Two die in unrelated crashes in Broward




















Two people died in separate Broward traffic accidents on Saturday morning, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Shortly after 4 a.m., Andre Caesar, 41, crashed a 2012 Velocity motor scooter into the driver’s side of a tow truck backed into a driveway at 3370 NW 39th St. in Lauderdale Lakes. The tow truck, which was unloading a vehicle at a residence, had its headlights and taillights on, BSO detectives said.

Caesar, of Fort Lauderdale, was not wearing a helmet. He was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where he died at around 5 a.m.





In an unrelated incident shortly after 6 a.m., Tiago Rodriguez, 28, apparently lost control of a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck he was driving and crashed into a concrete utility pole. He had been heading eastbound on McNab Road and trying to exit on the off ramp to Southwest 17th Street in North Lauderdale. Detectives do not know why Rodriguez lost control of the truck.

Rodriguez, of Margate, was also taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where he died at about 7:15 a.m.





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App of the Week: Manilla






App Name: Manilla


Price: Free






Available Platforms: Apple’s iOS ( iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone), Android


What does this app do? Manilla provides a secure way for you manage and organize your bills on your mobile device, tablet or desktop. This finance app, of which an updated version for the iPhone 5 was released this week, allows you to link to your accounts, set up reminders to pay your bills, and keep track of household finances such as utilities and services.


From your mobile device, select the “Accounts” tab to see a queue of accounts you linked to within the app. On the bottom right, tap the settings button to add an account.The new release also lets you manage your accounts with local businesses or individuals who do not have an online payment system – the landscaper or babysitter, for example.


Press the “Reminders” tab to select a business you use, such as your wireless carrier. The app will display a screen with your account and bill information as well as let you set up reminders to pay your bill, which will be delivered through email or text message. Select, “View Bill,” to see details, such as when you made your last payment, or select “Documents” and the app’s built in PDF viewer will display your bill within the application.


You cannot pay your bill directly from the app. However, select “Go to Site” and the app will direct you to a business’s website where you can pay your bill.


Is it easy to set up? Yes. Once you download Manilla, the app requires you to register with an email and password.


Should I try it? Manilla takes all of your bill information and puts into an easy-to-use interface, and with over 3,500 businesses the app makes it easy to link to a variety of accounts. If you’re interested in building and monitoring a budget, too, you will find a better solution with Mint.com’s app. Still, Manilla makes keeping track of all of your bills simple – a sure way to stay on top of your finances.


Also Read
Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Riveting Details Emerge from CT School Rampage

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

RELATED: President Fights Tears as He Addresses Nation

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

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

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

RELATED: Celebs Tweet Reactions to CT School Shooting

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Hillary Clinton faints, sustains concussion








WASHINGTON — The State Department says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who skipped an overseas trip this past week because of a stomach virus, sustained a concussion after fainting.

She's now recovering at home and being monitored by doctors.

An aide, Philippe Reines, says Clinton will work from home next week, at the recommendation of doctors.

Congressional aides do not expect her to testify as scheduled at congressional hearings on Thursday into the Sept. 11 attack against a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador.





AFP/Getty Images



Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week.





The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss Clinton's status.

The department says Clinton was dehydrated because of the virus and that she fainted, causing the concussion. No further details were immediately available.










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Miami in spotlight at AVCC, other entrepreneurship events




















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

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

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





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

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

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

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

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

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

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





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Miami-Dade elections group to discuss potential changes to state law




















An advisory group poring over Miami-Dade elections problems will hold its second meeting Friday, this time to focus on what changes to request from state lawmakers.

County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who convened the group, and his appointed elections supervisor, Penelope Townsley, already asked Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner — the state’s chief elections officer — on Tuesday to make several recommendations to Gov. Rick Scott to tweak elections laws.

But the 13-member advisory group might choose to make additional suggestions. And while the meeting with Detzner was more informal, the Miami-Dade group plans to make its requests in writing, and incorporate them into the county’s annual package of policies to lobby for in Tallahassee. County commissioners are scheduled to vote on the legislative package Tuesday.





The 2013 state legislative proposals drafted by the elections department include allowing early-voting sites in more locations — a request Miami-Dade has been making since 2006. State law currently limits the sites to elections offices, city halls and libraries.

The department also plans to ask legislators to reinstate 14 days of early voting. Scott, a Republican, signed a law passed by the GOP-led Legislature last year reducing the number of days to eight, while keeping the total number of hours offered on the books — 96 — the same.

The law also guaranteed one Sunday of early voting, but prohibited voting the Sunday before Election Day. African-American churches with large numbers of Democratic voters had traditionally used that day to bring “souls to the polls.”

About 90,000 fewer Miami-Dade voters cast early ballots in 2012 compared to 2008, according to the department.

The third request proposed by the department would limit the number of words printed on state constitutional amendments on the ballot, keeping them to the same length as county charter amendments. The county caps its ballot measures at 75 words; this year, one of the constitutional amendments took up a full page in Miami-Dade, where ballots are printed in English, Spanish and Creole. The 2012 presidential ballot ran 10 to 12 pages long, depending on the voter’s location, compared to four to six pages in 2008.

Federal law requires that ballots be available in other languages for minorities whose population meets a certain threshold.

In a letter she sent to the mayor last month, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, recommended that the county print separate ballots in each of the three languages. “Printing all three languages creates the false impression that the ballot is excessively long,” she wrote. It is unclear how that proposal would work.

She also made other requests, including that the county support extending early voting.

Gimenez replied Thursday that most of Wilson’s recommendations “are in line with what we are proposing.”

In addition, the Miami-Dade elections department would like more time to count absentee ballots, which have become an increasingly popular voting method. State law currently allows tallying to begin 15 days prior to Election Day.

Other requests include:

• Remove political party executive committeeman and committeewoman races from the primary ballot in presidential election years, and require the parties to pay for those elections. This change would shorten the ballot, reduce the number of different ballots printed in the county, and save money.

• Do away with the term “absentee ballot” and replace it with “vote by mail.” The mayor has endorsed this change, saying absentee voting is a misnomer because Florida no longer requires that voters provide a reason — such as being ill or out of town — for voting by mail.

• Require that community development district elections be carried out only by mail. This change would shorten the ballot and reduce the number of different ballots. Community development districts are special taxing districts of 1,100 acres or more.

The advisory group will meet at 9 a.m. on the 18th floor of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, 111 NW First St.





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Exclusive: Ethan and Emma's 'Shameless' One-on-One

The outrageous Gallagher family dysfunction of Shameless is made that much more entertaining due to the wonderful performances of the ensemble cast, including Emmy Rossum, William H. Macy, Justin Chatwin, Jeremy Allen White, Ethan Cutkosky and Emma Kenney. Those last two precocious kids, who play Debbie and Carl Gallagher, sit down to discuss how their real-life personalities match their characters, and we have the fun, exclusive clip!

Video: Exclusive 'Shameless' Season Three Trailer

Season three of the hit Showtime series debuts Sunday, January 13, and in the meantime viewers can catch up on episodes when the second season hits shelves December 18: In season two, it's summertime in Chicago and each member of the Gallagher household is cooking up fresh ways to bring home the bacon. Their ventures may not be moral – or even legal – but they certainly are outrageous, from selling alcohol and pot out of an ice cream truck to running a daycare operation from their home!

Related: Exclusive 'Shameless' Season Three Poster Debut

In addition to the exclusive clip above and more actor discussions, 90 minutes of bonus material on the Shameless season two release includes such featurettes as The Complicated Life of Fiona Gallagher and The Art of the Acting Drunk, The Shameless Christmas Carol music video, a preview of season three and deleted scenes.

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'Casablanca' piano goes for more than $600,000 at auction








The piano used for the song "As Times Goes By" in the classic 1942 film "Casablanca" has fetched more than $600,000 at auction.

The 58-key upright was sold to an unidentified buyer for $602,500 at Sotheby's New York on Friday.

Its pre-sale estimate was up to $1.2 million.

It was offered by a Japanese collector on the film's 70th anniversary.

The collector purchased the movie prop at a Sotheby's auction in 1988 for $154,000.

Humphrey Bogart played Rick Blaine in the Oscar-winning World War II love story, opposite Ingrid Bergman's character, Ilsa Lund.





AP



The "Casablanca" piano





In a famous flashback scene, Rick and Ilsa lean on the piano at a Paris bistro. Sam, played by Dooley Wilson, plays and sings.

They toast as Rick says: "Here's looking at you, kid."










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Wynwood co-working center funded by Knight Foundation, angel investors




















The LAB Miami announced Thursday it will open a 10,000-square-foot co-working center in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and local angel investors are investing $650,000.

As Miami’s startup community continues to grow, The LAB Miami said its “work-learn campus” will offer an in-house mentor network that will include investors and serial entrepreneurs, said Wifredo Fernandez, co-founder of The LAB Miami with Danny Lafuente and Elisa Rodriguez-Vila.

The LAB Miami, now in a 720-square-foot space in the same neighborhood, turned a Goldman building at 400 NW 26th Street into an artsy, modern space that can support 300 members, including tech startups, programmers, designers, investors, nonprofits, artists and academics.





In addition to offering space to work, the new co-working space plans to offer courses and workshops in business and technology — including a startup school and code school — as well as art, design and education, Fernandez said. It will be a welcoming space for traveling Latin Americans, too. “We want this to be a community center for entrepreneurs,” said Fernandez, explaining that the mix of activities and workshops will be structured by the needs of the LAB’s members.

While the Knight Foundation’s Miami office has sponsored many entrepreneurship events in the past four months, this is the foundation’s largest investment announced so far in its efforts to help accelerate entrepreneurship in Miami, said the Knight Foundation’s Miami program director, Matt Haggman. The Knight Foundation’s Miami office, which made accelerating entrepreneurship one of its key areas of focus this year, is investing $250,000 with the rest of the funding coming from a group of investors lead by Marco Giberti, Faquiry Diaz-Cala, Boris Hirmas Said and Daniel Echavarria.

“This is an important part of our strategy,” said Haggman. “Entrepreneurs need places to gather, connect and learn.”

The LAB Miami has already hosted several events, including HackDay and Wayra DemoDay earlier this week, and the co-working space plans to open for membership in January.

Co-working space will start at $200 a month to use the communal tables, and private offices that will accommodate up to six are also available. The LAB will also offer “Connect” memberships for $40 a month, which allows members who do not need co-working space to participate in events. In addition, there will be phone booths, classrooms, flexible meeting spaces, a lounge area, a kitchen, a “pop-up shop” for local fashion, art or technology products, a shower for those who bike to work and an outside garden with native landscaping.





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Regulators agree to give FPL four-year rate deal




















TALLAHASSEE The Public Service Commission on Thursday agreed to award Florida Power & Light a $358 million base rate request that includes a series of rate increases over four years and rejected a call from the public counsel that the company scale back its rates.

After a morning hearing discussing the nuts and bolts of a proposed settlement, the five-member commission appears on track to vote 4-1 to modify the settlement agreement presented by the company, and allow FPL to received guaranteed profits of between 9.5 to 11.5 percent through 2016.

The settlement is less than the $543 million the company originally sought in its first settlement offer, but the profit level – which would guarantee a midpoint return on equity of 10.5 percent – is higher than the 10 percent the PSC staff recommended in a draft recommendation.





Commissioner Eduardo Balbis, who supported giving the company the 10.5 percent return on equity, expressed interest in demanding that the company also make a concession to collect at least $10 million less from consumers in other areas. No other commissioners would agree

FPL, a regulated monopoly with 4.6 million customers in Florida, is currently making profits at about 11 percent, the most allowed under current law. But the company’s rate agreement ends in January and it has asked the PSC to allow it to collect more money from customers to pay back the costs of the Cape Canaveral power plant, scheduled to go into service in June.

The company has scheduled two other power plants to go online in 2014 and 2016 and has joined with its largest power users to offer up a settlement that will allow it the flexibility to raise its rates for those plants without PSC oversight, and the expensive and contested rate case that would come with it.

The decision by the PSC to approve much of the settlement effectively shuts down the argument of the Office of Public Counsel, the state agency that represents customers in rate cases. The public counsel has vigorously opposed the settlement deal and instead has argued that the company is making about $253 million more than it should and wants the PSC to lower FPL's rate of return and charge customers less money.

The PSC decision Thursday marks the first time the PSC has moved forward on a rate settlement without the public counsel’s consent.

J.R. Kelly, the state’s chief public counsel, told the Herald/Times that a ruling in favor of the proposed settlement could work against the public in future cases because it would give an incentive for utility companies in the future to do as FPL did and circumvent his office.

FPL side-stepped the public counsel when it entered into its agreement with Florida Industrial Power Users Group, the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association and the Federal Executive Agencies and announced the settlement just as the company’s rate case was scheduled to begin in August.

The groups represent about a half of one percent of FPL’s 4.6 million customers but use nearly half of all the electricity generated. Under the deal, they would get lower rates than regular residential customers.

This is also the first major rate case decided by this commission for FPL, the states’s largest utility, since the legislature unseated four members of the previous commission when it rejected most of a $1 billion rate increase request in 2009.





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Matt Damon Talks Nudity in Behind The Candelabra

"For years I'd said no to nudity, but I just did a lot of it playing the long-term partner of Liberace," Matt Damon says about his new movie, Behind The Candelabra, in the January/February issue of Playboy (via), underscoring what an important story he felt this was to tell.


PHOTOS - First Look at Michael Douglas as Liberace

Although Damon is the first to admit that, because of its frank treatment of the subject matter, "This movie's not going to be for everyone." He goes on to elaborate inside the issue, revealing, "I had to come out of the pool, go over to Michael Douglas, straddle him on a chaise lounge and start kissing him. It's not like I kiss him just once. We drew it up like a football plan."


VIDEO - Matt Damon & John Krasinski, Hollywood's Latest Bromance

Thankfully, according to Damon, "Michael was a wonderful kisser."

The Steven Soderberg-directed Behind the Candelabra, airing on HBO next year, takes a look at Liberace's life and loves as recounted by his former lover, Scott Thorson.


Click here to watch a short sneak peek.

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'Drunk' driver in fatal Queensboro Bridge crash faces up to 25 years in jail after turning down plea deal








A man who turned down a six-month plea deal after cops said he drunkenly drove his car off a Queensboro Bridge ramp -- killing a pedestrian and destroying two businesses – now faces up to 25 years in jail .

Grant Riddell, 38, was indicted on drunk driving, vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and vehicular assault charges in the March 28, 2011 incident -- the first of two deadly car crashes off of the newly named Ed Koch Bridge.

Riddell’s car flew off the bridge's exit ramp and slammed into Anthony Buscemi walking on the sidewalk below. His attorney entered a "not guilty" plea today.





Ellis Kaplan



Grant Riddell in court in August





The 68-year-old Buscemi was pronounced dead at a local hospital and Riddell, a DJ who also goes by the name Kiwi, lost his left arm.

The fatal crash also destroyed two businesses on Queens Plaza South, Villa De Beaute and Espinal's Caribbean Restaurant, the owners have a pending $1 million lawsuit against the city for the "poor construction" of the ramp – and Riddell.










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Regulators agree to give FPL four-year rate deal




















TALLAHASSEE The Public Service Commission on Thursday agreed to award Florida Power & Light a $358 million base rate request that includes a series of rate increases over four years and rejected a call from the public counsel that the company scale back its rates.

After a morning hearing discussing the nuts and bolts of a proposed settlement, the five-member commission appears on track to vote 4-1 to modify the settlement agreement presented by the company, and allow FPL to received guaranteed profits of between 9.5 to 11.5 percent through 2016.

The settlement is less than the $543 million the company originally sought in its first settlement offer, but the profit level – which would guarantee a midpoint return on equity of 10.5 percent – is higher than the 10 percent the PSC staff recommended in a draft recommendation.





Commissioner Eduardo Balbis, who supported giving the company the 10.5 percent return on equity, expressed interest in demanding that the company also make a concession to collect at least $10 million less from consumers in other areas. No other commissioners would agree

FPL, a regulated monopoly with 4.6 million customers in Florida, is currently making profits at about 11 percent, the most allowed under current law. But the company’s rate agreement ends in January and it has asked the PSC to allow it to collect more money from customers to pay back the costs of the Cape Canaveral power plant, scheduled to go into service in June.

The company has scheduled two other power plants to go online in 2014 and 2016 and has joined with its largest power users to offer up a settlement that will allow it the flexibility to raise its rates for those plants without PSC oversight, and the expensive and contested rate case that would come with it.

The decision by the PSC to approve much of the settlement effectively shuts down the argument of the Office of Public Counsel, the state agency that represents customers in rate cases. The public counsel has vigorously opposed the settlement deal and instead has argued that the company is making about $253 million more than it should and wants the PSC to lower FPL's rate of return and charge customers less money.

The PSC decision Thursday marks the first time the PSC has moved forward on a rate settlement without the public counsel’s consent.

J.R. Kelly, the state’s chief public counsel, told the Herald/Times that a ruling in favor of the proposed settlement could work against the public in future cases because it would give an incentive for utility companies in the future to do as FPL did and circumvent his office.

FPL side-stepped the public counsel when it entered into its agreement with Florida Industrial Power Users Group, the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association and the Federal Executive Agencies and announced the settlement just as the company’s rate case was scheduled to begin in August.

The groups represent about a half of one percent of FPL’s 4.6 million customers but use nearly half of all the electricity generated. Under the deal, they would get lower rates than regular residential customers.

This is also the first major rate case decided by this commission for FPL, the states’s largest utility, since the legislature unseated four members of the previous commission when it rejected most of a $1 billion rate increase request in 2009.





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Crime Watch: Be careful when giving to charities




















Many of our neighbors in South Florida have fallen on hard times, and there are many organizations trying to help those with great needs such as food, school supplies, clothing and toys now for the holidays.

Well, we all need to be extra careful to make sure we are dealing with real charitable organizations and not phony solicitations, and many of you asked what to look for.

Let’s look at some of the techniques once again that are questionable — and in some cases, illegal. Prize offers: Potential donors are told that they have won a contest and are eligible for a prize — usually worthless — if they make a donation to a charity.





Chain letters: Unsolicited appeals, usually in the form of e-mails, ask potential donors not only to contribute to an organization but also to forward the e-mail to friends and family members.

Like- sounding names: Fraudulent charities take names that are very similar to those of high-profile charities that are known and trusted by the public.

Another scam that is very prevalent in our community during this time is that they will come to your door selling magazine or gift items in the name of a school or charity for the holidays . First of all, don’t let anyone in your house who is selling anything. Sometimes these people will come with small children, so that you assume it’s safe to let them in. Well unfortunately, some of these little kids cute as a button, will ask to use the restroom while they are in your home, they then go into the bedroom to take whatever they can put in their pockets. You don’t even notice it until they have left your home. So please again don’t let anyone into your home. If they refuse to leave, call the police and give the best description you can.

Here are ways you can prevent being a victim of charity fraud:

• Ask how your money will be used, such as what percentage will go to the actual programs versus the administrative and fundraising cost.

• Request written information that gives the full name, address and phone numbers of the organization, as well as a description of the programs it supports.

• Check out any charity you don’t know with the local charity registration office, Better Business Bureau or a charity watchdog group such as www.charitywatch.org, www.give.org, or www.guidestar.org.

• Don’t be fooled by a name that closely resembles the name of a respected and well-known charity.

• Ask for the charity’s tax-exempt letter indicating its IRS status. You can’t claim a tax-deductible donation if the charity does not have one.

• Never give cash. Make your contribution by check payable to the full name of the charity once you are certain it’s a charitable organization.

• Don’t give out your Social Security number. A charity does not need it in order for you to claim a tax deduction.

• Charity-related fraud should be reported to local law enforcement or the local postmaster. Complaints can also be filed online with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org.

We all want to be helpful, but we need to make sure that we are helping those that truly are helping.





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Facebook revises privacy controls in effort to make them more accessible, comprehensible






SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook is trying to make its privacy controls easier to find and understand in an effort to turn the world’s largest social network into a more discreet place.


The fine-tuning announced Wednesday will include several revisions that will start rolling out to Facebook Inc.‘s more than 1 billion users in the next few weeks.






The biggest change will be a new “privacy shortcuts” section that will appear as a tiny lock on the right-hand side at the top of people’s news feeds. This feature offers a drop-down box where users will be able to get answers to common questions such as “Who can see my stuff?”


Other updates will include a tool that will enable individuals to review all the publicly available pictures identifying them on Facebook.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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New 'G.I. Joe' Trailer: Channing Tatum & Dwayne Johnson Retaliate

The President of the United States has the world on edge with a super-destructive weapon at the touch of a button, but something's not right: Is the Commander-in-Chief real, or an impostor? It's up to Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis and the G.I. Joe team to save the world – and look ultra-cool doing it. Watch the brand-new G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer featuring new Channing Tatum footage!

Video: Dwayne Johnson Talks 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation'

"Drive it like you stole it," shouts Tatum before getting ribbed by Johnson to get a new catchphrase.

Video: ET Exclusive: 'G.I. Joe 2' Set Visit

Blasting into theaters March 29, G.I. Joe: Retaliation finds the Joes not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra, but forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence. D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce and Ray Stevenson round out the cast.

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Cops find getaway car used in brazen Midtown hit








The NYPD have found the getaway car linked to the execution-style slaying of a Los Angeles man in broad daylight in midtown Manhattan, cops told The Post.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday that the car has been found in Queens after police questioned the couple who rented the car early this morning.

Investigators told The Post don't believe the couple was driving it — but they are looking at the possibility they may have loaned it to someone who then used it in the crime.

New York investigators are examining three phones carried by Brandon Lincoln Woodard when he flew to New York on Sunday.




The NYPD yesterday released a dramatic series of surveillance photos that show a killer about to gun down his unsuspecting target on a busy Midtown street.

Woodard, 31, had just checked out of the swank 6 Columbus hotel near Columbus Circle when he was followed by the assassin on West 58th Street and killed near Seventh Avenue Monday afternoon.

The assassin escaped in the now-found getaway car.

Earlier on that fateful day, the law student appeared nervous as he had what turned out to be his final breakfast, at the La Parisienne diner.

“He ate breakfast at the counter but he was always looking over his shoulder,” said cashier Dimitrios Drimalitis, 61. “He looked scared and afraid of something.”


1. A silver Lincoln MKX sedan pulls up along West 58th Street and parks in an open spot near Seventh Avenue. Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, the hit man (circled) exits through the passenger door, looks around and paces back and forth next to the sedan. He's 20 minutes early and his victim, Brandon Woodward, 31, is still checking out of the swanky 6 Columbus hotel.




2. The killer pulls his sweat-shirt hood over his head. At about 1:15 p.m., Woodward walks east on the north side of West 58th Street and crosses Broadway. He checks his smartphone, as if looking for directions, and passes right next to his assassin, who is waiting for an opportunity to strike.




3. Woodward turns around and walks west. He glances over his shoulder at the hooded man but seems not to recognize the killer and keeps going. The assassin approaches from behind, pulls a gun and blasts Woodward at close range with a single 9mm shot to the head. The 31-year-old father crumples to the ground. The shooter enters the Lincoln sedan and is whisked away by his getaway driver.



Woodard returned to his hotel and then left at 1:15 p.m., possibly lured away by the killer and drawn into a trap, Kelly said.










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The first wave of Windows 8 PCs




















We’ve been benchmarking and field-testing new Windows 8 systems, including all-in-one desktops, traditional clamshell laptops and convertible laptops with displays that flip or twist around to form tabletlike devices.

Dell XPS One 27

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)





The good: Boasts the highest-display resolution among Windows 8 all-in-ones, and at an aggressive price.

The bad: A new adjustable display support arm is welcome, but stops short of reclining a full 90 degrees.

The cost: $1,999.99 to $2,099

The bottom line: Updated with a touch screen, a new stand and up-to-date components, the Dell XPS One 27 leads the inaugural class of Windows 8 PCs.

HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: An attractive ultrabook with a respectable mix of components for its price, a responsive touch screen and a backlit keyboard.

The bad: It isn’t very configurable, so you can’t make it too much more powerful than it already is. It’s on the heavy side for an “ultrabook” (if you consider 4.5 pounds heavy). Its touch pad is jumpy at default settings.

The cost: $799.99 to $974.98

The bottom line: The HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 is a good gateway to the Windows 8 experience with a responsive touch screen in a traditional laptop body.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Looks as good as any 13-inch ultrabook, with the added attraction of a 360-degree screen and a laptop body that can fold into a tent, stand or slate.

The bad: Tablet mode leaves the keyboard exposed, and the Yoga 13 costs more than standard ultrabooks with similar components.

The cost: $1,099

The bottom line: The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is a convertible touch-screen laptop/tablet that most importantly doesn’t compromise the traditional laptop experience.

Microsoft Surface RT

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: Interface is innovative, elegant, powerful, and versatile. The tablet feels strong and well-built, includes Office 2013 and offers rich video and music services. Its keyboard cover accessories are the best ways to type on a tablet, period.

The bad: The tablet has sluggish performance, its Windows Store is a ghost town, Metro requires some practice to get the hang of and the desktop interface feels clunky and useless.

The cost: $499 to $599

The bottom line: If you’re an early adopter willing to forget everything you know about navigating a computer, the Surface tablet could replace your laptop. Everyone else: wait for more apps.





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FBI investigating Miami cops in bookmaking case




















At least a half-dozen Miami Police officers have been targeted by the FBI for their alleged roles in providing protection for a Liberty City sports gambling operation that was uncovered more than a year ago, according to authorities familiar with the case.

At least one Miami officer has been relieved of duty in connection with the investigation into the bookmaking business, which has been shut down, authorities said.

The initial probe by the FBI, which has been assisted by the police department, evolved into a broader investigation involving some of the officers. Arrests of at least six Miami officers — and possibly more — are expected as early as January, according to authorities.





The Miami Police Department did not return calls for comment. Both the police department and city attorney’s office refused to provide The Miami Herald with requested information on the number of police officers recently relieved of duty.

Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado said he did not know details of the investigation. But he tried to cast it in a positive light.

“To me, this investigation is not a black eye to the city or the police department. It’s a good thing. It means we’re moving forward with a better police force,” Regalado told The Miami Herald.

“In a police force as big as this one, some officers will do the wrong thing. But it is good to invite investigation. It shows that the police force wants to move forward and get rid of the bad apples.”

The Liberty City gambling house investigation began more than a year ago when Miami police, under then-Chief Miguel Exposito, told the FBI what it had learned. Surveillance, in an unincorporated area of Liberty City, led to the spotting of a Miami officer who allegedly showed up regularly to protect the illicit business.

The Miami Police Department, with roughly 1,100 sworn officers, has seen numerous officers suspended and ultimately fired in recent years because of their involvement in criminal activity, from ripping off drugs and money from dealers to fencing contraband such as stolen Bluetooth headsets.

The police department’s morale has been low of late, but not necessarily because of the criminal investigations. The police union has been battling the city over pay raises, health benefits and pension obligations for three straight years, though it did reach a recent agreement on salary hikes for next year.

Unrelated to the Miami police probe, the FBI is also investigating a handful of officers in other law-enforcement departments around Miami-Dade County in connection with identity-theft and tax-refund scams.

The officers are suspected of swiping personal identity information, such as Social Security numbers and dates of birth, to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service — a crime that has penetrated all aspects of society, including hospitals.

South Florida is considered one of the nation’s hardest-hit regions for ID theft and tax fraud, according to the Department of Treasury.





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Notorious patent troll hits RIM with new lawsuit, seeks BlackBerry sales ban






Well-known patent troll Wi-LAN has filed a new lawsuit against BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Wi-LAN, which describes itself as “a leading intellectual property licensing company,” claims RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,260,168, owned by Wi-LAN, which relates to Bluetooth implementation. The lawsuit covers multiple BlackBerry handsets including Bold, Torch, Pearl and Storm models, Reuters reports. Wi-LAN is reportedly seeking unspecified damages and is looking to ban sales of RIM’s infringing BlackBerry phones in the United States.


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Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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The Secret to Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon's Marriage

Award-winning actress Kyra Sedgwick has been married to Kevin Bacon for 24 years in what's shaping up to be of the most enduring and beloved relationships in Hollywood, and in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping, The Closer star dishes on what keeps the two so committed to one another.

"I don't know how he does it, but he always makes me feel like I'm the most beautiful woman in the room – the only girl in the room," she says about Bacon. "He says 'Honey, you look beautiful. You are sexy!' Always, always, always!"

Video: Pop Culture Rewind -- On the Set of 1983's 'Footloose'

The pair married in 1988, and are clearly still smitten with one another.

"He is so honorable. He is so ethically true. He has high moral standards, and he doesn't lie and he doesn't cheat – and I find that sexy!," Kyra says. "I am constantly in awe of Kevin's levelheadedness and his lack of 'crazy.' "

Video: Kyra Sedgwick Puts a Close on 'The Closer'

The longtime pair, who met on the set of PBS' American Playhouse series, have two children together -- Travis, 23, and Sosie, 20.

About having a "second honeymoon" now that their kids have left the nest, Kyra jokes, "There's a lot more walking around the house naked."

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Ex-state Comptroller Alan Hevesi to be freed from prison Wednesday








ALBANY --Disgraced ex-state Comptroller Alan Hevesi will be freed from prison tomorrow morning after serving 20 months in a pay-to-play pension scandal, authorities said..

The fiscal watchdog turned felon has been serving time at the Mid-State Correctional Facility in upstate Oneida County. He will be released about 8 a.m.

Hevesi, 72, was granted a second bid for parole last month. Comptroller from 2003 to 2006, he admitted to taking $1 million from a pension fund investor to finance gifts and campaign contributions.

He previously served as city comptroller and ran for mayor in 2001.





AP



Alan Hevesi.





Hevesi will return to the family home in Forest Hills.

A fixture in Queen politics, he served in the state Assembly from 1971 to 1993.

Hevesi will remain under parole supervision through April 14, 2015.










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Diageo moving office to Coral Gables




















Diageo will move its Miami office to Coral Gables in the fall of 2013.

The world’s leading spirits company will move from its current office at Blue Lagoon when its lease ends and relocate to 396 Alhambra Circle in Coral Gables.

Diageo has 175 people based in its Miami office, the majority of whom work for the Latin American and Caribbean region that is headquartered in Miami. The company has signed a 10-year lease in Coral Gables at 296 Alhambra, which is owned by Agave Holdings. The 32,527 square foot office has received LEED Silver and Gold certification.





“The new office is an important hub for not only Diageo North America, but also serves as the gateway to Latin America and our successful – and growing – business there,” said Randy Millian, Diageo President, Latin America and Caribbean. “We are excited to join the Coral Gables community.”

With the completion of the Diageo lease, the 282,000-square-foot Coral Gables office building is now 65 percent lease just one year after its opening. Diageo will join a roster of existing tenants that includes HBO Latin America, Millicom International Services, law firm Richman Greer, Banco Pichincha and CitiBank

“The addition of Diageo strengthens 396 Alhambra’s standing as the Class A address of choice for major multinational users in the Coral Gables market,” said Danet Linares, executive vice president at Blanca Commercial Real Estate, which represented Agave in the transaction.

“Diageo’s decision to relocate to Coral Gables reaffirms that the area is a vibrant business center for the greater Miami area,” said Jose Antonio Perez Helguera, managing director for Agave Holdings.

Danet Linares and Andres del Corral of Blanca Commercial Real Estate represented 396 Alhambra in the transaction, while Joe Garvey of CLW Real Estate Group represented Diageo.





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Report on Dozier School raises new questions about deaths




















About100 boys may have died between 1900 and 1960 at a controversial youth prison in the Florida Panhandle, including seven boys who perished following escape attempts, according to a new report that raises troubling questions about the now-shuttered Dozier School for Boys.

As state juvenile justice administrators seek to sell the Dozier property in rural Marianna, researchers with the University of South Florida conducted an exhaustive archeological and historical analysis of the site in an effort to locate the burial grounds of children. In a 114-page report released Monday morning, researchers conclude that a minimum of 98 children died at Dozier between 1911 and 1973.

The largest burial ground is on the north side of the prison camp, next to a garbage dump on what for years was called Dozier’s “colored” section. Though the cemetery holds 31 graves marked with PVC pipe crosses, the report said the markers do not correspond to the actual interments, and it is likely that more than 31 children are buried there.





Dozier, which opened as the Florida State Reform School on Jan. 1, 1900, remained in continuous operations until June 30, 2011, when the state Department of Juvenile Justice shut it down amid a years-long controversy over the physical and sexual abuse of children.

In the fall of 2008, a dozen middle-aged men from throughout the state came forward and said they were raped or mercilessly beaten — or both — at the Marianna campus. The “White House Boys” — as some of the men dubbed themselves after the squat white-washed cottage where they were whipped, sometimes 100 times or more — have since spawned at least two books and a movement to extract some type of compensation from the Florida Legislature.

In October 2008, about a half-dozen of the men returned to Dozier. There, DJJ administrators, along with staff working there at the time, dedicated a plaque outside the building and planted a young crepe myrtle tree alongside the now decrepit White House building. Some of the men sobbed as they toured the inside of the cottage, where they described brutal beatings to a small gathering of reporters.

Records at Dozier that were reviewed by the university show that 54 children people were buried on the school grounds, and 31 were shipped elsewhere for burial. School administrators did not record the burial location for 22 other children.

Prison records suggest administrators may have minimized the number of deaths that occurred there in reports to the state — especially when it came to white children.

Biennial reports to state lawmakers early in the 20th century “often listed fewer deaths than what is listed in the school ledgers,” the report said. In a July 1926 report, for example, the school superintendent told lawmakers that four children had died in 1925 and 1926 — all of them black youths. But school ledgers showed six children had died during that time, including two white boys.

One of the boys whose death was not listed in 1926 was a child named Thomas Curry, a white boy who, a death certificate says, died of blunt trauma to his head. Records said Curry died away from the prison campus after he escaped.

Records suggest boys who escaped from the North Florida prison often met a violent death: two boys who escaped died of blunt trauma, and two died of gunshot wounds to the head or chest. Two children died in collisions involving cars; one was listed as having been “run over by [an] automobile.”

Even in death, the black children at Dozier received unequal treatment: African-American children were three times more likely to be buried in an unspecified location than were their white peers, the report said.





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Beyonce Inks $50 Million Deal With Pepsi

Pepsi is back in business with Beyonce Knowles, and it only cost them $50 million!

The Super Bowl XLVII half-time headliner, 31, will be featured in a new Pepsi commercial and several appearances for the brand, The New York Times reports, but in addition, the company will also be involved in a few of Beyonce's creative projects.

Pepsi will promote Queen B's tour next year as well as the release of her new album in 2013.


RELATED PIC: Beyonce to Perform at Super Bowl Half-Time Show

This isn't the first time Beyonce and Pepsi have worked together. Check out the pop princess' 2003 commercial, below:

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Ex-Mayor Ed Koch leaves hospital

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch has been released from a Manhattan hospital.

Koch looked jovial as he spoke briefly Monday outside NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He was admitted last week with pneumonia and flu.

He said he planned to go to his office briefly, then do some reading at home.

On Friday, Koch said through a spokesman that he was looking forward to celebrating his 88th birthday this Wednesday. He'll be at an annual reunion with members of his administration at Gracie Mansion, the official mayor's residence.

Koch also was hospitalized with anemia in September.




TOMAS E. GASTON



Former Mayor Ed Koch flashes a thumbs up after leaving the hospital today.



Koch served three terms from 1978 to 1989. The Democrat is famous for asking constituents, "How'm I doing?"

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AutoNation: Back in the fast lane with expansion, higher sales




















Despite an agonizingly slow economic recovery, the country’s largest auto retailer, Fort Lauderdale-based AutoNation, is thriving again as demand for vehicles expands.

The company, one of Florida’s largest, is posting increasingly strong profits and revenues. Just last week, in a sign of confidence, Autonation announced a major acquisition — buying six large auto stores in Texas — that will add about 700 employees to its national payroll of 19,400.

In announcing the deal Tuesday, which is expected to provide AutoNation with $575 million in additional revenues next year, the company’s CEO and chairman, Mike Jackson, expressed optimism about the prospects for continued growth in vehicle sales.





“You want to know what I’m thinking, look at what I do,” Jackson told viewers on CNBC’s Squawk Box program.

No information was released on the cost of the transactions, but in recent years auto dealerships sometimes sold for three to five times revenue, which would represent a significant investment for the company.

Tough times

To be sure, AutoNation has struggled through some tough times. It was battered by the Great Recession, which depressed sales and pushed the company into a $1.2 billion loss four years ago. As sales began to improve in 2010 and 2011, it was blindsided by a shortage of Japanese-made cars last year after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 shut down Japanese manufacturers of some essential components.

Since then, however, AutoNation has rebounded. Unit sales, revenues and profits all performed well in the first three quarters of this year, and the company expects new vehicle sales to continue their recovery nationwide, rising to the mid-14 million units this year, up from about 12.7 million in 2011. In the third quarter of 2012, AutoNation’s new car unit sales grew by 21 percent over the same period in 2011, doing better than an estimated 15 percent increase industry wide. November’s sales of new vehicles increased by 21 percent over November 2011 .

The big dealerships acquired sell Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen and Chrysler products in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth markets. They are expected to sell 14,000 new and used autos this year, and will add substantially to AutoNation’s future sales.

“We are in the right industry at the right time,” Jackson said during an interview. “The recovery in new vehicle sales is being driven by replacement demand,” added Jackson, who has 42 years of experience in the auto business. “The average age of the light vehicle fleet in the country has increased to 11 years, and even though cars and trucks last longer today, they can’t go on forever. About 12 to 13 million vehicles are scrapped every year and need to be replaced.”

Other factors are contributing to stronger demand for vehicles. “The population is growing, interest rates are low, there is ample credit available and manufacturers are producing a wide range of new models that offer attractive styling, power and greatly improved gas mileage,” said Jackson, who took over as AutoNation’s CEO in 1999. “Auto financing is more available than it has been in recent years. A little known fact is that people are more likely to default on a mortgage than on a vehicle loan.”





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State scraps plan to have private vendors make license tags




















Backing away from a possible court fight, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced Friday that it will halt its attempt to bid license tag services to private vendors.

Tax collectors — who distribute state tags — and two manufacturing groups tried to block the change by lobbying elected officials and filing legal action against the department.

Highway Safety Chief Julie Jones had wanted to save money by paying private companies $31.4 million over two years to make tags and distribute mail and online orders, but she abandoned the idea under pressure from Attorney General Pam Bondi and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, among others.





“We listened to what everyone had to say, considered questions that vendors posed and received information from our tax collector partners,” Jones said. “Based on the input, we have decided to withdraw [efforts to privatize].”

The decision will keep Florida out of administrative court, which is where it seemed headed Tuesday after department lawyers shut down tax collectors’ requests to retract its invitation to bidders.

Jones’ change of heart earned praise from Bondi, who said the department “did the right thing.”

Manufacturing company Avery Dennison and St. Petersburg-based PRIDE, a nonprofit organization that uses prisoners to manufacture tags, filed formal protests and met with state officials this week.

For them, the state’s decision may only be a temporary victory.

Stephen Hurm, an attorney for the state highway agency, told tax collectors Friday the department will not seek to privatize plate distribution but could reignite the push as early as January to bid out the manufacturing role.

The state may want to switch from raised tags to the more modern flat tags that are thought to be more legible for red light and toll cameras. PRIDE doesn’t have the equipment to make flat tags.

Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden says he will fight the state if it moves to exclude PRIDE.

“Why change a system that is working well and that customers enjoy? My job as an elected official is to provide the most friendly, capable customer service for the best price. We’re doing that,” said Belden, who criticized Jones for excluding tax collectors in her decisions.

Belden, along with PRIDE lobbyist Wilbur Brewton, argue that flat tags are no easier to read and are more expensive — which will result in more fees for motorists. The company may try to invest in new technology if that’s what it takes to continue working with the state, Brewton said.

“Is the equipment currently sitting in the plant to do it? No,” he said. “This could cause harm, but we would have to calculate that once we see the details.”

Jones hasn’t committed to any tag — flat or raised, she said. She just wants something legible and well-priced.

“We want to get the best product moving into the future in terms of technology, but at a cost that’s affordable,” Jones said. “This is going to be done in a cost-effective manner.”

The controversy over the tags is not expected to stall a planned redesign.

Floridians can continue to vote on four designs for a new state tag at Vote4FloridaTag.com. About 50,000 people have weighed in. The deadline is Dec. 14.

Brittany Alana Davis

can be reached at bdavis@tampabay.com .





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How They Pulled Off 'The Impossible'

The true story of the devastating 2004 tsunami that consumed the coast of Phuket, Thailand -- and how one family survived it -- is reenacted by Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor in The Impossible. Watch the video to go behind the scenes...

Video: Tsunami Survivor Petra Nemcova Reacts to Latest Disaster in Japan

In theaters December 21, The Impossible finds Naomi as Maria and Ewan as her husband Henry, who are enjoying their winter vacation in Thailand with their three sons. On the day after Christmas, their relaxing holiday in paradise becomes an exercise in terror and survival when their beachside hotel is pummeled by an extraordinary, unexpected tsunami.

Video: Watch the Trailer for 'The Impossible'

The Impossible tracks just what happens when this close family and tens of thousands of strangers must come together to grapple with the mayhem and aftermath of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time.

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'Skyfall' narrowly tops weekend box office with estimated $11 million

LOS ANGELES — James Bond is in a box-office photo finish with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

According to studio estimates Sunday, the Bond tale "Skyfall" took in $11 million to move back to No. 1 in its fifth weekend.

That puts it narrowly ahead of "Rise of the Guardians," the animated adventure of Santa, the Easter Bunny and other mythological heroes that pulled in $10.5 million.

The two movies inched ahead of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2," which had been tops for three-straight weekends. The "Twilight" finale earned $9.2 million, slipping into a tight race for No. 3 with "Lincoln," which was close behind with $9.1 million.




AP



Daniel Craig in a scene from "Skyfall"



The only new wide release, Gerard Butler's romantic comedy "Playing for Keeps," flopped with $6 million, coming in at No. 6.

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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 martial arts-inspired 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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