Author offers spot in book for finding lost dog

Author Dennis Lehane stands next to a poster for his missing dog in Brookline, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The dog, a beagle named Tessa, went missing on Christmas Eve 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Author Dennis Lehane stands next to a poster for his missing dog in Brookline, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The dog, a beagle named Tessa, went missing on Christmas Eve 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A poster for a missing dog is attached to a shop window, in Brookline, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The missing dog, a beagle named Tessa, which belongs to author Dennis Lehane, went missing Christmas Eve 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Dog groomer Casey Mabardy, of Lexington, Mass., places a poster for a missing dog in the rear window of her car, in Brookline, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The missing dog, a beagle named Tessa, that belongs to author Dennis Lehane, went missing on Christmas Eve 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) ? There's a new mystery on Dennis Lehane's mind, and the best-selling author is offering a special reward: Find his lost dog and get a spot in his next book.

The plot kicked off Christmas Eve, when the crime novelist's rescue beagle Tessa escaped from his yard after an outdoor gate latch didn't lock all the way.

Since then, Lehane's family has launched an all-out search. They've posted fliers, organized foot searches and used social media to try to bring Tessa back to their home in Brookline, Mass., near Boston.

The 47-year-old author of books including "Mystic River" and "Gone, Baby, Gone" is offering a monetary reward and has said he'll name a character in his next book after whoever finds Tessa.

Lehane said Thursday outside his home that he's surprised by the media attention the story has attracted, and thinks it has something to do with the character offer.

But he said as word of the missing dog spread, his family has heard from people across the country on a "Finding Tessa" Facebook page. They even got an offer of help from a dog psychic in San Francisco.

"No dog since Lassie ever got this attention ... the flip side of the comedy is, who wouldn't do this for their dog?" he said.

The doggie dilemma comes as Lehane faces a Friday deadline for finishing a movie script based on his short story "Animal Rescue," timing he said may be "sadistic irony." The movie is scheduled to begin shooting in March in New York City.

The author said he's been spending about four hours a day searching for the tri-colored female beagle after he finishes writing, and his wife has dedicated about 10 hours a day to the effort.

They adopted the 4-year-old beagle not long ago from a Florida rescue agency. Before that, Tessa was a stray in Georgia.

With the help of Twitter and Facebook accounts, Lehane and his wife organized two search efforts Thursday in sections of Brookline and Boston, where they suspect Tessa could be. In the beginning, there were three sightings within about two miles of their home not long after a house sitter reported that the dog was loose.

But the trail went cold for days after a sighting near a McDonald's restaurant. Tessa wasn't wearing tags, but does have a microchip.

"Every dog expert we talk to is strongly suggesting that she's in somebody's house," Lehane said. "That's why we keep saturating the area with pictures. Because somebody could have her and just not know."

Missing dog posters dotted the family's Coolidge Corner neighborhood Thursday, including in the front windows at Durty Harry's dog grooming shop where Tessa is a client. Shop owner Michelle Fournier said interest in the search took off even before people knew Tessa had a famous owner.

"This is about a dog and her family. This is about a community who loves dogs," she said.

Lehane said Thursday that Tessa is so sweet that she'd taken to spooning the family's puppy before her disappearance. He said if someone knows where Tessa is, he only cares about a happy ending, not about solving the mystery of where she's been.

"It's a no-questions-asked issue," the author said. "... Bring the dog to a shelter or call me and I will pick up the dog."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-04-People-Dennis%20Lehane-Dog/id-536212f733ae4520b96c628a791fb0fc

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Teens hang on to tree when frozen lake ice cracks

Kirk Webb / Lakeside Fire District via AP

In this photo provided by the Lakeside Fire District, two teenagers hang on to a dead tree after the ice on a lake started to crack in Show Low, Ariz., on Wednesday.

By Vignesh Ramachandran, NBC News

It was a daring mistake that two Arizona teens might never forget.?On Wednesday, they ventured out onto a frozen lake in Show Low, Ariz. -- then the ice cracked beneath them.

"Luckily, they were right by a standing dead tree," Lakeside Fire District?Capt. Dennis Stern told NBC News on Thursday.

For what officials believe was at least two hours, the teens clung onto the tree in the middle of the frozen lake.

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Authorities say a third teen was on the bank of Fool Hollow Lake, The Associated Press reported. That individual called their parents, who in turn, contacted authorities, Stern said. After the call came in around 4:45 p.m. local time, the Show Low Fire Department worked with the Lakeside Fire District's ice rescue team to recover the stranded teens.

Related: Strangers rescue sledder who crashed through ice

The temperature?was 27 degrees when the call came in, according to Stern, and plummeted to 22 degrees by the time the rescue was completed. Show Low is in eastern Arizona at 6,400 feet elevation.

"It's still early in our winter season," Stern said, noting that the ice in the area is only an inch or two thick.

The teens were treated for mild hypothermia in the hospital, Show Low Fire District Capt. Brent Mix told the AP.

"Their hands and feet got pretty cold," Mix told the AP. "It was dark by the time we got them to shore."

The ages or identities of the teens have not been released.

Related: Hunter, rescuers brave icy lake to save dog

"There is no such thing as 100 percent safe ice!" the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office in Wisconsin states in ice safety guidelines?on its website.

"Even if ice is a foot thick in one area on a lake, it can be one inch thick just a few yards?away," the guidelines warn. "It's impossible to judge the strength of ice by its appearance, thickness, daily?temperature, or snow cover alone."

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/03/16327928-arizona-teens-hang-on-to-tree-when-frozen-lake-ice-cracks?lite

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Apple Ignored Qualcomm's Suggestion of Adding a Radio to the Newton

All the way back in the 90s, Qualcomm approached Apple to suggest that it might want to put a radio in its Newton PDA. It could have led to the first ever iPhone two decades early —but instead, Apple told Qualcomm to stick its radio chip somewhere else. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Ad4fRbZ3yLg/apple-ignored-qualcomms-suggestion-of-adding-a-radio-to-the-newton

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GameStick: Portable TV Gaming Console | STUPID DOPE - Lifestyle ...

Gaming consoles have come a long way over the years. With a newly released Nintendo Wii and upgraded Sony PlayStation?s?and endless possibilities with X-Box Live, playing video games has grown into an advanced?culture than continues to evolve. And?with that evolution, the term ?you have to pay to play? takes on a whole new meaning.?That said,?a few creative minds out in the Bay Area conceptualized GameStick?- a portable television?gaming system that reduces the cost of gaming and minializes the space in which your console consumes.

GameStick?is an independent Android-based?gaming console developed by PlayJam. Its designed to heighten the experience of? playing games on your tv while also reducing cost. The device is priced at $79 USD and comes with dongle that draws power from a HDMI?and corresponding Bluetooth?4.0 controller. Fully equipped with 1GB of RAM, the GameStick also features 8GB of storage, and 802.11N WiFi for downloading content. Essentially, this new device offers a new way of gaming with a very traditional method.

For more info on GameStick, check here.

Signed, Darren Griffin

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Source: http://stupiddope.com/2013/01/02/gamestick-portable-tv-gaming-console/

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Retailers report higher December sales

In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, photo, a holiday shopper walks past a large Christmas tree at Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach, Calif. A last-minute surge in spending helped many major U.S. retailers report better-than-expected sales in December, a relief for stores that make up to 40 percent of annual revenue during the holiday period. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, photo, a holiday shopper walks past a large Christmas tree at Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach, Calif. A last-minute surge in spending helped many major U.S. retailers report better-than-expected sales in December, a relief for stores that make up to 40 percent of annual revenue during the holiday period. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 photo, a shopper carries a bag at the Dolphin Mall in Miami. A last-minute surge in spending helped many major U.S. retailers report better-than-expected sales in December, a relief for stores that make up to 40 percent of annual revenue during the holiday period. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A last-minute surge in spending may have saved Christmas for stores.

Major retailers such as Costco and Nordstrom on Thursday reported better-than-expected revenue in December. That comes as a relief for stores that can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue during the winter holiday shopping period that runs from November through the end of December.

Consumers had a lot to worry about this holiday, including cleanup after Superstorm Sandy and the possibility of the U.S. economy falling off the "fiscal cliff," triggering a massive budget cuts and tax increases that would mean much less money in Americans' pockets. But after spending cautiously during most of the season, they loosened their purse strings in the final shopping days.

"I wouldn't be doing cartwheels that it was particularly great or strong holiday season, but it could have been worse given the headwinds," said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics, a research firm. "The government and Mother Nature were not as cooperative as retailers would have liked. But it was definitely not as bad as feared."

Twenty retailers reported that revenue at stores open at least a year ? a figure that indicates a retailers' health ? rose an average of 4.5 percent in December compared with the year-ago period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That's on the high end of the expected range of 4 percent to 4.5 percent.

Only a small group of chain stores representing about 13 percent of the $2.4 trillion U.S. retail industry report monthly revenue. The list excludes Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer. But the data still offers a snap shot of consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of all economic activity.

Overall, the combined November and December sales figure rose 2.7 percent, slightly shy of the 3 percent rise the ICSC had predicted.

The numbers provide a brighter picture than mid-December sales reports, which painted the season as the worse since 2008. It winded up being a season of fits and starts, with healthy spending during certain periods followed by stretches of tepid growth.

Nordstrom had a particularly strong December, with revenue at stores open at least a year up 8.6 percent, more than double the 3.4 percent analysts expected. The Seattle-based department store operator said sales were particularly strong in the last week of the season, as shoppers got a full weekend before Christmas, which fell on a Tuesday.

The late surge might have been driven by a last minute increase in markdowns by retailers, said Chris Donnelley, global managing director of Accenture's retail practice.

"The retailers that we work with put more things at 30 percent to 40 percent off on the last weekend before Christmas than they wanted to," Donnelley said. "The volume of product on promotion was a lot higher than anticipated."

Last-minute promotions may have spurred sales, but unplanned discounts can eat into margins, which hurts profits. As a result, several retailers cut their fourth-quarter guidance due to promotions.

Kohl's, for example, said its December revenue at stores open at least a year increased 3.4 percent, beating Wall Street predictions. But the retailer added that the growth came from heavy discounts, particularly unplanned ones late in the holiday season, and it cut its profit outlook for the current quarter and full year.

Cato Corp. and Macy's also cut their guidance for the quarter. And Barnes & Noble had a particularly gloomy holiday with revenue in stores open at least one year down 8.2 percent during the nine-week holiday period ending Dec. 29. The company's Nook e-readers sales fell short of expectations and said it planned to review its strategy for the device.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-03-Retail%20Sales/id-3b6a4ac86e8c48cf876944a365e4d96d

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Egypt commission says Mubarak watched uprising

CAIRO (AP) ? A member of an Egyptian fact-finding mission says former President Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed, a fact that could lead to the retrial of the 84-old ousted leader already serving a life sentence.

In his trial for the deaths of some 900 protesters during the uprising, Mubarak denied knowing the size of the protests or that violence was used against them. Mubarak was convicted in June of failing to prevent the deaths.

The finding came in a 700-page report on protester deaths the past two years, submitted Wednesday to President Mohammed Morsi, according to commission member Ahmed Ragheb.

Ragheb said the commission also established that security and military used live ammunition against protesters during and after the uprising, despite their repeated denials.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-02-Egypt/id-bb9e08fa1d2c41c6accc3fcc48ba7a7e

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Obama signs $633 billion defense bill

The fiscal austerity crisis has been temporarily averted, but given the apparent animosity between the current leaders of Congress its a miracle that any deal was made at all. Politico has a rather lengthy breakdown of the last week or so of negotiations that led to last night's budget bill and it leads off with an?anecdote?illustrating the current state of American politics. As they arrived for a much-hyped meeting with the President last Friday afternoon, Speaker of the House John Boehner spotted House Majority Leader Harry?Reid approaching just steps from the Oval Office. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-signs-633-billion-defense-052440369.html

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