The doors to this year's Mobile World Congress have just barely been opened, but you might say the show is already won. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's Samsung doing the winning. For those who were far too busy enjoying their Saturday evenings to notice, I should point out that Samsung has just taken the wraps off of the world's largest smartphone. The global version of Galaxy Note 8.0's fantastically (hilariously?) large display is indeed embedded onto a device that will not only surf the soothing waters of the world wide web, but also make phone calls for those brazen enough to toss it upside their noggin'.
The question, obviously, is "Why? But as I let the announcement wash over me, the answer became all too clear: "Because it can."
Market Square takes up the full block on Market, between Ninth and Tenth. Photo via Market Square
Matt Semmelhack. Photo: The Chronicle
Matt Semmelhack and Mark Liberman ? the team behind the celebrated AQ in SoMa ? are the first restaurant tenants of the big Market Square development (a.k.a. the Twitter building), where they plan to open a street-level, all-day brasserie and bar named Bon March?.
The name refers to several things. Le Bon March? is the famous Parisian department store, which dates back to the 1830s, making it one of the world?s first (and most beautiful) department stores; its name influenced a Seattle branch in the early 20th century that eventually became a part of Macy?s. The retailer and department store context is a sly wink to the Market Square building?s former life as the S.F. Furniture Mart. Plus, the French connection is a nod to the building?s Art Deco roots, Semmelhack says, which they?ll try to maintain.
Of course, with Bon March?, there?s also the translation to ?good market? ? and the location is directly on Market Street and the mid-Market neighborhood.
Liberman will be the executive chef, and the food will be contemporary Californian brasserie fare. What does that mean? Like traditional brasseries, the 125-seat Bon March? will be open all day, and the plan is to create a bustling environment and bar scene. There will be a large menu and a big emphasis on a raw bar (yes, there will be seafood plateaus), though the food will be more modern twists on classics, similar to what they do at AQ ? familiar reference points, envisioned in new, fun ways, Semmelhack says. The price point will be lower than AQ.
Chef Mark Liberman preparing one of his dishes at AQ. Photo: The Chronicle
On the bar side, plans call for a full liquor license, and like AQ, cocktails are hoped to be a strong point. While the food will skew toward the modern and Californian, the bar program will likely slant toward the French brasserie classics a little more. Also, AQ?s beverage director Kristen Capella wants to have the largest sparkling wine collection in the country.
Since it?s an all-day affair, Bon March? will offer coffee and simple breakfast in the mornings; they?re playing with ideas on making physical changes throughout the day to the restaurant ? or a possible 60-foot bar ? to utilize the space for the appropriate time of day.
BCV Architects, who did the reimagined Ferry Building (among others), is spearheading the design of Market Square, and it?s likely they?ll be involved in Bon March? as well. The 7,300 square foot restaurant space is full of ?soaring? ceilings and fat concrete columns, with entrances from Market Street and both the old and new lobbies. A full build-out is required, and it will be a few months before construction even begins, so the entire project is still 18-24 months away, and that?s the earliest ETA.
Shorenstein Properties, the developers/visionaries behind the entire Market Square project, still have a few more restaurant/bar spaces available, so it should be interesting to see who snatches them up now that the first lease has been signed. Meanwhile, Semmelhack and Liberman are still working on their other new project, next door to AQ, which now carries the moniker of TBD.
? Previously: Twitter building Market Square courts local chefs and restaurateurs [Inside Scoop] ? Previously: AQ expanding its SoMa presence with a new restaurant next door [Inside Scoop]
SEATTLE (Reuters) ? Six underground storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation along the Columbia River in Washington state were recently found to be leaking radioactive waste, but there is no immediate risk to human health, state and federal officials said on Friday.
A man uses the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer after an announcement in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A man uses the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer after an announcement in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer is shown at an announcement in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Chrome and apps, discusses the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer at an announcement in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Chrome and apps, discusses the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer at an announcement in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Chrome and apps, discusses the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer at an announcement in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Google is adding a new and more expensive touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple.
The Chromebook Pixel unveiled Thursday includes a nearly 13-inch display screen that responds to the touch or swipe of a finger. That duplicates a key feature in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 8, a dramatic makeover of the world's leading operating system for PCs.
The Pixel's high-resolution screen displays 239 pixels per inch, slightly more than Apple Inc.'s MacBooks with high-resolution Retina displays. A MacBook Pro with a screen that measures 13.1 inches diagonally can handle 227 pixels per inch, while the 15.4-inch model is at 220 pixels per inch.
"This is the future: high-resolution screens and touch," said Sundar Pichai, a senior vice president who oversees Google's Chrome Web browser and operating system.
Google Inc. designed and built the Pixel for "power users" ? a fastidious and generally more affluent segment of the PC market willing to pay more for machines equipped with compelling features and components not found in cheaper laptops.
The strategy is a departure for Google, which had positioned Chromebooks based on its Chrome operating system as affordable options for homes and offices looking for a quick and easy way to connect to the Web. Google has been partnering with PC makers to make Chromebooks over the past two years. Among them: Acer Inc. makes a bare-bones Chromebook for just $199, while Samsung Electronics Co. sells one for $249.
The Pixel, which Google is building without a partner, will cost $1,299 for a Wi-Fi only model with 32 gigabytes of flash storage. A 64-gigabyte machine that can connect on both Wi-Fi and a 4G LTE cellular network will cost $1,499. That's the same price as the cheapest MacBook Pro with a comparable screen, though the Apple laptop comes with 128 gigabytes of storage.
Apple does have a cheaper, lighter laptop, the MacBook Air. A 13-inch model with 128 gigabytes of storage starts at $1,199. It weighs less than 3 pounds and doesn't have a high-resolution screen. The Pixel has the high-resolution screen and weighs 3.35 pounds. The 13-inch high-resolution MacBook Pro weighs 3.57 pounds.
Google believes Pixel is a better value than the Air, given its higher-resolution screen with touch controls. Google is also throwing in 1 terabytes of free online storage in its data centers for three years ? a benefit that Pichai estimated would cost $500 to $600.
The Pixel "will stand up very, very well to the MacBook Air," Pichai said. "The goal here is to push the boundaries to deliver the best laptop at the best possible price."
Though its popular iPad has a touch screen, Apple has shunned touch-screen laptops. Apple figures that because people use laptops with the screen in front of them, rather than in their hands or laps, it's not a pleasant experience to constantly have to reach out to touch the screen.
Microsoft, on the other hand, considers touch screens to be central to all computing environments. Windows 8 was designed to make desktop and laptop computers work more like tablet computers. Computers with touch-screen monitors can respond to touch along with old-style mouse and keyboard commands.
Google's online Play store will begin selling the Pixel in the U.S. and U.K Thursday, with BestBuy.com expected to take orders on Friday. A hands-on experience with the Pixels also will be available beginning Friday in 10 of Best Buy's retail stores in California, Minnesota, Washington state, Virginia and New York.
Pichai declined to say how many of the lower-priced Chromebooks have been sold, but said the models have ranked as the most popular laptop sold by Amazon.com Inc. for the past four months.
The free online storage is being included with the Pixel to overcome the laptop's lack of a hard drive. Like other Chromebooks, the Pixel functions like a terminal dependent on an Internet connection to get to information and applications stored in large data centers run by Google or other technology providers.
Spurred by the growing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers, Google is betting more people will prefer having data, photos and video stored in remote data centers instead of individual hard drives so the content can be accessed from any Internet-connected device.
Google's expansion into the high-end of the laptop market immerses the Internet search and advertising company more deeply into the business designing and making gadgets.
The company is already a major player in the mobile device market through its Android software. To help promote Android, Google also has designed a line of smartphones and tablets under the Nexus brand. The company also owns smartphone maker Motorola Mobility, which it bought for $12.4 billion last year.
Google's deepening involvement in hardware has ignited speculation that the company might eventually open its own chain of stores to sell its products, just as Apple and Microsoft already do. Pichai didn't address that in a response to a question on that topic at Thursday's event.
Apple and Microsoft already have been hurt by the increased competition from Google. Most smartphones and tablets running on Google's free Android software cost less than Apple's iPhone and iPad, helping to siphon sales away from those devices. Sales of PCs running on Windows also have been sagging during the past year, partly because consumers are relying more on Android devices.
Google says it expects to make a small profit on each Pixel sold, but the company figures to make more money from the online traffic delivered from the machines. Like other Chromebooks, the Pixel is set up to automatically use all of Google's services, including its search engine, Gmail and YouTube video site.
The 6th Annual Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon was held yesterday afternoon drawing out A-list Celebrities and Lauren London was the stand out. The young actress attended the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Lauren who has a baby by rapper Lil Wayne, and has been rumored to be dating Trey Songz is a certified Banger! Someone better put a ring on her soon.
CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's aviation minister says the hiring of President Mohammed Morsi's son to a highly-paid government job was justified, dismissing accusations of nepotism.
Wael el-Maadawi told the state MENA news agency that Omar Morsi went through regular procedures before he was hired by the state holding company for airports and aviation.
An airport official familiar with the appointment said Thursday that Omar, one of the president's five children and a recent university graduate, got the internally-advertised job in a department that usually hires with a starting monthly salary of $5,000.
Such a figure is unheard of for new graduates in Egypt, where the starting salary for a government job can be as low as $75.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaking during a September 2012 media event.
Nathan Mattise / Ars Technica
Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke during the opening keynote of this year's Goldman Sachs Technology Conference on Tuesday, answering questions about Apple's operations and singing the praises of the company's efforts in innovation, acquisitions, retail, and more. Predictably, Cook did not answer any questions related to the future product pipeline at Apple. But he did discuss Apple's philosophies about designing and selling products and shared how the company thinks of itself as it faces increasing competition.
Many of us who listen to Apple's quarterly earnings calls have heard some of these points before, so the talk may not seem like anything new. But Cook went out of his way on Tuesday to communicate his own enthusiasm for the company and where Apple is going under his direction, often with more detail than we're used to hearing from the fiscal calls. Here are some choice quotes from the Goldman Sachs keynote, straight from Tim Cook's mouth:
On why Apple doesn?t play the spec game in its products
Cook was asked what Apple thinks about pundits who say the company needs to release a larger-screened iPhone or tablets with even higher processing capabilities.
"In the PC industry over the years, the way that companies competed were in two things: specs and price. People would say, 'I've got the largest drive,' or 'I've got the most megapixels.' The truth is that customers want a great experience and quality?they want that 'a-ha' moment," Cook said.?"These [specifications] are things that technology companies invent because they can't have a great experience, so they talk about the specs of something. [?] The customer experience is always broader than that which can be defined by a simple number."
That said, Cook emphasized that when the company trash talks an element of the competition, it isn't usually saying it will never do something like that. "The only thing we'll never do is make a crappy product," Cook said. "We're gonna make a great product. That's the only religion we have: we must do something great. Something bold. Something ambitious. We sweat the details on those and hopefully we've proven over the years that this is something we can do."
On Apple's so-called ?depression-era mentality? with its cash balance
"Apple doesn't have a depression-era mentality. Apple makes bold and ambitious bets on products and we're conservative financially," Cook said. "We're investing in retail stores, distribution, product innovation, R&D, new products, the supply chain, acquiring some companies. I don't know how a company with a depression-era mindset would have done all those things."
On Apple's acquisition strategy
"If you look in the last three years, we've averaged about an acquisition every other month. The kind of companies we've purchased have been the companies where they have really smart people and/or IP," Cook said. He went on to say Apple has looked at larger companies for acquisitions, but they "didn't pass our test" when it comes to the talent or IP that Apple would want control of. "We don't feel a pressure to just go out and acquire revenue; we want to make great products. [?] The cash is not burning a hole in our pockets."
On Apple?s ?culture of innovation?
"Apple is in a very unique and unrivaled position, because Apple has skills in software, in hardware, and in services. The reality is that the model that grew the PC industry, where companies specialized in a thing and then somebody did some integration work at the end?that model's not working for what consumers want today," he said. "Apple has the ability in all 3 of these spheres to innovate like crazy and really cause magic."
Cook named Apple designer Jony Ive as being the "best designer in the world," and gave credit to Bob Mansfield, Jeff Williams, Phil Schiller, Dan Riccio, and Craig Federighi. "I see all these guys who are so focused on product and are at the very top of their game, and it's a privilege to be a part of that. I look at Apple and see culture deeply embedded, I see an incredible blend of skills that's unprecedented and unrivaled to deliver these magical moments."
On Apple reaching its ?natural limit on market share gains? in smartphones
"We don't really think of the world as having 'limits,'" Cook said before expounding on Apple's momentum in selling the iPhone. He pointed out that of the 500 million iPhones Apple sold between 2007 and the end of 2012, more than 40 percent were sold last year alone. "There's incredible momentum there? In addition, it's fueling incredible economic gain for developers."
He went on to say that the app economy in the PC market isn't flowing like it used to?"I challenge you to find any [developers] except the usual suspects now"?saying software innovation has now moved to the tablet and smartphone space. As a result, Apple continues to see the mobile space as having incredible potential.
"iPhone is really only available to about 50 percent of the subscribers in the world, so there's tons of opportunity to continue expanding that as well. Frankly speaking, I see a wide open field. That's how I see it. I don't think about that word?'limits.'"
On Apple targeting emerging markets with more affordable products
Cook answered a question on this topic by touting the company line: "Our north star is great products. Everyone comes to work every day and leaves work thinking about that, front and center." Despite this, he said Apple is indeed making moves to make products more affordable, pointing to price reductions in the iPhone 4 and 4S worldwide as the iPhone 5 was released last year.
"if you look at Apple's history, if you take something like the iPod?when we came out with iPod it was $399. Where's the iPod today? You can buy an iPod shuffle for $49. Instead of saying, 'how can we cheapen this iPod to get it lower,' we said 'how can we do a great product?' And we were able to do that at a cost that sells at a very low price," Cook said.
"For years, people said, 'Why don't you have a Mac that's less than $500 or $1,000?' Many people asked that, and frankly, we worked on this," Cook admitted. "But we concluded that we couldn't do a great product, so we didn't. But what did we do? We invented the iPad, and now all of a sudden we have an incredible experience. [?] Sometimes you can take the issue and solve it in different ways."
On self-cannibalization
Cook reiterated his recent comments on Apple's first quarter earnings call when asked about product cannibalization within Apple. "When we came out with the iPad, what did people worry about? They thought, 'Oh my god, you're going to kill the Mac. What have you done?' The cannibalization question raises its head a lot. The truth is that we don't really think about it that much," Cook said. "Our basic belief is that if we don't cannibalize, someone else will."
Cook argued that the PC market is so large that there's much more to cannibalize there than the Mac or even the iPad (which could be cut into by the sales of the iPhone), so it's not as much of a worry for Apple. Even still, he clearly believes self-cannibalization isn't something to fear. "I think if a company ever begins to use [self] cannibalization as their primary or even a major factor in their decision making of what products to go into, it's the beginning of the end, because there will always be somebody else."
On retail?s contribution to the success of the iPad
"I don't think we would've been nearly as successful with iPad, as an example, if it weren't for our stores," Cook told the audience. "Here's a product coming out and it's different. People's view of a tablet was that it's a heavy thing that the Hertz guy was holding and no one wanted. But our store is a place to go and explore and discover and try it out and see what it will do. I don't think the launch would've been nearly as successful without stores that welcome people in at 10 million [visitors] per week and show this."
On what Cook is most proud of after his first full year as CEO of Apple
"I'm most proud of our employees. I have the privilege every day of working with people who want to make the very best products in the world," Cook said. "They're there to do not only great work, but the best work in their lives. And they're there to do it without limits. They're the most creative people on earth, and it's a privilege of a lifetime for me to be at Apple at this point in time and work with all these people."
But that's not all?Cook is also unsurprisingly proud of Apple's products, declaring the iPhone and iPad the best smartphone and tablet in the market, respectively. And when it comes to Apple's efforts to improve factory conditions in China, or just the environment in general, Cook is happy to sing the company's praises.
"I'm incredibly bullish about the future and what Apple can do, and [about] more contributions it can make to the world. I'm very proud that we're out front and that we have a spine on supplier responsibility," he said. "We don't care if people are lobbing grenades from the sidelines. We're going to do what's right and just."
"I'm proud we have the largest private solar farm ever, anywhere, and we can run our data centers on 100 percent renewable energy," Cook added. "I don't mean to gush but that's how I feel."
JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops detained an Associated Press photographer during West Bank unrest over the weekend, handcuffing him and forcing him to sit on the ground without food or water or access to a bathroom for roughly five hours, according to eyewitness accounts.
The photographer, Nasser Shiyoukhi, was released without charge after Saturday's incident.
Footage of the incident shows Shiyoukhi, 46, snapping pictures a short distance from Israeli security forces who were scuffling with a protester in the town of Yatta. Protesters had erected a small tent camp on what they say is Palestinian land occupied by Israelis.
An Israeli security man is seen grabbing Shiyoukhi from behind. When he tried to free himself, other Israeli forces also grabbed Shiyoukhi and led him away. In the footage, other Palestinian journalists, including a TV cameraman and reporter holding a microphone, continued to cover the incident without being detained.
"The minute we took pictures, they just grabbed me," Shiyoukhi said. "They didn't say it was a closed area."
Israeli Defense Forces said, however, that the military did declare the area a closed military zone because security forces were seeking to prevent the building of an illegal settlement. "Similar to other such cases, the press corps was asked to maintain a certain perimeter," the military said in an emailed statement. "Unlike many of the other reporters, the photographer in question chose to ignore security personnel instructions, impeding their (the security forces) ability to carry out their mission. As a result, he was apprehended and investigated nearby."
Another journalist said the soldiers, when asked for the standard document declaring an area closed, did not produce it.
John Daniszewski, the AP's vice president and senior managing editor for international news, called on the government to investigate the incident.
"We see no reason to forcibly detain a properly accredited news photographer doing his work," Daniszewski said in a statement. "Further, we cannot excuse the harsh treatment after his detention. We call on the government to investigate thoroughly and take appropriate steps so that such incidents will not be repeated in the future."
The Foreign Press Association, which represents international news organizations covering Israel and the Palestinian territories, condemned the violence and called for an investigation.
"This is the latest in a string of incidents involving heavy-handed tactics against journalists who were merely trying to do their jobs," the association said in a statement.
The statement said there have been 10 times in the past year where Israeli forces allegedly used unnecessary force against journalists. The association said just two of the cases were being formally investigated, but the probes remain open.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ? A year after Whitney Houston's death, music executive Clive Davis remembered her in words ? and video.
Houston died last year just hours before the annual Clive Davis Gala was to start. On Saturday, Davis said his world continues "to be so shattered by her passing" and that Houston's death still feels "unreal."
Then Davis played what he called a rare performance of Houston belting "All The Man That I Need" at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Houston's brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Pat Houston, attended the gala, where Davis thanked them "for being here tonight." He also called Houston the "greatest, greatest singer of our lifetime."
Dutch electronic artist Afrojack kicked off the performances with a DJ set, but it was Gladys Knight who got the crowd up out of their seats with a closing number.
Her voice ? still crisp and loud ? felt at ease on "Neither One of Us" and "Midnight Train to Georgia."
"You've been waiting here for a while and we all have to go, and I'm catching a train," the 68-year-old singer said before going into her popular hit that had Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire dancing around his chair.
And Knight wasn't the only performer to leave an impression during Davis' nearly four-hour event.
Scottish singer Emeli Sande was well-received when hitting the right notes on "Heaven." Miguel, who is nominated for five awards at Sunday's Grammys, was energetic when he performed his R&B hit "Adorn." He danced in the middle of the tables in the audience, and at one point sang to Taylor Hawkins' wife Alison ? as the Foo Fighters drummer watched on.
Usher, too, brought R&B flavor to the stage when he performed in honor of music executive Antonio "L.A." Reid, who received the president's merit award. Usher sang some of "Burn" and "Climax," which featured the acoustic guitar.
The event was full of A-listers there to enjoy the live music: Johnny Depp, Quincy Jones, Sting, Joni Mitchell, Diddy, Miley Cyrus, Frank Ocean, Dave Grohl, Magic Johnson and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick were in the crowd.
"I've read the papers and I know who you've been spending time with," Davis said when announcing that Katy Perry and John Mayer were in the audience.
Usher also drew laughs when he told an old story about Reid signing the then teen to his record label.
"If I never can thank you for anything, it would be for not letting me go with the name Cha Cha," Usher said of his previous stage name.
The pre-Grammy event also featured performances by Patti Smith, best new artist nominees the Lumineers and Jennifer Hudson, who paid tribute to Knight and performed with the singing veteran.
Ne-Yo, Carly Rae Jepsen, Brandy, David Guetta, Babyface, Wiz Khalifa, Jordin Sparks, Tyra Banks and dozens of others attended Davis' gala.
___
Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains sit idle early Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 in Boston due to high winds and the nearly two-feet of snow that fell in the area overnight. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains sit idle early Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 in Boston due to high winds and the nearly two-feet of snow that fell in the area overnight. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Two travelers walk to catch the last train into Boston from the Andover, Mass. train station as snow falls on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. A major winter storm is barreling into the U.S. Northeast with up to 2 feet of snow expected for a Boston-area region that has seen mostly bare ground this winter. The MBTA will suspend all transit service in the late afternoon due to the storm. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Grounds crews pass a plane as they clear the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, in New York. A blizzard of potentially historic proportions threatens to strike the Northeast with 1 to 2 feet of snow forecast along the densely populated Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Boston and beyond. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
NEW YORK (AP) ? New York's airports dug out from under nearly a foot of snow and allowed some flights to land Saturday morning, while Boston's Logan Airport remained closed.
The first inbound passenger flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport landed at 9:30 a.m., according to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which operates the region's three major airports.
Meanwhile, Amtrak said the New York-Boston train route would remain closed Saturday as crews cleared tracks of snow and fallen trees. Trains were running south from New York, and between New York and Albany.
Airports in the Northeast shut down Friday afternoon as a snowstorm of potentially historic proportions blew in. The storm brought more than 2 feet of snow in some parts of New England and left more than 650,000 homes and businesses without power.
These days, airlines try to get ahead of big storms by canceling flights in advance. They want to avoid having crews and planes stuck in one area of the country. They also face fines for leaving passengers stuck on a plane for more than three hours under a rule that went into effect in 2010.
Logan Airport said it expects to open one runway by 11 p.m. Across the region, flights were expected to be back on close to normal schedules on Sunday.
Flight-tracking website FlightAware said airlines have canceled 5,368 flights because of the storm. Airlines have waived the usual fees to change tickets for flights in the affected areas.
Hardest hit was United Airlines. It has cancelled 710 Friday, Saturday and Sunday flights, according to FlightAware.
The storm disrupted thousands of travelers.
Denny Lindersson, a tourist from Sweden, was making his way across New York City with his family on Saturday morning after spending the night at a hotel close to Kennedy Airport. Their Saturday morning flight to the Cayman Islands was cancelled. JetBlue Airways re-booked them for a Monday flight, but rather than waiting for that, the Linderssons bought new tickets on a flight from Newark Airport in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon.
"JetBlue didn't pay for anything," he grumbled, also noting that Sweden's biggest airport would not have shut down because of 11 inches of snow.
Several professional and college sports teams were stranded by the storm. The NBA's New York Knicks were stuck in Minnesota after playing the Timberwolves on Friday night. The San Antonio Spurs were staying overnight in Detroit, awaiting word on when they might be able to fly to New York for their game Sunday night with the Brooklyn Nets.
Providing both satisfying and challenging work along with a highly professional and friendly work atmosphere, Sedgwick has a strong commitment to its colleagues and its clients. If you are seeking place where you can do great things for those whose lives you touch while maximizing your own career possibilities, Sedgwick is the place for you. As the largest and most innovative Third Party Administrator in the claims industry and the first and only TPA to receive both recognition as the Best TPA in America and the coveted Employer of Choice designation, we invite you to come be a part of our team and, ?Claim Your Future.?
PRIMARY PURPOSE : To analyze complex or technically difficult claims to determine benefits due; to work with high exposure claims involving litigation and rehabilitation; to ensure ongoing adjudication of claims within service expectations, industry best practices and specific client service requirements; and to identify subrogation of claims and negotiate settlements.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS and RESPONSIBILITIES
Analyzes and manages complex or technically difficult claims by investigating and gathering information to determine the exposure on the claim; manages claims through well-developed action plans to an appropriate and timely resolution.
Assesses liability and resolves claims within evaluation.
Negotiates settlement of claims within designated authority.
Calculates and assigns timely and appropriate reserves to claims; manages reserve adequacy throughout the life of the claim.
Calculates and pays benefits due; approves and makes timely claim payments and adjustments; and settles clams within designated authority level.
Prepares necessary state fillings within statutory limits.
Manages the litigation process; ensures timely and cost effective claims resolution.
Coordinates vendor referrals for additional investigation and/or litigation management.
Uses appropriate cost containment techniques including strategic vendor partnerships to reduce overall cost of claims for our clients.
Manages claim recoveries, including be not limited to subrogation, Second Injury Fund excess recoveries and Social Security and Medicare offsets.
Reports claims to the excess carrier; responds to requests of directions in a professional and timely manner.
Communicates claim activity and processing with the claimant and the client; maintains professional client relationships.
Ensures claim files are properly documented and claims coding is correct.
Refers cases as appropriate to supervisor and management.
ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS and RESPONSIBILITIES
Performs other duties as assigned.
Supports the organization's quality program(s).
Travels as required.
QUALIFICATION
Education & Licensing Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university preferred. Professional certification as applicable to line of business preferred. Licenses as required.
Experience Four (4) years of claims management experience or successful completion of Claims Examiner II training required. BS/BA degree may substitute for two (2) years of required experience.
Skills & Knowledge
In-depth knowledge of appropriate insurance principles and laws for line of business handled, recoveries offsets and deductions, claim and disability duration, cost containment principles including medical management practices and Social Security and Medicare application procedure as applicable to line of business
Excellent oral and written communication, including presentation skills
PC literate, including Microsoft Office products
Analytical and interpretive skills
Strong organizational skills
Good interpersonal skills
Excellent negotiation skills
Ability to work in a team environment
Ability to meet or exceed Service Expectations
WORK ENVIRONMENT When applicable and appropriate, consideration will be given to reasonable accommodations.
Mental: Clear and conceptual thinking ability; excellent judgment, troubleshooting, problem solving, analysis, and discretion; ability to handle work-related stress; ability to handle multiple priorities simultaneously; and ability to meet deadlines
Physical: Computer keyboarding, travel as required
Auditory/Visual: Hearing, vision and talking
NOTE : Credit security clearance, confirmed via a background credit check, is required for this position.
The statements contained in this document are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by a colleague assigned to this description. They are not intended to constitute a comprehensive list of functions, duties, or local variances. Management retains the discretion to add or to change the duties of the position at any time.
Chino, CA (02.08.2013) -RetroSound? has announced they are now shipping their Model Two radio, the most technologically advanced stereo ever manufactured for the classic automotive market. The Model Two is the only Made-for-iPod? radio specifically for vintage vehicles ? compatible with iPod/ iPhone?. The Model Two is also the only radio in its class to feature built-in Bluetooth? hands-free technology. Using the supplied external microphone, drivers of classic vehicles can now enjoy the safety and convenience of hands-free phone operation. This new radio also features wireless Bluetooth? audio streaming from any iPhone? or Android?-based phone - any application on your phone can be streamed to the Model Two wirelessly, including satellite radio, Pandora? and Slacker Radio.
The Model Two makes use of the latest audio technology, including front and rear RCA pre-outs, subwoofer output and a built-in 25 watts x 4 channel RMS power amplifier. A new user-programmable 32,000-color LCD back-lit display allows the consumer to match the radio's illumination to their vehicle's interior. Two standard auxiliary inputs and two USB inputs for iPod? or USB flash drives are included.
The Model Two uses RetroSound's patented InfiniMount adjustable shaft and bracket system to allow installation into virtually any classic vehicle without dash modification. The radio features authentic push button styling, and with RetroSound's wide assortment of mounting bezels, faceplates and knobs the Model Two closely mimics the look of the original factory radio. Suggested retail price for the Model Two is $399.95.
For more information visit RetroSound's website at www.retrosoundusa.com.
At least 35 small pyramids, along with graves, have been discovered clustered closely together at a site called Sedeinga in Sudan.
Discovered between 2009 and 2012, researchers are surprised at how densely the pyramids are concentrated. In one field season alone, in 2011, the research team discovered 13 pyramids packed into roughly 5,381 square feet (500 square meters), or slightly larger than an NBA basketball court.
They date back around 2,000 years to a time when a kingdom named Kush flourished in Sudan. Kush shared a border with Egypt and, later on, the Roman Empire. The desire of the kingdom's people to build pyramids was apparently influenced by Egyptian funerary architecture.
At Sedeinga, researchers say, pyramid building continued for centuries. "The density of the pyramids is huge," said researcher Vincent Francigny, a research associate with the American Museum of Natural History in New York, in an interview with LiveScience. "Because it lasted for hundreds of years they built more, more, more pyramids and after centuries they started to fill all the spaces that were still available in the necropolis." [ See Photos of the Newly Discovered Pyramids ]
The biggest pyramids they discovered are about 22 feet (7 meters) wide at their bases; the smallest example, likely constructed for the burial of a child, was only 30 inches (750 millimeters) long. The tops of the pyramids are not attached, as the passage of time and the presence of a camel caravan route resulted in damage to the monuments. Francigny said that the tops would have been decorated with a capstone depicting either a bird or a lotus flower on top of a solar orb.
The building continued until, eventually, they ran out of room to build pyramids. "They reached a point where it was so filled with people and graves that they had to reuse the oldest one," Francigny said.
Francigny is excavation director of the French Archaeological Mission to Sedeinga, the team that made the discoveries. He and team leader Claude Rilly published an article detailing the results of their 2011 field season in the most recent edition of the journal Sudan and Nubia.
The inner circle
Among the discoveries were several pyramids designed with an inner cupola (circular structure) connected to the pyramid corners through cross-braces. Rilly and Francigny noted in their paper that the pyramid design resembles a "French Formal Garden."
Only one pyramid, outside of Sedeinga, is known to have been constructed this way, and it's a mystery why the people of Sedeinga were fond of the design. It "did not add either to the solidity or to the external aspect (appearance) of the monument," Rilly and Francigny wrote.
A discovery made in 2012 may provide a clue, Francigny said in the interview. "What we found this year is very intriguing," he said. "A grave of a child and it was covered by only a kind of circle, almost complete, of brick." It's possible, he said, that when pyramid building came into fashion at Sedeinga it was combined with a local circle-building tradition called tumulus construction, resulting in pyramids with circles within them.
An offering for grandma?
The graves beside the pyramids had largely been plundered, possibly in antiquity, by the time archaeologists excavated them. Researchers did find skeletal remains and, in some cases, artifacts.??
One of the most interesting new finds was an offering table found by the remains of a pyramid. It appears to depict the goddess Isis and the jackal-headed god Anubis and includes an inscription, written in Meroitic language, dedicated to a woman named "Aba-la," which may be a nickname for "grandmother," Rilly wrote.
Science news from NBCNews.com
New tech said to clean up the water used in?fracking
A new water desalination technology may prove a savior for the oil and natural gas industries confronting growing concerns about the wastewater that flows to the surface in the months and years after a well is fracked.
How moles smell the world in stereo
Slippers of Napoleon's sister found
King Richard III spoke with a lilt, study suggests
It reads in translation:
Oh Isis! Oh Osiris!
It is Aba-la.
Make her drink plentiful water;
Make her eat plentiful bread;
Make her be served a good meal.
The offering table with inscription was a final send-off for a woman, possibly a grandmother, given a pyramid burial nearly 2,000 years ago.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook? and Google+.
Jan. 31, 2013 ? New design guidelines from researchers in Singapore simplify the development of targeted therapies for muscular dystrophy and other diseases.
The dystrophin protein offers critical support to muscle fibers. Mutations affecting dystrophin's expression cause the muscle-wasting disease muscular dystrophy. In Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), these mutations take the form of small sequence changes that make much of the dystrophin gene (DMD) untranslatable, yielding nonfunctional protein or no protein at all.
Therapies based on a strategy known as 'exon skipping' could undo the damage from these mutations. Development of such treatments is set to accelerate, thanks to research by a team led by Keng Boon Wee of the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing and Zacharias Pramono of the National Skin Centre in Singapore.
Proteins are translated from messenger RNA transcripts of genes; however, only certain RNA regions -- known as exons -- actually encode protein, and these are enzymatically spliced together prior to translation. Several clinical studies have demonstrated that small 'antisense oligonucleotide' (AON) molecules that bind mutated DMD exons can induce elimination of those defective exons during splicing, yielding shorter but largely functional versions of dystrophin. "We are cautiously optimistic that AON-induced exon skipping could be the first effective therapy for DMD patients," says Wee.
Unfortunately, DMD arises from many different mutations, and targeted AON design remains a time-consuming, trial-and-error process. To address this challenge, Wee and Pramono sought to define the characteristics of AONs that efficiently promote exon-skipping. They used computational analysis to zoom in on exonic sequences that coordinate splicing. They also identified regions of suitable length within dystrophin RNA transcripts that span these sequences and would be accessible to AONs in living cells.
The researchers thus derived a set of guidelines enabling them to effectively design AONs that targeted nine different exons affected in DMD patients. For each exon, at least one AON proved capable of boosting dystrophin expression to clinically relevant thresholds in cultured muscle cells (see image). "Our proposed set of factors resulted in a reasonable success rate of designing efficient AONs -- 61% versus 38% using semi-empirical methods," says Wee. Clinical studies have already demonstrated the promise of efficient exon skipping in treating DMD patients.
Wee notes that other diseases arising from abnormal RNA processing could also benefit from this approach. However, his team is also exploring this method as a general strategy to abort production of disease-causing proteins in cancer and other conditions. "In contrast to small-molecule inhibitor drugs that can target only about 10% of the human genome, this approach could downregulate most human genes," Wee says.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Pramono, Z. A. D., Wee, K. B., Wang, J. L., Chen, Y. J., Xiong, Q. B. et al. A prospective study in the rational design of efficient antisense oligonucleotides for exon skipping in the DMD gene. Human Gene Therapy, 2012 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2011.205
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Crop-friendly moisture is expected to arrive in the drought-stricken U.S. Plains and northwest Midwest later this week, an agricultural meteorologist said on Monday.
However, much more rainfall and/or snow cover will be needed to provide significant relief from the worst drought in the United States crop belt in more than 50 years, meteorologists and crop experts have said.
"By the weekend there is some fairly meaningful precipitation for the dry western areas of the Plains hard red winter wheat area and heavier precipitation in the eastern areas," said John Dee, a meteorologist for Global Weather Monitoring.
Dee said the driest areas of the Plains could receive from 0.20 to 0.60 inch of moisture and the eastern Plains could receive from 0.50 inch to 1.00 inch. "There also will be up to an inch in the dry area of the northwest Midwest," he said.
Without rain or heavy snow before spring, millions of acres of wheat could be ruined, while corn and soybean seedings could be threatened in the western Midwest, according to meteorologists and other crop experts.
The unrelenting drought gripping key farming states in the U.S. Plains shows no signs of abating, and it will take a deluge of snow or rain to restore critical moisture to farmland before spring planting of new crops, a climate expert said on Thursday.
"It's not a pretty picture," said climatologist Mark Svoboda of the University of Nebraska's Drought Mitigation Center.
Precipitation in the Plains region has been 3 inches to 6 inches shy of normal levels since October, and some areas are nearly 16 inches short of much-needed moisture over the last nine months, Svoboda said.
The drought that last year ranked as the worst in roughly 50 years is still entrenched in the nation's mid-section. This month was considered the worst January in terms of drought over the 13 years that a consortium of federal and state climatology experts have been monitoring drought levels and issuing regular "Drought Monitor" reports, Svoboda added.
"The January number is the highest amount of coverage for the U.S. since we've been doing this," he said.
Thursday's Drought Monitor report showed severe drought still gripping 87.25 percent of the High Plains, unchanged from the prior week. Fully 100 percent of the land area in Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma remained engulfed in severe drought or worse, according to the Drought Monitor.
The Plains states are key crop production areas, particularly for hard red winter wheat, an important bread-making crop. And they are critical areas for cattle and other livestock production.
Overall, 57.68 percent of the contiguous United States was in at least "moderate" drought as of January 29, a slightly worse situation than the previous week's tally of 57.64 percent. Exceptional drought expanded slightly to 6.37 percent, up from 6.36 percent of the country.
(Additional reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
Several weeks ago we all celebrate the arrive of the first baby in our group at Pam?s shower! ?I love how all the boys are helping get the house ready & doing some last minute decorating.
?It?s not a baby shower without an adorable diaper cake and of course tons of delicious foods & beautiful flowers.
?How cool is it that she gets to be pregnant with her best friend? ?They are both expecting beautiful baby girls about a month apart.
Lots of friends & even lots of family! ?Cute decorations, silly games, and tons of?adorable?baby clothes.
Everybody is so excited for Pam & Mark, we know they are going to be wonderful parents.
?We all decorated onesies for the baby & got pretty creative and funny with our paints! ?We?re doing it all again next month for Jessica?s shower.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Got to go out yesterday with the lovely couple & take some gorgeous maternity photos of Ms. Pam!
