Miami police Wednesday afternoon were investigating a fatal motorcycle accident on West Flagler Street.
The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. when a biker and a vehicle collided near 43th Avenue, just west of LeJeune Road.
The unidentified motorcyclist died on the scene. The driver of the car involved is being questioned by police.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash.
No charges have been filed.
This story will be updated when more details are available.
Al igual que otras plataformas que buscan una convergencia entre el mundo móvil y la PC, Canonical confirmó el arribo de su sistema operativo Ubuntu a los dispositivos móviles. Disponible en una primera instancia como una instalación no oficial para la línea de smartphones Nexus 3, la versión de Linux utilizada en más de 20 millones busca posicionarse como una alternativa ante un mercado dominado por compañías como Apple y Google, junto a las propuestas de Microsoft con Windows Phone y Research in Motion con sus teléfonos BlackBerry.
La compañía dio un primer paso en febrero de 2012 con Ubuntu for Android , una distribución para “mejorar” el Android convencional.
La versión actual es un sistema operativo que sólo comparte con Android el uso de sus drivers (ambos están basados en Linux), pero no usa una máquina virtual Java, por lo que los 700.000 programas con las que cuenta Android no estarán disponibles directamente. Ubuntu tendrá su propia suite de aplicaciones, y permitirá la suma de nuevas que estén programadas en HTML5 o sean nativas.
Canonical también planea lanzar un teléfono de diseño propio que llegaría al mercado en 2014, pero no brindó mayores detalles sobre el fabricante involucrado. Los recientes cambios en la interfaz de Ubuntu, denominada Unity, marcaron una tendencia en la distribución hacia la interacción en pantallas sensibles al tacto, y este lanzamiento representa un primer paso de la distribución para ingresar en el mundo móvil de los smartphones y las tabletas.
Las prestaciones de una PC, en un dispositivo de bolsillo
Según Mark Shuttleworth, CEO de Canonical, en un principio esta versión de Ubuntu apunta a los entusiastas de la plataforma, pero con una rápida expansión hacia el resto de los usuarios. “Por primera vez en la historia los usuarios de los teléfonos celulares pueden tener las prestaciones completas que tiene en una PC, y tenemos una ventaja en esto”, dijo el ejecutivo.
Así lo explica Mark Shuttleworth en video, mostrando los gestos que permiten controlar Ubuntu móvil:
El concepto se asemeja a la modalidad presentada por Motorola con su teléfono Atrix , que se convertía en una PC al ser conectado en una base que servía de conexión con un monitor. A su vez, el móvil también podía ser utilizado como una notebook mediante un dispositivo denominado lapdock.
Aún no disponible para su descarga, la presentación formal de Ubuntu para teléfonos ante el público será en la feria Consumer Electronic Show de Las Vegas, en donde LA NACION estará presente para la cobertura de los primeros lanzamientos del año que realizará la industria.
En busca del podio móvil
Con los dispositivos basados en iOS y Android, varias compañías disputan ser la alternativa a las plataformas dominantes. Microsoft busca de la mano de Nokia posicionar a Windows Phone junto a fabricantes como HTC y Samsung. La compañía de Redmond también desea aprovechar la integración con Windows 8 para sacar provecho de su dominio en el mundo de las PC, un segmento en lento retroceso frente a los teléfonos inteligentes y tabletas.
En este punto, la integración entre las PC y los dispositivos móviles también forman parte de los objetivos de Apple, que replicó el exitoso modelo App Store en su línea de computadoras con Mac OS X, utilizado en el iPhone y la tableta iPad, mientras que Google mantiene su apuesta en su plataforma basada en la nube con servicios como Gmail y Drive, entre otros.
Por su parte, Research in Motion presentará su nueva plataforma BB10 , un demorado lanzamiento que tendrá lugar a fines de este mes y con el que busca recuperar el terreno perdido en los últimos años con un renovado teléfono móvil tactil basado en el sistema operativo QNX, utilizado en su tableta Playbook.
Dentro de este pelotón de contendientes también se encuentra Firefox OS , un competidor que más se asemeja a la filosofía de la plataforma de Canonical y que ofrece un sistema operativo basado en el navegador web de la fundación Mozilla. Cuenta con el apoyo de las principales operadoras de telecomunicaciones y apunta a contar con un teléfono de costo accesible para mercados emergentes.
Por su parte, un grupo de desarrolladores responsables de Meego, la plataforma utilizada por Nokia para el N9, se reunieron para presentar a Sailfish OS , un sistema operativo basado en Linux que se encuentra en una incipiente etapa de desarrollo y que planea tener también, al igual que Firefox OS y Ubuntu, un teléfono para mediados de este año.
Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Though Julianne Hough is known for her bubbly personality, it turns out not everything in her life has been so charmed.
Julianne covers Cosmopolitan's February issue, where she reveals she suffered mental and physical abuse while living in London as a young girl in order to pursue her dancing career. She attended the prestigious Italia Conti Academy of Arts on a five-year scholarship, along with her brother Derek.
Video: See Hough & Duhamel's Hot Romance in 'Safe Haven'
"While I was in London, I was abused, mentally, physically, everything," she reveals, and it didn't stop there -- she says it got worse when she "started hitting puberty, when I started becoming a woman and stopped being a little girl."
Though Julianne declines to go into the specific details, she does say that she was forced to push out an overly sexual image at a very young age.
"I was 10 years old looking like I was 28, being a very sensual dancer. I was a tormented little kid who had to put on this sexy facade because that was my job and my life. But my heart was the same, and I was this innocent little girl. I wanted so much love," she says. "I was told if I ever went back to the United States, three things were going to happen. One: I was going to amount to nothing. Two: I was going to work at Whataburger. And three: I was going to end up a slut. So, it was like, I can't go back. I have to be this person."
Related: Julianne Hough -- I'm 20 Pounds Heavier Since Dating Seacrest
Julianne of course did return to the United States, where she became a star thanks to her winning performances on Dancing with the Stars.
On a lighter note, Julianne also dishes to the magazine about her relationship with Ryan Seacrest.
"We love what we do. We take pride in giving it our all, but then when we're alone, we really focus in on going to dinners and being extra-romantic and affectionate and just being there for each other," she says.
And clearly, the two know how to keep the sparks alive -- Julianne recalls when the two were stranded and alone during Superstorm Sandy in New York, and took advantage of the rare time the two workaholics couldn't work.
"It was great," says Hough, smiling. "We put on some candles, had some sexy time....Ha!"
Police shot and seriously wounded a 40-year-old man who charged at him with scissors in a building across the street from Brooklyn Technical HS in Fort Greene, according to authorities and sources.
The gunfire broke out just before 3:22 p.m. inside the apartment building 48 Fort Greene Place, between Lafayette and DeKalb avenues, authorities said.
Law-enforcement sources said the cop, who was alone, had been on his way to traffic court when a frantic person approached him and asked for help, saying there was a man wielding a sharp object.
The cop then went to 48 Fort Greene Place, where he confronted that hulking, 260-pound man, identified as Keary Green, who was wielding a pair of scissors, sources said.
When Green allegedly unged at the cop, the officer fired a single round, hitting the man in the stomach, the source said.
Green was rushed to nearby Kings County Hospital.
"All I heard was a gunshot," said Thomas McCormick, who lives several doors away from 48 Fort Greene Place. "I looked out the window, and the whole block was locked down. They dragged someone into an ambulance, and they took off down the block."
Residents of the block described Green as violent, and said his girlfriend lived in the building where he was shot.
"He was crazy! She was afraid of him," said a long-time resident of the block about Green and his girlfriend.. "He looked crazy . . . like he shouldn't be on the streets.
"She always looked scared," said the resident about Green's girlfriend.
"He was physically, mentally, verbally abusive. She know him from living on Long Island," the resident said. "I think they went to high school together. She knew him for some time . . . I think he tried to reel her back or something. He was just an abusive guy. He just looked crazy!"
Students from Brooklyn Technical were being dismissed from the school at the exit a block away from the shooting scene.
The officer involved in the shooting was transported to Methodist Hospital, but it is not known if that officer was injured in the incident.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona, Amy Stretten, Amber Sutherland and C.J. Sutherland
In a deal that could have implications for the future of Downtown Miami’s anchor retail tenant, a New York real estate investment firm paid $15.5 million to acquire about 60 percent of the property that now houses Macy’s Flagler Street store.
The acquisition by Aetna Realty Group includes the 48,000-square-feet of land that was first leased to R.W. Burdine back in 1917 for the Burdines store. The property was currently owned by 23 heirs of Richard and Harriet Ashby, who signed the initial 99-year lease with Burdine.
The sale was motivated by the impending expiration of that lease in 2016, said Lewis R. Cohen, a shareholder at GrayRobinson, who represented the Ashby family in the transaction that closed on New Year’s Eve.
Over the years, Macy’s has grown the downtown store well beyond the Ashby portion. Aetna has also made a commitment to purchase the remaining portion of the building that is currently owned by Macys, Cohen said. But that deal hasn’t closed yet.
“That deal is a sure thing,” Cohen said. “They could not have closed with us without having an agreement with Macy’s completely nailed down.”
Macy’s spokesman Jim Sluzewski said this transaction doesn’t impact Macy’s lease and he declined to comment on any other pending transaction regarding the property the retailer owns in Downtown Miami.
“It’s business as usual,” said Sluzewski, who would not discuss Macy’s long-term plans for Downtown Miami beyond the expiration of its lease.
But Cohen said Macy’s is in the process of finalizing a short-term deal with the new owners.
“They intend to stay for at least the foreseeable future,” Cohen said. “For a minimum of five years they’ll be there and possibly longer.”
Macy’s long-term future on Flagler Street has been in doubt since 2007, when then Macy’s Florida chairman took city leaders to task for the deplorable conditions downtown and threatened that the retailer might leave.
In Israel, he’s already known as “Bibi’s Brain:’’ Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s master strategist.
But Ron Dermer, 42-year-old Miami Beach native, now Israeli citizen — the son of one Miami Beach mayor and brother of another — could soon add an official title to his resume: Mr. Ambassador.
Dermer is reportedly Netanyahu’s choice for Israeli ambassador to the United States to replace Michael Oren, who plans to step down in the spring after four years.
A political conservative with close ties to powerful American Republicans, Dermer would become Israel’s top diplomat in the United States, a position requiring the ability to represent his country’s interests across U.S. party lines.
Netanyahu’s office hasn’t commented on the reports. A spokesman for the Israeli consulate in Miami could not confirm the possible appointment, nor could Dermer’s older brother, former Mayor David Dermer, who called any speculation “premature.’’ A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the rumor was “baseless.’’ In any case, the Netanyahu government would have to survive a Parliamentary election later this month.
An Oxford-educated scholar-athlete who holds degrees in finance and management from the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School, and who quarterbacked Israel’s flag football World Cup team three times, Dermer is known as smart, polished, and so competitive that “he wouldn’t let a 3-year-old beat him at Ping-Pong,” friend Tom Rose, former Jerusalem Post publisher, once said in an interview.
Dermer “cannot abide anybody being better at him than anything, particularly physically,” Rose said.
The mere speculation that Dermer might be named seemed to thrill South Florida politicians from both parties.
“It’s wonderful — one of our own being Israel’s ambassador to the U.S.,” said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, who knows Dermer. “It is just terrific. He is American as apple pie yet Israeli at heart as well. It is a good fit. He is very much a proud Miami Beach guy — very proud of his hometown.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, said she met Dermer as part of a Congressional delegation to Israel in 2010. Dermer was the staff person who sat next to Netanyahu as they discussed the peace process, she said.
“It was just neat to see someone reach the heights he has — he hails from South Florida and comes from a political family here,” she said. “It made the connection and conversations with the prime minister really just that much more warm and intimate.”
U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, said that the job Dermer holds now — working behind the scenes and with the White House — is very different from being ambassador to the United States, which would require him to directly address Americans in speeches and through the media.
“Ambassador to the U.S. is the most high-profile diplomatic position in Israel,” Klein said. “It requires a tremendous amount of savvy and style that Americans can relate to.”
Happy New Year! Like most folks, I am working on some resolutions for 2013. One resolution I have is to be more productive. One way I am going to do this is by using my Android phone better. Now there are apps that I have, but really have not used to their fullest. As I work on this resolution, I might discover even better apps. For now I will focus on these impressive apps that can make anyone more productive.
I use Hootsuite on the computer, but rarely find myself engaging with it on my smartphone. With Hootsuite, you can manage Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Foursquare accounts. The free version allows for up to five accounts and one member of your team to access the account. There is a pro version with a monthly fee, in which you can have more accounts and team members and helpful analytics tools.
The design of the app is very good. If you sync the web version to mobile, you will have everything automatically downloaded to the phone. When viewing content, you swipe left or right to change columns or streams. If you are in the middle of a stream, simply tap the top menu bar to automatically return to the top. The app allows for multiple profiles and scheduled tweets. My goal is to keep up with my feeds and tweets in real-time rather than waiting until I get to a computer.
Another web service that I started to use, but find myself not using it to the fullest. Producteev is a web-based task management service. With Producteev you can work as an individual or in a team by setting up workspaces and then organize tasks by labels. For each task you can assign a priority, due date, and share with team members, if you have any. Overall, this is a great service, since I like making lists, even though I rarely remember having made them.
The Producteev app is available for all platforms. The app has a very clean interface and is easy to find tasks. Probably the best way to keep up with tasks is to use the different widget for the home screen. Seeing the widgets will help keep those key tasks in the forefront of your mind. The app will work offline and syncs in the background.
I read blogs every single day, especially those related to new apps, Android, or mobile news. The only way I can do that is via my Google Reader. I find myself trying to catch up each day on the computer (just like with Twitter activity) when I would be better off reading a little bit over time during the day. NewsRob is a Google Reader that I have had for years. The interface is very clean and easy to use. The developer created a bunch of customizations options, which really make this reader stand out.
With NewsRob you can set up a notification of new articles, how you synchronize with Google and when, how many articles to keep in your cache, and more. If you set up folders within Google Reader, NewsRob will download the folders, too. This enables you to read the posts by blog or folder. The app provides a very clean blogpost display optimized for smaller screens. With each post you can zoom in or out, mark a post read or unread, view in the browser, and share the link to email or services such as Evernote. There is a free version of the app.
The last task I need to work on to be more productive is to keep up with the calendar. I find myself checking on the computer, after the fact, finding out that I am either late or forgot about a meeting or appointment. Using Google calendar is a good place to start, but I have not found the standard calendar app on my Droid was all that helpful.
Business Calendar is a very capable calendar app that has a ton of features. The app lets you view your calendar in a number of different views, and has search and favorite-calendar features, to name a few. The option of viewing different calendars, color coding and being able to easily add, delete, and edit events is helpful. The ability to use widgets for reminders is important. The pro version has over 10 different sizes and allows for the import or export of calendar files in the iCalendar format. Business Calendar also has a free version.
So my top goal or resolution for 2013 is to be more productive. I think using these apps more will help me accomplish that goal. Are there any apps you have but not using to their fullest? What resolutions do you have for 2013?
Download the Appolicious Android app
Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Taylor Swift and Harry Styles had equally amazing 2012's, and they kissed good-bye to the preceding 365 days together in Times Square last night.
After singing on ABC's New Year's Rocking Eve, Swift and Styles braved the crowds to watch the ball drop. And to the hordes of fans who'd gathered to count down to midnight, "Haylor's" ensuing smooch ended up being more captivating than all the twinkling lights in the sky.
WASHINGTON – A Senate-passed bill to keep the country from going off the fiscal cliff ran into trouble in the House today, as Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor came out against the deal.
"I do not support the bill,” Cantor said as he left a closed closed-door meeting of Republicans about the deal negotiated between Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
The Senate passed the deal by a wide margin just after 2 AM today, two hours after the country technically went over the fiscal cliff, when tax hikes and billions of spending cuts took effect.
With just hours left to try to act on the deal before financial markets open Wednesday morning, the House had yet to even schedule a vote.
“The Speaker and Leader laid out options to the members and listened to feedback,” said Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck. “The lack of spending cuts in the Senate bill was a universal concern amongst members in today’s meeting.”
“Conversations with members will continue throughout the afternoon on the path forward,” Buck said.
Rank and file Republicans complained about the deal’s lack of spending cuts.
“I’d be very surprised if the House passed what the Senate passed in the middle of the night – very surprised,” said Rep Steve King (R-Iowa) told the Post.
“I would be shocked if the bill doesn’t go back to the Senate” with spending cuts, said Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.).
Any changes made by the House would have to be matched by the Senate, and could scuttle the deal. But Republicans also cautioned against putting “poison pills” into the deal.
House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tried to hold House Republicans’ feet to the fire.
“Our Speaker has said when the Senate acts, we will have a vote in the House," she said. "That is what he said, that is what we expect, that is what the American people deserve…a straight up-or-down vote."
NEW YORK --
With it appearing that Washington lawmakers are working their way past the “fiscal cliff,” many analysts say that the outlook for stocks in 2013 is good, as a recovering housing market and an improving jobs outlook helps the economy maintain a slow, but steady recovery.
Reasonable returns in 2013 would send the S&P 500 toward, and possibly past, its record close of 1,565 reached in October 2007.
A mid-year rally in 2012 pushed stocks to their highest in more than four years. Both the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average posted strong gains in 2012. Those advances came despite uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election and bouts of turmoil from Europe, where policy makers finally appear to be getting a grip on the region’s debt crisis.
“As you remove little bits of uncertainty, investors can then once again return to focusing on the fundamentals,” says Joseph Tanious, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds. “Corporate America is actually doing quite well.”
Although earnings growth of S&P 500 listed companies dipped as low as 0.8 percent in the summer, analysts are predicting that it will rebound to average 9.5 percent for 2013, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. Companies have also been hoarding cash. The amount of cash and cash-equivalents being held by companies listed in the S&P 500 climbed to an all-time high $1 trillion at the end of September, 65 percent more than five years ago, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Assuming a budget deal is reached in a reasonable amount of time, investors will be more comfortable owning stocks in 2013, allowing valuations to rise, says Tanious.
Stocks in the S&P 500 index are currently trading on a price-to-earnings multiple of about 13.5, compared with the average of 17.9 since 1988, according to S&P Capital IQ data. The ratio rises when investors are willing to pay more for a stock’s future earnings potential.
The stock market will also likely face less drag from the European debt crisis this year, said Steven Bulko, the chief investment officer at Lombard Odier Investment Managers. While policy makers in Europe have yet to come up with a comprehensive solution to the region’s woes, they appear to have a better handle on the region’s problems than they have for quite some time.
Stocks fell in the second quarter of 2012 as investors fretted that the euro region’s government debt crisis was about to engulf Spain and possibly Italy, increasing the chances of a dramatic slowdown in global economic growth.
“There is still some heavy lifting that needs to be done in Europe,” said Bulko. Now, though, “we are dealing with much more manageable risk than we have had in the past few years.”
Next year may also see an increase in mergers and acquisitions as companies seeks to make use of the cash on their balance sheets, says Jarred Kessler, global head of equities at broker Cantor Fitzgerald.
While the number of M&A deals has gradually crept higher in the past four years, the dollar value of the deals remains well short of the total reached five years ago. U.S. targeted acquisitions totaled $964 billion through Dec. 27, according to data tracking firm Dealogic. That’s slightly down from last year’s total of $1 trillion and about 40 percent lower than in 2007, when deals worth $1.6 trillion were struck.
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