2011's biggest pop culture moments (The Week)

New York ? A boy wizard says goodbye. His Royal Highness says "I do." And a tiger-blood-addled actor says "I'm winning"

What was everyone talking about at the water cooler in 2011? From Will and Kate's all-consuming Royal Wedding to Kim Kardashian's equally all-consuming divorce, here's a look at the biggest pop culture moments of 2011:

1.?Charlie Sheen's meltdown
Perhaps no star had a wilder roller coaster ride in 2011 than Charlie Sheen. First there was the leaked news in January of a Vegas bender with a trio of "goddesses." That escalated into a bizarre series of rants and petulant behavior. Soon, Sheen was fired from the CBS hit comedy Two and a Half Men, and later?replaced by Ashton Kutcher. After coining a few catchphrases (like "tiger blood" and "winning"), embarking on an ill-received comedy tour, and setting Twitter records, the star booked a new sitcom, Anger Management, which will air on FX beginning in 2012.

SEE MORE: The 8 wackiest inventions of 2011

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2. The rise of Adele
"Rolling in the Deep," the booming first single off British chanteuse Adele's sophomore album 21, was inescapable following its release in February. Then, following a stripped-down, show-stopping performance during the MTV Video Music Awards, Adele's follow-up track, "Someone Like You," became equally ubiquitous. 21 has sold more than?12 million copies worldwide, and Adele reaped an impressive six Grammy nominations.

3. The Oscar host fiasco
When Oscar producers selected James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host the 2011 Academy Awards, they were unabashed about their desire to court a more youthful audience, proudly proclaiming Franco and Hathaway as the "next generation of Hollywood icons." Boy, was that a misstep. Franco's bored, deer-in-the-headlights routine at the late February show led to speculation that he was high, while Hathaway's manic attempts to overcompensate for Franco's lethargy became exceedingly grating. When all was said and done, critics called the telecast the "worst Oscars ever."

SEE MORE: The 7 biggest political downfalls of 2011

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4. The Royal Wedding
An estimated two billion people tuned in to watch the televised wedding of Britain's Prince William to Kate Middleton. But the relentless media coverage of the "greatest and grandest" royal affair since Charles and Diana's wedding didn't begin and end on April 22, the day of the ceremony. In breathless around-the-clock coverage, frenzied fans and critics have scrutinized every aspect of the young royals, including the?royal portrait,?Kate's dress, and a?Lifetime film about the couple.

5. The success of Bridesmaids
The raunchy and radical comedy starring Kristen Wiig as a neurotic maid of honor kicked off the summer movie season with an enormous box office haul in May. Many critics heralded its surprise success as a turning point for funny women. The R-rated ensemble comedy ? made up almost entirely of females ? laughed up nearly $170 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film that "frat pack" frontman Judd Apatow has ever produced. Its success triggered the "Bridemaids effect": The green-lighting of more female-driven comedies both for film and TV, finally putting to bed the excruciating debate over whether women can be funny.?

SEE MORE: The 4 biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2011

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6. Oprah's final episode
After 25 years, countless nuggets of wit and wisdom, tens of millions of dollars worth of "Oprah's Favorite Things" giveaways, and a star-studded farewell concert, The Oprah Winfrey Show ended on May 25. The "brave" final show starred no one but the Queen of Talk herself, as she thanked her viewers for their support and extolled a few final life lessons. Winfrey signed off by saying, "I won't say goodbye. I'll just say until we meet again." Oprah is no doubt hoping that her legion of fans will follow her to the floundering Oprah Winfrey Network, the ratings-challenged cable channel she launched last January.

7. Harry Potter ends
After selling 450 million books, raking in $6 billion at the box office, and becoming an inextricable part of an entire generation's childhood, one of most popular franchises in history came to an end when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 hit theaters in July. The film earned rave reviews from critics, adding another $1.3 billion to the series' box office total. But with a revolutionary new?website, amusement parks, and countless fond memories, it's likely that the Boy Who Lived won't die out soon.

SEE MORE: The 5 best fiction books of 2011

?

8.?Friday Night Lights says goodbye
For the extraordinarily passionate fans of Friday Night Lights, who championed the quiet NBC drama through its five critically-acclaimed, ratings-challenged seasons, the series finale was one of the year's ultimate Kleenex moments. The final episode of the show about family, faith, and high school football in a small Texas town was praised by critics as a "perfect" send-off.?Even after FNL's conclusion, fans had reason to cheer, as Kyle Chandler bagged a surprise?Best Actor win at the Emmys and talk of a movie based on the series (which was itself based on a movie and book) surfaced.

9. Beyonce's baby announcement
Babyonce? When Beyonce broke the news during August's MTV Video Music Awards?that she and husband Jay-Z were expecting a child, it didn't just dominate headlines, it broke records. The singer sparked a Twitter frenzy when she concluded her performance of "Love on Top" by ceremoniously dropping her microphone and cradling her very-visible baby bump. With 8,688 tweets per second devoted to the baby news, the announcement set a new Twitter record ? one that was broken when Steve Jobs died.?

SEE MORE: The 'worst Congress ever'? 8 low points of 2011

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10. Ladies at the Emmys
If there was any doubt that 2011 was the year of women in comedy, it disappeared at the Emmy Awards. When Amy Poehler's name was read as the first nominee for Best Actress in a Comedy, she disobediently leapt to her feet and rushed the stage, and was soon joined by each of her fellow nominees in an orchestrated bit that turned into a mock Miss Comedy 2011 beauty pageant. The endearing, hilarious, and emotional bit quickly went viral, becoming the night's most memorable moment.

11. Kim Kardashian's divorce
Just 72 days after reality TV star Kim Kardashian wed NBA player Kris Humphries in a lavish $10 million ceremony billed as the "wedding of the century," Kardashian filed for divorce. The quickie end to the union ? the couple earned a reported $250,000 per day during their marriage from sponsorships and publicity deals ? led to accusations that the whole relationship was staged for Kardashian's reality TV show. Humphries fueled those rumors himself after filing for an annulment on grounds of fraud.

SEE MORE: Health: 7 things we were warned to avoid in 2011

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111229/cm_theweek/222207

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Developers Outsmart Apple Get "Lock Screen Weather App" Into App Store

Published on 12-30-2011 12:12 AM

Displaying information on iOS?s lock screen is old hat for jailbreakers, but Apple appears to have approved an App that brings weather information to the lock screen of non-jailbroken devices.

Apple normally doesn?t allow applications, even their own, to display information on the lock screen. Apple?s own weather widget in the notification center can?t even display information on the lock screen. How ?Lock Screen Weather App? pulled a fast one on Apple is actually quite simple.

The app actually plays a silent song through the built-in iPod app and then displays the album art in the lock screen. However, the album displays the weather forecast based on your location and comes complete with a five-day outlook. The workaround manages to side step Apple?s rules regarding the lock screen and how apps interact with other programs.

Sadly if the this app is activated no other audio can be output through the device?s headphone jack. So users must weigh their need to know the weather against their love of music as both aren?t mutually inclusive. Also, because the music player is constantly "playing", even if that playing is inaudible, battery life might take a hit.

Lock Screen Weather App is currently available in the App Store for $.99, but knowing Apple they could rewrite the rules and pull the app before the weekend is out. Then again, Apple did approve an app titled ?Lock Screen Weather App.?

Thanks to Dennis for the tip!
Source: iDownloadBlog

Source: http://modmyi.com/content/6432-developers-outsmart-apple-get-lock-screen-weather-app-into-app-store.html

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Google Maps (GOOG) Maybe Facing Stiff Competition in the Near Future

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Source: finance.paidcontent.org --- Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=7043325 for the full story. ...

Source: http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=7043325

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How to set up your new camera (Digital Trends)

Those of you lucky enough to unwrap a new DSLR or ICL camera this holiday season might be feeling a little overwhelmed. Between the included accessories and various instructions for best use that came with the packaging, you might not be sure where to get started. If this is your first foray with a high-end manual digital camera, this guide will help you get your feet wet.

Gear

There are a few things you?ll need to grab if they weren?t included with your gift. Hopefully you?re prepared for this because it might get a little expensive if all you got was the camera body.

• SD cards: You?ll want a couple to get started, and post-holidays you can put those gift cards and clearance sales to use.
• Bag and strap: Securing your camera is a top priority. Since you?re new to this higher-end genre, you might not be prepared for the amount of care you should exercise with these devices. A bag or carrying case of some kind is necessary, preferably with room for additional lenses and a charger. Nearly every kit comes with a strap but if that?s not the case, make sure you get one of these as well. Gone are the days when you can just stuff the thing in your pocket, purse, or backpack.
• Lenses: If you got your camera as a gift, chances are the basic lens kit was included. But if that?s not the case then you obviously need to take care of this before you start shooting. To get started, we suggest picking up a prime and a telephoto lens. This allows you some versatility without sinking too much money right off the bat. Strapped for cash? Grab a pancake lens for the time being.

Now there are a variety of fun camera accessories on the market, and we suggest you start keeping track of them in order for next year?s wish list. But these are some of the basics you?ll need to get set up and on your way to shooting ASAP.

Pushing buttons

It?s time to get acquainted with your camera. If you asked for or bought yourself a high-end manual shooter, you?ve likely had time to at least experiment with shooting in manual, whether via a loaner or a point-and-shoot. But things naturally get more complicated from here. Check out the mode dial and slowly work your way up to the ?M? (full manual) setting.

We?d suggest starting with shutter or aperture priority because you can pretty much surmise what you have control over from the label. After you feel like you have a good feel for adjusting the exposure and depth of field on your own, check out ?P? or program. Like the other two settings, it?s semi-automatic. Here you get to decide the ISO setting, among other things.

Don?t feel like you need to step things up to Manual right away. It?s better to feel entirely comfortable with these introductions than take a frustrating amount of throwaway images immediately. And if these semi-automatic settings are still a little too complicated, put it on full-auto and fiddle with features like white balance and light settings. The best way to improve here: trial and error.

Use raw

A raw image file is to digital cameras what a film negative was to analog cameras. It?s sort of a representative of what the final photo will look like?it?s what will create the image. You?ll have to convert these files on your computer before being able to view them. So why shoot in raw? When you playback these photos on your camera, you get a much more accurate look at the details of the photos. Exposure, saturation, and white balance are much truer, and you can adjust accordingly while shooting rather than have to deal with the inaccuracies in post-production.

Editing

Speaking of post-production, you?re going to need some editing software. If you?re able and willing to shell out for Photoshop, by all means go right ahead. You can also get a 30-day trial, which we suggest doing first.

But if you need something free there are a variety of free photo editors that you should get your hands dirty with before you commit though. Also be sure to troll Web app stores for browser-based versions if you prefer that format. You don?t need to get anything fancy, but there are a few minor tweaks you should at least experiment with now that you?ve upped your equipment.

Choose a platform

Now that you?ve got yourself a fancy new camera, you need to decide where you?re going to show off all your professional-grade photos (and attach copyright to). While we?re not staying that some of them should make it to Facebook, flooding your friends with every single one of your images from shoots isn?t advised.

There are a variety of great photo-sharing platforms that welcome every out of your images, from weird experiments with exposure to mistakes that you want advice on how to improve. Trust us, no one on Facebook or Twitter wants to see five pictures of a bench taken at different aperture for comparison?s sake. For that, we?d advise getting a free membership (of course there are premium options as well) with one of the following.

• 500px: This site has a very simple layout and a strong community. And users don?t skimp on the details of each shot. The site?s layout also makes it great to use as a portfolio.
• Flickr: The most obvious place to store and share your photos is Flickr. You can easily copyright your images and keep the prying eyes of the Internet from taking them over, as well as use the site?s various and active discussion boards to ask for help and shooting advice.
• Behance: Another great option for uploading and sharing your work is Behance, although most who use the site are on the more professional side.
• Snapixel: You get 5GB of storage and there?s no maximum file size. You can share photos from the site with Twitter as well and grab site embed codes.?

Lock it up

The most important thing you can do after getting a new camera is keeping it safe. You likely know this by now, but these things are expensive as well as breakable. If your new gadget came with any insurance policies or warranties, keep those in a safe and memorable place. Like in your wallet? or next to your passport. You can easily spend thousands of dollars repairing or replacing lost or stolen gear, so consider yourself warned.

If you camera didn?t come with any of the above mentioned items, consider taking precautions. CameraTrace is a service from GadgetTrak that makes sure your camera can be found if lost or stolen. Major manufacturers also sell policies for their devices, as do insurance companies. If you want to take matters into your own hands, be sure to keep a copy of you camera?s serial numbers safe.?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

GadgetTrak launches CameraTrace: Photo thieves beware

Kodak sells its sensor business ? what now?

What you need to know about micro four thirds: The cool kids of the camera world

Concept cameras: Digital photography?s craziest pipe dreams

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111227/tc_digitaltrends/howtosetupyournewcamera

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Can foreign tourists help US economy?

LAS VEGAS?? Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over.

The 22-year-old Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle's Space Needle, Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. But she doubts she will return soon.

"It is a little bit of a headache," said Ocampo, a student who waited months to find out whether her tourist visa application would be approved.

More than a decade after the federal government strengthened travel requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, foreign visitors say getting a temporary visa remains a daunting and sometimes insurmountable hurdle.

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The tourism industry hopes to change that with a campaign to persuade Congress to overhaul the State Department's tourist visa application process.

"After 9/11, we were all shaken and there was a real concern for security, and I still think that concern exists," said Jim Evans, a former hotel chain CEO heading a national effort to promote foreign travel to the U.S.

At the same time, he said, the U.S. needs "to be more cognizant of the importance of every single traveler."

Tourism leaders said the decline in foreign visitors over the past decade is costing American businesses and workers $859 billion in untapped revenue and at least half a million potential jobs at a time when the slowly recovering economy needs both.

While the State Department has beefed up tourist services in recent years, reducing wait times significantly for would-be visitors will likely be a challenge as officials try to balance terrorist threats and illegal immigration with tight budgets that limit hiring.

"Security is job one for us," said Edward Ramotowski, managing director of the department's visa services. "The reason we have a visa system is to enforce the immigration laws of the United States."

Anti-immigration proponents argue travel to the U.S. is already too accessible and that allowing more visitors would put the nation at greater risk.

"Everybody would like to find a way to admit as many people as possible to visit here providing that they visit and then go home," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration group based in Washington, D.C.

"A lot of consular officers underestimate how much people want to come and live here," she said.

Nearly 7.6 million nonimmigrant visas were issued in 2001, compared with fewer than 6.5 million in 2010. The number of visa applicants also dropped sharply after 2001. Those combined forces pushed the U.S. share of global travelers down to 12 percent last year, from 17 percent before 2001.

The proposed immigration overhaul has largely been driven by the U.S. Travel Association, the tourism industry's lobbying giant, and has been endorsed by business titans such as the National Retail Federation, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are backing the proposed changes through six bills in the House and Senate.

Geoff Freeman, the travel association's chief operating officer, said the State Department should be required to keep visa interview wait times at a maximum of 10 days.

"Every day a person is waiting for that interview is a day a person cannot be here supporting the American economy," he said.

For most foreigners, taking a last-minute business or leisure trip to New York, Los Angeles, Miami or other U.S. travel hubs would be nearly impossible. The average wait time for a visa interview in Rio de Janeiro, for example, was 87 days, according to the State Department.

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that audits federal programs, concluded that wait times are likely much longer than reported because some department employees artificially reduce the wait times by not scheduling interviews during high-demand periods.

The vast majority of visitors enter through the country's visa waiver program, which allows travelers from 36 nations with good relationships with the U.S. to temporarily visit without a visa. Travel proponents want to add nations whose residents are unlikely to illegally move to the U.S., including Argentina, Brazil, Poland and Taiwan.

Tourists from the rest of the world, including India, China, Mexico and other nations with affluent travelers looking to use their passports, must obtain a nonimmigrant visa. The process can be expensive and time-consuming.

People living far from a visa processing center must arrange travel to the interview location, not knowing whether they will be approved. Roughly 78 percent of all tourist visas were approved so far in 2011.

Tourism proponents want the department to embrace videoconferencing as a way to interview more people quickly. The department has no plans to implement videoconferencing interviews because of safety and technological concerns, Ramotowski said.

In-person interviews weren't the norm before 9/11, when consular officials had the authority to approve travelers based on an application alone. Since then, however, screenings have become more strenuous, with fingerprint checks and facial recognition screening of photographs.

The State Department has made moves to boost its tourist services in recent years, transferring employees from underworked offices to bustling embassies and consular posts. Many visa processing centers are also operating under extended hours.

Other proposed changes include granting more multi-entry visas and charging premium fees to tourists who want a visa right away, similar to the premium passport fee charged to Americans with last-minute passport requests. The tourism industry also wants more visa processing officers and to allow travelers to submit applications in their native language.

"We can't afford to treat them in a way that gives them an impression that maybe they aren't welcome," said Rolf Lundberg, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's top lobbyist.

To help make the U.S. appear more welcoming, Congress approved last year a $200 million annual marketing campaign.

In Las Vegas, where travelers to the Strip have traditionally kept Nevada's economy afloat, tourism and government leaders are desperate to keep businesses open and create jobs in a state with the nation's highest unemployment rate.

"The industries affected by tourism are all behind it," said Republican Rep. Joe Heck of southern Nevada, who has sponsored a bill in the House that would require shorter visa interview delays, among other measures. "We need the jobs."

Ocampo, who spent her vacation shopping at upscale boutiques and visiting family in California, said she would be more eager to come back if she knew her business was wanted.

"Everyone wants to visit the Statue of Liberty and Disneyland," she said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45802686/ns/travel-news/

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Server-side code not called after client-side javascript on Windows 7 machine

Hi - I have an ASP.Net 4.0 solution that runs fine

on a Windows 2008 server. However, I've just been given a new Windows 7 64-bit
machine to use as my development machine and I'm having a problem with one of my
aspx pages. This page has some javascript on it, which runs fine, but then it
gets to the following code:

<script type="text/javascript">

//<![CDATA[var theForm = document.forms['aspnetForm'];

if (!theForm) {   

 theForm = document.aspnetForm;}

function __doPostBack(eventTarget, eventArgument) {   

 if (!theForm.onsubmit || (theForm.onsubmit() != false)) {        

theForm.__EVENTTARGET.value = eventTarget;        

theForm.__EVENTARGUMENT.value = eventArgument;       

 theForm.submit();    

}}//]]></script>

This not code that I've written; it's code that's
generated client-side that I see as I'm debugging my app in Visual Studio 2010
(trying to figure out what the $^#$ is going on). At any rate, once this code
completes, the app does?a post back, but then??does nothing. The debugger should take me to some server-side
code called by the button click that calls the client-side javascript, but it doesn't. It just sits there. The result is that the page doesn't do
what it's supposed to do (no inserts to databases, no success messages, no
nothing).

As I said, this problem is restricted to my W7 64-bit machine;
it runs fine on W2008. Other pages with javascript in the same solution work
fine on my W7 machine. I found a post (http://dopostback.net/index.php/net-...anel-problems/) that
discusses a similar issue within an UpdatePanel, but I'm not using UpdatePanel.
My page does have hidden controls on it, but so do other pages that work just
fine. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

Thanks!

Source: http://forums.asp.net/p/1751556/4741314.aspx/1?Server+side+code+not+called+after+client+side+javascript+on+Windows+7+machine

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Europe debt crisis top story of 2011

• In this July 18, 2011 photo, specialist William Krumm works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stock markets climbed Friday, July 22, 2011, as investors signaled their approval of a massive new bailout plan for Greece and broader measures to tackle the continent's debt problems.

NEW YORK -- Europe took the financial world on a stomach-churning ride in 2011.

The rising threat of default by heavily indebted European countries spread fear across financial markets and weighed on economies worldwide. As the year came to a close, banks and investors nervously watched Europe's political and financial leaders scramble to prevent the 17-nation eurozone from breaking apart.

Several of the other biggest business stories of the year highlighted the global economy's linkages: A British phone-hacking scandal shook the foundations of Rupert Murdoch's U.S.-based media empire; a nuclear disaster in Japan stymied auto plants in the U.S. and beyond; and the price of gasoline surged because of unrest in the Middle East and growing demand in Asia and Latin America.

In the U.S., political squabbling led to the first credit downgrade for government debt, the economy suffered its fourth straight disappointing year and Apple founder Steve Jobs died.

The European financial crisis was chosen as the top business story of the year by business editors at The Associated Press. The sluggish U.S. economy came in second, followed by the death of Jobs.

1 EUROPEAN FINANCIAL CRISIS

The government-debt crunch rattled Europe's financial system and weighed on the global economy. Portugal became the third European country, after Greece and Ireland the year before, to require a bailout as its borrowing costs soared. And investors grew worried that countries with much larger debts, such as Spain and Italy, would also need help.

Financial markets were volatile all year as hopes rose and then were dashed that forceful steps would be taken to prevent the financial crisis from becoming Europe's version of the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, which triggered a global financial panic and deepened the Great Recession.

Banks worried that they or their partners wouldn't be able to cover losses if governments defaulted, so they cut back on lending. European governments, facing ever higher borrowing costs, reined in spending -- a policy response that is expected to stunt much-needed economic growth. Analysts estimate the slowdown in Europe, America's No. 1 trading partner, will cut U.S. economic growth next year.

2 BAD U.S. ECONOMY: YEAR 4

The Great Recession may have ended, but the economic recovery continued to disappoint. For the first six months of the year, the economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.9 percent. Growth improved to a 2 percent rate in the third quarter and a 3 percent growth rate is forecast for the fourth quarter.

Still, 21/2 years after economists say the recession ended, 25 million people remain unemployed or unable to find full-time work. The unemployment rate fell from 9 percent in October to 8.6 percent in November, providing a hopeful sign. Yet the housing market remained burdened by foreclosures and falling prices in many metropolitan areas. How to fix the economy became the top campaign issue for Republican presidential contenders.

3 STEVE JOBS DIES

The college dropout who helped popularize the personal computer and created the iPod, iPhone and iPad, died on Oct. 5. That was two months after Apple Inc., which Jobs started in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil Corp. as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world.

Jobs cultivated a countercultural sensibility and a minimalist design ethic. He rolled out one sensational product after another, even during the recession and as his health was failing. He first helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a necessity of modern life. In recent years, he upended the music business with the iPod and iTunes, transformed the smart phone market with the iPhone and created the tablet market with the iPad.

4 THE U.S. CREDIT DOWNGRADE

The inability of political leaders to come up with a long-term plan to reduce the federal budget deficit led the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's to take away Uncle Sam's sterling AAA credit rating for the first time. The political bickering enraged voters, spooked investors and led to the lowest consumer confidence level of the year. But the nation's long-term borrowing costs fell after the crisis. The reason: U.S. debt still looks safer to investors than almost everything else, especially European debt.

5 RUPERT MURDOCH AND THE HACKING SCANDAL

The man whose worldwide media empire thrives on covering scandal became the center of a dramatic one. A British tabloid newspaper owned by Murdoch's News Corp., which also owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, hacked the phone of a murdered schoolgirl. Murdoch was not charged with a crime, but an investigation by British authorities raised questions about Murdoch's ability to run his worldwide media empire. News Corp. fired several executives and closed the newspaper at the center of the scandal, the News of the World.

6 JAPAN EARTHQUAKE

An earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor, owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co., cut off supplies of crucial Japanese parts and idled factories thousands of miles away. Auto companies, especially Toyota and Honda, were hit hardest. Inventory of certain models, especially hybrids, fell short at dealerships, reducing sales and sending retail prices higher. The worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl led countries around the world to reconsider nuclear power. Germany decided to abandon nuclear by 2022.

7 GASOLINE PRICES HIT ANNUAL RECORD

The retail price of gasoline averaged $3.53 per gallon for the year, eclipsing the 2008 record of $3.24 per gallon. Americans drove less and switched to more fuel- efficient cars, but it wasn't enough to offset the higher prices. A bigger percentage of household income went into the gas tank in 2011 than any year since 1981. Economists say the high prices shaved half a percentage point off U.S. economic growth.

8 SOCIAL MEDIA IPOs TAKE OFF

Shares of the business social networking site LinkedIn more than doubled when it went public in May, recalling the froth of the dot-com boom. Linked- In was followed by large IPOs from online radio company Pandora Media, online discount site Groupon and social gaming site Zynga. But the market is treacherous: shares of Pandora, Groupon and Zynga all traded below their offering prices soon after they were listed. Market anticipation is high for a Facebook IPO in 2012.

9 OCCUPY WALL STREET

On Sept. 17, several hundred protesters gathered at a small plaza about a block from the New York Stock Exchange. They slept in tents, ate donated meals and protested income inequality and the influence of money in politics. The movement inspired protesters around the world who camped in city centers and business hubs to complain about unemployment, CEO pay and a decline in upward social mobility.

10 THE DOWNFALL OF MF GLOBAL AND JON CORZINE

The former governor, senator and co-chairman of Goldman Sachs lost control of a small brokerage firm he agreed to run in 2010. Saddled with huge debt and risky bets on European bonds, MF Global was forced to file for bankruptcy protection on Halloween after trading partners and investors got spooked. It was soon discovered that $1.2 billion in customer money was missing. Corzine told Congress he had no idea where the money went.

Source: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/dec/27/europe-debt-crisis-top-story-of-2011/

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Washington Supreme Court Affirms Class Certification and Post-Accident Diminution in Value Award to Automobile Insureds

On December 22, 2011, in Moeller v. Farmers Ins. Co, of Washington, a 5-3 majority of the Washington Supreme Court affirmed lower court rulings in favor of a plaintiff class of automobile insureds seeking breach of contract damages against their insurer for failure to compensate them for the diminished value of a postaccident, repaired car.

The Supreme Court acknowledged that a majority of other jurisdictions have previously denied coverage for diminished value because an automobile policy's reference to "repair or replace" unambiguously encompasses only a concept of tangible, physical value. But the Court disagreed with this view, emphasizing that Washington law imposes "presumptions in favor of the insurance consumer that are inherent in the rules of construction regarding insurance contracts." The Court explained that, it "must read an insurance contract as an average person would read it" and that, from the point of view of the consumer, "the reasonable expectation is that, following repairs, the insured will be in the same position he or she enjoyed before teh accidentenenjoyed before the accident."???
enjoyed before the accident."???
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? 2002-2011 by Williams Kastner ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Source: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/washington-supreme-court-affirms-class-certification-and-post-accident-diminution-value-awar

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Broncos Fall To Bills: Denver Loses 3 Defensive Backs

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. ? The Denver Broncos' defensive backfield is suddenly banged up after losing three regulars ? including safety Brian Dawkins ? to injuries during a 40-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

Dawkins aggravated a neck injury in the first quarter. It's the same injury that forced the 16-year veteran to sit out a 41-23 loss to New England a week earlier.

Broncos cornerback Quinton Carter did not return because of a hamstring injury, while safety Chris Harris sustained a pinched nerve while tackling quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in the fourth quarter.

Denver coach John Fox had no immediate update on the status of his players. Denver (8-7) is tied with Oakland atop the AFC West and is still in contention to clinch its first playoff berth since 2005.

The Broncos host Kansas City in their season finale next week.

The Bills' injury troubles worsened, particularly along a patchwork offensive line that's already missing its top player, center Eric Wood.

Left tackle Demetrius Bell hurt his knee in the second half and did not return. Kraig Urbik, who was starting at center, did not return after hurting his right knee in the first half.

With Urbik out, Colin Brown took over at center and was inconsistent in snapping the ball in shotgun situations.

The Bills also lost another tight end, reserve Mike Caussin, who hurt his right knee on a kickoff return in the third quarter. Caussin was forced to start Saturday because Scott Chandler was playing on a sore ankle and Lee Smith was placed on injured reserve last week.

Without going into detail, coach Chan Gailey said the prospects didn't look good for any of the three players being healthy enough to play in Buffalo's season finale at New England next week.

The Bills also lost receiver Brad Smith in the second half with a hip flexor. Gailey did not have an update on Smith.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/24/broncos-bills-denver-3-defensive-backs_n_1169107.html

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What are Steve Jobs' most notable failures?

Like The Architect would say, NeXT was quite naturally perfect. It was a work of art. Flawless. Sublime. A triumph only equaled by its monumental failure.

First, some context: back when NeXT was created Jobs went from being the guy from Apple to the guy who got his ass thrown from Apple, after trying to stage a coup BTW.

Now NeXT computers weren't that expensive considering prices of the time and how advanced it was. Problem is it happened right when the PC became a commodity, no longer an expensive tool for companies and white collar workers. Jobs couldn't adapt to that, he started back when a good computer was almost the prize of a car (if not more) and now he became the old guy that still takes the train and wonders why everybody travels by plane now.

Those were the days of outsourcing manufacturing, yet Jobs wasted a ton of money building a state-of-the-art factory. He wouldn't even buy the motherboards, it was all soldered and assembled right there. I guess that's why he became a big supporter of overseas factories, even saying the Segway was doomed to fail because it was made in the US (and he had a point, given his own experience).

Paul's note about the fancy NeXT boxes its funny considering that's the kind of attention to details that people love about Apple now. But packaging wasn't a big deal back in the '80s and 90's, nor was minimalism.?

In fact those were the times of quantity=quality, of "multimedia" devices, consoles with lots of addons, cars with green LCD displays all over the place, all-in-one PCs with TVs built-in, and big remotes full of buttons.?

Yeah, you need training to handle that.

People are used to Apple's compromises today, but back then compromise was the F word: feature bloat was the rule, not the exception and not by any means a mistake. A product was considered subpar if it didn't have at least 3 separate functions, even if it sucked at all 3. The microwave/toaster/coffeemaker? that's from the '90s...

And BTW, mind Jobs used almost all of his own money on NeXT, he paid $100,000 out of his pocket for the logo alone. There were other investors on board but he was the only one that was going to end up broke if NeXT failed.

And it did, at least the original idea: nobody bought a NeXT, not even the cheaper pizzabox model. However he avoided bankruptcy by doing a 180? and embracing one of the other big trends of the '90s: software. He downscaled NeXT to the NeXTSTEP OS, which is ironic considering the original idea for NeXT was a computer and the OS was added by Jobs along development, one of the first mistakes he made since it not only added several millions in costs but it also delayed the launch of the Cube, killing most of the momentum it had.

How it affected Jobs? well, to start nobody cared or knew who he was during the '90s. Gates was famous, nobody outside IT talked about Windows being a copy of the Mac, it was all ancient history. When Jobs came back to Apple in '97 for most of the people out there it was the last gasp of the Cupertino boys. Apple was doomed, and the dude from the square-thingy computer that was used to code DOOM but that nobody actually bought to play that insanely popular game* was not going to be able to save it.

There was no red carpet at Infinite Loop, no hero's return: the only reason why Jobs made it back to Apple its because they were desperate for a new OS after Copland failed. How bad was Jobs' image back then? well to put it into perspective some people were actually disappointed (and still are) that Apple didn't bought Be Inc, using BeOS instead and bringing back Gass? who was doing a good job before Sculley also fired him.

That he managed to climb out of that hole is nothing short of a miracle.

*On defense of gamers, the version for the NeXT cube and station had a sluggish framerate and no sound.

Source: http://www.quora.com/Steve-Jobs/What-are-Steve-Jobs-most-notable-failures/answer/Juan-Videla

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BET: .@50cent as a cancer patient in what ppl r calling the "breakout role" of his career -- All Things Fall Apart #onBETnow! RT if ur watching!

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.@50cent as a cancer patient in what ppl r calling the "breakout role" of his career -- All Things Fall Apart #onBETnow! RT if ur watching! Il y a environ 11 heures via HootSuite Retweeted by 47 people

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College of Charleston beats Coastal Carolina 77-70

College of Charleston Cougars

Matt Sundberg scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half, and the College of Charleston held off Coastal Carolina in the second for a 77-70 win on Thursday night. Sundberg was 5 of 7 from 3-point range in the first half, making all but one of the Cougars' long-range shots in the period.

Charleston (10-2) led 52-40 with 12:22 left, but allowed Coastal Carolina (9-3) to get back in it with a 13-4 run.

The Cougars later led 61-58 before scoring 10 straight to put the Chanticleers away for good, 71-58, with 2:19 remaining.

Andrew Lawrence tallied 18 points and Antwaine Wiggins added 13 for the Cougars.

Sam McLaurin led Coastal Carolina with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Anthony Raffa chipped in 17 points for the Chanticleers, who lost their second straight after a four-game win streak.

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Source: http://www2.counton2.com/news/2011/dec/22/1/college-charleston-beats-coastal-carolina-77-70-ar-2918588/

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Analysis: GOP's struggle on taxes gives Dems hope (AP)

WASHINGTON ? For all his problems with the economy, President Barack Obama is getting unexpected help from a Republican Party that seems incapable of capitalizing on its advantages. Congressional Republicans' fumbling of the payroll tax extension issue is the latest example of party in-fighting and disarray that gives Democrats hope for the 2012 elections. GOP presidential contenders tried to distance themselves from the legislative mess. But they might be tarred nonetheless if swing voters decide the party is either inept at governing or too extreme. The eventual GOP presidential nominee "will be somewhat shackled to the Republican brand," said Democratic strategist Erik Smith, even if it was Republicans in Congress who led the charge in an unpopular fight over the payroll tax. He said GOP House and Senate candidates will face even more problems. The Wall Street Journal editorial page ? an important voice among conservatives ? berated Republican lawmakers for their handling of the payroll tax matter. Obama wanted to add another year to this year's reduction in the tax, which nearly all workers pay toward Social Security. Senate Republicans, after forcing Democrats to swallow several unrelated concessions, joined in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to approve only a two-month tax cut extension, with plans to revisit the issue next year. House Republicans, who generally disliked the payroll tax cut from Louis Vuitton Outlet the start, refused to concur early this week. But House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday bowed to relentless criticism from conservative bloggers and several GOP senators and cleared a path for passing a bill Friday to renew the break for two months while congressional negotiators work on a longer-term measure. If Congress doesn't act in the next 10 days, the payroll tax rate will return to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1, after one year at 4.2 percent. That would cost a family Louis Vuitton making 50,000 about 1,000. Republican congressional leaders' actions "might end up re-electing the president before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest," the Journal's editorial page said Wednesday. Democrats point to episodes like the payroll tax fuss and say congressional Republicans are essentially controlled by tea party activists, whose tax and spending agendas are outside the political mainstream. "Tea Party Republicans blocked a bipartisan bill to extend President Obama's payroll tax cut," the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a fundraising email Tuesday, minutes after a key House vote. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters, "The tea party tail is wagging the elephant." Democratic strategists hope to remind voters of last summer's near-calamity over raising the limit on the federal debt ceiling. Then, as now, Boehner struggled to control his GOP caucus and to calculate which bills can and cannot pass. These Democrats want to paint the Republican Party as an out-of-touch institution that would rather stand for rigidly conservative principles than solve the nation's problems. "I think the tea party-engendered dysfunction has the potential to really get the electorate's attention," said Jared Bernstein, a former Obama administration economist now with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "At this point, the system is crippled by them." All of this, of course, may be wishful thinking by Democrats. Republicans crushed them in the 2010 elections, giving the GOP control of the House and many governorships. Unemployment and other economic indicators bode badly for Obama's re-election hopes, and the payroll tax dust-up may seem a musty memory by next November. One other worry looms. Americans' taxes still might rise by billions of dollars in 2012 if a deal can't be struck on a longer, one-year extension. Economists say that would depress spending and slow job growth, at least somewhat. Even if more voters blame Republicans than Democrats, Obama could end up as a net loser politically, given that the economic climate already is deeply troublesome for him. GOP leaders say income tax cuts do more to stimulate economic growth than payroll tax reductions but worry about independents thinking it was Republicans who sought to raise their payroll taxes. At the same time, they know that hard-core conservative voters who have a bigger voice in GOP primaries might blame them for a tax cut they dislike. Republicans may yet claim one political victory out of the payroll tax imbroglio, assuming the two-month extension goes through. In House-Senate negotiations they forced Obama to agree to an expedited decision on a proposed transcontinental oil pipeline opposed by environmental groups as part of the two-month extension. The GOP still has a perception problem, Louis Vuitton Outlet though. Americans hold Congress in extremely low regard, but they put more blame on Republicans than Democrats. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that a record-high 50 percent of Americans say the current Congress is less effective than most. By nearly 2-to-1, "more blame Republican leaders than Democratic leaders for this," Pew found. "By wide margins, the GOP is seen as the party that is more extreme in its positions, less willing to work with the other side to get things done, and less honest and ethical in the way it governs. And for the first time in over two years, the Democratic Party has gained the edge as the party better able to manage the federal government."

Source: http://forum.iphoneworld.ca/iphone-support-troubleshooting-forum/analysis-gops-struggle-taxes-gives-dems-hope-ap-206735.html

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Video: Tom Ford on the OWN Network

Posted by Daniel Eckler, December 23rd, 2011

Here it is, Tom Ford?s interview on Oprah Winfrey?s new OWN Network. Follow Mr. Ford through his travels and fittings. Worth a viewing, but catch it before it disappears.

Tags: OWN, OWN Network, Tom Ford, Video

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DefinitiveTouch/~3/aYp7dHr4LR4/

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Miley Cyrus curses at 'fan,' explains her actions via Twitter

Miley Cyrus is trying to enjoy her vacation -- and seeing as she's hanging out with her boyfriend Liam Hemsworth and his hunky bro Chris, that shouldn't be too hard. But an uncomfortable incident with a fan took a bad turn when the fan got aggressive.

Miley took a few pictures with fans when her helicopter landed in Costa Rica, but when she explained that she had to leave the area, the fan called her an "a**hole"! Not cool. Miley turned around, clearly perturbed, and said, "What the f***? Are you for real? We're on vacation!"

Miley wanted to clarify the incident, because video hit the web. "Been trying not to tweet & just enjoy the holidays but just to clear something up I would NEVER swear to a fan. When someone yells something SO rude making ME look like an 'a**hole' in front of fans who I am more than happy 2 take a picture w/ i cant tolerate that kind of rudeness," she wrote. "Every1 who was there apologized 4 the womans brusque behavior. She obviously wasnt a fan. Hope every1 has a Merry Christmas! LOVE 2 ALL!"

We gotta say, after watching the video -- we're Team Miley on this one! (Muffled harsh language on this one.)

Photo/Video credit: Getty Images

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zap2it/celebrities/~3/oaMxBw2btq8/miley-cyrus-curses-at-fan-explains-her-actions-via-twitter.html

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Ohio AG: Pain clinics gone from hard-hit county (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/177140288?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Peer influence on Facebook called minimal

A person's pattern of "likes" and "friends" on Facebook may betray their hipster tendencies, suggests a new study that found when more of your friends like the same alternative and indie bands as you, you are more likely to stop liking the bands.

The opposite was found on classical music tastes, which seem to be contagious between friends. Overall, however, the research found that most tastes aren't spread among friends, with most people seeking out Facebook friends who are already similar in their tastes.

"In the past three years we've been pounded over the head with the idea that everything spreads and everything is contagious, and your peers can influence you in so many ways," study researcher Kevin Lewis of Harvard University said, referring to recent studies, including one that suggested obesity is socially contagious. "Once you disentangle these things, you find that peer influence plays a minimal role," at least in the Facebook setting.

"Students who share some tastes in music and in movies are indeed more likely to become friends, but it's very rarely the case that students adopt the preferences of their friends," Lewis said.

Cultural networking
The researchers examined the Facebook activity of about 200 college students over four years, beginning when they were freshmen in March 2006. Annual information was collected about their social networks (who they are "friends" with) and their "likes" (the music, movies and books they've liked on their profiles). This data was combined with academic and housing data on each of the students.

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They found that students who shared particular tastes in music and movies, but not books, were likely to befriend one another, instead of these tastes passing from one friend to another. Students tended to befriend others who shared musical tastes in "light/classic rock" or "classical/jazz" or liked movies in the "dark satire" or "raunchy comedy/gore" genres.

There were outliers: Tastes in classical/jazz music were contagious between friends, students whose friends expressed tastes in "indie/alternative" music were significantly less likely to express these tastes themselves.

"Part of liking these (indie/alternative) bands is not just liking them, but liking them before everyone else likes them," Lewis said. "The students feel like, 'this sets me apart from others, and if someone else starts liking this band, it make me less unique.'"

Fast Facebook friends
Facebook friends shared other similarities as well: their housing, college major and friends. All of these similarities had major influences on the odds of two students becoming and staying friends over four years on Facebook.

The finding supports past studies, which have shown over and over that social networks are homogeneous ? like a soup, members of your social network tend to be similar to you in their likes and backgrounds.

"We all seek out similarity in our friends. This is the case on Facebook as well, we find racial and socioeconomic segregation, and two students sharing a major are especially likely to be friends," Lewis said. "These are all things sociologists and social scientists had known that we were able to replicate."

These similarities between friends indicate that online social interactions serve to strengthen a student's social ties with those they already resemble. People befriend others who are similar to them rather than becoming more similar to their friends over time, according to the study authors, who detailed the research Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

? 2011 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45728967/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Rostock want sellout virtual crowd in closed doors match (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) ? Hansa Rostock are hoping their German second-division match against Dynamo Dresden will be a sell-out Sunday even though they have been ordered to play behind closed doors.

Rostock, who are bottom of the table with one win from their 18 matches, were punished by the German FA (DFB) after crowd trouble marred their 3-1 defeat to St Pauli last month when eight police officers were injured.

As a result fans were banned from Sunday's game but they are still buying "virtual" tickets to limit the financial loss to the club which had been expected to run into hundreds of thousands of euros.

"Up to this point we have sold 3,224 virtual tickets and the number is rising every moment," a Rostock official told Reuters Friday.

She said in addition to the virtual tickets sold, thousands more season ticket holders and others who had bought their tickets for the game before the ban had refused to take a refund.

The stadium was to have a capacity of 24,000 for this game, down from 29,000 due to security restrictions in the clash of the East German clubs.

Every virtual fan will get a limited-edition sticker for the game while specially-made T-shirts are also on sale. Ticket prices range from five euros to 19.65 euros.

"We are delighted with the readiness of our loyal fans to stand by the club at this difficult moment," club boss Bernd Hofmann said in a statement. "We also thank them for all their ideas and proposals to back us financially."

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Clare Fallon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oddlyenough/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/od_nm/us_soccer_germany_rostock

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Storm, floods in south Philippines kill over 200

Residents are rescued by volunteers following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Erwin Mascarinas)

Residents are rescued by volunteers following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Erwin Mascarinas)

A resident rummages through debris following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

Police rescue trapped residents following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

Police carry the body of a victim by a flash flood that hit Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

Trapped residents, perched on rooftops, are rescued to safety following a flash flood in Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Pounding rain from a tropical storm swelled rivers and sent walls of water rushing through the southern Philippines while people were asleep, killing more than 200 with scores missing, officials said Saturday.

Some of the dead were swept out to sea from the worst-hit coastal cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the Mindanao region, which is unaccustomed to the typhoons that are common elsewhere in the archipelago nation.

Cagayan de Oro city councilor Alvin Bacal said 107 people had died in the flooding in his city alone, citing military figures.

In Iligan, 79 bodies were recovered in the city after more than 12 hours of continuous rain from Tropical Storm Washi overflowed a river and sent muddy floodwaters cascading from nearby mountains, Mayor Lawrence Cruz said. About 250 people are unaccounted for in Iligan, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang.

A man in Cagayan de Oro said he heard a cry for help around 10 p.m. while the floodwaters were still low.

"Suddenly, there was a very strong rush of water," the man, who was not identified, told a local TV station.

Ayi Hernandez, a former congressman, said he and his family were resting in their home late Friday when they heard a loud "swooshing sound" and water quickly rose ankle deep inside his home. He decided to evacuate to a neighbor's two-story house.

"It was a good thing because in less than an hour the water rose to about 11 feet (3.3 meters)," the height of the ceiling of his house, he said.

Civil defense administrator Benito Ramos said 18 drowned in floodwaters in central Negros Oriental province, whose southern tip was nipped by the eye of the storm later Saturday.

The floodwaters were waist-high in some neighborhoods that do not usually experience flooding. Scores of residents escaped the floods by climbing onto the roofs of their homes, Cruz said.

Those missing included prominent radio broadcaster Enie Alsonado, who was swept away while trying to save his neighbors, Cruz said.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro said that about 20,000 residents of the city had been affected and that evacuees were packed in temporary shelters.

Television footage showed muddy water rushing in the streets, sweeping away all sorts of debris. Thick layers of mud coated streets where the waters had subsided. One car was shown to have been carried over a concrete fence.

Authorities recovered bodies from the mud after the water subsided. Parts of concrete walls and roofs, toppled vehicles and other debris littered the muddy streets.

Rescuers in boats rushed offshore to save people swept out to sea by the raging floodwaters. In Misamis Oriental province, 60 people were plucked from the ocean off El Salvador city, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of Cagayan de Oro, said disaster official Teddy Sabuga-a.

About 120 more were rescued off Opol township, closer to the city, he added.

He said an island in the middle of the Cagayan de Oro river was inundated, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or people missing.

Cruz said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea.

An 80-year-old woman drowned after being trapped in the first floor of her flooded home in Zamboanga del Norte province. A 30-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy also drowned, said provincial disaster officer Dennis Tenorio.

Washi, the 19th storm to hit the Philippines this year, came ashore in eastern Mindanao and blanketed the region with thick rain clouds 250 miles (400 kilometers) in diameter.

It quickly cut across the region overnight and was over the Sulu Sea by midmorning Saturday. It was then headed for Palawan province southwest of Manila and was expected to cross the narrow province before dawn Sunday, said forecaster Leny Ruiz.

Ruiz said the weather bureau's records show that storms that follow Washi's track come only once in about 12 years.

Lucilo Bayron, vice mayor of Puerto Princesa in Palawan, told ABS-CBN television he has already mobilized emergency crews but local officials have not ordered an evacuation "because it's not raining and the weather is still fine here."

Ramos, a former army general, said by law two army divisions ? about 20,000 men ? in Mindanao and part of the central Philippines are supposed to help with rescue and relief work, backed up by hundreds of local police, reservists, coast guard officers and civilian volunteers. However, he could not give an estimate of how many are actually involved.

Col. Leopoldo Galon, military spokesman for the eastern section of Mindanao, said 420 soldiers have been assigned for disaster duties. There was no immediate comment from the western Mindanao military spokesman.

Ramos said the high casualties in Mindanao could be attributed "partly to the complacency of people because they are not in the usual path of storms" despite four days of warnings by officials of an approaching storm.

He also said heavy rains fell on nearby Bukidnon province's vast pineapple plantations, which sit on a plateau that drains rainfall through a river system that runs through Cagayan de Oro. Mountains near Iligan were denuded, also causing the flash floods and mud flows that swamped the city, he said.

Storms and typhoons that normally pass through the northern and central Philippines are pushed farther south of the country by cold winds during the northern hemisphere's winter season late in the year.

Back-to-back typhoons in September left more than 100 people dead in the northern Philippines.

____

Associated Press writer Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-17-AS-Philippines-Storm/id-468285dda1a94976bbc20dd4f4c16465

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Penn St. coach says he saw, reported molestation

Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary, right, arrives at Dauphin County Court surrounded by heavy security Friday, Dec 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. McQueary declined to speak to reporters Friday as he entered the courthouse in Harrisburg for the hearing for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, who are set to appear for a preliminary hearing related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary, right, arrives at Dauphin County Court surrounded by heavy security Friday, Dec 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. McQueary declined to speak to reporters Friday as he entered the courthouse in Harrisburg for the hearing for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, who are set to appear for a preliminary hearing related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

Former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz, right, arrives for a preliminary hearing at Dauphin County Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. A judge is to determine after the hearing if there's enough evidence to send Schultz and former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley to trial on charges of failure to report abuse to authorities and lying to a grand jury related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

Former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, right, arrives for a hearing at Dauphin County Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. A judge is to determine after the hearing if there's enough evidence to send Curley and former university Vice President Gary Schultz to trial on charges of failure to report abuse to authorities and lying to a grand jury related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

FILE -- In a Nov. 7, 2011 file photo former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, left, and former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz, right, enter a district judge's office for an arraignment in Harrisburg, Pa. Curley and Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report under Pennsylvania?s child protective services law in connection with the investigation into allegations involving former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the state attorney general?s office. (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower/file)

Penn State Assistant Football Coach Mike McQueary, left, departs the Dauphin County Court Friday, Dec 16, 2011 in Harrisburg, PA. McQueary, speaking for the first time in public about the 2002 encounter in a Penn State locker room, said he believes that Jerry Sandusky was attacking a child with his hands around the boy's waist but said he wasn't 100 percent sure it was intercourse. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? As soon as he walked into the Penn State locker room, Mike McQueary heard running water and rhythmic, slapping sounds of "skin on skin." He looked in a mirror and saw a naked Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant coach, holding a young boy by the waist from behind, up against the wall in the campus shower.

"I just saw Coach Sandusky in the showers with a boy and what I saw was wrong and sexual," McQueary recalled telling his father that night in 2002. He repeated it the next morning to coach Joe Paterno, who slumped deep into his chair at his kitchen table.

"He said, 'I'm sorry you had to see that,'" McQueary said.

McQueary's testimony Friday at a preliminary hearing for two Penn State officials accused of covering up the story was the most detailed, public account yet of the child sex abuse allegations that have upended the university's football program and the entire central Pennsylvania campus. Paterno and the university president have lost their jobs, and officials Tim Curley and Gary Schultz are accused of lying to a grand jury about what McQueary told them.

A Pennsylvania judge on Friday held Curley, the university's athletic director, and Schultz, a retired senior vice president, for trial after the daylong hearing.

Curley said that McQueary never relayed the seriousness of what he saw, and said he was only told that Sandusky was "horsing around" with a boy but that his conduct wasn't sexual.

He said he told the university president about the episode and the top official at a children's charity that Sandusky founded, but never told university police. "I didn't see any reason because I didn't think at the time it was a crime," he told the grand jury, according to testimony read into the record on Friday.

Curley, Schultz and Paterno have been criticized for never telling police about the 2002 charges. Prosecutors say Sandusky continued to abuse boys for six more years. Sandusky has denied having inappropriate sexual contact with boys.

In about two hours on the witness stand, McQueary said again and again that what he saw was a sexual act, although he stopped short of saying he was sure that Sandusky, now 67, had raped the boy.

"I believe Jerry was sexually molesting him and having some type of sexual intercourse with him," McQueary said on Friday. He said later he "can't say 100 percent" that Sandusky and the boy were having intercourse because he was seeing Sandusky from behind.

He said after talking to his father, he went over to Paterno's home the next morning and said that what he had seen "was way over the lines, it was extremely sexual in nature." He said he would not have used words like sodomy or intercourse with Paterno; he did not get into that much detail out of respect for the coach, he said.

Paterno told the grand jury that McQueary said he saw Sandusky doing something of a "sexual nature" with the youngster but that he didn't press for details.

"I didn't push Mike ... because he was very upset," Paterno said. "I knew Mike was upset, and I knew some kind of inappropriate action was being taken by Jerry Sandusky with a youngster."

Paterno told McQueary he would talk to others about what he'd reported.

McQueary said he met nine or 10 days later with Curley and Schultz and told them he'd seen Sandusky and a boy, both naked, in the shower after hearing skin-on-skin slapping sounds.

"I would have described that it was extremely sexual and I thought that some kind of intercourse was going on," said McQueary.

McQueary said he was left with the impression both men took his report seriously. When asked why he didn't go to police, he referenced Schultz's position as a vice president at the university who had overseen the campus police

"I thought I was talking to the head of the police, to be frank with you," he said. "In my mind it was like speaking to a (district attorney). It was someone who police reported to and would know what to do with it."

The square-jawed, red-haired assistant coach spoke in a steady voice in his first public account of the alleged abuse, sometimes turning his seat and leaning toward defense lawyers to answer questions. His voice rose a few times and he blushed once when describing the sexual encounter in the shower.

Defense lawyers for Curley and Schultz argued that a perjury charge should not be based solely on a person's testimony under oath contradicting someone else's testimony. The defense said uncorroborated testimony from McQueary is not enough and sought to pick apart the ways he described the shower scene differently to different people.

The defense noted that McQueary admitted changing his description of the shower encounter when speaking with Paterno ? enough so that the coach didn't believe a crime had occurred.

McQueary said he had stopped by a campus football locker room to drop off a pair of sneakers in the spring of 2002 when he saw Sandusky with the boy, who he estimated was 10 or 12 years old.

McQueary, 37, said he has never described what he saw as anal rape or anal intercourse and couldn't see Sandusky's genitals, but that "it was very clear that it looked like there was intercourse going on."

In its report last month, the grand jury summarized McQueary's testimony as saying he "saw a naked boy ... with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky."

McQueary said he peeked into the shower three times ? the first via a mirror, the other two times directly. The last time he looked in, Sandusky and the boy had separated, he said. He said he didn't say anything, but "I know they saw me. They looked directly in my eye, both of them."

McQueary said the entire encounter ? from when he first entered the locker room to when he retreated to his office ? lasted about 45 seconds.

Curley told the grand jury that he couldn't recall his specific conversation with McQueary, but McQueary never reported seeing anal intercourse or other sexual conduct. He said he spoke to Sandusky about it, who first denied having been in the shower with a boy, but later changed his story.

Schultz said he remembered McQueary and Paterno describing what the younger coach saw only in a very general way.

"I had the impression it was inappropriate," Schultz told the grand jury. "I had the feeling it was some kind of wrestling activity and maybe Jerry might have grabbed a young boy's genitals."

Under cross-examination, McQueary said he considered what he saw a crime but didn't call police because "it was delicate in nature."

"I tried to use my best judgment," he said. "I was sure the act was over." He said he never tried to find the boy.

Paterno, Schultz and Curley didn't testify, but District Judge William C. Wenner read their grand jury testimony from January at the Dauphin County hearing.

Curley's attorney, Caroline Roberto, said prosecutors "will never be able to reach their burden of proof at a trial."

Schultz's attorney, Tom Farrell, predicted his client would be acquitted.

He also took a shot at Paterno, saying, "I'm an Italian from Brooklyn, and he may not have called the police but he may have done what I would have done, which is get the boys in the car with a few baseball bats and crowbars and take it to the fellow."

Sandusky says he is innocent of 52 criminal charges stemming from what authorities say were sexual assaults over 12 years on 10 boys in his home, on Penn State property and elsewhere.

Curley, 57, was placed on leave by the university after his arrest. Schultz, 62, returned to retirement after spending about four decades at the school, most recently as senior vice president for business and finance, and treasurer.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-16-Penn%20State-Abuse/id-2fb7731227214b17b61b01631a6b09b4

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