Hacker Fears Are Seriously Messing with the Oscars' Online Voting

So what happens if the Academy is too scared to cast Oscar ballots this year? It's not an entirely outlandish scenario, with the nominations less than two weeks away and reports screaming out of Hollywood that the awards' attempt at going digital may already be backfiring. Both the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline have semi-detailed accounts today of the surprising flaws within the Academy's new online voting system, and both conclude that it's so worried about hackers rigging  the Oscars that it's become difficult for the (increasingly aging) members to pick their actual favorites.
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The Academy enlisted Everyone Counts — an electronic voting company whose clients include the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.K.'s Ministry of Justice — back in January to help develop a secure system for voting online. Maybe too secure. Pete Hammond of Deadline writes that the system is "so loaded with specific safeguards and military-type encryption methods to keep hackers and imposters out that it is causing extreme frustration for some of those who have tried to vote." One member joked (we think) to The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg that "it's easier to break into the CIA." Everyone Counts, as a CNN article about online voting in political contests noted, "uses 'military-grade encryption' for its ballots, and can also provide a paper trail for clients who want it, [CEO Lori] Steele says."
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Feinberg and Hammond both detail the new Oscar voting process, which includes forcing members to create an elaborate second password (beyond the one for main access to the Academy's site) and enter a security code that arrives via phone call or text message. Which sounds kind of like, say, resetting your online banking password, but remember, as Feinberg notes, the Los Angeles Times found that 54 percent of Oscar voters are over 60. Though certainly not all people over the age of 60 are computer illiterate, Feinberg himself pointed out in January that "the full story is that more than a few members don't even have computers and/or know how to use the Internet, which would preclude them not only from streaming screeners, but also from filling out an e-ballot." There have been efforts to include voters who don't want to turn to the Internet, but now, amidst all the bubbling frustration, there's worry that some members will just give up altogether.
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Voting for nominees closes January 3, and, as Hammond writes, the Academy is so secretive about this stuff that we may never get a good sense of turnout anyway. But we can't help but wonder: If the Oscar voting pool's majority contingent of old white men gets diminished, does that mean some films could sneak to glory? Does it mean old white men-centric contenders for Best Picture like, say, Lincoln could suffer? Or could The Master, a favorite with the younger oddball set, or — gasp! — awards-season underdog Beasts of the Southern Wild break free? We'll just have to wait and count the e-ballots, we guess.

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McAfee’s 2013 predictions: Mobile malware threats will grow, Anonymous will fade

Security firm McAfee Labs released its annual Threat Predictions report this week, highlighting the potential malware, viruses and other security concerns we may see in 2013. The firm says that with the rise of more advanced mobile devices, smartphones and tablets will become an even larger focus for cybercriminals. This past year we saw a number of high-profile attacks from the hacktivist group Anonymous that had the National Security Agency on edge, however McAfee Labs believes the group will begin to decline due to “incoordination and competition” from more politically-motivated hackers. It has also been predicted that the threat of large-scale attacks such as Stuxnet, which is believed to have taken down Iran’s computer infrastructure earlier this year, will increase as well.

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Exclusive: Huawei partner offered embargoed HP gear to Iran

 A major Iranian partner of Huawei Technologies offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros worth of embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator in late 2010, documents show.
China's Huawei, the world's second largest telecommunications equipment maker, says neither it nor its partner, a private company registered in Hong Kong, ultimately provided the HP products to the telecom, Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran, known as MCI. Nevertheless, the incident provides new evidence of how Chinese companies have been willing to help Iran evade trade sanctions.
The proposed deal also raises new questions about Shenzhen-based Huawei, which recently was criticized by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee for failing to "provide evidence to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions or U.S. export laws."
At least 13 pages of the proposal to MCI, which involved expanding its subscriber billing system, were marked "Huawei confidential" and carried the company's logo, according to documents seen by Reuters. In a statement to Reuters, Huawei called it a "bidding document" and said one of its "major local partners," Skycom Tech Co Ltd, had submitted it to MCI.
The statement went on to say, "Huawei's business in Iran is in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations including those of the U.N., U.S. and E.U. This commitment has been carried out and followed strictly by our company. Further, we also require our partners to follow the same commitment and strictly abide by the relevant laws and regulations."
In October, Reuters reported that another Iranian partner of Huawei last year tried to sell embargoed American antenna equipment to Iran's second largest mobile operator, MTN Irancell, in a deal the buyer ultimately rejected. The U.S. antenna manufacturer, CommScope Inc, has an agreement with Huawei in which the Chinese firm can use its products in Huawei systems, according to a CommScope spokesman. He added that his company strives to comply fully with all U.S. laws and sanctions.
Huawei has a similar partnership with HP. In a statement, the Palo Alto, Calif., company said, "HP has an extensive control system in place to ensure our partners and resellers comply with all legal and regulatory requirements involving system security, global trade and customer privacy and the company's relationship with Huawei is no different."
The statement added, "HP's distribution contract terms prohibit the sale of HP products into Iran and require compliance with U.S. and other applicable export laws."
Washington has banned the export of computer equipment to Iran for years. The sanctions are designed to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons; Iran says its nuclear program is aimed purely at producing domestic energy.
CLOSE LINKS
Huawei and its Iranian partner, Skycom, appear to have very close ties.
An Iranian job recruitment site called Irantalent.com describes Skycom as "a leading telecom solution provider" and goes on to list details that are identical to the way Huawei describes itself on its U.S. website: employee-owned, selling "solutions" used by "45 of the world's top 50 telecom operators" and serving "one-third of the world's population."
On LinkedIn.com, several telecom workers list having worked at "Huawei-skycom" on their resumes. A former Skycom employee said the two companies shared the same headquarters in China. And an Iranian telecom manager who has visited Skycom's office in Tehran said, "Everybody carries Huawei badges."
A Hong Kong accountant whose firm is listed in Skycom registration records as its corporate secretary said Friday he would check with the company to see if anyone would answer questions. Reuters did not hear back.
The proposal to MCI, dated October 2010, would have doubled the capacity of MCI's billing system for prepaid customers. The proposal noted that MCI was "growing fast" and that its current system, provided by Huawei, had "exceeded the system capacity" to handle 20 million prepaid subscribers.
"In order to keep serving (MCI) with high quality, we provide this expansion proposal to support 40M subscribers," the proposal states on a page marked "HUAWEI Confidential."
The proposal makes clear that HP computer servers were an integral part of the "Hardware Installation Design" of the expansion project. Tables listing equipment for MCI facilities at a new site in Tehran and in the city of Shiraz repeatedly reference HP servers under the heading, "Minicomputer Model."
The documents seen by Reuters also include a portion of an equipment price list that carries Huawei's logo and are stamped "SKYCOM IRAN OFFICE." The pages list prices for HP servers, disk arrays and switches, including those that already are "existing" and others that need to be added. The total proposed project price came to 19.9 million euros, including a "one time special discount."
The proposed new HP equipment, which totaled 1.3 million euros, included one server, 20 disk arrays, 22 switches and software. The existing HP equipment included 22 servers, 8 disk arrays and 13 switches, with accompanying prices.
Asked who had provided the existing HP equipment to MCI, Vic Guyang, a Huawei spokesman, said it wasn't Huawei. "We would like to add that the existing hardware equipment belongs to the customer. Huawei does not have information on, or the authority to check the source of the customer's equipment."
Officials with MCI did not respond to requests for comment.
In a series of stories this year, Reuters has documented how China has become a backdoor for Iran to obtain embargoed U.S. computer equipment. In March and April, Reuters reported that China's ZTE Corp, a Huawei competitor, had sold or agreed to sell millions of dollars worth of U.S. computer gear, including HP equipment, to Telecommunication Co of Iran, the country's largest telecommunications firm, and a unit of the consortium that controls TCI.
The articles sparked investigations by the U.S. Commerce Department, the Justice Department and some of the U.S. tech companies. ZTE says it is cooperating with the federal probes.
TCI is the parent company of MCI.

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Analysis: Six months on, Monti's labor reform has changed little

ROME (Reuters) - Overhauling Italy's rigid labor rules was supposed to be Mario Monti's flagship reform.
It required drawn out, often heated bargaining with unions, employers and political parties. Yet six months after their approval the measures seem to be having little effect on hiring, firing or the labor market in general.
The technocrat premier's aim was to encourage hiring of permanent rather than temporary workers and to make it easier for firms to shed staff during economic downturns. Businesses and workers' bodies say it is doing neither.
Monti, who resigned as prime minister last month, hoped to boost a chronically low employment rate and end a "dual" labor market made up of over-protected older workers and millions of mostly young people on temporary jobs with no labor rights.
However, he quickly ran into strong opposition, led by the CGIL union which found support from the centre-left Democratic party (PD) that he relied on for his majority and which is now, polls suggest, likely to win February elections.
The unions, which largely represent older, more protected workers, held a series of strikes and protests to defend existing job protection. Labor minister Elsa Fornero, who drew up the reform proposal, became a hate figure for millions of workers.
After being watered down during a lengthy passage through parliament, the final version of the plan, approved in June last year, slightly eased firing restrictions in large and medium sized firms and made temporary hiring more costly.
Unions warned it could lead to a firing spree, while businesses said it would discourage new hires. Six months on, unionists now admit their fears were exaggerated, but employers say their concerns are being confirmed.
"There is no evidence that companies are firing more under the new rules. It just isn't happening," said Pierangelo Albini, responsible for labor issues at employers' lobby Confindustria.
No official data is available on the number of workers who have been dismissed under the new norms but even the unions, which are monitoring the situation closely, estimate the figure is negligible.
They were quick to denounce isolated cases concerning telecoms companies Huawei and Vodafone, which attracted attention in Italian media, yet each one involved no more than a couple of workers.
"The reform doesn't actually change much in terms of firing procedures," said Michele Tamburini, a labor lawyer with a U.S. law firm in Milan. "Potentially, it could make firing easier but it all depends how it is interpreted by judges and hardly anyone wants to test it."
Tamburini said he and his colleagues at other firms had seen no rise in new business in the form of contested dismissals, as some commentators had expected.
PROBLEMS REMAIN
Monti, who says he will seek a second term at the Feb 24-25 election, initially defended the reform as a good compromise but now acknowledges its limits and blames the left-wing CGIL union for blocking more radical changes.
In a new policy platform presented before Christmas he urged a "drastic simplification" of labor market rules to "overcome the dualism between protected and unprotected workers". These were exactly the goals his reform was meant to achieve.
"Monti's intentions on the labor reform were right but the politics of it were all wrong," said Riccardo Barbieri of Mizuho International. "The PD couldn't let him make firing easier in a pre-election period and in the middle of a recession."
Despite criticism of some of his reforms, investors would love to see the former European commissioner stay on after the election, ideally at the head of a more cohesive majority that allows him to push through his new agenda.
Tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs since the labor reform was passed as companies close or downsize, but they are still shedding staff under the old terms rather than risking difficulties by trying to capitalize on the reform.
"There has been very little recourse to the new rules," said Giorgio Santini, head of labor issues for the CISL trade union, Italy's second largest.
One reason may be that firing procedures are more complicated than ever because the changes have increased the discretionary power of the courts.
The reform made it possible for private firms with more than 15 employees to fire individual workers for business reasons, such as a fall in demand, without necessarily having to re-instate them if a judge ruled the dismissal was unjustified.
In smaller firms, where job protection was much weaker, nothing changed under the reform. The public sector, where protection is strongest of all, was also unaffected.
Companies were always able to shed staff if they were restructuring or closing a product line but it was much harder to fire people for poor performance or other reasons. Paradoxically it was easier to shed 10 or 20 workers than one or two.
The courts can now order firms to offer wrongly dismissed workers financial compensation rather than giving them their job back. However, if the unfair dismissal is for discriminatory or disciplinary reasons, re-instatement is still obligatory.
Judges now have to decide not only whether a dismissal is justified but also whether it is being attempted for business reasons, disciplinary reasons or due to discrimination.
Unions have been ready to fight any cases where they suspected firms were presenting bogus business reasons to shed workers considered difficult or disruptive. Yet even the leftist CGIL union said few had emerged.
"There have been maybe a couple of hundred cases that firms have tried to justify under the new rules, and in many we have seen evidence of discrimination and we've contested them," said the CGIL's head of labor policy Claudio Treves.
Other unions put the figure considerably lower.
APPRENTICESHIP FLOP
Santini of the CISL union said a positive aspect of the new rules was that they oblige firms to co-ordinate more pre-emptively with unions before trying to fire, meaning that shedding staff had not actually become easier at all.
He said that with the unions acting as mediators there are signs that dismissed workers are more willing to come to terms for financial compensation rather than taking their cases through the courts, though he added that this had often happened even before the reform.
Yet if firing has not become easier, hiring has become more difficult, according to both the CISL and Confindustria.
Monti tried to boost the role of apprenticeships, taking Germany as a model, to replace temporary or "precarious" contracts that are seen as the unacceptable face of the dual labor market. These contracts were not scrapped, as some experts urged, but the rules for using them were tightened.
However, both the CISL's Santini and Confindustria's Albini said apprenticeships have failed to take off because of too much bureaucracy and a rule - required by Italy's Constitution - that regional governments must be partly responsible for organizing the apprenticeship courses, something they are failing to do.
"What is happening is confirming some of our worries," said Albini. "It's no easier to fire but it is more expensive and complicated to hire on a temporary basis, which is important flexibility especially at a time of crisis."
When the labor reform was being watered down in parliament last spring two of Italy's leading economists, Alberto Alesina of Harvard in the United States and Francesco Giavazzi of Milan's Bocconi University, warned Monti of the dangers of a weak compromise.
"Making do with marginal adjustments would be worse than not doing anything because it would create the illusion that a problem has been solved when it isn't true," they said in a joint newspaper column. Their fears now seem well grounded.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in November it remained "fundamental" that Italy reform its labor market to make it less rigid. Yet it is unlikely that unions or leftist parties will consider returning to the issue soon.

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Tras seis meses, poco ha cambiado con la reforma laboral de Monti

ROMA (Reuters) - Reacondicionar las rígidas leyes laborales de Italia se suponía que iba ser la reforma clave de Mario Monti.
Ello requería negociaciones prolongadas y a menudo acaloradas con sindicatos, empleadores y partidos políticos. Pero seis meses después de su aprobación las medidas parecen estar teniendo poco efecto en la contratación, el despido o el mercado laboral en general.
La intención del primer ministro tecnócrata era alentar la contratación permanente en lugar de los trabajos temporales y facilitar los despidos a las empresas durante los malos momentos económicos. Los negocios y sindicatos de trabajadores dicen que no está haciendo nada.
Monti, que dimitió como primer ministro el mes pasado, esperaba impulsar una tasa de empleo crónicamente baja y poner fin a un mercado laboral "dual" compuesto de trabajadores mayores sobreprotegidos y millones de jóvenes con trabajos temporales y sin derechos laborales.
Sin embargo, rápidamente contó con una fuerte oposición, liderada por el sindicato CGIL que encontró apoyo en el Partido Democrático (PD) de centroizquierda en el que confiaba para su mayoría y que ahora, según los sondeos, será el probable ganador de las elecciones de febrero.
Los sindicatos, que en su mayoría representan a los trabajadores mayores y más protegidos, celebraron una serie de huelgas y protestas para defender la actual protección laboral. La ministra de Trabajo, Elsa Fornero, que redactó la propuesta de reforma, se convirtió en una figura odiada por millones de trabajadores.
Después de suavizarse durante su paso por el Parlamento, la versión final del plan, aprobada en junio del año pasado, aliviaba ligeramente las restricciones al despido en las empresas grandes y medianas y hacía más costosa la contratación temporal.
Los sindicatos advirtieron de que esto podría llegar a la extensión del despido, mientras las empresas decían que desalentaría nuevas contrataciones. Seis meses después, los sindicalistas admiten que sus temores eran exagerados, pero los empleadores dicen que sus preocupaciones están siendo confirmadas.
"No hay pruebas de que las compañías estén despidiendo más con las nuevas leyes. Esto simplemente no está pasando", dijo Pierangelo Albini, responsable de asuntos laborales en el grupo de empresarios Confindustria.
No hay datos disponibles sobre el número de trabajadores que han sido despedidos con las nuevas leyes, pero incluso los sindicatos, que estudian la situación de cerca, estiman que la cifra es insignificante.
Fueron rápidos a la hora de denunciar casos aislados que implicaban a las empresas de telecomunicaciones Huawei y Vodafone, que atrajeron la atención de los medios italianos, aunque cada una no implicó a más de un par de trabajadores.
"La reforma en realidad no cambia mucho en términos de procedimientos de despido", dijo Michele Tamburini, abogado laboralista para un bufete estadounidense en Milán. "Potencialmente, podría facilitar el despido pero todo depende de cómo lo interpretan los jueces y casi nadie quiere comprobar eso".
Tamburini dio que él y sus colegas en otras firmas legales no habían visto aumentar las impugnaciones por despidos, como algunos comentaristas habían esperado.
SIGUEN LOS PROBLEMAS
Monti, que dice que se presentará a las elecciones del 24 y 25 de febrero, inicialmente defendió la reforma como un buen compromiso pero ahora reconoce sus límites y culpa al sindicato izquierdista CGIL por bloquear más cambios radicales.
En una nueva plataforma política presentada antes de Navidad instó a una "simplificación drástica" de las leyes del mercado laboral para "superar el dualismo entre los trabajadores protegidos y desprotegidos". Esos eran exactamente los objetivos que su reforma quería conseguir.
"Las intenciones de Monti sobre la reforma laboral eran buenas pero las políticas fueron todas equivocadas", dijo Riccardo Barbieri, de Mizuho International. "El PD no podía permitirle facilitar el despido en período preelectoral y en medio de una recesión".
A pesar de las críticas hacia algunas de sus reformas, a los inversores les encantaría que el ex comisario europeo se quedara después de las elecciones, idealmente a la cabeza de una mayoría más consistente que le permitiera sacar adelante su nuevo programa.
Decenas de miles de trabajadores han perdido sus empleos desde que se aprobó la reforma laboral, mientras las compañías cierran o se reducen, pero aún se deshacen de sus empleados con las antiguas condiciones en lugar de arriesgarse a las dificultades intentando sacar provecho de la reforma.
"Ha habido muy poco recurso a las nuevas normas", dijo Giorgio Santini, jefe de asuntos laborales del sindicato comercial CISL, el segundo mayor de Italia.
Una razón podría ser que los procedimientos para el despido son más complicados que nunca porque los cambios han elevado el poder facultativo de los tribunales.
La reforma hacía posible para las empresas privadas con más de 15 empleados despedir a trabajadores individuales por razones empresariales, como una caída en la demanda, sin tener necesariamente que readmitirlos si un juez fallaba que el despido era injustificado.
En las empresas más pequeñas, donde la protección laboral era mucho más débil, no ha cambiado nada con la reforma. El sector público, donde la protección es la más fuerte de todas, tampoco se ha visto afectado.
Los tribunales ahora pueden ordenar a las empresas que ofrezcan compensaciones financieras a los despedidos de forma improcedente en lugar de devolverles su puesto. Sin embargo, si el despido improcedente es por discriminación o razones disciplinarias, la readmisión todavía es obligatoria.
Los jueces ahora tienen que decidir no sólo si un despido es procedente sino si es debido a razones empresariales, disciplinarias o discriminación.
Santini, del sindicato CISL, dijo que un aspecto positivo de las nuevas leyes es que obligan a las empresas a coordinarse más con los sindicatos antes de intentar algún despido, lo que supone que despedir plantilla en realidad no se ha facilitado en absoluto.
Pero si el despido no se ha facilitado, la contratación se ha vuelto más difícil, según CISL y Confindustria.
Monti trató de impulsar el papel de los aprendices, tomando Alemania como modelo, para reemplazar los contratos temporales o "precarios" que son considerados la cara inaceptable del mercado laboral dual.
Pero estos contratos de aprendizaje no han conseguido despegar debido a la burocracia y a la norma constitucional de que los gobiernos regionales deben ser en parte responsables de organizar los cursos de aprendizaje.
El presidente del Banco Central Europeo, Mario Draghi, dijo en noviembre que seguía siendo fundamental que Italia reformara su mercado laboral para hacerlo menos rígido. Sin embargo es poco probable que sindicatos o partidos de izquierdas consideren volver pronto sobre el asunto.

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'Sisters of the Seventh Planet’ Takes from Quantum Physics, Metaphysics and More

Tumwater, WA (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
In her new fantasy novel “Sisters of the Seventh Planet” (published by Balboa Press), author Teri Hoskins tells the story of two young women with the weight of the world on their shoulders, trying to find a balance between life, love and responsibility.
Shriya and Gwenneth are from an ancient family line that has been practicing the Sacred Work in secret for the “good of mankind” for many generations. Their abilities include healing the sick and seeing into the future. Gwenneth is insistent that Shriya marry a man from the proper bloodline so that the Sacred Work can continue through their offspring, but Shriya is in love with a tribesman not of the sacred bloodline.
An excerpt from “Sisters of the Seventh Planet”:
I feel the flames rising up around my ankles; I close my eyes and pray as I shake with fear, “My beloved God, raise the vibration in my body so I do not feel this pain. Allow my spirit to soar quickly towards you. Relieve me from the burden of this physical body.”

My sister and I are tied to a stake, our hands bound behind our back; our shoulders touching each other. Her hand grabs mine, gently squeezes it, and I feel her love flow through my body. It eases my fear enough to open my eyes. Through the smoky haze I see someone struggling through the crowd. My daughter! I hear her scream, “They’re killing my mama! They’re killing my mama!”
“This book is about empowering women and spiritual concepts that are just now becoming more common in people’s thinking,” says Hoskins. “It’s about empowering yourself with the knowledge and disciplines that the power of God exists within everyone and that we can do anything!”
“Sisters of the Seventh Planet”

By Teri Hoskins

Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 190 pages | ISBN 9781452562414

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 190 pages | ISBN 9781452562407

E-Book | 190 pages | ISBN 9781452562391

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author

Teri Hoskins resides in the Pacific Northwest with her two dogs. She loves to camp and dreams of living closer to nature. She enjoys being outside for any reason and loves to sit on her porch and read. She loves knowledge and continues to buy more books than she can read. She has one daughter who is a literacy specialist for middle and high school students. She has been a student at a spiritual school, Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment (RSE), since 1987, where she studies quantum physics, neuroscience and ancient wisdom.

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Dodge Nitro Transfer Cases Now Sold to SUV Owners at TransferCasesforSale.com

Dodge Nitro transfer cases are now sold online to SUV owners at the TransferCasesforSale.com website. This company now offers used and rebuilt editions of these Dodge case assemblies for discounted prices for vehicle owners that are searching for replacement parts.

San Francisco, California (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
The TransferCasesforSale.com company is now selling its editions of Dodge Nitro transfer cases online. These SUV cases were used in more than one vehicle in the Dodge lineup and are now sold in rebuilt and used condition. The acquisition and sale of these case assemblies online is expected to help SUV owners and those that replace cases in preowned vehicles. More information can be found online at http://www.transfercasesforsale.com/dodge-nitro-transfer-case.
Chrysler invested into its Dodge brand in the late 1990s to help improve the consumer confidence in these vehicles. The pickup truck series was expanded as well as the SUV lineup. The early 2000s was the first introduction of the Nitro and this vehicle was produced for a 48-month period.
The case assemblies that are now in stock for this vehicle are now offered at a discounted price to help buyers find a replacement that is priced lower than a factory fresh unit.
The transmission, engine and 4x4 system in compatible vehicles works together to control the amount of torque that trucks and SUVs require for off-road control. It is the transfer case that is one of the integral components in trucks and SUVs. The internal gearing and delicate parts usually require service at a certain mileage point. The preowned and rebuilt units that are now sold online provide dual options for replacing these units in 4x4 vehicles.
Recent upgrades have taken place for the company inventory apart from the Dodge and Chrysler lineup. Most domestic and foreign case assemblies are now part of the online and offline inventory. The website launch last year has helped more people to make use of this online resource to find a quality replacement.
The addition of spin testing is one way that the in stock rebuilt units are confirmed to be OEM quality. These spin tests are now offered for all inventory to assure buyers that purchase reconditioned units that the internal gearing is factory quality. The news announcement for the new spin testing program can be found at this link http://www.prweb.com/releases/rebuilt-transfer-cases-/now-spin-tested-for-sale/prweb10146998.htm.
About Transfer Cases for Sale

The Transfer Cases for Sale company launched its company website in 2012 and has had success selling offline for decades. As a preowned and reconditioned assemblies dealer, this company sells to automotive professionals and to average 4x4 vehicle owners that seek out replacement parts online. Through sale pricing and no cost shipping programs, this company has been able to expand its U.S. operations. The Transfer Cases for Sale company offers extended parts warranties for its in stock inventory to help provide additional coverage for buyers of the used and rebuilt editions.

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Roy Harris and Robin Montgomery Pen an Exciting New Memoir on a Boxer

Richard, TX (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
Roy Harris stood in the boxing ring in Los Angeles one August night in 1958, facing the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, Floyd Patterson, who, at the time, had earned that crown at an earlier age than any other man in history. Roy, however, faced a psychological handicap met by few other heavyweight challengers: how could a rustic backwoodsman turned gentleman-scholar-soldier cope with such a challenge? What strange events had conspired to create the meeting of such a contrast in pugilistic antagonists? It is Roy’s story that he and Robin Montgomery pen in his new memoir, “Roy Harris of Cut and Shoot: Texas Backwoods Battler” (published by iUniverse).
“Roy Harris of Cut and Shoot” is, in part, the story of how and why Roy Harris emerged from backwoods obscurity to the pinnacle of fistic heaven – a heavyweight title bout. But this is also the story of the rapidly vanishing breed that spawned and nourished him – the rugged individualistic frontiersmen from the oil-rich southeast Texas thicket country.
Today, Cut and Shoot is a growing community northeast of Houston. Roy has retired from illustrious careers not only in boxing, but as an attorney, real estate mogul and the county clerk of Montgomery County, Texas, for 28 years.
Roy’s personal memories are inserted throughout “Roy Harris of Cut and Shoot,” adding authenticity to this dramatic saga. “It brings a sense of place, culture, simplicity and truth to a society that has in many ways grown jaded and insensitive to the basics of life, good friends, truth, honor and patriotism,” Montgomery states.
“Roy Harris of Cut and Shoot: Texas Backwoods Battler”

By Roy Harris and Robin Montgomery

Hardcover | 5.5 x 8.5 in | 302 pages | ISBN 9781475960679 |

Softcover | 5.5 x 8.5 in | 302 pages | ISBN 9781475960662 |

E-Book | 302 pages | ISBN 9781475960686 |

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Authors

Roy Harris, attorney-at-law, married Gloria Jean Groce in 1955, and the two had six children. He excelled in a variety of careers. In recent years, the Conroe City Council declared August 18 – the date on which he fought for the world’s heavyweight title in 1958 – as Roy Harris Day. He lives in Texas.
Robin Montgomery, Ph.D., earned his doctorate of philosophy in political science from the University of Oklahoma. He is president of the Texas Center for Regional Studies, and he is the author of nine previous books, dozens of articles, and newspaper columns on current events and local history. Montgomery is married and has four children.
iUniverse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is the leading book marketing, editorial services, and supported self-publishing provider. iUniverse has a strategic alliance with Indigo Books & Music, Inc. in Canada, and titles accepted into the iUniverse Rising Star program are featured in a special collection on BarnesandNoble.com. iUniverse recognizes excellence in book publishing through the Star, Reader’s Choice, Rising Star and Editor’s Choice designations—self-publishing’s only such awards program. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, iUniverse also operates offices in Indianapolis. For more information or to publish a book, please visit iuniverse.com or call 1-800-AUTHORS. For the latest, follow @iuniversebooks on Twitter.

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Author Dee Krull Presents the Sequel to “Dreams and Vampires”

New book features the fascinating episodes of a love triangle set in the midst of an uprising and the threat of war, on a world called Htrae.

Arcata, CA (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
In a parallel world created by author Dee Krull, readers will enjoy another action packed story, filled with suspense and romance as she unleashes the second book of her series. In this new work titled Power of the Vampire, Laurel is enmeshed in a conflict between a vampire and a hybrid, who both want her as their mate, and a prophesy that says she will lead an army against a ruling tyrant.
In this book, readers will learn even more about Htrae, a parallel world inhabited by mythical creatures. In this realm, vampires are sentient beings and they co-exist amongst werewolves, witches and humans. This civilization is similar to human societies on Earth. They have families and children, and are governed by laws and a ruler. Nonetheless, the king of Htrae happens to be a tyrant, who segregates his people, causing prejudice and fear amongst his subjects.
Laurel is not the ordinary human that she once thought she was, for on this other world, as foretold in an ancient prophesy, she must lead an army against an evil king who has a secret in his arsenal. One that could wipe out life on Htrae, as it almost did once before. Nonetheless, before she fulfills her destiny, she must first fight her own personal battles. Now, once again, Laurel finds herself kidnapped, and held captive by Learden, a hybrid vampire. Learden seduces her and claims her as his mate after he finds out who she is. Thinking she will never see Kianas again, the vampire who brought her to Htrae, she surrenders to her feelings for Learden. When an unexpected twist brings Kianas back into her life, They press her to choose between them. She refuses to choose, knowing one will die if she does. When Laurel is betrayed by one of her loves, she does something she may regret for the rest of her life. The question is, will this decision cripple her? Or will it empower her to rise up against evil? - Readers will find it hard to put this book down as Laurel is forced to make a decision that goes against everything she believes in. And will change her life, and the life of those she loves, forever.
For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to http://www.Xlibris.com.
About the Author

With a Ph..D. in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Dee Krull had a private practice for twenty-five years. She did everything from researching 'past life regression' to helping people improve their lives, stop smoking and lose weight. In the last ten years, before retirement, she specialized in Medical Hypnosis. The series, "The Saga of a World Called Htrae," was inspired by her late husband's love of science fiction and her own inquisitive nature of “what ifs”. It is a combination of science fiction, fantasy and her own knowledge of hypnosis. Krull has three children in Southern California, one who adopted her in Sparks, Nevada and seven grandchildren. She lives in Northern California with her cat Gwynie, where she is writing her next book in the series.
Power of the Vampire * by Dee Krull

The Saga of the World Called Htrae

Date of Publication: November 20, 2012

Trade Paperback; $19.99; 383 pages; 978-1-4797-4156-4

Trade Hardback; $29.99; 383 pages; 978-1-4797-4157-1

eBook; $3.99; 978-1-4797-4158-8
Members of the media who wish to review this book may request a complimentary paperback copy by contacting the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7879. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 7879.
For more information on self-publishing or marketing with Xlibris, visit http://www.Xlibris.com. To receive a free publishing guide, please call (888) 795-4274.

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Nintendo’s amazing triumph in Japan may doom the company

According to Japanese gaming bible Famitsu, Nintendo 3DS sold 333,000 units in the week ending December 16. Sony’s PS Vita limped along at 13’000 units. The new Wii U did an OK 130,000 units and PS3 managed 46,000 units.  The utter hardware domination of the 3DS is reshaping the Japanese software market. Franchises that were thought to be fading have been revitalized in their portable versions. The 3DS version of the ancient “Animal Crossing” series, famed for being the game where nothing happens, hit a staggering 1.7 million units last week in Japan. “Inazuma Eleven” sold 170,000 units in its launch week, up from 140’000 units its DS version managed in 2011.
[More from BGR: RIM, HTC and Nokia could all be headed the way of Palm]
Nintendo’s portable console 3DS had a muted start in its home market in the spring of 2011. Many thought that Sony would have a fair shot at competing with Nintendo once Playstation Vita launched at the end of 2011. But once Nintendo executed an aggressive price cut for 3DS in the summer of 2011 and then launched a large-screen version of the console in mid-2012, the gadget has grown into a godzilla in Japan, demolishing both Sony Vita and aging tabletop console competition.
[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test [video]]
3DS is doing well also in America, where its lifetime sales are moving close to the 6 million unit mark this holiday season. According to NPD, the 3DS sales in the US market topped 500,000 units in November. That’s a decent number, though far from the torrid volume the portable is racking up in its home market. The US November video game software chart was dominated by massive home console juggernauts: new installments of Call of Duty, Halo and Assassin’s Creed franchises  shifted more than 13 million units in retail. At the same time, the Japanese software chart remains in a Nineties time warp,  dominated by Nintendo’s musty masterpieces: Super Mario Brothers, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, etc.
Japanese and American tastes have always been different. But what we are witnessing now is a particularly fascinating divergence. American consumers are spending more of their time and money on smartphone and tablet games, while console game spending is increasingly focusing on massive, graphically stunning blockbuster titles on Xbox360 and PS3. The casual gamers are shifting to mobile games, while hardcore gamers remain attracted to sprawling epics on home consoles. The overall video game spending in America keeps declining month after month, as casual titles and mid-list games slide. But the Triple A whales like Call of Duty series are doing better than ever.
In Japan, Nintendo has been able to battle back iPhone and Android game invasion with a nostalgic series of portable games that basically recycle the biggest hits of Eighties and early Nineties. Mario, Pokemons and other portable heroes are slowly losing their grip on US and European consumers. But in Japan, some form of national nostalgia is keeping Nintendo on track.
The problem here is that the Japanese success of the 3DS may now be convincing Nintendo that it does not have to rethink its business strategy. The smartphone and tablet game spending continues growing explosively across the world. Unlike console games, mobile game sales in China are legal. The global gaming spending is shifting towards new hardware platforms even as console mammoths like Halo still reign in America. At this critical juncture, Nintendo has managed to cocoon its home market in a web of nostalgia, turning the 3DS console and its Eighties left-over franchises into epic bestsellers yet again.
This means that there is no sense of urgency to push Nintendo into rethinking its long-term plans. The company may continue simply ignoring the smartphone and tablet challenge, designing new portable consoles and the 28th Mario game to support it. 20 years ago, Japan’s insularity doomed its chances to succeed in the mobile phone business. Ithe idiosyncratic nature of Japan may now be leading its biggest entertainment industry success astray.

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Nintendo’s amazing triumph in Japan may doom the company internationally

According to Japanese gaming bible Famitsu, Nintendo (NTDOY) 3DS sold 333,000 units in the week ending December 16, while Sony’s (SNE) PS Vita limped along at 13,000 units, the new Wii U did an okay 130,000 units and the PlayStation 3 managed to sell 46,000 units.  The utter hardware domination of the 3DS is reshaping the Japanese software market. Franchises that were thought to be fading have been revitalized in their portable versions. The 3DS version of the ancient Animal Crossing series, famed for being the game where nothing happens, hit a staggering 1.7 million units last week in Japan. Inazuma Eleven sold 170,000 units in its launch week, up from 140,000 units its DS version managed in 2011.
[More from BGR: RIM, HTC and Nokia could all be headed the way of Palm]
Nintendo’s portable console 3DS had a muted start in its home market in the spring of 2011. Many thought that Sony would have a fair shot at competing with Nintendo once Playstation Vita launched at the end of 2011. But once Nintendo executed an aggressive price cut for 3DS in the summer of 2011 and then launched a large-screen version of the console in mid-2012, the gadget has grown into a Godzilla in Japan, demolishing both Sony Vita and aging tabletop console competition.
[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test [video]]
3DS is doing well also in America, where its lifetime sales are moving close to the 6 million unit mark this holiday season. According to NPD, the 3DS sales in the United States topped 500,000 units in November. That’s a decent number, though far from the torrid volume the portable is racking up in its home market. The U.S. November video game software chart was dominated by massive home console juggernauts: new installments of Call of Duty, Halo and Assassin’s Creed franchises shifted more than 13 million units in retail. At the same time, the Japanese software chart remains in a ’90s time warp, dominated by Nintendo’s musty masterpieces: Super Mario Brothers, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, etc.
Japanese and American tastes have always been different. But what we are witnessing now is a particularly fascinating divergence. American consumers are spending more of their time and money on smartphone and tablet games, while console game spending is increasingly focusing on massive, graphically stunning blockbuster titles on Xbox360 and PS3. The casual gamers are shifting to mobile games, while hardcore gamers remain attracted to sprawling epics on home consoles. The overall video game spending in America keeps declining month after month, as casual titles and mid-list games slide. But the Triple A whales like the Call of Duty series are doing better than ever.
In Japan, Nintendo has been able to battle back iPhone and Android game invasion with a nostalgic series of portable games that basically recycle the biggest hits of ’80s and early ’90s. Mario, Pokemons and other portable heroes are slowly losing their grip on U.S. and European consumers. But in Japan, some form of national nostalgia is keeping Nintendo on track.
The problem here is that the Japanese success of the 3DS may now be convincing Nintendo that it does not have to reconsider its business strategy. The smartphone and tablet game spending continues growing explosively across the world. Unlike console games, mobile game sales in China are legal. The global gaming spending is shifting towards new hardware platforms even as console mammoths like Halo still reign in America. At this critical juncture, Nintendo has managed to cocoon its home market in a web of nostalgia, turning the 3DS console and its Eighties left-over franchises into epic bestsellers yet again.
This means that there is no sense of urgency to push Nintendo into rethinking its long-term plans. The company may continue simply ignoring the smartphone and tablet challenge, designing new portable consoles and the 28th Mario game to support it. Twenty years ago, Japan’s insularity doomed its chances to succeed in the mobile phone business. And now the idiosyncratic nature of Japan may be leading its biggest entertainment industry success astray.

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North Korean Video Game Has Western Ties

Video games represent a true luxury for most North Koreans living in a country where even the elite have only hours of electricity each day. That has not stopped a Western company in the capital city of Pyonyang from creating what may be the first North Korean game widely available online.
The game, called "Pyongyang Racer," is a simple Web browser game that allows players to drive a car around North Korea's capitol city of Pyongyang, according to Beijing Cream. Players must avoid hitting cars and collect gasoline in the form of petrol barrels to keep their run going as long as possible — all while getting warnings from one of Pyongyang's famously picturesque traffic girls.
"Pyongyang Racer" has an unusual development history as a video game. The North Korean programmers who made the game work for Nosotek, a Western company that describes itself as the "first western IT venture" in North Korea.
Nosotek's North Korean programmers previously made mobile-phone games based on the Hollywood films "The Big Lebowski" and "Men in Black." Those games ended up getting published through a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (owner of Fox News), according to Bloomberg News.
Nosotek claims to have "attracted the cream of local talent as the only company in Pyongyang offering Western working conditions and Internet access." That would likely be true in North Korea, given the nuclear-armed country's pariah status among Western countries and businesses.
The Nosotek website also praises the advantages of working in North Korea because "IP secrecy and minimum employee churn rate are structurally guaranteed." Translation: North Korean programmers would likely never leave Nosotek with the company's intellectual property secrets because they have practically no other employment options.
Nosotek built the game for Koryo Tours, a company based in Beijing, China, to distribute "Pyongyang Racer" through the Koryo Tours website. Koryo Tours is currently the leading company that runs tours of secretive North Korea for Westerners and other foreigners.
"This game was developed in 2012 and is not intended to be a high-end technological wonder hit game of the 21st century, but more a fun race game (arcade style) where you drive around in Pyongyang and learn more about the sites and get a glimpse of Pyongyang," Koryo Tours said on the game's website.

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Video game shares down in wake of shooting

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shares of video game makers and sellers fell Thursday in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which has renewed debate about violent games and their potential influence on crime.
Shares of GameStop Corp., whose stores sell video games as well as systems like the Xbox and Wii, fell 5 percent in afternoon trading.
Investors are seen as being increasingly concerned that the government may impose tougher rules on the sales of games rated for "mature" and older audiences.
Investors may be worried that parents will also avoid buying first-person shooter games like "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" after the tragedy Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary, in which 20 children and six adults were shot and killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza.
"Maybe there will be more stringent efforts to make sure youth are not playing games that they're not old enough to play," said Mike Hickey, an analyst with National Alliance Securities. "Maybe there will be a greater effort by parents in managing the content their kids are playing."
Shares of companies involved in the video game industry, many of which had been dropping since the shooting, declined further Thursday.
— GameStop stock lost $1.37, or 5 percent, to $26.18. Shares have barely changed since last Thursday's close, the day before the shooting, to Wednesday's close.
— Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc., the publisher of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2," fell 9 cents to $10.70. The stock had already dropped 5.6 percent.
— Electronic Arts Inc. shares fell 41 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $13.99. Shares had dropped 5.6 percent.
— Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. shares slipped 29 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $11.69. The stock had dropped 8 percent.
The declines came as broader markets rose. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.3 percent at 13,295.

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North Korea’s first video game: A boring version of ‘Crazy Taxi’ that nitpicks your bad driving

In theory, a driving game set in North Korea could be fun — it could revolve around delivering kidnapped movie stars from the airport to Dear Leader’s headquarters, for instance. In reality, though, it looks as though playing a driving game set in North Korea is about as much fun as actually living in North Korea. Business Insider’s Gus Lubin has posted his first impressions of “Welcome to Pyongyang,” an online game that’s “produced by Nosotek, a western IT company based in North Korea,” and he’s found that it’s pretty lame.
[More from BGR: Years after cashing out, MySpace cofounder mocks people who work for a living]
The goal of the game is to drive around the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and become familiar with all the great tourist attractions it has to offer. But unlike action-driving classics such as Crazy Taxi and the Grand Theft Auto series, Welcome to Pyongyang is annoyingly authoritarian and won’t put up with you crashing into cars or mowing down civilians. To make matters worse, the game doesn’t even give you the satisfaction dying at the hands of bloody-minded authorities if you break the rules too often — rather, it sends out a fascistic meter maid to simply tell you that you have been “stopped for bad driving.” We’re not sure what the actual penalty is for reckless is in North Korea, but we get the feeling it’s more severe than getting nitpicked by an annoying digital character.

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RIM shares fall at the open after earnings

 Research In Motion Ltd fell in early trading on Friday following the BlackBerry maker's Thursday earnings announcement, when the company outlined plans to change the way it charges for services.
RIM, pushing to revive its fortunes with the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 devices next month, surprised investors when it said it plans to alter its service revenue model, a move that could put the high-margin business under pressure.
Shares fell 16.0 percent to $11.86 in early trading on the Nasdaq. Toronto-listed shares fell 15.8 percent to C$11.74.

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Walgreen fiscal 1Q profit sinks nearly 26 pct

Walgreen's fiscal first-quarter earnings sank nearly 26 percent as costs tied to a couple big deals and Superstorm Sandy helped put a bigger-than-expected dent in the drugstore chain's performance.
CEO Greg Wasson told analysts he saw the quarter as a "turning point" for the Deerfield, Ill., company, which has been working to recapture customers it lost during a contract dispute with Express Scripts Holding Co. But investors didn't buy that message at least initially, as the stock fell deeper than broader market declines in Friday trading.
Walgreen Co. spent $4 billion in cash earlier this year to buy a stake in Alliance Boots, a Swiss company that runs the largest drugstore chain in the United Kingdom. It also spent $438 million on a drugstore chain focused on the mid-South under the USA Drug, Super D Drug and Med-X names.
Costs tied to those deals totaled $23 million in the quarter, and Walgreen said it only counted a small portion of the gains it received from Alliance Boots. It is reporting those gains a quarter after they occur to address audit and regulatory requirements.
The storm system that swept up the East Coast in late October also cost $24 million in the quarter, as it forced Walgreen to temporarily close hundreds of stores.
Overall, Walgreen earned $413 million, or 43 cents per share, in the three months that ended Nov. 30. That compares with net income of $554 million, or 63 cents per share, a year ago. Walgreen said earlier this month revenue fell nearly 5 percent to $17.34 billion.
Excluding one-time costs, adjusted earnings were 58 cents per share.
Analysts forecast, on average, earnings of 70 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Shares dropped 3.3 percent, or $1.24, to close at $36.31 Friday, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1 percent.
Walgreen runs more than 8,000 drugstores in all 50 states as the nation's largest drugstore chain. The company's revenue has slumped through 2012 after it started the year stuck in a contract squabble with Express Scripts, for which it fills prescriptions.
The companies had let a contract between them expire last December, and their new agreement didn't start until September. The split meant many Express Scripts customers migrated to new drugstores for their prescriptions.
Walgreen is trying to bring those customers back, but competitors like CVS Caremark Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. are pushing aggressively to keep them.
Walgreen said prescriptions filled at stores open at least a year fell nearly 5 percent in the quarter, a smaller decrease than the 8 percent drop it reported in the previous quarter. The drugstore chain saw that improvement as a sign that customers are returning.
"We think we can redeem significant portion of these customers over time," Wasson said.
Walgreen said prescription revenue from stores open at least a year fell 11.3 percent, while revenue from the front end, or rest of the store, dropped 2 percent. Revenue from stores open at least a year is considered a key indicator of retailer health because it excludes stores that recently opened or closed.
Generic drugs have squeezed revenue for Walgreen and other drugstores this year because they are cheaper than brand-name drugs. But they help profitability because they come with a wider margin between the cost for the pharmacy to purchase the drugs and the reimbursement it receives.
Walgreen launched a customer loyalty program called Balance Rewards during the quarter. It allows shoppers to gain points at both Walgreen and Duane Reade stores and for online purchases that translate into cash rewards they can then use at the stores.
Walgreen executives said the program will encourage customers to visit their stores more frequently and to buy more.
"We now have a new kind of currency in place that will help drive our front-end business," Wasson said.

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Nigeria's Dangote Cement expects 38 pct rise in Q1 profit

 Nigeria's biggest listed company, Dangote Cement, expects pretax profit to rise 38.9 percent year-on-year to 42.09 billion naira in the first three months of next year, it said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Dangote Cement, Nigeria's biggest cement producer, said it expected turnover of around 81.6 billion naira in the first quarter, compared with 64.1 billion naira it achieved in the same period in 2012.
The company which is majority owned by billionaire tycoon Aliko Dangote earlier this month shut down a fifth of its production capacity because of a glut in the market caused by imported cement from Asia.
It is yet to release its 2012 full year results.

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Piano maker Steinway takes down "for sale" sign

 Steinway Musical Instruments Inc, the famous manufacturer of pianos, saxophones and trumpets, said on Wednesday it had decided not to sell itself following a 17-month-long exploration of strategic alternatives.
An American icon synonymous with handmade grand pianos, Steinway has struggled to keep its production margins competitive amid stagnant sales, and has seen its shares plunge 10 percent year-to-date. Still, its third-quarter earnings last month offered signs that cost-cutting was paying off.
In a statement on Wednesday, Steinway said it had received several non-binding indications of interest in buying the company, following talks with other companies in the sector as well as private equity, yet these did not offer more value than its own strategic plan.
"We will continue to focus management's efforts on execution of that plan and we look forward to a prosperous 2013," Steinway CEO Michael Sweeney said in the statement.
An in-principle agreement to sell its band instrument division to an investor group led by two of its board members, Dana Messina and John Stoner, was also scrapped in light of the current operating performance of the band division, Steinway said.
In July 2011, Messina, Stoner and other members of management made an offer for Steinway's band instrument and online music divisions, prompting the company to set up a special committee in order to assess it.
Later that month, Steinway asked investment bank Allen & Company LLC to a assist the special committee on exploring strategic alternatives that could also include selling the whole company outright to other interested parties.
By October 2011, Messina had stepped down as CEO of the company after 15 years at the helm to pursue his bid, yet he remained a board member. He was replaced by Sweeney, a chairman of the board of Star Tribune Media Holdings and a former president of Starbucks Coffee Company (UK) Ltd.
Steinway said on Wednesday that it was continuing a separate process to sell its leasehold interest in New York's Steinway Hall building, situated on Manhattan's 57th Street, and was in talks with several parties.
According to its website, Steinway & Sons, the company's piano unit, opened the first Steinway Hall on 14th Street in Manhattan in 1866.
With a main auditorium of 2,000 seats, it became New York City's artistic and cultural center, housing the New York Philharmonic until Carnegie Hall opened in 1891. These days, Steinway Hall is a showroom for the company's instruments.
The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company's pianos have been used by legendary artists such as Cole Porter and Sergei Rachmaninoff and by contemporary ones like Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang.

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RIM shares jump in Toronto, rebound from sharp decline

 Shares of Research In Motion Ltd jumped nearly 10 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, following similar gains in New York on Wednesday, in a rebound from last week's sharp decline.
Last Friday, the volatile stock plunged more than 20 percent after the company said on an earnings conference call that it was rolling out a new fee structure for its services segment, which some investors fear could pressure the high-margin business.
"It got hit so hard after the conference call," said Ed Snyder, an analyst with Charter Equity Research. "People are still fairly optimistic about (BlackBerry 10) coming out in January, so (the rebound is) really just a value play."
The new fee structure overshadowed stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
RIM shares were up 9.7 percent to C$11.42 in midday trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company's Nasdaq-listed stock was down 2 percent to $11.60 after big gains on Wednesday, when Canadian equity markets were closed for Boxing Day.
Through the autumn of 2012, RIM rallied as investors grew optimistic about prospects for its new make-or-break BlackBerry 10 devices, to be formally unveiled January 30. On Thursday, the shares were still up more than 80 percent from the year's low, touched in September.
The Wednesday and Thursday gains also came after several websites posted photos of what they said could be the first BlackBerry 10 phone with a physical keyboard.
Evercore Partners analyst Mark McKechnie said the photos boosted RIM's stock, which he said was depressed from last week's selloff, on a quiet trading day.
"There certainly are folks that believe in the new product cycle," he said. "The whole Wall Street community's been trying to handicap how strong that product cycle will be for RIM."
RIM has said it plans to roll out touchscreen-only devices first, a few weeks before it releases a smartphone with the QWERTY keyboard many longtime BlackBerry users rave about. But some analysts believe devices with hard keyboards will not hit the market until spring.
Management has touted BlackBerry 10's new on-screen keyboard, but some see the company's reputation for building solid, usable physical keyboards as an important competitive advantage as RIM fights for market share against Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics .
McKechnie said volatility is not unusual ahead of big smartphone launches.
"There's so much scale involved in this industry, one way or the other. A successful product versus a failure is going to really change the earnings power of a company," he said.

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