Citizens to postpone action on controversial loan program

TALLAHASSEE --
Citizens Property Insurance Corp will shelve a controversial $350 million loan program while it gathers data and looks at more options to reduce its number of policies.

Citizens Chief Financial Officer Sharon Binnun told a Citizens’ panel Thursday that recent success in other depopulation efforts and uncertainty over the long-term success of those efforts make it wise to take a longer look at a recent proposal to provide low-interest loans to companies willing to take riskier policies off the company’s books.

A handful of companies have already agreed to take out nearly 300,000 less risky policies from the state-backed insurer without the financial incentives.

Company officials say, however, that the surplus loan program should be revisited next summer, rather than scrapped entirely.

“It would be prudent for us as an organization to … come next summer take all the things we learned and see where we stand,” Binnun said.

Earlier this year, officials drew criticism after they proposed an effort to use $350 million in surplus funds to provide 20-year loans to companies that would take Citizens policies and keep them for at least 10 years.

Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford was among a group of lawmakers that urged caution and further review.

Contrary to initial estimates, Citizens President Barry Gilway said Thursday the loan program as now structured is unlikely to entice many private carriers to take advantage of the loans.

Outside investment advisors are reviewing the loan program and are expected to make recommendations early next year. Gilway, who took over in June and presented the loan program shortly after his arrival, said discussions with potential companies indicate that changes need to be made.

“I seriously doubt even if the surplus note program would proceed that we would have any real takers that meet the financial requirements that we believe would be necessary,” Gilway said.

Sean Shaw, a former Florida insurance consumer advocate who now works with a Tampa law firm that represents policyholders in lawsuits, applauded the decision, saying the proposal had not been fully vetted by the Legislature.

“The surplus lines program seems to be off the table, and that’s great news,” Shaw said in a statement.

The full Citizens Board of Governors is expected to vote on the proposal Friday.

The board is also expected to hear a proposal to set up a clearinghouse at Citizens to provide customers with more information upfront on policy options.

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Verizon Offering $5 Shared 4G Plan for Samsung Galaxy Camera

Imagine the powerful Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone, except that it can’t make phone calls and its backplate has been replaced by a digital camera — handgrip, zoom lens, and all. That’s basically the Samsung Galaxy Camera in a nutshell, and whether it’s a small, awkwardly-shaped Android tablet or a digital camera that you can play Modern Combat 3 on depends on how you look at it.

When the Galaxy Camera launched last month, it was only available in white, and cost $ 499 on AT&T’s network with a month-to-month data plan. But on Dec. 13, it launches on Verizon’s network, in both white and black. The Verizon Galaxy Camera costs $ 50 more up front, but in return it has 4G LTE instead of HSPA+, and Verizon is offering a “promotional price” for the monthly charge: Only $ 5 to add it to a Share Everything plan, instead of the usual $ 10 tablet rate.

A 4G digital camera

While it’s capable of functioning as an Android tablet (or game machine), the biggest reason for the Samsung Galaxy Camera’s 4G wireless Internet is so it can automatically upload photos it takes. Apps such as Dropbox, Photobucket, and Ubuntu One offer a limited amount of online storage space for free, where the Galaxy Camera can save photos without anyone needing to tell it to. Those photos can then be accessed at home, or on a tablet or laptop.

Most smartphones are able to do this already, but few (with the possible exception of the Windows Phone powered Nokia Lumia 920) are able to take photos as high-quality as the Galaxy Camera’s.

Not as good of a deal as it sounds

Dropbox is offering two years’ worth of 50 GB of free online storage space for photos and videos, to anyone who buys a Samsung Galaxy Camera from AT&T or Verizon. (The regular free plan is only 2 GB.)

The problem is, you may need that much space. The photos taken by the Galaxy Camera’s 16 megapixel sensor take up a lot more space, at maximum resolution, than ordinary smartphone snapshots do. Those camera uploads can eat through a shared data plan, and with Verizon charging a $ 15 per GB overage fee (plus the $ 50 extra up-front on top of what AT&T charges) it may make up for the cheaper monthly cost.

On top of that, the Galaxy Camera’s photos are basically on par with a $ 199 digital camera’s — you pay a large premium to combine that kind of point-and-shoot with the hardware equivalent of a high-end smartphone.

It does run Android, though, right?

The Galaxy Camera uses Samsung‘s custom software for its camera app, and lacks a normal phone dialer app. Beyond that, though, it runs the same Android operating system found on smartphones, and can run all the same games and apps.

Some apps don’t work the same on the Galaxy Camera as they do on a smartphone, however. Apps which only run in portrait mode, for instance, require you to hold the camera sideways to use them (especially unpleasant when they’re camera apps). And while it can make voice and even video calls over Skype, it lacks a rear-facing camera or the kind of speaker you hold up close to your ear. So you may end up making speakerphone calls and filming the palm of your hand.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Zoe Saldana's 'Avatar' Sequels Update

Is Zoe Saldana ready to once again don a motion-capture suit and dive back into the world of Avatar? The Star Trek Into Darkness star gave ET the latest update on the highly anticipated back-to-back sequels to one of the all-time highest-grossing films in history.

Related: Sam Worthington 'Ready to Jump' Into 'Avatar' Sequel

"All we have gotten is the call to get ready – that at some point next year we will start training and then eventually start shooting," says Zoe. "I do know there is a part two and a part three that we'll shoot at the same time, which I'm very happy for because I'm not getting any younger.

"But I do know that Jim will give us the green light when he's absolutely ready," she continues. "And I feel, because he's such a great storyteller, it's still worth the wait."

Zoe says she's more than ready to strap on her motion-capture suit again because, "I had such a beautiful and spiritual experience shooting that movie, and I learned so much as an actor, as an artist, and as a person, as a human being. So to get to go back to that is a blessing."

Earlier this year, Zoe's Avatar co-star Sam Worthington gave ET an update on Cameron's progress with the sequels, joking about the director's record-setting deep-sea solo dive to the deepest point of the earth, the Mariana Trench.

"Jim's off on his personal mission exploring the depths of the ocean, so hopefully a sea snake doesn't grab him, or some monster that is in the deep that no one knows about," says Sam with a sly grin. "As [Wrath of the Titans co-star Liam Neeson] said, if it does, I pity the monster, because Jim will definitely take down that thing. And when he's back and wants to go, I'm ready to jump."

Related: Live 'Avatar' Land Coming to Disney World

Surely not a coincidence, the ocean-loving Cameron has said the sequel to the highest grossing film in history will dive into the oceans of Pandora – and will likely not arrive in theaters until 2016.

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FDNY hunk cleared of felony assault in trial against glamorous transsexual girlfriend

Steven Hirsch

Fireman Taylor Murphy was found guily of two non violent counts in his trial. He cried in court after the partial verdict.

He didn't choke her. He didn't tamper with her testimony. But he did assault her -- a little.

A Manhattan jury has reached a final, though mixed, verdict in the bizarre War of the Hoses assault trial in Manhattan, acquitting an FDNY calendar hunk of the most serious charge against him -- felony strangulation of his glamorous, bottle-blonde, pre-op transsexual girlfriend.

Beefy Taylor Murphy, 28 -- a former "Mr. March" -- smiled and rubbed tears of joy from his face after the jury forewoman pronounced him not guilty of felony strangulation, which could have put him in prison for up to seven years.

Fiery Claudia Charriez, 31, an admitted escort who still advertised herself at $400-an-hour, had accused Murphy of clutching her throat with his massive hands as they fought on their bed at a Midtown hotel last August, squeezing with enough force to cause physical injury and stupor or loss of consciousness.

Ultimately, jurors had only a photograph of a small pale pink blotch on Charriez's neck as forensic proof -- along with her own word from three days on the witness stand, during which Murphy's lawyer had repeatedly confronted her with inconsistencies and apparent lies.

Steven Hirsch

Claudia Charriez.

Murphy was convicted of one felony count of criminal contempt, for violating an order of protection by calling, texting and emailing Charriez more than 1,000 times in the five months after his arrest.

He was cleared of witness tampering, and convicted of misdemeanor criminal contempt, misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief, for smashing Charriez's cell phone.

Not a single firefighter had come to court to support him throughout the week-long trial -- save his own brother, a retired smoke-eater, and his father, a retired deputy chief who took the stand for his son. Murphy said he'd wanted it that way -- to keep the department from being tainted by the "drama."

"I had to step away from the department," he said. "When you're burning in a fire, you don't want to call everyone in to save you, because they're gonna get burned too," he said. "I didn't want them to burn too."

Murphy said he hopes the conviction on criminal contempt -- a nonviolent felony -- won't prevent him from going back on active duty as a firefighter. Defense lawyer Jason Berland said

As for Charriez, he insisted he only dated her for two months -- until he found out that she was an escort and had a "venereal disease," as jurors in the case were told. He tried to remain her friend, he said, but her jealousy over his other relationships consumed her, he said.

"I wish the best for her," he said as he left court. "I wish she gets a sense of reality. I wish she leaves me alone."

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Google Maps return to iPhone with new mobile app

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google Maps has found its way back to the iPhone.

The world's most popular online mapping system returned late Wednesday with the release of the Google Maps iPhone app. The release comes nearly three months after Apple Inc. replaced Google Maps as the device's built-in navigation system and inserted its own map software into the latest version of its mobile operating system.

Apple's maps application proved to be far inferior to Google's, turning what was supposed to be a setback for Google into a vindication.

The product's shoddiness prompted Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue a rare public apology and recommend that iPhone owners consider using Google maps through a mobile Web browser or seek other alternatives until his company could fix the problems. Cook also replaced Scott Forstall, the executive in charge of Apple's mobile operating system, after the company's maps app became the subject of widespread ridicule.

Among other things, Apple's maps misplaced landmarks, overlooked towns and sometimes got people horribly lost. In one example brought to light this week, Australian police derided Apple's maps as “life-threatening” because the system steered people looking for the city of Mildura into a sweltering, remote desert 44 miles from their desired destination.

Google Inc., in contrast, is hailing its new iPhone app as a major improvement from the one evicted by Apple.

“We started from scratch,” said Daniel Graf, mobile director of Google Maps. Google engineers started working on the new app before Apple's Sept. 19 ouster, Graf said, though he declined to be more specific.

Digital maps are key battleground in mobile computing because they get used frequently on smartphones and can pinpoint a user's whereabouts. That information is so prized by advertisers that they're willing to pay much higher rates for marketing messages aimed at a prospective customer in a particular location, said Greg Sterling, an analyst at Opus Research.

Google's mapping app for the iPhone doesn't include ads, but that will likely change, based on the steady stream of marketing flowing through the Google maps app on Android phones.

The additional tools in the free iPhone app include turn-by-turn directions. Google's previous refusal to include that popular feature on the iPhone app –while making it available for smartphones running on its own Android software– is believed to be one of the reasons Apple decided to develop its own technology. The increasing friction between Google and Apple as they jostle for leadership in the smartphone market also played a role in the mapping switch.

Google's new iPhone mapping app also offers street-level photography of local neighborhoods, as well as three-dimensional views, public transit directions and listings for more than 80 million businesses around the world. The app still lacks some of the mapping features available on Android-powered phones, such as directions inside malls and other buildings.

All those improvements are positives for Apple too, Sterling said, because the availability of a more comprehensive mapping option makes it less likely that iPhone owners will switch to Android devices.

“The irony is that Apple ended up getting a better version of Google Maps on its system by booting it off,” Sterling said. “At the same time, you could argue that Google is making a triumphant return to cheering crowds. So, in a way, everyone wins in this situation.”

Investors didn't see anything positive for Apple. The company's stock slid $9.31 to close at $529.84, while Google shares crept up $5.14 to finish at $702.70.

There still isn't a Google mapping app for Apple's top-selling tablet computer, the iPad, but the company plans to make one eventually. Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., declined to say when it hopes to release an iPad mapping app. For now, iPad owners can use the maps in an iPhone mode. That won't be the best experience, but it still may be better than Apple's offering on the iPad.

In an indication of iPhone owners' exasperation with Apple's maps, Google's new alternative was already the top-ranking free app in Apple's iTunes store early Thursday morning. By noon EDT, users had chimed in with more than 10,000 reviews of the Google app. Nearly 90 percent of them gave Google maps a five-star rating – the highest possible grade.

The return of Google's map app may even encourage more iPhone owners to upgrade to Apple's latest mobile software, iOS 6. Some people resisted the new version because they didn't want to lose access to the old Google mapping application built into iOS 5 and earlier versions.

Despite the app's quickly rising popularity, Google's solution still wasn't listed among the 18 recommended mapping apps in iTunes as of early Thursday afternoon.

Apple, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., declined to comment about Google's map app.

Graf said Google isn't hoping to make Apple look bad with its new mapping app. “On maps, we have a friendly relationship,” he said.

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Video shows 15-year-old girl being brutalized in Florida juvenile prison

For the third time in recent years, Florida juvenile justice administrators have caught on tape the abuse or neglect of a children in state custody.

On Wednesday, the Department of Juvenile Justice released to The Miami Herald five video segments that show an inmate of a Panhandle youth corrections being brutalized by a guard from a privately run lockup. The guard, 33-year-old Shannon Linn Abbott, was charged last week by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office with battery causing great bodily harm.

C.J. Drake, a DJJ spokesman in Tallahassee, said Wednesday the Milton Girls’ Detention Center remains under investigation in the incident, which occurred on August 9.

“We are deeply concerned that the incident as depicted in the video…contradicts its description to us by officials representing the facility,” Drake added. “We are also troubled that the facility did not officially report the incident to DJJ until two days after it occurred, and only when the victim called the DCF Abuse Hotline. This lapse is inexplicable.

“After the incident, we at DJJ determined that our [restraint procudures] – to protect youth and staff was not being followed. We subsequently initiated a comprehensive retraining of staff at the facility to ensure that PAR was being properly and safely applied and only in situations that warranted it.”

According to a police report, the detainee, who is not identified, was being escorted by Abbott, who was holding the girl’s elbows as they walked. Most of what occurred during the alleged assault was captured by DJJ surveillance cameras, which are installed in most DJJ facilities.

“Both [the] victim and [Abbott] are observed walking in a normal manner with [Abbott’s] arm under the victim’s arm from behind,” the police report says. “The victim is not showing any signs of resisting. The victim is observed not pulling her arms away from the defendant; the victim is not attempting the strike the defendant in any manner and it compliant throughout the entire event.”

Suddenly, police wrote, Abbott “thrust herself” against the girl, pushing the girl against a concrete wall “in a very forceful manner.” Abbott used her body to push the girl “violently into a cement wall.”

The girl’s chest and chin bounced off the wall, police wrote. Abbott then leaned her body against the girl, and held her against the wall for several seconds. After whispering something in the girl’s ear, police wrote, Abbott pulled the girl “with great force and violently [threw] her to the floor while retaining the victim’s arms behind her back.”

Abbott then jumped on top of the girl “with her full weight,” police wrote.

The girl told police Abbott was angry at her for being “disruptive in the classroom.”

The girl the Department of Children & Families’ abuse hotline the next day, “because she was told by other girls in the facility that it may be worse for her if she called DCF right away,” police said.

DCF closed it investigation with a verified finding that Abbott had physically abused the girl.

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AP PHOTOS: Top 10 Search Trends of 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — From the tragic to the downright silly, millions of people searched the Web in 2012 to find out about a royal princess, the latest iPad, a record-breaking skydiver and the death of a pop star.

Google released its 12th annual “zeitgeist” report on Wednesday. The company calls it “an in-depth look at the spirit of the times as seen through the billions of searches on Google over the past year.”

Here’s an Associated Press photo gallery of the top ten trending searches of 2012.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Ashley & J.P. Rehearse First Kiss

Practice makes perfect and Bachelorette couple Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum made sure their first kiss as husband and wife was everything they wanted it to be.

Playfully bickering whether to share one or two kisses at the altar, the two rehearsed their romantic smooch at their Pasadena, CA venue. Ashley teased her groom, "You want two kids, I want one. You want two kisses, I want one."

To see J.P. kiss his bride, tune in to The Bachelorette on Sunday night on ABC.

RELATED: 'Bachelorette' Wedding Full of Love, No Red Roses

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Alleged parent killer thinks DNA evidence is 'funny,' pleads not guilty

The Queens drug addict accused of killing both his parents 15 months apart callously tried to claim that DNA evidence against him was nothing more than a remnant of his doting mom’s affection for him, prosecutors said.

“Funny that you found DNA now, where did you find it — under her fingernails? My mother likes to run her fingers through my hair,” cocky alleged killer Gregory Cucchiara told detectives as they questioned him in the murder of his mother, Guisepina.

The chilling statement was read in Queens Supreme Court today as Cucchiara, 36, pleaded not guilty to killing both Guisepina, 66, in May 2011 and his father, Carmelo, 77, in August 2012.

Ellis Kaplan

Gregory Cuccchiara

Cucchiara — whose lengthy rap sheet includes DWI and disorderly conduct convictions — made the comment about his mother while in custody for killing his dad.

In court today, Cucchiara’s lawyer, Michael Anastsiou, entered the guilty pleas on his behalf in front of several weeping and disgusted family members.

The alleged killer scowled at his relatives as Assistant District Attorney Patrick O’Connor read from Cucchiara’s oral and written police statements.

Cucchiara claimed he’d gone out for a beer and come back to find his mom dead — and tried to pin his father’s death on his brother-in-law.

“I went to purchase beer on Bell Boulevard, and when I came back my mother was dead,” Cucchiara said. “I tried to give her CPR. Our relationship was good, I had nothing to do with her death.”

As for his father’s death, Cucchiara claimed his sister’s husband was the likely killer.

“My brother-in-law watches a lot of ‘CSI’ and knows how to make things look as though they may not really be,” Cucchiara said.

He also told detectives that has father was ill, and “suffering to the point of sudden death.”

That claim was refuted by family friend Michael Ronemus, who said the family was “unaware of any sickness.”

Guisepina Cucchiara was found drowned in a bathtub in the family’s Bayside manse on May 25, 2011. The medical examiner said she died of submersion of her head followed by blunt force trauma to the skull.

Her son continued to live in the family home after the murder.

Carmelo Cucchiara — who had told family members he was afraid of his son and moved into an Astoria apartment — was found dead there on August 21.

Cops found a blood splattered pillow, and the ME said the older man died of asphyxia from obstruction of the nose and mouth.

Gregory Cucchiara was arrested Nov. 13 and is being held without bail on Rikers Island, records show.

In court today, judge Kenneth C. Holder holder denied the accused killer’s bid for bail, citing a history of bench warrants.

Lawyer Anastasiou argued that his client was indicted by a “prejudice grand jury.”

Cucchiara was also indicted for assault against a police lieutenant and detective during an interrogation the day he was arrested.

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South Florida trade poised for a record year

International trade through South Florida was up more than 10 percent during the first nine months of the year, putting the Miami Customs District in position to finish among the nation’s Top 10 Customs districts for the first time.

The Miami Customs District, which includes airports and seaports from Palm Beach County to Key West, is expected to edge out the San Francisco district in the No. 10 spot. The value of imports and exports shipped via the Miami district totaled $102.6 billion through Oct. 1, a 10.17 percent increase from last October, according to an analysis released Tuesday by WorldCity, a Coral Gables-based media company that focuses on Miami’s role in the international economy.

“Miami is coming out of the economic slowdown in better shape than it entered,’’ said Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity. “For the first time, Miami will almost certainly finish the year as the nation’s No. 10-ranked Customs district. It has ranked as low as No. 14.’’

Trade through the Miami district is currently running at record levels. Roberts said total trade is expected to climb to $118 billion to $120 billion by year’s end, shattering the $112.8 billion record set in 2011.

Once again, Brazil will finish as the Miami district’s top trading partner. During the first nine months of the year, total trade with Brazil climbed to $13.7 billion — $1.1 billion more than the previous year. Trade with Colombia and Switzerland also increased, which will allow them to retain their rankings as South Florida’s second and third most important trading partners.

Miami International Airport is the nation’s top gateway for imported Colombian gold, which has pushed up the value of Colombian exports to South Florida. Switzerland owes most of its No. 3 ranking to the fact that is a big buyer of gold and scrap precious metal exported through the Miami district.

“Somewhat ironically, Miami has been able to capitalize on the economic weakness globally, becoming the nation’s top importer and exporter of gold, as investors have sought the security it offers. Mexico, Colombia and now Bolivia have become large suppliers of gold,’’ Roberts said.

Costa Rica moved past Venezuela and China to rank as South Florida’s fourth most important trading partner through the first nine months of 2012.

South Florida’s trade with Venezuela fell by $72.3 million to $5.5 billion through Oct. 1.

Other countries that saw their trade with South Florida decline during the first nine months of 2012 include the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, Honduras, Paraguay, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Spain and Guatemala.

Earlier this week, the Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean forecast that regional economies, which are the bread-and-butter trading partners for South Florida, are expected to grow 3.8 percent in 2013.

But it remains to be seen whether South Florida will continue its record trade growth next year.

“We have a lot of economic pressure around the world we’ll have to keep our eyes on,’’ said Dan Fisher, TD Bank’s director for North America, global trade finance. “We see a big slowdown in China.’’

The economy of China — marketplace to the world — will still grow by a very respectable 7.6 percent, he said, but that’s slow compared to the 9-11 percent growth of recent years.

Among other factors that will impact trade are: modest growth in the United States, how the U.S. resolves its fiscal cliff dilemma and continuing financial problems in Europe.

But Richard Biter, an assistant secretary with the Florida Department of Transportation, said, “We are really optimistic within Florida DOT.’’

Increased investment in transportation and port infrastructure, he said, translates into more jobs for Floridians.

Biter, who spoke at the WorldCity forecasting event, said DOT is working on a Florida Freight Plan that will be ready for the governor and state legislature by July 1. DOT is analyzing freight infrastructure within each Florida county and how it connects with the state economy so it can better prioritize state investments and market the importance of the trade and cargo industry.

“We’re letting people know that seeing trucks on a road is not a bad thing,’’ he said.

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