Dave Barry on man-vs.-snake Everglades smackdown




















Would you like to make some extra money, and at the same time run the risk of being eaten by a carnivorous reptile the size of a war canoe?

If your answer is “yes,” I have an exciting opportunity for you. It’s called the Python Challenge, and I am not making it up. It’s a real event that was dreamed up by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which apparently was concerned that Florida does not seem insane enough to people in normal states.

The Python Challenge is a month-long contest; its purpose, according to the official website (pythonchallenge.org) is “to raise public awareness about Burmese pythons.”





Q. What do they mean by “raise public awareness about?”

A. They mean “kill.”

The contest is open to anybody who registers, pays a $25 fee and takes an online training course; so far about 400 people have signed up. These people have from Jan. 12 through Feb. 10 to go out in the Everglades and raise public awareness on as many pythons as they can. There’s a $1,500 prize for whoever kills the most pythons, a $1,000 prize for whoever kills the longest python, and a $500 prize for whoever kills the python with the best personality.

I’m kidding about that last prize, of course. Burmese pythons do not have personalities: All they do is eat and destroy the ecosystem. They are the teenage males of the animal kingdom. That’s why the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is trying to get rid of them.

Be advised, however, that you cannot kill these pythons any old way you want. No, sir: This is an official state-sponsored event, and if there is one word that comes to mind whenever you hear the name “Florida,” that word is “ethics.” The Python Challenge guidelines clearly state that you have — this is an actual quote — “an ethical obligation to ensure a Burmese python is killed in a humane manner.” That means you cannot kill your python using cruel and inhumane methods such as forcing it to watch Here Comes Honey Boo Boo until it commits suicide, or placing it at the entrance to a Boca Raton restaurant just as the Early Bird special begins, where it would be trampled to death in seconds.

So how do you ethically kill a Burmese python? According to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, you can use a device called a “captive bolt,” or you can shoot it in the head with a firearm of “a safe, but effective caliber.” (Got that? You want your caliber to be safe, but also effective.)

You are also permitted to whack off the python’s head with a machete, provided you do so in an ethical manner. To quote the commission: “Make sure your technique results in immediate loss of consciousness and destruction of the Burmese python’s brain.” (If you think I’m making any of this up, I urge you to go read the Python Challenge guidelines.)

One thing the guidelines are not very specific about is how you’re supposed to catch the python in the first place. I happen to have some experience in this area. A few years ago, I captured a snake that somehow got into my office and onto my desk, despite the fact that I live in Coral Gables, where snakes are a clear violation of the zoning code. The technique I used to capture this particular snake was as follows:





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Buzzmakers: Dina Lohan's Black Eye And New The Voice Clips

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. Dina Lohan's Black Eye Photos

Following Dina Lohan's shocking claims that her husband Michael abused her during their marriage (and Michael's denial), ET has obtained vintage photos of the mother of four with a black eye.

Click here for the shocking pics.

2. 'The Voice' Coaches Dish on New Season

It looks like Adam Levine is off the hook for the upcoming season of The Voice, as Blake Shelton has a new man crush on Usher.

During the Television Critics Association Press Tour, the singers revealed that Shelton's uncomfortable advances towards Levine -- done in jest -- have now been turned to the newest male addition on the coaching panel.

"He's left me for Usher now," Levine joked. "So he gets to spend the season making Usher feel uncomfortable."

"And I think I'm doing a really good job of that, by the way," Shelton added. "I've said and done about everything that crosses the line."

While Shelton's focused on Usher, the rest of the fellas seem to have eyes for Shakira, who will also be joining the show for the upcoming season.

"She's so sexy," said host Carson Daly.

"She's a sweetheart," Levine agreed.

Season four of The Voice premieres March 25 on NBC. Click here for the panel's new interviews!

3. Miranda Lambert Defends Her Chris Brown Comments

Country crooner Miranda Lambert has no intention of retracting her statements made this past year about R&B singer Chris Brown and his domestic abuse in 2009 towards his on-again, off-again girlfriend Rihanna.

At the Grammy Awards this past year, Lambert, 29, tweeted following Brown's performance, writing: "He beat on a girl. not cool that we act like that didn't happen."

"I didn't feel right about not saying something. The loudmouth that I am, I say what I think," she told Redbook magazine of the tweet. "I wanted everyone to know that I don't agree with the message it's sending to young women."

Adding to her opinion of Brown, Lambert, who is married to The Voice judge Blake Shelton, said, "It's not okay. At all. To be celebrated after doing something like that. I don't think it's right, I never will, and I will stand by what I said till the day that I die."

4. Diane Lane After Husband Josh Brolin's Arrest

As news broke of Josh Brolin's New Year's Day arrest, ET caught up with Brolin's wife Diane Lane at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where she appeared sans her husband.

Lane arrived cheerful and relaxed alongside her Nights of Rodanthe co-star Richard Gere, whom she presented the Chairman's Award.

"[Brolin] is actually with my wife [actress Carey Lowell] tonight, so everything's fine," joked Gere when asked how Brolin felt about missing the event.

"We have an arrangement," Lane kidded. "It's all good."

5. Fierce Fashions: The 2013 People's Choice Awards

The sparkling stars of film, TV and music donned their red carpet best as they kicked off awards season Wednesday night at the 2013 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

Visit our gallery for all the stunning styles!

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Reddit co-founder commits suicide








The Internet genius behind the popular Web site Reddit.com committed suicide at his Red Hook home yesterday, according to law-enforcement sources and friends who publicly identified him.

Officers found Aaron Swartz unconscious at 9:30 a.m. Police are investigating whether he passed away after hanging himself, but the medical examiner will determine the cause of death, said law-enforcement sources.

Swartz reportedly co-founded Reddit and helped draft an early version of the RSS format, a “Web feed” that syndicates popular headlines.

Friends say he was a prolific intellectual and a kid at heart, who had long suffered from depression.



“We have lost someone today who had more work to do — and who made the world a better place,” his pal Cory Doctorow wrote on the blog Biong Boing.

Swartz was arrested in 2011 for allegedly downloading academic journals with the intent to distribute them. He pleaded not guilty in September.

He also founded the policy-centric Web site DemandProgress.com and was an avid activist.










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What the week’s big mortgage moves mean for consumers




















This week brought three big developments to the nation’s beleaguered mortgage landscape. For consumers, the complex moves have been mostly mystifying, but experts say they all aim at turning the page.

“There is a strong desire to put behind us all this period of time — the aftermath of the darkest period in American finance. All these things [announced this week] are intended to do that,” said John Taylor, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based community advocacy group. “There are good and bad things in it for consumers.’’

A new rule issued Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aims to prevent lenders from making the sort of toxic mortgages that forced many unsuspecting borrowers into ruin. Yet the new “qualified mortgage” rule, according to some lenders, also could perpetuate the nation’s tight credit problem and keep many would-be homebuyers on the sidelines.





Meanwhile, two settlements unveiled Monday with big banks should resolve some lingering issues from the mortgage meltdown that have kept banks focused on past errors instead of getting back to the business of lending.

Here is a quick primer on the week’s developments and some likely implications for consumers.

OCC Settlement

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates nationally chartered banks, Monday unveiled an $8.5 billion settlement with 10 giant banks that service mortgages.

As part of the controversial settlement, the OCC is scrapping its Independent Foreclosure Review, which was aimed at identifying victims of robo-signing and other improper foreclosure tactics by banks, but soon proved to be a badly flawed effort.

Instead, under the OCC’s new approach — which will be spelled out in enforcement actions in a couple of weeks — more than 3.8 million borrowers who faced foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2010 stand to get some payment regardless of whether they actually suffered any harm.

The mortgage servicing banks covered are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, SunTrust, PNC, Sovereign, U.S. Bank, MetLife Bank and Aurora.

The agreement provides for $3.3 billion to go directly to borrowers. Another $5.2 billion is earmarked for loan modifications and the forgiveness of deficiency judgments.

The OCC said the amount that eligible borrowers get will range from a few hundred dollars up to $125,000, depending on the type of error that possibly occurred in their mortgage servicing.

“If a borrower went through foreclosure with one of those 10 lenders, they should receive a couple hundred bucks, whether they deserve it or not,” said Guy Cecala, publisher and CEO of Inside Mortgage Finance Publications in Bethesda, Md., which tracks news and statistics in the residential mortgage industry. “The odds of getting $125,000 is the odds of winning the lottery. It would have to be a false foreclosure or where they were thrown out of their house illegally.”

The OCC will look to 13 broad categories of errors outlined in the Independent Foreclosure Review launched in April 2011.

Those include a litany of bumblings and misdeeds by the mortgage servicers, ranging from foreclosing on a homeowner who was following the rules during a trial period of a loan modification, to failing to offer a loan modification as mandated under a government program, to failing to follow up with a borrower to obtain needed documents under a government program.





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South Florida man charged with brewing moonshine in his backyard




















Authorities say they have arrested a 23-year-old man who has been distilling and selling moonshine at his Lantana home.

Daniel David Pawa is in the Palm Beach County Jail this morning facing charges including possessing moonshine, conspiracy to violate beverage laws and possessing a fire arm, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Department officials say Pawa was arrested early this morning in Lantana by agents from their Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. The address of Pawa’s West Palm Beach home, where authorities say he was cooking the alcohol, was not immediately available.





Authorities did say that undercover agents had bought more than 40 gallons of moonshine from Pawa. When they searched his home they found a moonshine still, liquor bottles, a hydrometer, mason jars and a .45 caliber gun.

Possession of the gun is the most serious charge, a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Pawa faces four other charges, all third-degree felonies that could earn him up to five years in prison and/or up to a $5,000 fine for each should he be found guilty.

The West Palm Beach and Lantana police departments assisted with the arrest and securing the home. The address where Pawa was arrested was also not immediately available.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad responded to scene when a grenade was found during the search, according

to the department.

Authorities are still looking for two other individuals they believe were in on the moonshining operation.





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Stars Without Makeup!



Ellen Barkin









Cameras caught New Normal star Ellen Barkin makeup free while shopping in New York City on Jan. 10, 2013.





ALSO IN THIS GALLERY:


















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Sprint confirms it will launch BlackBerry 10 later this year









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ABC set designer shot dead in Bed-Stuy








A former Brooklyn café owner who now works on the set of a TV cooking show was shot dead last night in an apparent robbery attempt, the man’s friends and authorities said.

The victim,Ivan Giovanettina, 41, was gunned down just after 9:30 pm on Macon Street in Bedford-Stuyvessant, authorities said.

Witnesses said Giovanettina was approached by two men, and at one point he was seen running after the men. There was a gunshot, Giovanettina fell to the ground and the men ran away, according to witnesses.

Cops arrived to find Giovanettina bleeding from a gunshot wound to the stomach. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.



No arrests have been made.

Giovanettina once owned a Bed-Stuy coffee shop, Blu York Café, friends said. He now works as a scene designer on the set of ABC’s daytime cooking talk show, “The Chew,” his roommates told The Post.

"We are shocked and saddened to learn of Ivan Giovanettina's untimely death,” ABC said in a statement. “He was a beloved member of our team and we extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends."










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Legal feud over Spanish-language TV leads to federal suit in Miami




















What began as a highly-touted affiliation between a new Spanish-language national television network and a popular independent local station in Miami has dissolved into a legal dispute of David and Goliath proportions.

MundoFox Broadcasting, part of the family of communications giant News Corporation, filed suit in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida against the parent company of America Tevé Channel 41-WJAN, America-CV Network, for breaching two agreements forged in May.

The complaint alleges that in South Florida "MundoFox’s initial launch had less exposure, viewership was lower, soliciting advertisers became more difficult and advertising revenue decreased,” because the network was swapped to inferior channel positions by cable providers.





In a statement, America-CV Network, denied the allegations in the complaint and announced that it will defend itself vigorously.

— DANIEL SHOER ROTH





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Plan to add 100 Miami police officers wins city commission support




















The Miami City Commission will move forward with a plan to expand its police department by 100 officers.

The additional personnel will boost the department’s ranks to 1,244 sworn officers, and better align the ratio of police to residents in Miami with cities like Baltimore, Atlanta and Memphis.

“If we are ever going to become the great city that we claim we are going to become, we need to do at a minimum what Philadelphia does,” said Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, noting that Philadelphia employs 4.3 officers for every 1,000 citizens, compared to the 2.6 officers for every 1,000 citizens in Miami.





While the commission did not take an official vote, a majority of members and Mayor Tomás Regalado expressed support for the initiative, and City Manager Johnny Martinez said he would begin work on a detailed strategy for police hiring.

“The number one priority should be policing,” Commissioner Francis Suarez said. “It’s a critical need in the city.”

Sarnoff, who pitched the idea in his first official act as commission chairman, wants to go further, adding 300 officers over the next three years.

It won’t be easy. Miami is already 50 officers shy of the 1,144 officers covered by the budget. City officials blame the shortage on administrative hiccups between the police department and the city’s human relations department.

Making the bottleneck worse, Miami must adhere to special guidelines from the Department of Justice when recruiting new officers.

Regalado said that streamlining the process for hiring police might require a change to the city charter. If that is the case, he said, it would have to wait until the next election.

But Police Chief Manuel Orosa said the city could reasonably hire between 150 and 200 new officers in 2013 by adding a few additional police academy instructors.

“Parts of our city are becoming more vertical,” Orosa said. “You need more officers to cover the density.”

Orosa estimated that the salaries for 100 new officers would cost about $7.4 million a year. There would be additional costs for the officers’ uniforms, cars and fuel, he said.

The commission would need to formally approve the additional expenses.

After Thursday’s discussion, Regalado said he was committed to expanding the police department as quickly as possible.

Martinez, the city manager, offered a note of caution.

“We need to be very strategic,” he said. “It’s not just hiring 100 officers, it is hiring the right 100 officers.”





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Is BlackBerry back? Strong early BlackBerry 10 demand could signal RIM comeback






After hitting a rough patch that seemed to last for most of 2012, Research In Motion (RIMM) may finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. RIM plans to unveil the finished version of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform at a press conference on January 30th, and at least one new smartphone is expected to be revealed during the event. Generating interest in BlackBerry 10 within the crowded global smartphone market will be no easy task for the struggling vendor, but if demand at top Canadian Rogers is any indication, RIM is off to a promising start.


[More from BGR: ‘Apple is done’ and Surface tablet is cool, according to teens]






In mid-December, Rogers began taking reservations for RIM’s first BlackBerry 10-powered handset. The carrier offered almost no information about the BlackBerry smartphone, which has not yet been announced, but asked subscribers interested in purchasing the device to register on the company’s website.


[More from BGR: iPhone 5 now available with unlimited service, no contract on Walmart’s $ 45 Straight Talk plan]


BGR approached Rogers on Thursday to see how subscriber response has been thus far.


“While we can’t release the total number of reservations we have received for the BlackBerry 10 all-touch device, we can say that customer interest is definitely strong and reservations continue daily,” a RIM spokesperson told BGR via email.


The strong response from Rogers subscribers despite being provided only with the knowledge that the device will feature an all-touch form factor and will run the BlackBerry 10 OS is a good sign for RIM.


The vendor has a number of difficult challenges ahead, and convincing current BlackBerry users to upgrade en masse is near the top of the list. Strong early demand at Rogers for RIM’s first BlackBerry 10 handset is clearly a positive sign in this regard, as most early reservations likely came from current BlackBerry subscribers.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News




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Oscar's Most Memorable Moments

The nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards have been announced, providing the perfect opportunity to relive some of the greatest moments of Oscar's past, from the unexpected streaker running behind David Niven and Muhammad Ali surprising Rocky star Sylvester Stallone to Halle Berry's emotional Best Actress acceptance speech and Heath Ledger's posthumous Dark Knight honor.

Related: Stars React to Oscar Nominations

Hosted by Seth MacFarlane, the 85th Academy Awards will air live from Hollywood Sunday, February 24, 2013 on ABC.

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Herbalife defends itself against Ackman's claims








Herbalife came out swinging Thursday against claims made by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman that the business amounts to a pyramid scheme.

A series of executives looked to refute Ackman's allegations during an analyst and investor meeting, laying out everything from how the business operates to who its customers are.

Critics have questioned the company's business model, which uses a network of distributors to sell its nutritional supplements and weight-loss products in more than 80 countries.

The defense put forth Thursday comes a few weeks after Pershing Square Capital's Ackman alleged Herbalife Ltd. was a pyramid scheme and that he was shorting the stock. Short-sellers make money when the shares they're betting against decline.




Under a pyramid scheme, a company makes most of its money by recruiting new salespeople, rather than on the products that they sell.Aside from Ackman, Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn had also raised concerns about Herbalife's business in May.

Herbalife President Desmond Walsh said Thursday that over its 32-year history, only one court has ruled that the company runs an illegal pyramid scheme. The ruling, which occurred in Belgium, is being appealed.

Walsh said that ruling has not hurt Herbalife's business in the country. He also balked at Ackman's claims that Herbalife uses a "pop-and-drop" approach to the markets it serves. This alleges Herbalife enters a market, makes money as fast as it can and then pulls out and moves on to new markets. Walsh said this is not true and that much of Herbalife's growth is coming from markets it has served for more than 10 years.

Herbalife Chief Operating Officer Richard Goudis looked to debunk Ackman's claim that Herbalife is not a product company. The executive said that the Herbalife invested $44 million into research and development, technical infrastructure and other areas to support its products last year.

Goudis also said Ackman's claim that Herbalife's shakes are more expensive than its rivals was caused by the hedge fund manager using a price-per-serving measurement that the company does not feel is accurate, and argued that Herbalife's shakes are competitively priced against rivals like GNC.

In defense against claims that Herbalife has few customers outside its distributor network, Walsh said the company has functioned primarily as a business-to-business seller and had not tracked its retail customer base.

To dispel Ackman's claims, Herbalife hired Lieberman Research to study its customers. A representative of the firm said that two of the studies, which were conducted among a sample of 2,000 adults over the age of 18, found that more than 5 million households purchased Herbalife products in the past three months.

Walsh added that 31 percent of Herbalife's orders in the U.S. were directly sent to non-distributor customers in 2012.

Herbalife, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and based in Los Angeles, also maintained that it complies with the appropriate Federal Trade Commission standards and that its financial disclosures meet guidelines of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Thursday meeting comes one day after Herbalife announced that well-known investor Dan Loeb's Third Point LLC purchased 8.9 million shares in the company. This amounts to an 8.2 percent stake.

Third Point's stake in Herbalife, a vote of confidence the business, was disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal also reported Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an inquiry into Herbalife. The Journal cited an unidentified person familiar with the matter. Representatives for the SEC and Herbalife both declined to comment.

Herbalife's stock hit a low of $24.24 in late December as a result of Ackman's allegations, their lowest point since July 2010. Shares have lost close to half their value since the end of April.

The company's stock rose 96 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $40.91 in midday trading.










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Unemployment claims on the rise in Miami-Dade




















Miami-Dade County ended 2012 with more people joining the unemployment rolls than it did last year.

The late-year increase in first-time unemployment claims broke a trend of declining applications throughout most of 2012. First-time claims spiked about 15 percent in November and December, with about 17,500 new applications in all over those 60 days. That’s compared to 15,000 during the same time in 2011. For the entire year, claims were still down about 10 percent.

In Broward, overall claims were down 15 percent. In November and December, Broward residents applies for 10,200 first-time unemployment benefits, compared to about 10,500 in 2011 — a 3 percent drop.





DOUGLAS HANKS





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Hollywood OKs deal with Cinema Paradiso




















Cinema Paradiso will soon have a sequel.

Hollywood’s Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed Wednesday morning to buy 3,000 movie tickets a year — at a cost of $30,000 — to help the small art house theater open a second location.

“The outpouring of support is amazing,” said Gregory von Hausch, the theater’s executive director. “Now we just have to work to get it open.”





Having a Hollywood location has been three years in the making. The theater, which shows documentaries, foreign and independent films and retro movies, currently operates from a spot near the Broward County Courthouse on Southeast Sixth Street in Fort Lauderdale, but wanted a second, more metropolitan location.

It’s worked out a deal to lease a nearly 3,000-foot space at 2008 Hollywood Boulevard.

It just needed the CRA’s guaranteed financial support in order to commit. And city leaders say the theater is the perfect for downtown, where they envision an arts and cultural district.

“This is more than a no brainer,” said Mayor Peter Bober. “This is a deal that makes absolute sense.”

The tickets will be given for free to area hotels to distribute to guests. The theater will also work something out to encourage Hollywood residents to view films there.

Several residents and theater supporters came out in favor of having a theater location in Hollywood.

“Here is a wonderful way of bringing people from all over Hollywood downtown,” said Terry Cantrell, president of the Hollywood Lakes Civic Association.

With the approval, von Hausch said they will immediately start work on the space to create a ticket booth, concession stand, screen and other theater necessities. The hope is for the theater, which will have about 100 seats, to open in three months.

Board Chair Alan Koslow is already dreaming of a second phase.

“This is just the start,” he said, adding that the film society would love to add a film school. “We want to bring Hollywood, California to Hollywood, Florida.”





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31 Fun Facts About Birthday Girl Kate Middleton

Kate Middleton captured the attention of the world by marrying Prince William in a fairy-tale ceremony watched by millions in April 2011. She continues to be a major celebrity in her own right, with the world's media clamoring for tidbits about her everyday life and closely following her fashion choices. In honor of her 31st birthday today, here are 31 fun facts about the Duchess of Cambridge!

1. Born in the British town of in Reading on January 9, 1982 to parents Michael and Carole Middleton. Her father was a pilot and her mother was an airline stewardess.


2. At age 8, she became a brownie with the 1st St Andrews pack in Pangbourne, Berkshire.


3. At age 13, she went to Marlborough College in Wiltshire.


4. During her early school years, she played tennis, hockey and netball.


5. Her parents became self-made millionaires after launching a successful party supply store.


6. She graduated with a Master of Arts from the University of Saint Andrews.


7. Enjoys photography and took pictures for her family's mail order business.


8. As a young child, she performed in a play in which she portrayed a young lady wooed by a young, handsome blond prince named William.


9. Her hobbies include walking, tennis, swimming, sailing, and painting.

10. Spent time studying at the British Institute in Florence.






11. It was rumored that at Marlborough College Kate had a poster of her future husband William on her wall. But she later revealed that the image was actually "the Levi's guy."


12. While an undergraduate, she continued playing sports and played for the university's hockey team.


13. It was at St Andrews where she met Prince William and graduates of the university have around a 1 in 10 chance of meeting their mate and getting married.


14. Worked in London as a part-time buyer for the clothing company Jigsaw Junior and once considered launching a clothing line for kids.


15. Kate and William's first official event together after they got engaged was last February in Anglesey, where they dedicated a new lifeboat.


16. In keeping with wedding tradition for "something blue," Kate had a blue ribbon sewn into the interior of her dress.


17. She is related to famous U.S. General George S. Patton.


18. She is descended from a family of solicitors and landed gentry on her father's side and butchers, plasterers, road sweepers and domestic servants on her mother's.


19. The see-through dress that sparked William's interest in Kate when she wore it at a university fashion show in 2002 was auctioned in 2011 for more than $120,000.


20. During her tour of California and Canada last summer, wore more than 25 outfits.


21. Is an official ambassador for Britain's Olympic and Paralympic Teams.


22. Is six months older than Prince William.


23. She traveled with William to Malaysia, Singapore, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu to mark the Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee last year.


24. Received a tandem bike from London Mayor Boris Johnson as a wedding present.


25. Is distantly related to Prince William -- they are 12th cousins once removed.


26. She is patron of Action on Addiction treatment centers and royal patron of East Anglia's Children's Hospices and The Art Room.


27. She's not allergic to horses even though this has been widely reported.


28. Although she could have a private chef at her disposal, she prefers to do most of the cooking for herself and William.


29. Back in 2006, she was selected by The Daily Telegraph as the "Most Promising Newcomer" in its list of style winners and losers.


30. She lived with her family in Amman, Jordan, for a few years in the mid 1980s.


31. Has four body guards assigned to her from Scotland Yard to protect her around the clock.

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Why bother with a Facebook phone? Facebook’s app is already on 86% of iPhones and iPads






Rumors suggesting Facebook (FB) is working on a smartphone have resurfaced a number of times over the past year. Each time, Facebook denied the various claims. Facebook may indeed still be working on its own phone but as a new report from market research firm NPD Group shows, it probably doesn’t need to.


[More from BGR: Is Samsung the new Apple?]






Facebook makes money by gathering information about its users and serving targeted ads based on that data. Allowing users to update Facebook with fresh data as often as possible is obviously beneficial to the company, and smartphones present a terrific opportunity to give users access to their Facebook accounts from anywhere. The more people using Facebook’s mobile apps, the better, and Facebook’s smartphone penetration is absolutely staggering right now.


[More from BGR: iPhone 5 now available with unlimited service, no contract on Walmart’s $ 45 Straight Talk plan]


According to data published by NPD Group on Tuesday, Facebook’s iOS application was used by 86% of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners as of November 2012. On the Android platform, 70% of smartphone and tablet owners used Facebook’s mobile app in November.


No other third-party app even comes close to approaching Facebook’s mobile penetration. Google’s (GOOG) YouTube app is the next most popular third-party app on iOS with 40% penetration and Amazon’s (AMZN) mobile application is the second most popular third-party Android app with just 28% penetration.


So why would Facebook bother making its own phone?


One answer — perhaps the obvious one — is that an own-brand smartphone with custom software would give Facebook access to far more personal data than it can reach using third-party applications. Considering Facebook’s track record with matters relating to privacy, however, users may be reluctant to buy a Facebook phone.


In any case, a Facebook phone certainly doesn’t seem like a necessity for the time being. Instead, focusing on ways to effectively monetize the hundreds of millions of users who interact with Facebook from a smartphone or tablet each month might be a wiser use of resources.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News




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Biden meets with gun-safety, victims groups; set to sit down with gun owners, NRA and Wal-Mart on Thursday








WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden is hearing personal stories of gun violence from representatives of victims groups and gun-safety organizations as he works on the Obama administration's response to the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.

Biden's meeting Wednesday is part of a series he's holding this week to build consensus around proposals to curb gun violence after the Dec. 14 shooting in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 school children were killed.

He told participants that he and President Barack Obama are determined to act.

Participants included the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence and groups from Arizona, Illinois and Wisconsin. Also present were two survivors of the Virginia Tech shooting.





UPI



Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder meet with representatives of gun violence victims groups and gun safety organizations.





Obama has asked Biden to deliver policy proposal by the end of the month.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will join talks at the White House on Thursday.

On Thursday, Biden will meet with the National Rifle Association and other gun-owner groups. Meetings with representatives from the video-game and entertainment industries are also planned.

Wal-Mart said it previously had not planned to attend the meeting because of its senior leaders' schedule and had spoken in advance with the Vice President's office to share its perspective.

"We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate," company spokesman David Tovar said in a statement Wednesday. "We take this issue very seriously and are committed staying engaged in this discussion as the administration and Congress work toward a consensus on the right path forward."

The world's largest retailer said it has had ongoing conversations with the Obama administration, Congress, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office, sportsmen groups, suppliers and others. The company said it has tried to strike the right balance between serving hunters and sportsmen and ensuring that it sells firearms responsibly.










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4 smartphones with standout features




















These days, smartphones are almost all drawing from the same bag of tricks, and it can be hard to tell one from the next. If the average smartphone will do all the basic things you want it to, what does it take to be special? Here are four smartphones with unusual features that really make them stand out.

Nokia Lumia 920

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)





The good: This phone forges new Windows Phone ground with wireless-charging support and a highly sensitive screen you can use with gloves. Moreover, Nokia helps fill in Windows Phone OS gaps with a few missing features.

The bad: A thick, heavy build and slippery finish for some colors make the Lumia 920 harder to hold and carry, and the phone’s overhyped camera doesn’t have enough settings.

The cost: $99.99

The bottom line: Nokia’s Lumia 920 is heavy and thick, but if you want the most powerful, feature-rich Windows Phone smartphone available, this is it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Oodles of screen real estate make this terrific for videos, games, and reading, and its improved stylus aids productivity. A blazing quad-core processor, a great camera and strong battery life round out the advantages of this Android 4.1 phone.

The bad: The huge display makes it unwieldy to carry, and hiccups in the S Pen stylus and apps can slow you down. The pricey Note 2 isn’t a suitable tablet replacement across all categories.

The cost: $149.99 to $309.99

The bottom line: Samsung delivers a powerful, boundary-pushing device that gets a lot right. Yet its complicated features and high price raise questions about its purpose.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: This Droid (Verizon) offers fast performance, a big, eye-popping screen and luxurious design. It also has great call quality, lots of storage, 4G data speeds, and unbeatable battery life.

The bad: The major weakness is a camera that produces subpar images. The phone is filled with Verizon bloatware as well.

The cost: $149.99 to $299.99

The bottom line: Motorola’s fast, stylish Droid Razr Maxx HD offers outstanding battery life, but its camera captures unimpressive images.

Samsung Galaxy Beam

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: An integrated pico projector, as well as a dual-core processor, 720p video capture and a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen.

The bad: The projection software needs some work, the 5-megapixel camera sometimes blurs indoor shots, and the Beam is thicker and heavier than many phones.

The cost: $474.49 to $839.99

The bottom line: Despite weak software, the Galaxy Beam’s bright projector pushes boundaries, and strong smartphone features make it a worthy standalone device.





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Scott Israel is sworn in as Broward sheriff




















As several thousand people looked on inside the Faith Center of Sunrise, new Broward Sheriff Scott Israel was introduced at Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony to a standing ovation.

It’s one of the most powerful elected post in the county, overseeing about 5,500 employees and a $670 million budget.

The BSO Honor Guard and a pipe and drum corps led the procession on stage. Israel’s triplets, 16-year-old Blair, Blake and Brett, led the “Pledge of Allegiance.’’





Israel, a Democrat, takes the reins from form Sheriff Al Lamberti, a Republican, who served in the post since first being appointed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007. Lambert won over challenger Israel in 2008, but in the most recent election, Israel handily ousted the incumbent. Lamberti has not said what his future plans include.

Even before taking office, Israel set to work changing things at BSO. In December, his transition team sent emails to 28 high-ranking employees telling them they would be out once Israel took over. Many top officials had already announced they would be leaving, including BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal, attorney Judith Levine and Undersheriff Tom Wheeler. Emails from Israel’s transition team to BSO show that Israel has sought information about every aspect of the agency, including budget forecasts, contracts for everything from garbage collection to lobbying, statistics about the race of employees and even about the protocol for military casket arrivals.

Beyond staff changes, it is not yet clear how Israel, a 56-year-old former Fort Lauderdale police captain and North Bay Village police chief — will change BSO.

But Israel’s senior command staff includes many who played key roles in his campaign, including his new general counsel, Ron Gunzburger, son of County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, and Lisa Castillo, who worked on Israel’s campaign. The name of her husband, Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo, is also being bandied about as having a role in the Israel administration.

Israel, his wife Susan and their teenage triplets live in Parkland.

Miami Herald staff writer Amy Sherman contributed to this report.





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Jessica Chastain Talks Oscars at Mama Screening

Jessica Chastain is an Oscar nom favorite heading into Thursday morning's Academy Award nominations announcement, thanks to her critically acclaimed performance in Zero Dark Thirty, and it turns out she'll probably also set an Oscar first -- receiving the amazing honor while 30,000 feet up in the air!

Jessica will be flying Thursday morning during the announcement, but says she will resist the urge to use the plane's Wi-Fi to check on her nomination.

Video: Jessica Chastain Talks Top-Secret 'Zero Dark Thirty' Shoot

"I'm not gonna go online -- it would be too embarrassing to be online, looking at people looking over my shoulder," she jokes. "But I am probably going to be looking at the stewardesses and everyone, to see if they are extra nice to me or [if they] are giving me the sympathy look, like 'Awwww....'"

In her new horror flick Mama, Jessica plays a woman who gets way more than she bargained for by taking in her two young nieces who were left alone in the forest for five years. She tells ET at the film's New York screening that what makes the film so scary is the "powerful force" that a mother has.

"Well, when you think about the scariest animal in the animal kingdom, it's usually like a mama protecting her young cubs. Nobody wants to mess with a mama grizzly bear -- they're very dangerous," she explains. "There have been mothers known to lift cars off of their children. It's this powerful force that a mother has -- and when that is harnessed for good it's a wonderful thing, but when it's harnessed for bad, it's not so great and it's very scary."

Pics: Stars Without Makeup -- Jessica Chastain

Her co-star, Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, had nothing but praise for his It-Girl co-star.

"She's brilliant," he gushes. "She's one of the best actresses around. It makes it so easy because you just react to what she does -- and you know, try not to drag her down to my level."

Check out the video to hear what scares Coster-Waldeau in real life, and how his young co-stars Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse feel about playing such scary characters.

Mama, produced by Guillermo del Toro of Pan's Labyrinth fame, hits theaters January 18.

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Ex-councilman Seabrook sentenced to 5 years in jail for misdirecting funds








Disgraced former City Councilman Larry Seabrook was slapped with a five-year jail sentence this morning after he was convicted of misdirecting hundreds of thousands of dollars for community projects to his girlfriend and family.

The Bronx Democrat, who will have to turn himself in by March 8, avoided a fine but will have to pay $619,715 restitution.

He was convicted of nine of 12 counts of conspiracy and fraud in a trial last summer in Manhattan federal court. The conviction came a year after another jury deadlocked on fraud charges.

“Councilman Larry Seabrook sacrificed the public trust on the altar of greed. He was a flagrant and serial abuser of City Council discretionary funds in a far too familiar New York tale of corruption," US attorney Preet Bharara said today in a statement.





Natan Dvir



Larry Seabrook last summer





"Today’s sentence finally vindicates the interests of the constituents whose trust he so casually violated by his fraud. We remain committed to making those who are corrupted by power pay the price, and the public can expect more arrests of politicians who have not learned this lesson.”

Prosecutors had asked for 7 to 9 years in prison. Before he was arrested, Seabrook also had served as an assemblyman and state senator.

Seabrook diverted money from 2002 through 2009 after directing more than $2 million of funds to nonprofit organizations that he controlled but weren’t doing legitimate work.

With Post wire services










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Jobs grow, wages dip




















Wages in South Florida took a dip last summer, despite a spike in hiring.

New federal data show that while employment continues to grow in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, the average weekly wage dropped during the second quarter of 2012. In Broward, the weekly wage dropped .7 percent to $830 and in Miami-Dade it inched down .5 percent to $876, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.





The shift is tiny, and bucks an overall trend of rising wages in South Florida since the end of the 2007-09 recession. But the statistics also show South Florida underperforming most of the nation as the recovery gains traction. Of the ten largest counties in the country, only Miami-Dade saw wages decrease between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012.

Taking the broader pool of the 329 largest counties in the United States, Broward have 276th worse record in terms of wage gains for the second quarter of 2012, and Miami-Dade the 269th.

Both counties fared far better in terms of adding jobs, with employment up 2 percent in Broward and 2.3 percent in Miami-Dade. That put Broward in 122nd place in terms of employment growth among the large counties, and Miami-Dade in 98th place.





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BCS ticket prices falling (but so is the number of available seats)




















Procrastination pays.

For those fans who waited until the last minute to buy tickets to Monday night’s national championship football game in South Florida, now’s the time to buy.

Ticket prices have fallen by about half since Dec. 1, when the University of Alabama clinched its spot in the title game. The average price is about $1,500 as of Monday morning, with the cheapest seats costing $865, according to the ticket-tracking services SeatGeek and TiqIQ.





But there are only about 2,200 to 3,000 tickets available from third-party brokers right now. So though the price could fall more, this is probably the best time to buy.

“We always see this: Prices are highest on the day of an announcement for the latest concert or a national title game,” said Will Flaherty, SeatGeek’s communications director for the ticket-tracking firm.

“Fans think: ‘Oh no, I need to act quickly and get the best price for my tickets.’ But that’s often one of the worst times to buy,” he said. “Ticket prices tend to fall when you get closer to game time.”’

Assuming a buyer times his purchase properly, Flaherty said tickets could go for as low as $700 (a little more than double the face value of the cheapest wholesale tickets). He said that the average overall ticket price for this event is about $1,700 — the most-expensive event since the 2007 Super Bowl in Miami.

“I’d recommend buying from online retailers who have some sort of guarantee that you will receive legit tickets and not fakes (safest way),” Chris Matcovich, TiqIQ’s data and communications director, said in an email.

“There maybe good deals on Craigslist and amongst scalpers outside the stadium, but doing that you run the risk of losing hundreds of dollars if the ticket is a fake,” he wrote. “If people do decide to buy from people outside the stadium, one way to protect yourself from buying fakes is by asking the seller to walk to the gate with you to make sure you get in.”





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Janel Parrish Pretty Little Liars 2013 Interview

January is shaping up to be a huge month for Janel Parrish, not only is she guest-starring on CBS' Hawaii Five-0, but ABC Family's white-hot Pretty Little Liars returns with a string of 12 new episodes!

Last we saw, Parrish's character Mona was relishing in the revelation that Toby was on her "A" Team and the season 3B premiere unleashes her back on Rosewood High as Mona 2.0 re-matriculates with the masses.

But is this new incarnation the result of a successful rehabilitation or simply the latest phase in Mona's masterplan? That's what I asked Janel Parrish when she rang up ETonline to talk all about the season premiere!


ETonline: What was your reaction to finding out Toby was the one working with Mona?


Janel Parrish: "Noooooooooo!" When I found out it was Toby, I was depressed because I really loved Toby! He was my favorite PLL boy. Thankfully 3B is more about finding out how and why Toby joined Mona on the A Team; it connects the dots a lot, so hopefully fans will get some answers come January.

VIDEO - Lucy Hale Talks Season 3B


ETonline: I was surprised this season starts with Mona back at Rosewood High.


Parrish: Yeah, that definitely surprised me as well, but it was exciting they let me go back to school to play a different side of Mona. She comes back and says she's all better now -- she's suddenly this good girl with this chaste image, but it's definitely going to be interesting to see how the girls reacts to Mona being so close to them again. I'm interested to see if the fans think Mona is better now or not.


ETonline: Mona faces a lot of haters when she returns, which she had to anticipate. So, should we assume there's another reason for her return?


Parrish: Mona has a reason for everything she does. She's a mastermind. She's incredibly smart, people constantly underestimate her and she takes advantage of that. I think you should always question her actions because she never does anything without a reason.

VIDEO - Adam Lambert Gets Glam on PLL


ETonline: Spencer refers to her as "Mona 2.0" -- how do you describe Mona 2.0?


Parrish: Mona 2.0 is seemingly humbled. There's a scene in the premiere where she admits to being bullied and tortured when she was Geeky Mona back in Junior High and almost blames the four main girls for her breakdown. That's the Mona 2.0 Spencer talks about. She's basically a totally different character now, but they still don't trust her because all the girls know what Mona is capable of. The first few episodes are about who believes that Mona's truly changed and who doesn't.


ETonline: Lucas also plays into the episode, and Mona's Rosewood return, in a big way. What can you say about those two?


Parrish: In the first episode, there's a little hint that Lucas is working for Mona -- fans will find out what that is and what it means for Poor Lucas. I mean, he's always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think fans will have to decide if he means well or not, and what his ultimate agenda is as well.


ETonline: I felt like the Halloween episode marked a serious shift in the show's tone. It was easily the darkest episode of PLL ever. Does that darkening in tone continue throughout the season?


Parrish: We're constantly making the show darker and darker each season. Which I love, and I think what our fans love as well. This is the darkest season we've ever had, and it will only continue to get darker well into the finale, which offers up some interesting answers to some long-lasting questions. It's going to be a really unpredictable season for everybody.

Pretty Little Liars premieres January 8 at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.

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Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer






DUBAI (Reuters) – A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the country’s ruler on Twitter, his lawyer said, the second to be jailed for the offence in as many days.


The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has clamped down in recent months on political activists who have been using social media websites to criticize the government and the ruling family.






Kuwait has seen a series of protests, including one on Sunday night, organized by the opposition since the ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, used emergency powers in October to change the voting system.


The court sentenced Ayyad al-Harbi, who has more than 13,000 followers on Twitter, to the prison term two months after his arrest and release on bail.


Harbi used his Twitter account to criticize the Kuwait government and the emir. He tweeted on Sunday: “Tomorrow morning is my trial’s verdict on charges of slander against the emir, spreading of false news.”


His lawyer, Mohammed al-Humidi, said Harbi would appeal against the verdict. “We’ve been taken by surprise because Kuwait has always been known internationally and in the Arab world as a democracy-loving country,” Humidi told Reuters by telephone. “People are used to democracy, but suddenly we see the constitution being undermined.”


On Sunday, Rashid Saleh al-Anzi was given two years in prison over a tweet that “stabbed the rights and powers of the emir”, according to the online newspaper Alaan. Anzi, who has 5,700 Twitter followers, was expected to appeal.


Kuwait, a U.S. ally and major oil producer, has been taking a firmer line on politically sensitive comments aired on the Internet.


In June 2012, a man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of endangering state security by insulting the Prophet Mohammad and the Sunni Muslim rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on social media.


Two months later, authorities detained Sheikh Meshaal al-Malik Al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, over remarks on Twitter in which he accused authorities of corruption and called for political reform, a rights activist said.


Public demonstrations about local issues are common in a state that allows the most dissent in the Gulf, and Kuwait has avoided Arab Spring-style mass unrest that has ousted four veteran Arab dictators in the past two years.


But tensions have risen between Kuwait’s hand-picked government, in which ruling family members hold the top posts, and the elected parliament and opposition groups.


(Reporting by Mahmoud Habboush; Editing by Mark Heinrich)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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EXCLUSIVE: Hurricane aftermath sends Mandee and Annie Sez into Chap. 11









Hurricane Sandy blew these stores into bankruptcy.

The company that operates Mandee and Annie Sez declared Chapter 11 last night, saying it can’t pay the bills because its insurance companies won’t cough up the cash owed from millions in hurricane-related claims, The Post has learned.

“If the insurance companies had been working with us through the process, we wouldn’t be in this position,” Alan Mandelbaum, the CEO of Big M. Inc, told The Post this morning. “We’re very disappointed. We were making significant progress.”

New Jersey-based Big M plans to keep its 129 stores open through the reorganization process while fighting for reimbursement from insurance carriers, totaling more than $6 million. There are no immediate plans to cut any of Big M’s 1,200 jobs.




Big M had been making a comeback through most of 2012 and was on track to turning a $1.9 million profit – a dramatic improvement from its $8 million loss the previous year, executives said. Then the monster hurricane hit, forcing Big M to shut its corporate offices and distribution center in Totowa, NJ, for a week. Sandy also caused major disruptions in sales and inventory heading into the retailer’s critical Christmas season.

josh.margolin@nypost.com










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Florida company provides electrical power for the world




















More than 4,000 miles from its home base in Doral, Energy International is helping keep the lights on and the power grid humming in Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

Energy International, a global provider of power plants and energy solutions, sent a temporary plant that will provide power for at least the next two years while a more permanent fix is sought for the territory’s erratic and aging electrical system.

The Doral company was founded 14 years ago as MCA Power Systems and its initial goal was to pursue energy contracts in Latin America. It began 2000 with a name change and in recent years its focus has become global.





“The world needs energy,’’ said Brett Hall, EI’s vice president of finance.

While the 2007-2008 recession curtailed the growth of worldwide energy demand, the U.S. Energy Information Agency has projected that global demand for electricity will increase by 2.3 percent annually from 2008 to 2035.

The potential is especially strong in developing nations. The International Energy Agency estimated that in 2009, 21 percent of the world’s population — 1.4 billion people — didn’t have access to electricity. In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of people without power rises to 69 percent.

Energy International has expanded sales from Latin America and the Caribbean to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, boosting revenue from $100 million annually in 2009 to more than $300 million today, Hall said. This year, EI is anticipating revenue of $350 million to $375 million.

In the next seven years the company, which is privately owned by American shareholders and affiliated with Gecolsa — the Caterpillar dealership in Colombia — hopes revenue will top $1 billion, he said.

Even though Energy International is based in the United States, it does little work domestically. Its sweet spot is emerging economies and contracts of $100 million or less.

“Our focus is to do whatever makes the most economic sense for a particular market,’’ said Hall.

“We’re not going to be building a nuclear power plant,’’ he said. But EI will accommodate its solutions to local fuel supplies whether it’s biofuel, natural gas or heavy fuels that are more prevalent.

When it comes to the type of temporary power solution needed by Gibraltar, which had been plagued by a string of power outages at its archaic electrical facilities, EI can have a temporary plant up and running in 30 to 40 days, supplying the engineering, rental turbines and other equipment and doing the installation.

“We were able to support Gibraltar’s power needs on short notice,’’ said Andres Molano, EI’s vice president of sales. “Some of their equipment required major maintenance and they needed to stop their plants.’’

EI, one of the world’s largest suppliers of interim energy solutions, signed a $12 million contract with the government of Gibraltar in November and the plant was operational by Dec. 21. The agreement includes an option for a three-year extension.

The equipment now in use in Gibraltar is considered part of EI’s fleet and will move on to other energy emergencies when its service in the territory famed for the Rock of Gibraltar is complete.

But when it comes to its permanent power plants, EI will build a facility for a client looking to generate its own power or construct a plant, run it and sell power directly to the final user.

“We can do all the work ourselves. We have all the skills in house — finance, design, operations, maintenance, building and the equipment,’’ said Hall.

Energy International has moved into the Middle East, completing projects in Oman and Yemen and establishing a subsidiary in Dubai in 2012 to pursue business in Africa and the Middle East, said Molano.

“Africa is new to us, but we believe there are opportunities there,’’ he said.

The company also is looking for continued growth in Latin America, especially in Colombia, which is now attracting foreign investors who previously had been spooked by violence.

Remote areas of the Amazon where temporary power solutions are needed also represent opportunity for the company.

“EI is very fortunate to be in a position in which we have more excellent opportunities than capital.’’ said Hall, so this year it will be concentrating on raising equity to finance growth.

“One of our biggest challenges in 2013,’’ Hall said, “will be to find investors or joint venture partners to provide capital that will enable EI to perform these projects so our aggressive revenue growth targets can be achieved.’’





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Mystery surrounds raft found near Black Point Marina in south Miami-Dade




















Mystery surrounds an abandoned makeshift raft that washed ashore near Black Point Marina Saturday afternoon.

Boaters spotted the wooden raft with some personal items inside at about 2 p.m. They posted pictures and a video of the raft on the shoreline to Facebook.

Still onboard were wooden oars. Inside the raft, photos show some sort of clothing or tarps, a backpack, and a wallet with money and what appears to be an identification card with a man’s photo.





The whereabouts of the person in the raft are unknown.

It is also not clear, whether this marina was the intended destination or whether anyone on board the raft might have come ashore somewhere else.

Black Point Marina is in South Miami-Dade not far from Cutler Bay. In the hours after it was found law enforcement boats arrived at the scene.

The Coast Guard would only say that this is the subject of an ongoing investigation.





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10 Vintage Photographs of Snowflakes






Photo courtesy of Flickr, Smithsonian Institution.


Click here to view this gallery.






[More from Mashable: 5 YouTube Videos to Help Winterize Your Home]


If for some reason you didn’t believe no two snowflakes were alike, here’s your proof.


In 1885, Wilson A. Bentley successfully photographed over 5,000 snowflakes by attaching a camera to a microscope (and in turn honing the field of Photomicrography). His photographs supported his and others’ beliefs that all snowflakes were unique.


[More from Mashable: 20+ Online Resources for Planning a Winter Getaway]


Bentley become fascinated with snow as a child on a Vermont farm. He later spent time experimenting with ways to view individual snowflakes and their crystalline structure, which eventually came in handy when he had to be quick enough to capture a flake in a picture before it melted.


These photographs quickly became popular with dozens of scientists who studied Bentley’s work and published the images in several scientific magazines. In 1903, Bentley sent about 500 of his photographs to the Smithsonian, hoping they would be of interest to Secretary Samuel P. Langley.


The Smithsonian now has his vintage pics on display, undeniably proveing that snow is just so, so pretty.


Gallery photos courtesy of Flickr, Smithsonian Institution. Thumbnail photo courtesy of Flickr, AMagill.


This story originally published on Mashable here.


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Celebrity Apprentice 6 Trailer 2013

After five seasons of celebrity boardroom battles, Donald Trump is bringing back the biggest and best personalities for another shot at getting hired in the sixth season of The Celebrity Apprentice -- and ETonline has your first look at the returning crop of stars!


VIDEO - Arsenio Hall Talks About His TV Comeback

LaToya Jackson, Trace Adkins, Stephen Baldwin, Gary Busey, Penn Jillette, Marilu Henner, Lil Jon, Omarosa, Lisa Rinna and Brande Roderick are just a few of the former contestants headed back to the boardroom on March 3.

Check out the just-released trailer to see the bitching, back-stabbing and brawling you can expect when these celebrities attempt to wrap up their unfinished business on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice!

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NY legislators say gun-safety measures will be a priority for state government








ALBANY — Several state senators say new gun safety measures will be a priority when they return to Albany this week following the school shooting in Connecticut that left 20 children dead.

Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Sen. Catharine Young, a Republican from Olean, say any legislative agreement should include a stronger version of Kendra's Law, authorizing court-ordered mental health treatment for individuals who won't seek help but are deemed to be a safety threat.

Sen. Jeff Klein, a Bronx Democrat who heads the Independent Democratic Conference, says after meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo they are in agreement they need "to do everything possible to ban assault weapons in New York," as well as ban high-capacity magazines and make sure people with serious mental health issues don't possess guns.











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Billionaire Phillip Frost an ‘entrepreneur’s entrepreneur’




















For that blind first date, a half-century ago, the young doctor, Phillip Frost, showed up at Patricia Orr’s family house in suburban New York, with an unusual gift: a miniature mushroom garden.

In the 50 years since, Frost, the son of a shoe store owner, has gone on to amass a fortune of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine, becoming the 188th wealthiest man in the United States by developing and selling pharmaceutical companies. Along the way, he and Patricia have become major philanthropists in Miami-Dade County and they’ve signed a pledge to give away at least $1 billion more.

“He’s a relentless guy,” says Miami banker Bill Allen, who’s know him for more than 40 years. “He’s not afraid to take risks. ... He knows the intimate details of the chemistry of products, and he’s the kind of guy who can examine 50 deals while eating a sandwich.”





CNBC’s Jim Cramer recently praised Frost’s “incredible track record” for developing companies, calling Frost’s latest endeavor, OPKO Health, a “very risky” investment while noting it could offer huge gains under Obamacare.

But back in 1962, Patricia’s first impression was that Phil Frost was a bit of a nerd, finishing his medical internship with a strong interest in research — including mushrooms. She figured an academic career loomed.

“My mother was very impressed,” recalls Patricia, not so much by the M.D. behind Frost’s name but by the gift, something more serious than the usual flowers or candy. Serious was fine with Patricia, who was living at home while working toward a master’s degree in education at Columbia University. For their first date, they listened to a classical music concert.

Frost’s rise to riches may seem highly distinctive, but in an odd coincidence he has much in common with another prominent Miamian. Frost, 76, and car dealer Norman Braman, 80, both frequently appear on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans. Both grew up in Philadelphia — Frost the son of a man who sold shoes, Braman son of a barber. Both are Jewish, well-known art collectors and philanthropists.

“He’s an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur,” says Braman. “We have a lot in common, coming from very poor families. But he went to Central High (a public school for exceptional students) and I was not qualified to go there.”

There are other differences. While Braman is voluble and highly visible in the causes he supports, Frost tends to be a reticent, almost shy speaker, given to careful pauses.

‘Lucky chances’

Told that a former colleague had called Frost “lucky,” Frost thought for a long moment. He could have cited many national business stories about his business acumen. Instead, he responded crisply: “I’ll be satisfied with lucky. I benefited from chance meetings.”

Frost spent his first years living above the shoe shop within an Italian market in South Philly. His two brothers were 15 and 16 years older. “I was an afterthought.”

The family was religiously observant, and Frost recalls his father singing him songs in Yiddish when he was small. He lived at home while attending the University of Pennsylvania, except for a year abroad in France. He took many science courses, but his major was French literature.





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