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Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
CNN - 'Hillside Burglar' suspect held; L.A.'s rich relieved
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'Hillside Burglar' suspect held; L.A.'s rich relieved
For three years, the thieves crept into some of the poshest homes in the most exclusive enclaves in the nation.
Police said they finally have a break in the case, and wealthy residents of Los Angeles, California, are breathing a sigh of relief.
"These guys were real good," said L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss, who oversees Bel Air where some of the burglaries were committed. "They were professionals."
The thieves hauled away more than $10 million worth of valuables and cash from 150 homes in upscale neighborhoods such as Bel Air, Pacific Palisades and Beverly Hills, police said.
Homes of Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and multimillionaires were hit. According to CNN affiliate KABC, country music stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing were among the victims.
DNA evidence led the LAPD to suspected ringleader Troy Corsby Thomas, 45, of Los Angeles. He was arrested near L.A. International Airport last weekend.
Police say Thomas led a gang dubbed the "Hillside Burglars" that targeted the neighborhoods overlooking Sunset Boulevard.
"It's a very euphoric, satisfying feeling that we got this person," said the police Lt. David McGill. "It's a very frustrating feeling to tell the victims, 'I'm sorry I don't have any news for you.' Finally when we got some good detective work and breaks, things started lining up."
Police are looking for more suspects linked to the three-year spree but are not naming them.
Thomas is being held on $2 million bail, according to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office. He is likely to stay in custody because he must reveal the origin of any funds used to pay the bail, authorities said.
At a court appearance Tuesday, Thomas pleaded not guilty to two charges of residential burglary, one in January 2006 and another in March 2008. The preliminary court date for Thomas will be set on January 29 and additional charges are expected to be filed, according to CNN affiliates KABC and KTLA.
Police will not comment on Thomas' background. The Los Angeles Times reported that Thomas told police he had been working as an auto broker.
The Hillside Burglars have not struck since Thomas' arrest, police said.
"Hallelujah!" said L.A. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. "Even a crafty crook does make his mistake and that's what happened to this one."
Some residents are cautiously optimistic.
"We're delighted," said Robert René, president of Brentwood Homeowners Association, which represents about 800 homes. "We are very fortunate to have the due diligence of the Westside LAPD."
Harvey I. Saferstein, president of the Bel Air Association, agreed, "We are all obviously thankful and relieved."
The financially strapped LAPD created a Hillside Burglars task force. People donated cameras and other equipment and police stepped up patrols. The outlay amounted to "millions of dollars," Rosendahl said.
Neighborhood watch groups formed. One in Bel Air donated $8,000 for infrared cameras that can spot burglars in the dark.
Robert Ringler, president of the Bel Air Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council, hosted a community meeting with the LAPD at the five-star Bel Air Hotel a year and a half ago. As swans swam in ponds in the background, about 150 Westside residents sipped Perrier and vented their fears.
"It had gotten to be such an epidemic," Ringler said.
The impressive mansions -- usually gated and hidden by walls and hedges -- dot the lush hillsides and canyons between the coast and the mountains. The qualities that make them so desirable also make them vulnerable.
The seclusion that appeals to upscale homeowners also appeals to thieves. Because many of the homes are tucked into the sides of mountains and canyons, behind gates, it's easy for a thief to escape unseen and hard for police to get there quickly.
"It's the perfect target," Ringler said. "You can access the property and nobody would ever see you."
Frequently, maids, pool workers and gardeners have access to the property, which allows burglars to pass as the help and slip in unchallenged.
According to police and media reports, the methods were sophisticated.
Burglars waited till homeowners went on vacation or out for the night. They used lawn furniture and ladders to creep into the second floor, which often lacked alarms. They quickly went in, looked for jewelry, safes and cash, and ducked out with the goods.
They never attacked any of the homeowners, preferring stealth to confrontation.
Residents say they learned to keep jewelry and other valuables in safety deposit boxes and out of sight. Many added alarm systems and insured their belongings.
"It's not just about money," said Robin Stevens, who lives with her husband and son in Brentwood. "A lot of people lost things of sentimental value."
Stevens, whose neighbors have been burglarized, said she feels safer knowing that police arrested Thomas, but will continue hiding her mother's antique jewelry and locking the windows.
During a two-week trip to the South Pacific last fall, Stevens made sure to e-mail her neighbors, notifying them that she would be gone so they could look out for strangers.
Other residents remain skeptical.
Pacific Palisades Community Council Chairman Richard G. Cohen said he feels relief but is waiting for a conviction. "The arrest doesn't mark the end of our concern," he said.
With the economy in a tailspin, Steve Twining, who serves on the West Los Angeles Police advisory board, believes thefts will continue.
"In these dire economic times, I don't think it's going to dissuade others from trying to do the same thing," he said. "The burglary situation will probably get worse before it gets better."
CNN - Sources: Congresswoman to replace Clinton in Senate
Sent from bombastic4000@yahoo.com's mobile device from http://www.cnn.com.
Sources: Congresswoman to replace Clinton in Senate
New York Gov. David Paterson has chosen Democratic Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Clinton as U.S. Senator from New York, multiple Democratic sources told CNN Friday.
Gillibrand, 42, represents New York's traditionally Republican 20th district.
She is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of congressional Democrats who hold more conservative views than their liberal Democratic counterparts.
She is an outspoken advocate for gun rights, and she supports an extension of the Bush tax cuts. She has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
She also has a 100 percent rating from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Paterson must appoint a replacement for Clinton, who was sworn in as President Obama's secretary of state Wednesday. A special election will be held in 2010 for the remaining two years of Clinton's term. Paterson will formally announce his decision at a noon press conference in Albany, New York.
The final decision was made around 2 a.m. It came down to Gillibrand and Randi Weingarten, the dark horse candidate who is president of the United Federation of Teachers.
Among the considerations Paterson used in selecting Gillibrand were that she is a woman and she is from upstate New York, sources said. Both those factors could help Paterson when he runs for election as governor next year.
A Paterson spokeswoman, Erin Duggan, would not comment on the reports.
"The governor is making his announcement at noon today, and that is the only comment we are making at this time," Duggan said early Friday.
Caroline Kennedy, seen as a favorite to fill the vacant seat, withdrew her name from consideration Wednesday, citing personal reasons.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Steve Israel also have been mentioned as possible appointees.
Gillibrand was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, unseating Republican John Sweeney. In the 1990s, she worked as a lawyer for the Department of Housing and Urban Development during Cuomo's tenure as housing secretary in the Clinton administration.
She was one of dozens of Democrats who joined House Republicans in voting against the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout of the financial industry in October, arguing the plan lacked proper oversight.
Kennedy, 51, cited personal reasons for her decision not to continue pursuing the Senate seat, but Paterson had no intention of appointing her, a source close to the governor told CNN.
Paterson did not think Kennedy was "ready for prime time," citing her efforts, at times awkward, to try to win the appointment, the source told CNN.
"She clearly has no policy experience and couldn't handle the pressure," said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. "Why would he pick her given how badly she handled herself in recent weeks?"
A Kennedy ally, though, denied Kennedy had any indication Paterson was leaning against choosing her to fill out Clinton's term.
Kennedy had been very public in expressing her interest in the seat by meeting with state and community leaders throughout New York.
"The governor considers Caroline a friend and knows she will continue to serve New York well inside or outside of government," a statement from the governor's office read. "We wish her well in all her future endeavors."
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Blackness of The Night.
Reuters - Microsoft stuns with profit miss, to cut 5,000 jobs
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http://mobile.reuters.com
Microsoft stuns with profit miss, to cut 5,000 jobs
Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 7:0PM UTC
By Franklin Paul and Bill Rigby
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp stunned Wall Street with disappointing results that included plans to slash up to 5,000 jobs and a warning that profit and revenue will almost certainly drop over the next two quarters.
The news from the world's largest software maker, which had not been expected to report results until after the close of trading on Thursday, sent shock waves across financial markets, pulling down the Nasdaq and the dollar, and sending Treasury debt prices higher as investors sought safer assets.
Microsoft's shares dropped as much as 11 percent to its lowest level since January 1998, adding to a 40 percent decline in the past year. It blamed the miss on the weakness of the PC market and the popularity of low-cost netbook computers, which have combined to badly undercut sales of its dominant Windows operating system.
The market has become so volatile, Microsoft cautioned, that it will not issue earnings or revenue forecasts for the rest of its fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 -- other than to predict both will very likely be lower.
"It is pretty bad when things are deteriorating so fast that even the largest companies in the world don't know how rapidly it is happening," said Jefferies analyst Katherine Egbert.
Microsoft posted a profit of $4.17 billion, or 47 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter ended December 31, versus a profit of $4.71 billion, or 50 cents, a year earlier. Analysts were looking for earnings per share of 49 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $16.63 billion, missing the average analyst forecast of $17.1 billion.
Microsoft's elimination of 5,000 jobs -- 1,400 of which on Thursday -- amounts to about 5 percent of its estimated 96,000 work force, the biggest reduction ever by the software maker.
"Clearly business conditions are worse than people were expecting," said Richard Williams, analyst at Cross Research. "This is a substantial amount of jobs cuts. Microsoft has never had a layoff like this in my knowledge and it's sending a signal that the times are definitely changing."
The job cuts follow similar moves by other technology firms, including AT&T Inc, Dell Inc, Motorola Inc and Advance Micro Devices Inc, all of which are suffering from the global economic slowdown.
THREATENED BY NETBOOKS
Microsoft faces a shift by PC buyers to cheaper netbooks, which are small, stripped-down laptops. Netbooks can run Windows, but Microsoft makes more on each sale of Windows for a PC than it does for a netbook. Some netbooks also use the rival open-source Linux software.
Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Microsoft also lost market share to Apple Inc, which on Wednesday posted surprisingly strong results.
"We are certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions," Ballmer said on a conference call. "The economy is resetting to a lower level" of spending, he said, adding that he did not expect a quick economic rebound.
However, Ballmer noted that Microsoft will be adding "thousands of jobs" in strategic areas like Internet search, where it has been lagging behind Google Inc, and that he still desires a search partnership with Yahoo Inc.
But Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said he does not expect significant acquisitions this year, despite hopes from some Yahoo shareholders for a buyout.
Shares of Microsoft were down $2.01 to $17.37, after touching an intraday low of $17.19, the lowest level since January 1998. It was the biggest single-day drop in the stock since an 11.38 percent fall on April 28, 2006.
(Additional reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston and Robert MacMillan and Sinead Carew in New York; Writing by Tiffany Wu and Paul Thomasch; Editing by Derek Caney)
CNN - Crowley: Balance of power trying to find balance
Sent from bombastic4000@yahoo.com's mobile device from http://www.cnn.com.
Crowley: Balance of power trying to find balance
Democrats hold a strong majority in Congress, but with power comes a power struggle, and a potential headache for President Obama.
Just two days into his term, the president is already facing pushback from leaders of his own party.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have made it clear -- it's not their job to answer to Obama.
To a certain degree, the president-Congress tension is simply politics at play -- something that happens every time a new president comes in.
But this time, the Democrats have even more power than they did before the election, meaning Pelosi and Reid both have huge majorities in their respective houses.
Pelosi's biggest problem with the president's agenda is the silence she's hearing when President Obama is asked about former President Bush's tax cuts.
During the campaign season, Obama proposed repealing the Bush tax cuts on those making at least $250,000, but now it's more likely that the president will delay any tax increases on the wealthy until 2011, when the tax cuts expire.
The Obama team says that in the middle of a recession you don't, in effect, raise people's taxes.
Pelosi, however, doesn't buy that argument. She wants to see them rolled back now.
"We had campaigned in saying what the Republican Congressional Budget Office told us: Nothing contributed more to the budget deficit than the tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America," Pelosi said in an interview Sunday with Fox News.
A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Pelosi's statement "false," and cited a recent fact check by the St. Petersburg Times disputing the House Speaker's claim that tax cuts for the wealthy are the biggest contributor to the budget deficit.
Pelosi said she would not seek to block the president's proposed stimulus plan over its lack of tax hikes for the rich, but she urged Obama not to simply let the tax cuts expire in two years.
"[Tax cuts on the wealthy] have to prove their worth to me as to how they grow the economy, how they create jobs," she said.
Pelosi is also pushing for an investigation into the Bush administration's handling of the Justice Department, while Obama and his aides say there are other priorities besides focusing on the administration they are succeeding.
"I think that we have to learn from the past, and we cannot let the politicizing of, for example, the Justice Department, go unreviewed," Pelosi said last weekend. "Past is prologue."
Before becoming president, Obama made it clear that investigating the Bush administration wasn't a priority.
Over in the Senate, Reid has taken a similar stance to Pelosi's. In an interview with The Hill earlier this month, the Democrat said, "I don't believe in the executive power trumping everything. ... I believe in our Constitution, three separate but equal branches of government."
"If Obama steps over the bounds, I will tell him. ... I do not work for Barack Obama. I work with him," he said.
Obama, however, has made clear he's not letting any pushback slow him down. Even before his inauguration, he threatened to veto any attempts to block his access to the remaining bailout funds.
As the Obama administration gets settled in, one can expect the tug and pull between the White House and Congress to continue: It's that balance of power getting into balance under new circumstances.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
USA TODAY - Application developers see iPhone as way to get noticed
This story has been sent from the mobile device of Bombastic4000@yahoo.com. For real-time mobile news, go to m.usatoday.com.
By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
Phanfare co-founder and CEO Andrew Erlichson has seen his future, and it's on the iPhone.
The Internet photo-sharing service recently informed 300,000 registered users of the new strategy, which ties in its website with a new Phanfare Photon application for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and iPod Touch.
"The iPhone represents the beginning of what we believe will be a convergence between smartphones and point-and-shoot cameras," Erlichson told customers in an e-mail that also encouraged them to buy an iPhone.
Savvy software developers such as Erlichson are trying to stake a claim for early prominence in the mobile economy, where it's still a bit easier to get noticed than on the Web. The size of the market (about 1 billion phones sold annually) and the cool factor of the iPhone, makes it a desirable place to make a splash.
"The iPhone has the largest install base with the highest level of functionality," says Steven Echtman, CEO of HearPlanet, a free travel audio tour service that launched in early January. Other platforms have larger numbers of subscribers, such as Windows Mobile and BlackBerry, but users aren't as likely to add lots of new applications, he says, because Apple makes it easier via its App Store.
HearPlanet has been downloaded more than 50,000 times.
Where the action is
The iPhone is "the platform of the moment," says Mike McGuire, an analyst at Gartner. "Apple has sucked all the oxygen out of the room, and developers want to be where the action is."
Google's Android was envisioned as a similar platform with thousands of potential applications, but it hasn't yet caught on, says McGuire, and Palm is looking for a comeback with its new Pre phone and operating system in late spring. "For now, it's the iPhone," he says.
Apple's App Store has about 15,000 applications available up from just over 500 when it launched in July. Apps are available for a fee, or free. Downloads have surpassed 500 million.
The best-selling applications have been games. Also in the mix are utilities (dictionaries, restaurant guides) and time-wasters (games that simulate the sounds of bodily functions or drinking beer).
While most are from up-and-coming entrepreneurs, many established players are there as well, including MySpace, Facebook, eBay and USA TODAY.
The online radio service Pandora is iPhone's most popular music application. About 40% of new Pandora subscribers come from the iPhone daily, and they are listening to as much as 100 minutes of music at a pop, says Pandora founder Tim Westergren.
New listeners
In just six months, Pandora has picked up 3 million new listeners from the iPhone. "This whole thing has been a huge shock to us," he says. "Much bigger than we expected."
Pandora owes much of its success to being on the App Store from day one.
"It's getting really crowded out there," Westergren says. The challenge for newcomers is "how to get attention and light up grass-roots interest so you can show up on the charts."
Most iPhone owners find new applications by scrolling lists at the App Store, where Apple publishes rankings of top sellers in various categories.
"People fight really hard to make the list," says British developer Mark Terry, whose Band music application has been at the top of the charts since its July debut. "If you're No. 102, you don't exist."
When the App Store launched, many applications sold for $4.99 to $9.99.
But in an effort to make the charts, developers began cutting prices, Terry says: "Anything to get ahead. One hundred apps are released daily. That's like 100 albums by no-name bands."
Terry's $3.99 Band program down from $9.99 originally lets you play virtual piano, guitar, drum and bass on the iPhone.
i.TV, based in Palo Alto, Calif., made the chart easily when it launched its free app in late October. The "what's on" guide to TV, movies, your Netflix queue and more has been downloaded 2 million times. It made Apple's top five chart "because there was nothing like it," CEO Brad Pelo says.
"You have to deliver an app that gets buzz in the blogosphere," he says. "This is what my phone does that yours doesn't. This is why you need my app."
Pelo sees the iPhone as the new living room remote control, an essential device to be in your lap as you watch TV, answer e-mail and try to decide what to watch or where to go.
To Erlichson, mix his Phanfare with the Photon application and the iPhone becomes a "connected camera."
Sure, it's a way to entice folks to spend $54.95 a year for Phanfare's Web-based service, but he believes more folks will enjoy the ability to access their photo collection from anywhere.
"It's the beginning of a new era, where computers give way to more purposeful devices that are easier to use," he says. "This is clearly a seminal event. Apple has raised the bar, and everybody is racing to catch up."
Website address: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2009-01-20-phanfare-Inernet-photos-iphone_N.htm
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Reuters - Steve Jobs's cancer may have recurred: doctors
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http://mobile.reuters.com
Steve Jobs's cancer may have recurred: doctors
Friday, Jan 16, 2009 10:57PM UTC
By Anupreeta Das
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Pancreatic cancer experts say they are puzzled by what is ailing Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs, because it is not clear how serious his health problems are or how directly they relate to his bout with cancer.
Last week, Jobs said he had an easily treatable "hormonal imbalance" that was robbing his body of the proteins it needs. Then, on Wednesday, the 53-year-old CEO said his problems were "more complex" than originally thought, and he would take a medical leave of absence for six months.
Doctors who have not treated Jobs say they can only speculate without hard information, but they said the tumor he was treated for in 2004 could have spread to another organ or resurfaced in the pancreas, requiring surgery or other treatment.
Jobs could also be coping with side effects of that surgery that can be treated easily, they said.
In 2004, Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer called an islet-cell, or neuroendocrine, tumor. Such tumors can be benign or malignant, but they usually grow slowly and are far less deadly than most pancreatic tumors.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 37,680 Americans get pancreatic cancer each year, but few get islet-cell tumors of the kind Jobs had. The tumors are easily removed surgically but recur in roughly half of patients, said Dr. Roderich Schwarz, a cancer surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Dr. Clay Semenkovich, an endocrinologist at Washington University in St. Louis, said in a telephone interview, "(Jobs) may have a new mass that's substantially altering his physiology and causing him to lose weight."
WEIGHT LOSS
The pancreas -- a spongy organ the size of a large banana -- produces enzymes used in digestion.
Islet-cell tumors can cause over-secretion of hormones including insulin into the bloodstream, wreaking havoc on digestion and leading to drastic weight loss.
Semenkovich said that could explain Jobs' "hormonal imbalance," but added that the limited information made it hard to say for sure.
Apple's cryptic missives on Jobs' health have not deterred speculation -- sparked by his gaunt appearance at an Apple event in June 2008 -- that his cancer has returned.
But his drastic weight loss could have other, less ominous explanations, doctors said.
Jobs' surgery in 2004 is likely to have been the so-called Whipple procedure -- an extensive and complicated operation that involves several organs besides the pancreas, doctors agree.
Weight loss is a common side effect, since a partial pancreas may not be able to effectively aid in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
"If an operation removes 30 to 50 percent of the pancreas, you're missing cell mass that produces juices that aid digestion. It could lead to weight loss and fatigue," Schwarz said in an interview at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference on gastrointestinal cancers in San Francisco.
"SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD"?
Jobs may also have insulin deficiency, which would result in diabetes, doctors said. They added that treatments for these side effects are indeed "simple and straightforward," as Jobs has said.
Schwarz said patients who lack digestive enzymes can take enzyme capsules to aid digestion, and they are effective fairly quickly.
That would not explain why Jobs would need six months of medical leave.
Joseph Kim, a cancer specialist and surgeon at the City of Hope medical center near Los Angeles, said patients whose cancers recur in nearby organs, usually the liver, can be treated using less-invasive procedures than surgery. Cancers can be cut out or burned, and the recovery takes only a few days, he said.
In Jobs' case, "we're probably talking about something more complicated, like surgery," that would take longer, Kim said. Surgery on patients with recurrent islet-cell tumors can be "extremely difficult, if not risky," he added.
Semenkovich said Jobs may need new surgery, and that six months is a reasonable time for preparation, surgery and recovery, given his weight loss. "Surgery in somebody who has lost a lot of weight is a risk," and recovery could take longer, he said.
(Editing by John Wallace)
Friday, January 16, 2009
NYTimes.com: Can Apple Fill the Void?
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