Startup chirps over buggy food

They're low in fat and high in protein. They emit less greenhouse gas than cattle and produce 12 times as much meat for the same amount of feed. And if three Harvard alumnae get their way, they're coming to a supermarket near you.

They're insects. And, to hear Rose Wang, Laura D'Asaro and Meryl Natow tell it, they're not only the most humane way to eat meat, they're actually delicious — if you dare try them.

"We found people are much happier to eat them as long as the insects aren't in their original form," said Wang, who founded Six Foods with her former roommates last fall after graduating with a degree in psychology. "Our goal is to start getting people accustomed to insects as ingredients."

Who, after all, could resist the idea of a Chocolate Chirp Cookie, even if the key ingredient happened to be crickets?

Compared to the scorpion Wang, 22, once ate on a dare in Beijing, it sounds downright quaint. And that, D'Asaro said, may be the secret to overcoming America's aversion to bugs.

"One of the biggest issues is what to name them to make them sound more appetizing," said the 23-year-old, whose first epicurean encounter with an insect was a fried caterpillar in Tanzania. "That's why we call wax worms, for example, honey bugs, because they live in bees' nests and eat wax and honey."

On April 21, the three will launch a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise $30,000 to hire a contract manufacturer to make their first product, Chirps, or cricket chips.

"We talked to natural food stores," D'Asaro said, "but they want to see the product first."

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Spurned co. seeks rail pact delay

Lawyers for spurned commuter rail operator MBCR yesterday sought a 60-day delay to the contract awarded to Keolis Commuter Services to run the commuter rail system, while MBTA lawyers maintained the bidding process was fair.

The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. is arguing that favoritism factored into the eight-year, $2.68 billion contract award to Keolis and said the 60-day injunction would give it time to look for more evidence in MBTA communications.

Judge Mitchell Kaplan took the injunction request under advisement. If granted, the contract takeover set for July 1 would be pushed back to September.

The rail company, which has operated the commuter rail for 12 years, also said the Keolis proposal did not meet minimum requirements, including what lawyers described as a 2-page "promise" of a security plan required under the proposal guidelines.

"MBCR thought it had to submit a plan, not a two-page promise to submit a plan," said David Bodenheimer, a lawyer for MBCR.

"The (request for proposal) is asking for a specific plan."

But MBTA lawyers refuted that claim.

"It acceptably met the stated criteria," Neil McGaraghen, a lawyer for the MBTA, said of Keolis' proposal.

The judge suggested MBCR was exaggerating its claims in the 91-page affidavit it filed in support of the injunction request.

"The affidavit is full of hyperbole, it is full of hearsay," Kaplan said. "Part of me thinks the affidavit was for an audience beyond the court."

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Volvo redefines luxury wagon

The all new 2015 Volvo V60 Sportswagon T5-E is roaring back into the U.S. luxury wagon market with a vengeance.

Don't pooh-pooh the wagon anymore, folks. This car will make a hard run for your driving affections.

The Swedish automaker behind one of the earliest crossovers, the Cross Country, and designers of a long line of wagons delivers another superb vehicle with the V60. Bolstered by a smooth riding, sport-tuned chassis, the car is a nifty combination of style, performance and utility, and this slick wagon handles more like its side- kick the S60 sedan.

The eye-catching slick body lines, angular accents and classically minimalist interior demand your attention. It's such a visual departure from the last wagon, the V70. The moment I slid into the leather-clad driver's seat and grabbed hold of the padded steering wheel, I knew I was in a special car. Add the legendary safety features such as the unibody construction and a low-speed collision-
avoidance system and I think Volvo has a winner.

Let's face it, Volvo has long made solid, good-driving cars and has always had some of the best seats in any car. The ergonomically designed seats are super- comfortable with glove-soft leather, making the driving experience all the better. The controls are right where you need them, but the labeling is not quite as intuitive as you might think. I tended to try to change the radio volume with the cruise speed controller because they looked the same.

The cargo area is pretty good and with the rear seats down it's fairly spacious.

The $35,300 E trim level is the base model that makes 240 horsepower off a 2-liter turbocharged engine. The eight-speed automatic is smooth and the front-wheel drive delivers an estimated 37 miles per gallon on the highway. There's a drop-off to 25 miles per gallon around town, but the roughly 30 mpg average is quite good. To get the all-wheel drive feature you'll have to upgrade to the 2.5-liter in-line 5 turbo or the top of the line luxury R-Spec.

Our $42,225 tester was treated to a couple of upgrades including the $2,550 Premier Plus package, which includes leather, exterior bright work, keyless entry and parking assist. Add the $1,500 Sport Package to dress up the wheels, add paddle shifters and the Blind Spot system to complete the car.

This car will be a real competitor in the luxury wagon category so BMW and Audi should be looking over their shoulders.

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Biden: Raising minimum wage is good for business

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden says raising the federal minimum wage is good for business.

Biden is delivering the White House's weekly radio and Internet address in place of President Barack Obama, who was traveling this week. He's urging Congress to pass Obama's proposed wage hike to $10.10 per hour.

Biden says fair wages generate worker loyalty, leading to higher productivity and less turnover. He says it boosts the economy by generating $19 billion in additional income for the neediest people.

Biden says raising the minimum wage also helps women, who earn less on average than their male counterparts.

In the Republican address, Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana is urging Obama to support the VA Management Accountability Act. She says it's a step in the right direction for helping veterans.

___

Online:

White House address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.speaker.gov

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Chicago firm moves toward suit over Malaysia plane

CHICAGO — Court documents that often precede a lawsuit have been filed by a U.S. law firm on behalf of a relative of a passenger on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The filing in Chicago asks a judge to order Malaysia Airlines and Chicago-based Boeing Co. to turn over documents related to the possible "negligence" caused the Boeing 777 to crash, including any documentation about the chances of "fatal depressurization" in the cockpit.

"Additional pleadings will be filed in the next few days against other potential defendants who are designers and manufacturers of the component parts that may have failed in the aircraft," Chicago-based Ribbeck Law Chartered attorney Monica Kelly said in a statement. The documents filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court seek to preserve evidence.

They were filed on behalf of Januari Siregar, who the law firm says is a relative of Indonesian-born passenger Firman Chandra Siregar. The filings were not clear about their exact relationship.

Kelly said lawyers are asking a judge to order Boeing to provide the names of companies that manufactured the locator beacon, the electric components, batteries and fire alarm systems, the emergency oxygen generators and those who last inspected the aircraft's fuselage. The law firm is also seeking from Malaysian Airlines the identities of people with information about the training of the crew; their physical and psychological evaluations; and the security practices of the airline.

Boeing spokesman John Dern declined comment. Phone and email messages were left for airline officials Wednesday.

In its corporate self-portrait, Ribbeck Law boasts of its success at obtaining compensation for the families of victims of aviation disasters. The National Transportation Safety Board complained after the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 in San Francisco last year that some attorneys may have violated a U.S. law barring uninvited solicitation of air disaster victims in the first 45 days after an accident.

The NTSB pointed specifically at Ribbeck Law, reporting the firm to Illinois' Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. It was unclear Wednesday if the agency took any action on the complaint.

At the time, Kelly said the firm legally and ethically obtained its clients related to the crash and that all initiated contact with the firm, which is representing 83 passengers of the Asiana flight.

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Millions could get extra time for health sign-ups

WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans could get extra time to enroll for taxpayer-subsidized coverage this year under President Barack Obama's health care law. That would let the administration boost sign-ups and aid Democrats under attack over the program's troubles.

The Health and Human Services Department Wednesday posted two documents that outline "special enrollment periods" for broad groups of people trying to access the new online health insurance markets.

Those who've started an application, but weren't able to finish before the March 31 open enrollment deadline, would get a limited amount of time to sign up for coverage that would take effect May 1.

Additionally, people with 10 general categories of "special" circumstances would also get extra time to apply — up to 60 days. Categories include natural disasters, system errors related to immigration status, computer error messages due to technical difficulties, family situations involving domestic abuse, and other sorts of problems.

"We won't close the door on those who tried to get covered and were not able to do so through no fault of their own," Julie Bataille, communications director for the health care rollout, told reporters.

She deflected repeated questions on whether there is a hard deadline beyond which the administration won't take applications.

Special enrollment periods are allowed under the health law, and standard for workplace insurance. But they are mainly used to accommodate changes in life circumstances, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child or job loss.

The latest tweaks to health overhaul rules drew immediate scorn from Republicans committed to repealing "Obamacare."

"The administration has now handed out so many waivers, special favors and exemptions to help Democrats out politically ... it's basically become the legal equivalent of Swiss cheese," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The administration announcement added to a perception of disarray that has dogged the health care overhaul from its early days. It also raised concerns about the potential for another round of technology problems like the ones that paralyzed HealthCare.gov after its Oct. 1 launch.

Several factors seemed to be involved:

— Concern about turning away millions of people belatedly trying to enroll this week. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 6 in 10 uninsured people were unaware of the March 31 enrollment deadline, and half said they didn't plan to get coverage. It can take several visits to the website to finish an application, even without technical glitches.

— Millions of consumers may still be getting tangled up in the complicated enrollment process. The administration's own numbers show that only about half of the people deemed eligible to enroll through March 1 actually went all the way through to signing up. More than 4 million people either abandoned their applications or may still be trying to muddle through.

— Obama himself has been leading a last-minute drive to persuade Hispanics to sign up. The nation's largest minority — with the highest uninsured rate of any race or ethnic group — has been on the sidelines and risks being left behind. Traffic on the Spanish-language sign-up site is up markedly, more than 200,000 visits from Sunday through midday Wednesday — half again as many during the same period a week earlier.

The White House is scrambling to meet a goal of 6 million sign-ups for subsidized private health insurance for people who don't have coverage on the job. HealthCare.gov got 1.2 million visits Tuesday, and officials say the site is holding up well under the added demand.

"Since the traffic started to climb, we have seen only minor issues, all of which have been addressed rapidly," said Kurt DelBene, a tech executive brought in to oversee the website.

Independent testing by Detroit-based Compuware has found that HealthCare.gov runs slowly when compared to other health insurance industry websites.

Officials said the grace period for people who've started applications by March 31 will be available on the honor system.

"It is important to recognize that this is an official federal application," said Bataille. "Most people are truthful when applying for these benefits."

How long the extension will last seems to depend on individual circumstances. HHS said it will process paper applications received by April 7. Those applying online may have more time, until April 15, the same as the tax filing deadline. People who are due tax refunds may be willing to put some of that money toward health care premiums.

The sign-up extension and the special enrollment periods follow other delays, most significantly of the law's requirements that medium- to large-sized businesses provide coverage or face fines.

Republicans are making repeal of the health care law their rallying cry in the fall congressional elections. If the various extensions succeed in boosting enrollment, that would help Democratic candidates, including politically vulnerable senators who voted for the law's passage in 2010.

The next open enrollment period isn't until Nov. 15, after the elections. Providing an option for sign-ups prior to that could give Democrats a rebuttal during the height of the campaign season that focuses on their efforts to fix the law's problems, rather than scrapping it.

The White House had signaled last week that a grace period of some sort was in the works. Officials compare it to the Election Day practice of allowing people to vote if they are in line when the polls close.

The administration's actions primarily affect the 36 states where the federal government is taking the lead on sign-ups. But the 14 states running their own websites are likely to follow, since some had been pressing for an extension on account of their own technical problems.

___

Online:

Extension for those 'in line' — http://tinyurl.com/ojpku33

Special enrollment periods — http://tinyurl.com/ofjn3sc

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Women: J&J trashed records in product injury suits

TRENTON, N.J. — Lawyers and advocates for women alleging Johnson & Johnson products injured them urged the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to investigate their claims the health care giant deliberately destroyed many documents critical to their lawsuits.

Corporate Action Network, a nonprofit group seeking to hold businesses accountable for their actions, said that it's written to Attorney General Eric Holder to look into whether J&J, based in New Brunswick, N.J., and CEO Alex Gorsky committed the crimes of obstructing justice and destroying records in a federal probe.

"Hundreds of thousands of women continue to suffer ongoing, severe harm," from J&J's pelvic mesh implants, network spokeswoman Levana Layendecker said during a call with reporters. "I hope Johnson & Johnson is held accountable for their failure to warn."

The implants are widely used to hike up sagging pelvic organs, common in older women and those who've had children — and often the cause of embarrassing bladder leaks when they laugh, sneeze or lift something heavy. More than 22,000 women suing J&J blame its implants for crippling pain, infections and bleeding.

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Cheryl Eifert in southern West Virginia, who is handling most of the implant lawsuits, concluded J&J destroyed thousands of documents regarding development of its pelvic mesh implants, but said there was no proof that was done intentionally. The documents would include reports on patient testing of the mesh implants and could show whether participants suffered serious complications.

Jane Akre, founder of an online network for pelvic mesh implant "survivors," said Johnson & Johnson was aware of possible harm and didn't warn the public.

"Evidence we've presented at trial showed they knew these implants would cause complications and they just didn't care. Many women are now disabled and they can't leave their beds, they're in so much pain," she said during the conference call.

"Women have killed themselves because the pain eclipses childbirth pain, it's that bad," Akre said in an interview.

Matthew Johnson, a spokesman for Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon unit, which makes the implants, said in a statement that the company "acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of our pelvic mesh products," which he said are considered a "gold standard" treatment.

"Ethicon has engaged in extensive efforts to preserve and produce evidence in the pelvic mesh (federal litigation) which has led to the production of millions of pages of documents to date. In the context of Ethicon's substantial document production, the inadvertent loss of certain, limited documents has not prejudiced plaintiffs in their ability to pursue their claims," he added.

Sagging pelvic organs were fixed with traditional surgery until the late 1990s, when J&J launched the first pelvic mesh implants, a twist on a similar product long used to repair hernias. The pelvic implants, which function like a sling attached to bones to lift fallen organs back up, were billed as more effective than just stitching organs into place. Six other companies then launched rival products.

Women soon began complaining of complications so severe they can't work, need strong painkillers around the clock and now find intercourse unbearably painful. That's because the mesh, similar to a window screen, over time can dig into the exterior tissue of the vagina or bladder, causing a sensation some have likened to having barbed wire twisting inside your body.

Attorneys have been advertising heavily for potential plaintiffs in recent years, and the litigation has grown into possibly the largest mass medical injury case in the country.

Plaintiff Linda Dotson of Loudon, Tenn., told reporters that after having mesh implanted in two areas of her pelvis in 2006, she quickly developed a dangerous blood clot and then suffered hemorrhaging, severe pain, unexplained fevers, fatigue and other flu-like symptoms. She had to have a couple of surgeries to remove much of the mesh, took antibiotics for months and still suffers.

Justice Department spokeswoman Allison Price said the department is reviewing the group's letter.

Corporate Action Network said it plans to bring injured patients to speak at J&J's annual shareholder meeting on April 24.

The group also alleges that J&J has harmed other patients, particularly women, with faulty hip implants — which the company has since taken off the market amid a crush of lawsuits — and with baby and beauty products containing undisclosed toxic ingredients. Under pressure from multiple consumer and environmental groups for the past several years, J&J has begun reformulating those shampoos, skin care and other personal care products with safer ingredients.

Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest maker of health care products, has run afoul of the federal government previously.

It's operating under an agreement requiring it to make major upgrades to three medicine factories responsible for dozens of product recalls since 2009 for problems including drugs with the wrong level of active ingredient and liquid medicines with tiny metal or glass shavings in them.

Separately, after the Justice Department joined three whistleblower lawsuits alleging Johnson & Johnson marketed some of its powerful prescription drugs for unapproved uses, the company last November paid federal and state fines of more than $2.2 billion. It also entered a five-year agreement with the government to change the way it does business, particularly disclosing more information about its research and marketing practices.

___

Follow Linda A. Johnson at http://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma

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Dish, DirecTV shares rise on reported merger talk

LOS ANGELES — Shares of satellite TV companies Dish and DirecTV surged in midday trading Wednesday after a report said that Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen had contacted DirecTV CEO Mike White about merging.

Bloomberg News reported Ergen initiated the discussion in response to Comcast Corp.'s pending $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc., which was announced last month. The news service cited several unnamed sources.

Dish Network Corp. spokesman Bob Toevs declined to comment. DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said the company doesn't comment on speculation.

The companies last tried to merge more than a decade ago, but the Federal Communications Commission killed the deal in 2002 because it would eliminate competition. While Ergen has long supported the two companies coming together, White has been less vocal about the matter.

White told an investors conference earlier this month, however, that the video industry has changed in the last decade, gotten more competitive because of the entry of telecommunications companies, and expects it to change more in the next five years.

Dish shares rose $3.67, or 6.3 percent, to $62.09, while DirecTV shares rose $4.17, or 5.7 percent, to $77.34.

Dish is based in Englewood, Colo., and DirecTV is based in El Segundo, Calif.

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Robert Deleo to Mohegan: Play fair

House Speaker Robert DeLeo — a Suffolk Downs supporter — is now calling on Mohegan Sun to play nice in mitigation negotiations with his native Winthrop, after angry town officials gave state gaming commissioners an earful over what they claim was a breach of confidentiality by the casino developer.

"Speaker DeLeo believes the initial mitigation offer made by the proponents of the Suffolk Downs casino is unacceptable," DeLeo spokesman Seth Gitell said. "He calls on Mohegan Sun to go back to the table with Winthrop."

Winthrop is negotiating a surrounding community deal with Mohegan. Four Winthrop town councilors and the town's lawyer appeared before the commission last night to complain Mohegan is not addressing traffic problems its casino would create. They said Mohegan acted in bad faith when the developer cc'd DeLeo and other officials on a letter denying the town's request for $5 million in "unspecified annual mitigation."

"When Mohegan Sun made public a private negotiation, an egregious violation of the Gaming Act, they spit in your face, commissioners," Winthrop councilor Richard Boyajian said. Criticizing the decision to allow a second vote on a Suffolk Downs casino after East Boston rejected it, he added, "This would be called bullying except that Mohegan appears to be the teacher's pet."

Boyajian said the town is "looking into what legal options we have about them violating regulations."

Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said negotiations with Winthrop have been "very tough," but insisted the company did not commit a breach.

"We were able to negotiate eight surrounding community agreements ... their demands for their mitigation exceeded the sum of all of the other totals," Etess said. "I certainly don't want them to feel embarrassed that their demands were out there, but we didn't violate any confidentiality."

Mohegan officials said Winthrop originally sought a $16 million impact payment from the casino, and that the company recently offered the town $745,000.

Commissioner James McHugh said the commission needs to investigate Winthrop's complaints.

The commission also heard from Mohegan supporters touting its jobs potential, and Eastie voters who object to the second Revere vote that kept the proposal alive.

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Oculus Rift just put Facebook in the movie business

Just as the movie industry gathered this week at CinemaCon to discuss its future, Facebook came along and changed it without even bothering to show up in Las Vegas.

The surprise $2 billion acquisition of virtual-reality headset maker Oculus Rift by a social network company might seem to have nothing to do with movie theaters or films. But in the long term, this kind of technology is going to have a place in the entertainment business. It's just a matter of time.

While Cinemacon-ites grapple with how best to keep people coming to movie theaters, Oculus Rift will be part of the first wave of innovation capable of bringing an incredible visual environment to people wherever they choose. But this probably won't require people congregating in theaters for an optimal experience the way 3D does.

Virtual reality is thought of primarily as a vehicle for gaming, but there are applications in the works that utilize the technology for storytelling. There's already a production company, Condition One, out with a trailer for a documentary, "Zero Point" (see video above), about VR, told through VR. Media companies are just starting to get their hands on how to use VR, which to date has been for marketing stunts like one HBO did at SXSW for "Game of Thrones." One developer even recreated the apartment from "Seinfeld."

If you don't think the logical extension here is for narrative, think again; it's already got a buzzword to call its own, "immersive entertainment."

Sony knows all too well what shape the future is taking. It has its own solution to the VR space in Project Morpheus, which will be compatible with its own Playstation 4. Keep in mind Sony doesn't just think of its console as a videogame platform, as the company indicated last week with an announcement for more original series programming.

The example of Sony bridging the worlds of content and platform is one that will eventually be asked of Facebook itself. The social networking giant has always struck an agnostic pose, preferring to position itself as a platform where others can publish their content instead of sticking their beak in that game, too. But few expect Facebook stay on the sidelines for long as the scale of its video platform grows. Maybe CEO Mark Zuckerberg will stay that way in video or VR somewhere down the line, or maybe not.

All this is far from prime motivation for plunking down $2 billion for a company that has bigger implications for its core social-networking competency. But keep in mind Oculus Rift is really just a screen, albeit one strapped to a headset that fits around your eyeballs. While Facebook's entry into the hardware business may make it no different than Apple with its iPad, there's also a comparison to be made with exhibitors like AMC or Regal.

Don't go selling their stocks just yet; it's going to take a long time for VR to reach the kind of maturity that will threaten the theater business. But having Facebook's funding will no doubt accelerate that future.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Stimulus hopes boost world stock markets

SEOUL, South Korea — World stock markets gained Wednesday as investors anticipated further stimulus measures from Europe and China while U.S. economic data reinforced recovery hopes in the world's largest economy.

Germany's DAX was up 1.1 percent at 9,443.09 and France's CAC 40 jumped 0.9 percent to 4,381.54. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent to 6,636.54.

Wall Street was set to gain with S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent at 1,862.90. Dow futures rose 0.2 percent to 16,335.

Japan's Nikkei 225, Asia's heavyweight index added 0.4 percent to 14,477.16. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.7 percent to 21,887.75 and South Korea's Kospi rose 1.2 percent to 1,964.31. Australia's S&P ASX/200 added 0.8 percent to 5,376.80.

Investors welcomed European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's speech on Tuesday in Paris that monetary policy should support the economies of countries that use the euro.

"This is a clear sign that the ECB will continue to hold its finger over the rates button," IG strategist Evan Lucas said in a market commentary.

"The bank is looking to find a way to chase out funds locked up in wealth products that will then be redirected to areas of the economy that are looking for growth funding."

Some investors are also banking that China's leaders will introduce pro-growth measures to prop up a slowing economy. A preliminary reading of China's manufacturing, released Monday, showed activity at an 8- month low in March.

Reports showing strength in the U.S. economy also underpinned investor sentiment. The Conference Board said its measure of consumer confidence rose last month to its highest since January 2008. Another release showed U.S. home prices edged down in January for a third month, but were at a high level compared with a year earlier.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. oil for May delivery was up 3 cents at $99.22 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 41 cents to settle at $99.19 on Tuesday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3798 from $1.3823 late Tuesday. The dollar gained to 102.32 yen from 102.26 yen.

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North Adams hospital, affiliates to shut down

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — More than 500 people are without a job and patients across northern Berkshire County are looking for answers following the announced closure of North Adams Regional Hospital and its affiliates.

Northern Berkshire Healthcare, which owns the hospital, a visiting nurse and hospice group, and three medical practices, announced Tuesday that it will shut down Friday.

The group's trustees approved the closure in response to a "worsening financial status."

The board said in a statement that "given our finances and the daunting challenges that small rural community hospitals are facing in this health care environment, we can no longer continue."

Local lawmakers say they are working with the state authorities on a bailout package to keep the hospital running as it sought a more stable partner for a merger.

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Hub hosts fest on music tech

Artists, researchers and hackers are getting together in Cambridge this weekend to promote and advance music technology.

"The Music Tech Fest is a festival of music ideas," said Michaela Maga, one of the festival's organizers. "We gather the whole music technology ecosystem under one roof."

The festival draws a wide range of participants, from small startups to academics to corporate giants.

"What was exciting about this event was the ability to bring the hacking community and the artistic community and the scholarly community together," said Nancy Baym, a researcher at both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Microsoft New England's NERD Center.

That combination is the point of music tech, said Peter Torpey, who works in the MIT Media Lab, in the Opera of the Future group. Torpey is focused on developing technology for the future of performance and composition, among other things. Torpey has worked on creating a symphony composed by an entire city.

"Music technology is just part of the tool set we use to create the works, to reach out to people and to tell stories," he said.

The festival will finish with a hackathon, teaming up artists and techies.

"A beatboxer will come to a hacker and say, 'I'd love for this to be able to do this precise thing to aid my performance'," Maga said. "We are very hands on and we allow people to show off their idea, demo it, perform it, invite other people to collaborate with them."

Last year, the winning hack was a teaching guitar with an iPad modified to work as a key and motion-based synthesizer.

The Music Tech Festival will be in seven cities around the world this year, but Boston is the only stop in the United States.

Maga said many cities, including New York and Los Angeles, are clamoring for the festival to come, but they chose Boston because of the combination of research institutions, entrepreneurs and arts.

Baym said the combination of music and entrepreneurship in Boston creates a unique environment.

"You've got this incredible array of music that happens here," she said. "There's both a really healthy music community and a really healthy technology community."

Earlier this month, streaming giant Spotify bought music intelligence company the Echo Nest, based in Somerville. 
Spotify has said it will keep the company in Somerville, and it will operate as 
Spotify's research and development office.

Key investors and Boston entrepreneurs have said the move will significantly increase the number and stature of Boston's music tech engineering talent.

"I imagine The Echo Nest will be expanding over time," said Paul 
Lamere, director of developer platform for the Echo Nest. "Lots of people who are passionate about music and technology will have a place in or near Davis Square."

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Rescuing data from ransom

A cloud backup firm is flourishing thanks to a malicious software capable of wiping out all of a government agency's, business' or PC user's data in one fell swoop unless the victim pays a ransom.

Intronis this year plans to add 45 employees to the 80 it has in Chelmsford and is eyeing undisclosed competitors to acquire as CryptoLocker and copycat "ransomware" wreak havoc, infecting more than 12,000 computers in the space of a single week alone, according to security software maker Bitdefender Labs.

"It's a diabolical twist on an old scam," said Intronis CEO Rick Faulk. "All your files are frozen. If you pay the ransom, they tell you you'll get a key to unlock your files. If you don't pay, all your files are destroyed. You might as well take your computer and drop it off a bridge."

Intronis protects against such "gremlins," which often are unleashed when people click on a link or an attachment from someone they don't know, Faulk said.

"We copy all of your data to our servers, located off site, so you can get your data back," he said.

The 11-year-old company charges by the gigabyte, an amount that can total "between the low hundreds and low thousands of dollars per year" — "very inexpensive insurance for what you're getting," Faulk said.

Last November, Swansea police ponied up $750 online for an encryption key to unlock their files after CryptoLocker ransomware installed a timer on their computers, giving them 100 hours to pay.

"CryptoLocker is prolific; the FBI has come across numerous cases in the United States and around the world," Jennifer Shearer, an FBI spokeswoman, said in an email. "No one has been prosecuted to date."

Because each circumstance is different, Shearer declined to advise people whether they should pay the ransom.

"Ideally, everyone would back up his computer files; that's just good cyber hygiene," she said. "If a user will lose files of great personal or professional value and does not have any other way to recover that information, he should consider the time it would take to recreate those files and whether or not it's worth paying a ransom."

Even paying one, however, is no guarantee that people will get their files back, said Eric Kuznitz, vice president of Wizard Computer Services, a Canton company that provides Intronis' backup solution to its clients.

"We had a client pay a ransom before they called us, so they lost their money and their files," he said.

Besides never clicking on links or attachments from people you don't know, Kuznitz recommended making sure your computers and servers are updated regularly and your important data is backed up, ideally both on and off site, in case of a break-in or fire.

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Hope for mortgage forgiveness tax relief, extenders

WASHINGTON — Here's some good news for 
homeowners worried that Congress will fail again to renew popular tax benefits for use in 2014 — especially those allowing for mortgage debt forgiveness, write-offs for energy-saving improvements and mortgage insurance premiums.

Though there has been no formal announcement, the Senate Finance Committee under new Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), expects to take up a so-called "extenders" package within weeks, sometime this spring. "This is high on 'Wyden's' priority list," according to a source with direct knowledge of the committee's plans. That's an important change from last December, when then-Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who is now ambassador to China, let 50-plus corporate and individual tax benefits expire. The House also took no action to extend.

As a result, several key tax code housing provisions lapsed into a legislative coma. Without reauthorization retroactive to Jan. 1, they could disappear from the code and not be available for transactions this year. Both Baucus and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) focused on wholesale rewrites of the tax code last year rather than spending time on extending special-interest tax provisions.

But now there are signs that at least some of the expired housing benefits could be back on Congress' to-do list. What are these "extenders," as they are called on Capitol Hill?

Tops on the list is the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, a law that has saved large numbers of 
homeowners from hefty tax bills — close to an estimated 100,000 taxpayers in 2011, the latest year for which IRS estimates are available. First enacted in 2007 with menacing clouds of the housing bust on the horizon, the law carved out a special exception to the general rule in the tax code: When you are relieved of a debt burden by a creditor, the amount forgiven is treated as income subject to taxation at ordinary rates.

For qualified homeowners whose mortgage debt was reduced or written off by lenders in connection with loan modifications and short sales, the law said, the forgiven amounts would not be taxable. However, the 2007 carve-out for mortgages was temporary. Congress was required to extend it periodically — which it failed to do last Dec. 31. At least one state has a partial remedy for congressional inaction, however: California owners who sell homes through short sales are not subject to taxation on the amounts forgiven, a legal interpretation confirmed by the IRS.

Also part of the housing benefits that Congress failed to extend last December: A $2,000 tax credit for construction of energy-efficient new homes, deductions for home improvements that conserve energy, and write-offs for the mortgage insurance premiums that many borrowers pay in connection with low-downpayment loans.

Though Wyden is planning to take up an extenders bill soon, that does not guarantee that any specific tax law provision will be part of the bill the Finance Committee ultimately considers. Most tax analysts expect that a final bill will include some form of renewal.

The home energy conservation tax programs also are likely to be included in the Senate bill.

Meanwhile, in the House, Camp has not indicated when he plans to take up the extenders. He recently unveiled a comprehensive tax reform plan that would lower tax brackets, increase standard deductions and eliminate or sharply curtail most longtime housing tax benefits — including mortgage interest and property tax write-offs. Camp's bill did not mention reauthorization of the now-expired housing extender items, but he asked colleagues for their views on what might be retained in a large bill.

If, as expected, the Senate Finance Committee approves and the full Senate passes some form of extender package — including two or three of the housing provisions — election-year pressure on Camp to pass some version will be intense, despite his preference for comprehensive tax reform, which has no chance of passage in 2014.

Bottom line: Though there are hurdles ahead, the outlook for renewal of mortgage forgiveness debt relief — and possibly other housing benefits — looks more promising now than it has in months.

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Driver wonders if antilock brakes all that effective

I have two cars with ABS — a 1999 Buick Regal and 2013 Toyota Corolla. I am wondering if ABS is really the best way for stopping on an icy road. This past week I had several occasions where I tried to stop as I approached a stop sign, but when applying and maintaining brake pressure the ABS engaged but did little to stop the car as I kept sliding. Then I did the old-fashioned pumping of the brakes with much better results! The ABS seemed to not work well on icy roads compared to the pumping technique. Is this only my experience or am I using ABS incorrectly?

Considering that antilock braking systems are capable of recognizing wheel lockup and modulating/releasing hydraulic pressure to restore rotation of the wheel many times per second — much, much faster than the human foot can accomplish — ABS should be more effective than pumping the brakes in slippery conditions.

But there may be mitigating factors. First, if the anxiety of not stopping as quickly as the situation warrants causes the driver to continue to press harder and harder on the brake pedal, the ABS tends to cycle more slowly because of the much larger releases of hydraulic pressure required to restore wheel rotation. These much deeper modulations will increase stopping distance measurably.

Recognize what provides the "best" stopping traction on ice — it's that moment just before and as the wheel/tire begins to lock up. At that instant the tread blocks on the tire surface are at the edge of their maximum traction, just before sliding. Since the ABS system can recognize and release hydraulic pressure at that precise moment much faster than the human foot, ABS should stop better on ice.

Is it possible the pumping action can be more effective? Not in my experience, but perhaps in a scenario where the locked wheel/tire is actually melting the ice under the tread. This is entirely speculative on my part — just trying to envision a scenario where pumping the brakes might be more effective.

But here's the bottom line. Neither ABS nor pumping the brakes can overcome the laws of physics. Experiencing either action is confirmation of going too fast and/or braking too late for existing conditions. On glare ice, I still want an ABS system to minimize the consequences of my mistake.

I have a 2014 Hyundai Sonata. Since I purchased it the catalytic converter makes a ticking noise when it gets hot. I had a previous 2012 Sonata that never had this issue — any thoughts?

The ticking sound from the exhaust as it cools down is completely normal. The sound is generated by the extraordinarily hot metal in the forward sections of the exhaust, including the converter and its heat shield, contracting as it cools. No worries. And I think you'll find that this ticking during cooldown will fade as you accumulate more miles on the vehicle.

How does really cold weather affect hybrid vehicles? I am thinking of buying one but not if they don't work well in really cold weather. Also, what if I go south in the winter — can my hybrid just sit in the garage for several weeks without any problem?

With a gas/electric vehicle, expect to see more "gas" operation in cold weather. More energy is needed to operate the vehicle and warm its interior. So the car likely will rely more heavily on its internal combustion engine and use more fuel. But even with the lower efficiency and reduced "hybrid benefits," the vehicle still will "work" reliably. And parking a hybrid for weeks, even months, won't be any more of an issue than with a conventional vehicle.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor, and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Leave a daytime phone number.

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