case, I guess." Hansen said he's only kept up with Matthew through Facebook, but ran into him at the university's medical center within the last year. He said the soft-spoken Matthew greeted him in an elevator with a high-five. Matthew attended Liberty University from 2000 to 2002, said officials with the Lynchburg school founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. The school's athletics website listed him as a defensive lineman on the football team. More recently, he also served as a part-time volunteer for the football team at The Covenant School, a private Christian pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school in Charlottesville. Officials said his involvement with the school began last month following interviews with the athletic director and head football coach, as well as normal background and reference checks. After Matthew was named a person of interest in Graham's disappearance, school officials said in a letter that he will "no longer be working with our football program while this matter is being clarified and resolved." While Matthew has had past brushes with the law, the details of those cases are not clear. Online court records show Matthew was convicted of trespassing in 2010 but provide no details about the incident. Details also were unavailable for two other charges of assault and attempted grand larceny relating to a 2009 incident that were not prosecuted. Matthew, who had a taxi permit from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles from 2007 through 2010, also has several traffic infractions, records show.

After arrest in Texas, Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. is being extradited to Virginia

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http://www.people.com/article/antifreeze-murder-trial-george-blumenschein-ana-maria-gonzalez-angulo

http://web.archive.org/web/20140927054253id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/antifreeze-murder-trial-george-blumenschein-ana-maria-gonzalez-angulo

Antifreeze Poisoning Trial: Doctor's Girlfriend Testifies His Mistress Was Obsessed

20140927054253

Dr. Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo; Dr. George Blumenschein Pat Sullivan/AP; Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle/AP 09/25/2014 AT 10:25 AM EDT It sounded like a scene from In a packed Houston courtroom, the girlfriend of a respected cancer doctor, who was allegedly told a tale of obsession and manipulation that eventually led to a near-fatal poisoning. Prosecutors say that Dr. George Blumenschein began a casual sexual relationship with his colleague, Dr. Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo, while they worked together at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. They allege that Gonzalez-Angulo, 43, turned violent after Blumenschein, 50, spurned her in favor of his longtime live-in girlfriend, with whom he was trying to start a family. Gonzalez-Angulo is accused of giving Blumenschein a cup of coffee tainted with ethylene glycol, a chemical often found in antifreeze. Blumenschein's girlfriend testified that things got strange in 2012. "I purchased a watch for George, a Luminox. She purchased the exact same watch for herself," Dr. Evette Toney said. "I purchased some luggage for George. She purchased the exact same luggage for herself." Jurors sat in rapt attention as they heard from Toney, who tearfully testified about having a miscarriage while Blumenschein was carrying on the affair with Gonzalez-Angulo. "He said he wasn't attracted to her," Toney testified. "He was adamant that it was just work." She also told jurors about an alarming phone call she received on Jan. 27, 2013, the day Blumenschein was poisoned. His speech was slurred and he sounded gravely ill. "He said, 'Evette, I'm not feeling well,' " she testified. "I didn't know what to think." According to Toney, Blumenschein promised to get medical treatment, but actually went to the home of Gonzalez-Angulo instead. Later, as his symptoms worsened, he finally went to the hospital. Toney met him there and was shocked by what she saw. "He was unable to walk," she said. "I thought he was dying. I actually thought he was dying in front of me. It was heartbreaking to watch someone suffer. You're sitting there waiting for bad news." Prosecutors also played recordings of conversations between Blumenschein and Gonzalez-Angulo, made after the poisoning. In the tapes, Gonzalez-Angulo repeatedly tries to shift the blame from herself onto Toney. "Why in Christ would I ever hurt you? Why?" Gonzalez-Angulo demanded in one of the calls. "Why would Evette hurt me?" Blumenschein responded. "I don't know," Gonzalez-Angulo retorts. "I don't know you two. For God's sake, someone assaulted you. I would've run away a long time ago. You seem to know her better. You trust her." At one point, Gonzalez-Angulo grows hostile. "It's too late. She won," she says. "You go on, have a kid and I'll leave. It'll be fine." Gonzalez-Angulo's attorney, Derek Hollingsworth, maintains that his client "has been accused of something she did not do," and adds that the prosecution has dramatized the relationship "to fit a theory that doesn't match the facts." If convicted of first-degree felony assault, Gonzalez-Angulo faces a maximum of life in prison.

Jurors hear about Dr. Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo's alleged behavior from her lover's live-in girlfriend

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http://fortune.com/2012/08/21/bank-stocks-to-go-long-on/

http://web.archive.org/web/20140927091713id_/http://fortune.com:80/2012/08/21/bank-stocks-to-go-long-on/

Bank stocks to go long on

20140927091713

FORTUNE — Disaster and misbehavior have dominated recent headlines about big banks. Whether it’s multibillion-dollar trading losses (J.P. Morgan Chase), a settlement for rigging interest rates (Barclays), a Senate report asserting money laundering for drug cartels (HSBC), or assorted bad press for Standard Chartered, Capital One, Wells Fargo, and others, some financial giants seem bent on returning their reputations to the darkest lows of 2008. Little surprise, then, that the KBW index of bank stocks has slipped 7.3% since April, while the broader market has been flat. It’s not just the news. Investors fear that Dodd-Frank reforms, which require holding more capital and limit certain trading, will squeeze profits. Meanwhile, many banks are still taking losses on pre-crash mortgages, and interest rates are near historic lows. Yes, that means banks can get away with paying 0.05% on a savings account. It also means they can’t lend money at high rates. MORE: Why AIG is still the market’s scariest stock As investors flee, a few intrepid souls are buying. Value investor Bill Nygren, manager of the Oakmark Fund, now has 23% of his $6.2 billion portfolio in financial stocks, according to fund research firm Morningstar. He already had a stake, but bought more as bank shares faltered in recent months. Some share prices, he says, are “assuming that the worst recession since the Great Depression will happen every five years or so.” For example, Nygren thinks J.P. Morgan’s JPM annual profits could jump 50% by 2014 as interest rates eventually rise and the mortgage mess recedes. Even if that doesn’t happen, JPM’s stock is trading for nine times its last 12 months of profits. If the bank achieves its expected earnings of $5.23 a share next year and returns to its five-year average price/earnings ratio of 15, the stock price would double, to $75. Like JPM, other banks with headaches have gotten stronger. Wells Fargo WFC (which agreed to pay $175 million in July to settle a federal fair-lending case, but denied wrongdoing) scooped up Wachovia during the financial crisis and has demonstrated “strong performance in a weak market,” as Morningstar’s Jim Sinegal put it in a recent note. He praised Wells’ fundamentals, such as attracting deposits and making loans. With a P/E of 11, it’s less of a bargain than JPM, but boasts a higher return on equity and little exposure to the mess in Europe, says Jim Kee, president of South Texas Money Management, which oversees $2 billion and recently bought Wells shares. MORE: Growth stocks for barren times Capital One Financial COF (which in July agreed to a $210 million settlement for deceptive marketing of credit-protection products) bought ING’s U.S. online bank and HSBC’s HBC credit card unit. Capital One has a P/E of 9, a bargain given its expected $6 in earnings per share this year and the fact that its credit card revenue continues to climb even as Americans charge less. The next year may be dicey for banks, says portfolio manager Adam Scheiner of RBC Global Asset. But much of the recent bad news won’t be harmful (or remembered) over the long run, analysts contend. The worst effects of the housing bust are slowly ebbing, and interest rates will climb at some point, making loans more profitable. Long term, Scheiner says, there’s a compelling case for big banks. This story is from the September 3, 2012 issue of Fortune.

If you look beyond recent mishaps and scandals, there are values to be found in financial shares.

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http://www.people.com/article/lorde-mockingjay-part-1-soundtrack

http://web.archive.org/web/20141001085816id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/lorde-mockingjay-part-1-soundtrack

Lorde's New Theme Song for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Is Here! (LISTEN)

20141001085816

09/29/2014 AT 01:45 PM EDT Moody teens in a haunting, dystopian future? Sounds like a case for a , who has been tapped to curate the soundtrack for , just released the film's title track, "Yellow Flicker Beat," which she also wrote and recorded. Of the foreboding (yet, at the same time, strangely catchy) tune, Lorde, born Ella Yelich-O'Connor, posted on her , "It's my first offering from what I hope will be a soundtrack you love. It's my attempt at getting inside her head, Katniss. I hope you like it." There's no word yet on any of the other artists Lorde has tapped to appear on the soundtrack, but the singer says she jumped at the opportunity to choose songs for it. "The cast and story are an inspiration for all musicians participating, and as someone with cinematic leanings, being privy to a different creative process has been a unique experience. I think the soundtrack is definitely going to surprise people," the singer said in a statement. have included tracks from Arcade Fire,

The teen queen not only wrote the film's theme song, but is also curating the entire soundtrack

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/jun/19/art2

http://web.archive.org/web/20141005005647id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/jun/19/art2

Artist turns tide on snack shack

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One of the entries ... the East Beach Cafe. Photograph: Roger Bamber The architect's original idea was for a cafe which would be winched out of the sea and hauled up the shingle beach each morning, streaming with water, trailing seaweed and clustered with limpets. What has landed on the East Beach in Littlehampton, one of the more sedate resorts on the south coast, stays rooted to the spot but is certainly quite startling enough. Officially the East Beach Cafe opens tomorrow, offering buckets of chips for £2.50, and mashed banana, milk and honey for children at £1.50, in a building by architect and sculptor Thomas Heatherwick - the designer whose previous creations include a bridge in London that rolls up like a hedgehog, and a public square in Newcastle made from crushed Bristol Cream sherry bottles. In fact, during the months of construction of the extraordinary structure, politely compared to a shell or a piece of driftwood (as well as the odd less printable suggestion), every dog walker, kite flyer and beachcomber on the coast has been agog with curiosity. When Jane Wood and her daughter Sophie Murray nervously rolled back the shutters on Saturday, there was a man waiting on the doorstep to get in - and every table has been filled since. The family had already taken over the old bowling green cafe, just up the road, rather than see it close. They never intended a cafe empire, until Murray spotted a planning notice warning that the small snack shack, slap on the edge of the beach, was about to be expanded into a hideous, large redbrick cafe. So they bought it. The extraordinary design arose from a conversation between Wood and Heatherwick, both guests at the birthday party of arts entrepreneur Wilfred Cass at his sculpture park just inland from the town. "There's that awful cliche of the seaside cafe, looking like a New England cabin, all blue and white with little porthole windows," Thomas Heatherwick said. "I wanted mine to look like something you might find washed up on the beach in all the tangles of flotsam and jetsam as you walk along the tide line." As the building, constructed by a local welding firm, began to go up, Wood and Murray posted a series of long chatty letters to the town on the wire security fence, explaining exactly what was happening. To their astonishment the project sailed through the planning system, and they have only had one Outraged of Littlehampton letter - but were touched and astonished by letters and messages of support. The cafe will sell fish and chips and ice cream by day and more expensive restaurant meals by night. Meanwhile Wood admitted, slightly embarrassed, that she'd seen another planning notice, warning that another nearby cafe was also about to be torn down and replaced with something bigger and uglier - so she's just bought that too. "It would have been slap in the view from this wonderful building, what else could I do?" she explained.

A startling beach cafe, designed by architect and sculptor Thomas Heatherwick, has landed on Littlehampton's East Beach, and residents can't wait for its opening.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/oct/29/art.jsainsbury

http://web.archive.org/web/20141005202650id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/oct/29/art.jsainsbury

National Gallery and Tate to split £100m Sainsbury bequest

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Study for a Portrait (1952) by Francis Bacon. Photograph: The National Gallery The National Gallery and the Tate, more used to launching public appeals to swell their collections, today announced a treasure trove of fabulous paintings bequeathed by the late Simon Sainsbury, together valued at up to £100m. It is the most valuable art bequest since the Lane pictures in the early 20th century. Sainsbury, the main benefactor of the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery, was one of the most retiring of the large supermarket dynasty: he is said to have turned down the offer of a title on several occasions, and refused even to have a Who's Who entry. Many art bequests are made to gain tax advantages for the owner's estate, as pictures left to a national collection gain exemption from death duties. It is a measure of the Sainsbury family's wealth that no such conditions were applied here; the paintings were an outright bequest. It was such a private collection, kept in his London and country homes, that although some works were loaned to exhibitions, there are not even colour photographs of others. Among the 18 works there are three by Lucian Freud, including a tiny louche portrait of a young man with a cigarette drooping from his lips, and three characteristically creepy paintings by Balthus. Other highlights include Pierre Bonnard's painting of his wife's slender legs stretched out in her bath - an image that became the catalogue cover of the recent retrospective; the sunset water lilies which Monet asked to keep even after he sold the picture so he could study it as he recovered from eye surgery; one of Francis Bacon's disturbing studies of shrieking male heads contorted by rage or terror; and Gauguin's homage to Cezanne's still lives of apples. There is also a delightful, very early Gainsborough, as compositionally incompetent as it is charming, of Mr and Mrs Carter. This couple may be the parents of the woman in the artist's Mr and Mrs Andrews, one of the best loved paintings in the National Gallery collection. The allocation of the paintings was decided between the then director of the National, Neil MacGregor, Sir Nicholas Serota at the Tate, and Sainsbury himself, with each picture left where it best suits the collection - ignoring the usual rule that 20th century and British pictures go to the Tate, Old Masters to the National. So the National gets one of the most endearing pictures, the 1909 portrait of the art dealer Joseph Brummer by Henri Rousseau - a picture in which the self-taught Rousseau saw himself as continuing the loftiest tradition of academic portraits - because it already owns the children's favourite, Rousseau's Tiger In a Tropical Storm (Surprised!). Two great Monets, Snow Scene at Argenteuil, painted in the fierce winter of 1874/5, and the 1907 Water-Lilies, will also stay together, joining 12 other Monets in the National collection. Among its 13 pictures the Tate also gets an unnerving early Freud of his first wife with a vice-like grip on the neck of a kitten, and a stupendous early English sporting picture, John Wootton's Life Size Horse with Huntsman Blowing a Horn which is, necessarily, the size of a stable wall. They will all be seen together in public for the first time in an exhibition at Tate Britain next spring, before being divided between their new homes. Mr Sainsbury's partner of 40 years, Stewart Grimshaw, retains a life interest in the three pictures they particularly loved, including a ravishing Degas, After the Bath.

The National Gallery and the Tate today revealed a treasure trove of fabulous paintings bequeathed by the late Simon Sainsbury, together valued at up to £100m.

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https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/10/04/list-boston-music-awards-nominees/bYd6Q5tLqFNZRRHqjYDOzN/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20141006030533id_/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/10/04/list-boston-music-awards-nominees/bYd6Q5tLqFNZRRHqjYDOzN/story.html

List of Boston Music Awards nominees

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The 2014 Boston Music Awards ceremony taking place Dec. 14, at the Revere Hotel features emerging and established artists from the region. The lineup will be announced in November. Voting opens Saturday, Oct. 4, at the free concert Sound of Our Town, where attendees can vote using their phones. The Academy and Sound of Our Town votes count for 2/3 and online public votes count for 1/3. Hallelujah The Hills “Have You Ever Done Something Evil?” Magic Man, “Before The Waves” Air Traffic Controller, “The House” John Powhida International Airport “Cover Me I’m Going for Milk” Lake Street Dive “Bad Self Portraits” Gracie Curran And The High Falutin’ Sugar Ray And The Blue Tones Jenny Dee of Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents Faces On Film, “The Rule” Hallelujah The Hills “I Stand Corrected” Matthew Connor, “How Is July Already Over?” Don’t Ask Don’t Tell at Great Scott Heroes at TT The Bear’s Place Make It New at Middlesex Lounge Pico Picante at Good Life Bored of Health at the Plough And Stars Louie Bello at the Abbey

The 2014 Boston Music Awards ceremony taking place Dec. 14, at the Revere Hotel features the region’s emerging and established artists from all genres.

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http://fortune.com/2012/11/29/nexus-4-vs-iphone-5-how-not-to-manage-a-supply-chain/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141009015548id_/http://fortune.com:80/2012/11/29/nexus-4-vs-iphone-5-how-not-to-manage-a-supply-chain/

Nexus 4 vs. iPhone 5: How (not) to manage a supply chain

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FORTUNE — Both smartphones were highly anticipated and well-reviewed. Both were made available for online orders and quickly sold out. But one — Apple’s AAPL iPhone 5 — overcame some initial production hiccups and as of Thursday, according to Piper Jaffrey’s Gene Munster, had “finally reached a point where consumers can walk into an Apple Store and walk out with a phone.” The other — made for Google GOOG by LG Electronics LGLD as a showcase for Android 4.2 (a.k.a. Jelly Bean) — has become an object lesson in how not to stage a roll-out in advance of the holidays. I quote from Computerworld’s JR Raphael (Google’s Nexus 4 launch and the land of lost opportunity): Selling out isn’t the problem; that’s relatively common with hot products in high demand. There’s more to this story. First is the way Google started the Nexus 4’s sales. With no presales available, people were champing at the bit to get the phone the second orders opened up. Google initially said it’d start Nexus 4 sales on November 13th, with no specific time; later, word got out that the floodgates would open at 9 a.m. PT that day. Plenty of Android enthusiasts planned their days around that schedule to make sure they wouldn’t end up empty-handed. But then Google randomly started the sales about 15 minutes early, with no announcement and no warning. And then things really went to hell: The company’s Play Store buckled under the pressure of incoming traffic and became almost unusable. Even if you managed to get a Nexus 4 in your shopping cart, the site would repeatedly hiccup and give you errors before you could check out. Soon, Google’s storefront started randomly switching between showing the phone as available and showing it as “coming soon.” That level of barely-usable business went on much of the day. With enough work, you could often place an order — but it took an awful lot of effort. I chatted with scores of people who spent hours trying to make it happen. If only the troubles had stopped there. After two days of silence, many of the users who managed to order devices — myself included — received emails from Google stating that the Nexus 4 was backordered “due to overwhelming demand” and that the phone should ship “within three weeks.” There’s been no official communication since. And Google’s Play Store continues to show the Nexus 4 as being “sold out,” with no option to place an order or be notified when more units become available.

One hot new smartphone is now "readily available" for Christmas. The other ain't.

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http://web.archive.org/web/20141009092919id_/http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-release-Kassim-Osgood-again-5810206.php

49ers release Kassim Osgood again

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Eric Branc, San Francisco Chronicle Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press Philadelphia Eagles' Darren Sproles (43) runs past San Francisco 49ers' Kassim Osgood (14) to return a punt 82 yards for a touchdown during the second quarter of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Philadelphia Eagles' Darren Sproles (43) runs past San Francisco... 49ers release Kassim Osgood again Two days after Jim Harbaugh termed wide receiver Kassim Osgood the 49ers’ best special-teams player, the team released the three-time Pro Bowler on Wednesday. The 49ers released Osgood, 34, to make room for another special-teams standout, safety Bubba Ventrone. The 49ers released Ventrone on Aug. 30 after he was a leader on units that ranked fifth in kickoff coverage and 13th in punt coverage in 2013. Ventrone, 31, ranked third on the team in special-teams tackles (15) last year. Meanwhile, Osgood had 12 special-teams tackles in 2013, a blocked punt and scored a touchdown when he recovered a fumbled punt in the end zone. The 49ers, who also included gunner C.J. Spillman among their final roster cuts, have slipped on special teams: They rank 31st in the NFL in punt coverage (14.8 yards per return) and their kickoff-coverage team ranks 20th (23.9). On Monday, however, Harbaugh singled out rookie linebacker Chris Borland and Osgood for their special-teams work. “Kassim Osgood, again, he’s our best player on special teams,” Harbaugh said. “Especially on the coverage units, he’s doing a great job.” Osgood has been released — and subsequently re-signed — by the 49ers three times since August2013. And it’s possible he’ll, again be re-signed by the team, possibly before the 49ers visit St. Louis on Monday. The 49ers could be keeping a soon-to-be-released player on their 53-man roster for practice purposes this week. Dawson honored: Phil Dawson was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after he made field goals of 52 and 55 yards in a 5-for-5 performance in a 22-17 win over the Chiefs on Sunday. Dawson, 39, became the first 49ers kicker to make five field goals in a game without a miss since Jeff Wilkins went 6-for-6 in a 39-17 win over the Falcons on Sept. 29, 1996. Dawson has won five career player-of-the-week awards, three since he joined the 49ers in 2013. He ranks 10th in NFL history in field-goal percentage (84.5), is tied for 16th in field goals made and is 22nd in points (1,455). Dawson replaced David Akers, who made 29 of 42 attempts in 2012, including 2 of 6 from 50-plus yards. Since 2013, Dawson has made 43 of 49 attempts, including 7 of 9 from 50-plus yards. Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

[...] Osgood had 12 special-teams tackles in 2013, a blocked punt and scored a touchdown when he recovered a fumbled punt in the end zone. Phil Dawson was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after he made field goals of 52 and 55 yards in a 5-for-5 performance in a 22-17 win over the Chiefs on Sunday. Dawson replaced David Akers, who made 29 of 42 attempts in 2012, including 2 of 6 from 50-plus yards. Since 2013, Dawson has made 43 of 49 attempts, including 7 of 9 from 50-plus yards.

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http://web.archive.org/web/20141010195323id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2014/10/08/18/29/supertyphoon-vong-fong-charts-course-for-japan

Supertyphoon on path for Japan as strong as last year's devastating Haiyan

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An image of Supertyphoon Vong Fong captured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A supertyphoon on course to hit Japan over the weekend is as powerful as the deadly storm that ripped through the Philippines in 2013 killing thousands of people, meteorologists have said. The monstrous storm, named Vongfong, was picking up speed as it churned through the far west of the Pacific Ocean. "Its strength is very much similar to Haiyan," which ravaged the Philippines in November, said a meteorologist at the Japan Meteorological Agency. Haiyan left nearly 8,000 people dead or missing when gusts of around 300 kilometres per hour tore through the country, generating giant waves that swamped coastal communities. Vongfong was registering gusts of the same strength, according to the Japanese agency. Satellite images of Supertyphoon Vongfong show a perfectly formed eye in the middle of a gigantic swirling disc of cloud that appears to be sucking up weather systems from across the Tropics. Its present course will see it smash into Japan some time over the weekend, just days after another typhoon whipped through the country, leaving 11 people dead or missing and causing travel chaos. Vongfong is expected to continue strengthening over the next 24 hours but could lose some steam as it heads north. "Normally, typhoons are strongest when they are in the Tropics. They start to gradually weaken as they move into the subtropical region and the temperate zone," he said. Do you have any news photos or videos?

A supertyphoon on course to hit Japan this weekend is as powerful as the deadly storm that ripped through the Philippines last year killing thousands of people, meteorologists have said.

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http://web.archive.org/web/20141010201108id_/http://fortune.com/2014/10/10/dow-jones-down-volatile-three-weeks/

Dow Jones index closes lower, turns negative for 2014 after a wild week

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Stocks closed Friday with a sharp sell-off, capping what has been a highly volatile week for U.S. markets. The Dow Jones industrial average finished the day down over 115 points, turning negative for 2014. The decline comes one day after the blue-chip Dow index plummeted 335 points in its worst day of trading since June 2013. Concerns over global economic growth once again wreaked havoc on the marketplace on Thursday, completely erasing the strong gains experienced a day earlier when investors’ spirits were buoyed by the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggesting the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates. The market’s Wednesday rebound saw the Dow Jones jump 273 points in what was the index’s best day of 2014. Unfortunately, those gains were wiped out yesterday by the index’s worst day of 2014, as the Dow lost 2% of its value. For the week, the Dow Jones is down about 2.7%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also got crushed on Thursday, with each index losing about 2%, respectively. The S&P 500 is down 1.1% on Friday, while the Nasdaq has fallen 2.3% as the tech-heavy index was hit hard by poor performances for a number of semiconductor companies. NXP Semiconductors NXPI and Avago Technologies AVGO were the index’s biggest losers for the Nasdaq on Friday afternoon as a poor quarterly report from Microchip Technology MCHP triggered an industry-wide sell-off of chip-related companies. It has certainly been an up-and-down week at the marketplace. Here are some numbers to put the market turbulence in perspective: – With drop on Friday, the Dow Jones has now lost some 720 points, or a whopping 4.1%, in the past three weeks. – In fact, the past three weeks have erased a massive amount of value from the U.S. economy, with Bloomberg noting that U.S. equities have lost more than $1 trillion in value over that period. – After dropping four out of five days this week, the Nasdaq is on pace to finish down about 4.8% over the past five days, which would be its worst week since 2012. – The S&P 500 is down 3.1% for the week, which is also its worst week since 2012. The S&P 500 also dipped 2.7% over the course of a week in early August, which at the time was its worst week in two years. – OK, one more on the Dow Jones, which moved by at least 200 points in either direction for the fifth time in seven days on Thursday. – Energy stocks were some of the hardest hit on Thursday as oil prices dropped sharply, resulting in Exxon Mobil and Chevron each falling about 3%, while the S&P 500’s energy sector was down more than 3.5%. The market’s volatility in recent weeks has been reflected in the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the “fear index,” which spiked 23% yesterday to hit 19. The VIX is up again on Friday, by 11.6%, and the index is up 41% on the year. Of course, Fortune’s Stephen Gandel noted yesterday that wild VIX fluctuations are not exactly the end of the world for the markets and that traders expect the VIX to be lower in a few months.

Friday’s losses come one day after the blue-chip index sank 335 points in its worst day of trading since June 2013.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/may/31/prada-venice-biennale-2013

http://web.archive.org/web/20141012040451id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/may/31/prada-venice-biennale-2013

From Prada to povera: the Venice Biennale recaptures the spirit of the 60s

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Rope trick ... works by Mario Merz, Robert Morris, Barry Flanagan and Bruce Nauman from When Attitudes Become Form: Bern 1969/Venice 2013'. Photograph: Siegfried Kuhn Glassy-eyed, anxious, ill-tempered and exhausted, the Biennale-goer suffers less from Stendhal Syndrome – with its fainting fits and hallucinations at experiencing an excess of great art – than a visual and mental fatigue, the result of having absorbed too little and understood even less. The Venice Biennale is always too big, too diffuse, too sprawling and too filled with divergent objects, images and ideas to make any coherent sense. Left reeling, the visitor is unhinged by the growing feeling that the thing you need to see is always around the next corner, in the next pavilion, on an island that can only be accessed by a wallet-draining water taxi or a footsore trek away across innumerable bridges and down alleys that Google maps can never find. You begin to wonder where you are, and what year it is. There is also a creeping sense of déjà vu for Venice regulars. I have stood on this corner before, with different lovers and with friends now dead. I have visited the same pavilions and experienced the same disappointments. The chance encounters are always the same: when did you arrive and what have you seen? Germany was better last time and isn't the keynote show awful? But things have changed since I first visited the Biennale in the 1970s. There were fewer art groupies and swanky parties, no billion-dollar yachts, no private art foundations vying with the official Biennale, less art to look at, much less money, no cheap air travel, no Facebook and no Twitter. In 1969, at the Bern Kunsthalle in Switzerland, the curator Harald Szeemann mounted the exhibition Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form. The show covered the two floors of the gallery, which had been built at the end of the first world war, and also occupied a school building across the road. Around 70 European and American artists were included, from Carl Andre to Gilberto Zorio. Joseph Beuys and Bruce Nauman, Robert Morris and Mario Merz, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Jannis Kounellis and Lawrence Weiner were all here, along with an almost complete roster of conceptual, minimal, post-minimal and arte povera artists who defined not just a moment but the last major tendency of art-making in the late 20th century. That said, it was an almost strictly European and American affair, and only three women were included: Hanne Darboven, Eva Hesse and Jo Ann Kaplan. When Attitudes Become Form was defined not so much by a group ethos as a mentality. The show captured what was in the air, and the exhibition itself became a kind of conversation about what art might become. It could be one of Richard Long's walks or a telephone call. It could be as literal as a wall with a section of plaster stripped away, or a rope winding across the floor from one room to the next. Art could be as strange as an igloo of glass with a tree branch sticking out of it, or as mundane as a pile of blankets. It could be a statement or an instruction, a splash of molten lead lobbed against the wall or a wodge of fat placed in the corner of the room. The Fondazione Prada, at the Ca' Corner della Regina palace on the Grand Canal, has done more than revisit the 1969 exhibition in Venice this week. The Italian curator Germano Celant, the original impresario of arte povera and a friend of the late Szeemann (the two discovered they were interested in the same artists, and shared their address books when Szeemann was working on the show) has restaged the entire exhibition as closely as possible, gathering the same works, installing them in rooms that resemble, as closely as can be devised, those at the Bern Kunsthalle in 1969. To achieve this, Celant has worked with architect Rem Koolhaas and German artist Thomas Demand, who is best known for his paper models of actual places – from Saddam's bolthole to the destroyed room where a failed assassination attempt was made on Hitler's life – which Demand then photographs to produce his art. Reconstructing and reconfiguring walls and floors, and even including the intrusive radiators and fittings of a late 1960s Swiss kunsthalle inside a Venetian palace, cannot be achieved seamlessly. The resemblances achieve a strange yet magical dislocated double-take. There is a weird feeling of time-slip and dislocation. As far as possible, the same works have been brought together as they were 44 years ago. Where works are missing, drawn outlines on the walls and floors indicate where they once would have been. Like the outlines of bodies at a crime scene, the lines indicate not just lost objects, but lost time. These absences touch my heart – even if, in this cynical age, we might pretend art no longer has the power to move us. Perhaps it is a loss of innocence, most of all, that the current exhibition commemorates. One surprise here is how little concern there was in the original exhibition for the kinds of dramatic display we see nowadays. Works by different artists are placed cheek-by-jowl, often crammed into the galleries. One of Richard Artschwager's small "blips" – little black shapes he used to interrupt the exhibition space – is actually on the wall behind one of Richard Serra's leaning steel plates. Other works sneak around each other, approach one another warily and fall into casual conversation. There was little of the one-upmanship and flagrant space-hogging we see nowadays. There is a feeling that all the artists in When Attitudes Become Form were in it together, whatever it was. What a brilliant and telling show this is, not in bringing together key works of the period, in all their worn and dowdy everyday magnificence, but in acting as a reminder of how things have changed. Artists used to have lives and conversations. Now they just have careers and networks. But there remain echoes everywhere around Venice of this earlier moment: in Sarah Sze's sprawls of stuff in the US pavilion; in Mark Manders's sculptures in the Dutch pavilion; in Roger Hiorns's drift of dust from a pulverised gravestone that spreads across the floor in this Biennale's keynote show, The Encyclopaedic Palace. Even so, much else has gone, not least a sense of real adventure and mental territory being opened up. There are far more people passing through the Fondazione Prada reconstruction of the Bern exhibition this week than ever visited the original show during its run, even though When Attitudes Became Form is now regarded as having captured its zeitgeist before most people even realised there was one. The original exhibition defined a moment and a mindset. It was serious and playful, confrontational and accessible, iconoclastic, hopeful and poetic. It spoke for a democratic art of ideas and materials and spaces. It made the spectator's role feel vital in the completion of the work. This was art that invited us in. On the floor in one room sits an old telephone. Next to it is a sign: "If this telephone rings, you may answer it. Walter de Maria is on the line and would like to talk to you." The other night at the opening, Walter rang, but I wasn't able to take his call.

From a splash of molten lead to a telephone call, the Fondazione Prada has recreated an extraordinary 1969 exhibition down to the last detail – and captured Adrian Searle's heart

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http://fortune.com/2013/01/03/apple-tv-vs-intel-tv/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141016011126id_/http://fortune.com:80/2013/01/03/apple-tv-vs-intel-tv/

Apple TV vs. Intel TV

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What we know: Not a whole lot. According to a report this week from The Wall Street Journal, the group in charge of Intel’s INTC TV strategy, dubbed Intel Media, is run by Erik Huggers, a corporate VP who once worked for the BBC and Microsoft MSFT . A set-top box may be in the works touting speech and face recognition, as well as social features, making for more of a “shared experience” with multiple users. Intel’s also kicking around an idea called the “virtual operator,” which would basically offer TV channels in Internet bundles similar to the way they’re offered today. ETA: Originally end of 2012, but that proved about as accurate as the Mayan apocalypse. Now? Anywhere from mid-2013 to end-of-the-year. In other words: unclear. What we know: The rumors just won’t die. What we do know is Apple AAPL is certainly cooking up something there. Tim Cook just about hinted as much in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams at the end of last year. “When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years,” Cook said. “It’s an area of intense interest. I can’t say more than that.” Confirmation? Not quite. But as close as a “yes” as we’ll probably ever get from a company that also recently admitted it’s doubling down on secrecy when it comes to product development. And what that TV device/service will ultimately look like is anyone’s guess. Maybe it’ll be an actual TV set designed by Jony Ive & Co. with an inventive software interface to rival its inevitably slick physical appearance. There are certainly no shortage of fanboy mock-ups in that area. (See here or here.) “We expect the beauty of the design to be a feature, but the most important feature will be the ability to use the TV as the main interface for the living room across multiple devices,” writes Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster in a report this week. Munster thinks the TV will include Siri and FaceTime features but not unbundled channels. Fortune even took a crack at coming up with 11 features the Apple TV must have. ETA: Munster expects such a device could arrive this November in time for the holiday season, priced somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000 with screen sizes in the 42″-55″ range. If he’s right, three words: start saving now.

Both tech giants are rumored to be developing television products for this year or next. Here's how they (might) stack up.

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http://fortune.com/2014/10/17/how-well-do-you-know-the-40-under-40/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141017141204id_/http://fortune.com/2014/10/17/how-well-do-you-know-the-40-under-40/

How well do you know the 40 Under 40?

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If you’re reading Fortune, you’re aware of Mark Zuckerberg. You likely know Jack Dorsey and Marissa Mayer. You might know Kevin Systrom, and Ben Silbermann. But what about Andriy Kobolyev, or Tristan Walker, or Julie Smolyansky? The names Liv Garfield, Kevin Chou, and Raj Chetty might not ring a bell. Or do they? How well do you know the super-successful, high-flying business stars of our new 40 Under 40? Test yourself with our quiz. Then take to Twitter and use the hashtag #fortune40 to let us know how you did.

Take our quiz to test your knowledge

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Spurs' no-shows prompt apology, gift offer from Suns' owner

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Updated OCT 18, 2014 5:04a ET PHOENIX -- Suns managing partner Robert Sarver took advantage of a break during the fourth quarter of Thursday's preseason game to apologize for what ended in his team's 31-point victory. He also offered to provide a gift for fans required to watch the home team's blitzkrieg that featured three -- yes, three! -- point guards on the floor at the same time during a riveting, three-minutes-plus stretch to close the opening half. The unusual apology circumstance was provided by the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, who arrived for this practice event with Tony Parker, Danny Green, Boris Diaw . . . and not much else. Included among the missing were Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Coach Gregg Popovich, whose history of resting players during the regular season has provided considerable debate bait around the league. San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard (eye infection), Tiago Splitter (strained calf muscle) and Patty Mills (shoulder) were held out for physical precautions, while the aforementioned Duncan and Ginobili typically go through a rationing process all season -- even when the games matter. Nonetheless, Sarver -- scoring points with his fan base at a rate almost commensurate with that of his team -- offered the following: "Hey, everybody, I want to thank you for coming out tonight," he said. "This is not the game you paid your hard-earned money to watch. I apologize for it. And I want you to send me your tickets if you came tonight with a return envelope and I've got a gift for you on behalf of the Suns for showing up tonight. Thank you." The gift will be $25 or $50 credits toward merchandise, tickets and concessions. Sarver later said he does not think the Spurs should be sanctioned by the league for resting or holding out players during the preseason. He simply wanted to thank the fans for turning out (the announced attendance was 13,552) despite the potential to witness a low level of competition. It's a winning gesture from a franchise owner who -- also like his team -- is rebuilding his image at a successful and rapid rate. As time on his watch marches on, Sarver decisions such as putting a cap on the years required to rehire Amare' Stoudemire, parting company with Steve Nash and bringing back Goran Dragic are looking better by the day. By the way, around these parts, it never hurts to tweak the Spurs and Popovich. But it also should be pointed out that any notion of Popovich disrespecting the Suns should be tempered by the reality of the Spurs' coach having much respect for Phoenix's coach Jeff Hornacek and his players. Here's what Pop had to say about both last December: "They've got a good, aggressive group. They all come to play. They don't back off. They all stick their nose in. They're unselfish. They've got a lot of great elements working together. *By clicking "SUBSCRIBE", you have read and agreed to the Fox Sports Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. "He (Hornacek) played a fundamental game both in Phoenix and Utah. He understands what it takes at the highest level to win, and he'll demand it. He'll be disciplined, and he'll do it fairly and that engenders respect. And you can tell they don't disrespect him and they're having fun playing." Hornacek, asked for his opinion of not having the Spurs at full strength as a means to help the Suns prepare, didn't seem bothered, either. "It didn't matter who was out there tonight," he said. "We wanted to get some things accomplished. They allowed us to do that by allowing us to go small without some of their big guys. So we got a good chance to practice some things." Follow Randy Hill on Twitter

With Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili among the missing in action at Thursday's preseason game in Phoenix, Suns owner Robert Sarver takes to the public address system to apologize to fans and offer them a gift.

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http://www.people.com/article/monica-lewinsky-forbes-under-30-summit

http://web.archive.org/web/20141021165224id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/monica-lewinsky-forbes-under-30-summit

Monica Lewinsky on Bill Clinton Sex Scandal: 'I Came Close to Disintegrating'

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10/20/2014 AT 01:45 PM EDT continues to share her side of the story, this time with a tearful speech that addressed her affair with then- and the devastation the scandal caused to her self-esteem. "Frankly, I came close to disintegrating. No, it's not too strong a word. I wish it were, but it isn't," Lewinsky, now 41, said Monday at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia. "A relentless mantra in my head: I want to die." Recalling the public reaction that suddenly exploded all around her, Lewinsky said, "Overnight, I went from being a completely private figure, to a publicly humiliated one. I was patient zero – the first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide via the Internet." As for her own reaction, she said, "During this period, I gradually came to realize that there were two Monica Lewinskys ... There was me, and there was public Monica Lewinsky. A somewhat curious character, constructed by political factions and the media. Constructed with a little fact, and a lot of fiction. My friends didn't know that Monica. My family didn't know that Monica. And this Monica, the real Monica standing here today, didn't know her either." about the affair in May, when she wrote in , "It's time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress." She now works on behalf of victims of online humiliation and harassment. Saying she "deeply regret[s the affair] for many reasons, not the least of which because people were hurt, and that's never okay," Lewinsky also cut her young self some slack, describing herself at the time as "more than averagely romantic." "I fell in love with my boss. In a 22-year-old sort of way, it happens. But my boss was the president of the United States. That probably happens less often."

"A relentless mantra in my head: I want to die," said the former White House intern at a public gathering Monday

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http://fortune.com/2014/06/18/fedex-shipping-fourth-quarter/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141021224034id_/http://fortune.com/2014/06/18/fedex-shipping-fourth-quarter/

FedEx delivers strong earnings, rebounding from harsh winter

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FedEx’s fiscal fourth-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, boosted by higher volumes and signaling a strong rebound after a harsh winter hurt results earlier this year. The results easily exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Last year’s results were dragged lower by several charges. FedEx FDX and rival United Parcel Services UPS each were stung by an unusually severe winter earlier this year, which decreased shipping volume and led to increased costs. For FedEx, those disruptions trimmed operating income by an estimated $125 million in the fiscal third quarter. The results FedEx’s reported Wednesday were amid more normalized conditions. Meanwhile, FedEx and UPS earlier this year each raised some of their shipping rates. Those increases come as the industry faces some challenges, particularly a shift toward lower-pricing shipping services among international clients. For the period ended May 31, FedEx reported a profit of $730 million, or $2.46 a share, up from $303 million, or 95 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding restructuring and impairments charges, prior-year adjusted profit totaled $2.13 a share. Total revenue jumped 3.5% to $11.84 billion, boosted by strong growth from the freight and ground segments. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had projected an adjusted profit of $2.36 a share on $11.66 billion in revenue. Total U.S. package volume climbed 3%, while volumes also grew across all international businesses. Looking ahead, FedEx sees full-year profit for the new fiscal year between $8.50 to $9 a share. Analysts had expected $8.76 a share.

Package deliverer's fiscal fourth-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, boosted by higher volumes.

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http://fortune.com/2014/04/28/under-armour-ceos-three-tips-for-growing-a-business/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141022143530id_/http://fortune.com/2014/04/28/under-armour-ceos-three-tips-for-growing-a-business/

Under Armour CEO's three tips for growing a business

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FORTUNE–“Our mission is simple: to make all athletes better,” says Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank. “Our vision is even simpler: to empower athletes everywhere.” Have you noticed that the best businesses are typically built on easy-to-understand foundations? That is, one big idea. That was the message that Plank delivered last Friday in a keynote talk at a University of Virginia Entrepreneurs Symposium. Back in 1996, as Plank explained, he was a 23-year-old graduate of the University of Maryland, where he’d been special teams captain of the football team, and he was determined to invent a T-shirt that wouldn’t get soaked in sweat. Plank didn’t create the performance apparel category, but he made it mass-market, and that fielded lucrative opportunities for Nike and other companies that were smart and nimble enough to adapt. Meanwhile, he built a startup that generated $2.3 billion in revenue last year and has a stock-market valuation of more than $9 billion. UA stock is due to join the S&P this week. Plank, 41, had loads of advice for the entrepreneurs at UVa (my alma mater), but he said that his remarkable success comes down to three lessons: Focus. “We rebuilt that first T-shirt time and time again during the first five years,” Plank said about Under Armour’s early product development. “People kept saying, ‘You should do this…You should do that,’” he recalled, noting that he ignored advice to broaden his product line. Two decades later, Under Armour sells shoes and sunglasses and all sorts of athletic gear, but the original product, the moisture-wicking T-shirt, is still in development. “I think we’re on the 63rd version of that shirt,” Plank said as we chatted after his keynote. “It’s key to become ‘famous’ for one thing first,” he added, “and that will give you the credibility to go into other areas once your ready….which generally means a long time and a lot of perfecting!” Find out if your product can sell. Before he created Under Armour, Plank had an on-campus rose-selling business, Cupid’s Valentine. He invested $16,000 from that business into his T-shirt startup in 1996—and $9,000 of the $16,000 went into patents and trademarks. “Save yourself time and money,” Plank said, contending that he overspent on legal fees. Early on, use scarce capital to “get your product into stores,” he advised. Possess strong will. “I have a saying at the company,” Plank said as he described how he talks to his 7,000 employees’ about their Baltimore-based company’s culture of ownership. “Employees get things done. Partners get things done done. But owners get things done done done.” Listening to Plank, I thought of other leaders like him who created multi-billion-dollar businesses from one idea. Whole Foods founder-CEO John Mackey has done that. So has Hamdi Ulukaya, who created Chobani Greek yogurt and built a business that grew as fast as Google and Facebook in its first five years. Read Beth Kowitt’s exclusive Fortune interview with Ulukaya about his new $750 million investment from private equity firm TPG—and her Fortune cover story about Whole Foods. Meanwhile, brand expert Jim Stengel, the former CMO of Procter & Gamble , captures the essence of enduring growth companies in his six-part series here. Growth begins with a big idea, and if you’re smart and lucky, it never ends.

Kevin Plank took on Nike and built Under Armour into a $2.3 billion company. The hypercompetitive CEO says he learned three major lessons along the way.

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http://fortune.com/2014/10/24/corporate-offshore-cash-us-jobs/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141024123603id_/http://fortune.com/2014/10/24/corporate-offshore-cash-us-jobs/

How to use that $900 billion of offshore cash to create U.S. jobs

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One of the stories that firms deserting our country like to tell is that by moving their corporate domicile (but not their actual headquarters) outside the United States to duck taxes, they will be able to use cash they currently have parked offshore to expand their operations in the U.S. So when the new rules the Treasury issued in September upended the biggest proposed corporate “inversion” in history—Illinois-based AbbVie’s ABBV $54 billion takeover of Ireland-based Shire—there was whining about how the Treasury is killing prospective American jobs. To which I say: give me a break. Under current law, it’s already relatively simple, inexpensive, and profitable for an American company to use its offshore cash for productive and job-adding U.S. projects. And as I think you’ll see, the method we’re talking about, which Standard & Poor’s has dubbed “synthetic cash repatriation,” looks like a better long-term deal for shareholders than paying a multi-billion-dollar premium to buy an offshore company in an inversion deal. In an inversion, a U.S. company buys a foreign company, technically sells out to it, and thus transforms itself into a non-U.S. company to avoid high U.S. taxes, but continues to benefit from being in our country. That’s why I (and subsequently President Obama) have taken to calling these inverters “deserters.” U.S. companies rarely bring home the profits they earn in other countries, because that would subject them to the 35% U.S. corporate income tax, less the tax (if any) paid where the money was earned. As of June 30, S&P estimates that the U.S. companies whose credit it rates held $906 billion of cash offshore, money that would be subject to U.S. tax if companies brought it home directly. But there’s a simple and obvious way for companies to use the cash indirectly to fund U.S. investments. Think of it as “clever borrowing.” Here’s how it would work. It’s a play in three acts. Act One We start with something I learned from tax expert Edward Kleinbard, a University of Southern California law school professor and a prolific, witty, and effective polemicist whose new book, We Are Better than This: How Government Should Spend Our Money, is a must-read for anyone who wants to be educated about taxes and social policy. Kleinbard told me something that I should have known but didn’t: American companies are required to pay U.S. income tax on interest and dividends earned on their offshore cash, regardless of whether that income is repatriated to the U.S. (For details, ask a tax techie about Subpart F.) That’s something that very few people know, but it’s really important for our analysis. Act Two Last April, S&P issued a nifty report showing how some big U.S. companies are indirectly using their offshore cash to facilitate cheap borrowing in the U.S. That’s the practice that S&P dubs, quite cleverly, “synthetic cash repatriation.” In case you’re interested—and you should be—offshore cash is 60% of the total cash that S&P-rated companies had on their books as of June 30, up from 44% at year-end 2009. Now, let’s combine Acts One and Two. Because the income earned on firms’ offshore cash is taxable in the U.S., there’s no penalty for repatriating that income into our country. So a company with offshore cash can borrow in the U.S. and use the income earned on its offshore money to pay some or all of the (tax-deductible) interest that it incurs on its U.S. borrowing. If the interest rates at which a company invests its surplus cash offshore and borrows in the U.S. for projects here were identical, the offshore interest income would totally offset the U.S. interest expense. But in the real world, the money a company would borrow to fund a productive, job-creating project would typically have a longer maturity than the short-term securities in which firms generally stash their offshore cash. Therefore, money borrowed in the U.S. to fund a project here would carry a higher interest rate than what the offshore cash earns. So let’s say a company is earning 1% on its offshore cash and pays 3% to borrow here. After taxes—remember, interest paid in the U.S. is deductible to the borrower—that 2% spread costs the company only 1.3%. Act Three The grand finale: A big company that wants to make a capital investment in the U.S. typically has a “hurdle rate”—a minimum return that it expects to earn on that investment—of at least 10% after taxes. If an investment isn’t likely to earn at least the hurdle rate return, the company probably won’t make it, regardless of where the cash to pay for it comes from. If the projected profit exceeds the hurdle rate, the company will make the investment. Shelling out 1.3% after tax to finance an investment expected to earn double digits after tax is a no-brainer. Using offshore cash to borrow cheaply in the U.S. strikes me as a better long-term deal for shareholders than having a company shell out big money to buy an inversion partner, and then having to make that corporate marriage work. (The acquisition has to be sizable, relative to the inverter’s stock market value, for the deal to qualify for inversion treatment under the tax code.) There’s no question that a 1.3% annual cost makes “financial engineering” maneuvers, such as using U.S. borrowings to pay dividends and buy back shares, less lucrative for shareholders than they would otherwise be. However, as we’ve seen, if a company wants to use synthetically repatriated cash to expand and grow, that 1.3% isn’t a big deal. My conclusion: the idea that a U.S. company with offshore cash has to invert and desert our country in order to make an investment here is nonsense. Up with intelligent borrowing. Down with whining. This is an expanded version of a column that will appear in the November 17, 2014 issue of Fortune.

Here’s a simple and obvious way for companies to indirectly use cash to fund U.S. investments and create jobs.

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http://fortune.com/2014/03/17/chess-or-checkers-gruber-on-apples-mobile-ecosystem-edge/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141025085750id_/http://fortune.com/2014/03/17/chess-or-checkers-gruber-on-apples-mobile-ecosystem-edge/

Chess or checkers? Gruber on Apple's mobile ecosystem edge

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FORTUNE — Tech pundit John Gruber, best known for his Daring Fireball blog, launched a mobile app last summer, and it seems to have given him new perspective on the smartphone market. Or at least a new metaphor. The terms most often used to describe the competition among Apple AAPL , Google GOOG , Microsoft MSFT and Samsung are drawn from the military. The smartphone and tablet wars. The battles for control. The problem with such analogies is that they assume the combatants are playing on the same field. Describing iOS v. Android as an “app war” for example, doesn’t explain why iOS users spend more money, install more apps and browse the Web more, even though they’re outnumbered. “The elephant in the room,” writes Gruber, is that “people who choose iOS devices are better customers than people who choose Android. Or inverted: iOS (and iOS devices) are designed to attract better customers.” Or to put it still another way, one that seem to have turned into a meme over the weekend: “It’s not fair to say that Apple is playing chess while Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and the rest are playing checkers. It’s more like they’re all playing chess, Apple is winning, but there’s a large contingent of the tech and investor commentariat who think the game is checkers and thus are deeply confused.” LINK: Daring Fireball: The ecosystem chess game. Below: MacDailyNews dug deeper into what Asymco’s Horace Dediu called “The Android engagement paradox.” MacDailyNews Take: It’s the marketing, stupid. Android is pushed to users who are, in general: a) confused about why they should be choosing an iPhone over an inferior knockoff and therefore might be less prone to understand/explore their devices’ capabilities or trust their devices with credit card info for shopping; and/or b) enticed with “Buy One Get One Free,” “Buy One, Get Two or More Free,” or similar ($100 Gift Cards with Purchase) offers. Neither type of customer is the cream of the crop when it comes to successful engagement or coveted demographics; closer to the bottom of the barrel than the top, in fact. Android can be widespread and still demographically inferior precisely because of the way in which and to whom Android devices are marketed. Unending BOGO promos attract a seemingly unending stream of cheapskate freetards just as inane, pointless TV commercials about robots or blasting holes in concrete walls attract meatheads and dullards, not exactly the best demographics unless you’re peddling muscle building powders or grease monkey overalls. Google made a crucial mistake: They gave away Android to “partners” who pushed and continue to push the product into the hands of the exact opposite type of user that Google needs for Android to truly thrive. Hence, Android is a backwater of second-rate, or worse, app versions that are only downloaded when free or ad-supported – but the Android user is notoriously cheap, so the ads don’t sell for much because they don’t work very well. You’d have guessed that Google would have understood this, but you’d have guessed wrong. Google built a platform that depends heavily on advertising support, but sold it to the very type of customer who’s the least likely to patronize ads. iOS users are the ones who buy apps, so developers focus on iOS users. iOS users buy products, so accessory makers focus on iOS users. iOS users have money and the proven will to spend it, so vehicle makers focus on iOS users. Etcetera. Android can have the Hee Haw demographic. Apple doesn’t want it or need it; it’s far more trouble than it’s worth.

The dean of Apple bloggers offers a new metaphor from the trenches of the app wars.

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http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Compared-to-Ditka-49ers-McDonald-just-trying-5851809.php

http://web.archive.org/web/20141028073821id_/http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Compared-to-Ditka-49ers-McDonald-just-trying-5851809.php

Compared to Ditka, 49ers’ McDonald just trying to be himself

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Eric Branc, San Francisco Chronicle Photo: Michael Thomas / Getty Images 49ers tight end Vance McDonald fumbles as he is tackled by the Rams’ Rodney McLeod (23) and Jo-Lonn Dunbar on Oct. 13. 49ers tight end Vance McDonald fumbles as he is tackled by the... Compared to Ditka, 49ers’ McDonald just trying to be himself Jim Harbaugh famously declines to compare players, but he made a memorable exception when the 49ers drafted Rice tight end Vance McDonald in the second round of the 2013 draft. Harbaugh said the hulking McDonald, 6-foot-4 and 267 pounds, evoked memories of his former coach with the Bears, Mike Ditka, who became the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. “He reminds me of what I saw of Mike Ditka when he played the game,” Harbaugh said then. “I’m curious to see if Mike Ditka will see the same similarities. That was an exciting thing to get Vance on the team. I kind of wanted to get him No. 89 and it worked out. … I’ll let you guys be the judge — and Coach Ditka — to see if there’s some similarities there.” One and a half seasons into McDonald’s career, one would have to look extremely hard to uncover similarities. McDonald is still sporting Ditka’s jersey number, but his other numbers don’t suggest a Hall of Fame clone: In 20 games, McDonald has 10 catches, 149 receiving yards, four drops and a lost fumble. On Monday, he acknowledged that Harbaugh’s sky-high praise could have been a bit of a burden as a rookie. “I haven’t actually thought about it since last year, and I think that’s a good thing,” McDonald said. “It’s an unbelievable honor to be placed in that company as soon as you come in. But as far as having that in the back of your mind just kind of stalking you, I think that could just be a distraction.” McDonald arrived in the NFL known as a pass-catcher with scant blocking experience. He routinely split out wide in college and finished his career ranked sixth in school history in catches (119), seventh in receiving yards (1,504) and fifth in touchdown catches (15). With the 49ers, however, McDonald has earned high marks for his steadily improving blocking, but has been just a rumor in the passing game. Of the 12 tight ends selected among the first 201 picks in 2013, McDonald, the fourth picked, is the only one without a touchdown catch and is one of two with fewer than 11 career catches. Even Seattle’s Luke Willson, a 2013 fifth-round pick who was in McDonald’s shadow at Rice, has outperformed his ex-teammate. Willson has 27 career catches for 335 yards and two touchdowns. In fairness to McDonald, the man he replaced, Delanie Walker, didn’t put up huge numbers as the No. 2 tight end in an offense featuring Vernon Davis. Walker had 21 catches for 344 yards in 2012 before he signed with the Titans. “It’s different, for sure,” McDonald said. “In college, you have plays drawn up for you. And I’m not in that situation anymore; I’m in this situation. It’s just how you approach it. The good thing is, just the way I was raised by my parents, they instilled in me to take advantage of whatever situation you’re in. No moping. No negative about it.” However, McDonald admitted it’s been a challenge to stay positive when he’s failed to take advantage of an opportunity. A prime example came in a win at St. Louis on Oct. 13 when he lost a fumble at the end of a 21-yard catch, one of his two receptions this season. “I’ve always been extremely hard on myself after something bad happens,” McDonald said. “Focusing on moving past something and not having any negative thoughts in your mind — I think that’s key for anyone’s success. And all the outside noise — whether it’s flak or positive talk — just completely eliminating that and focusing on what I need to do.” McDonald is aware that some impatient fans already view him as a botched draft pick, but he said he focuses on feedback from his teammates and coaches. On Monday, Harbaugh praised McDonald’s blocking and offered an overall favorable assessment. “We’d like to get him the ball more,” Harbaugh said. “But I feel good about Vance.” This time, Harbaugh didn’t mention Ditka, which is just fine with McDonald. “If it turns out I become a threat like that, then bring it on,” McDonald said. “That would be great. But until then, I’m just going to come each day and do my job.” Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @Eric_Branch Of the 12 tight ends selected among the first 201 picks in 2013, Vance McDonald is the only one without a touchdown catch and one of two with fewer than 11 career catches. Here’s how McDonald’s numbers stack up against the career averages of the other 11 tight ends: McDonald: 10 catches, 149 yards, 0 TD Other 11 TEs: 30 catches, 370 yards, 3 TD

Jim Harbaugh famously declines to compare players, but he made a memorable exception when the 49ers drafted Rice tight end Vance McDonald in the second round of the 2013 draft. Harbaugh said the hulking McDonald, 6-foot-4 and 267 pounds, evoked memories of his former coach with the Bears, Mike Ditka, who became the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. In 20 games, McDonald has 10 catches, 149 receiving yards, four drops and a lost fumble. Of the 12 tight ends selected among the first 201 picks in 2013, McDonald, the fourth picked, is the only one without a touchdown catch and is one of two with fewer than 11 career catches. Willson has 27 career catches for 335 yards and two touchdowns. [...] McDonald admitted it’s been a challenge to stay positive when he’s failed to take advantage of an opportunity. McDonald is aware that some impatient fans already view him as a botched draft pick, but he said he focuses on feedback from his teammates and coaches. Of the 12 tight ends selected among the first 201 picks in 2013, Vance McDonald is the only one without a touchdown catch and one of two with fewer than 11 career catches.

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http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/10/27/02/43/british-forces-hand-over-control-of-last-base-in-afghanistan

http://web.archive.org/web/20141029051155id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2014/10/27/02/43/british-forces-hand-over-control-of-last-base-in-afghanistan

British forces hand over control of last base in Afghanistan

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A British Army Officer walking towards British Army and Afghan National Civil Police (ANCOP) Observation Points in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. (Ben Birchall/PA Wire) British forces handed over formal control of their last base in Afghanistan to Afghan troops, ending combat operations in the country after 13 years which cost hundreds of lives. The handover was hailed by British Prime Minister David Cameron but the southern Helmand province that foreign troops are leaving behind still confronts a resilient Taliban insurgency and remains a hub for opium production. The Union Jack was lowered at Camp Bastion while the Stars and Stripes came down at the adjacent Camp Leatherneck - the last US Marine base in the country. All NATO combat troops will depart Afghanistan by December, leaving Afghan troops and police to battle Taliban insurgents on their own. The huge joint base built in the desert near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah was the most important installation for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Between 2010 to 2011, it housed almost 40,000 foreigners including sub-contractors. British Prime Minister David Cameron. (Getty) Hundreds of US Marines and British troops are set to leave Helmand soon, though the precise date has not been revealed for security reasons. In a ceremony yesterday the Afghans took formal control of the base, despite already being present in a portion of it. The British and US flags were lowered, leaving only Afghanistan's national flag to flutter in the breeze. Mr Cameron later tweeted: "As flag lowers at Camp Bastion, our Armed Forces can return with their heads held high - proud of all they have achieved to keep us safe." A total of 453 British troops and 2,349 Americans were killed. Many facilities such as pipelines, buildings, roads and even office furniture remain in place, with the US alone estimating $230 million worth of equipment is being left behind. Do you have any news photos or videos?

British forces Sunday handed over formal control of their last base in Afghanistan to Afghan troops, ending combat operations in the country after 13 years which cost hundreds of lives.

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http://www.people.com/article/daniel-radcliffe-raps-blackalicious-alphabet-aerobics-tonight-show

http://web.archive.org/web/20141029173435id_/http://www.people.com/article/daniel-radcliffe-raps-blackalicious-alphabet-aerobics-tonight-show

Daniel Radcliffe Raps Blackalicious's 'Alphabet Aerobics' on The Tonight Show : People.com

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10/29/2014 AT 09:20 AM EDT Like many other denizens of the The star was visiting Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday's to discuss his new film, , when Fallon brought up "I think I was the first kid in my class to learn all the words to [Eminem's] 'Real Slim Shady,' " Radcliffe told Fallon. Radcliffe went on to say that memorizing lyrics became something of an obsession for him, which soon led Fallon to challenge him to perform Blackalicious's "Alphabet Aerobics," a song that, as one would guess from the title, features an intricate rhyme scheme in alphabetic order, at a gradually increasing speed. Spoiler alert: Radcliffe nails it. (With one hand in his pocket for a portion of the performance, like he's casually chatting with a friend.) It's easily the most impressive and unexpected performance we've seen on of "All I Do Is Win." Watch the full clip below and, for your own sake, do not ever challenge Daniel Radcliffe to a rap battle.

Radcliffe performs Blackalicious's 'Alphabet Aerobics' flawlessly

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http://fortune.com/2013/06/27/exclusive-darpa-alums-form-vc-firm/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141110100436id_/http://fortune.com:80/2013/06/27/exclusive-darpa-alums-form-vc-firm/

Exclusive: DARPA alums form VC firm

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FORTUNE — A new breed of energy-focused private equity funds is beginning to emerge, focused on capital-efficient companies rather than the fortune-burning manufacturing plays of yesteryear. In other words, no more solar panel or biofuel investments that look more like project finance than traditional venture capital. The latest one I’ve heard about is being formed by Doug Kirkpatrick, who has spent the past three years as a partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners. His new platform is called InnerProduct Partners, and currently is seeking commitments for its debut fund. Kirkpatrick spent eight years as a chief scientist with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) before joining VantagePoint, and is being joined on InnerProduct by a number of former colleagues. Among them is Pete Haaland, a former DARPA project manager who later was an office director with Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Kirkpatrick did not respond to requests for comment. Sign up for our daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com

New VC effort will focus on capital-efficient energy companies.

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2014/03/01/fox-sports-live-struggles-make-good-its-game-plan/Tu9NapzenB6YJYlNKKLMYP/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20141111084056id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/arts/television/2014/03/01/fox-sports-live-struggles-make-good-its-game-plan/Tu9NapzenB6YJYlNKKLMYP/story.html

‘Fox Sports Live’ struggles to make good on its game plan

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For over 20 years, sports fans have turned to the same place for news and highlights nightly at 11 p.m.: ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” From the golden era of Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick forward, “SportsCenter” has been the gold standard of sports-roundup shows, even as its increasing emphasis on flashy graphics and faux spectacle has eroded a good deal of its watchability. The stage had been set for a genuine rival to the dominance of “SportsCenter.” Enter “Fox Sports Live,” the flagship show of the retooled Fox Sports 1, newly redesignated as a national channel. If ESPN is the CNN of sports news, Fox Sports 1, which premiered in August, intends to be its Fox News — the brash, opinionated competitor that leaves its stodgy competitor in the dust. Visually, “Fox Sports Live” looks much like Fox News. The screen is framed by the ubiquitous breaking-news crawl at the bottom and a list of upcoming topics along its right edge. The framing makes the main event feel unnecessarily cramped, and the blue-yellow-red color scheme is garish. Fox has been successful before with this brutalist look; regardless of one’s political outlook, it can be safely agreed that Fox News is one of the more visually unappetizing channels on cable. “Fox Sports Live” is similarly unpleasant to look at, like a primary-color oil spill seeping in from the edges of the screen. More crucially, “Fox Sports Live” looks to blur the distinction between news and opinion: We report, we decide. “Fox Sports Live” is a mash-up of classic 1990s “SportsCenter,” with imported Canadian hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole filling the Olbermann-Patrick roles, and an ESPN sports-talk show like “Around the Horn.” Onrait and O’Toole, who made names for themselves as hosts of TSN’s “SportsCentre,” are affable and clownish. For their American sojourn, they have packed suitcases full of shtick, like Onrait’s “You’re off the case, Bobrovsky!” whenever highlights feature Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky — likely a less common occurrence here than it had been in Canada. But Onrait and O’Toole control only a modest amount of real estate on the show, which also features Charissa Thompson and a slew of former athletes and moderators in an ever-changing array of formats. “Fox Sports Live” thinks that the solution to the monotony of two hosts sitting at one desk is to have 10 hosts at eight different desks, roundtables, and conversation pits. The result is a strange hybrid of news and opinion, in which the traditional highlight segments that make up a sports-news roundup are regularly interrupted by a variety of panels with names like “Let It Ride,” “Whip Around,” and “#failfriday.” Ex-athletes like Gary Payton, Donovan McNabb, and Ephraim Salaam are present to debate the issues of the day: Does Wichita State deserve to be #1? Is Johnny Manziel too short to be an NFL quarterback? Opinion is king, with former Eagles quarterback McNabb directly addressing the camera to call for the resignation of embattled Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin. Intriguingly, “FSL” does not segregate its commentators by sport, giving us the unique pleasure of hearing McNabb discussing the intricacies of mid-major conference play in college basketball. “FSL” is attempting to re-create the good-natured jabbing of “Pardon the Interruption,” but none of the athletes are quite comfortable enough on air. One segment, starting a split second too early, caught former NBA superstar Payton yawning broadly before immediately feigning enthusiasm. Perhaps the most Fox News-esque feature of “Fox Sports Live” is the regular presence of Republican pollster (and Fox News analyst) Frank Luntz — pardon me, Dr. Frank Luntz — conducting a live poll of 24 “average fans” on hot-button sports issues like openly gay NFL prospect Michael Sam, or the Petty family’s sexist jeers about NASCAR driver Danica Patrick. Luntz tones down the culture-warrior shtick for this gig, but his segment “Sound Off” still feels like it pits its natural constituency of white, middle-class, vaguely angry guys against a bunch of female and minority softies. Of course, no one is opposed to Sam’s homosexuality here, only the ensuing “media circus.” “Fox Sports Live” also recalibrates the mix of sports coverage, unsurprisingly emphasizing less traditional sports like NASCAR and UFC to which Fox owns the rights. ESPN has always done the same, hyping and downplaying sports relative to the size of their television packages. (When was the last time you saw an extended hockey segment on “SportsCenter”?) Sitting through a 10-minute segment in which Thompson moderated a prefight trash-talk session between UFC fighters Patrick Cummins and Daniel Cormier gave this lifelong sports fan a sense of what it might feel like for a non-sports fan to watch ESPN: Who are these guys? What are they talking about? And why does anyone care? Onrait and O’Toole spent the last two weeks providing goofy, mostly unnecessary standup reporting from the Winter Olympics in Sochi. One segment on pin collecting suggested that the hobby was “a little like life: mildly depressing, with moments of real joy.” The same could be said of “Fox Sports Live,” which is often amusing, but feels strained because of its efforts to differentiate itself from its elder and superior, “SportsCenter.” With its dramatization of angry tweets by Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin and its fake-infomercial vibe for an NBA trade deadline roundup, “Fox Sports Live” has a much-appreciated sense of humor, but could afford to be a bit less overplanned. ESPN has opened the door to competitors through its sheer dominance. “Fox Sports Live,” for all its hard work, does not go nearly far enough in separating itself from the pack.

For over twenty years, sports fans have turned to the same place for news and highlights nightly at 11 p.m.: ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” From the golden era of Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick forward, “SportsCenter” has been the gold standard of sports-roundup shows, even as its increasing emphasis on flashy graphics and faux spectacle has eroded a good deal of its watchability. The stage had been set for a genuine rival to “SportsCenter’s” dominance. Enter “Fox Sports Live,” the flagship show of the retooled Fox Sports 1, newly redesignated as a national channel. If ESPN is the CNN of sports news, Fox Sports 1, which premiered in August, intends to be its Fox News—the brash, opinionated competitor that leaves its stodgy competitor in the dust.

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/10/17/comcast-officially-opens-customer-support-center-hudson/77BJbmtbwA1oAbArC9KPfJ/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20141113095604id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/10/17/comcast-officially-opens-customer-support-center-hudson/77BJbmtbwA1oAbArC9KPfJ/story.html

Comcast officially opens customer-support center in Hudson, N.H.

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Comcast Cable, a unit of a company that provides Internet service as well as cable TV, said Friday that is marking the opening of a new customer-support center in Hudson, N.H. Roughly 600 employees will work at the 127,000 square-foot facility when it’s fully up and running, Comcast said. Currently, more than 100 employees are working in the facility. Comcast added that it expects to have 200 employees working in this facility by the end of the year, a total that includes nearly 100 new positions. With the new jobs, Comcast said it will have more than 1,700 employees across New Hampshire, and more than 5,000 across its Greater Boston footprint. The collective job of the employees at the new call center is to provide support for all Comcast residential products and services, handling calls from across the Greater Boston Region. Comcast’s Greater Boston Region serves 1.6 million customers in New Hampshire, Maine, Eastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands, the company said.

Comcast Cable, a unit of a company that provides Internet service as well as cable TV, is officially opening a new customer-support center in Hudson, N.H.

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2011/12/05/south-end-building-albany-street-serves-center-innovation-outside-financial-district/IFSvGDcA63EZ8ybWfnA4dN/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20141114054540id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/business/2011/12/05/south-end-building-albany-street-serves-center-innovation-outside-financial-district/IFSvGDcA63EZ8ybWfnA4dN/story.html

Albany Street building houses creative businesses

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It’s not anchored by MIT the way Kendall Square is. It doesn’t have sweeping views of Boston Harbor, like the Seaport. But this shopworn mill building hard off Interstate 93, on the edge of the South End, is something of a small innovation district of its own. Bruce Shaw (left) and Adam Salomone of the Harvard Common Press. Like many aging structures in this warehouse neighborhood, 535 Albany St. is a relic of another age. Amid a warren of start-ups and industrial lofts, it hosts a bamboo bike maker, a respected artist, and a corporate architect, innovators in a variety of fields. “This building has fostered a lot of my success,’’ said David McMahon, seated in the loft-turned-headquarters of his firm, McMahon Architects. Seeking an alternative from a hemmed-in corporate office environment, McMahon launched the business in the former mill 15 years ago. The location, in the heart of the city, has placed rich resources at his fingertips. Take art, for example; if corporate clients need to enliven their office, McMahon takes them up a single flight to art consultant Elizabeth Erdreich-White’s gallery. Or if he knows a restaurateur looking to soundproof dining rooms, he’ll send them to European wall upholsterer Bruno Jouenne of Soft Walls Associates, only a few steps away. Among the tenants of 535 Albany St., “there’s a mutual respect and collaboration that’s really nice,’’ said McMahon. Industrial buildings humming with independent businesses used to rule Fort Port Channel and the Leather District, but are becoming rare. “There’s been a large reduction in this kind of space,’’ said Bonnie Gossels, whose family has operated the building, which dates to 1896, for decades. Gossels has lost track of how many business are in the building, because some are subleasing. But of the ones she does know, she said, “They are the 99 percent. This is not just a job for these people; it’s their life’s work.’’ From his fifth-floor office, with stunning views of the financial district, Bruce Shaw, president of the Harvard Common Press, a cookbook publisher, produces 12 to 15 titles a year. He has occupied the sprawling space, lined with books and colorful Mexican rugs, since 1984, and said it would be cost-prohibitive in other neighborhoods. Gossels “could probably be charging three times more rent in this day and age,’’ said Shaw. Like most tenants, he appreciates the quirks that come with the lower rent and funky space. When the tiny passenger elevator with French doors was out of service for a year, he took the freight. “It’s part of being in the building,’’ he said. His company’s inviting quarters — with a homey kitchen, couches, and refurbished floors — may not have attracted employees, but it hasn’t hurt. “People who work at the Harvard Common Press love the space,’’ Shaw said. “They have three times as much work space as they would somewhere else.’’ It’s a mix of working businesses, without the glitz of a technology district, or a more exclusive neighborhood. “The people that come through this building are not the people you meet in the Back Bay,’’ said Christine Needham, of the brand-identity agency Proverb. Yet with its propped-open door, mood lighting, ambient music, and chic lighting, her small firm is in space that incubates creativity. Randall Levere of Erba Cycles took a trial ride on one of his bicycles made from hemp and bamboo on the fourth-floor studio of his business at 535 Albany St. The building reminds Needham of “New York 20 years ago. It’s emblematic of those raw spaces down on Ludlow and Suffolk’’ that, as a design student, she frequented in her 20s. “There’s a friendliness and grittiness to it all.’’ The South Boston waterfront and Kendall Square may be grabbing all the business district headlines, but there are plans in the works to increase this neighborhood’s profile, said city officials. The area is “primed for growth,’’ Mayor Thomas M. Menino wrote in an e-mail. Changes to zoning rules to make the area more business-friendly are up for debate in the new year, which “will help build on that, encouraging entrepreneurs to invest, attracting new jobs, and developing the neighborhood into a vibrant commercial district,’’ he wrote. Randi Lathrop, deputy director of community planning at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said the unique hive of energy at 535 Albany St. is a key “job creator’’ that will attract more start-ups to the emerging business district between Harrison and Albany streets. Cookbooks published by the Harvard Common Press, which produces 12 to 15 titles a year from its offices in the South End. That could help Randall Levere, who turns imported bamboo and hemp into renewable bicycles in a fourth-floor studio. As the one-man team behind Erba Cycles, the former bike racer from Maine said “being in close proximity to other artists, people who have created a less traveled path,’’ has helped his 18-month old business. “I’m very supportive of people who are wiling to start up a business and get it going,’’ said landlord Gossels. “We are very lucky with the people who have chosen to work there. We are very lucky.’’

It’s not anchored by MIT. It doesn’t have sweeping views of Boston Harbor. No buzz. But in a shopworn mill building hard off Route 93, innovation is fast at work. Like many aging structures in this warehouse district on the edge of the South End, 535 Albany Street is a relic of another age. Amid this warren of startups and industrial lofts, a bamboo bike maker, a respected museum artist and a corporate architect ply their trade side by side.

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2014/10/30/company-one-puts-hindu-gods-good-place/1bR7UwvFyhrH0XzcZeGfPJ/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20141117103741id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/arts/theater-art/2014/10/30/company-one-puts-hindu-gods-good-place/1bR7UwvFyhrH0XzcZeGfPJ/story.html

Company One puts ‘Hindu Gods’ in a good place

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“Did you know that Indians invented the concept of non-linear time? Everything is now. Everything is here.” That’s just one of the many things you can learn about India in Aditi Brennan Kapil’s “The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy,” which Company One Theatre is presenting at the Boston Center for the Arts. The gods in question are the trinity of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. In Kapil’s three plays they’re displaced to America and turn into women — or at least, 2 1/2 of them do. And though they can’t stop time, they do make it run enjoyably. Kapil herself knows all about displaced. Her father was born in Punjab, in the north of India; he moved to Delhi to become a poet, and then to Communist Bulgaria, where he met her mother. Kapil was born in Sofia, but then the family moved to Stockholm, and eventually she came to the United States to attend college in Minnesota. She still lives there. Company One knows something about Kapil: It staged her “Love Person” back in 2012. Now it’s just the second troupe to offer the complete “Displaced Hindu Gods.” Each play runs between 90 and 100 minutes, with no intermission; each is self-contained, so it doesn’t matter in what order you see them. Company One is presenting “Brahman/i: “A One Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show” in the Plaza Black Box and “The Chronicles of Kalki” and “Shiv” in the Plaza Theatre; M. Bevin O’Gara (who was at the helm for “Love Person”) directs the first two and Summer L. Williams the third. (You can see all three plays in one day on weekends, starting at 3 p.m.; the intervals don’t allow for much of a dinner break, but Company One is selling samosas in the lobby.) There are common threads. Shiv sails the cosmic ocean on a mattress; Kalki arrives in a downpour of rain and takes it with her when she leaves. Shiv and her father, Bapu, pretend they’re on the starship “Enterprise” and fish for constellations; Kalki’s friend has a bedroom ceiling that’s papered with glow-in-the-dark stars. Shiv and her friend Gerard drink bourbon from cups, Bapu and Brahman/i’s auntie pour it into Coca-Cola cans. The jewel in the trilogy’s crown is “The Chronicles of Kalki,” Kalki being the name of Vishnu’s yet-to-come 10th and final avatar. Played here by Ally Dawson, she’s a superhero who seems to have stepped out of a Marvel comic (Kapil says she grew up on comic books) to save Girl 1 (Stephanie Recio) and Girl 2 (Pearl Shin) from the horrors of “the high school hate machine.” But after being in town just a week, Kalki is missing, and a Cop (Brandon Green) is asking 1 and 2 to tell him and us about her, the play unfolding in flashbacks. Plaza Theatres, Boston Center for the Arts, 617-933-8600. Kalki is a tough — almost too tough — huntress who strips men’s skins to wear as a prize. At one point she tells Girl 2 to “give up your lips or suffer the blue kiss of oblivion.” As the sweet but alienated teens, Recio and Shin are masters of exasperated impatience with Green’s paternal but never patronizing detective; when he suggests that Kalki is their invention, they tell him, “Just because we made her up doesn’t mean she’s not real.” The other two plays are more problematic. “Brahman/i” reimagines Brahma as “a young intersex girl dude” who tries being a man first and then a woman. Aila Peck is accomplished as she takes on British colonialism, British accents, and more high-school horrors, and Kapil gives her a plethora of hilarious one-liners, but the humor can verge on smirky, and some of the barbs aim at easy targets or miss their mark. The best moments involve Brahman/i’s bourbon-swilling auntie. “Shiv” has the look of an autobiographical piece, in which Shiv (Payal Sharma), who’s living in a third-floor walk-up in Skokie, Ill., quarrels with her “Punjabi modernist poet” father (Michael Dwan Singh) after he leaves her mother for an American blonde. She gets a summer job as a housekeeper for a professor (Jeffrey Phillips) and starts up a relationship with his nephew (Casey Preston). Singh strikes an authentic Indian emigrant note as Bapu, but Sharma and Preston are oddly stiff and unconvincing together, and the play goes on too long. And yet it’s hard to complain when Kapil’s fertile imagination is running riot, comic one moment, enlightening the next. All three parts of “The Displaced Hindi Gods Trilogy” are worth seeing, but if you’re seeing only one, make it “Kalki.” The title character complains that being human means being alone, but you won’t feel that way when you see Recio and Shin go off hand in hand. • Hindu gods find a home in Boston

The jewel in the “The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy’s” crown is “The Chronicles of Kalki,” Kalki being the name of Vishnu’s yet-to-come 10th and final avatar. Played here by Ally Dawson, she’s a superhero who seems to have stepped out of a Marvel comic.

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http://www.foxsports.com/arizona/story/suns-pack-loss-ahead-of-long-road-trip-111414

http://web.archive.org/web/20141118021812id_/http://www.foxsports.com:80/arizona/story/suns-pack-loss-ahead-of-long-road-trip-111414

Suns pack loss ahead of long road trip

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Updated NOV 15, 2014 2:26a ET PHOENIX -- The uneven beginning to this Suns season now has the potential to become dangerously bumpy. Concluding a five-game homestand with just two wins following Friday's 103-95 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Phoenix now hits a tricky stretch of road that offers seven games away from US Airways Center in the next eight games, starting with six uninterrupted road games over 10 days that includes a back-to-back challenge next weekend. "Now we get a chance to go on the road and maybe get more focused in and realize that you have to play all 48 minutes," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said after his team wasted a 14-point, first-half lead and fell to 5-4. Phoenix was unable to ride any heroic efforts from closers Isaiah Thomas and Gerald Green this time. After thesnuclear subs gunned the Suns to come-from-behind glory against the Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets this week, they combined to miss 11 of 13 field goal attempts and provided nine points. Green -- who hit Brooklyn for a Suns'-season-high 28 -- went scoreless. "Tonight, I thought our bench got thoroughly beat by those guys," Hornacek, who acknowledged the recent success by his reserves, said. And now the journey begins -- in semi back-to-back fashion -- against the Clippers on Saturday night in Los Angeles. The Clips (4-3) aren't exactly dragging the sport to heights of greatness thus far, but they have enough superstar power to be relatively splendid on any given night. "It's going to be tough going on the road," Hornacek said, "but it's a time for them to get together and get us going like we did last year on the road." OK, so this upcoming trip seems potentially troublesome. But it could be worse. Including that matchup with the Clippers and one against the 7-2 Raptors in Toronto, the Suns' next eight foes have a combined record of 23-44. The Hornets, however, arrived with a modest 3-5 record and no victories outside of Charlotte. They didn't exactly look prepared to open their road swing in grand fashion, either. With Phoenix's starters playing great defense, moving the ball on offense and knocking in 5 of 9 3-pointers, the Suns jumped to a 28-14 cushion in the first quarter. Unfortunately, the one-on-one prowess demonstrated by the second unit in recent outings sort of fizzled in the second. The lack of ball movement led to difficult shots and enabled Charlotte to attack off the dribble before the retreating Suns' defense could lock in. Phoenix also surrendered 10 second-chance points in the second quarter. The Hornets won that period, 33-19. "I think we got content when we got the lead, but it's basketball and teams go on runs," said Suns guard Eric Bledsoe, who scored 22 points, collected 11 rebounds and handed off five assists. "Every time we tried to get a stop, they made a great play. They started getting more physical, everybody started to lock in, so we just had to regroup a little bit." Instead, Charlotte's version of a Big Three -- Al Jefferson, Lance Stephenson and Kemba Walker -- rallied in the second half to emulate the example set by its bench. Stephenson supplied strong play in several areas, finishing with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. The former Indiana Pacer also provided some interesting insight on the Suns' performance. "Those guys, they are constantly up and down," said Stephenson, referring to tempo tendencies and not inconsistency (we think). "They're great on the pick and roll, the 3. "They just had an off night tonight. On a regular night, they go up and down and ... they get easy buckets and it's like they're having fun the way they play. I think tonight was just an off night, and we took advantage of that." The fun certainly seemed to be lacking for the home team. But despite the winning record and recent two-game win streak, the retooled Suns have yet to find their rhythm. "We just missed shots," Bledsoe said. "You know, it happens. I think everybody took the shots they were supposed to take and they just didn't fall this game. We just got to move on to the next." For the record, the upcoming roadie falls within a 25-game context that finds the Suns away from home 18 times. The co-stars become more difficult, as well. The first three road opponents in December are the Mavericks, Rockets and Clippers. With that down the line -- and ne season after the Suns missed the postseason by a whisker -- any home loss seems disturbing. "When you have a team down ... we talk about it," Hornacek said. "Games aren't won or lost in the first quarter -- you've got to continue to play. We let them back in and then they got life." Follow Randy Hill on Twitter

Suns pack loss to Hornets, previously winless on the road, ahead of long road trip.

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http://fortune.com/2014/11/18/will-millennial-men-keep-their-wives-from-career-success/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141118205614id_/http://fortune.com/2014/11/18/will-millennial-men-keep-their-wives-from-career-success/

Will millennial men keep their wives from career success?

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There’s a disconnect, it seems, in a lot of young American families. Just who is going to take care of the kids? According to a recent study by the Harvard Business Review, 66% of millennial men expect their partner to take the primary responsibility for raising children. On the other hand, only 42% of millennial women think they will be the main caregiver. That’s quite a gap, and if the numbers above are to be believed, this is a fight that women are ultimately losing. The HBR study found that 28% of Generation X women and 44% of Baby Boomer women had taken at least six months off work at some point in their careers to take care of their kids. How many men in those two generations had to take a similar break? A minuscule 2%. In Generation X and the Baby Boomer generation, even women who didn’t expect to end up in a “traditional” arrangement — where the man’s career is prioritized and women take most of the child-raising roles — often ended up in one. Generation X includes people aged between 32 and 48, while Boomers are between 49 and 67. Only 25% of women in Generation X expected to be in a “traditional” arrangement when it comes to one person’s career taking precedence, but 40% ended up in that situation. Fifty percent of women thought their childcare arrangements would be “traditional,” but it ended up that way for 65% of them. Women CEOs in the Fortune 1000 are also more likely than their male counterparts to be married and have kids. It’s worth nothing, though, that there is an increasing number of Fortune 500 CEOs with husbands who do not work. HBR notes that an millennial men who graduate from Harvard Business School are less likely than their older counterparts to enter a relationship with the expectation that their career will take precedence over that of their partner. Obviously, that’s a good start, but there’s still that pesky fact that many of these same men are expecting that women will be the main caregiver for children. And, as previous generations have shown, saying you think you and your partner’s careers will take equal precedence does not mean that’s how things will turn out. Editor’s note: The HBR survey looked at around 25,000 graduates of Harvard Business School. Reliable data about sexual orientation wasn’t available, so the HBR study assumed that the people surveyed were in opposite-sex relationships.

Most Boomer and Gen X women wanted to prioritize work, but ended up focused on child-rearing. Can millennials avoid the same trap?

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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/als-patient-sets-out-to-spread-an-epidemic-of-kindness/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141121224031id_/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/als-patient-sets-out-to-spread-an-epidemic-of-kindness/

ALS patient spreading an epidemic of kindness

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DURHAM, N.C. -- Unlike most red carpet premieres, this one in Durham, N.C., wasn't about fashion. When I asked one of the girls what she was wearing, she replies, "I just bought it at the mall." It wasn't about shameless self-promotion. "It felt really good to help out someone," says another girl. And it definitely wasn't about making money. "You have the ability to change the world with just an act of kindness," Chris Rosati says on stage. Chris Rosati hosts the premiere of his BIGG event CBS News Chris Rosati hosts the premiere of his BIGG event Rosati put together the premier. Rosati has ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. It's a terminal illness, but that hasn't stopped Rosati from making BIGG plans. BIGG stands for "Big Ideas for the Greater Good" and a few months ago he challenged the kids in his community to come up with something BIGG, then videotape it for a grand, theater premier. "Yep, but it's gotta be unique, right? You can't go give out donuts," Rosati says. He has already done that. Rosati thought of the first BIGG idea which was to at cancer wards, children's hospitals and city parks. He had so much fun doing it, he has now pretty much devoted the rest of his life to encouraging others to commit similar acts. "Let's just have fun making people smile." And so with the toast of a donut, the BIGG premiere got underway. One video was called the "Wheel of Kindness." Some kids set-up this giant wheel at a mall, had grown-ups spin, and then do whatever kind thing it landed on, like hug ten random strangers. Another video got adults to rediscover the joy of coloring. While another, conceived by these two kids, was about their idea to take some homeless women out for a once-in-a-lifetime, fancy dinner. "I've never seen such an act of kindness from a total stranger. I cried. I cried," said one of the women. What a legacy Rosati is creating. He's hoping this will become an annual event, whether he's here to see it or not. "Now next year I want bigger," Rosati says to a student. And that is the most amazing thing about him. A lot of people take on a cause when diagnosed with a terminal illness, but it's usually to cure their own disease. Rosati , on the other hand, isn't as interested in fighting ALS as he is in healing all of us. © 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Chris Rosati has devoted the rest of his life to encouraging others to commit acts of kindness.

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/11/05/raytheon-buys-blackbird-technologies-for/9ICu8DRebBcS2UbZDzuJ4O/story.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20141124012002id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/business/2014/11/05/raytheon-buys-blackbird-technologies-for/9ICu8DRebBcS2UbZDzuJ4O/story.html

Raytheon buys Blackbird Technologies for $420M

20141124012002

Raytheon Co. said Wednesday it bought privately held cybersecurity company Blackbird Technologies for about $420 million. Raytheon, a defense contractor based in Waltham, said the acquisition will help expand its surveillance and cybersecurity services to clients. Blackbird, based in Herndon, Va., has customers in the defense, intelligence, and law enforcement industries. ‘‘Blackbird expands Raytheon’s already-established footprint in the intelligence community market while helping to grow our cyber operations and special missions support to the Department of Defense,’’ Lynn Dugle, president of Raytheon’s intelligence information and services unit, said in a statement.

Raytheon Co. said Wednesday that it bought privately held cybersecurity company Blackbird Technologies for about $420 million.

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http://fortune.com/2008/12/08/can-the-party-please-be-over/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141129212811id_/http://fortune.com/2008/12/08/can-the-party-please-be-over/

Can the party please be over?

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Today FORTUNE senior editor at large Geoff Colvin looks at four potential repositories for blame in our ongoing saga of doom. They’re a credible group of whipping boys, from Alan Greenspan to Bill Clinton to the collapse of regulation that was supposed to protect us. While opting for a subtle, nuanced melange of factors, Colvin believes that, in the end, blame will center on the failure of government to keep an eye on those were supposed to do it for themselves – our financial institutions and their ostensibly capable viziers, wizards and mendicants. Colvin thinks this is unfortunate: “If this version wins out,” he says, “watch for heavy new regulation of risk markets and financial institutions – leading to reduced innovation, profitability, and market values in the sector.” While I have nothing but respect and affection for Mr. Colvin, who has probably forgotten more than I ever knew about economics, I do have to say I’m disappointed with this analysis. In fact, it qualifies, I think, as the first salvo of note in what will most certainly be the battle to maintain Big Finance’s right to screw with everybody else’s money as soon as things get back on their feet again. File it under “Sowing the seeds for our own destruction, Part VI, A New Beginning,” scheduled to open at a financial theater near you in the Spring of 2012. It forms the basis of a rationale for getting the party started again just as soon as we’re able, in the name of creativity and, of course, profitability. Here’s what I think: Every piece of the machine does its job, performing its function as one would expect. That’s something we can count on. So: When any major segment of the structure fails to do its job, then, things simply don’t work as well and, after a while, don’t work at all. In our case, in my humble opinion, the biggest, fattest and greediest of the moving parts of the machine was allowed to spin too hard and too fast for far too long. Now it’s flipped off its trestle. We the people need to get it back into the right groove, and then retool the mechanism so that it won’t happen again for another 100 years or so. For a much more articulate and credible take on this matter, I refer you to what Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman has to say in the current New York Review of Books. It’s not a long article; even somebody with my attention span was able to get through it without looking at my BlackBerry even once. “What we’re going to have to do, clearly, is relearn the lessons our grandfathers were taught by the Great Depression,” Krugman writes, continuing: “I won’t try to lay out the details of a new regulatory regime, but the basic principle should be clear: anything that has to be rescued during a financial crisis, because it plays an essential role in the financial mechanism, should be regulated when there isn’t a crisis so that it doesn’t take excessive risks. Since the 1930s, commercial banks have been required to have adequate capital, hold reserves of liquid assets that can be quickly converted into cash, and limit the types of investments they make, all in return for federal guarantees when things go wrong. Now that we’ve seen a wide range of non-bank institutions create what amounts to a banking crisis, comparable regulation has to be extended to a much larger part of the system.” I know a lot of you are going to start weeping and gnashing of teeth about this stuff, but hey, look at it this way: even really big capitalists are occasionally amenable to a little friendly socialism now and then when, you know, it’s absolutely positively necessary to protect EBITDA.

Today FORTUNE senior editor at large Geoff Colvin looks at four potential repositories for blame in our ongoing saga of doom. They're a credible group of whipping boys, from Alan Greenspan to Bill Clinton to the collapse of regulation that was supposed to protect us. While opting for a subtle, nuanced melange of factors, Colvin believes that, in…

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http://fortune.com/2014/12/01/exclusive-uber-hires-goldman-sachs-to-raise-big-money/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141201184740id_/http://fortune.com/2014/12/01/exclusive-uber-hires-goldman-sachs-to-raise-big-money/

Exclusive: Uber hires Goldman Sachs to raise money from bank clients

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On-demand ride company Uber has hired Goldman Sachs GS to raise money from the bank’s high-net-worth clients, Fortune has learned. Goldman’s global wealth management team was informed of the deal this morning, and began sending out packets of information to their clients. All we know right now is that the offered securities are structured as convertible debt, and could raise hundreds of millions of dollars to support Uber’s balance sheet and international expansion efforts. This offering is completely separate from a previously-reported fundraise targeted at institutional investors, which could raise more than $1 billion at around a $40 billion valuation. Given that Goldman clients would have fewer downside protections and information rights than would the institutional backers, this deal likely comes with a significantly lower valuation. It is unclear what clients are being told about possible liquidity scenarios, given that they’ll be getting convertible notes for a company that is neither promising an IPO nor one that permits secondary trading of its stock. In the past, Goldman has managed similar fundraises for then-IPO candidates like Facebook FB . To date, Uber has raised around $1.5 billion from firms like Benchmark, Fidelity Investments, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures, Google Ventures, TPG Capital, Summit Partners, Wellington Management, BlackRock and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Goldman Sachs also is an existing investor. An Uber spokeswoman declined to comment. Sign up for our daily newsletter on deals and deal-makers:GetTermSheet.com

Uber is hitting up high-net-worth bank clients for new money.

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http://www.people.com/article/georgia-boy-reunites-mom-4-years-missing

http://web.archive.org/web/20141202043641id_/http://www.people.com/article/georgia-boy-reunites-mom-4-years-missing

Georgia Boy Reunites with Mother After 4 Years Missing : People.com

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Boy is reunited with his mother 12/01/2014 AT 08:45 AM EST Police found a 13-year-old Georgia boy hidden behind a false wall inside a home and arrested the boy's father and four other people who denied knowing anything about the teen, authorities said. The boy was visiting his father in 2010, and the father refused to return him to his mother, . Officers showed up at the house late Friday night, but didn't see any sign of the boy. They returned a short time later and found the boy when he called his mother while officers were at the house, Clayton County Police Sgt. Kevin Hughes told WSB-TV. "While at the location during the second call, the victim was able to establish phone contact with his mother and she in turn passed on additional information to the officers on the scene," Hughes said. "The victim was found behind a false wall within the residence." It wasn't immediately clear who asked police to go to the home to look for the boy and how long he had been kept behind the false wall. There were also unanswered questions Saturday about who has custody of the boy, Clayton County Police Deputy Chief Mike Register told WSB-TV. The boy was reunited with his mother Saturday but will likely stay in the custody of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, WSB-TV reported. The father and a woman at the home face charges of false imprisonment, cruelty to children and obstruction, WSB-TV reported. Three juveniles were also arrested. a Georgia judge denied bond for the couple, who made their first court appearance at the Clayton County jail Sunday. A judge scheduled a Dec. 9 preliminary hearing.

The Georgia boy's father and stepmother were denied bond Sunday and face multiple charges

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http://fortune.com/2011/02/02/the-daily-live-from-the-guggenheim/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141209013052id_/http://fortune.com/2011/02/02/the-daily-live-from-the-guggenheim/

The Daily: Live from the Guggenheim

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All eyes on Rupert Murdoch and Apple for the launch of the first iPad daily After a 45-minute presentation, The Daily was set to go live on the Apple App Store at 12:00 p.m. EST. Here’s the link. There’s a video tour here. The press were treated with pre-loaded (loaner) iPads in the lobby. A quick hands on: Paging through The Daily took about 10 minutes. The general impression is more magazine than newspaper, with the kind of clever headlines, captioned photos and fitted boxes that are hard enough to do well on a weekly magazine and will be tough to produce on a daily’s deadline. The bells and whistles — that interactive tour through all the SuperBowl games in history, for example — will require a separate staff and are likely to be on-offs. The issue was about 100 pages long, which they say will be typical. The flow was broken up every few pages with a full-page ad. The navigation was tricky; there’s a table of contents for the “news” section, but not for “gossip,” “opinion,” “art & life,” “apps & games” (!) and “sports.” The fastest way to find out what’s in an issue turns out to be the carousel button on the top right, which gives you the album view Apple introduced on iTunes. The good news for skeptics who predicted that Murdoch was creating a walled-garden product, totally cut off from the Internet, is that the The Daily will be making HTML pages (without bells and whistles) available on the Web, where they will be shareable and linkable. Maybe it won’t be, as some predicted, DOA. UPDATE: After 45 minutes reading The Daily on the subway ride home, we’re not sure about that DOA thing. The lead stories — the Cairo protests and winter snowstorm — read like pieces dashed off by one-man bureaus and can’t compete with, say, the New York Times, memeorandum or the Weather Channel. There are plenty of cheesecake celebrity photos, but they’re not going to turn the heads of kids raised on Internet porn. The only bite I could find in the copy was at the end of Richard (Page Six) Johnson’s gossip section, which treats readers to blind items like this one: “Which hard-partying, hot mess of a premium cable actress recently learned she is pregnant? No one knows who the dad is — not even the knocked up actress…” The live coverage follows in reverse chronological order, with the most recent items on top. All times are EST. 11:27 Q&A. How are back issues handled, which can fill up the iPad’s memory pretty quickly. (They’re working on it.) Q: When is subscription pricing coming to other publishers. A (From Eddie Cue): It’s available today for The Daily. For the rest, you’ll be hearing an announcement from us very soon. (In other words: Apple is changing its subscription model across the board, but it’s going to announce it in its own time and at it’s own event, not Murdoch’s.) Q: For Murdoch: How will you measure success? A: By selling millions. The $30 million startup costs have all has been written off. It will be running at a cost of less than 1/2 million dollars a week before counting any advertising income. Q: Who is your competition. A: You are competing with Angry Birds at some level. Q: What’s the editorial position, will it be more centrist to reach the tech readership? A: Murdoch: The editorial direction will be in the hands of the editor. Q: When will it be on other tablets? A: As other tablets get established, we will develop the technology to appear on them. But last year, this year and perhaps next year belong to Apple, says Murdoch. Q: What are your favorite apps? A: I tried playing some of the games, but I find my 7-year-old beats me every time, says Murdoch. Q: Mr. Murdoch, did Steve Jobs say anything to you about the product? A: He did call me last week and did say that they app was really terrific. Q: How can it be discovered on the wider Web? A: Cue: We’ve downloaded 10 billion apps, so we think people will discover it. (That ducks the question about linking to the Web?) Second A: A lot of what we do, text headlines, pictures is shareable on the Web. We create mirror HTML pages and they are on the Web. We may choose to promote in Twitter, Tumblr, etc. But not all the bells and whistles. 11:23: Apple’s Eddie Cue takes the stage. Rattles off the iPad sales and app figure, including some 9,000 news apps. New subscription billing with one click: Weekly at 99-cents, yearly at $39.99. No clarification of what this means for all the other publishers who are still trying to sort through yesterday’s confusion about In App purchases. Perhaps the Q&A will clear it up. 11:13 John Miller launches the (live) demo. Leads with Egypt. Choosing the right media to cover the story — text, photos, video. 360 degree photos, audio. Says they are going to do it every day, although how fancy they can get on a daily deadline remains to be seen. Navigation is pretty open, including a iTunes type album views. Lots of sharing — e-mail, Twitter right on the page. Fox News talking heads. Games and apps featured. Lots of touch and animation, like the SuperBowl timeline that shows every game through history. Hotspots with bullet points. (Very labor intensive stuff to do on a daily.) Published every morning. Updated throughout the day. First two weeks free, courtesy of Verizon VZ . 11:11: Murdoch: New times require new journalism. Our challenge was to take the best of traditonal. journalism — shoe-leather reporting — and combine it with the best of technology. Simply put, the iPad demands that we completely reimagine our craft. The magic of newspapers and blogs is the element of surprise and the deft touch of a good editor. We must make the business of newsgathering viable again. 11:05 Lights down. Enter Rupert Murdoch, with iPad. Thanks the “amazing Steve Jobs” who has changed media and has given us “this amazing new platform.” 11:03 There is chatter in the audience that iPads may be handed out to attendees after the event. That would be one way to get readers — not to mention coverage. 11:01 How do you know this is not a Steve Jobs event? It’s running late. 10:58 There is a website — http://www.thedaily.com/launch — that was showing a live feed, at least for a while. Perhaps it will recycle from the beginning. 11:56 The buzz in the room has started to build. Former NYC school board chairman (and Microsoft prosecutor) Joel Klein just sat down in front of me. 10:50 With ten minutes to show-time, there are still an awful lot of empty seats in the Peter B. Lewis auditorium. The press seats are nearlly full, but the VIP front row is mostly empty. Perhaps the ice-storm dampened the enthusiasm of Murdoch’s friends. 10:38 The press and VIPs gathered in the lobby as museum goers filed past. As promised, the doors to the basement auditorium opened shortly after 10:15. To the delight of the live-bloggers, the Wi-Fi signal is strong. 10:35 We’re here at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Manhattan’s East Side for the launch of News Corp.’s NWS latest project: The Daily, an iPad-only daily newspaper created in close collaboration with Apple AAPL . [Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

All eyes on Rupert Murdoch and Apple for the launch of the first iPad daily After a 45-minute presentation, The Daily was set to go live on the Apple App Store at 12:00 p.m. EST. Here's the link. There's a video tour here. The press were treated with pre-loaded (loaner) iPads in the lobby. A…

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http://fortune.com/2014/12/17/heineken/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141217115853id_/http://fortune.com/2014/12/17/heineken/

The mysterious banker behind the world’s best-known beer

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He was a teenage actor who trekked the African desert with Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. He was a three-time Olympian, in two different sports. He graduated Harvard University and then earned a Harvard MBA. He is a vice-chairman of investment banking at Citigroup, where he chairs Citi Private Bank in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. And he’s the husband of one of the wealthiest women in the world. And yet, perhaps you never heard of Michel de Carvalho. De Carvalho is the supporting actor, so to speak, in my exclusive profile of Charlene de Carvalho, the sole heir to the Heineken fortune, in the current issue of Fortune. Until I sat down with the billionaire couple (she owns a quarter of Heineken, worth more than $11 billion) in Amsterdam in June, they had not shared her story, which is a sort of business fairy tale about a woman who learned to embrace her power. Charlene had never before talked to the media. And until 2002, when her father, Freddy—who built Heineken in America and expanded the brand to become the world’s most distributed beer on earth—died, she was a mother of five and dutiful investment banker’s wife in London. Walking out of the cemetery on the day she buried her father, Michel challenged Charlene to uproot her tidy life and become an active owner of Heineken. “We’ve gone mad!” de Carvalho, an insanely energetic 70-year-old, announced to Heineken executives as he whirled me through the brewer’s headquarters in Amsterdam. A few weeks before my visit, I had gotten a cold call from a London-based PR man, who told me that 2014 is Heineken’s 150th anniversary and the heiress was willing to talk for the first time—and that Michel, as outgoing as Charlene is shy, is fascinating too. Michel de Carvalho has certainly lived a life. Born to a British mother and a Brazilian diplomat father in England, he began acting as a child. Using the stage name Michel Ray, he was in several movies, but most memorably he played the shepherd boy Farraj who gets mortally wounded by a detonator in the epic Oscar winner, Lawrence of Arabia. He quit acting to go to Harvard, and then he infuriated his parents by putting off Harvard Business School to join the British ski team at the 1968 Olympic Games in Grenoble, France. He competed again with Britain’s luge team at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics—and went on to HBS and a banking career that included stints at Credit Suisse CS and Nikko Securities before Citigroup C . De Carvalho wooed Charlene, Freddy Heineken’s overprotected only child, on the ski slopes of St. Moritz, where both families had vacation homes. “The nicest thing Charlene’s father ever said about me was, ‘He’s not interested in Charlene for her money,’” he says. After he and Charlene married in 1983, she had five children in rapid succession—at 37, she had five kids under the age of seven. And until she was 47, when her dad died, Charlene had no money to her name except one share of Heineken stock. That day he died, Charlene went from holding one Heineken HINKF share, worth $33 in 2002, to 100 million shares—and control of the company. Michel helped his wife lean in and embrace her new power. He prodded her to get involved in the business, traveled the globe with her to see breweries, and helped her assess the management. Soon enough, the couple decided that the board needed to replace CEO Thony Ruys. Ruys recalls de Carvalho as a force to be reckoned with. “If you see a tsunami coming, you’re not going to manage the tsunami. You’re going to manage yourself,” Ruys told me. His replacement was Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, who has helped triple Heineken’s sales and is still CEO today. Many people thought that the de Carvalhos would sell Heineken. But a sale was their last resort. They told me a story about August Busch, the scion of the Anheuser-Busch dynasty, inviting them to meet soon after Freddy died. Though rivals, the de Carvalhos were friendly with Busch, who was in charge of the world’s largest brewer and worried about predatory rivals. In fact, de Carvalho says, they talked with Busch about helping each other’s companies expand distribution—putting Budweiser on Heineken trucks and vice versa. But the talks stalled. Had a Heineken-Busch venture come together, Michel says, “it might have changed the history of the Busch family.” In 2008, InBev ABI bought Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. “It was quite shocking,” says Charlene, who views the sale as a bitter end to the Busch dynasty. In September, when another rival, SABMiller SAB , made an unsolicited takeover bid for Heineken, “the lady who throws the switch,” as her husband calls her, issued a quick and adamant “No.” De Carvalho likes to prod Heineken to reduce bureaucracy (“the cancer of corporations,” he says), move quickly, and invest to grow. “If you don’t grow, you start to die,” he says. Two years ago, the company won a takeover battle for Asia Pacific Breweries, the Singapore-listed company that owns the Tiger brand. De Carvalho calls the negotiation for APB “one of the most painful 10-year experiences.” Had the board agreed on a deal a few years earlier, he says, Heineken could have bought the company for about half the $4.6 billion price that it ultimately paid. “I’m always frustrated,” he says. He feels the heavy load of responsibility to guard the dynasty that his father-in-law passed on to his daughter. “One of the things that drives me is the thought that one guy is constantly looking down and wondering whether we’re going to fuck it up.” He seems to be keeping his end of the bargain. Last Friday night in Amsterdam, at the company’s Christmas dinner, de Carvalho spoke to about 50 of the company’s senior executives and board members about upholding this year’s theme: Women at Heineken. He thanked Laurence Debroux for joining Heineken as the company’s first female CFO. Then he singled out, as he told the group, “one woman who this year, more than ever, deserves thanks: my darling wife, whose out-of-character and seminal moments in 2014 included taking the lead in saying ‘No’ to SABMiller and agreeing to do the Fortune article, which removed the last vestige of anonymity.” Here are Michel and Charlene de Carvalho together, talking about how they guard and guide Heineken to keep growing in the future:

The most interesting man behind a powerful woman may not be Bill Clinton, after all.

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http://fortune.com/2011/02/02/ready-for-100-year-treasury-bonds/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141217231329id_/http://fortune.com/2011/02/02/ready-for-100-year-treasury-bonds/

Ready for 100-year Treasury bonds?

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Brace yourself. Wall Street’s latest advice to our deficit-addled government is to sell bonds that almost no one will live long enough to collect on. If that isn’t shocking enough, consider this: it’s actually a pretty good idea, for the feds and the institutions that might be in the market for ultralong bonds. The feds should consider issuing bonds that mature in 40, 50 and even 100 years, the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee told the government this week. The longest bond Treasury sells now matures in 30 years. With the market obsessing over creaky government finances, oppressive debt burdens and the threat of inflation, you might wonder who on earth might be in the market for a government bond that won’t return principal till the next century. Presumably it won’t be Pimco’s Bill Gross. He wrote in typically overheated terms this week that rich-country government bonds of all stripes “need to be ‘exorcised’ from model portfolios and replaced with more attractive alternatives both from a risk and a reward standpoint.” But the TBAC, made up of 13 executives from the biggest banks and money managers, said Treasury could tap into $2.4 trillion of latent demand over five years by selling new bonds that would appeal to institutions like banks, insurers and pension funds and even retail investors. Any new source of demand will certainly come in handy at a time when economists are expecting the United States to outspend its means by about $3.5 trillion over three years. “I would think that issuing longer bonds would be a smart move,” said Anthony Valeri, a market strategist at LPL Financial. “That’s an area of the market that is underserved globally.” Selling century bonds and other longer-term bonds – perhaps including selling 20-year Treasurys as well as the 40- and 50-year maturities – could help Treasury pull in as much as $400 billion from asset managers concerned more with matching their assets with their liabilities than with grabbing the last bit of yield, the committee said. Treasury’s efforts could get a boost from changing regulatory and accounting rules, which could increase institutions’ appetite for highly rated, long-dated bonds. “There is significant demand for high-quality, long-duration bonds from entities with long-duration liabilities such as insurance companies and pension funds,” the TBAC said. Of course, this isn’t the first time the committee has discussed the merits of longer-term bonds. It was doing so in 2009 as government financing needs went off the charts. Even before the financial crisis sent federal spending through the roof, some wags were calling century bonds an appropriate response to increasing government financing needs. So far Treasury hasn’t bitten. But ohers have seen the ultralong light. Governments in France and the U.K. issued 50-year bonds in 2005, and the Danish central bank in 2006 published a report making the case that longer-term bonds afford substantial advantages to both issuers and purchasers. Mexico sold $1 billion of century bonds last fall. U.S. companies have gotten into the act as well, notably with Norfolk Southern’s NSC $250 million offering of 100-year debt in August. An ultralong Treasury bond “could appeal to the buyer of the longer duration corporates,” Valeri said. A notable benefit is that selling longer-term debt could also help the government lock in the current low interest rates for years, at a time of growing concern about federal finances. The Congressional Budget Office expects federal interest expense to quadruple over the next decade or so, from $197 billion last year to a projected $792 billion in 2021. It forecasts the government will spend more than $5 trillion on interest between now and 2021. That tab could go even higher if the government fails in coming months to take steps toward producing a credible plan to cut spending and bring the budget into balance. Longer bonds also could help to spread out the U.S. repayment schedule, which looks a tad crowded in the next couple years. Treasury faces more than $2 trillion of debt rollovers – bonds that will be repaid by selling new bonds — over the next two years. Longer bonds aren’t the only tweak the group recommends. The TBAC says the government could draw in some $1.6 trillion over coming years from banks by issuing callable bonds and floating rate notes, among other things, and tap some $300 billion from retail investors by issuing more liquid short-term products. Though the U.S. household sector now owns more Treasury bonds than China, the TBAC sees opportunity to sell even more Treasurys to retail buyers, to bring U.S. household ownership levels in line with those in Britain, Italy and Japan. It notes the success of the wartime Liberty and Defense bond programs, for instance. “Through a combination of new attractive products, and aggressive marketing, Treasury could aim at growing the household ownership share of Treasuries to the average of the last 50 years,” the report reads.

Brace yourself. Wall Street’s latest advice to our deficit-addled government is to sell bonds that almost no one will live long enough to collect on. If that isn't shocking enough, consider this: it's actually a pretty good idea, for the feds and the institutions that might be in the market for ultralong bonds. The feds should…

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http://www.people.com/article/guilty-verdict-michigan-businessman-double-life

http://web.archive.org/web/20141220034409id_/http://www.people.com/article/guilty-verdict-michigan-businessman-double-life

Bob Bashara Guilty of Killing Wife in Trial that Exposed His Secret S&M Lifestyle

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12/19/2014 AT 06:00 PM EST Bob Bashara's once-respectable reputation crumbled for good Thursday when a jury found the former Michigan businessman with a string of S&M mistresses guilty of murdering his wife. Jane Bashara's beaten and strangled body was discovered on Jan. 25, 2012, slumped over in her Mercedes SUV in a Detroit alley far from the family's home in the upscale Grosse Point Park suburb. Initially captured by TV cameras as a grieving father and widower, Bashara's facade fell away as investigators uncovered his , which involved a basement dungeon where he met other women for sex. Prosecutors in the lengthy trial argued that Bashara, 57, aimed to inherit the assets of his wife, 56 – a marketing exec who earned four times as much money as her husband in 2011 – and continue his side S&M lifestyle, reports the His defense attorneys afterward said their client, who never surrendered his claim of innocence, was "in shock" at the verdict. Bashara once enjoyed a profile as a charity fundraiser, Rotary Club president, church usher and married father of two who volunteered at his kids' suburban volleyball and soccer games. He stood accused of hiring handyman Joe Gentz, whom Bashara sometimes employed to work on his real estate holdings, to kill Bashara's wife of 26 years. The prosecution said he lured Gentz with offers of a Cadillac, cash and Jane Bashara's wedding ring. Gentz confessed to his role in the murder and is serving up to 28 years in prison. In a further twist, Bashara, the son of a state appellate court judge, also was charged in a murder-for-hire plot for trying to have Gentz killed in jail. "[The] defendant's ultimate goal was to silence Joseph Gentz in an effort not to avenge the murder of his wife, but to prevent Gentz from any future testimony against defendant Bashara," said a sentencing memo in that case. to that solicitation charge in December 2012 and is already serving up to 20 years. He faces life in prison when he is sentenced for Jane Bashara's murder on Jan. 15.

Testimony revealed S&M relationships and ties to a hit-man killer he also tried to have killed

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http://fortune.com/2014/12/22/best-restaurants-open-on-christmas/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141223225442id_/http://fortune.com/2014/12/22/best-restaurants-open-on-christmas/

Best restaurants open on Christmas

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This post is in partnership with Travel + Leisure. The article below was originally published at TravelandLeisure.com. By Kate Parham Kordsmeier, Travel + Leisure Twenty-two million turkeys appear on Christmas tables every year, washed down by 122 pounds of eggnog and made possible by umpteen hours in the kitchen. No doubt about it, hosting Christmas dinner is a lot of work. Let’s be honest: sometimes the reality of hosting a festive feast is enough to turn the cheeriest person into a Grinch. If your favorite thing to make for dinner is reservations, we’ve got you—and your loved ones—covered this holiday. There are dozens of restaurants just waiting to host you for a meaningful meal on Christmas Day—no preheating or dish duty required (though, in the spirit of the season, consider leaving a generous tip for those who are working). For a truly one-of-a-kind Christmas away from home, snag a seat on the open sleigh ride that brings diners through the Colorado woods to Uley’s Cabin for an intimate, mountain-inspired feast including venison chop and roasted chestnut soup. Or get dolled up in your Sunday best for a spread of figgy pudding beignets and eggnog crème brûlée at the Grille at Morrison House in Alexandria, VA. Chef Tim Graham’s Chicago hot spot Travelle puts a more playful spin on the season, offering a choice of entrées dubbed “Naughty” or “Nice”—served, we hope, without judgment. Going out for Chinese food is its own sort of Christmas tradition, and one of the finest places to partake is at San Francisco’s Yank Sing, where roast beef is swapped for Shanghai dumplings and other dim sum. In short, whatever you’re craving at Christmas, one of these restaurants will satisfy.

Cheers to these restaurants that work overtime to deck the halls and concoct special Christmastime menus.

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http://fortune.com/2011/01/16/how-the-it-department-can-go-from-zeroes-to-heroes/

http://web.archive.org/web/20141225052339id_/http://fortune.com:80/2011/01/16/how-the-it-department-can-go-from-zeroes-to-heroes/

How the IT department can go from zeroes to heroes

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With the rise of cloud and social, it’s time for the IT department to change the way they work — and become company heroes. On a daily basis, a select group of individuals are making technology decisions on behalf of their entire organization. They’re implementing services to solve real business problems, sometimes under the guidance of their IT department, but most often on their own. For the first time, the power of technology decision-making is in the hands of those who will be using the solutions deployed. These are the managers, project leaders and knowledge workers responsible for getting work done – not just the IT administrators managing implementation or the executives writing the checks. This is truly a revolution in the enterprise, unlike any we’ve seen before. This shift poses a major challenge for today’s enterprises: how can we let technology run rampant through our organizations, technology that is fundamentally improving business outcomes, while still maintaining some semblance of a coherent IT strategy? It also creates a massive hurdle for legacy software vendors, who traditionally have only cared about one customer – the person buying and implementing their services – with little thought for the end user. In a recent Techcrunch post, Ben Horowitz argued that not much has changed – the “new boss” is actually the same as the “old boss,” and for IT solutions to succeed in the enterprise they still have to be sold to the CIO or C-suite. You can’t bypass the CIO forever simply in favor of adoption on the front lines. While Ben’s thesis is directionally accurate in that budget and oversight will always be controlled by those at the top, the point that is often overlooked is that adoption is now fundamentally different from buying. In prior decades, this distinction did not exist. Buying and adoption were, for all intents and purposes, synonymous. And adoption was something that happened grudgingly, after technology had already been forced on employees from the top-down. When end user adoption precedes buying, it happens with purpose and even excitement. Users now have a much greater say in what technology they use, so much so that it’s massively disruptive to the organization itself. There’s simply no way that IT administrators can get their proverbial arms around all the tools and services that individuals are bringing into the enterprise. Box.net is an example of the type of tool deployed in “Shadow IT,” implemented by end users to address a certain pain point, spreading virally throughout project teams and departments. It finally hits the radar of the IT Director or CIO, who at this point has two options: sanction the tool in its current use and evaluate it for broader deployment; or block it, risking a productivity drop and associated business consequences. Companies like T-Mobile, TaylorMade and Hawaiian Airlines have gone the former direction, but many others have taken the latter route, opting to stick with existing IT protocol and maintain tight control through on-premise systems. These are the options that every IT organization is facing today and will continue to face in the coming years. The adoption-buying split is broadening the disconnect between the roles and desires of end users and IT departments; such a disconnect cannot be sustained without negatively affecting business operations. If you enumerated the goals of the IT department today, they would look something like this: implement the fewest solutions to solve the greatest number of problems, maintain complete control over technology and information, answer to expectations around cost and risk, deploy proven solutions. These are fundamentally at odds with the correlated goals of users: use best-of-breed technology to solve problems, gain complete mobility and flexibility, answer to the productivity expectations of their manager(s), move quickly by using the fastest, most intuitive new tools. Although contradictory, both sets of goals make perfect sense. IT should be responsible for information security. Knowledge workers must be asked to move quickly and stay productive. So how do we reconcile these seemingly disparate but equally valid needs? Andrew McAfee recently suggested a methodology for managing enterprise software implementation: “…exercise tight control over technology choice, and as little as possible over technology use. Tight control over technology choice ensures that a big organization doesn’t wind up with hundreds of disjointed deployment efforts and fragmented technology environments.” This will leave IT with a more stable technology strategy, yet most enterprises already employ tight control over choice, and it’s not serving users very well. We must take into account the various users that need these tools to be productive. And as with many things in life, opting for compromise means that most everyone loses. In the interest of reducing the number of systems that need to be managed, companies may end up with the market’s least flexible CRM solution. Or perhaps they’ll buy a collaboration solution from the same vendor that provides them with networking gear. In both cases, IT wins in manageability in the short term, but users are likely to suffer usability and productivity losses – which means that ultimately, IT will have to become deeply involved in the “technology use” stage as well, providing user training, finding workarounds for lacking functionality, and taking complaints. Buying based on existing supplier relationships and system consistency — and avoiding a little chaos and user testing — is at the root cause of the problem with enterprise technology today: slow, awkward, and unloved by users. The challenge for the next ten years is to create and implement technology that supports the paradoxically different needs of both users and IT departments. We must re-build our enterprises in such a way that there’s a connection between our IT vision and what we’re demanding of employees. Enter the cloud. The Cloud changes everything. Really. By democratizing adoption, the cloud changes everything about enterprise IT. It’s now the sales manager that implements Salesforce.com CRM for her team. It’s the developer that brings Amazon S3 AMZN into his toolkit. It’s the support representative that selects Zendesk as the simplest solution for her customer service team. As a recent Forrester report noted, “Espcially in firms where IT is seen as plodding and cumbersome to work with, the new price points and preprovisioning of SaaS and cloud will foster renegade buying by the business.” Like it or not, users now control the mindshare of their company’s IT strategy, and enterprise vendors must begin to build tools that are meant to be used, not just meant to be sold. And this is why startups are inherently disruptive in new markets. They’re not beholden to the old business models that represent major profit centers. Starting at a much smaller baseline makes you immune to the risk of cannibalizing past product lines, simply because you have none. And this is why, in just a matter of three to five years, the enterprise technology landscape has changed dramatically. It’s also why, in the next three to five years, our corporate IT environments will look remarkably different than they do today. With enterpise software finally starting to focus on the individual, and not just the IT buyer, we’re seeing dramatic changes in business productivity, speed of execution, and overall sentiment towards technology. People are able to work much more quickly, access more information than ever before, and make decisions in real-time that are backed by data — all leading to a more open, connected and collaborative work environment. With the right solutions, even the IT professionals are happy — they’re finally able to get ahead of the game instead of always having to fight fires, solve problems, and answer to unhappy users. Take Manjit Sighn, CIO of Chaquita Brands, who explained to CIO.com’s Thomas Wailgum why he bypassed the entrenched ERP vendors in favor of Workday’s on-demand alternative and a more strategically-aligned IT organization: “I want my folks sitting arm in arm with business folks, talking about process transformation and trying to figure out how to bring products to market even quicker…not keeping the lights on running a system.” When an organization’s IT strategy is consistent with what will solve problems for its employees, we’ll see the emergence of a more productive, open, and social enterprise. To get here, IT professionals should be doing more “sitting arm in arm with business folks,” but this can’t happen unless the IT organization is enabled as a strategic group instead of just a technology support center mandated to avoid risk and maintain existing infrastructure. This conservative attitude is the reason that it’s safest to go with IBM IBM or stay with Microsoft MSFT SharePoint, and why innovation in enterprise technology lags behind consumer technology by many years. It may seem unrealistic to think about IT professionals as the heroes of an organization. They don’t belong to the department that makes the most money, or builds the products or services that their company sells. And yet, the IT department fundamentally powers all the activities at the lowest levels of how we operate our business in today’s competitive environment. Whether it’s end user adopted or company mandated, technology is powering everything we do and informing every decision we make: ERP, CRM, social business software, marketing automation, content management. But despite it’s influence, technology has almost never been maximized in the best possible ways, by all the possible parties. That is changing, and quickly. To do this, of course, software vendors have to put much more effort than ever before into building solutions that don’t fail their customers and delight rather than block users. We’re getting there. We’ve seen more progress made in moving towards a more user-centric IT strategy in the last year than in the previous ten years, and this revolution will continue to gain momentum – and attention – in 2011. –Aaron Levie is the CEO and co-founder of Box.net.

With the rise of cloud and social, it's time for the IT department to change the way they work -- and become company heroes. By Aaron Levie, contributor On a daily basis, a select group of individuals are making technology decisions on behalf of their entire organization. They're implementing services to solve real business problems,…

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http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/12/22/20/45/spanish-princess-to-stand-trial

http://web.archive.org/web/20141225053213id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2014/12/22/20/45/spanish-princess-to-stand-trial

Spain's Princess Cristina to stand trial over alleged tax fraud

20141225053213

A Spanish judge has ordered Princess Cristina to stand trial over alleged tax fraud. (AAP) The sister of Spain's King Felipe VI, Cristina, will become the first member of the royal family ever to stand in the dock after a judge ordered her to be put on trial for alleged tax fraud. The historic decision stemmed from four years of investigations that plunged the royal family into crisis and contributed to the abdication of King Juan Carlos in June. A court on the island of Majorca ordered Cristina, 49, to stand trial on two counts of accessory to tax fraud in connection with her husband's business affairs, in a written ruling seen by AFP. She is accused of cooperating in tax evasion by her husband, the former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin. He is accused of embezzling and laundering millions of euros in public funds. Cristina's lawyers say she is innocent of any wrongdoing. Cristina Federica de Borbon y Grecia is the youngest daughter of Juan Carlos and sixth in line to the throne. She married Urdangarin in 1997 in a glittering ceremony in Barcelona. The case is a big headache for Felipe who took the throne on June 19 promising an "honest and transparent monarchy". Public prosecutors had called on the court to shelve the case, saying there was a lack of evidence against Cristina and hinting that investigators were out to get the princess. But investigating magistrate Jose Castro at the court in Palma de Majorca upheld accusations brought by Manos Limpias, a litigious far-right pressure group. As well as Cristina and Urdangarin, the court on Monday ordered 15 other suspects to stand trial. Urdangarin is accused along with a former business partner of creaming off six million euros ($A8.66 million) in public funds from contracts awarded to Noos, a charitable foundation. Cristina sat on the board of Noos and Urdangarin was its chairman. Investigators suspect that a separate company jointly owned by the couple, Aizoon, served as a front for laundering embezzled money. Questioned in court by Castro in February, Cristina said she had simply trusted her husband and had no knowledge of his business affairs. A mother of four with a master's degree from New York University, Cristina was once considered untouchable as a member of the royal family. But the so-called Noos affair fanned public anger against the monarchy and the ruling class during the recent years of economic hardship in Spain. The scandal soured the reign of Felipe's father Juan Carlos, who gave up the throne after 39 years so his son could freshen up the image of the monarchy. Investigations into the Noos affair were launched in 2010. Urdangarin and Cristina have been excluded from royal activities since 2011 when he was first named as a suspect in the probe. Do you have any news photos or videos?

The Spanish king's sister, Princess Cristina, to face tax fraud trial over alleged links to her husband's dealings.

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