Playing the butt-kicking, arrow-shooting hero of “The Hunger Games” has certainly paid off! Jennifer Lawrence, known to fans as Katniss Everdeen, flaunts her toned bikini bod while surfing in Hawaii. The star, 22, was taking a break ahead of filming for the franchise’s sequel, “Catching Fire.”
Splash News
Jennifer Lawrence
3:20 AM Dadeland Mall Most shoppers are standing in line for coffee at Starbucks, eating Bourbon chicken from Kelly’s Cajun Grill, munching on a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s or taking a cat nap. Those leaving are carrying bags from Macy’s, the Disney Store,
Bath and Body Works, and Victoria’s Secret.
Maria Prado, the mall manager, said she is "very impressed" with the Black Friday turnout.
"This is a critical day for retail," Prado said, of Kendall. "We are in this business to cater to what shoppers want."
2 AM, Dadeland Mall The mall is still packed with people. Many of them are gathered in the Disney Store, Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Body Works and Macy’s. The Apple store, which had a line of nearly 150 shoppers waiting for the door to open at midnight, now only has a line of about 25 shoppers. Instead of opening at midnight, Apple is opening at 6 a.m.
At Victoria’s Secret, the security guard fell asleep standing while nearly 100 shoppers were making purchases. Husbands and infants slept outside of the store on brown couches.
12:30 AM, Dadeland Mall All retail stores were expected to open at midnight. But as of 12:30 a.m., neither the Apple store nor jewelry stores Tous or Mayors were open. Nearly 150 people were waiting outside of Apple.
According to Guest Services, stores that were not open by midnight would be fined.
Meanwhile, the rest of the mall buzzed with eager families and couples. Many shoppers were already sporting bags from Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, Express and Abercrombie & Fitch.
12:06 AM, Dadeland Mall Dadeland Mall officially opened at 12 a.m., and by 12:06 a.m. a group of young girls were already walking out of the mall with Victoria’s Secret bags in hand.
As the doors opened at Abercrombie & Fitch, people shouted to get in. Some yelled "Hallelujah" as others tried to push their way through.
Friday, midnight, Sawgrass Mills After a moderate start, the pace picked up at Sawgrass Mills. By midnight the mall was packed. Human traffic jams made walking through corridors challenging. Parking lot spaces were gone by 11 p.m., and people were being sent to the BB&T center and shuttled over to the mall. Food courts were doing brisk business as shoppers grabbed a quick bite to refuel.
11:45 PM, Dolphin Mall, Gaspar Ferreiro headed to the mall Thanksgiving night to shop, and to sell. Waiting in line at the Swaroski jewelry store, the Georgia resident had a promotion of his own to offer. A sign hand-written in marker and hanging from a string on his back read: “FOR SALE WII DELUXE FOR $465.”
The hot new Nintendo video-game system sells for about $350. Ferreiro bought four when they went on sale this month, and he’s giving one to his kids. Now he’s reselling the rest at a mark-up to help pay for the one he kept. “If I make $70 [on each], that’s fine,’’ he said. “No need to take advantage of anybody.”
10:30 PM, Sawgrass Mills If you timed it right you could walk into BrandsMart less than an hour after opening with no waiting.
"It was good compared to last year," said Carrie Ebenks, 36, of Pembroke Pines. "They moved much faster."
Ebenks and her sister Bonny Bush arrived about 8:30 p.m. and were inside before 9:30 p.m., only 30 minutes after the store opened. But they still missed out on the 40-inch TV for $147. They settled for a 32-inch for $247.
Thursday is Thanksgiving. Here is a list of what’s open and closed for the holiday on Thursday and Friday.
Federal offices: Closed Thursday
State offices: Closed Thursday and Friday
Miami-Dade and Broward county offices: Closed Thursday and Friday
Miami-Dade and Broward courts: Closed Thursday and Friday
Public schools: Closed Thursday and Friday
Post offices: Closed Thursday
Stock markets: Closed Thursday, closing early Friday
Banks: Closed Thursday
Tri-Rail: Will run a weekend schedule Thursday
Miami-Dade and Broward transit: Will run a Sunday schedule on Thursday
Garbage collection: Normal schedule in most cities
Malls: Closed Thursday, many opening very early Friday
When gadget and web companies want to make sure people can figure out how to use their stuff, they turn to experts like Jakob Nielsen, who’s most widely known for his free Alertbox column.
Last year, Nielsen’s scathing review of Amazon’s Kindle Fire made headlines, alerting buyers to the tablet’s choppy scrolling and hard-to-use volume controls. Now, Nielsen has published the results of a study where his firm “invited 12 experienced PC users to test Windows 8,” the new version of Windows, on both normal PCs and Microsoft’s new Surface RT tablets.
“Weak on Tablets, Terrible for PCs”
Nielsen pulled no punches in summing up his firm’s study, saying Windows 8 throws Microsoft’s most loyal customers “under the bus” and that it “removes a powerful PC’s benefits.”
For tablet use, like on the new Surface RT tablets Microsoft brought out to compete with the iPad, Nielsen feels Windows 8′s issues are “nothing that a modest redesign can’t fix.” He thinks we’ll have to wait until Windows 9 for that redesign, though, the same way that Windows 7 fixed many of Vista’s problems.
Study methodology
The study’s participants were asked to perform a series of tasks, such as changing the Start screen’s background color. Usability consultants then watched how they did, and noted problem areas. Such as …
”Where can you click?”
Microsoft’s “Modern” UI (previously called Metro) uses flat, monochrome, and extremely simplistic icons, which sometimes don’t even have a box around them. Many of the study’s participants couldn’t find the “Change PC settings” menu, because it didn’t have an icon and it looked like it was the label for other settings icons right near it. Tapping in places you’d expect to have a result, such as a running app’s title, didn’t work, while Microsoft’s new swiping gestures were often hard to figure out.
”Information density”
On the scale between “coffee table photo book” and “telephone book,” Windows 8 apps are way over on the coffee table’s side. In contrast to websites packed with pages of text and dozens of images, Windows 8 apps feature large, beautiful pictures, and only minimal text blurbs beneath. While this gives them a striking appearance, it also means it takes lots of swiping to get anywhere.
Windows 8′s Start screen, on the other hand, “feels like dozens of carnival barkers yelling at you,” according to Nielsen. The animated “live tiles” which apps use to display up-to-date information are also what you tap on to launch them, so it can be hard to pick out the right one and easy to get distracted.
Time to upgrade?
Nielsen says he plans to stick with Windows 7 until Windows 9 is released. He has an especially unfavorable view of Windows 8 for “knowledge workers … in the office”. This may be the group least likely to see Windows 8 anytime soon, however, thanks to years-long corporate support contracts and conservative IT departments.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News
A fund set up to support Brooklyn's recovery from Hurricane Sandy has awarded its first round of grants totaling $250,000 to 26 neighborhood organizations.
Launched by the Brooklyn Community Foundation with support from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, the Brooklyn Recovery Fund raised $1.5 million in less than three weeks, with support from a variety of donors – including $300,000 in founding contributions from Barclays Center, Brooklyn Nets and Forest City Ratner – as well as other corporations, foundations and hundreds of individual contributions.
The 26 community nonprofits getting the grants serve neighborhoods most affected by the storm, such as Brighton Beach, Canarsie, Coney Island, DUMBO, Gerritsen Beach, Red Hook and Williamsburg.
These first-round grants focus on basic services – providing emergency food, home visits to seniors and the disabled, cash assistance, benefits counseling, volunteer coordination, making spaces usable for services, and similar high priority activities. This follows an earlier $25,000 grant to Gerritsen Beach Cares, which is using its grant to coordinate work by local electricians to expedite the restoration power to high priority occupied homes in which seniors, the disabled and families with small children live.
"The suffering in the aftermath of the storm demanded that we act strongly and swiftly to raise money and get it out to local nonprofit organizations who immediately stepped forward to help residents of their communities with food, shelter, supplies, clean-up, health care, and warmth," said Marilyn Gelber, president of the Brooklyn Community Foundation.
“People across Brooklyn have opened their wallets since the storm, and now that money is making a difference in so many coastal communities across the borough,” said Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
Don’t want to brave the Black Friday craziness? You can get a head start on your holiday shopping, snag some deals and support local merchants by participating in Small Business Saturday.
Nestled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday is focused on promoting small business owners nationwide. Since it was started in 2010 by American Express, the promotional effort has grown into a national movement involving thousands of businesses, chambers of commerce and economic development organizations. According to American Express, last year more than 100 million people nationwide participated.
“The one thing businesses have told us over and over again is that they need more customers. So we thought it would be great to create a day in the holiday weekend that focuses just on the small business and shopping locally in communities around the country,” said Mary Ann Fitzmaurice Reilly, senior vice president at American Express Open.. “That’s how Small Business Saturday got its start.”
Organizations such as the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and Coral Gables Chamber have turned Small Business Saturday into a communitywide event.
“We decided to participate because in Coral Gables we support our small businesses,” said Mark Trowbridge, president and CEO of the chamber that is participating for the second year. “Coral Gables is an economic engine and our small businesses help to drive that engine.”
American Express cardholders who sign up at shopsmall.com will get a $25 credit on their bill if they make a purchase from a participating business on Small Business Saturday. Participating businesses get free marketing support from American Express via a toolkit on its website.
On Saturday, the Coral Gables Chamber, along with American Express, the Village of Merrick Park and Books & Books will host a day of activities, including a $100 Startup Competition, inspired by the best-selling book by Chris Guillebeau. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to bring their most innovative ideas for a business that can be launched with just $100 (register at http://100dollarstartup.co). Finalists will pitch their startup ideas to the public at the 4 p.m. event, held at Books & Books in Coral Gables; a panel of judges will select the winners.
More than 30 Coral Gables merchants will take part in the day; many will feature discounts. At Klara Chavarria Contemporary Art, for instance, patrons can take advantage of free delivery and installation of any artwork purchased Saturday.
The free toolkit has proven an invaluable resource to business people like Michael Nucci, the marketing associate for Fort Lauderdale-based Bluewater Books and Charts, which sells nautical books to recreational cruisers. “We decided to participate last year and again this year because we thought it would give us an advantage on the sale season,” said Nucci, who will be offering a 15 percent discount on most items he sells on Small Business Saturday. “We got started and used the toolkit to get free posters made and to send out e-mail and social media promotions to attract customers. It’s a great thing for small businesses in this economy.”
In Kendall, the Recycled Closet, a consignment shop for teens, is offering 20 percent off its already discounted clothing. “I’m so glad to see American Express and communities around the nation working to help by dedicating a day to the small business owner,” said owner Jennifer Kaloti.
In Miami Beach, small businesses are embracing Small Business Saturday, said Ana Cecilia Velasco, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. “As we are a tourist destination and get heavy traffic specifically for shopping during this time, it is a natural for us to highlight the event. Small Business Saturday makes sense to us as well because Miami Beach is known for its boutique shops.”
To survive the craziness of the season, consumers may want to treat themselves, too. At Pure Therapy, in the W Hotel on South Beach, customers get a $25 gift card with purchases of $100 or more and items from local designers will be 10 percent off on Saturday. In Bal Harbour, Gee Beauty, one of the only independently owned small businesses in the Bal Harbour Shops, will treat customers to a complimentary Gee Beauty Brow shaping with a purchase of $100 or more.
Every holiday season for the last six years, Lynn Hausmann hosts a Thanksgiving gathering for Casa Valentina, the residential and life skills program for youth aging out of foster care.
It’s what you do, she says, for the people you love.
“It’s simple — we are family,” says Hausmann, a member of the organization’s board of directors. “This is about opening your heart and home.”
So on Tuesday, more than two dozen current and former Casa residents and staff gathered around a U-shaped table by the pool of Hausmann’s Coconut Grove condo for the annual celebration.
They started the meal by giving thanks.
For health. And knowledge. And life. And, for Casa Valentina, the program designed to help youth transition from foster care to independence starting at age 18 by providing affordable housing and support and teaching meaningful everyday lessons such as how to balance a checkbook or navigate college admissions, even basic parenting skills.
“Casa Valentina took a chance on me,” says Cliff Innocent, 21, who joined the program last year. Now a student at Lindsey Hopkins Technical Education Center, Innocent is studying to become a chef. “I always knew I wanted to go to school, but it is Casa that has encouraged me to stay in school and do my best in school.”
The program started in 2006 as a way to help young women leaving Miami-Dade County’s foster care system, so many of them woefully unprepared for the next chapter. The program helped them earn high school diplomas and GEDS, enroll in college and find employment. About 60 young women have participated.
Last year, the organization partnered with other social agencies to create two more tracks for young men and mothers with young children.
This year, there are 22 residents, including 11 young women, seven young men and four mothers.
Participants receive a fully-furnished apartment near public transportation, case management, academic and career counseling and help with accessing healthcare. The program is financed through funding from The Children’s Trust, The Miami Foundation and private donations.
Participants must be in school, which qualifies them for the Florida’s Road to Independence Scholarships, a $1,000 monthly stipend open to former foster children who are passing their classes. The money is used for rent and other expenses.
The celebration started out as a potluck with the staff and some of the clients bringing a dish. It was held on the balcony of Hausmann’s fourth-floor condo. Last year, with the addition of the young men and mothers, they outgrew the space. This year, they moved it poolside.
“I got very involved with the young ladies, checking on them, helping them move into their places, helping them with school, taking them to Big Lots,” Hausmann said. “And then the holiday season came around and I started thinking, where would they go? Some of them don’t have family.”
During this year’s dinner, the residents were also introduced to the new executive director, Deborah Korge, who begins next month.
Katlin Brown joined the program two years ago with dreams of becoming a chef. Now, she is a student at Miami-Dade College graduating in May with a degree in culinary arts. She has plans to eventually open a soul food restaurant, “with an international twist.” She thanks Casa Valentina for much of her success.
“They helped me with so many things that I would not have been able to do myself,” says Brown, 21, who lives in a studio apartment in the Roads section of Miami. “They helped me with school and tutoring. They helped me get my driver’s license. They were a shoulder to cry on too. They taught me how to be a grown-up.”
Prepaid wireless carrier Republic Wireless has been offering its $ 19 per month, unlimited everything, prepaid smartphone plan since about this time last year. At the time, though, there were a few catches; you had to buy a very low-end smartphone from them, you had to use its Hybrid Calling technology for most of your calls, and you could only get in if you were lucky enough to be accepted to an exclusive “beta wave.”
Since then, Republic Wireless has upgraded to the slightly more modern Motorola Defy XT as its flagship smartphone model, and has changed to allow unlimited calling, texting, and data over Sprint’s nationwide network, for the same $ 19/month price. Now the North Carolina-based startup is dropping its last restriction; the doors are open for anyone to preorder up to four Defy XT phones, “and they’ll begin shipping in mid-December.”
The phone
The Motorola Defy XT is designed to be dustproof and waterproof, with rubber bumpers covering each port and an unlocking switch keeping the back cover sealed. Its specs are decidedly last year’s; powered by a 1 GHz, single-core processor, it often shows Kindle Fire-style lag when swiping between home screens on its 3.7 inch display. It runs 2010′s Android 2.3 Gingerbread, with no OS upgrades announced, and it doesn’t have much room to store games and apps, although it comes with a 2 GB microSD card.
The service
Republic Wireless’ low monthly fee is partly made possible by its Hybrid Calling technology, which is basically an app that loads on startup and lets you make calls and send texts over Wi-Fi. Call quality is generally good, although it depends on how good your Wi-Fi connection is and how many people are streaming video over it while you’re trying to make your call. You can switch off Hybrid Calling by disabling Wi-Fi, if you want to make calls over Sprint’s network instead; this happens automatically if your Wi-Fi signal drops, which has the effect of hanging up your call.
The support
“Here at Republic,” its Support page explains, “we believe in helping each other out as much as possible.” What this translates to is that there’s no number to call for questions or tech support. Instead, customers are directed to a community wiki and forums, for answers to their issues. If all else fails, you can contact Republic using an online form, and receive a response within 24 hours.
The price
It costs close to $ 300 to begin using Republic Wireless’ service; $ 249 for the phone, a $ 10 startup fee, and $ 19 for your first monthly fee, before any applicable taxes. That $ 19 is charged once your phone ships, and if Republic’s difficulty keeping up with orders for its first beta waves is any indication, just because the phones “begin shipping in mid-December” doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s when you’ll get yours.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Lindsay Lohan is opening up about the now-infamous cancellation of her pre-arranged sit down with Barbara Walters.
The actress stopped by for an interview with Tonight Show host Jay Leno on Tuesday, who pressed Lohan on the drama surrounding herself and the veteran news woman.
Related: Walters on Lohan: 'She Has A Lot of Problems'
"It's all good. I spoke to all the people that she works with," she said, assuring that although she didn't speak with Walters herself, there was no ill will between the two. "The timing wasn't right right now."
Tonight's interview with Leno was a sore spot for Walters, who expressed her "disappointment" at being cancelled on during an airing of The View earlier this month.
"I think to go on Jay Leno and be adorable and amusing, there's still all the problems," Walters said. "It would have been a wonderful interview. She could have set a lot of things straight. I think [my interview] could have helped her."
Related: Lindsay Lohan Went Method For Liz Taylor Role
Everything aside, Lohan insisted that "when it's right" Walters will be the first person she sits down with for an in-depth interview.
The discount on Best Buy’s stock keeps getting deeper.
Shares of the struggling electronics chain tumbled 13 percent yesterday, hitting their lowest levels in a decade as the retailer swung to a loss on a steeper-than-expected sales decline.
The stock drop, which left Best Buy shares down 49 percent on the year at $11.96, likely cut the price for a leveraged buyout by founder Richard Schulze, according to sources.
As reported by The Post, Best Buy’s board lately has adopted a friendlier tone toward Schulze, who in August offered to buy the company for $24 to $26 a share, or more than $8 billion.
With Best Buy’s sales and margins dropping, sources said CEO Hubert Joly last week signaled that the company would be open to going private for $20 a share, valuing it at $6.7 billion.
After yesterday’s dismal news, however, some investors speculated that a deal could get done at an even lower price.
Likewise, speculation is rising that a revised offer from Schulze might come this month, well before an extended due diligence period is set to expire in mid- to late December.
“The bad news they were waiting for has come,” said one Best Buy investor, referring to yesterday’s dismal earnings report and stock decline.
A spokesman for Schulze didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Schulze is seeking support for his bid from private-equity firms including Cerberus Capital Management, TPG and Leonard Green Partners, with the latter two seen likely to bid together, sources said.
Despite reports that Schulze is struggling to find backers, a bigger problem may be structuring a deal in which he retains control of the company, said one source.
Best Buy swung to a fiscal third-quarter loss of $13 million as sales tumbled 3.6 percent to $10.75 billion, hit by cutthroat competition with Amazon and sluggish demand for TVs, laptops and digital cameras.
On a call with analysts yesterday, Joly admitted it will be a “hard road” to turn around the retailer’s operations.
Weakening cash flow could also complicate a leveraged buyout. The company cut its forecast for annual cash flow to at least $850 million, down sharply from its August forecast for at least $1.25 billion.
Last week, Joly outlined a plan that includes matching prices at Amazon and other rivals to curb “showrooming,” in which shoppers check out products at Best Buy before purchasing them at lower prices online.
jcovert@nypost.com
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