Finked-out wiseguy guilty

An ex-con with links to the Gambino crime family yesterday was found guilty on bank-robbery and firearms charges after a mob associate testified against him.

Gary Fama, 47, who had prior convictions on drug and firearms charges, now faces 17 years in prison when sentenced by Judge William Kuntz II. The Brooklyn federal court jury deliberated for less than two hours.

Fama’s accomplice, Gambino associate Jack Mannino, 44, cut a deal with the prosecutors and is also awaiting sentencing.

Mannino — who has 24 New York bank heists under his belt and was nicknamed “the Seven-Second Bandit” for his speedy robberies — testified that he and Fama held up a Capital One Bank branch in Bensonhurst last Dec. 29.

They fled with a bag of cash, he told the jury, but things went awry when a dye pack inside the pouch exploded and their getaway car’s transmission blew out.

He said that he and Fama panicked after hearing police sirens and jumped out of the Lexus — leaving behind a wallet and a cellphone that helped the FBI track them down.

Read More..

Miami in spotlight at AVCC, other entrepreneurship events

Entrepreneurs from around the world took the stage during this packed week of entrepreneurship events in Miami: Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference (known as AVCC), HackDay, Wayra’s Global DemoDay and Endeavor’s International Selection Panel.

The events, all part of the first Innovate MIA week, also put the spotlight on Miami as it continues to try to develop into a technology hub for the Americas.

“While I like art, I absolutely love what is happening today... The time has come to become a tech hub in Miami,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, who kicked off the venture capital conference on Thursday. He told the audience of 450 investors and entrepreneurs about the county’s $1 million investment in the Launch Pad Tech Accelerator in downtown Miami.

“I have no doubt that this gathering today will produce new ideas and new business ventures that will put our community on a fast track to becoming a center for innovative, tech-driven entrepreneurship,” Gimenez said.

Brad Feld, an early-stage investor and a founder of TechStars, cautioned that won’t happen overnight. Building a startup community can take five, 10, even 15 years, and those leading the effort, who should be entrepreneurs themselves, need to take the long-term view, he told the audience via video. “You can create very powerful entrepreneurial ecosystems in any city... I’ve spent some time in Miami, I think you are off to a great start.”

Throughout the two-day AVCC at the JW Brickell Marriott, as well as the Endeavor and Wayra events, entrepreneurs from around the world pitched their companies, hoping to persuade investors to part with some of their green.

And in some cases, the entrepreneurs could win money, too. During the venture capital conference, 29 companies —including eight from South Florida such as itMD, which connects doctors, patients and imaging facilities to facilitate easy access of records — competed for more than $50,000 in cash and prizes through short “elevator’’ pitches. Each took questions from the judges, then demoed their products or services in the conference “Hot Zone,” a room adjoining the ballroom. Some companies like oLyfe, a platform to organize what people share online, are hoping to raise funds for expansion into Latin America. Others like Ideame, a trilingual crowdfunding platform, were laser focused on pan-Latin American opportunities.

Winning the grand prize of $15,000 in cash and art was Trapezoid Digital Security of Miami, which provides hardware-based security solutions for enterprise and cloud environments. Fotopigeon of Tampa, a photo-sharing and printing service targeting the military and prison niches, scored two prizes.

The conference offered opportunities to hear formal presentations on current trends — among them the surge of start-ups in Brazil; the importance of mobile apps and overheated company valuations — and informal opportunities to connect with fellow entrepreneurs.

Speakers included Gaston Legorburu of SapientNitro, Albert Santalo of CareCloud and Juan Diego Calle of .Co Internet, all South Florida entrepreneurs. Jerry Haar, executive director of FIU’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, which produced the conference with a host of sponsors, said the organizers worked hard to make the conference relevant to both the local and Latin American audience, with panels on funding and recruiting for startups, for instance.

Read More..

Sperm whale dies off Pompano Beach coast

The carcass of a 40-foot sperm whale that apparently died as it neared the shore off of Pompano Beach on Sunday afternoon later drifted back out to sea, ending a drama that had drawn the attention of beachgoers and scientists alike.

The whale was spotted about noon offshore near the 600 block of North Ocean Boulevard, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Read the full story at Sun-Sentinel.com.

Read More..

Top 5 Apps for Kids This Week

1. PHLIP

Ages 4-up Overall rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars Why we like it: PHLIP is a spatial relations puzzle where you “flip” or turn your screen left or right, like a steering wheel, to change the orientation of the set of tiles, in order to reassemble the picture. You can use photos you take, or choose one from your photo library. Need to know: The more tiles, the harder the puzzle. You can lock any tile by tapping on it. The physical rotation of the device develops motor and cognitive skills and hand-eye coordination. It can also cause your heavy iPad to slip out of your hands. This is a game that works much better on an iPad Mini. Ease of use: 8/10 Educational: 9/10 Entertaining: 7/10 $ 0.99

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: How to Crowdsource Your Job Hunt]

Chris Crowell is a veteran kindergarten teacher and contributing editor to Children’s Technology Review, a web-based archive of articles and reviews on apps, technology toys and video games. Download a free issue of CTR here.

In this week’s Top 5 Kids Apps, your kids can play with a spatial puzzle that lets them reassemble photographs they upload themselves. There’s also a chance to learn and have fun with geography trivia and explore Australia with an illustrated story.

[More from Mashable: 4 Benefits of a Job Search Community]

Our friends at Children’s Technology Review shared with us these 5 top apps from their comprehensive monthly database of kid-tested reviews. The site covers everything from math and counting to reading and phonics.

Check back next week for more Top Kids Apps from Children’s Technology Review

Photo via iStockPhoto, cglade

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Top 5 Apps for Kids This Week
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

New Yorkers ‘in solidarity’ with Conn. neighbors

New Yorkers yesterday paid solemn tribute to the 26 children and educators gunned down Friday in a Connecticut school.

During Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Timothy Cardinal Dolan named each victim and asked worshipers to pray for their families.

“It’s kind of hard to rejoice sometimes these days, isn’t it? Sometimes joy seems to be very elusive,” Dolan said.

“I’m thinking of the very sober events in Newtown, Conn., that senseless slaughter. It brings you to tears, just in solidarity with what those parents must be going through.”

A moment of silence, meanwhile, was observed before every NFL game — and the Giants had a special reason to mourn one of the victims.

Reuters

SPELLING IT OUT: Giants star Victor Cruz pays tribute yesterday to a 6-year-old who was a big fan of his.

Wide receiver Victor Cruz had “Jack Pinto My Hero” and “R.I.P. Jack Pinto” written on his shoes in honor of a boy who was so big a fan of the athlete that Jack’s parents are considering burying him in a Cruz jersey.

Cruz and his teammates also wore helmets marked S.H.E.S., for Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Last night, dozens of New Yorkers attended a vigil in Washington Square Park. The Rev. Joseph Lorenzo, of the Shrine Church of Saint Anthony of Padua, prayed for the victims — and for bold political leadership.

“We have to limit guns in our country,” he said. “It’s time for us to take action and not just talk about it.”

David Gruber, chairman of Community Board 2, said, “We’re grieving. This is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s everyone’s children who were murdered, not just the people in Connecticut.

“People wanted to say something in solidarity with the people in Connecticut. It’s a horrific event that affected a lot of people.”

And “Saturday Night Live,” instead of an opening sketch, shelved laughter in favor of the New York City Children’s Chorus singing “Silent Night.”

Read More..

Five years after the recession, a slow recovery plods on

Five years ago this month, the Great Recession began. Which leads to this question: How much longer until South Florida can erase the damage?

Officially, the recession ended in June 2009. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the national economy began contracting in December 2007 and did not grow again for 19 months. Using taxable sales figures, it’s probably safe to say South Florida experienced a longer downturn. Overall spending contracted for the first time in South Florida in March 2007 and didn’t post a year-over-year gain until February 2010.

“Miami was at the forefront of the housing boom and bust,’’ said Karl Kuykendall, an economist who follows South Florida for IHS Global Insight. “It’s no surprise Miami was early into the recession and somewhat late coming out.”

But whatever the actual duration of the downturn, it doesn’t take much math to realize the economy still feels shaky. South Florida lost its first net job in more than two years in October, when a tiny decline of 300 payroll slots interrupted 26 months of consistent expansion. The upcoming November report out Friday will show whether the losing streak continues.

And while unemployment is off near-record highs set in April 2010, more than 180,000 South Floridians were listed as officially out of work in the last count. That’s almost 90 percent more than the 98,000 people listed as out of work in the first month of the recession.

Tourism posted an early recovery, particularly in Miami-Dade, where foreign visitors helped hotels shake-off a sharp drop in U.S. vacationers and business travelers. But the recession lingers in Broward’s tourism industry, which is just now retiring past records.

Housing suffered the most dramatic crash throughout the recession and was also the last of the major indicators to begin its recovery. The Case-Shiller real estate index pegs May 2006 as the peak of the bubble in South Florida. Although each neighborhood is different, the average South Florida house worth $200,000 that month would have fallen down to $97,600 by the time the market hit bottom just over a year ago, in November 2011.

Values have recovered 9 percent since then, meaning the same house should be worth just over $105,0000. That’s a loss of 47 percent over six years.

Recovering from that kind of crash takes time, and five years clearly isn’t enough. To give a hint of the progress underway, Business Monday checked into businesses and residents on the frontlines of the recovery. The reports follow:

Housing

After fending off a foreclosure and battling to get out from under an onerous option ARM mortgage, Marie and Wilson Destin recently worked out a loan modification on their 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house near Miami Lakes.

With the help of Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida, a nonprofit agency that helps people navigate the Byzantine home financing landscape, the Destins cut their monthly mortgage payment to $1,500 from $1,900 under a new fixed-rate loan.

In 2006, when the housing market was booming, the Haitian-American couple had taken out an option ARM loan on the property, which they had owned for several years.

“Somebody came to the house and approached me with an option ARM loan,’’ said Wilson Destin. “They said I would pay less.’’

The option ARM — which has triggered financial woes for thousands of homeowners during the downturn — allowed for flexible payments and negative amortization, practically encouraging people to defer payments.

Read More..

Brownsville resident wins historic preservation award

A warm Friends and Neighbors salute to our very own Enid Pinkney, who in November was awarded the Peter H. Brink Award for Individual Achievement in Historic Preservation at the National Preservation Conference in Spokane, Wash.

Pinkney, who was selected from among nominees from throughout the United States, said, "I proudly received the award, but I realize that I could not have achieved anything without the help of the community. I owe a debt of gratitude for the various historic preservation projects that the community helped me to promote. I accept the lovely award, which I cherish, on your [the community’s] behalf.”

Pinkney was nominated by Jorge Hernandez, the national vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and was presented with the award at the event. Hernandez lives in Coral Gables. Pinkney and her husband Frank, live in the Brownsville area.

And speaking of awards...

Tracy Wilson Mourning, founder of Honey Shine Inc., will be the keynote speaker at the annual Thelma Gibson Awards and Installation Luncheon to be at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave. in Coral Gables.

Sponsored by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the program will also feature special remarks from Justice Peggy A. Quince of the Supreme Court of Florida. Quince will install the chamber’s new president, Nordis D. Alvarez, and the new board of directors of the organization. Awards will be presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of women in the Miami-Dade community.

Mourning will speak from the event’s theme, "Lift as You Climb," and will encourage attendees to reach behind and lend a hand to the women coming up behind on the ladder of success.

Tickets to the event are $65 for members and $75 for guests. For tickets and more information on how to become a sponsor, call Alvarez at 305-982-3328 or email her at: NAlvarez@totalbank.com. You may also go to www.WomensChamberofCommerce.org for more information.

Gold-medal winner

Congratulations are also in order for Asiya Korepanova, a University of Miami Frost School of Music student, who last week was named First Prize Gold Medal Winner in the 2012 Wideman International Piano Competition in Shreveport, La. Korepanova performed Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16.

Korepanova has played the piano since she was 4, and currently studies with Santiago Rodriguez at the Frost School of Music, where she is a keyboard performance major.

For her excellent effort, Korepanova earned a $5,000 in prize money as well as the William Peyton Shehee and Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee Award. As the gold medal winner, Korepanova will have the opportunity to perform at numerous venues around the United States next year, including performances with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Florida Symphony and the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

The competition is named in honor of the late Nena Plant Wideman, a former member of the Centenary college faculty and noted piano instructor, who spearheaded the first competition. the competition was named in her honor after her death in 1983.

Art Exhibit

The annual Kuumba Kwanzaa Art Exhibit is now on display in the Amadlozi Gallery at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 2166 NW 62nd St. in Liberty City. It will run through Jan. 21. and is open to the community.

For more information email Gene Tinnie at dinizulu7@gmail.com

Honoring black leaders

The Rev. Eric H. Jones, mayor of West Park, invites the community to the 2013 Gala honoring Broward County’s black elected officials and the Community Service Honorees, to be at 4 p.m. Thursday in the commission chambers of West Park City Hall, 9965 S. State Rd. 7 (441 and Pembroke Road).

The gala will be hosted by West Park Vice Mayor Felicia M. Brunson.

It’s free and reservations are not required. For additional information send an email to: Caroline Rucker at carolineh@aol.com.

Christmas story told through music

The Advent and Christmas season will be ushered in with a little taste of Great Britain, when Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church and School at 6600 Miami Lakeway, presents the English classic, "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols," at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the church sanctuary.

The program is a Christmas service that celebrates the birth of Jesus through nine short readings from the biblical books of Genesis, the prophets, and the gospels, and are combined with music and congregational singing of Christmas songs and carols. The readings tell the story of the "Fall of Humanity", the "Promise of the Messiah", and the "Birth of Jesus."

The church’s Children’s Choir, musicians, dancers, Glee Club and other students will perform with their teachers, church parishioners and the church’s Adult Choir directed by Sister Helene Kloss.

It’s free and open to the community. Call 305-362-5315 for more information or go to, www.oollnet.com.

Read More..

Why does Google build apps for its rival Apple’s iPhone?

Why help a key competitor? Two words: Advertising and data

There isn’t any other way to say it: Apple and Google really don’t like each other. Apple CEO Steve Jobs vowed to destroy the Google geniuses behind the Android operating system for allegedly stealing the basic mechanics of the iPhone. Apple and Google-partner Samsung are constantly at one another’s throats over patents. And most recently new Apple CEO Tim Cook gave two of Google’s most popular products — Google Maps and YouTube — the boot from iOS 6.

Then the unthinkable happened: Fans started turning on Apple. Even the most gushy tech critic had to admit that Apple’s replacement for Google Maps was a train wreck, a rare blight on the company’s otherwise stainless track record (a failure, notes Zara Kessler at Bloomberg, which ironically might ultimately benefit Apple).

Why, then, would Google throw its chief rival a life preserver this week and deliver Google Maps to iOS — as well as handing over Chrome and an awesome new Gmail app in recent weeks? Two main reasons: 

1. Potential advertising: “Google doesn’t make money off of Android which is open source; they make money when people use Google services,” Joel Spolsky, CEO of Stack Overflow, tells Wired. Google Maps on the iPhone doesn’t have ads yet, although the Android version does. In the end, Google’s primary concern is to get its services in front of as many eyeballs as possible — even if those eyeballs are peering into an iPhone.

SEE MORE: Steve Jobs’ mysterious iMac-controlled yacht

2. More data with which to make its products better: Google Maps is every marketer’s dream. Mapping software gives them invaluable consumer data to work with, like the city you live in, the stores you shop at, the restaurants you frequent, where you get your coffee, and much, much more. “Google needs the traffic that iOS users bring,” says Casey Newton at CNET. Those millions of iPhone owners unknowingly feed Google the analytics it needs to make Google Maps the superior, celebrated product it’s become. The same goes for Chrome. And Gmail.  

And “Google is hardly the first company to aggressively support a rival platform for selfish reasons,” says Ryan Tate at Wired. 

Microsoft was a strong backer of Apple’s Macintosh for decades because its core business was selling applications [Word, Excel, etc.], not Microsoft’s competing operating system Windows… Google’s willingness to ship iOS apps could look smarter as time goes on. The company trounces Apple when it comes to all things cloud, not just maps and e-mail; its social network, search engine, and highly optimized data centers could give its iOS apps an even bigger edge in the coming years.

View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

Other stories from this topic:

Like on Facebook - Follow on Twitter - Sign-up for Daily Newsletter
Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Riveting Details Emerge from CT School Rampage

As morning turned to afternoon on Friday, further details continued to emerge from Newtown, CT, a tight-knit community shaken by a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of innocent students and teachers, in addition to the gunman, reportedly identified as Adam Lanza.

RELATED: President Fights Tears as He Addresses Nation

As President Barack Obama touched on in his tear-jerking press conference, this is not the first time the nation has witnessed a tragedy of this kind. The recent mass shooting at an Aurora, CO movie theater is just one instance of such violence. Columbine High School and Virginia Tech also resonate as prime examples.

Hollywood's biggest stars were quick to react to the news on Twitter and made an outcry for stricter gun control regulations.

Watch the video for ET's complete coverage of today's biggest headline.

RELATED: Celebs Tweet Reactions to CT School Shooting

Read More..

Cliff-exempt hiring

John Crudele

DEAR JOHN...THE ANSWER MAN

Dear John: The Republicans state that they do not want to increase tax rates on the rich because they do not want to tax job creators. I have an idea for a compromise.

Raise taxes on millionaires but exempt them from increased Subchapter S income, where the corporation employs at least X number of people.

This would encourage companies to increase hiring to that minimum amount as opposed to ObamaCare, which discourages new hires. The Republican argument against increasing taxes would disappear. Of course, real spending cuts would have to be part of the final agreement. What do you think? L.R.

Dear L.R. I asked David Sands, a CPA at the accounting firm Buchbinder Tunick & Co., who said, “Your suggestion has merit and is quite similar to the Jobs Tax Credit, which has taken many forms over the years.

“Perhaps an expanded credit for small-business owners could help. Taking it one step further, there are many incentives which can increase hiring, including expensing of fixed-asset purchases, research-and-development credits, etc.,” added Sands.

There you go! If they pass something like this, you can talk about your contribution to the issue at Christmas parties.

Dear John: I am a 71-year-old retiree. I have a $378,000 mortgage at a 7 percent fixed interest rate for 30 years. I never missed a payment, but today’s rates are about half that.

I also have a $300,000 lien on my home from a bad investment.

I am living off my 401(k) retirement plan and a pension, which is enough to pay off my mortgage but not the lien.

The bank refuses to refinance my mortgage at today’s rate because of the lien and drop in my credit score.

Here’s my question: Is there any way I can get the bank to lower my rate (maybe by suing them) so I can pay my mortgage and pay off the lien with the savings from a lower interest rate?

I spoke to all the lien holders and they are willing to take less than the original amounts of the loans.

It would be a win-win for all. Tony in NJ

Dear Tony in NJ: I guess you could sue. But every bank, of course, has a funhouse full of lawyers with nothing to do. You would have to pay an attorney, and you already have money problems.

I called the mortgage company — Citibank Mortgage — and they are looking into the matter.

The big issue will be whether the bank still holds your mortgage or whether it has been bundled into a security and sold to investors.

If the bank still has it, you’ll have a better chance getting the terms changed. Maybe they can do something if the mortgage was sold.

You have given Citibank permission to discuss this matter with me, so I will monitor it — especially if you remind me sometime in the near future.

I hope this works out.

Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.

Read More..