Events showcase Miami’s growth as tech center

One by one, representatives from six startup companies walked onto the wooden stage and presented their products or services to a full house of about 200 investors, mentors, and other supporters Thursday at Incubate Miami’s DemoDay in the loft-like Grand Central in downtown Miami. With a large screen behind them projecting their graphs and charts, they set out to persuade the funders in the room to part with some of their green and support the tech community.

Just 24 hours later, from an elaborate “dojo stage,” a drummer warmed up the crowd of several hundred before a “Council of Elders” entered the ring to share wisdom as the all-day free event opened. Called TekFight, part education, part inspiration, and part entertainment, the tournament-style program challenged entrepreneurs to earn points to “belt up” throughout the day to meet with the “masters” of the tech community.

The two events, which kicked off Innovate MIA week, couldn’t be more different. But in their own ways, like a one-two punch, they exuded the spirit and energy growing in the startup community.

One of the goals of the TekFight event was to introduce young entrepreneurs and students to the tech community, because not everyone has found it yet and it’s hard to know where to start, said Saif Ishoof, the executive director of City Year Miami who co-founded TekFight as a personal project. And throughout the event, he and co-founder Jose Antonio Hernandez-Solaun, as well as Binsen J. Gonzalez and Jeff Goudie, wanted to find creative, engaging ways to offer participants access to some of the community’s most successful leaders.

That would include Alberto Dosal, chairman of CompuQuip Technologies; Albert Santalo, founder and CEO of CareCloud; Jorge Plasencia, chairman and CEO of Republica; Jaret Davis, co-managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig; and more than two dozen other business and community leaders who shared their war stories and offered advice. Throughout the day, the event was live-streamed on the Web, a TekFight app created by local entrepreneur and UM student Tyler McIntyre kept everyone involved in the tournament and tweets were flying — with #TekFight trending No. 1 in the Miami area for parts of the day. “Next time Art Basel will know not to try to compete with TekFight,” Ishoof quipped.

‘Miami is a hotbed’

After a pair of Chinese dragons danced through the audience, Andre J. Gudger, director for the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs, entered the ring. “I’ve never experienced an event like this,” Gudger remarked. “Miami is a hotbed for technology but nobody knew it.”

Gudger shared humorous stories and practical advice on ways to get technology ideas heard at the highest levels of the federal government. “Every federal agency has a director over small business — find out who they are,” he said. He has had plenty of experience in the private sector: Gudger, who wrote his first computer program on his neighbor’s computer at the age of 12, took one of his former companies from one to 1,300 employees.

There were several rounds that pitted an entrepreneur against an investor, such as Richard Grundy, of the tech startup Flomio, vs. Jonathan Kislak, of Antares Capital, who asked Grundy, “why should I give you money?”

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Police search for man who exposed himself to young girls in Southwest Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade Police are looking for a man wanted for lewd and lascivious exposure, investigators said Thursday.

“We’re working a couple of cases in the area where a gentleman seen in the sketch is exposing himself to children,” one detective told a concerned parent.

Yanitza Delgado was driving in the area of Southwest 80th St. and 154th Ave. Thursday when police approached her car.

“I think it’s very disgusting,” Delgado said. “I have a 12-year-old daughter. and then I have a 7-year-old. And I really think this is disgusting.”

Cops handed out a sketch and description of the man they said has been exposing himself to young girls in the vicinity of Southwest 72nd and 80th Streets from Southwest 142nd to 154th Avenues.

A 16-year-old girl walking in the neighborhood where cops were handing out flyers said she was a victim.

“I was walking, with my friend over here, and then he passes by, and he’s like ‘Oh, come here.’ And we’re like, ‘what?’ And he’s like, ‘you know where 152nd is?’ We’re like, ‘no.’ But we’re very distant. And when I look down, I see he has his pants down,” the girl said. She did not wish to be identified. “He just drove away laughing. We were very scared.”

Police provided two different sketched to the media, but only one sketch was used on the flyer.

Because they’re dealing with multiple victims, descriptions of the man vary, police said.

Police believe they’re looking for a Hispanic male between 20 and 30 years old.

They said he has short, black hair, brown eyes, and may or may not have a goatee.

It’s a vague description, but they’re hoping handing out fliers will generate some leads.

“I’m so worried,” parent Ana Escobar said. “You know, because, my two daughters they train in that tennis courts right there.”

Investigators said they started receiving reports of lewd and lascivious exposure back in March.

The victim who spoke to CBS 4 News said she saw the man last year but never reported it to cops.

Thursday, she told them her story. She said she hopes it leads to an arrest.

“I’m very glad ’cause at least we can get justice with this man,” the girl said.

Police said the man may be driving a Silver Toyota Corolla sedan or a similar vehicle.

If you think you recognize the suspect, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or visit  www.crimestoppers.com and select “Give a Tip.” You can also send a text message to 274637. Enter CSMD followed by the tip information and press send.

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Firm says first BlackBerry 10 phone to debut in March, QWERTY phone won’t launch until June

Research In Motion (RIMM) is gearing up for a series of make-or-break releases that could be considered the most important device launches in the company’s history. Everything is riding on the success of the RIM’s BlackBerry 10 platform, which will be unveiled in its finished state on January 30th next year. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins is on record confirming that BlackBerry 10 will launch in the first quarter and company COO Kristian Tear previously stated new BlackBerry devices will be available “not too long after” the platform is unveiled late next month, but exact timing is still a mystery. According to Boston-based brokerage firm Detwiler Fenton, however, RIM’s first two BlackBerry 10 handsets won’t launch until March and June, respectively.

“RIM’s stock has been on a tear recently thanks to a number of upgrades and optimism surrounding its upcoming BB10 platform,” Detwiler analysts wrote in a note to clients picked up by Forbes. “However, as we dig a little deeper, there appears to be a few issues that could set up for some disappointing numbers in the 2013 first half.”

The firm goes on state that AT&T (T) and T-Mobile will launch the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone some time in March, while Verizon Wireless (VZ) and Sprint (S) are targeting May launches. Detwiler also states that the second BlackBerry 10 smartphone, which will feature a touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard, might not launch until June.

“Therefore, it is possible RIMM’s February quarter may only see a very small number of BB10 sales with the May quarter also coming in light due to limited QWERTY keyboard shipments and limited shipments to Sprint and Verizon,” the firm continued. “It’s our opinion RIM will ship approximately 400,000 BB10 units in the February quarter and 2.2 million to 2.5 million units in the May quarter. While this is clearly a North American / developed market view, we think this is the right way to look at the 2013 first half because the initial BB10 handsets are higher end and not targeted for emerging markets.”

When asked to comment on the Detwiler note, RIM spokesman Nick Manning reiterated the company’s earlier position. ”Details of the commercial availability for BlackBerry 10 will be announced at the global launch events on January 30,” Manning said in a comment provided to BGR via email. “Our executives have made it clear that the touch screen device will be available shortly after launch with the physical keyboard version to follow shortly after that.”

BGR’s own sources were not able to provide details regarding the exact timing of RIM’s upcoming launches, however we are hearing from reliable sources that RIM’s QWERTY-equipped BlackBerry 10 smartphone will launch well ahead of the June timeframe mentioned by Detwiler.

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Nurse Who Took Hoax Call at Kate's Hospital Dies

A nurse who accepted a prank phone call during Kate Middleton's stay in the hospital this week has been found dead.

The nurse -- identified by King Edward VII's Hospital in London as Jacintha Saldanha -- was found unconscious Friday morning and could not be revived by emergency personnel, according to the BBC.

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Multiple British media reports said Saldanha was a nurse who initially accepted the call from two Australian DJs who were pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, but not the nurse who later provided details to the radio personalities about Kate Middleton's condition.

A statement on Saldanha's death was issued on behalf of Prince William and Kate. "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha. Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time."

RELATED: Kate Middleton's Hospital Apologizes for Prank

The hospital -- which had apologized earlier this week for being duped by the hoax phone call -- also expressed "deep sadness" at the news and called Saldanha "an excellent and well-respected nurse" who was popular with her colleagues.

"We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to
the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this
difficult time," the statement said. "This is a tragic event. Jacintha
was a first class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds of patients
during her time with us. She will be greatly missed."

The royal palace announced on Monday that Kate Middleton was pregnant and was being treated in the hospital for hyperemesis gravidarum, a more severe form of the nausea and vomiting that normally accompanies the early stages of pregnancy. She was released from the hospital on Thursday.

PICS: Kate Middleton, Style Icon!

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Bus driver in deadly Bronx crash found not guilty of manslaughter, negligent homicide

Robert Kalfus

Ophadell Williams, right, is seen with his lawyer Patrick Bruno.

A Chinatown bus driver was cleared of all counts of manslaughter for his role in a horrific crash that killed 15 passengers in The Bronx last year.

This morning’s surprising verdict found Ophadell Williams guilty of only one minor count of aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, after he’d been facing up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Williams had claimed that he lost control of the bus, which was headed into the city from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut on March 12, 2011, after a tractor-trailer cut him off.

The top of the bus was sheared open after it struck a pole on the side of the roadway — killing 15 and injuring 18 others.

Prosecutors insisted Williams was so recklessly tired and sleep deprived that he might as well have been drunk.

Williams — an ex-con with a checkered driving record — tested clean for drugs and alcohol after the crash of his World Wide Travel bus.

Probers said the bus had been traveling at 78 mph in a 50 mph zone just moments before the crash.

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There’s lots of brand buzz during Art Basel

Cartier, Bugatti, and Perrier-Jouët are iconic luxury brands that you expect to find showcasing their products during Art Basel and the related art events.

AriZona Beverages and Sears don’t have the same aura.

But this week they’re all on the same playing field at Art Basel, Design Miami, and all the related art fairs. With thousands of people converging for this week’s art events, everyone wants to get their brands in front of consumers.

If you’re in Miami this week, chances are you’ll encounter AriZona’s new Lemon Fizz, a joint collaboration with artist Richard Prince. The sparkling lemon soda comes in pop art-inspired cans featuring representations of Prince’s Nurse and Jokes paintings. Prince’s art has been showcased at the fair, so Miami seemed like a logical place to launch the new product.

This week a couple thousand cases of Lemon Fizz will be consumed in Miami. You’ll find the drink at more than 50 locations, including VIP parties, hotels, art galleries, restaurants, and bars. HaVen Gastro-Lounge is even offering a free “Fresh Prince” cocktail for Happy Hour.

“Basel is an international event that brings a culturally significant audience with a lot of influencers and fashion mavens,” said Jackie Harrigan, global communications director for AriZona. “You want to get your brand in front of as many eyeballs as you can and hope that brand recognition is going to last. A lot of people can’t afford a Richard Prince piece of art and this allows them to have a part of it.”

Sears is much more of a stretch. There’s no artist connection. The retailer hopes to take advantage of fashion influencers in town for Basel and reach out to them through a blogger conference Friday dubbed “searsStyle Presents: Art of Fashion.”

“We believe the event will help us increase consideration and awareness for the great portfolio of fashion brands we have created at Sears,” Sheila Field, chief marketing officer of Sears Apparel said in a statement.

The way brands choose to connect with consumers can take many forms. For some — such as Swiss banking giant UBS, Absolut Vodka, and Davidoff — it’s a formal sponsorship of Art Basel.

For brands where art is a part of their heritage, many take the opportunity to bring their involvement with Art Basel and the related events to life through sponsorship of an artist or a specialty piece.

In the Art Collector Lounge at Art Basel you’ll find an oversized version of the Miroir ice bucket, a piece created by French designer Hervé Van der Straeten in a partnership with Ruinart Champagne. The piece is part of the artist’s desire to turn ordinary objects into works of art. A few limited-edition versions are available at the Christofle store in Bal Harbour.

“The people that come to Basel are spot-on our target audience,” said Nicolas Ricroque, U.S. brand director for Ruinart, an Art Basel sponsor. “They are extremely sophisticated and knowledgeable in wine and art. They are people who appreciate beautiful things.”

Hermes invited visitors to their new Miami Design District store to view COULEURS DE L’OMBRE by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. This is only the third time that a contemporary artist has been invited to re-image the silk square of the traditional Hermes scarf.

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State lawmakers cautious about projected $437 million budget surplus

TALLAHASSEE --
Initial, positive indications about Florida’s budget for the coming fiscal year could be overtaken by events if the Florida Supreme Court strikes down changes to state employees or the nation plunges over the fiscal cliff, the state’s top economist warned Wednesday.

Speaking to the first meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Amy Baker — coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research — told lawmakers that the current projection of a $436.8 million budget surplus could still change.

"I think the message is that this is not a large cushion," Baker said. "It could evaporate on you if economic circumstances turn against us."

Lawmakers have long watched a decision in the case challenging a 2011 law that required employees to contribute 3 percent of their income to their retirement funds, along with other changes. It could cost the state around $2 billion if the Supreme Court strikes down the law.

A Leon County circuit court judge voided the changes for employees hired before July 1, 2011; justices seemed hesitant about upholding that ruling at oral arguments earlier this year.

But Baker said the so-called "fiscal cliff," a package of federal spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect on Jan. 1 unless Congress and President Barack Obama can reach agreement, also looms large.

If there is a long delay in reaching a deal — one that stretches past January and into March — it could cost the state as much as $375 million, Baker said, comparing it to the debt-ceiling fight in August 2011 that dragged down the state economy.

Even if there is an agreement, it is likely to include some measures that will reduce estimated state income by hundreds of millions of dollars, Baker said.

"There is no likelihood that Florida will escape from the final decision with no changes to our budget," Baker said.

The uncertainty has pushed lawmakers who are optimistic about the numbers to nonetheless urge caution. Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, told the committee that he wanted to boost the budget stabilization fund, one of the state’s reserves, to $1.5 billion. That’s at least $500 million over where the fund is projected to be, Negron said.

After the meeting, Negron told reporters that might be as much as the Legislature can do.

"You can never have too much in a reserve, but realistically I think $1.5 billion is a reasonable target to shoot for," he said.

Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said the situation should send a message to advocates for various state agencies in the audience.

"They need to be on notice that there is a lot of uncertainty out there and that this budget if these two things come to fruition is going to be very, very difficult to put together," Thrasher said. "And I think either one of them could devastating to us."

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Apple to return some Mac production to U.S. in 2013: report

(Reuters) – Apple Inc is planning to bring back some of its production of Mac computers to the United States from China next year, Chief Executive Tim Cook said, according to a report published Thursday.

The company will spend more than $ 100 million to build the computers in the United States, Cook was cited as saying in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.

“This doesn’t mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we’ll be working with people and we’ll be investing our money,” Cook said.

He told NBC in an interview to be aired late Thursday that only one of the existing Mac lines would be manufactured exclusively in the United States.

Higher-tech products are largely made overseas, often in subcontracted factories not owned by the brands whose products they are making.

Cheaper labor costs have been key in encouraging U.S. manufacturers to have move production to China, but with Chinese wage and transport costs increasing, the advantage against the U.S. has narrowed in recent years.

(Reporting by Nicola Leske; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Suits 2013 Episode Description Video

Suit up because Harvey Specter, Mike Ross and the rest of Pearson Hardman's legal eagles return on January 17 for the backhalf of Suits' sensational sophomore season!

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And if you've made the gross oversight of not watching USA's addictive and inventive drama, I've got two excellent pieces of good news: first, ETonline scored an exclusive promo featuring the luminous Sarah Rafferty and dynamic Rick Hoffman giving you a 2-minute recap of everything you've missed.

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Then, once you've realized the error of your ways, USA has done you the biggest solid of all by making all 22 episodes of Suits available (on their website and on demand through nearly every cable provider) for binge watching!

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For those of you who've been good little soldiers and obsessed (like me) over Suits since day one, you too are about to be rewarded as I can exclusively reveal the January 17 season premiere is titled Blind-Sided and sees Harvey and Mike take on a criminal suit that hits close to home for Mike, who struggles to separate his personal feelings from the facts of the case.

Check out the catch-up video below and marathon all 22 episodes of Suits before the season premiere on January 17 at 10 p.m. on USA!

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Egypt's moves tanks to presidential palace, tries to restore order after protests

CAIRO — The Egyptian army sealed off the presidential palace with barbed wire and armored vehicles Thursday as protesters defied a deadline to vacate the area, pressing forward with demands that Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi rescind decrees giving himself near-absolute power and withdraw a disputed draft constitution.

Inside the palace gates, Morsi met with members of his Cabinet and military leaders to discuss the expanding crisis after fierce street battles in an upscale residential suburb of Cairo killed five people and left more than 600 injured in the worst outbreak of violence between the two sides since the Islamist leader's election.

REUTERS

A boy standing behind a barbed wire barricade looks at members of the Republican Guard who have closed a road leading to the presidential palace in Cairo Thursday.

The intensity of the overnight violence, with Morsi's Islamist backers and largely secular protesters lobbing firebombs and rocks at each other, raised the specter that the 2-week-old crisis that has left the country sharply divided would grow more polarized and violent.

The army's Republican Guard, an elite unit assigned to protect the president and his palaces, surrounded the complex and gave protesters on both sides until 3 p.m. (1300 GMT, 8 a.m. EDT) to clear the vicinity, according to an official statement. The statement also announced a ban on protests outside any of the nation's presidential palaces.

But a group of several dozen anti-Morsi protesters continued to demonstrate across the street from the palace past the military's deadline Thursday afternoon, chanting slogans against the president. And organizers called for a larger evening rally. Meanwhile, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists supporting Morsi withdrew from the area after an overnight sit-in.

Inside the palace gates, Morsi held crisis meetings Thursday with Cabinet members and military leaders, including the defense minister, according to a presidential statement.

"The president discussed ways to deal with the situation regarding the political, security and legal landscapes so that Egypt can achieve stability and preserve the gains of the revolution," the statement said.

Egypt has seen sporadic clashes throughout nearly two years of political turmoil after Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February 2011. But Wednesday's street battles were the worst between Morsi's supporters and opponents.

The clashes began after an implicit call by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political party, to which the president belongs, for their members to go to the palace and stage a sit-in that would remove anti-Morsi protesters who were camped out there.

Unlike Mubarak, Morsi was elected in June after a narrow victory in Egypt's first free presidential elections, but many activists who supported him have jumped to the opposition after he issued decrees on Nov. 22 that put him above oversight and a draft charter was later rushed through by his Islamist allies despite a walkout by Christian and liberal factions.

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