At University of Miami, Justice Sonia Sotomayor gets real




















From her days as a young girl in the Bronx being raised by her mother after the death of her father to becoming the first Hispanic on the highest judicial body in the country, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the story of her journey before a captivated audience at the University of Miami on Friday night.

Sotomayor spoke with University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala at the BankUnited Center to University of Miami students, Coral Gables residents and perhaps a future Supreme Court justice about the inspiration behind her recently published memoir My Beloved World.

“Love and passion, that is the only way you do something well,” Sotomayor said. “Do a few things, but do them well.”





Sotomayor, 58, spoke of the many things that inspired her to share her story with the world, one of which was in responses to questions she hadn’t expected during her confirmation process, such as how children cope when a parent dies, especially if they don’t have a mother like hers.

“I began to understand that I couldn’t talk to every child in the country,” Sotomayor said. “I could give them the answers in a book.”

One child she did embrace and speak with on Friday evening was a young girl in the audience named Madeline. Madeline, who was introduced by Shalala, and Sotomayor turned out to have one thing in common: a love for Nancy Drew.

Sotomayor credits the lessons she learned from the fictional tales of a young girl detective as one of the motivations for her successful career.

“When she [Nancy Drew] was trying to solve people’s problems,” Sotomayor told Madeline, “she was trying to help people.”

“I think too many young lawyers forget that the law is the noblest profession you can enter,” Sotomayor said. “What you do is helping people.”

When asked what other profession she would have ever considered going into, Sotomayor said there was not one. “This fish found her pond, and she ain’t changing it,” Sotomayor said.

Shalala questioned Sotomayor about her life as a diabetic, which her memoir speaks of at great length.

“If you have diabetes and want to live a full life, you figure out how to have both things,” Sotomayor said.

She was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at 8 and she credits living with the chronic illness with teaching her discipline. “Every moment of every day I am self-monitoring inside,” Sotomayor said.

That constant discipline, she said, teaches you to do things like monitoring diet, something she feels everybody should do.

With many students in the audience, she was asked about her scariest experience in law school.

“Being there,” Sotomayor chuckled. “If you think you are smart in college, you realize how dumb you are.”





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GS: Ignore the chatter, BlackBerry rebound is coming






BlackBerry’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform has received mixed reviews out of the gate, but most seem to agree that the new OS and first two BlackBerry 10 smartphones will do little to attract interest from users of rival platforms. But as analysts continue to back off BlackBerry and investors lose confidence, Goldman Sachs sees a big opportunity for clients.


[More from BGR: Here comes the PlayStation 4: Sony announces February 20th PlayStation event [video]]






In a recent research note to clients picked up by Barron’s, Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski urged investors to take advantage of BlackBerry’s recent slide and buy shares at a discount.


[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test [video]]


“We continue to see significant upside to estimates over the next three quarters, as BB10 devices drive upside to the Street’s ASP and margin forecasts,” Jankowski wrote. ”With 110 carriers completing lab testing by February, 50 carriers offering integrated billing, and Verizon getting an exclusive for the white Z10, we continue to see strong carrier support for BB10. Consumer adoption will decide the ultimate outcome, but estimate revisions should be a positive catalyst in the meantime.”


Jankowski also noted that BlackBerry Z10 sales could reach roughly 1 million units in the UK and Canada alone. The analyst believes BlackBerry World is off to a solid start with more than 70,000 available BlackBerry 10 apps, and the new platform includes a number of novel features that will attract attention.


“Consistent with BB10s browser superior performance on industry benchmarks – the Ringmark and HTML 5 tests – our preliminary tests show it to be much faster than leading competitive offerings. Additionally, while the company provided a full demo of the BB10 OS, we believe the details around Hub, Flow, Peek, and Balance were largely known. BlackBerry believes its Keyboard functionality will be a key differentiator, with the capability to ‘flick’ entire words to the screen with a single thumb. It can also recognize multiple languages within a single text or email.”


She continued, adding that the new BBM, BlackBerry Remember, Story Maker and enhanced camera functionality are all compelling features that will draw attention to the new platform.


Jankowski reiterated a Buy rating on BlackBerry shares with a $ 19 price target.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Brandi Glanville Talks Plastic Surgery and Says She's Done Talking About Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes

Brandi Glanville's new tell-all, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders, is chock-full of juicy stories about her ex husband Eddie Cibrian, but The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star says that after promotion wraps on the book, she will no longer speak out about the actor and his wife LeAnn Rimes.

Pics: LeAnn Rimes Defends Self with Teeny Weeny Bikini Photos

"As soon the book tour is over, I'm done. I'm not gonna be talking about them publicly," vows Brandi of the topic that has gotten her into a bit of trouble in the past. "I won't be answering questions about them publicly, this is my final chapter. This is all my side of the story is in the book and then I'm done."

As Brandi's book tour has yet to conclude, Eddie is still fair game.

In Drinking and Tweeting, out February 12, Brandi reveals that she took revenge on her ex by sticking him with a $12,000 credit card bill for vaginal rejuvenation surgery after finding out about his extra-marital affair with LeAnn.

Related: LeAnn Rimes On Twitter War with Brandi Glanville

Now swearing off invasive surgeries, Brandi has found more inventive ways to look young. Instead, the RHOBH star has opted for a visit to Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Simon Ourian to get cosmetic fillers injected into her hands, which she says are starting to look "old."

Watch the video to follow Brandi during the procedure!

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Con Ed worker injured by explosion on UWS








On Friday a Con Ed worker was injured when a small electrical explosion burned his face and arms as he worked inside a tony Upper West Side apartment building, authorities said.

The explosion sent the unidentified Con Ed worker and one other injured person to New York Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell Medical Center in stable condition at about 12:50 p.m., the FDNY said.

The Con Ed worker suffered a flash burn to his face with first and second degree burns to his arms, neck and hands while working on a service box, Bob McGee, a spokesman for Con Ed said.



The other victim was burned on his hands, neck and face, FDNY officials said.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the second victim was a resident in the Windermere – an upscale building on West 92 Street and West End Avenue – but a Con Ed spokesman confirmed there was only one worker injured.










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Healthcare experts see bumpy road ahead: “Shift happens”




















The healthcare industry in South Florida, like the rest of the country, faces huge challenges in the year ahead as major federal reforms kick in, experts told about 700 people at a University of Miami conference on Friday.

“We are at a critical time in health policy,” said Mark McClellan, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “There are going to be some bumps along the way,” especially starting in 11 months, when the biggest changes in the Affordable Care Act kick in.

“Bumps may be understating what we may go through,” said Patrick Geraghty, chief executive of Florida Blue, the state’s largest health insurer.





They spoke at the conference on the Business of Healthcare Post-Election. The speakers accepted the federal reforms — often referred to as Obamacare — as not only inevitable but necessary. As Tom Daschele, a former Democratic U.S. senator from South Dakota, put it, “having 50 million uninsured is just unacceptable.”

But the reform act, signed into law in 2010, contains more than 2,000 pages, plus thousands of pages more of enabling regulations — details that will have major, and perhaps unexpected, impacts on the healthcare industry, which now makes up almost 20 percent of the nation’s economy.

In October, insurance exchanges will open for enrollment — groups that will allow individuals and small businesses to purchase policies with no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Starting next January, virtually everyone will be required to have insurance, Medicaid will expand in many states, and businesses with more than 50 full-time equivalent employees will be required to provide insurance or pay fines.

“Jan. 1 is a very significant date,” said Steven Ullmann, director of health policy at the UM business school. He called reforms “a process” that will change over time.

“The one thing we know is that healthcare reform will be reformed,” said Chris Jennings, a Washington health policy advisor for the Clinton administration and three senators.

Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the insurers’ trade group, said she had strong ideas about tweaks that could minimize disruption. One arcane, but crucial provision of the law requires that an older person’s policy can be no more than three times as expensive as a young person’s.

The provision will mean huge increases in the policies of younger persons, to pay for the much higher costs of their elders. Insurers are asking for that policy to be postponed for two years, retaining the present maximum spread of about five to one, so that younger people could sign up for insurance without huge sticker shock.

For example, if a 25-year-old now pays $100 and a 60-year-old pays $500, the new rule would hike the younger person’s premium to $150 and cut the older person’s premium to $550 — a 50 percent increase for one and a 10 percent decrease for the other.

The thinking of lawmakers was that by lowering ratio, the costs of healthcare would be spread out and shared more equally by the population.

Anne Phelps, a healthcare principal with Ernst & Young, said she favored another change in the law, which now requires that next year a company with the equivalent of 50 employees to provide insurance for anyone working more than 30 hours a week or pay a fine. She thought the threshold should be raised to 32 or 34 hours.





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Sen. Marco Rubio's role in immigration debate draws tea party criticism and support




















U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio was lifted to national prominence with help from the tea party, but his leadership on immigration reform has elicited strong reaction from members of the conservative movement, from outrage to acceptance.

“A lot of members are saying it’s an amnesty bill. They’re not happy with him,” said Everett Wilkinson of South Florida, who heads the newly named Liberty Federation boasting more than 100,000 members.

Wilkinson said he’s been in contact with Rubio’s office and has asked for information to help explain Rubio’s thinking to tea party members.





“Most of them are upset. We feel there’s other issues he could be focused on,” Wilkinson said, citing the debt. “It could hurt him with the tea party but it’s too early to say. This whole thing could go off like an Acme rocket. You never know what direction it’s going to go. He may hop off it.”

But Henry Kelley of the Florida Tea Party Network said members he’s been in touch with are generally supportive of Rubio’s approach, which calls for tougher enforcement before a pathway to citizenship kicks in.

“I’ve always said ’round them up and throw them out’ is not a strategy,” Kelley said. “It’s time to deal with this. I don’t see this as amnesty.”

Since joining the debate last month, Rubio has aggressively sold his message to just about anyone who will listen. On Tuesday alone he appeared on Univision, Telemundo, CNN en Espanol, Fox News’ American Morning and did interviews with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mike Huckabee and Mark Levin, an ultra-conservative radio host.

Largely he has quieted dissent from conservative thought leaders, providing hope that he can deliver Republican votes.

But in recent days another side has surfaced. The headline on a piece Wednesday by an editor from National Review was headlined “Marco Rubio’s bad deal.” Erick Erickson of the influential Red State blog wrote: “I don’t like Marco Rubio’s plan. There I said it.”

Twitter has lit up with criticism.

@SteveNewcomer wrote: “How quick the Tea Party candidates turn! RUBIO IS ANOTHER SELL-OUT!”

@BarryOCommunist wrote, “@marcorubio you’re dead to me. No this isn’t a threat but rather an observation. You’re a sell out just like the rest of #GOP.”

Twitter is hardly a scientific guide of public sentiment but the grief has been steady. Rubio is also receiving praise. “I appreciated your honesty and passion while on Limbaugh,” wrote Robert C. Howington, who describes himself on Twitter as a school teacher, home builder and conservative.

Rubio has a special relationship with the tea party. Though he was long an establishment Republican, serving nine years in the Florida House, the tea party gave him a boost in his 2010 U.S. Senate race against then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.

Rubio played down the political implications, saying feedback he’s gotten has been helpful. His office has been interacting with tea party members on immigration for the past year and a conference call is being considered as the debate begins to reach a boil.

“I wouldn’t call it backlash,” Rubio said in an interview Thursday. “Look, there are people that have very bad memories about some of the efforts in the past that have been made to reform immigration.”

He stressed that the plan he’s signed onto is only a set of principles that need to be formed into legislation.

Asked about the risk of being invovled, he said, “I haven’t done a political analysis of this. I just think this country has a problem and we have to address it once and for all.”

There’s little doubt Rubio, who campaigned in 2010 on a mostly hard-line approach to immigration, sees the shifting mood. How successful the GOP is in reversing its declining support among Hispanics could help determine Rubio’s fortunes as a future presidential candidate.

Rubio acknowledges that fixing immigration alone won’t turn Hispanics to the GOP but says it will clear the way for him and others to pitch the virtues of smaller government.

“I understand there are those who will not support any effort,” he wrote in response to Erickson’s critical blog. “Some raise valid points and I respect their views. But in the end, to leave things the way they are now is de facto amnesty and a barrier to accomplishing important government reforms in other areas. It is no way to run a nation of immigrants.”





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Deion Sanders Talks Possible Destiny's Child Super Bowl Show

While die hard fans debate whether or not Destiny's Child will actually perform together at the Super Bowl, according to NFL Network's Deion Sanders, there's only one logical outcome.

PICS: Inside Beyonce's Super Bowl Rehearsals!

"You gotta think about her heart and her character," said the NFL hall of famer, who assumes that fans can expect some sort of reunion between the girls. "She would want to share this stage with her friends or those persons that are responsible for her being who she is."

Before Primetime sat down with ET's Rocsi Diaz, alongside NFL Network host Rich Eisen, Beyonce turned a Super Bowl press conference into a mind-blowing concert by singing the national anthem live a capella. But for Sanders, the most indelible moment happened away from the podium.

"I've been suffering from a bit of insecurity all my life as you all know," joked the former brash NFL star. "To have Beyonce recite the lyrics to my hit song [Must Be the Money] and do my dance -- I quit."

Find out whether the Destiny's Child Super Bowl reunion will happen when the big game airs Sunday on CBS.

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Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch dead at age 88: sources








AP


Ed Koch served as New York City's Mayor from 1978 until 1989.



Former Mayor Ed Koch died early this morning, sources told The Post. He was 88.

Koch had been in and out of the hospital in recent months, and was admitted Monday at New York Presbyterian Medical Center.

He was moved to intensive care yesterday as his condition worsened.

Koch – who served as mayor from 1978 to 1989 – died at about 2 a.m. today, sources said.


Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch had battled health issues in recent months.



The three-term mayor and former congressman was first elected to City Hall in 1977. Since leaving elected office, he has worked as a lawyer and remained an active presence on the city’s political scene. He also appeared as the judge on the TV show “The People’s Court” for two years.




The larger-than-life Koch, who breezed through the streets of New York flashing his signature thumbs-up sign, won a national reputation with his feisty style. "How'm I doing?" was his trademark question to constituents, although the answer mattered little to Koch. The mayor always thought he was doing wonderfully.

Bald and bombastic, paunchy and pretentious, the city's 105th mayor was quick with a friendly quip and equally fast with a cutting remark for his political enemies.

"You punch me, I punch back," Koch once memorably observed. "I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag."


The mayor dismissed his critics as "wackos," waged verbal war with developer Donald Trump ("piggy") and mayoral successor Rudolph Giuliani ("nasty man"), lambasted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and once reduced the head of the City Council to tears.

"I'm not the type to get ulcers," he wrote in "Mayor," his autobiography. "I give them."

Under his watch from 1978-89, the city climbed out of near-financial ruin thanks to Koch's tough fiscal policies and razor-sharp budget cuts, and subway service improved enormously. But homelessness and AIDS soared through the 1980s, and critics charged that City Hall's responses were too little, too late.

Koch said in a 2009 interview with The New York Times that he had few regrets about his time in office but still felt guilt over a decision he made as mayor to close Sydenham Hospital in Harlem. The move saved $9 million, but Koch said in 2009 that it was wrong "because black doctors couldn't get into other hospitals" at the time.

AP


Ed Koch gives the thumbs up sign to thousands of commuters surrounding him on the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge during New York City's transit strike in 1980.



"That was uncaring of me," he said. "They helped elect me, and then in my zeal to do the right thing, I did something now that I regret."

Among his favorite moments as mayor was the day in 1980 when, seized by inspiration, he walked down to the Brooklyn Bridge during a rare transit strike and began yelling encouragement to commuters walking to work.

"I began to yell, 'Walk over the bridge! Walk over the bridge! We're not going to let these bastards bring us to our knees!' And people began to applaud," he recalled at a 2012 forum. His success in rallying New Yorkers in the face of the strike was, he said, his biggest personal achievement as mayor.

In 1983, he even hosted an episode of "Saturday Night Live."

A new documentary about Koch’s career premiered at the Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday. He had been expected to attend before falling ill.

The former mayor's legacy also lives on with the Queensboro Bridge, which was officially renamed in his honor in 2011.

With AP










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Mompreneur jumps into the ‘Shark Tank’




















It all started with a 4 a.m. email nearly a year ago: “Do you think a baby bib could change the world? I do...”

Then Susie Taylor included a link to her website, bibbitec.com, and off it went to Shark Tank, the popular ABC television show where entrepreneurs pitch their companies to investors on the show — and by extension, 7 million viewers.

Four months later, as the “mompreneur” was leaving her Biscayne Park home to pick up her kids from school, she got a call from the show asking her to pitch on the spot. Driving with her phone on her shoulder, she told the Bibbitec story.





Shark Tank bit. After a few more back and forths, her segment was filmed last summer.

Friday night, Taylor is scheduled to be on the show pitching Bibbitec’s main product, “The Ultimate Bib,” a patented generously sized, stain-resistant and fast-drying child’s bib made in the USA — Hialeah, to be exact. Bibbitec’s $30 bib can be a burp cloth, changing pad, breast feeding shield, full body bib, place mat, art smock and more, Taylor says.

We won’t be getting any details on what happens Friday night when she and her husband, Stephen Taylor, get into the tank with Daymond John, Mark Cuban and the other celebrity sharks; Taylor has been contractually sworn to secrecy. But whatever the outcome, she believes it will be worth it for the marketing pop.

Taylor was inspired to create her bib after a long and very messy plane ride with her two young sons and started Bibbitec in 2008. She and her team — her husband is CFO, her sister, Heather McCabe, handles sales and marketing, her uncle, Richard Page, is in charge of production, and her aunt, Marcia Kreitman, advises on design — have expanded the line to include The Ultimate Smock for older children and the Ultimate Mini for babies. Coming soon: a smock for adults.

Taylor already got a taste of what a national TV show appearance can do for sales. In September, Bibbitec’s sales jumped 40 percent after she was on an ABC World News "Made in America" segment. “Within 30 seconds, we started getting sales from all over the country and they didn’t even mention our name on the air,” Taylor says. She said that confirmed her belief that a Shark Tank appearance would be worth it.

Plus, Taylor has been hooked on Shark Tank since the first time she watched it in 2008 as she was developing her product. Trained in theater, she admits she didn’t know much about business and learned from the show. She would practice how she would answer the questions.

“I’m all about empowering women who are sitting on the couch watching, because that’s what I was four years ago,” says Taylor. “All I wanted to do was to be on Shark Tank because I believed if I got on Shark Tank the world will see what I am trying to do and that’s all I need. I know it’s a great product.”

Will that theater training come in handy Friday night? Stay tuned. Shark Tank airs at 9 p.m. on ABC and Taylor hopes viewers will join in on Twitter using the hashtag #sharkbib.





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Weather alert: Cool-down to the 50s expected Thursday, Friday nights




















A cool front is heading our way.

Temperatures in South Florida are forecast to dip into the 50s starting Thursday night.

Whoo-hoo!





But before that, highs will rise to the mid- to upper-70s before cooling down overnight to the mid-50s with a breeze.

Friday night will be cool again, with lows in the upper-50s.

A similar patter is predicted through the weekend.

Click here for the full weather forecast.





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Nintendo chief rules out price cuts for Wii U






TOKYO (AP) — Nintendo‘s president Thursday ruled out price cuts for its new Wii U home console as a way to boost sales, vowing to become profitable again in its core businesses as smartphones and tablets increasingly threaten specialized game machines.


Satoru Iwata, speaking at a Tokyo hotel to investors and reporters a day after earnings were released, acknowledged the sales momentum for the Wii U, as well as the 3DS hand-held game machine, had run out of steam during the key year-end shopping season, especially in the U.S.






But he said no price cuts were in the works. Price cuts are common in the gaming industry to woo buyers, but the move can backfire by trimming revenue. The Wii U now sells for about $ 300 in the U.S. and 25,000 yen in Japan.


“We are already offering it at a good price,” he said.


Iwata said he expects operating profit of more than 100 billion yen in the 12 months ending March 2014, promising that as “a commitment.”


But he acknowledged more work was needed to have consumers understand the Wii U, which went on sale globally late last year, as well as producing more game software to draw buyers.


All game machines have suffered in recent years from the advent of smartphones and other mobile devices that have become more sophisticated and offer games and other forms of entertainment.


Nintendo returned to net profit for the April-December period of 2012 from deep losses the previous year, but that was due to a perk from a weaker yen, which helps Japanese exporters such as Nintendo.


Its operating result, which removes currency fluctuations, was a loss of 5.86 billion yen ($ 64 million), and Nintendo expects that to swell to a 20 billion yen ($ 220 million) loss for the full business year ending March 2013 as sales of its game consoles fall short of expectations.


Iwata said Nintendo is preparing more game software, including those developed in-house, for the end of this year.


Kyoto-based Nintendo, which makes Super Mario and Pokemon games, lowered its full year sales forecast Wednesday to 670 billion yen ($ 7.4 billion) from 810 billion yen ($ 8.9 billion). It also said it was going to sell fewer Wii U consoles for the fiscal year through March than its previous projection. The Wii U has a touch-screen tablet controller called GamePad and a TV-watching feature called TVii.


The company forecasts it will sell 4 million Wii U consoles for the current fiscal year, ending March 31, down from its earlier estimate of 5.5 million units. The Wii U, which went on sale late last year, was the first major new game console to arrive in stores in years.


Nintendo, also behind the Donkey Kong and Zelda games, lowered its full year sales forecast for Wii U game software units to 16 million from 24 million.


Iwata said last year holiday sales quickly dissipated in the U.S. and some European nations, including Great Britain, the key market. He said the U.S. home console sales were the worst for Nintendo in nearly a decade.


He said Nintendo needs hit games to push console sales, and the company remains confident Wii U will prove more popular with time.


“The chicken-and-game problem has not been solved,” he said of the need for both game software and machine hardware.


“I feel a deep sense of responsibility for not being able to produce results for our year-end business,” said Iwata.


He declined to say what he would do if the company failed to attain the promised operating profits.


Nintendo sank into a loss the previous fiscal year largely because of price cuts for its hand-held 3DS game machine, which shows three-dimensional imagery without special glasses. That machine is also struggling in most global markets.


Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s famed game designer, said what was missing were games for the Wii U that made its appeal clear. The progress in smartphones has also posed a challenge for Nintendo, he said.


“People have to try it to see it is fun,” Miyamoto said of Wii U.


___


Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Josh Groban Talks Dating Katy Perry, Being Madly in Love with January Jones

Josh Groban isn't one to open up much about his personal life, but in a rare moment, the singer breaks his silence on high-profile exes Katy Perry and January Jones.

"We were madly in love," Groban tells Details magazine of Jones, whom he began dating in 2003 for a period of two-and-a-half years. "It was definitely my longest relationship."

Unfortunately, the twosome couldn't make it work, but Groban says he still longs to find his special someone.

Pics: They Dated?! Surprising Celebrity Hookups

"I'd love to get into another serious relationship," he says. "I am a real romantic at heart."

When asked about all those rumors he and Katy Perry had a fling, Groban was hesitant (at first) to admit they'd ever been involved.

"We're very good friends," he explains. "We met before her first album was even released, and we hit it off because we're both goofballs."

Video: Josh Groban Turns Kanye West Tweets Into Song Lyrics

When pushed, Groban divulges that he and the superstar had a brief connection, although it never became serious.

"We might have skated on the line of dating," he concedes.

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Miss America Mallory Hagan belts out National Anthem before Nets game








WireImage


Miss America Mallory Hagan sings the national anthem before the Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center Wednesday.



No lip sync needed.

Newly crowned Miss America Mallory Hagan belted out the National Anthem at the packed Barclays Center last night before the Nets game.

The former Brooklynite drew cheers and once again promised her adopted borough that she’ll be moving back after her Miss America reign ends.

“Once I came here, I never wanted to leave,” Hagan saidbefore her big performance..

Despite Hagan’s boost, the Nets were hammered by the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat, 105-85.











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Report: Miami among top cities to snag foreclosed homes




















Six Florida cities rank among the best places to buy foreclosures in 2013, according to a report by RealtyTrac.

Topping a list of 20 metropolitan areas is Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, the Irvine, Calif.-based real estate data firm said.

RealtyTrac looked at four criteria in tallying the “best places:” the supply of foreclosure inventory; foreclosure sales as a percentage of all transactions; the average percentage discount on foreclosures; and the annual percentage change in foreclosure activity in 2012 compared with 2011.





Also among the top 20 metro areas for buying foreclosures is Lakeland (No. 5), Tampa (No. 6), Jacksonville (No.7), Orlando (No. 9) and Miami (No. 12), according to the RealtyTrac report.

The No. 12 ranking for the metropolitan area of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach was based on the area having a 29-month supply of foreclosures, with foreclosures accounting for 28.7 percent of all sales during 2012. The average price discount on a foreclosed home in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach area was 31 percent in 2012, when foreclosure activity rose 36 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.

“Markets with increasing foreclosure activity in 2012 took the first step in finally purging delayed distress left over from the bursting housing bubble,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said in a statement. “Meanwhile, the underlying fundamentals in many of those markets are slowly improving, making it an opportune time to absorb additional foreclosure inventory this year — and that is particularly good news for buyers and investors hungry for more inventory to purchase in those markets.”

The greater Miami area ranked fifth among U.S. cities in foreclosure filings in 2012, with 3.71 percent, or one in every 27 housing units, receiving some type of foreclosure filing during 2012. That compares with a national average of 1.39 percent of housing units getting a foreclosure filing during that period.

Anthony Askowitz, a broker with RE/MAX Advance Realty II in Miami, said the reality of the foreclosure market is more nuanced than such statistics suggest.

“The inventory of foreclosures on the market is very low. It’s highly competitive right now for a foreclosure or a property put out as a quote ‘good deal,’’’ Askowitz said. “Multiple offers is the norm.’’

Indeed, while the huge overhang of foreclosures has long been expected to constitute a downward pressure on home prices, robust demand for South Florida housing and a tight inventory of available homes for sale have so far trumped that force.

According to the latest Case-Shiller report released Tuesday , South Florida home prices rose 10 percent in November 2012 from a year earlier. That marked the 12th consecutive gain.





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FBI raids West Palm Beach office of doctor tied to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez




















FBI agents late Tuesday night raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor suspected of providing free trips and even underage Dominican Republic prostitutes to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — who has denied what he calls the “fallacious allegations.”

Agents gathered at the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent politicians, to start hauling away potential evidence in several vans.

The investigation is believed to be focusing on Melgen’s finances and the allegations about Menendez’s trips and contact with prostitutes. A spokesman for Menendez could not be reached for comment, nor could Melgen.





Melgen has an outstanding IRS lien of $11.1 million for taxes owed from 2006 to 2009, according to records filed with the Palm Beach County recorder’s office. A previous IRS lien for $6.2 million was released in 2011.

Despite those financial problems, Melgen and his family have contributed at least $357,000 to candidates and committees since 1998, according to Florida and federal campaign records. Of that, the Melgens have contributed about 9 percent to Menendez’s federal campaigns.

Melgen also owns a private CL-600 Challenger plane through one of his West Palm Beach-based companies, and frequently flies between South Florida and Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, where he is from.

Menendez has flown on the plane at least once, his office has said, when he was chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2009 to 2011, when the Melgens contributed about $60,400 to the group. A spokeswoman had previously said that Menendez and Melgen are longtime friends and said the senator did nothing improper.

Melgen was first linked to Menendez just before the November elections, when the conservative Daily Caller website interviewed two alleged prostitutes who said they had relations with the New Jersey Democrat at Melgen’s Dominican Republic mansion in Casa de Campo.

After the election, the news died down.

But then, days before Menendez was about to start leading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as chairman, reporters started receiving a 58-page dossier of emails between a Miami FBI agent and a tipster who claimed that some of the prostitutes had been underage.

“I’m not going to respond to the fallacious allegations of your story,” Menendez told the Daily Caller on Monday when a reporter caught up with him on a train in Washington.

At the time, Menendez had just stepped into the national spotlight along with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and six other senators who are hammering out a highly watched immigration plan that is the talk of Washington.

Rubio is one of the few big-name Florida politicians who has not received campaign money from the Melgens, who have contributed to Sen. Bill Nelson and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Joe Garcia, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, among others.

The FBI would not comment on the emails, and the agent, Regino Chavez, did not return calls or emails. But sources familiar with the investigation told The Miami Herald that the emails are real.

The emails from agent Chavez show that he tried to find out what happened. But the tipster, who went by the name “Peter Williams,” refused to talk to him by telephone or meet him face to face.

Chavez contacted the tipster Aug.1, 2012, after the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington referred the case to the FBI. The tipster would not meet or speak by phone to CREW or to an investigative reporter, either.

“As far as the information you have provided, we have been unable to confirm most of it,” Chavez wrote on Sept. 12. “We know that you are providing accurate information.”

But it is not clear what that specific information is because Chavez was unable to interview the alleged prostitutes. Over the months, Chavez tried to meet or speak with the tipster, but had no luck.

Then, on Nov. 1, the agent wrote the tipster again and drew attention to the Daily Caller interview with the alleged prostitutes.

“I think we are at the point where you and I need to communicate over the phone so that we can move faster,” he wrote.

No luck.

Amid the suspicious circumstances of the complaints, Democrats have tried to characterize the reports about Menendez and Melgen as a right-wing smear job.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid refused to comment on the possibility of an FBI investigation when he was asked Tuesday about the case.

Said Reid: “Always consider the source. All anyone here has to look at is the source where this comes from.”

Tuesday night’s raid, however, shows that there is at least an investigation tied to Menendez’s longtime friend and ally.

Miami Herald Staff Writer Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.





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RIM to debut new BlackBerry smartphones in a heavily hyped unveiling






NEW YORK, N.Y. – Following several delays and much anticipation, the new BlackBerry smartphones will be unveiled this morning in New York.


Research In Motion (TSX:RIM), the company behind the once dominant smartphones, is holding a splashy event in Manhattan to usher in the new devices, which were originally due for release last year.






The debut is expected to showcase the device as well as provide key launch details.


That will likely include its release date, which is expected in the next four to six weeks, the phone’s features and how much it will cost.


The company says the new BlackBerry will be released first in a touchscreen version, while a keypad alternative will follow in the weeks or months afterward.


The new phone launch is RIM’s attempt to regain its position in the highly competitive North American and European smartphone markets, which are now dominated by iPhone and Android devices.


While the first hurdles to overcome are the opinions of tech analysts and investor reaction, the true measure of success — actual sales of the phones — is still weeks away.


The BlackBerry has dramatically lost marketshare in recent years after a series of blunders.


Several network outages left customers without the use of the smartphones they had come to rely on, while the BlackBerry’s hardware hasn’t received a significant upgrade in years.


RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins has already offered a glimpse of some features on the new devices. They include BlackBerry Balance technology, which allows one phone to operate as both a business and personal device entirely separate from each other.


The new BlackBerry will also let users seamlessly shift between the phone’s applications like they’re flipping between pages on a desk.


In the coming weeks, RIM will launch an advertising blitz to promote the phones, including aggressive social media campaigning, which includes plugs from celebrities on their Twitter accounts, and a 30-second advertisement on the Super Bowl, the most watched television program of the year.


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Entourage Movie Gets The Green Light From Warner Brothers

The boys are coming back!

Warner Brothers has officially given the go-ahead to the feature film sequel of HBO's hit-series Entourage, Deadline reports.

Pics: TV's 10 Most Divisive Love Triangles

According to the site, the show's creator, Doug Ellin, has already written the screenplay and will direct the movie. The studio is reportedly in the process of making deals with principal cast members Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Kevin Connolly.

As of yet, there is no date set for filming to begin.

Video-- Emmy Flashback: Jeremy Piven '07

Entourage ran for eight seasons (2004-2011), earning six Primetime Emmys and one Golden Globe.

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A subway announcement: Finalists for voice of Second Avenue line video








The voice of the Second Avenue Subway might have an Australian accent.

The MTA named six finalists in its search for narrators of the Second Avenue Subway video, a motley mix of Upper East Siders that includes native New Yorkers, a transplanted Midwesterner and one Aussie.

The six finalists were chosen from dozens of applicants who hoped to narrate the informational video, which will be broadcast in an exhibit at the Community Information Center on Second Avenue.

No voice-over experience was necessary, but not everyone could apply.

All applicants had to live or work in the construction zone — First and Third avenues between 63rd and 105th streets — to be eligible for the part.




This being New York, plenty of actors did apply for the gig, including two of the finalists.

But the vast majority of the dozens of respondents were amateurs.

“If you ever see the beginning auditions for American Idol, it was kind of like that,” joked Richard Mulieri, of MTA capital construction.

“You knew right away who wasn’t going to Hollywood.”

One person’s phone audition was a riff on the Twilight Zone, including a spooky over the top voice extolling the virtues of the over $4 billion project.

“It was way beyond what you’d want,” said Rehema Trimiew, an MTA digital medial producer who was one of the judges.

The public will choose one woman and one man from the finalists, whose voices will be broadcast at surveymonkey.com/s/SASIdol.

Voting begins today and will remain open until Feb. 17.

Melbourne native Theresa Ebblewhite doesn’t think her Australian accent will hurt her changes.

“New York is multi-cultural and diverse,” she said.

She decided to audition after a psychic told her she should do voice work.

She thought nothing of it — until the next day when she saw a story in the Post about the MTA’s contest.

“I thought, this is too eerie,” said Ebblewhite, an educational consultant who has lived in New York for nine years.

Scotty Davis — a Screen Actor’s Guild member who has lived in New York since 1970s — drank coffee to warm up her throat before her final audition Monday night at the MTA’s offices in Brooklyn.

She did three takes inside the tiny voice studio, finally nailing it after thinking of her mom.

“I put my mother in my mind, like how would I tell my mother?” she said.

Bill Bunting applied after being urged on by his wife, who had also read about the contest in the Post.

“I know a lot of merchants on Second Avenue [that have been impacted by construction],” he said.

But he is convinced the benefits will some day outweigh the negatives.

“Public transportation is hugely important,” he said.

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com










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Tablets take their screen tests




















Screen quality is critical to a great tablet, and in 2012 we saw the quality of tablet screens advance in leaps and bounds, especially in terms of clarity. Here are our favorites.

Barnes & Noble Nook HD

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)





The good: A light, comfortable design with a sharp screen and a well-implemented user profiles feature. Books, videos and magazines look great and the microSD slot takes some of the sting out of the lack of internal storage.

The bad: App, movie, TV show and game options are thin and there’s no native music service. It’s missing some typical tablet features and 8GB is low for the price. Fingerprints easily sully the screen.

The cost: $199

The bottom line: The Barnes & Noble Nook HD can’t match competing tablets in media library breadth, but as long as you’re not looking for bells and whistles, its sharp screen and comfortable body make it an ideal tablet choice for books and magazines.

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: High-resolution screen rivals the new iPad’s display in sharpness and clarity. Also, apps launch quickly, GPS works well and its rear camera is the best we’ve seen on any Android tablet. The tablet’s body has the same great thin and light design as the Prime.

The bad: So far, not enough Android apps take advantage of the TF700’s higher pixel count. Also, its battery life isn’t as good as the Prime’s.

The cost: $479.88 to $590.37

The bottom line: The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is one of the fastest Android tablets out there, combining an already proven design with a better camera, a faster processor, and a beautiful screen.

Google Nexus 10

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: A beautifully sharp screen is light, durable and has the fastest processor of any Android tablet. Photo Sphere is an incredibly cool concept. Google’s content ecosystem is only getting better.

The bad: The included charger isn’t fast enough to power the battery while playing a game; even while idle, it charges painfully slowly. There’s no storage expansion option, and apps that take full advantage of the screen are currently few and far between. Navigation isn’t quite as smooth as on the Nexus 7.

The cost: $399

The bottom line: The Nexus 10’s superior design and swift performance make it one of the best Android tablets to date. We expect post-launch updates from Google to make it even better.

Apple iPad (fourth generation)

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (Outstanding)

The good: A6X processor adds extra system speed and graphics power. Improved worldwide cellular compatibility makes the LTE model a more appealing proposition. And the iOS App Store remains best in class, with the widest selection.

The bad: The fourth-gen iPad is otherwise identical to its recent predecessor — same size, weight and Retina Display screen. It’s heavy to hold in one hand, and most older accessories won’t work without investing in a pricey Lightning adapter.

The cost: $499 to $539.99

The bottom line: The latest iPad adds several tweaks and improvements to secure its position at the top of the tablet heap. It’s better all around, but third-gen owners don’t need to upgrade.





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Related developers find themselves in court over tactics




















His company on trial over its tactics in a controversial condo project, Jorge Pérez, the celebrated developer, found himself on the witness stand Monday answering to an unexpected foe: Jorge Pérez, the author.

Pérez, the chairman of the Related Group, testified in the trial of a lawsuit brought against his company by The Vizcayans, a fundraising and support group for the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The Vizcayans have accused Pérez’s company of secretly manipulating the zoning process at Miami City Hall to win approval in 2007 for a three-tower condo project next to Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove — forcing the Vizcayans to spend more than $1 million in legal fees in its successful effort to kill the project.

The Vizcayans, who objected to the project because it would have intruded on the views from the historic property, have also accused the developers of quietly buying the approval of two local neighborhood associations by offering them $8 million in exchange for their support.





William Davis, a lawyer for the Vizcayans, questioned Pérez about the arrangement by citing passages from Pérez’s 2009 book, Powerhouse Principles: The Ultimate Blueprint for Real Estate Success in an Ever-Changing Market (foreword by Donald Trump). In the book, Pérez discussed his efforts to build the Mercy Hospital project, and said his team decided to keep the payments to the neighborhood groups secret because “we gave them a lot of money,” and he feared other groups would ask for more if they got wind of it.

Pérez sheepishly conceded that he didn’t exactly write his book — it was the work of a ghostwriter with whom he worked.

“They were my thoughts interpreted by a person that was writing,” he said.

Davis also tried to hoist Pérez on one of his powerhouse principles from the book: “neutralize the opposition.”

He suggested that Related sued the Vizcayans seeking public records in an effort to harass them. Pérez denied the allegation and said he had no recollection of that lawsuit.

Pérez insisted that there was nothing sinister about the deals with the neighborhood groups; he said the payments to the groups were simply a routine practice his firm follows when it seeks community support for its projects.

“I’m doing that on probably 10 projects right now,” Pérez said.

Yery Marrero, the president of the Natoma Manors homeowners’ association, told jurors that her group supported the condo project not because of the promise of money, but because they thought the condos would prevent Mercy Hospital from expanding and bringing even more traffic to their already congested neighborhood.

“Our issue in our neighborhood is traffic,” Marrero told jurors. “Per day we have so many cars going through there.”

The Vizcayans’ lawyers have portrayed the payments as part of a larger scheme to win over the Miami City Commission, which had to endorse zoning and land-use changes for the condo project. They have accused Related’s staffers, lawyers and lobbyists of working behind the scenes to essentially rig the commission vote.

In one January 2007 email, a Related vice president told Pérez that they had confirmed the votes of three commissioners in favor of the condo deal — days before the first public hearing on the project.

The City Commission ultimately approved the project in a 3-2 vote. But following a suit from The Vizcayans, an appeals court later overturned the decision, finding that the city ran afoul of state zoning laws and that then-Mayor Manny Diaz had improper contact with Pérez during the veto period after the vote.

Diaz is expected to testify Tuesday.

Related’s lawyers, John Shubin and Israel Reyes, have asked Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Daryl Trawick to throw out the case, saying The Vizcayans have failed to prove that the developers set out to deliberately harm the nonprofit.

The developers’ lawyers also called Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado as a witness Monday. Regalado, who was on the commission at the time of the 2007 vote, said he never heard anything suggesting that the developers were trying to harm The Vizcayans.

Shubin said the Vizcayans are wrongly seeking to punish the developers for simply petitioning the government for a zoning change.

“This is all about petitioning activity,” Shubin said. “They can’t even cite to you a case that looks remotely like this one that has been brought.”

Pérez took his day on the witness stand with good humor. “I’m glad someone is reading my book,” he said when his testimony ended.

The trial, now in its fourth week, is expected to end this week.





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Troubled smartphone pioneer RIM prepares to raise the curtain on BlackBerry 10






NEW YORK, N.Y. – After several technical blunders, two unexpected delays and one major shakeup in its leadership, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is about to raise the curtain for its new smartphone devices in hopes that consumers share the excitement.


The unveiling of the phones and operating system on Wednesday marks the start of an advertising blitz that will stretch to social media, the Super Bowl and beyond as RIM tries to regain the cool factor that was once firmly in its grasp.






If all goes according to plan, the event will also mark the end of a troublesome 12 months that has seen RIM try to stay afloat while its future was constantly in question by outsiders, and its stock price tumbled to the lowest level in about a decade.


While the first hurdles to overcome on Wednesday are the opinions of tech analysts and investor reaction, the true measure of success — actual sales of the phones — is still weeks away.


As a crowd of thousands gathers Wednesday at Pier 36, a massive entertainment venue on the shores of Manhattan, chief executive Thorsten Heins will step onto the stage holding the BlackBerry that has been at once considered the company’s last hope, but also its biggest hurdle.


Just over a year ago, when Heins took over the top spot at RIM, the smartphone maker was in a state of flux as its marketshare tumbled in North America against growing competition from Apple’s iPhone and various devices on the Android operating system.


Analysts had widely blamed the lack of leadership from former co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as the reasons that RIM failed to innovate its way out of trouble, but they also said that Heins had much to prove in hardly any time.


The company was in a bubble, insisting that it hadn’t lost its footing in the smartphone industry, even though from the outside their downfall was indisputable.


But as the dust settled from Balsillie’s exit in March 2012, Heins began to face the realities of RIM’s problems and launched a major overhaul of its middle management and deep cuts to its operations.


While Heins preferred to call it removing a “little fat on the hips,” the changes at RIM were a far more strategic and complex surgery.


The company closed some of its manufacturing facilities and announced plans to lay off about 5,000 workers, as it aimed to save $ 1 billion across RIM’s operations by February 2013. Heins reached that savings goal, and he did it three months ahead of schedule.


“He is probably one of the least dogmatic people at RIM,” said Carl Howe, vice-president of consumer research at Yankee Group.


“I think he learned from his predecessors.”


Despite all of the changes, Heins was still up against the fact that development of the BlackBerry 10 operating system was woefully behind schedule. Already delayed from a launch in 2011, the CEO was forced in June to further push the debut into 2013, missing crucial sales periods like the back-to-school and Christmas holiday shopping seasons.


While analysts hated the idea of another delay, it also bought the company some extra time to tweak the software to capitalize on the weaknesses of competitors’ smartphones.


One of those features is the BlackBerry Balance technology, which allows one phone to operate as both a business and personal device entirely separate from each other. Another one lets users seamlessly shift between the phone’s applications like they’re flipping between pages on a desk.


The BlackBerry Messenger chat program will also get an update that includes video chat and screen sharing options.


RIM’s executives also began an aggressive campaign last year to win the developer community. Under its previous leadership, the BlackBerry had practically ignored the growing popularity of smartphone applications for services like Netflix, Skype and Instagram.


A sea of change was coming under its new leaders, and Heins had managed to at least steady a company that was swaying on its pillars by coming up with unconventional ideas.


As the BlackBerry lost steam in North America and Europe, he turned to developing countries like Indonesia and Nigeria to keep revenues flowing in the near term. In those places, consumers were hungry for low-cost smartphones and the BlackBerry was still considered a status symbol.


The decision helped RIM keep its subscriber base steady, and maintain its $ 2-billion cash reserve, which was set aside for emergencies. It will use some of that money to promote the new phones.


“Up until now I think everything (Heins) laid out in terms of his plan … he’s shown that he’s executed on it,” said Richard Tse, an analyst at Cormark Securities Inc.


“In terms of what they’ve done on the development side, in terms of streamlining the operations and preserving the cash, I think he’s done a very good job to date.”


Investors aren’t satisfied with all of his decisions, however, especially when Heins unveiled a rough plan in December that will likely eat into the lucrative service fees charged to BlackBerry subscribers.


Heins told analysts on its most recent earnings conference call that RIM plans to launch an a la carte menu of services where both enterprise customers and casual smartphone users can pick their packages. The change would likely mean reduced revenues in one of the most lucrative areas of its business.


Even on the dawn of the new BlackBerry unveiling, there are still questions about whether RIM will exist in its current form this time next year. Some analysts have said the company will eventually be forced to sell off at least its hardware division, if not more.


“They’re in such a difficult position that I can’t think of a management change that would help them get out of it,” Tim Long of BMO Capital Markets.


“Clearly there are people out there that think the BlackBerry 10 is going to be something that gets them back on the map. We don’t think so.”


Long said his checks within the mobile phone industry have shown that carriers aren’t particularly interested in RIM’s touchscreen smartphone, but they’re more anxious for the keypad version, or QWERTY phone, due sometime after the initial launch.


“We think that’s an issue,” he said.


If the stock price is any sign, RIM’s investors are at least more confident this month then they’ve been in a long time. As of Monday’s closing price, RIM’s shares have risen 167 per cent from its lowest level in about a decade, reached in September, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.


Several analysts have boosted their target prices for the company’s stock in the past two weeks.


Whatever happens after the new BlackBerrys are unveiled, it’s certain that RIM isn’t in the clear yet.


“Product transitions are always pretty ugly,” said Howe.


“The good news is if you can get yourself through to the other side … you have an opportunity to disrupt the market yourself.”


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News




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Oprah Winfrey Fashion Flashback

She can afford the best stylist money can buy, but that's not to say Oprah Winfrey hasn't had her fair share of fashion misses (along with a great deal of hits) over her extensive career. 

Pics: Two Looks, One Star!

Join us as we look back at Lady O's changing styles through the years!

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Ex-principal among nearly 100 eyed in test cheat probes








The former principal of the high-performing NYCiSchool improperly allowed one of her teachers to re-grade and raise scores on high school Regents exams, school investigators found.

She was among nearly 100 educators — including 17 principals, 61 teachers, seven assistant principals and nine other staffers — who have been implicated in cheating probes by the city Department of Education since 2006, according to documents obtained under a Freedom of Information Act filing.

It took the Department of Education nearly 18 months to comply with The Post’s request for cheating cases confirmed by its internal investigative arm, the Office of Special Investigations — in violation of the rules governing public access to documents.




Among the recent cases, NYCiSchool principal Alisa Berger let teacher Susan Herzog re-grade the June 2010 Living Environment Regents exam by herself after they had already been graded.

Herzog said she raised the scores given to students for certain questions after clarifying proper procedures with the State Education Department.

Berger told The Post that student scores were both raised and lowered, but that no students’ grade was changed from failing to passing.

“Did I make a procedural mistake? I did. Was it cheating? Absolutely not,” said Berger, who unrelatedly left the downtown school last year.

Among the biggest cases of cheating, teachers at Hillcrest HS in Queens were found to have bumped up the scores of 255 students on the English Regents exams back in 2006.

The case was never made public and no teachers were punished because the re-scoring practice, known as “scrubbing,” wasn’t technically prohibited.

In another case, Manhattan teacher Iris Ventura helped several classrooms of 8th graders with the state’s high-stakes math exams — at the request of MS 322 principal Erica Zigelman, investigators found.

Despite the DOE’s stated no tolerance policy for cheating, they were both let off with letters of reprimand.

In 2011, Ventura was caught cheating again — this time telling four 7th graders to check their answers on the state math exams, probers found.

She was again let off with a letter in her file, and has since resigned, according to the DOE.










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Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge opens for entries




















Entrepreneurs, please don’t let the name of our contest scare you.

As we launch our 15th annual Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge today, we are putting out our annual call for entries. But we aren’t looking for long, laboriously detailed business plans. Quite the contrary.

More and more, today’s investors in very early stage companies want to see a succinct presentation of your concept and how you plan to turn it into a success. We do, too.





If you have a business idea or an operating startup that is less than two years old, you can enter the Challenge, our annual celebration of South Florida entrepreneurship. Sponsored by the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center at Florida International University, our contest has three tracks — a Community Track, open to all South Floridians; an FIU Track, open to students and alumni of that university; and a High School Track, co-sponsored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Your entry may be up to three pages and you may attach one additional page for a photo, rendering, diagram or spreadsheet if you wish. Think of it as a meaty executive summary. Experts in all aspects of entrepreneurship — serial entrepreneurs, executives, investors, advisors and finance specialists (see judge bios on MiamiHerald.com/challenge) — will judge your short plan. In doing so, they will be looking at your product or service’s value to the customer, market opportunity, business model, management team and your marketing and financial strategies. See the rules on page 22, which also include tips on preparing your entry.

Your entry is due by 11:59 p.m. March 11. Entries should be sent to challenge@miamiherald.com, fiuchallenge@miamiherald.com or highschoolchallenge@miamiherald.com.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help!

“Frame your business from your customer’s perspective and not yours. Rather than diving into a detailed explanation of your product or service, a more compelling way to tell your business story is to clearly share the problem that you are solving for your customers and how your business is different, better, faster, cooler, cheaper, smarter,” says Melissa Krinzman, managing director of Venture Architects and a veteran Challenge judge.

On Feb 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Miami Dade College, we’ll host a free Business Plan Bootcamp, where you can bring your working plan with you for advice from experts, including Krinzman. Find the sign-up link on MiamiHerald.com/challenge.

And each week in Business Monday and on MiamiHerald.com/challenge, we’ll be bringing you advice and answering your questions. You can post your questions on the Q&A on MiamiHerald.com/challenge or email your questions to me at ndahlberg@miamiherald.com. Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter.

The top six finalists in the Community and FIU Tracks will present their 90-second elevator pitches for our popular video contest. Last year our People’s Pick contest drew more than 18,000 votes.

On May 6, in a special section of Business Monday, we will profile the winners — the judges’ top three selections in each track plus the People’s Pick winners. Along the way, we will unveil semifinalists and finalists to keep the suspense building.

Today, though, we are looking back on the entrepreneurial journeys of our 2012 winners. Funding was a nearly universal challenge, and many faced setbacks in developing their platforms. Throughout the entry period, we’ll also look back on other winners from the past 14 years.

Show us what you’ve got. Let’s make this the best Challenge yet.





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Rubio, Senate ‘Gang of Eight’ unveil bipartisan immigration deal




















A group of eight Democratic and Republicans senators, including Florida’s Marco Rubio, will officially release a wide-ranging immigration plan Monday that could give a pathway to citizenship, tighten border security and increase guest-worker permits.

The five-page plan from the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” contains most of the key concepts Rubio has presented to conservative media figures over the past month. The senators, still working on the specifics, want to draft legislation by March.

Most controversially, the proposal would give a pathway to residency — and even citizenship — to many of the estimated 11 million immigrants unlawfully in the United States.





While some conservatives call it amnesty, Rubio says it’s not because the immigrants would have to pay fines, back taxes and undergo a criminal background check — a similar proposal made by President Barack Obama in May 2011.

“We can’t round up millions of people and deport them,” Rubio wrote Sunday in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the home paper of Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid.

“But we also can’t fix our broken immigration system if we provide incentives for people to come here illegally — precisely the signal a blanket amnesty would send,” Rubio wrote.

Those undocumented immigrants granted legal residency wouldn’t have access to welfare at first; nor would they be eligible for citizenship until 1) those who legally applied before them get their citizenship and 2) the borders are verified as secure.

Conservative commentator Mickey Kaus bashed the "Rubio bill" on Twitter as a "con."

"Con at heart of Rubio bill-Undocumented are legalized immediately! Not going to be kicked out if enforcement’s degraded," Kaus wrote.

The proposal also seeks to give special consideration to farm laborers, high-tech workers and young people who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children. The latter proposal stops short of the DREAM Act for college- and military-bound undocumented immigrants.

The Gang of Eight’s plan rests on four "pillars:"

1. Create a tough but fair path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States that is contingent upon securing our borders and tracking whether legal immigrants have left the country when required.

2. Reform our legal immigration system to better recognize the importance of characteristics that will help build the American economy and strengthen American families.

3. Create an effective employment verification system that will prevent identity theft and end the hiring of future unauthorized workers.

4. Establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers.

The plan is just a framework. So many of the hard details concerning how long people would wait for citizenship, how the border is declared secure and roughly how much it would all cost will have to be worked out in the coming months.

The Senate legislation, whenever it’s drafted, will also spell out how the visa process would be streamlined, what new types of work permits would be available and how the government plans to stop businesses from hiring illegal immigrants.

Obama plans to speak Tuesday in Nevada about immigration and told some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus last week that the issue is a top priority.





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Amy Poehler: I Don't Diet For Awards Season

It is assumed that the fashionably fabulous ladies stepping out during awards season have endured weeks of vigorous diet and exercise before their big day, but Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler wants you to know that she's not one of them.

Pics: Hit or Miss? The Screen Actors Guild Awards!

When asked about her red carpet regimen for Sunday's SAG Awards, a gorgeous-looking Poehler (in sparkling black Zuhair Murad) shrugged, admitting to ET's Rocsi Diaz the glitz and glamour isn't her thing.

"I don't really love getting dressed up," she said, "so I try to make it as painless as possible."

Pics: The Hottest 2013 SAG Gowns

Apparently, the same applies for Poehler's red carpet-body regimen.

"I probably should [diet and exercise]," concedes Poehler. "But I just don't care."

She adds, "I'm sure I need it, but I'm just too tired to do it."

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MTA sergeant's 'dirty work' paved the way for Grand Central's renaissance








Douglas Healey


Bryan Henry is credited with cleaning up Grand Central, paving the way for the terminal's restoration.



Jackie Onassis may get the credit for saving Grand Central — but this MTA sergeant did all the dirty work.

Bryan Henry single-handedly relocated hundreds of homeless from the terminal in its grittier days in the 80’s and 90s — paving the way for Grand Central’s total restoration.

The world’s most beautiful and busiest train terminal turns 100 next week, the beginning of a year-long centennial celebration that includes musical tributes, a rededication ceremony and a six-week exhibit chronicling its history.




But the start-studded celebrations in the now-pristine terminal wouldn’t be possible without Henry.

“When commuters arrived [25 years ago] they literally had to step over people,” he said.

His self-described duties as a “social worker with a gun and a badge” began in 1989, the height of the crack epidemic.

His approach, he said, included a combination of gentle coaxing — and the occasional handcuffing.

Dan Brinzac


Grand Central Terminal's main concourse in 1993.



“City agencies were bringing vans full of homeless people to Grand Central,” he said, noting The city that year had 1,905 murders that year, four times higher than last year’s 414.

Some lived in what is now Vanderbilt Hall — which in those days were full of benches.

Others lived in hollow spaces underneath the platforms a dangerous situation that often resulted in track fires so bad that they were making trains late.

The MTA — in the beginning stages of planning the station’s $250 million renovation — wanted someone to focus their energy on getting the homeless out.

Henry, a practicing Buddhist, volunteered for the job.

He counted about 400 people who used it as their home base.

“These were people I saw every day,” he said.

Then he set out to get to know all of them.

He matched drunks with programs for alcoholics, found crack addicts treatment plans and helped the impoverished navigate the confusing maze of social services that could get them off the street.

“One woman, I enticed her with coffee and donuts,” he said.

She’d become homeless after her husband died.

“The building she lived in had become gentrified. She was displaced,” he said.

He found out she had a small social security check, then set her up in low-income housing run by the Catholic Church.

Months later she came back to the station looking like a different woman.

“She was all dolled up, lipstick beyond the lines of her mouth and she had nail polish,” he said.

That time, the coffee and donuts were on her.

Despite his place in Grand Central history, Henry has no plans to attend any of the ceremonies for the station’s milestone birthday.

“I don’t like crowds,” he said.










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Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge opens for entries




















Entrepreneurs, please don’t let the name of our contest scare you.

As we launch our 15th annual Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge today, we are putting out our annual call for entries. But we aren’t looking for long, laboriously detailed business plans. Quite the contrary.

More and more, today’s investors in very early stage companies want to see a succinct presentation of your concept and how you plan to turn it into a success. We do, too.





If you have a business idea or an operating startup that is less than two years old, you can enter the Challenge, our annual celebration of South Florida entrepreneurship. Sponsored by the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center at Florida International University, our contest has three tracks — a Community Track, open to all South Floridians; an FIU Track, open to students and alumni of that university; and a High School Track, co-sponsored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Your entry may be up to three pages and you may attach one additional page for a photo, rendering, diagram or spreadsheet if you wish. Think of it as a meaty executive summary. Experts in all aspects of entrepreneurship — serial entrepreneurs, executives, investors, advisors and finance specialists (see judge bios on MiamiHerald.com/challenge) — will judge your short plan. In doing so, they will be looking at your product or service’s value to the customer, market opportunity, business model, management team and your marketing and financial strategies. See the rules on page 22, which also include tips on preparing your entry.

Your entry is due by 11:59 p.m. March 11. Entries should be sent to challenge@miamiherald.com, fiuchallenge@miamiherald.com or highschoolchallenge@miamiherald.com.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help!

“Frame your business from your customer’s perspective and not yours. Rather than diving into a detailed explanation of your product or service, a more compelling way to tell your business story is to clearly share the problem that you are solving for your customers and how your business is different, better, faster, cooler, cheaper, smarter,” says Melissa Krinzman, managing director of Venture Architects and a veteran Challenge judge.

On Feb 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Miami Dade College, we’ll host a free Business Plan Bootcamp, where you can bring your working plan with you for advice from experts, including Krinzman. Find the sign-up link on MiamiHerald.com/challenge.

And each week in Business Monday and on MiamiHerald.com/challenge, we’ll be bringing you advice and answering your questions. You can post your questions on the Q&A on MiamiHerald.com/challenge or email your questions to me at ndahlberg@miamiherald.com. Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter.

The top six finalists in the Community and FIU Tracks will present their 90-second elevator pitches for our popular video contest. Last year our People’s Pick contest drew more than 18,000 votes.

On May 6, in a special section of Business Monday, we will profile the winners — the judges’ top three selections in each track plus the People’s Pick winners. Along the way, we will unveil semifinalists and finalists to keep the suspense building.

Today, though, we are looking back on the entrepreneurial journeys of our 2012 winners. Funding was a nearly universal challenge, and many faced setbacks in developing their platforms. Throughout the entry period, we’ll also look back on other winners from the past 14 years.

Show us what you’ve got. Let’s make this the best Challenge yet.





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Woman’s Club member earns another well-deserved honor




















Warm congratulations to my friend and Miami Woman’s Club sister Dolly MacIntyre, who will be honored as the club’s Historian of the Year for 2013 on Tuesday at the monthly luncheon meeting.

Dolly has been a resident of Miami for 56 years. She began her involvement with local history and historic preservation in 1966. She is a kind and unassuming woman who goes about doing good works without blowing her own horn and she is a highly acclaimed activist for historic preservation and the recipient of numerous awards for dedicated service.

In 2012, she received the Mary Call Darby Collins Award from the state of Florida for her preservation work. Early on, she became a charter member of the Villagers and founding president of the Dade Heritage Trust, and today she remains active in both organizations.





Dolly is a lonttime member and past officer of the MWC, the Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove, the Dade County Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Women’s History Coalition. In addition, she is a board and committee member of many community organizations.

The luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. with networking, with lunch and the program to follow at noon in the Ballroom of the Doubletree Grand Hotel, 1717 N. Bayshore Dr.

You can still make reservations and pre-order for vegetarian option by calling Nancy Smith at 305-891-3789. The cost is $25 for members and $35 for non members.

Retired FIU professor honored for book

There’s a lot to be happy about today. Howard B. Rock, Florida International University professor of history emeritus, recently was awarded the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year at the 2012 National Jewish Book Awards. The award was announced Jan. 15 by the Jewish Book Council and was for the three-volume series City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York of which Rock wrote the first volume, Haven of Liberty: New York Jews in the New world, 1654-1865.

Rock shared the top Jewish book award with Annie Polland and Daniel Soyer, who authored the second volume, "Emerging Metropolis: New York Jews in the Age of Immigration, 1840-1920", Jeffrey S. Gurock, who wrote the third volume, "Jews in Gotham: New York Jews in a Changing City, 1920-2010", and noted Jewish historian Deborah Dash Moore, who was the general editor of the project.

Rock, a Miami resident and member of Temple Israel of Greater Miami, also co-authored a history of New York Jewry. He taught American history for 36 years at FIU. His speciality is early American history to 1815, early American social history, the history of New York City, early American labor history and early American political history. In addition, he has published an/or edited five books, including Artisans of the New Republic, The New York Artisan, Keepers of the Revolution, The American Artisans, and A History of New York Images.

Guest composer at FIU

The Florida International School of Music will present a program, “East Meets West,” with guest composer Chinary Ung and the FIU Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center, 10910 SW 17th St.

Also featured on the program is the Amernet String Quartet and the NOBUS ensemble and the music of Ung, Garcia, Sudol, Jen and Colangelo.

The concert is free and open to the public.

MDC leader to speak in Homestead

You are invited to hear Jeanne Jacobs, president of the Miami Dade College Homestead campus at noon on Feb. 4, at the Homestead Community Center, 1601 N. Krome Ave. Jacobs is the Black History Month speaker at the Bea Peskoe Lunchtime Lecture series, presented free by the Homestead Center for the Arts.





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Exclusive: JJ Abrams Confirms Bradley Cooper in Talks For Lance Armstrong Biopic

Shortly after Bradley Cooper expressed interest (publicly) in portraying disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in J.J. Abrams'upcoming biopic about the athlete, the producer/director confirmed to ET exclusively that he is indeed in talks with Cooper for the role.


Pics: Stars Take On Real-Life Roles

When asked about Cooper's interest in tackling the part backstage at the Producers Guild Awards in Los Angeles, Abrams told ET's Christina McLarty "[Cooper] sent me an email and we've been talking."

Said Cooper to BBC News on January 22, "I would be interested in [playing Armstrong]. I think he's fascinating. What a fascinating character."

Paramount Pictures & Bad Robot (J.J. Abram's production company) secured the rights to Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong, a book proposal penned by Juliet Macur, in mid-January just after Armstrong admitted publicly to doping during all seven Tour de France wins. The author, a sports reporter from The New York Times, has covered the athlete over the span of a decade throughout Armstrong's struggle with cancer, years of doping allegations and ensuing lawsuits.

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At least 200 killed in Brazil nightclub fire








A nightclub fire in Brazil killed at least 90 people and injured 200 more, according to a newspaper report.

Estado de S. Paulo reports that the fire started during a concert at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, a 250,000 population municipality located in southern Brazil.

The fire was sparked by a band's pyrotechnics show, Reuters reports.

The building's material - used for soundproofing - caught fire, sending toxic smoke through the club, police said.

Officials said club-goers panicked and ended up trampling each other.

The victims are believed to include teenagers.











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Miami Lakes company growing its brand of skin care products




















For decades, Vivant Skin Care has formulated creams, serums, cleansers and tonics to treat such dermatological conditions as acne, aging and hyperpigmentation.

Family owned and linked to Dr. James E. Fulton, who co-developed the anti-aging formula Retin-A, the company built its reputation with medically tested therapies aimed at improving skin.

Now, like a complexion that has undergone the metamorphosis of time, Vivant is altering its manufacturing and sales structure and adding products, emerging from the economic downturn with a new plan for the future.





“Now we’re stabilized and looking forward to growth,” said Fulton’s daughter, Chief Executive, Kelly Fulton-Kendrick.

Founded in 1990, Vivant produces a line of 30 skin care products, all formulated in-house, and priced from $15 to $100. The products target both females and males, ages 13 and up.

“Our target market is people who have serious skin care problems and need solutions,” Fulton-Kendrick said. “Vitamin A is the best for affecting change in the skin.”

The clinical skin care products, packaged simply in white bottles and amber glass containers, have remained the company’s mainstay, as the business has transformed.

In mid-2011, Vivant decided to adjust its sales structure, to sell, for the first time, to online retailers like DermStore.com, SkinCareRX.com and amazon.com, as well as to make its products available on its own website, vivantskincare.com. It was a major change in course after more than 20 years of having its products sold only at spas and doctors’ offices.

“So now, we’re a mix of wholesale to skin care professionals and Internet retailers, and we’re selling directly to consumers through our own website,” Fulton-Kendrick said.

Mike Nelson, marketing manager at SkinCareRx.com, said Vivant, which it has sold since November, has “done very well for a new brand to our site,” surpassing some brands that have been on its site for over a year. He declined to provide figures.

SkinCareRX took on only 5 percent of the brands that approached it last year, he said, and had undertaken a rigorous review of Vivant.

“They have a good loyalty base and get great reviews,” Nelson said.

Along with changes in its sales system, in January 2012, Vivant moved from Medley to Miami Lakes, doubling its space to 11,000 square feet to accommodate manufacturing, which it brought in house to reduce costs. It had outsourced manufacturing to a lab in Costa Mesa, Calif., that it had previously owned and later sold.

Inside its warehouse space in a commercial business complex, a small staff handles manufacturing, shipping and packaging. All orders are taken by customer service and fulfilled onsite. A room used as an educational center allows vendors and aestheticians to learn about the products.

Martina Echeveria, international trade specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Miami U.S. Export Assistance Center, who is helping Vivant get a distributor in the Dominican Republic, said she recently nominated the company for a South Florida Manufacturer of the Year award. The awards are given by the South Florida Manufacturers Association.

“Their products are good and 100 percent U.S. made,” she said.

At Vivant’s offices, a lab area is used by Dr. Fulton for research and development. He also maintains a practice at Flores Dermatology in South Miami.





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