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Internet-centered technology has advanced to the point that smartphone apps and e-commerce sites seemingly sprout overnight. Indeed, many can be built inexpensively from off-the-shelf software in weeks. Scientific breakthroughs, however, often require decades of research and millions of dollars. At the end of every year, I feature three teams of Chicago innovators whose ideas won’t hit the big-time soon but have the potential to improve, even save, our lives a decade from now.
The segment titled "Chicago: The False Confession Capital" featured two infamous Chicago-area cases in which teenage boys allegedly confessed to brutal murders but were later exonerated when DNA excluded them as the killers.
In her letter, addressed to CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager, Alvarez called the story "an offensive display" and accused reporter Byron Pitts of using only snippets of a 6-month-old interview to distort her record and make it appear she was still trying to prosecute the cases.
"Had I known that this story would completely distort my position and intentionally omit critical facts, I would never have agreed to your interview," Alvarez wrote.
One particularly damaging portion of the interview involved the Dixmoor Five case in which five men were convicted as teens of the 1991 rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found on a path. DNA linked a serial rapist to the crime and undermined confessions from the teens. They were cleared in 2011 after spending years in prison.
Alvarez explained in the interview that one possible explanation for the DNA was necrophilia — that the rapist had sex with the girl after she'd already been killed.
That answer — which was roundly mocked in blogs and news critiques — was misconstrued, Alvarez said in the letter. She wrote that the necrophilia theory was used at trial years before she had any involvement in the case.
"I have never advanced that theory or argument, but simply responded, when asked by Mr. Pitts, that we can't say with certainty what had occurred," Alvarez wrote. "This story was not designed to inform, it was designed to undermine me and mislead the public."
Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Alvarez, said the reaction to the piece has been vitriolic. "She's gotten hate mail, things you couldn't even publish," Daly said.
CBS News representatives did not return phone calls seeking comment.
jmeisner@tribune.com
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British singer Adele notched another accolade on Thursday as iTunes announced that her Grammy-winning album “21″ was the top-selling record of 2012 in its U.S. store, extending the disc’s successful run almost two years after it was released.
Adele, 24, who last year became the first artist to secure three iTunes milestones with top-selling album, single and artist of the year, came in ahead of country-pop star Taylor Swift‘s “Red” and British folk band Mumford & Sons‘ “Babel.”
ITunes did not reveal its sales or download figures.
British boy band One Direction’s debut album “Up All Night” and current Grammy nominees fun.’s debut “Some Nights” rounded out the five top-selling albums on iTunes in the United States.
“21,” released in February 2011, has performed strongly in the U.S. music charts this year following the singer’s Grammy-sweeping win in six categories in February 2012.
Adele also landed Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nominations for her sultry James Bond theme song “Skyfall” this week, becoming a strong contender in the best song category for Hollywood’s awards season.
“Thank you so much for the honor of being included in something as brilliant as the Golden Globes! Never in a million years did I ever think I’d come close to such a thing! Truly wonderful … thank you to the Bond family for giving me the opportunity,” the singer said in a statement on Thursday.
ITunes U.S. compiled their Best of 2012 list by looking at the most downloaded items from the Apple iTunes store.
Canadian pop star Carly Rae Jepsen had the top-selling track for her infectious breakthrough summer single “Call Me Maybe.”
Post-apocalyptic action film “The Hunger Games” was the best-selling movie while the second season of British aristocratic period drama “Downton Abbey,” another Hollywood awards favorite, was iTunes’ top-selling television series.
The iTunes Best of 2012 lists can be seen at www.itunes.com/AppStoreBestof2012
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Mohammad Zargham)
Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
I love finding things to do with broccoli stems. I find that allowing the cabbage mixture to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before forming the latkes allows the cabbage to soften a bit, and the latkes hold together better.
5 cups shredded red cabbage
1/2 pound carrots, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups shredded peeled broccoli stems
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons oat bran
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
3 eggs, beaten
About 1/4 cup canola, grape seed or rice bran oil
1. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment and place a rack over another sheet pan.
2. In a large bowl mix together the shredded cabbage, carrots, broccoli stems, baking powder, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, salt, oat bran, flour, cornmeal and buckwheat flour. Taste and adjust salt. Add the eggs and stir together. Let the mixture sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Begin heating a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Take a 1/4 cup measuring cup and fill with 3 tablespoons of the mixture. Reverse onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining latke mix. You should have enough to make about 30 latkes.
4. Add the oil to the pan and heat for 3 minutes or until hot. When it is hot (hold your hand a few inches above – you should feel the heat), slide a spatula under one portion of the latke mixture and transfer it to the pan. Press down with the spatula to flatten. Repeat with more mounds. In my 10-inch pan I can cook four at a time without crowding; my 12-inch pan will accommodate four or five. Cook on one side until golden brown, about four to five minutes. Slide the spatula underneath and flip the latkes over. Cook on the other side until golden brown, another two to three minutes. Transfer to the rack set over a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm.
5. Serve hot topped with low-fat sour cream, Greek yogurt or crème fraîche.
Yield: about 30 latkes, serving 6
Advance preparation: You can prep the ingredients and combine everything except the eggs and salt several hour ahead. Refrigerate in a large bowl. Do not add salt until you are ready to cook, or the mixture will become too watery, as salt draws the water out of the vegetables.
Nutritional information per serving: 226 calories; 14 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 93 milligrams cholesterol; 20 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 151 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 7 grams protein
Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.”
The holiday crunch is on at the mall, and Toys R Us is opening all its stores for 88 straight hours until Christmas Eve. And, for the first time, Macy's is staying open at most stores for 48 hours nonstop the final weekend before Christmas.
In the rush to woo shoppers, merchants this year are upping the ante. Banana Republic is giving away six Fiat cars. Kohl's is picking up the tab for a shopper in each of its stores every day until Christmas Eve. And Sport Chalet will have a scuba-diving Santa at some of its stores Saturday.
Across the nation, retailers are scrambling to draw customers into stores and online in the last days leading up to Christmas, in the hope that shoppers will deliver a last-minute cash infusion at a crucial time for merchants. After a successful Black Friday weekend that netted a record $59.1 billion in sales, stores have seen an unwelcome drop-off in business.
What happens in the next two weeks may be vital not only for merchants but also for the nation's fragile economic recovery, because consumer spending of all kinds makes up about 70% of the U.S. economy.
This weekend and next hold the key to boom or bust. "This holiday, the highs have been higher and the lows lower for retailers," industry analyst Marshal Cohen said. "That means we need a good, strong finish to come out even."
The National Retail Federation is sticking to its prediction of $586.1 billion this year, up 4.1% from last year.
With an extra weekend this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, many stores say that traffic has plummeted in the last few weeks as shoppers gave their credit cards a rest after splurging on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Independent boutiques and national retailers alike are anxiously waiting for a surge of shoppers at the very end.
Liz Williamson and last-minute shoppers like her may dictate the outcome. With a dozen family members and friends on her holiday list, "I have to get started now or I'm going to end up running through the malls on Christmas Eve," said the Los Angeles accountant, who was hunting at the Americana at Brand shopping center. "It's get-it-done time."
Shopper Colleen Chang, 26, hasn't started shopping either. "I've started feeling a little crazy," said the Los Angeles leasing agent, who has budgeted $400. "You have to know exactly what you want because pretty soon there's just nothing left and you have to take what you can get."
"Procrastinators will be the secret weapon for either a ho-ho holiday or a ho-hum one," Cohen said.
With 11 days to go, shipping deadlines loom for online orders. Christmas parties are in full swing. Advertising blares. Last-minute sales scream for attention. Holiday music won't let you alone. Time is running out.
Retailers have plenty of shoppers to win over. Nearly a fifth of consumers have yet to start holiday shopping, while 21% plan to drop into stores again after taking a break from post-Thanksgiving splurging, the research firm NPD Group estimated Thursday.
"Every day feels like a sprint. Across the board we see a lot of traffic right now both online and in store," said Brian Hanover, a spokesman at Sears, which is rolling out another round of door-busters Friday and Saturday.
Despite the looming fiscal cliff in Washington and the prospect of higher taxes next year, retailers expect that people will open their wallets for last-minute gifts.
Kevin Jewelers in the Glendale Galleria is hoping for the traditional surge of procrastinators after a disappointing two weeks, diamond consultant Grace Figues said.
"We're still waiting for the rush," she said. "Lately it's been high-low, high-low just like a normal month. We would welcome the craziness."
At the Best Buy store in Westfield Culver City, general manager Margie Kenney said this weekend is "tremendously important" and will be "one of our busiest weekends after Black Friday."
Both bricks-and-mortar and Web merchants will probably enjoy a boost during the next two Saturdays, which typically hold the No. 3 and No. 2 spots for top shopping days of the year after Black Friday, said Bill Martin of retail technology firm ShopperTrak.
"There's still plenty of shopping left," he said. "Some people are just willing to outlast the retailer and wait for the next wave of serious discounts."
At the Americana at Brand, Stella Yu of Glendale had just begun searching for gifts for her family and close friends. But the 25-year-old graduate student, a veteran last-minute shopper, is already mentally preparing herself for the thick crowds, jammed parking lots and general mall madness as the clock ticks down to Christmas.
"I hate humans during holiday shopping," Yu sighed, "especially the ones with kids."
shan.li@latimes.com
Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday indicated he would like to see assault weapons banned in Illinois as lawmakers this spring revise state law to allow some form of concealed carry to comply with a court ruling that tossed aside a long-standing ban on allowing people to carry weapons.
Meanwhile, at City Hall, Mayor Rahm Emanuel blasted Tuesday's federal appellate court decision as "wrongheaded" as he offered legal help to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan as she weighs an appeal.
Judges gave the General Assembly six months to make changes, and the Democratic governor suggested the new rules will have to restrict who can get a permit to carry a gun.
"We have to have reasonable limitations so people who have clear situations where they should not be carrying a gun, for example, those with mental health challenges, those who have records of domestic violence, we cannot have those sorts of people eligible to carry weapons, loaded weapons, on their person in public places" Quinn said.
National Rifle Association lobbyist Todd Vandermyde said the governor is "being very pragmatic in his approach" on concealed carry. Though Vandermyde expected gun rights groups to hold firm on a variety of points, he said his group wanted to "work for a reasonable solution and policy on right to carry."
Quinn also pressed for an assault weapons ban, saying Illinois residents "overwhelmingly support that."
"I want to say today, and I'll say every day, we need to ban assault weapons in our state of Illinois. We aren't going to have people marching along Michigan Avenue, or any other avenue in the state of Illinois, with military-style assault weapons, weapons that are designed to kill people."
An assault weapons ban has been elusive in Springfield because of geographical differences of opinion. Opponents point to the fact that Chicago had a gun ban for decades, even as criminals obtained guns and shot people.
For his part, Emanuel noted his efforts while working for former President Bill Clinton to require background checks for gun buyers and ban semi-automatic assault weapons.
"We fought against the National Rifle Association. They had not been beaten in 30 years in the United States Congress, and we beat 'em," Emanuel said.
"I think this opinion by the 7th Circuit Court is also wrongheaded," he added.
Emanuel said he has offered to make city Law and Police department resources available to the Illinois attorney general. Meanwhile, the city is reviewing its gun registration ordinance to see if it needs modification in light of the court ruling.
Tribune reporter Ray Long contributed.
mcgarcia@tribune.com
hdardick@tribune.com
(Reuters) – Google‘s navigation tool has returned to the iPhone, months after Apple‘s home-grown mapping service flopped, prompting user complaints, the firing of an executive and a public apology from Apple’s CEO.
The Google Maps app will be compatible with any iPhone or iPod Touch that runs iOS 5.1 or higher, the company said in a blog post. (http://link.reuters.com/jek64t)
Apple launched its own service in early September, and dropped Google Maps, when it launched the iPhone 5 and rolled out iOS 6, an upgrade to its mobile software platform.
Users complained that Apple’s new map service, based on Dutch navigation equipment and digital map maker TomTom’s data, contained errors and lacked features that made Google Maps popular.
In October, Scott Forstall, a long-time lieutenant of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was asked to leave the company partly because of his refusal to take responsibility for the mishandling of the mapping software.
While Apple Maps offered soaring ‘flyover’ views of major cities, it had no public transit directions, limited traffic information, and obvious mistakes such as putting one city in the middle of the ocean.
This led to Apple chief executive Tim Cook apologizing to customers frustrated with the service and, in an unusual move for the U.S. consumer group, directed them to rival services such as Google’s Maps instead.
(Reporting by Tej Sapru and Ankur Banerjee in Bangalore; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Dan Lalor)
Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Margo Martindale, who won an Emmy for her role on FX’s “Justified,” is returning to the network on the new spy series “The Americans.”
The show, which stars Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell as an undercover KGB couple in Reagan-era America, premieres January 30. Martindale has signed on to appear in at least eight episodes as “Claudia,” a KGB illegal who delivers assignments to the couple.
The casting reunites Martindale with “Justified” creator Graham Yost, an executive producer of “The Americans.” Martindale won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Mags Bennett on “Justified.”
Since her exit from the show, Yost has talked about how much he misses working with the actress.
“What I do regret is just not having Margo on the show, in that she’s such a tremendous actress and such a great person,” he told TheWrap. “That was the hard part.”
Since leaving “Justified,” Martindale has appeared on CBS’s now-canceled “A Gifted Man” and has signed on for Showtime’s “Masters of Sex.”
“The Americans” was created by former CIA agent Joe Weisberg, who also executive produces. Besides Yost, it is also executive produced by Joel Fields and Amblin Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. The series is produced by Fox Television Studios and FX Productions.
TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Mother Nature has been a fickle manager of snowfall lately, sending an avalanche of powder to ski resorts across the country two years ago, followed by the least amount of snowfall in decades last winter.
A scattering of storms has already swept through the West this winter, but it's too early to tell if this season will be a snowy success or another dry disappointment.
But ski resort managers are losing less sleep over erratic weather conditions after making a flurry of investments over the last few years in ultra-efficient, computerized snow-making equipment.
Once powered by diesel air compressors and monitored by workers on snowmobiles, today's snow-making systems rely on computers, fiber-optic cables and low-energy fans that can be controlled by smartphone or programmed to automatically make snow when conditions are prime.
The good news for powder hounds is that the frozen spray generated by modern snow-making equipment is so close to real snow that even veteran skiers can't tell the difference.
"If I'm going down a run, I can't tell you if I just skied on natural or man-made snow," said Bruce Lee, a Redondo Beach resident who has been skiing for 30 years in Vermont, Pennsylvania, Utah, Colorado and California. "I'll bet no one can tell the difference."
Video chat: Tahoe ski resorts get a makeover
Investments in snow making have been especially crucial in California, where snowfall has always been particularly unreliable. The state is home to 29 resorts that generate an estimated $1.3 billion in spending a year.
Last year's ultra-dry season only reinforced the value of artificial snow-making systems. The 2011-12 season marked the lowest national average snowfall in 20 years, forcing half of the nation's resorts to either open late or close early.
The National Resources Defense Council estimates that ski resorts lost $1 billion in revenue because of meager snowfall over the last decade.
Resort operators that had already invested heavily -n snow-making equipment said man-made snow helped them avoid a complete bust.
"For us, the reaction to last year was 'Thank God we've done what we did in the past,'" said Pete Sonntag, general manager at Lake Tahoe's Heavenly ski resort, where 155 snow-making machines can cover 65% of the resort's skiable terrain.
Heavenly's snow-making system — the largest on the West Coast — can be controlled from a desktop computer at a pump house on the mountain or a smartphone carried by Barrett Burghard, the resort's senior manager for snow surfaces.
"I'm not going to lie and say we can make snow as good as Mother Nature," Burghard said as he glanced at a computer screen to check the water levels in the resort's storage tanks. "But it's close."
The best man-made snow, he said, is light and can be pressed into a snowball without oozing water.
He has another, very unscientific method for testing his machine-spewed snow: He tosses it against his arm to see how it bounces off his sleeve. "There's an art to making snow," Burghard said.
In the past, snow-making was a labor-intensive task that involved teams of workers taking temperature and humidity readings throughout the night.
If the conditions were right for snow-making, workers would ride snowmobiles up the mountains to switch on snow guns, which were often powered by diesel air compressors and connected to high-pressure air and water hoses bordering ski runs.
But temperatures at different spots on a mountain can vary by several degrees, making it difficult for resort operators to gauge when and where to activate the snow guns.
Modern snow-making guns use less energy than older systems, relying on a combination of portable compressors and energy-efficient fans.
Because months of treatment have taken a toll on his immune system, George will miss celebrating Mass with inmates at the Cook County Jail and visiting Lurie Children's Hospital to comfort young patients who can't be home on Christmas Day. Instead he will celebrate midnight Mass at Holy Name Cathedral downtown, followed by a quiet day at home with family.
“The first tests they did halfway through were quite successful,” George, 75, said during an interview this week at his residence. He has been undergoing chemotherapy since September, shortly after doctors discovered cancerous cells on his liver and a kidney. He expects to be finished with chemotherapy in early January.
“They were quite surprised. It looked good,” he said. “But then they always say there are always things we can't see. But otherwise, they were very encouraged that they couldn't find any evidence of cancer where they found it before.”
With rosy cheeks and a broad smile, George, who battled bladder cancer six years ago, praised the steroids that doctors had prescribed to reduce inflammation during his treatment, joking that he now understands why athletes succumb to the temptation. But he also expressed disappointment that fatigue has kept him from composing a pastoral letter about the customs he believes bind Catholics together despite polarization in the pews about issues such as gay marriage.
“The important thing is to keep us together as much as we possibly can so that people aren't hurt and that we have a just society,” he said. “And not just a just society but a society that's loving in some fashion. … It's not as if we're falling apart, but the challenges keep shifting.”
`It's poison'
Though he has encountered extreme exhaustion and relied on steroids to help boost his strength, George said he has managed to escape many of the side effects commonly associated with chemotherapy.
“I have some bad days, but most days are pretty good,” he said. “It's poison. They tell you that `we're poisoning you.’ But it's controlled. A lot of people have gone through this. I hear from them.”
By eating a balanced diet of meat, cooked or peeled vegetables, antioxidants and peanut butter (his favorite comfort food), he has followed doctors' orders to put on weight. He also drinks asparagus juice three times a day, served by the Polish nuns who prepare his meals and insist on the gloppy green potion's healing powers.
“It can't harm me,” George said.
He's not sure he can say the same about one letter writer's recommendation to eat live Brazilian bugs -- a suggestion he appreciated but didn't try. He also expressed gratitude for the prayers and letters from the community and cancer patients who have shared stories and encouragement.
“I am truly grateful for people who have prayed for me. I'm really humbled by that,” George said. “People have written to me to share their own stories of chemotherapy. It's a big club. It makes it easier to know that a lot of people are facing difficulties certainly far worse than mine. … When you're in difficulty, people's kindness comes through.”
Though he prays the rosary daily, he said he has prayed it with greater fervor since his diagnosis in August. Every declaration of “Hail Mary,” which ends with “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death,” has taken on new weight, he said. Since recovering from polio as a young boy, George has believed in the intercession of the Virgin Mary in his life.
“I say it with new meaning now, more slowly, with more emotion,” he said. “I have a potentially lethal disease, so that prayer takes on new meaning when I say it. There's a greater depth of feeling along with the prayer, proximity to God and therefore trust -- like a child trusting in his mother.”
“There's a moment in everybody's life that we're going to die,” George said. “That's part of God's providence, too. I'd at least like to prepare for that, so I can finish a few things.”
Life of church `more fragile'
George said he had hoped a lighter public schedule during his treatment would allow him to finish at least one personal project -- a pastoral letter about Catholic customs such as celebrating Mass on Sundays, fasting from meat on Fridays and performing other public devotions. The letter would be based on an ongoing conversation with the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council about struggles parishioners encounter when trying to embody their faith.
“The sense of our way of life as a set of customs is something we should think about because when we disagree about ideas or about rules, the customs keep you together,” he said. “If the customs aren't there any longer, then it becomes a very contentious place, which it often is now.”
The need for the letter has become more urgent in recent years, George said, as debates about gay marriage and contraception have become more heated and society has become more secularized, leading the faithful to make their religious practice a more private affair.
“What does it mean when you're no longer considered the glue that holds society together but rather a source of discord in society?” he said. “We have to rethink a lot of things. It's a different situation for us. But one response is saying this is how Christians live. This is our customary way of life. … I don't know that life is any more problematic or contentious than it has been for the last 50 years … but it certainly does seem the life of the church is more fragile.”
mbrachear@tribune.com
Twitter @TribSeeker
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