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Court gives OK for wharf eatery

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 16 Maret 2013 | 18.38

Redevelopment of Boston's Long Wharf pavilion into a waterfront restaurant — seven years in the making — is a step closer thanks to a decision by Massachusetts' highest court.

Restaurateur Michael Conlon and the Boston Redevelopment Authority welcomed yesterday's Supreme Judicial Court ruling that the pavilion doesn't constitute a public park and its redevelopment doesn't require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.

"We look forward to moving ahead with the BRA on this project, which we believe will benefit the city, the waterfront and the neighborhood," Conlon said in a statement.

In 2007, Conlon's Eat Drink Laugh Restaurant Group was the winning bidder for a 10-year lease of the pavilion, which is slated to be enclosed and expanded to make way for Doc's Long Wharf, a 220-seat casual, moderately priced eatery.

The next year, the state issued a Chapter 91 waterways license to the BRA for the redevelopment of the pavilion, which sits atop an MBTA ventilation shaft.

But a group of 10 North Enders appealed the license and eventually filed suit in Superior Court in 2010. They argued the state Department of Environmental Protection acted unconstitutionally and beyond its authority in issuing the license without legislative approval, which is needed when land taken for open space is used for other purposes.

The BRA argued that it took the land by eminent domain in 1970 as part of a waterfront urban renewal plan to eliminate blight and stimulate development.

A Superior Court judge sided with the North End residents, and the BRA waged an appeal.

"We are pleased with the SJC's decision," BRA director Peter Meade said in a statement. "It paves the way for yet another great destination on the edge of the Boston Harbor."

The SJC sent the case back to Superior Court to heed the North End residents' request for review of the Chapter 91 license.

"They will have to litigate the Chapter 91 legal claim and consider litigating alleged violations of federal law," said Gregor McGregor, the residents' attorney, referring to legal requirements tied to federal funding for Long Wharf improvements.


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Builders offer $250G to spruce up underpass

The timing couldn't have been worse: A murder victim is found sprawled in the shadows of a viaduct next to an upcoming South End apartment project — one day before a key neighborhood meeting about the development.

Then again, the bad timing has turned into good intentions. The developers heard the community's concerns about the gritty spaces under the elevated Expressway and offered up $250,000 to improve it.

The mitigation money will pay for an "artistic" lighting display designed to "create a sense of warmth and extend the neighborhood," said Justin Krebs, principal at Normandy Real Estate Partners.

Normandy and co-developer Gerding Edlen won approval this week from the Boston Redevelopment Authority to turn a parking lot at 275 Albany St. into a 380-unit apartment complex featuring a 19-story tower with views of downtown Boston.

"That is going to be their doorstep, right under the Expressway, so to make it more inviting is definitely a welcome addition to the project," said state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston), who attended the Feb. 25 meeting, held the day after a body was found amid the gravel, glass and other evidence of drug use and homelessness under the overpass.

Michlewitz said the murder and the $145 million project's advancement have given urgency to the state Department of Transportation's previous plan to overhaul the viaduct area, possibly by converting the dim, "dicey" spaces into well-lit parking lots.

"People are starting to realize that the pathway between there and South Boston is used a lot more than it was before," he said, noting the access to the Broadway MBTA station. "We need to accommodate the pedestrian use and make it a safer environment."

MassDOT spokesman Michael Verseckes said the agency is working on permitting and public bidding to improve three viaduct sections between Herald and Randolph streets.

"There is no immediate time frame on this, but there is wide agreement among interested stakeholders in converting these spaces to productive use," he said.

The adjacent section of Albany Street will see an influx of new residents in a few years. The old Boston Herald site will become the Ink Block, a 471-unit apartment complex anchored by Whole Foods.

Normandy, which scrapped plans for a pair of hotels, expects to break ground at 275 Albany St. in the fall. The project will be surrounded by wide sidewalks and a planting buffer.

Architect ADD Inc. tweaked the design, with input from BRA planners, so that even the loading area will appear more lively.

"We've put windows down there that will be backlit at night," said Tamara Roy, senior associate principal at Boston-based ADD. "So it will just feel like there are eyes on the street there as you walk around."


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Turbo-boosted Beetle

Sporty, quick and fuel-efficient — that sums up the 2013 VW Beetle TDI.

Based on the popular Golf architecture, the 2.0 liter, 140-horsepower Turbo Diesel offers pleasantly surprising performance. Driven through the upgraded DSG Automatic Transmission, or Direct Shift Gearbox, it can be wrung out for quick, sport-like driving or babied as an economical commuter car.

What's great about this car is watching the digital display counting out at least 35 mpg in mixed driving and a robust 39 on the highway. So even though diesel fuel costs more, the extra 10 mpg gained over gasoline models makes this an intriguing choice.

The flat metal dash and tiny glovebox highlight the throwback interior, which is a bit spartan in places, but the controls are well-placed and intuitive. The rear seat straps also pay homage to the cars of yesteryear, but remain helpful when clambering out of the very tight rear seats. The good news: The trunk has more space now. The rigid and bench-like leatherette front seats are a disappointment. A more supportive seat would make the driving experience better: Go with cloth for more comfort. The squared-off steering wheel with its easy infotainment controls makes you want to run this Bug through a weekend rally.

Thanks for the heated seats, but the car interior eventually warms and then roasts you! As high schoolers we rattled around in a mid-'60s era Bug and had to use an ice scraper on the interior window. Looks like this Bug is plagued by erratic heating, too.

The handling is crisp and sure with just the right amount of feedback to the driver, and the electronic braking distribution system delivers nice, solid stopping power. The electronic stability and independent strut suspension keeps the Bug flat on turns with little body roll. The torquey diesel accelerates quickly with just enough turbo gurgle to let you know that this is not one of the air-cooled bangers from the '60s. This is a good engine, and it produces. Step on it for immediate response, and the Bug scoots swiftly into traffic.

Our tester was the base DSG TDI, so for $24,395 you get a nicely packaged coupe that includes satellite-ready stereo, Bluetooth connectivity, cruise control and 
17-inch wheels. Upgrades will get you navigation, sunroof and the Fender stereo. However, the hands-free phone is miserable. It's difficult to understand and callers had a difficult time hearing me.


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Obama: US should fund research for cleaner cars

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the U.S. must shift cars and trucks off oil for good so the public can avoid spikes in gasoline prices.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama promotes a plan to direct $200 million a year into an energy security trust to fund research for alternatives like electric car batteries and biofuels. He says the trust would use revenues from federal leases on offshore drilling without adding to the deficit.

Obama says investing in clean energy will help create jobs. He's envisioning cars that can one day go coast to coast without using any oil.

In the Republican address, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin says Republicans have a plan to balance the federal budget in 10 years by cutting spending.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/HouseConference


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The Ticker

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 15 Maret 2013 | 18.38

Geithner book said to recount financial crisis

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, right, has a book deal with Crown Publishers, an imprint of Random House.

Geithner's book, currently untitled, is scheduled for 2014 and will provide a "behind-the-scenes" account of the financial crisis.

Geithner, 51, stepped down in January as Treasury secretary and was succeeded by Jack Lew.

Avis completes $500M Zipcar buy

Auto rental giant Avis Budget Group completed its nearly $500 million acquisition of Zipcar, the Cambridge-based car sharing service. Zipcar leads the U.S. car-sharing market, in which people pay a monthly fee for access to short-term auto rentals, with about 777,000 members and nearly 10,000 vehicles

Red Sox name official health club

Luxury fitness company Equinox has been named the official health club of the Boston Red Sox. The company has two locations in Boston, with a third one opening soon in Chestnut Hill.

Software glitch delays tax refunds

The Internal Revenue Service says 660,000 taxpayers will have their refunds delayed by up to six weeks because of a problem with the software they used to file their tax returns. The delay affects people claiming education tax credits who filed returns between Feb. 14 and Feb. 22.

TODAY

  • The Labor Department releases the Consumer Price Index for February.

THE SHUFFLE

  • ClickSquared of Boston has hired Sam Zales as its new chief executive officer. Zales succeeds Wayne Townsend, who had served as the company's CEO since 2008.
  • Hittite Microwave Corp. of Chelmsford has hired Rick D. Hess as the company's newest president and chief executive officer. Current CEO Stephen G. Daly plans to step down from the company at the end of the month.

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They’re married all year – to the IRS

Tax season is upon us and the Herald's TaxSmart experts are here each Friday to help.

Today, Norwood CPA Robert Fineman discusses how married couples can cope with filing statuses.

I got married toward the end of 2012. My wife and I had already bought a house together the previous year. We don't have children.

Since we were only married for a short time in 2012, I'm confused as to how we should file. Am I single or married? Sort of married? Not quite single? Do I have to file differently for the different time periods? It all seems problematic.

— Mark Irving

I have good news. The answer to your complicated question is actually very simple.

Your filing status for the entire year is whatever your marital status is on the last day of the year. For example, if you get married on Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m., you are considered married, for tax purposes, for the entire year.

Generally, "Married Filing Jointly" is the more favorable status as opposed to "Married Filing Separately." Couples filing separately reach the 28 percent, 33 percent and 35 percent tax brackets much sooner than those filing jointly.

Certain deductions and credits are not available to taxpayers who elect to file separately, such as student loan interest deductions, college tuition deductions, the American Opportunity Tax Credit of up to $2,500, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Also, taxpayers filing jointly can deduct capital losses of up to $3,000 per year, compared to $1,500 if filing separately.

Email tax questions 
to bizsmart@boston
herald.com.


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Rooms with a view of St. Pat’s Day fun

Rooms with a view of St. Pat's Day fun

Once a year, a select group of Southie residents have front-row seats to the neighborhood's storied St. Patrick's Day parade.

Tens of thousands flood the sidewalks and fill the windows along Broadway, East Fourth, East Fifth and Dorchester streets as green floats, bagpipers and marching bands pass by.

It's too late to settle into a piece of property along the parade route in time for Sunday's Irish festivities, but here's a sampling of residences on the market with their asking prices, listed from start to finish:

258 West Broadway, Unit 1 — $365,000. Located two blocks from the Broadway MBTA station, this 1,100-square-foot loft with possibilities to be a live/work place offers 13-foot ceilings and exposed brick. The one-bedroom property also has exclusive use of a rear patio area and a shared roof deck. The monthly condo fee is $110 per month. Terry Hillery of Commonwealth Coastal Real Estate is the listing agent.

399 West Broadway, Unit 4 — $529,000. This 1,260-square-foot condo with two bedrooms and two bathrooms has an open floor plan featuring a living and dining room, along with a wood-burning fireplace and custom built-ins. The home has 10-foot-high ceilings, walnut-stained floors and a third bedroom that has been converted to a custom walk-in closet. There is also a large roof deck with views of downtown Boston. The monthly condo fee is $285. Listed by John Collins Capital Residential Group.

796 East Fourth St. — $939,000. This is only the second time in 100 years this magnificent 4,175-square-foot Victorian home near City Point has been available for sale. The eight-bedroom residence has four levels and 12-foot-high ceilings with original mill work, three marble fireplaces and stained glass window doors. There is also a private backyard. The property was the setting for the 2009 film "The Box," starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. Listed by Mike Sullivan and Stephen Hussey of Meridian Realty Group.

689 East Fourth St., Unit 2 — $729,000. This is one of seven newly constructed condos in a building at the corner of K Street. The 2,100-square-foot property fills two levels and features three bedrooms, three full baths and central heat and air conditioning. Units come with two deeded parking spaces. The monthly condo fee is $275. Listed by Jackie Rooney of Rooney Real Estate.

362 Dorchester St., Unit 3 — $459,000. This penthouse duplex has two bedrooms, two baths and two sunny decks. Built/renovated in 2005, the 1,109-square-foot condo features a chef's kitchen with stainless steel appliances, stone counters, marble baths, recessed accent lighting, hardwood floors and a gas fireplace. Garage parking is available for $200 per month. Listed with the Ranco & DeAngelo team at Hammond Residential.

Jennifer Athas, a licensed real estate broker, can be reached on Twitter 
@JenAthas.


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Samsung refreshes iPhone-challenging Galaxy line

NEW YORK — Samsung Electronics is ratcheting up its rivalry with Apple with its new Galaxy S 4 smartphone, which has a larger, sharper screen than its predecessor, the best-selling S III.

Samsung trumpeted the much-anticipated phone's arrival Thursday at an event accompanied by a live orchestra while an audience of thousands watched the theatrics unfold on a four-level stage at Radio City Music Hall. Summoning up a touch of Broadway, Samsung employed 17 actors to demonstrate the new phone's features in a series of scripted vignettes.

The Galaxy S 4, which crams a 5-inch screen into body slightly smaller than the S III's, will go sale in the U.S. sometime between the end of April and the end of June.

In the U.S., it will be sold by all four national carriers — Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA — as well as by smaller ones US Cellular and Cricket. All told, Samsung plans to offer the Galaxy 4 S through 327 carriers in 155 countries, giving it a wider reach than Apple's iPhone 5.

Samsung didn't say what the phone will cost, but it can be expected to start at $200 with a two-year contract in the U.S. That's comparable to the iPhone 5.

JK Shin, the executive in charge of Samsung's mobile communications division, promised the money would be well spent for a "life companion" that will "improve the way most people live every day."

That bold promise set the tone for the kind of flashy presentation associated with the showmanship of Apple, the company that Samsung has been trying to upstage. Apple contends Samsung has been trying to do it by stealing its ideas — an allegation has triggered bitter courtroom battles around the world.

In the last two years, Samsung has emerged as Apple's main competitor in the high-end smartphone market. At the same time, it has sold enough inexpensive low-end phones to edge out Nokia Corp. as the world's largest maker of phones.

The Galaxy line has been Samsung's chief weapon in the smartphone fight, and it has succeeded in making it a recognizable brand while competitors like Taiwan's HTC Corp. and Korean rival LG have stumbled. Samsung has sold 100 million Galaxy S phones since they first came out in 2010. That's still well below the 268 million iPhones Apple has sold in the same period, but Samsung's sales rate is catching up.

Research firm Strategy Analytics said the Galaxy S III overtook Apple's iPhone 4S as the world's best-selling smartphone for the first time in the third quarter of last year, as Apple fans were holding off for the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 took back the crown in the fourth quarter.

One way Samsung and other makers of Android phone have been one-upping Apple is by increasing the screen size. Every successive generation of the Galaxy line has been bigger than the one before. The S III sported a screen that measures 4.8 inches on the diagonal, already substantially larger than the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen. The S 4's screen is 56 percent larger than the iPhone's.

In a Wednesday interview, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller declined to discuss whether Apple is considering enlarging the screen on the next model of the iPhone, which is expected to be released later this year. He said Apple remains confident that the iPhone 5 is the most useful and elegant smartphone available, hailing it as "the most beautiful consumer electronics device ever created."

Samsung believes the S 4 will set the new standard.

Apart from the larger screen and upgraded processor, the S 4 has a battery that's 20 percent larger than that of the S III. Samsung didn't say if that translates into a longer battery life — the added capacity might be gobbled up by the bigger screen or other internal changes.

The S 4 comes with a built-in infra-red diode, so it can control an entertainment center as a universal remote. This is a feature that has showed up in Android tablets before.

The S 4 comes with several new technologies intended to help users interact with the phone. For instance, the screen now senses fingers hovering just above the screen, and some applications react. The Mail application shows the first few lines of an email when a finger hovers above it in the list, and the Gallery application shows an expanded thumbnail.

Users can control some other applications by making gestures in the air above the phone. In the browser, you can command the screen to scroll up by swiping from top to bottom a few inches from the phone.

The Camera application can now use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously, inserting a small picture of the user even as he's capturing the scene in front of him.

When several S 4s are in close proximity, they can link up to play the same music, simultaneously — perfect for headphone dance parties.

The Galaxy 4 S also will include a tool that enables users to create a dividing line so part of the phone is devoted exclusively to work while the other part is filled with personal information and photos. The feature is similar to a function on the latest BlackBerry — an indication that Samsung is going after other smartphone makers besides Apple with its latest model.

The new features illustrate Samsung's drive to make its phones stand out from the crowd of Android smartphones. Jan Dawson, an analyst with Ovum, said they could be seen as "gimmicks rather than game changers."

"At this point, Samsung appears to be trying to kill the competition with sheer volume of new features — there should be something here for everyone, even if most of these new features won't be used by most users," he said.

While the event in New York was going on, Samsung Electronics Co. kicked off its annual meeting in Seoul. CEO, Kwon Oh-Hyun, told the audience that he expects slow growth in the global consumer electronics market, except in smartphones, where sales are still zooming.

___

AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke contributed to this report from San Francisco. AP Business Writer Youkyung Lee contributed from Seoul.


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Cocktails will flow year-round in Frost’s cool setting

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 14 Maret 2013 | 18.38

Customers can expect a cool reception at Boston's newest attraction this spring.

Frost Ice Bar — where everything but the floor and ceiling will be made of ice — is under construction in a building near Faneuil Hall in preparation for a June opening.

The 1,500-square-foot bar, similar to the Minus5 ice bars in Las Vegas, will be a chilly 17 degrees.

"Most of them that have been done are temporary outdoor ones, but this is going to be year-round indoors," said Cindy Brown, CEO of the Frost Group, the Hub company building the bar. "Interestingly, it's not as cold as it sounds, given there's no humidity or wind. It's amazingly comfortable."

The bar is taking shape in former office space on the third floor of the north building, above the American Eagle store, at Marketplace Center, which borders the Greenway on the east end of Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

Customers will check into a retail area and don hooded capes and gloves before entering a 32-degree "transition room" for about a minute to get acclimated to a cooler temperature and receive brief instructions.

"Then the doors open, and you're kind of wowed by a beautiful cave all made of ice — the walls, the furniture, the actual bar, the glasses for the drinks," Brown said. "It will have beautiful sound, beautiful lights ... ice sculptures, and you can get your photos taken."

A Canadian company is constructing the bar's ice components and will ship them to Boston, while Brookline Ice Co. will handle the artistic end, supplying ice sculptures and specialty logos for private parties.

Customers will be admitted about every 15 minutes for a 45-minute stay in the 115-capacity bar. The Frost Group is considering a $29 admission charge, which would include one drink.

The cocktail menu will include about eight Boston-themed drinks that will rotate seasonally. It will be 21-plus after 5 p.m., but will admit adults with kids age 6 and older, and serve non-alcoholic drinks, before then.

The Frost Ice Bar will cater to locals and tourists alike. Brown said she plans cross-marketing with Boston Duck Tours, which she co-owns and is part owner of the bar.


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Roxbury grocer aims to triple size with $44M plan

Madison Park Development Corp. and Tropical Foods International hope to start construction by July on their $44 million mixed-used project in Roxbury's Dudley Square.

The companies have filed a "letter of intent" to the Boston Redevelopment Authority for the 2.75-acre development. The $14 million first phase will be a new home for Tropical Foods, an urban supermarket that has operated in Dudley Square since 1974.

"It's only fair to our customers that we get that new store so we can give them the shopping experience that they deserve," co-owner Ronn Garry Jr. said. "It's also a good sign, in this day and age — when independent (grocers) such as Johnnie's Foodmaster and Hi-Lo are going out of business — to see an independent that's willing to expand and build new."

Garry hopes to open the "long overdue" store by late 2014, with offerings including a deli, bakery, fresh seafood and prepared foods.

The developers say city and state approvals are time-sensitive. Bank of America's financing is contingent on the phase-one construction loan closing by July.

The new Tropical Foods, with 27,000 square feet of retail, will be more than triple the size of the current market, which draws 14,000 shoppers weekly.

"People call us the 'United Nations,' " Garry said, noting Tropical Foods' Caribbean, black American, and Central and South American customers. "But we're not just an ethnic store; we're a full-service supermarket."

Bordering Melnea Cass Boulevard, Washington Street and Shawmut Avenue, the project covers four parcels owned by Tropical Foods and vacant land, called Parcel 10, owned by the BRA and state Department of Transportation.

The project's estimated $17 million second phase will be a 54,000-square-foot building with office and retail. Madison Park scrapped a wing of 36 residential units there.

"Part of the reason for some of the design changes was that the city is widening Melnea Cass Boulevard because they're planning a bus lane down the middle," Madison Park CEO Jeanne Pinado said.

The nonprofit has yet to secure financing for the building or the third phase — a $14 million rehab of the Tropical Foods building into 30 subsidized apartments and first-floor retail.


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Apple CEO required to testify in NY e-books case

NEW YORK — Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered to testify in a New York court case the Justice Department brought against the company over the pricing of e-books for consumers.

Federal Judge Denise Cote on Wednesday granted a government request to depose Apple Inc.'s chief executive.

The government sued Apple last spring, saying the technology giant conspired with five major book publishers to raise e-book prices on consumers and eliminate competition. The publishers have all settled.

In its lawsuit, the Justice Department had claimed that Apple and the publishers conspired to drive the cost of e-books from $9.99 to $15 or more for the most popular books.

An Apple spokesman declined comment.


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Denver Post CEO Ed Moss resigns

DENVER — Ed Moss, the president and chief executive officer of The Denver Post, is resigning effective April 1.

Moss told Post staff in an email Wednesday that he also is resigning his position as executive vice president of Digital First Media, which manages newspapers owned by MediaNews Group and Journal Register Co.

The Post reports (http://tinyurl.com/cvpy8wq ) that Moss said he needs to dedicate his time to recover from injuries he suffered in an October accident.

Moss is a former publisher of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was hired by Digital First Media in February 2012.

___

Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com


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Miami New Times rejects MLB request

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 13 Maret 2013 | 18.38

MIAMI — The Miami New Times has rejected a request from Major League Baseball for records that the alternative newspaper obtained for a story that alleges several players received performance-enhancing drugs from a now-closed anti-aging clinic.

New Times editor Chuck Strouse's response to MLB commissioner Bud Selig appeared on the paper's website Tuesday (http://bit.ly/W7VCzk).

Strouse cited journalistic ethics and the fact that the newspaper has already posted dozens of records on its website, omitting personal information of people who weren't involved in any wrongdoing.

The newspaper reported in January that six professional baseball players, including Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, bought human growth hormone and other PEDs during 2009-12 from Biogenesis of America LLC. The defunct anti-aging clinic in Coral Cables was operated by Anthony Bosch. Rodriguez has denied the allegations.

The story was based on clinic records, many with handwritten notations, that the New Times said it obtained.

Strouse confirmed his response by phone Tuesday night.

MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said, "While we appreciate the New Times consideration, we have been proceeding with our investigation as if we were not going to be getting documents from them."


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Leap jumps to capture next step in motion control

AUSTIN, Texas — In a bustling tent set up in a parking lot here at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival, people are pointing their hands and gesturing with chopsticks as they guide various actions on a dozen computer screens.

Some of the sharpest minds in technology have gathered in Austin, Texas, to ponder the ever-connected nature of the modern world. A big theme this year focuses on how to create more seamless interactions between people and technology, finding ways to control devices that go beyond mice, trackpads and touchscreens.

That's where the Leap Motion computer controller comes in. It's the gadget's first public appearance. On display are popular games such as the fruit-chopping "Fruit Ninja," and a more challenging one involving a maze. One man paints a picture by moving his fingers a few inches from a computer screen.

Greg Dziem, who works in data management in Austin, is using the controller to play the maze game. "It's pretty sensitive," he says. "You have to go slow. You have to be calm, steady."

The best-known motion controller to date has been Microsoft Corp.'s Kinect, which is used primarily for video games. People stand at least six feet from the device, which is usually mounted on or near a TV set. Cameras in the Kinect track users' movements and transmit them to the computer. But while Kinect is meant for living rooms and dancing games, Leap Motion is designed for people to use while seated and moving their hands just a few inches from the screens of laptops and personal computers.

"The technology was born out of the deep frustration of interacting with computers," says CEO and co-founder Michael Buckwald. While computers are "vastly different" than they were 30 years ago, he says, the way people interact with them hasn't really evolved.

Leap hopes to change that, allowing people to use natural hand movements to control games, complete office tasks, paint, create 3-D objects, and edit music and video. Leap's creators don't like to use the word "gesture" because that implies a set of pre-determined hand movements to control the screen. Instead, they like to think of their technology as more seamless than that.

Buckwald talks about the barrier that exists between computers and their users and says the best way to get rid of it is to harness "people's natural ability to interact" with the machine.

"Every day we reach out and grab things," he says. "It's very natural, but very complicated. We want people to reach into the computer."

Using Leap may take a little getting used to, if only because people who are accustomed to touchscreens may be tempted to poke at the monitor instead of sweeping and flicking their hands a few inches away from it.

In a demonstration, Leap's vice president of product marketing, Michael Zagorsek, showed off a yet-to-be named photo application that lets people browse through the photos on their computer using Leap. In another app, users can strum on-screen strings to make music. A demo-only program designed to show Leap's properties lets users mold a piece of virtual clay using their hands and a chopstick. There was no noticeable lag between the off-screen action and the on-screen movement.

The device itself is a bit longer and narrower than a matchbox. It works using three infrared LED lights and two cameras to track users' hands. It plugs into a PC or a Mac and sits between the user and the keyboard.

The controllers will cost $80 and will be sold in Best Buy stores beginning on May 19. San Francisco-based Leap will have an app store, called Airspace, with free and paid apps available in areas that range from gaming to 3-D modeling to travel to business and finance.

__

Online: www.leapmotion.com


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Report: More youth use smartphones as route to Web

CHICAGO — Keep computers in a common area so you can monitor what your kids are doing. It's a longstanding directive for online safety — but one that's quickly becoming moot as more young people have mobile devices, often with Internet access.

A new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that 78 percent of young people, ages 12 to 17, now have cellphones. Nearly half of those are smartphones, a share that's increasing steadily — and that's having a big effect on how, and where, many young people are accessing the Web.

The survey, released Wednesday, finds that one in four young people say they are "cell-mostly" Internet users, a percentage that increases to about half when the phone is a smartphone.

In comparison, just 15 percent of adults said they access the Internet mostly by cellphone.

"It's just part of life now," says Donald Conkey, a high school sophomore in Wilmette, Ill., just north of Chicago, who is among the many teens who have smartphones. "Everyone's about the same now when it comes to their phones — they're on them a lot."

He and other teens say that if you add up all the time they spend using apps and searching for info, texting and downloading music and videos, they're on their phones for at least a couple hours each day — and that time is only increasing, they say.

"The occasional day where my phone isn't charged or I leave it behind, it feels almost as though I'm naked in public," says Michael Weller, a senior at New Trier High School, where Conkey also attends. "I really need to have that connection and that attachment to my phone all the time."

According to the survey, older teen girls, ages 14 to 17, were among the most likely to say their phones were the primary way they access the Web. And while young people in low-income households were still somewhat less likely to use the Internet, those who had phones were just as likely — and in some cases, more likely — to use their cellphones as the main way they access the Web.

It means that, as this young generation of "mobile surfers" grows and comes of age, the way corporations do business and marketers advertise will only continue to evolve, as will the way mobile devices are monitored.

Already, many smartphones have restriction menus that allow parents to block certain phone functions, or mature content. Cellphone providers have services that allow parents to see a log of their children's texts. And there are a growing number of smartphone applications that at least claim to give parents some level of control on a phone's Web browser, though many tech experts agree that these applications can be hit-or-miss.

Despite the ability to monitor some phone activity, some tech and communication experts question whether surveillance, alone, is the best response to the trend.

Some parents take a hard line on limits. Others, not so much, says Mary Madden, a senior researcher at Pew who co-authored the report.

"It seems like there are two extremes. The parents who are really locking down and monitoring everything — or the ones who are throwing up their hands and saying, 'I'm so overwhelmed,'" Madden says.

She says past research also has found that many parents hesitate to confiscate phones as punishment because they want their kids to stay in contact with them.

"Adults are still trying to work out the appropriate rules for themselves, let alone their children," Madden says. "It's a difficult time to be a parent."

And a seemingly difficult time for them to say "no" to a phone, even for kids in elementary school, where the high-tech bling has become a status symbol.

Sherry Budziak, a mom in Vernon Hills, Ill., says her 6-year-old daughter has friends her age who are texting by using applications on the iPod Touch, a media player that has no phone but that has Internet access.

She draws the line there. But she did get her 11-year-old daughter an older model iPhone last fall, so she can stay in touch with her. Budziak, who works in the tech field and understands the ins and outs of the phone, set it so that the sixth-grader can text, make and receive phone calls and play games that her parents download for her.

"So we're on the conservative side, by far," she says.

Budziak also tells her daughter and her daughter's friends that it's Mom's phone, not her daughter's. It means that she and her husband monitor texts on the phone any time they like.

Does their daughter protest about all the restrictions? Occasionally.

"But she wants a phone so badly that it doesn't matter right now," Budziak says. "Having a phone was better than having no phone at all."

Mark Tremayne, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Texas at Arlington, says he and his wife put off getting their son a smartphone longer than most— until his 13th birthday, which is quickly approaching. They plan to monitor it, having already discovered a few "surprises" when checking the Web surfing history on his iPod Touch.

On one hand, Tremayne says it's the sort of stuff he used to look up in books and magazines when he was 13.

"It's pretty clear that kids will do what kids will do," he says. But he acknowledges that having a mobile device can make it that much easier to access.

The key, he says, is to talk to his son about it, and that's what many other tech and communication experts also advise.

"I don't think the technology itself is bad. The benefits vastly outweigh the risks. But parents do need to be aware," says Daniel Castro, a senior analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a research and education think tank based in Washington, D.C.

"Part of it is simply asking, 'What are you doing, and why?'"

Too often, he and others say, adults don't fully understand how the smartphones work — or how their kids might use them differently than they do.

So guidance from parents, teachers and other adults can be lacking, says Danah Boyd, a senior researcher at Microsoft Research who specializes in teens and their tech-driven communication.

"For the last decade, too much of the online safety conversation has focused on surveillance. Surveillance will not help in a world of handhelds, but conversation will," says Boyd, who's also a research assistant professor of media, culture and communication at New York University.

She points to research by Henry Jenkins, the director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has long encouraged parents, schools and after-school programs to focus on how to navigate the online world — from developing judgment about credible online sources to using high-tech skills to help build community and pool collective knowledge.

At the Conkey household in suburban Chicago, brothers Donald and Harry know their parents track the music they buy and might look at their Web surfing history when borrowing their sons' laptops. Mom Brooke Conkey acknowledges that she also may glance at the occasional text.

"Oh yeah, she'll look over our shoulders and she'll want to know who we're talking to — and that's to be expected," says Harry Conkey, a high school senior. "It's a parent. It's natural to want to know who your kids are talking to."

His parents don't use filters of any kind because, while there's been the occasional "mistake" when downloading or surfing on their phones or laptops, Mom and Dad think that's just part of learning and growing up. That may change, however, with their 6-year-old son Peter.

"I think that things will get trickier as time goes on," Brooke Conkey says. "And I think things will be easier to get to — the naughty things. So I think I probably would be more proactive than I was with the older boys."

It's a balance, she says, because she and other parents also realize that smartphones and other mobile devices are only likely to become an even more integral part of life and learning. At least at the college level, some schools are seeing the benefit of mobile surfing, and encouraging it, too.

Last fall, Stephen Groening, a film and media studies professor at George Mason University in Virginia, taught a class that examined "cell phone cultures." Students did much of the class work using phones — creating video essays, taking pictures, texting and tweeting.

"I've had students tell me that they bring their cell phones in the shower with them. They sleep with them," Groening says, noting that he never knew a student attached to a laptop in that way

In New Jersey, Seton Hall University gives incoming freshman a free smartphone for the first semester. Among other things, they use them to help them navigate campus, connect with other students and follow campus news that streams on the SHUmobile app.

Kyle Packnick, a freshman at Seton Hall, liked having one of the phones and said they're particularly helpful for students who don't come to school with a smartphone.

But he also thinks people his age could do a better job setting their own limits with technology — and is grateful that his parents didn't even allow him to text on his cell phone when he was in high school. He was only allowed to make phone calls.

"At the time, I definitely wasn't happy about it," the 19-year-old says. But now he feels he's less dependent on his phone than his peers.

Pew's findings are based on a nationally representative phone survey of 802 young people, ages 12 to 17, and their parents. The report, a joint project with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, was conducted between July and September last year. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 4.5 percentage points.

____

On the Internet:

Pew: http://www.pewinternet.org

____

Martha Irvine is an AP national writer. She can be reached at mirvine(at)ap.org or at http://twitter.com/irvineap


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Applying for Obama health care plan not easy

WASHINGTON — Applying for benefits under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could be as daunting as doing your taxes.

The government's draft application runs 15 pages for a three-person family. An outline of the online version has 21 steps, some with additional questions.

Seven months before the Oct. 1 start of enrollment season for millions of uninsured Americans, the idea that getting health insurance could be as easy as shopping online at Amazon or Travelocity is starting to look like wishful thinking.

At least three major federal agencies, including the IRS, will scrutinize your application. Checking your identity, income and citizenship is supposed to happen in real time, if you apply online.

That's just the first part of the process, which lets you know if you qualify for financial help. The government asks to see what you're making because Obama's Affordable Care Act is means-tested, with lower-income people getting the most generous help to pay premiums.

Once you're finished with the money part, actually picking a health plan will require additional steps, plus a basic understanding of insurance jargon.

And it's a mandate, not a suggestion. The law says virtually all Americans must carry health insurance starting next year, although most will just keep the coverage they now have through their jobs, Medicare or Medicaid.

Some are concerned that a lot of uninsured people will be overwhelmed and simply give up.

"This lengthy draft application will take a considerable amount of time to fill out and will be difficult for many people to be able to complete," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, an advocacy group supporting the health care law. "It does not get you to the selection of a plan."

"When you combine those two processes, it is enormously time consuming and complex," added Pollack. He's calling for the government to simplify the form and, more important, for an army of counselors to help uninsured people navigate the new system. It's unclear who would pay for these navigators.

Drafts of the paper application and a 60-page description of the online version were quietly posted online by the Health and Human Services Department, seeking feedback from industry and consumer groups. Those materials, along with a recent HHS presentation to insurers, run counter to the vision of simplicity promoted by administration officials.

"We are not just signing up for a dating service here," said Sam Karp, a vice president of the California HealthCare Foundation, who nonetheless gives the administration high marks for distilling it all into a workable form. Karp was part of an independent group that separately designed a model application.

The government estimates its online application will take a half hour to complete, on average. If you need a break, or have to gather supporting documents, you can save your work and come back later. The paper application is estimated to take an average of 45 minutes.

The new coverage starts next Jan. 1. Uninsured people will apply through new state-based markets, also called exchanges.

Middle-class people will be eligible for tax credits to help pay for private insurance plans, while low-income people will be steered to safety-net programs like Medicaid.

Because of opposition to the health care law in some states, the federal government will run the new insurance markets in about half the states. And states that reject the law's Medicaid expansion will be left with large numbers of poor people uninsured.

HHS estimates it will receive more than 4.3 million applications for financial assistance in 2014, with online applications accounting for about 80 percent of them. Because families can apply together, the government estimates 16 million people will be served.

Here are some pros and cons on how the system is shaping up:

— Pro: If you apply online, you're supposed to be able to get near-instantaneous verification of your identity, income, and citizenship or immigration status. An online government clearinghouse called the Data Services Hub will ping Social Security for birth records, IRS for income data and Homeland Security for immigration status. "That is a brand new thing in the world," said Karp.

— Con: If your household income has changed in the past year or so and you want help paying your premiums, be prepared to do some extra work. You're applying for help based on your expected income in 2014. But the latest tax return the IRS would have is for 2012. If you landed a better-paying job, got laid off, or your spouse went back to work, you'll have to provide added documentation.

— Pro: Even with all the complexity, the new system could still end up being simpler than what some people go through now to buy their own insurance. You won't have to fill out a medical questionnaire, although you do have to answer whether or not you have a disability. Even if you are disabled, you can still get coverage for the same premium a healthy person of your age would pay.

— Con: If anyone in your household is offered health insurance on the job but does not take it, be prepared for some particularly head-scratching questions. For example: "What's the name of the lowest cost self-only health plan the employee listed above could enroll in at this job?"

HHS spokeswoman Erin Shields Britt said in a statement the application is a work in progress, "being refined thanks to public input."

It will "help people make apples-to-apples comparisons of costs and coverage between health insurance plans and learn whether they can get a break in costs," she added.

But what if you just want to buy health insurance in your state's exchange, and you're not interested in getting any help from the government?

You'll still have to fill out an application, but it will be shorter.

___

Online:

Insurance Affordability Application package: http://tinyurl.com/akkvu9f


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Cape Wind going overseas, snubs Mass. steel co.

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 12 Maret 2013 | 18.38

Cape Wind going overseas, snubs Mass. steel co.

Another significant portion of the Cape Wind project — due to be underwritten by taxpayers and ratepayers — will be built in Europe instead of locally, and an embittered Bay State steel maker claims that's always been the project developer's plan.

"Cape Wind used our intended participation to garner public support," Mass Tank President Carl C. Horstmann wrote to U.S. Energy officials after Cape Wind developer Jim Gordon backed out of a manufacturing deal with his company. An executive at Mass Tank of Middleboro said the split came after his firm spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" learning how to build the massive steel foundations that would support Cape Wind's turbines in all sorts of weather conditions.

Horstmann told federal energy officials — now considering a government-backed loan for the $2.6 billion project — that when he and Gordon signed a nonbinding letter of intent at a well-publicized event in 2010, he thought "we were initiating a mutually beneficial business arrangement that would pay dividends to the state and the region.

"But now I can only conclude I was wrong, and question whether Cape Wind's commitment to Mass Tank and the local manufacturing jobs was ever made in good faith," he wrote.

Cape Wind seeks to be the nation's first offshore wind power project, with as many as 130 wind turbines spinning on a 25-square-mile stretch of Nantucket Sound.

Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rogers acknowledged that the project's 140-foot-tall turbines and the 350-ton foundations would be made in Europe, but said that's only because the U.S. doesn't have firms with the technology and experience to build them.

Rogers said Cape Wind tried to make its Mass Tank deal work, but had to go with a firm that met their needs and budget.

Still, he insists, the project — which is in line to secure tens of millions of dollars in state funding — will benefit the state.

"Cape Wind has already spent tens of millions of dollars in the local economy hiring scientists, engineers and other specialists," Rogers said. "Cape Wind will put hundreds of people in the region to work constructing our facility and we will create 50 permanent jobs."


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Judge strikes down NYC ban on supersized sodas

NEW YORK — A judge struck down New York City's pioneering ban on big sugary drinks Monday just hours before it was supposed to take effect, handing a defeat to health-minded Mayor Michael Bloomberg and creating uncertainty for restaurants that had already ordered smaller cups and changed their menus.

State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling said the 16-ounce limit on sodas and other sweet drinks arbitrarily applies to only some sugary beverages and some places that sell them.

"The loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of this rule," Tingling wrote in a 36-page ruling that examined the scope of power that should be afforded an administrative board for regulations. The ruling was seen as a victory for the beverage industry, restaurants and other business groups that called the rule unfair and wrong-headed.

In addition, the judge said the Bloomberg-appointed Board of Health intruded on the City Council's authority when it imposed the rule, citing in part a case from the 1980s which questioned whether a state public health council had the authority to regulate smoking in public places.

The city vowed to appeal the decision, issued by New York state's trial-level court.

"We believe the judge is totally in error in how he interpreted the law, and we are confident we will win on appeal," Bloomberg said, adding that the city would emphasize to higher courts "that people are dying every day. This is not a joke."

For now, though, the ruling means the ax won't fall Tuesday on supersized sodas, sweetened teas and other high-sugar beverages in restaurants, movie theaters, corner delis and sports arenas.

"The court ruling provides a sigh of relief to New Yorkers and thousands of small businesses in New York City that would have been harmed by this arbitrary and unpopular ban," the American Beverage Association and other opponents said.

While some eateries had held off making changes because of the court challenge, some restaurants had begun using smaller glasses for full-sugar soda. Dunkin' Donuts shops have been telling customers they will have to sweeten and flavor their own coffee. Coca-Cola has printed posters explaining the rules.

Frames Bowling Lounge developed — and is keeping — a slate of fresh-squeezed juices as an alternative to pitchers of sodas for family parties, investing staff time, buying new glasses and changing menus.

"All that cost a lot of money — but you have to go with the flow," executive general manager Ayman Kamel said. Customers have started calling about the new juices, and "we're all very excited about it," he added.

Bloomberg urged businesses to comply despite the court ruling, and not just because the city may yet prevail.

"If you know what you're doing is harmful to people's health, common sense says if you care, you might want to stop doing that," he said.

The first of its kind in the country, the restriction has sparked reaction from pizzeria counters to late-night talk shows, celebrated by some as a bold attempt to improve people's health and derided by others as another "nanny state" law from Bloomberg during his 11 years in office.

On the "Late Show with David Letterman" Monday night, Bloomberg defended the ban but he also joked about his own "addiction."

"As long as you don't ban Cheez-Its," he said. "Cheese-Its are OK. That's my addiction."

On his watch, the city has compelled chain restaurants to post calorie counts, barred artificial trans fats in restaurant food and prodded food manufacturers to use less salt. The city has successfully defended some of those initiatives in court.

Because of the limits of city authority and exemptions made for other reasons, the ban on supersized beverages doesn't cover alcoholic drinks or many lattes and other milk-based concoctions, and it doesn't apply at supermarkets or many convenience stores — including 7-Eleven, home of the Big Gulp.

The rule, if upheld, would create an "administrative leviathan," warned Tingling, who was elected to the Supreme Court bench in 2001 as a Democrat.

The health board has considerable regulatory power, but its limits will likely be a central question in the appeal.

"I think it turns on whether the appellate division feels that the mayor has gone too far in ruling by decree in bypassing City Council," said Rick Hills, a New York University law professor who has been following the case.

In defending the rule, city officials point to the city's rising obesity rate — about 24 percent of adults, up from 18 percent in 2002 — and to studies tying sugary drinks to weight gain.

The judge acknowledged the impact of obesity on the city's residents, and noted that those bringing suit likewise didn't dispute obesity is a significant health issue, but questioned how much sugary drinks can be blamed for it. Ultimately the judge said whether the issue of obesity is an epidemic is not the key issue here, but whether the board of health has the jurisdiction to decide that obesity is such an issue that it could issue a cap on consumption of sugary drinks.

The judge found that the regulation was "laden with exceptions based on economic and political concern."

Critics said the measure is too limited to have a meaningful effect on New Yorkers' waistlines. And they said it would take a bite out of business for the establishments that had to comply, while other places would still be free to sell sugary drinks in 2-liter bottles and supersized cups.

The city had said that while restaurant inspectors would start enforcing the soda size rule in March, they wouldn't seek fines — $200 for a violation — until June.

The ruling "serves as a major blow to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's incessant finger-wagging," said J. Justin Wilson at the Center for Consumer Freedom, created by restaurants and food companies. "New Yorkers should celebrate this victory by taking a big gulp of freedom."

Jose Perez, a fifth-grade special education teacher in Manhattan who was getting a hot dog and can of soda from a street vendor, called the ruling "dead-on."

"Really, I think it's just big government getting in the way of people's rights," he said. "I think it's up to the person. If they want to have a giant soda, that's their business."

___

Associated Press writers Meghan Barr and Deepti Hajela contributed to this story.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz


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World stock markets edge away from recent highs

BANGKOK — World stock markets edged off recent highs in uneven trading Tuesday as worries grew about China's recovery and Europe's doldrums.

Japan's Nikkei 225 did an about-face after spurting higher in the morning. After hitting 12,461.97, an intraday high not seen in more than four years, the benchmark sank 0.3 percent to close at 12,314.81. That finish put an end to an eight-day winning streak.

The index has been boosted recently by the weakness of its currency against the greenback and expectations of action by the Bank of Japan to shore up the country's stalling economy once a new bank chief is installed.

The Dow, which has closed every trading session higher since March 1, also appeared to be losing steam. Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.1 percent to 14,362. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1 percent at 1,549.

European stocks were almost flat in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose slightly to 6,505.36. Germany's DAX was nearly unchanged at 7,985.99. France's CAC-40 dipped less than 0.1 percent to 3,835.57.

Evan Lucas, strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, said Australia's resource and mining stocks took a hit from falling commodities prices and data suggesting that China's economic growth is choppy also didn't help. OZ Minerals fell 2.5 percent. Fortescue Metals Group dropped 3 percent.

Chinese economic figures over the weekend were largely disappointing and prompted many investors to book some recent gains and take to the sidelines after a rally that's seen many stock indexes around the world push up to multi-year highs.

"It does feel like an off day and people feel like taking profits," Lucas said.

The soft Chinese industrial production and retail sales figures stoked some concerns that the recent pick-up in the country's growth rate may have stalled. In addition, higher-than-expected inflation of 3.2 percent in February raised questions about the government's ability to do more to shore up the world's second-largest economy.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9 percent to 22,890.60. Australia's S&P/ASX dropped 0.6 percent to 5,117.90. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.5 percent to 1,993.34.

"It's been a tepid start to the week after weekend Chinese economic data came in on the weaker side of expectations, while investors absorb the latest Italian downgrade, as well as a surprise dive in manufacturing and industrial output in the French economy," Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, said in an email commentary.

Among individual stocks, China Railway Construction Group fell 6.5 percent in Hong Kong. China Railway Group shed 5.1 percent. The declines come days after the government announced it would dismantle the railways ministry and move its operations into a newly created company. The ministry had been under criticism for heavy debt and corruption.

The Dow Jones industrial average posted its seventh straight day of gains on Monday. The streak began March 1 and last Tuesday the blue chip index blew past its all-time high.

Boeing surged 2 percent after an executive reportedly said he's confident the aircraft maker has figured out a fix for the battery problems that have grounded the 787 Dreamliner.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was down 33 cents to $91.71 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 11 cents to end at $92.06 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday.

In currencies, the euro slipped to $1.3001 from $1.3038 in New York on Monday. The dollar fell to 96.19 yen from 96.27 yen.

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson


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Media watching for results of papal conclave

NEW YORK — White smoke or black smoke? Maybe it's easier just to wait for a text message that a new pope has been elected.

A Catholic organization has set up a website, www.popealarm.com, that lets people register to receive a text or email notification when a pope has been selected.

While the process of selecting a new pope is as old as the ages, there are enough changes to the media to make the last papal conclave — in 2005 — seem like ancient history.

The text service was set up by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, or FOCUS, and had proven so popular with more than 40,000 respondents that the popealarm website said Monday it was accepting no new registrants. The site hopes to increase its capacity before the cardinals begin voting, said Jeremy Rivera, spokesman for the Christian campus ministry.

"When the smoke goes up, you'll know what's going down" is the website's motto.

FOCUS paid nearly $10,000 to set up the free service, figuring it was good publicity. Now the group's leaders are sifting through co-sponsorship offers from other organizations impressed with the amount of online traffic it has generated and hoping for their own exposure, he said.

Another new website, www.adoptacardinal.org, assigns interested people one of the voting cardinals at random to pray for him as he deliberates on a new pope. More than 450,000 people had signed up by Monday.

American television network stars are in place in Vatican City for the start of the conclave Tuesday. All will wait for the traditional signal that a new pope has been selected: white smoke from the burned ballots of cardinals wafting from a Sistine Chapel chimney.

Two of the three U.S. evening news programs broadcast from Rome Monday in anticipation of the conclave: ABC's "World News" with Diane Sawyer and the "CBS Evening News" with Scott Pelley. Brian Williams of NBC's top-rated "Nightly News" did not make the trip.

In 2005, none of the top network anchors went to Rome for the conclave. Some network planners are reluctant to move broadcasts to Rome for the conclave because it's an open-ended event; no one knows how long it will last. It's different for the installation of a new pope, a defined event that can be scheduled around.

Lester Holt is the leading newscaster on hand for NBC News, the network said Monday.

Besides Pelley, CBS has sent its morning show team of Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell to Rome. The other network morning shows will have anchors on scene for special reports — Holt for NBC's "Today" show and Josh Elliott for "Good Morning America" on ABC.

Shepard Smith, who is Fox News Channel's top news anchor, is that network's top person on the scene. CNN has sent Anderson Cooper and Chris Cuomo, who will trade off coverage during the day and evening. Chris Jansing is the anchor leading MSNBC's coverage.

Among the specialized websites offering coverage of the event, the National Catholic Reporter is among the most watched by people following the story.

While Nate Silver of The New York Times' FiveThirtyEight blog predicted odds for last fall's presidential election, he's making no such call this time. The blog did publish a list from Oddschecker.com that was a compilation of various betting odds on who will be the next pope.

The top choice, with an average chance of 23 percent, was Angelo Scola of Italy. Oddsmakers gave him a narrow advantage over Peter Turkson of Ghana.

Asked what media outlet he'll follow most closely, James Martin, a Jesuit priest and commentator, said that "the person matters much more than the site."

He has a handful of experts whose reportage on the conclave he closely follows: John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter; Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church;" Robert Mickens, a writer for the Catholic news weekly The Tablet; John Thavis, whose book "Vatican Diaries" came out last month; and Sandro Magister, a television producer and blogger.

Allen warned readers in the National Catholic Reporter about the chance for initial confusion since smoke coming out of the Sistine Chapel often seems grey at first. That was a big complaint among TV anchors at the last conclave.

"Generally, it takes a few minutes to sort out what's actually happened," Allen wrote.

NBC News will let people judge for themselves online. It is setting up a "smoke cam" of live streaming video of the Sistine Chapel chimney.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org or on Twitter (at)dbauder.


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Google Now hits homer

Written By Unknown on Senin, 11 Maret 2013 | 18.38

One year since the launch of Android's virtual helper Google Now, Apple has failed to hit back with anything remotely as intuitive. Although it's the most robust smartphone assistant to date, Google Now has been sort of a quiet success.

On a recent trip to escape the cold weather, Google Now became a trusted sidekick. It knew I had been researching activities at my destination and provided me with unsolicited information on the topic. At the airport, Now gave me a nice surprise by displaying my digital boarding pass. A person on my flight asked me what the point was, and I didn't really know the answer until my gate changed, and Google Now updated the boarding pass automatically.

This may seem kind of magical to some, but it's really not. Think about how intimately our smartphones know us: our search history, what we read, who we talk to, where we go. Yet most remain indifferent to this knowledge. Google Now changes that. The subtle reminders from Google Now come in the form of "cards" that take on different themes, like the weather and your daily commute to work. Right now there are only a few dozen of these so-called cards. But as Google continues to develop this feature and when it opens up cards to third-party developers, you really will start to see Google Now take off.

The search giant has shown that it understands the future isn't just about providing the next beautiful-looking device; it's about deeper integration with the user and lessening friction points of daily tasks.

For instance, I shouldn't have to open an app to search for movie times, nor should I have to navigate to my e-ticket. My phone already has all the data about when I'm going to need that ticket. Google Now acts on that information. Of course, the tradeoff here is privacy. We need to continue keeping Google accountable on that front. And although Google Now wasn't always perfect, the hiccups are tolerable because the more you use it, the smarter it gets. That's more than I can say for any other virtual assistant, Apple's much-beloved Siri included. Though it's probably more correlation than cause, each company's stock value seems to have responded in kind.


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The Ticker

Dutch airliner partly fueled by cooking oil

A Dutch airliner is flying from New York to Amsterdam on a fuel mix that includes leftover oil from frying Louisiana's Cajun food.

The KLM flights from Kennedy Airport are powered by a combination of 25 percent recycled cooking oil and 75 percent jet fuel.

After the first such flight Friday, the concept will be tested on 24 round-trip trans-Atlantic trips every Thursday for the next six months.

TODAY

  • Analogic Corp. and Urban Outfitters report quarterly financial results.

TOMORROW

  • Costco Wholesale Corp. reports quarterly financial results.
  • The U.S. Treasury releases the federal budget for February.
  • Boston-based environmental and engineering firm Haley & Aldrich has hired Marc J. Richards, left, as a vice president and leader of the firm's Massachusetts Licensed State Professionals team.
  • Abt Associates of Cambridge has named Scott Royal president and CEO of Abt SRBI, the survey research and data collection arm of the firm, effective April 1. Royal is currently Abt's division vice president for U.S. Health, a position he has held since 2008.
  • Aushon Biosystems Inc. of Billerica has appointed Thomas Mac Mahon, former president and CEO of LapCorp, to its board of directors. Previously, he held the roles of senior vice president of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., president of Roche Diagnostics Group, and chairman of PharMerica Corp.
  • Wells Fargo Private Bank has hired John Rogers as a private banker. Rogers, who will be based in Boston, will provide banking relationship management for clients, including banking, credit and access to brokerage and investment management services.
  • Micronotes of Cambridge has announced that Donald W. Layden Jr., operating partner at Baird Venture Partners, has joined the company's board of directors. Prior to joining Baird, Layden held executive positions with Metavante.
  • Cambridge-based bike-sharing service Zagster has hired Dan Sewell as its director of operations. Sewell previously held the positions of member services manager and fleet manager at Zipcar, where he worked for seven years.

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Fine-tuning fine dining preferences

A Cambridge startup is making it easier for diners to choose from the 200-plus eateries participating in Boston's Winter Restaurant Week this month.

Nara Logics aims to become for restaurants what Pandora is for music.

After users of Nara's website or mobile application answer a few questions, an algorithm uses the information to create their "personal digital DNA" and match their tastes to restaurants. Nara developed a special filter for Restaurant Week to narrow the field.

"We're a personalized web engine," CEO Tom Copeman said. "We like to say we're 'Pandorifying' other key consumer lifestyle categories on the Web, and we're starting with restaurants."

Users can fine-tune their dining preferences by giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to restaurants.

Searching the Web is so 20 years ago, according to Copeman. Now it's about "finding and getting something recommended to you," he said. "We're sort of the Match.com between restaurant and consumers."

Nara's patented "Nara Neural Network" is powered by an artificial intelligence-like architecture that trolls sites and emulates users' thinking patterns.

In stealth mode for two years, Nara made its public debut last June and launched its products in November. The company generates revenue from users who book restaurant reservations on OpenTable, order takeout from GrubHub or book a ride from Uber through its site. The company also has fielded interest from companies interested in using Nara's technology to power their own sites, Copeman said.

Nara's restaurant recommendation engine is available in 50 North American cities, and the company plans to expand into areas such as shopping and hotels.

Nara has $7 million in funding to date, led by Boston investment advisory firm Account Management.

"I don't do many startups," Account Management founder Peter de Roetth said. "I invest in people, and it was the combination of (Copeman and CTO Nathan Wilson)."


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Phoenix's BizNasty scoring on Twitter

PHOENIX — EDITOR'S NOTE — Phoenix Coyotes enforcer Paul Bissonnette adopted Twitter reluctantly but has now become an unlikely star on the social media network. In keeping with Twitter style, this story about Bissonnette's online personality is broken up into lines of 140 characters or less. Sections written by sports writer John Marshall are preceded by his Twitter handle (jmarshallap). Quotes from other sources are preceded by the handle or name of the person being quoted and set off by quotation marks. Actual tweets are clearly noted when they appear in the story.

___

jmarshallap: Paul Bissonnette's fists helped get him to the NHL. His Twitter alter-ego, BizNasty2point0, gave him unheard of popularity for a 4th-liner.

DonMaloney (Phoenix Coyotes GM): "U.S. hockey fans might not know Paul Bissonnette, per se, but BizNasty's a name everyone's familiar with."

jmarshallap: Biz has the knuckle scabs and mangled nose of a brawler, but a cache of Twitter followers more suited for a star, 397K and counting.

That's more than Patrick Kane (255K), Henrik Lundqvist (231K), Steven Stamkos (226K). (hash)rare.

ShaneDoan (Coyotes captain): "It is unique. Look around the league and there's not that many people in his position who have that many followers. He's amazing that way."

jmarshallap: Tough and quirky, enforcers have always been fan favorites.

The Twitterverse sent Biz into another realm for a player who sat out half his team's games last season.

BizNasty2point0: "It just blew up."

Jmashallap: Now he's got a Taco Bell commercial, a clothing line with Sauce Hockey, a fervent following.

DonMaloney: "We had a youth team come down from Canada and 4-5 of the kids went to Shane, 1 to Mike Smith and the rest went to BizNasty's locker."

jmarshallap: Biz hated Twitter initially, put off by updates on tanning, shopping, relationships. (hash)vapid

BizNasty2point0: "I thought it was dumb; they have 20,000 tweets and 100 followers, and it's like what are doing with your life? Do something productive."

jmarshallap: Former teammate Scottie Upshall changed things. Told Biz to joke, comment on TV sporting events. (hash)perfectfit.

ScottieUpshall (Florida Panthers): "He's one of the funniest guys in the game. There's no filter."

jmarshallap: It occasionally leads to trouble. He had to shutter his original Twitter account, BizNasty.

Reason? A comment about Russian hockey player Ilya Kovalchuk with references to lap dances and communism.

BizNasty2point0: "It was probably being politically incorrect, but I wasn't trying to be hurtful. I just said back to the Soviet. A little offside."

jmarshallap: Biz rebooted his Twitter account. He's still pointed.

Some examples in these real BizNasty2point0 tweets:

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Dwight howard is up for worst body language. (hash)Grammys

You have to live in a trailer park to call in to the Nancy Grace television show.

Leaving a voicemail over 1 minute should be punishible by death.

If Christmas has taught me one thing it's to never kidnap Liam Neeson's children.

MY ROOMMATES LISTENING TO RASCAL FLATTS. PLEASE SEND HELP.

___

jmarshallap: Biz still straddles the line. Occasionally trips over his fingers on the keyboard.

DonMaloney: "We've had to address it a number of times.

"There's a fine line between what's acceptable as a professional athlete and what's acceptable as a 14-year-old."

jmarshallap: To keep Biz from getting too nasty, the Coyotes have a staffer track his Twitter account.

Biz occasionally checks in to see if he's about to go too far. Most of it gets through. (hash)leeway.

BizNasty2point0: "They do let me get away with a lot and show my personality, and I do appreciate that. I'm not very filtered compared to some other guys."

jmarshallap: Self-deprecation augments the appeal. Starts with his Twitter bio:

BizNasty2point0: "Play in the NHL for the Phoenix Coyotes. Well sort of. Once played in the ECHL for the Wheeling Nailers, seriously, that was the name. Living the dream."

jmarshallap: His actual tweets and retweets continue the theme:

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"NHL_problems: Tag the worst hockey player you know in this tweet." BizNasty2point0

If you drafted me in fantasy hockey I thank you and the people you are playing against thank you.

Should I mention 'being sued by NHL' on my McDonald's resume?

Instagram takes me from a 4 to a soft 7.

tsnjamesduthie: BizNasty2point0 btw, was at my daughter's swim meet on Sat. 4 freakin hours and she swam for 3 mins. Now I know how your parents feel.

___

jmarshallap: BizNasty2point0 is a 140-character extension of Bissonnette's personality.

CalClutterbuck (Minnesota Wild forward, workout partner): "That's what he's like. He's a pretty unique individual. Unpredictable, to say the least."

jmarshallap: Biz practically came into the world with a ready comeback, firing back at a family friend's verbal jabs at an early age.

BizDad (Cam Bissonnette): "He was a 4-5 year old chirping an adult on a same level. I found at that time, this kid's not going to take any flak from anybody."

jmarshallap: He certainly doesn't on Twitter, especially when followers knock his playing ability. (hash)touchanerve.

BizNasty2point0: "Buddy, you're playing junior hockey and you're insulting a guy who's made it to the highest level.

"What does that say about you?"

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jmarshallap: Off ice, Biz is gregarious, just like his father — and so many other enforcers. Serves him well on Twitter.

ScottieUpshall: "He makes it seem like hockey players are just normal people like the rest of them. He's pretty good at it."

jmarshallap: Grammer, er, grammar he's not so good at, a byproduct of attending French school in Welland, Ontario until 7th grade.

BizNasty2point0: "I go to tweet something and have to ask guys, how do you spell this, and it's like five-letter words.

"They'll be like, (hash)%$! off Biz, so I'll Google them now, going back and forth with it on every word."

jmarshallap: The misspellings cause his mother to cringe almost as much as when he crosses the good-taste line.

BizMom (Yolande Bissonnette): "As a mother and someone who used to be a professor at a community college, his grammar could be better."

jmarshallap: In a way, the grammatical gaffes fit right in, an inadvertent form of self-deprecation making Biz even funnier.

Like the battered nose on his face, flaws are a part of the BizNasty brand, adding character to a player who made a name for himself in 140 characters or less.

(hash)end.

___

AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this story.

___

Follow John Marshall on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/jmarshallap

EDITOR'S NOTE _ Phoenix Coyotes enforcer Paul Bissonnette adoted Twitter reluctantly but has now become an unlikely star on the social media network. In keeping with Twitter style, this story about Bissonnette's online personality is broken up into lines of 140 characters or less. Sections written by sports writer John Marshall are preceded by his Twitter handle (jmarshallap). Quotes from other sources are preceded by the handle or name of the person being quoted and set off by quotation marks. Actual tweets are clearly noted when they appear in the story.


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The Ticker

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 10 Maret 2013 | 18.38

EA to give free game to SimCity buyers

SimCity's launch has been termed a disaster, as many players have been unable to connect to servers required to play the city-building game that was released last week.

So Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of Sims creator and Electronic Arts subsidiary Maxis, is not only promising to fix the connectivity problems, but will deliver a free game as a peace offering.

"To get us back in your good graces, we're going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio," said Bradshaw. "On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game."

MONDAY

  •  Analogic Corp. and Urban Outfitters report quarterly financial results.

TUESDAY

  • Costco Wholesale Corp. reports quarterly financial results.
  • The U.S. Treasury releases the federal budget for February.

WEDNESDAY

  • The 2013 Boston Flower & Garden Show is held at the Seaport World Trade Center.
  • The Boston Redevelopment Authority and consultant Utile hold a project overview meeting for the downtown waterfront municipal harbor plan at the New England Aquarium.
  • Guess reports quarterly financial results.
  • The U.S. Commerce Department releases retail sales data for February.

THURSDAY

  • The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce hosts an economic outlook breakfast at the Westin Copley Place Hotel.
  • The Boston Redevelopment Authority board meets at City Hall.
  • Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. hosts its fourth quarter 2012 investor conference call and webcast.
  • The Labor Department releases the Producer Price Index for February.

FRIDAY

  • The Labor Department releases the Consumer Price Index for February.

THE SHUFFLE

  • Kathleen Connolly, left, counsel at Murtha Cullina LLP and resident in the firm's Boston office, has been elected president of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commission for 2013-2014. Connolly previously served as MACC vice president.

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Co. offers cash rewards 
for comparison shopping

Co. offers cash rewards 
for comparison shopping

There was a time when small businesses took out ads in the Yellow Pages to get noticed. Today, they find themselves competing with national companies for attention online. But a new website founded by two Bay State entrepreneurs offers an alternative.

Inforpaid is a comparison-shopping site that allows small businesses to pay serious customers just for checking them out. Businesses offer cash rewards to shoppers and, if a purchase is made, the customer collects the money from all the firms considered.

"As a small business, it's very hard to compete with national players," said
 Renan Levy, who launched the website this month with co-founder Meny Elany. "(Small businesses) spend money on things that don't work, and they get frustrated. With Inforpaid, we redirect some of the money they would have spent on marketing to customers."

Inforpaid contracts with nearly 120 Greater Boston businesses in four categories — insurers, accountants, mortgage companies and financial advisers — but plans to add more categories, such as moving companies and car dealerships, in the coming months.

People can choose to be contacted by up to three businesses per category. Each business decides the amount of the cash reward to offer. (Currently, rewards range from $10.50 to $35.)

If a person closes a transaction and the business confirms the sale, Inforpaid sends a check to the person for the reward amounts from each business compared. The website also collects a separate fee.

"If it gets the phone to ring a few more times, I feel I have a really good chance of winning that business," said Rick Scherer, vice president of sales at MSA Mortgage in Winthrop.

Like Scherer, Frank Keaney Jr., a manager at Amity Insurance in Quincy, said most of his leads have traditionally come from referrals. To drum up more business, Amity tried to increase the visibility of its website and the company's presence on social media.

"We were getting some leads, but not as much as we would have liked," Keaney said. "Inforpaid seemed to be a great idea to drive business. I think it's going to be a win-win for everyone — for us, for Inforpaid and for clients."


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Lighting is net gain for tennis

Watertown co. creates green bulbs that don't cast glare

A bright idea from Think-
Lite has indoor tennis clubs throughout Massachusetts going green and saving green.

The Watertown-based technology company, which designs and manufactures custom lighting solutions for everything from hotels to airports, is replacing standard 1,000-watt metal halide bulbs at clubs with ones that burn for 10 years, provide zero glare to the eyes and help players see tennis balls clearer when lobbed at high speeds.

"People who play often take their lighting very seriously. It was very important to be a perfectionist in creating that solution," said ThinkLite CEO Dinesh Wadhwani, 23. "They may not know or care to understand the technical needs, they just know the light is not good enough. So they'll tell you, 'It's not bright enough, go figure it out.' "

Wadhwani, who co-founded ThinkLite as a Babson College student, said more than 30 clubs worldwide, including nine in the Bay State, have signed up for the Hamme-
Lite solution, with new facilities clamoring for greater energy cost savings "almost every week."

ThinkLite, which continues to serve its solution to indoor courts nationwide, is hoping to generate more than $15 million in total revenue this year through its products, Wadhwani said. The company has 54 employees in the United States and 13 other countries.

ThinkLite's reduced wattage bulbs can be installed in courts without having to change their 
infrastructure. Unlike traditional metal halide bulbs, ThinkLite's products can also be turned on and off at any time as they don't need to "warm up," Wadhwani said.

"Before, all the light would go up to the ceiling and come back down. Now you see light in all directions," he said. "It's much more softer and lighter on the eyes."

Wadhwani, who has gotten back into the swing of playing tennis, said the HammeLite solution can help club owners and managers save 60 to 70 percent on their lighting and energy costs, which can run upwards of $600 a month, per court, at the average club.

ThinkLite sources its core technology from a private research lab in Germany, and has a manufacturing partnership with Samsung. The four-year-old company also has lighting designs "ready to go" for indoor soccer, track and lacrosse fields, and basketball courts, Wadhwani said.

HammeLite was researched, designed and prototyped over a 13-month period, and is named after local tennis pro Laury Hammel, owner of the Longfellow Clubs in Wayland, Natick and Franklin.

Hammel said he was happy to make the switch to ThinkLite bulbs as a way to better "reduce carbon footprints."

"Light in that size of a facility is critical to performance and fun," Hammel said. "It's not fun if you're swinging at a ball and you miss it because you can't see it."


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Producers fish for 
ideas at trade shows

Boston is a food mecca this week.

Exhibiting companies from 46 countries have descended on the Hub for the three-day International Boston Seafood Show/Seafood Processing America that starts today.

More than 19,000 attendees are expected to pack the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center for the event, which coincides with the New England Food Show.

The trade-only seafood show is the largest in its 32-year history in terms of exhibition space, with more than 1,850 booths and 1,000-plus exhibiting companies. A record 19,905 buyers, suppliers and other industry professionals attended last year's show, and registrations are tracking very well this year, according to show director Liz Plizga of Diversified Business Communications, the Portland, Maine, company that produces the exposition.

"Our trade show mirrors the industry … so it's a good indication for the economy and industry here in the North American market," Plizga said.

The event's keynote speaker tomorrow comes with controversy attached to his name. Soren Kaplan is the author of "Leapfrogging: Harness the Power of Surprise for Business Breakthroughs" and founder of InnovationPoint, a San Francisco-area management consulting firm.

The Wall Street Journal last month chronicled how Kaplan bought his way onto its best-sellers list for business books last August when "Leapfrogging" debuted. Kaplan paid a marketing firm to buy 2,500 of copies of the book in advance of its publication, the Journal reported. Sales of the book plummeted 99 percent the next week, and the book dropped off the list, but Kaplan conceded the best-seller status helped him land speaking and consulting gigs.

Seafood show organizers were unaware of the controversy, Plizga said, and chose Kaplan because he'll talk about breakthrough innovation, a topic that resonates with any industry.

"We booked him a while back," she said. "He's participated with other groups within our company, and we've seen his work before."

TV personality Regis Philbin is the keynote speaker for the New England Food Show, a trade event for the food and beverage industry which last year drew 18,000 people, 7,000 of them crossovers from the seafood show.

Joe Piantedosi, of Malden's Piantedosi Baking Co., will join Philbin to discuss the parallel between Philbin's work entertaining audiences and Piantedosi's work pleasing customers in the hospitality industry.

"Philbin was out in the front in having cooking segments on his show, and he always talked about the restaurant industry," said Peter Christie, CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, the show's sponsor. "He loves dining out."

With close to 500 booths and more than 300 exhibiting companies, New England Food Show attendees range from buyers for large hotels to small mom-and-pop restaurateurs.

"The reason they come is they're always looking for new ideas," Christie said. "They're looking for better ways to cut costs or come up with a new product to help their business and attract customers."

Boston chefs Jamie Bissonnette, Joanne Chang, Brian Poe and Jason Santos also will participate in a panel about social media,"Social Chefs: How to Use Your Followers to Build a Following."


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