Great-grandmother leads annual Miami-Dade, Monroe toy drive

Beginning in August, Bunchy Gertner puts aside her social life, her needs and even her great-grandchildren to head over to the “North Pole,” the place where she stores, wraps and distributes thousands of toys destined for foster care children in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

“This is top banana,” said Gertner referring to the nonstop volunteer work she has done for the past 16 years. “Every kid will get a gift and — even if it’s just for a moment — they will know that someone cares.”

It’s Gertner who dedicates her time to planning and execution of the toy drive that will distribute 3,400 gifts to the children under Our Kids, a non-profit agency that provides foster care and related services in Miami and the Florida Keys.

“She focuses solely on the toy drive and lives to match the right toy with the right child,” said Fran Alegra, Our Kids CEO. “I don’t have staff that would be able to dedicate the time that she gives to this.”

Over the years, 78-year-old Gertner has not only given every foster child a gift, but she has made sure that everyone receives a good quality, age appropriate present.

“I think I have 3,400 children,” said Gertner. “Thank God I didn’t give birth to all of them and they’ve all left the house. But I feel like they’re all mine.”

Gertner has even made it her mission to look after the children who are aging out of foster care and are considered independent living. For these teens, she prepared a gift that includes a comforter, sheets, pillow cases, hand towels, bath towels, glass wear, pillows, dishes, pots and pans.

“They have no money when they leave foster care,” said Gertner. “I give them what a mom and dad would give a child who was going off to college or going off on their own.”

In order to raise money and collect presents, Gertner has relied on about 50 sponsors, who are responsible for collecting gifts. She distributes the first names of children with their age, gender and ethnicity to provide each child with an appropriate gift.

“I became a beggar. I got down on my hands and knees and begged everyone that I met,” said Gertner. “I write letters, I make phone calls and ask if they would want to help or if they know anyone who would want to do it.”

Once she receives the gifts from the sponsors, they are taken to her North Pole, which this year is an empty store donated by Gulfstream Park.

There, she sorts the presents that come with a specific child’s name by agency and begins wrapping the gifts that she receives with no specific name.

“I couldn’t do it alone,’’ said Gertner, who refers to her helpers as elves. “If it weren’t for the people helping me wrap and the sponsors, I wouldn’t have a toy drive.’’

On any given 10-hour work day, the volunteers, which range in numbers from a handful to two dozen, show up to wrap and sing holiday songs.

“This is better than staying at home in bed all day,” said Rivly Breus, a student at Florida Atlantic University. With a little experience under her belt from wrapping at Macy’s, Breus decided to Google a way she could volunteer her talents.

“It was hard for me growing up so it’s good to be able to shine a light on others,” Breus said.

Some come with no experience, like Gonzo Gonzalez, who often has to patch the spaces where he didn’t use sufficient paper.

“I didn’t have it easy growing up, but at least I had my parents,” said Gonzalez, who wrapped about 30 footballs on a recent Sunday. “It’s good to be able to give back. The kids who don’t have parents are not expecting anything.”

Although, Gertner does not give the presents directly to the children for privacy reasons, she is satisfied with knowing that there is a child at the end of every present. She said she will continue to do it until she can’t anymore.

“I know in my heart that what I do is enough,” said Gertner. “When I go to bed I know that I have fulfilled my mission and done my job well.”

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Facebook’s new easier-to-manage ‘Privacy Shortcuts’ rolling out globally

Managing Facebook (FB) privacy settings can be a daunting nightmare. Facebook’s new “Privacy Shortcuts” is designed to make sharing items as transparent as possible with always-visible privacy button on the top toolbar. The update also brings “an easier-to-use Activity Log, and a new Request and Removal tool for managing multiple photos you’re tagged in.” The new Facebook privacy controls are rolling out globally starting on Friday and will arrive for all users by the end of the year. For the full details on all of the new changes, be sure to visit Facebook’s Newsroom here.

[More from BGR: Fan-made tweak gives Apple a blueprint for better multitasking in iOS 7 [video]]

This article was originally published by BGR

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Pope pardons ex-butler who stole, leaked documents

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday granted his former butler a Christmas pardon for stealing the pontiff's private papers and leaking them to a journalist, one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.

The pope met for 15 minutes with Paolo Gabriele in the prison where the ex-butler was serving his sentence for the theft. Gabriele was subsequently freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lived with his wife and three children.

The Vatican said he would not continue living or working in the Vatican, but that it "intends to offer him the possibility to serenely restart his life together with his family."

REUTERS

Pope Benedict XVI talks with former butler Paolo Gabriele during a private audience at the Vatican today.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope's meeting with Gabriele was "intense" and "personal," noting that Gabriele and the pope had worked together closely for six years.

The pardon closes a painful and embarrassing chapter for the Vatican, capping a sensational, Hollywood-like scandal that exposed power struggles, intrigue and allegations of corruption and homosexual liaisons in the highest levels of the Catholic Church.

Gabriele, a 46-year-old father of three, was arrested May 23 after Vatican police found what they called an "enormous" stash of papal documents in his Vatican City apartment. He was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican tribunal on Oct. 6 and has been serving his 18-month sentence in the Vatican police barracks.

He told Vatican investigators he gave the documents to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi because he thought the 85-year-old pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican and thought that exposing it publicly would put the church back on the right track.

The publication of the leaked documents, first on Italian television then in Nuzzi's book "His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI's Secret Papers" convulsed the Vatican all year, a devastating betrayal of the pope from within his papal family that exposed the unseemly side of the Catholic Church's governance.

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Investors shuffling assets ahead of fiscal cliff

Some citizens aren’t waiting to find out if the White House and Republicans in Congress will be able to reach a last-minute deal to pull the country away from the “fiscal cliff.”

They are selling securities while capital gains tax rates are still low or transferring millions into trusts for the benefit of children and grandchildren before estate tax laws become more stringent. Others are getting out of the markets and parking money in less risky accounts.

Miami financial planner Cathy Pareta has been counseling her upper middle class clients — “the Johnsons, not the Rockefellers” — on whether to adjust investment portfolios, accelerate income or realize capital gains sooner than planned.

“Some people are going to get hit hard,” said John Bacci, a financial planner in Linthicum, Md., who has gone down his client list and run projections on what higher taxes would look like for them. He’s looking at tax-friendly alternatives for some clients, such as annuities or rental property.

At year’s end, the country will leap off the “fiscal cliff” unless politicians reach a compromise on mandated spending cuts and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts.

For most investors, the expiring cuts will mean that the tax rate for long-term capital gains will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent. Dividends also will no longer be taxed at 15 percent but treated as ordinary income, which could mean a tax rate as high as 39.6 percent. And individuals with multimillion-dollar estates will find much more of their money subject to the federal estate tax.

Estate planning lawyers say the demand is so intense that they are putting in grueling hours to set up trusts.

“It’s very stressful. We are working day and night,” said Diana Zeydel, an estate planning lawyer with Greenberg Traurig in Miami. “Were doing three times what we normally do for end-of-the-year planning.”

Zeydel said many of her clients waited until after the elections in November to gauge how the political tide would affect their future finances. This gave them little more than a month to make major decisions about their wealth.

Most observing the political jousting in Washington expect taxes will go up even if the political leaders reach a deal — they’re just not sure how much. Many aren’t taking any chances.

Jim Ludwick, a financial planner in Odenton, Md., said one client in his late 50s cashed out stock and bond funds totaling $1.7 million not long after the election and stashed the proceeds in a money market fund.

The client, anticipating a market plunge due to the “fiscal cliff” and other issues, said he spent his entire working life building up a nest egg and wouldn’t have time to wait for his portfolio to recover, according to Ludwick. The client fears it won’t be safe to re-enter the stock market for another year.

“We have a number of clients who are taking capital gains this year, expecting that if they wait until next year, they will have to pay higher taxes on those same gains,” said Daniel McHugh, president of Lombard Securities in Baltimore. Some of those clients are realizing six-figure gains but are still willing to take the tax hit now, he said.

Of course, the downside is that the stock market could take off, and these investors will miss out on even higher gains, McHugh said. But, he added: “Given the state the economy is in, that’s a very small risk.”

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Weather alert: South Florida to feel ‘freezing’

Get ready to say, “Brr.”

South Florida temperatures will dip into the 40s Friday night, but the wind chill will leave Miami-Dade and Broward feeling more like the 30s.

Although a freeze watch is in effect late Friday through Saturday morning, the cold front will be mostly dry. There is a 30 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms Friday morning, but no chance of rain late Friday through early Saturday.

A brush fire warning will be in effect from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday because of the dry air.

Winds will be brisk — 15-25 mph —so stay away from swimming or boating.

Temperatures will warm up on Sunday, with highs in the mid-70s and lows in the high-50s.

In the meantime, grab a scarf and warm hat, and don’t forget keep pets in the house overnight.

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Nokia to get payments in patent deal with RIM

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Struggling Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has settled its patent dispute with BlackBerry maker Research in Motion in return for payments, as it tries to exploit its trove of technology patents to boost its finances.

Terms of the agreement were confidential, but Nokia said on Friday it included a one-time payment to be booked in the fourth quarter, as well as ongoing fees, all to be paid by RIM.

Nokia is one of the industry’s top patent holders, having invested 45 billion euros ($ 60 billion) in mobile research and development over the past two decades.

It has been trying to make use of that legacy to ensure its survival, amid a fall in sales as well as cash. The Finnish firm is battling to recover lost ground in the lucrative smartphone market to the likes of Apple and Samsung.

The agreement with RIM settles all existing patent litigation between the two companies, Nokia said, adding similar disputes with HTC Corp and ViewSonic still stood.

“This agreement demonstrates Nokia’s industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market,” said Paul Melin, Nokia’s chief intellectual property officer.

Nokia has earned around 500 million euros a year from patent royalties in key areas of mobile telephony.

Some analysts have said it could earn hundreds of millions more if it can negotiate with more companies successfully.

Analysts estimated its June 2011 settlement with Apple was worth hundreds of millions of euros.

($ 1 = 0.7555 euros)

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters and Mark Potter)

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Golden Globes Flashback: Ed Harris 1999

After twenty years in the business, Ed Harris was finally granted his first Golden Globe in 1999 for his role as the creator of the show within The Truman Show. Catching up with Entertainment Tonight after winning the award, the Best Supporting Actor winner reflected on his last-minute addition to the project that won him the award.

The role of "Christof," the man who oversees the show of Jim Carrey's character's life, was originally set to be played by Dennis Hopper, but he left the project during filming due to creative differences. This created an opening for the role, which was filled by Harris at the very last minute after it was denied by other actors.

VIDEO: Oscars Flashback '01: The Standoffish 'Gladiator'

"[It was] kind of a late kind of deal for me 'cause I came out and literally had three days to get ready to do this guy," he recounts. "I was real[ly] concentrated on just, 'How am I going to possibly play this man who's so powerful, you know?'"

The result of that crunched rush to embody a powerful character was an award, a very important reward to a man who had been in dozens of films prior to Truman Show. Although Harris' involvement in the film was delayed, he reveals that he had a firm sense that it would be well-received by audiences.

"I felt that [my character] worked, that...I believe ["Christof"] ruled this world. It made me feel good," the then-49-year-old actor says. "I was really struck with the originality of the film and that Peter (Weir, director) had pulled it off in such an exquisite way. I said, 'Here's a film that's unlike any other film I've seen [in a] long time.'"

VIDEO: Globes Flashback '08: 'Mad Men' Wins Together

Also winning his first Golden Globe that year was "Truman" himself, Jim Carrey. The comedic actor stepped out of his comfort zone for the drama film, which yielded substantial acclaim for him. Harris says that although he was surprised to see Carrey in the role, he executed it well on the screen.

"I was shocked when I heard Peter Weir and Jim Carrey were working on a film together. I thought somebody had made a mistake," he says. "Then I read the script and I said, 'Oh, maybe I can see what he's doing here.' I think Jim can do anything he wants. I think he's great, and he's a really good man."

Harris has received two Globes nominations since The Truman Show but has yet to win another award. However, third time may be the charm this year with his nomination for the TV movie Game Change.

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'Sandy Claus' delivers toys to storm-stricken kids

From his toy-cluttered Brooklyn apartment, the man in the red suit was making his list and checking it twice. But he made no distinction between naughty or nice: Every child on it would receive a gift from this Santa Claus.

For the children whose toys floated away during Superstorm Sandy, Michael Sciaraffo is playing the role of a real-life Saint Nick. Every afternoon and night, he stuffs his red sack to the brim with presents and heads out to storm-ravaged homes, personally delivering new toys to awestruck little kids whose play rooms were destroyed by floodwaters. And with less than a week before Christmas, his "Secret Sandy Claus Project" is keeping him very busy.

"Between the requests coming in for personal visits as well as the influx of donations, it's been a full-time job," said Sciaraffo, a 31-year-old political consultant. "And kudos to Santa, because I don't know how he pulls it off every year."

There's hardly any room to sit in his tiny apartment, where boxes of toys are piled on tables and all over the floor. He spends most of the day keeping track of toy requests and donations that are pouring in by the hundred from people who know children affected by the storm. At first, Sciaraffo began jotting down the requests on Post-it notes, but as demand steadily grew he created a spreadsheet and taped it to the wall.

The list reads like an inventory for a toy store. A Playskool swing for 2-year-old Jacob. A Disney Fairies makeup set for 5-year-old Charlotte. Then there are countless robots and footballs and baby dolls arranged by age and gender, awaiting assignment to a specific child.

"The goal was to match up each child with a toy that they liked or asked Santa for for Christmas," Sciaraffo explained. "We basically tried to pair them up with toys I had in stock."

The charitable enterprise grew out of a Sandy donation outreach effort that Sciaraffo had been spearheading for weeks in the wake of the storm, drumming up donations of clothing and food through Facebook. As the holidays approached, he realized that lots of children would be without their toys this year.

And with their parents preoccupied with the drudgery of storm repairs, many children probably might not even get to sit on Santa's lap. So he decided to fill that gap himself.

"When I was a kid, my toys were very important to me," Sciaraffo said. "That's their security blanket, so to speak. I couldn't sit home and do nothing."

Donations are coming by the truckload from all over the country, fueled by his Facebook page. And Sciaraffo has received elf-like help from fellow New Yorkers like Sean Turk, a father of three from Queens who has raised more than $2,000 from his community and has been filling toy requests at local stores.

"I started it with $500 of my own," Turk said, "and then people just started contributing."

On a recent rainy afternoon, Sciaraffo pulled on his white wig and beard and drove out to weather-beaten Belle Harbor, a town on the Rockaway peninsula. His first stop: the darkened oceanfront home of Elizabeth Sampol, who was waiting upstairs with her 11-month-old daughter, Ella.

"Ho, ho, ho," he shouted. "Merry Christmas!"

Ella gazed up at him and smiled as Sciaraffo handed her a toy duck. Sandy struck just after her first birthday party and destroyed all of her new gifts when the basement flooded.

"As you can see from the outside of the house and the inside of the house, it's been a disaster," said Elizabeth Sampol, who has been living in a FEMA-funded hotel room for several weeks with her family while their home is repaired. "And we haven't had time to take her to go see Santa Claus or to do anything that we would want to do for her first Christmas that actually matters."

Sampol said she was amazed when she learned about Sciaraffo's project.

"He contacted me and he told me how he's been going around giving out gifts," she said. "And I was so happy that someone would do this in his free time."

A few blocks away, 4-year-old Sophie Creamer waited excitedly by the front door as she caught sight of Sciaraffo coming down the street. And when he handed her a brand-new Barbie doll, she clutched it to her chest and wouldn't let go.

"It's all gutted. We don't have a basement," said her mother, Lori Creamer. "So she lost all of her toys."

If all goes according to plan, Sciaraffo is hoping to deliver presents to nearly 1,000 children in the coming days.

As he hoisted his sack of toys over his shoulder, heading off to another delivery, the rain stopped and a rainbow cut a path across the sky. He took it as a sign of good luck.

"You don't see that every day," he said, grinning as his beard slipped down his face a little. "Amazing."

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Cuba lashes out against U.S. fines on foreign banks

The Cuban government Thursday denounced what it called the “unjust and illegal” multi-million dollar fines the U.S. government slapped on two foreign banks for violating Washington’s sanctions on the island.

The U.S. actions show that its “ferocious persecution of financial and commercial transactions by Cuba and those with legitimate relations … has only changed but has hardened,” a Foreign Ministry official said in a statement.

The British-based HSBC bank agreed to pay $1.9 billion to the U.S. government last week to settle accusations that it laundered drug money through its Mexican and other branches, and violated U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba.

The next day Washington announced that Japan’s Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ bank had agreed to pay $8.6 million to settle what the Cuban statement called “a supposed violation of the unilateral sanctions of the United States against various countries, including Cuba.”

Under the trade embargo, banks cannot move Cuban funds through U.S. financial institutions or handle U.S. dollar deposits for Cuban entities or citizens. Cuba is subject to other sanctions as well because it is on the U.S. list of countries that support international terrorism.

The Foreign Ministry statement noted that the sanctions came one month after the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for the 21st time to condemn the 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba.

While the HSBC settlement was reported to be one of the largest ever, the U.S. Treasury Department has hit several other foreign banks in recent years for violating sanctions on Cuba and other countries, especially Iran.

The Netherlands’ ING bank agreed to a $619 million settlement earlier this year. Credit Suisse agreed to pay $539 million in 2009. And the Swiss UBS bank was hit with a $100 million settlement in 2004.

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Florida schools buy emergency toilets for extended lockdowns

TRINITY --
The Seven Spring Middle School eighth-graders warily eyed the white plastic bucket.

Is it for carrying cleaning supplies? Moving mulch?

Then they noticed the black plastic seat on top. Their eyebrows raised, their noses crinkled, as it dawned on them that this was a portable toilet, designed for use during emergency lockdowns in classrooms without restrooms.

"It's a terrible idea," Justin Anahory, 14, said, shaking his head. "No. I'm not going to use it."

"Never. Unh-uh," agreed Sydney Steele, also 14. "I would just hold it."

What if the students had no choice but to remain in their classroom for long hours for, say, extended hurricane conditions?

"I doubt a hurricane would keep us here a couple of days," Sydney said, noting she hardly will use the school bathrooms, much less a mini portable potty behind a tarp wall held up with duct tape.

"It might be a good idea," chimed in Mariah Guy, 15. "But it's still disgusting."

In recent months, the Pasco County school district has been distributing these "emergency response classroom kits" to schools that don't have restrooms adjoining the classrooms. For the most part, that means middle and high schools.

So far, they've given out 2,249, with another 552 remaining in the district warehouse. The total cost for the kits, which also include toilet paper, hand wipes, trash bags and latex gloves, was $64,876, or about $23 each. The money came from a two-year federal emergency management grant.

The Hernando, Hillsborough and Pinellas school districts have not made similar investments, and have no plans to do so.

"Along the food chain, that's probably somewhere below an amoeba," Hernando superintendent Bryan Blavatt said.

Pasco's grant also has paid for the emergency response plans revisions, and for other supplies such as bottled water and first aid kits. Student services director Lizette Alexander said it has helped the district improve its readiness.

"Try not to make it a joke," Alexander said of the bucket toilets. "When it is needed, it is needed terribly. It is not a joke. It is preparedness."

Still, it did create some laughter among Seven Springs middle schoolers as they discussed its pros and cons. Most had not seen the kits before and didn't know they were in the school.

Eighth-grader Brandan Comito, 14, sized up the bucket and wondered about its weight capacity.

He sat on it and found it held him up, but complained about the seat being too small.

"It needs to be thicker," he said, drawing chuckles from friends, who also wanted to test it out.

The kids engaged in detailed conversations about the logistics of the potty, ranging from concerns about germs to the aesthetics of such a bucket in mixed company.

"What if it gets filled to the top?" asked seventh-grader Kylie Renzetti, 12.

"It could be used as a weapon" against any intruder causing a lockdown, responded eighth-grader Dylan Johnson, 14.

Seventh-grader Devin Bird was not alone in his inability to get past the notion that kids might have to use the contraption "in front of people," never mind the tarp.

"It's a bit weird," he said.

Perhaps so, acknowledged schools superintendent Kurt Browning, who only learned Tuesday of the kits ordered by the previous administration. The buckets have been the brunt of jokes on Facebook since they arrived in schools.

But "if you've got to go," he said, "you've got to go."

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Best Practice Institute Introduces New Social Network that Promises ‘Future of 360′

A new social network, skillrater.com launched today, makes it easy for members to request work performance ratings from overseers, co-workers and direct reports across a domestic and global workforce.

West Palm Beach, Fla. (PRWEB) December 20, 2012

Skillrater.com, an online social network that launched today, makes it easy for members to request work performance ratings from overseers, co-workers and direct reports across a domestic and global workforce.

“This is the future of 360-degree assessment and social learning,” said the network’s creator, Louis Carter, CEO of Best Practice Institute.

“Get rated. Get better. Get noticed,” says Skillrater.com’s website, which describes the new social network as “the world’s first rating, networking and feedback tool on a social platform.”

Executives, employees and entrepreneurs who have already been friended, linked and tweeted can now get feedback and rating on their skill sets and work at Skillrater.com. Individuals may join the Skillrater social network at no cost; corporations may purchase a premium or enterprise membership to use Skillrater as an in-house platform for feedback, talent management and social networking.

The Next Thing in 360 Assessment and Corporate Social Networking

“I want to bring a revolution to 360 so that organizations become more open and transparent, and driven by the desire for employees to request feedback on their competencies/skills and activities they execute on a daily basis” said Carter, BPI’s founder and a social-organizational psychologist.

The world of work is becoming more open and transparent. “A new IBM study of 1709 Chief Executive Officers from 64 countries and 18 industries worldwide reveals that CEOs are changing the nature of work by adding a powerful dose of openness, transparency and employee empowerment to the command-and-control ethos that has characterized the modern corporation for more than a century.”

Employees using skillrater engage in conversations and threaded discussions around improving their activities at work. Instead of hiding feedback from employees, employees may receive immediate correction of negatively reinforcing workplace habits directly from their bosses, peers, and customers. Employees may continue the feedback process in a threaded discussion to receive deeper advice and help from executive coaches or other members of the team. Repeating this process will show measurable changes in behavior and actions over time for your organization, as well as show patterns for the changes that need to me made on an individual, team, and organization level. The employee requests feedback of others directly, so that a culture of accountability and feedback is encouraged. Instead of “big brother/sister” HR forcing feedback of competencies and workplace performance, employees take ownership for creating their own culture of transparency so they may show their progress toward growth.

One study found that as many as 90 percent of all Fortune 500 companies use 360-degree feedback with their employees. In a 360 assessment, feedback is sought from all directions of an employee’s circle: overseers, peers, direct reports, and sometimes even external sources, such as customers and suppliers.

Skillrater brings several innovations to the 360-degree process to make the technique easier to use and to increase the tool’s beneficial results. Features include:

“Skillrater is a great tool. Leaders and managers are going to fall in love with it,” said the world’s leading executive coach and bestselling author Marshall Goldsmith. “There is no better way for organizational leaders to track talent data. Skillrater gives you a simple way to request receive feedback on what you are doing, while building an in-house social network to discuss the feedback. The ability to customize Skillrater around the desired competencies of your organization is brilliant.”"

Focus on Leadership Development in Globally Dispersed Workforces

Most importantly, Carter said, Skillrater provides a social network through which members can springboard from quantitative ratings to qualitative discussions that make the feedback truly transformative. This is especially beneficial for dispersed workforces where consistent face-to-face communication is costly to accomplish.”

“Our goal is to create a social network within an organization that is focused on helping employees improve their skills and improve performance,” Carter said. “Skillrater is not primarily about promotion and pay decisions, it’s about leadership development and positive behavioral change throughout a national or global workforce.”

Studies have shown 360-degree feedback is an effective way to help workers identify their strengths and weaknesses, including blind spots in which they need further development. Skillrater’s convenient online platform, along with the addition of a social networking dimension, makes Skillrater a powerful leadership development for dispersed or collective learning environments.

After corporate clients learn their way around all the bells and whistles of Skillrater’s multi-rater feedback tool, Carter said, they will move on to appreciate the richness of the in-house social network, creating a dispersed learning environment in which ongoing leadership development and action learning is cultivated within domestic or global workforces.

Skillrater Benefits for Individual Users

Individuals may join Skillrater.com for free and choose up to five skills upon which to be rated. Top executives, mid-level rising stars and lower-level workers with an eye on advancement may all use Skillrater to request feedback and map their own course of development. Requesting a Skillrater rating is an excellent way for an individual to confirm satisfaction with a completed project or identify additional steps needed to achieve satisfaction. Using Skillrater, a worker can demonstrate to higher-ups one’s desire to perform well and also document tangible improvement.

An individual who has acquired several ratings on one’s Skillrater profile and has made those ratings public may catch the attention of employers on the search for talent. Skillrater will become a go-to destination for talent recruitment. Other social networks provide an individual’s name, personal background and employment history, but Skillrater provides rubber-meets-the-road details of how an individual has been evaluated by co-workers, clients and customers on actual projects.

Skillrater Benefits for Corporate Users

Companies may purchase an enterprise membership, giving executives an unparalleled tool for talent management and leadership development. Enterprise membership enables companies to enroll 1,000 users and place them in 20 groups or divisions.

For senior talent management executives, Skillrater provides a remarkable way to track the job performance, skill sets and leadership development of dozens, hundreds or even thousands of employees spread out across a national or global workforce. For years, connecting the right employees with the right tasks has been the elusive aim of talent management. With Skillrater, when a particular skill set is needed for a particular task, a manager can search on those specific skills, and then read fresh feedback on recent projects, including not only numerical ratings but subsequent comments and discussion. That is rich, valuable talent data, which Skillrater puts at executives’ fingertips.

Managers from different divisions may customize their own groups to have specific skills or competencies that are important for success on-the-job. Users can select these group skills when requesting ratings to get targeted feedback that meets the need of the department head or head of leadership development. The ability to customize skills is critical to an organization’s success, making this a key feature of Skillrater’s enterprise membership level.

VPs of leadership development have the ability to set up action learning groups with specific action items. Group members work together online to achieve goals and get ratings on the skills that will make them most successful on the action learning project. Changes in behavior and actual project results may be tracked over time, proving the ROI of the leadership development program.

How Does Skillrater Work?

Joining Skillrater is easy and painless. An individual can create a Skillrater profile in a few moments or import one’s profile and skill set from LinkedIn.

A Skillrater member may request a rating from anybody on anything. It really is that simple. The user simply clicks the “Request Rating” button, specifies the task or activity for which one seeks a rating and the specific skills on which feedback is desired.

Then the member sends off the rating requests. If the desired rater is already a Skillrater.com member, requesting a rating is just one additional click. If not, the user enters the desired rater’s email address, and a message is sent requesting the rating and providing the necessary link.

After feedback has been received, Skillrater notifies the user. Results include a spider chart, an easy-to-understand graphical interpretation of how the feedback lines up with one’s self-assessment. Users continue to share advice and further clarification via a discussion thread to continue the social learning and coaching experience online.

ABOUT BEST PRACTICE INSTITUTE

Best Practice Institute is an award-winning leadership development center, think tank, peer network, research institute and online learning portal with more than 10,000 corporate and individual members around the world. Corporate members include Walmart, Bank of America, Pfizer, Hilton Hotels Worldwide, Scripps and many more of the world’s top corporations. BPI is based in West Palm Beach, FL, and is on the web at http://www.bestpracticeinstitute.org. BPI is ranked as one of the top ten “Best in Leadership Development” by Leadership Excellence Magazine.

Louis Carter is the founder and CEO of Best Practice Institute. Carter is a social-organizational psychologist, concept innovator, entrepreneur and a highly regarded authority on learning, talent, leadership development and change. He is the author or co-author of 11 books and a regular contributor to Fast Company, Chief Learning Officer, Talent Management, and Training Magazine.

For More Information or to schedule an interview, please contact Louis Carter: 800-718-4274; lou(at)bestpracticeinstitute.org

Louis Carter
Best Practice Institute
800-718-4274
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A White House Christmas: First Families Remember Clips

While the masses scramble around to pick up their last-minute gifts for Christmas, it's hard to picture the President of the United States heading to the mall and picking out presents for the First Family. However, President Obama and past presidents have joined the masses for some holiday shopping.

As we see a sneak peek of NBC's special "A White House Christmas: First Families Remember," holiday shopping for a president may not be an average trip to the store with cameras in his face and people crowding around, but presidents have still managed time to buy gifts for their loved ones over the years.

RELATED: President Obama is Time's Person of the Year

President Obama did some last-minute Christmas shopping last year with his dog, Bo, for whom he is buying a present in the footage in the clip. While the President went Christmas shopping once again this year--this time taking his daughters, Sasha and Malia, to a bookstore--his wife isn't too keen on the First Family shopping during the holidays.

"I've had my little sneak-out moments but Christmas time is not the time for me to be out in the malls with Secret Service," First Lady Michelle Obama says. "We kind of get in the way of everybody else's shopping and I don't want to be an irritant, so [we do] a lot of online stuff."

Among the holiday festivities for the First Family is the annual Congressional holiday party at the White House. With a crowd of over a thousand Congressmen and celebrities at the party, Hillary Clinton recalls being worn out greeting guests with her husband, Bill.

VIDEO: Grammys Flashback '97: Hillary Clinton...?

"Bill and I stood in the line; we shook thousands and thousands of hands. At the end of the receiving line, my hand would be practically paralyzed and I'd go thrust it into cold water," the former First Lady recalls. "It was just a great experience, although it was exhausting, I'll be honest."

Watch the video for a sneak peek of "A White House Christmas: First Families Remember," which airs in its entirety tonight (Dec. 20) at 8 p.m. on NBC.

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US economy grew at annual rate of 3.1 percent over summer

WASHINGTON — The US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1 percent over the summer as consumers spent more and state and local governments added to growth for the first time in nearly three years. But the economy is likely slowing in the current quarter.

The Commerce Department's third and final estimate of growth for the July-September quarter was revised up from its estimate a month ago of a 2.7 percent annual rate.

The third-quarter growth was more than double the 1.3 percent growth rate in the April-June quarter. But disruptions from Superstorm Sandy and uncertainty weighing on consumers and businesses from the "fiscal cliff" are likely holding back growth in the October-December quarter. Many analysts predict an annual growth rate of just 1.5 percent for this quarter.

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Survey shows better lending climate

Most Miami-Dade businesses believe they have easier access to borrowed money amid a slowly improving economy.

That’s one result from a recent survey of executives by Miami’s Bilzin Sumberg law firm. The online survey of about 200 top executives was conducted during the second half of 2012.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they thought the financing environment had improved since 2011, with venture capital funds and community banks identified as the top sources of potential capital. Fifty-two percent called the economy “growing slowly,’’ compared to 7 percent describing it as “strong and growing.” Only 16 percent described the economy as weak.

DOUGLAS HANKS

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Stone-crab season suffers in the Keys

Despite rocketing prices for stone-crab claws, many Florida Keys commercial fishermen have nearly given up on the season only 2 months old.

"We may see record prices but also record pain," said Gary Graves, general manager of Keys Fisheries in Marathon. "Prices don't mean anything if you can't catch anything."

Harvests since shortly after the season opening Oct. 15 have been "as bad as I can remember during my 45 years in the business," Graves said. "It's just bleak."

Keys Fisheries, one of the state's leading wholesalers for stone crabs, has laid off half of its production staff, maybe 20 people, Graves said.

"We hate to do it to our people but we're probably not finished," he said. "Right now, a big day for us is 1,000 pounds [of claws]. It should be around 15,000 pounds. We're doing nothing."

Keys Fisheries has raised its dockside prices paid to fishermen several times to encourage fishermen to keep their traps in the water.

Graves said it costs a fisherman about $1,200 in fuel, labor and other expenses to make a day's trip. The fish house's current prices are $9 per pound for medium-size claws and $17 per pound for the coveted jumbos.

"Our wholesale sales prices are higher than that and retail is through the roof," Graves said. "But we can't fill the orders we have."

A Marathon community group recently canceled the organization's annual stone crab feast for members because no claws were to be found.

The season runs until May 15.

Last season, Monroe County produced about 1.1 million pounds of legal-size claws, accounting for a large portion of Florida's total 2.67 million-pound harvest worth an estimated $23.6 million to the commercial fleet.

About 1,000 people statewide are licensed to fish traps for stone crabs. Only the claws are kept. Historically, stone-crab harvests have topped three million pounds of claws.

"The last two years were good and the recruitment looked normal," Graves said. "The first round of trap pulling was fine but it went downhill from there — like falling off a cliff."

Fishermen and researchers are baffled.

"Blame it on global warming, blame it on BP [Deepwater Horizon oil spill], blame it on Mother Nature," Graves said. "Everybody's got an idea but nobody can say why. It's probably a combination of a bunch of things."

News reports from stone-crab fleets farther up the Florida Gulf Coast suggest an octopus population explosion. Crabs are a favorite food of octopus, which are smart enough to get into traps.

"We've seen more octopus in the 6- to 8-pound range, which is abnormal," Graves said. State experts have suggested warm winters may have triggered the octopus boom.

"Things could turn around," Graves said, "but realistically the chances of it happening this season are slim."

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg donating $500 million in stock to Silicon Valley charity

SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday he is donating nearly $ 500 million in stock to a Silicon Valley charity with the aim of funding health and education issues.

Zuckerberg donated 18 million Facebook shares, valued at $ 498.8 million based on their Tuesday closing price. The beneficiary is the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a non-profit that works with donors to allocate their gifts.

This is Zuckerberg’s largest donation to date. He pledged $ 100 million in Facebook stock to Newark, New Jersey, public schools in 2010, before his company went public earlier this year. Later in 2010, he joined Giving Pledge, an effort led by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Warren Buffett to get the country’s richest people to donate most of their wealth. His wife, Priscilla Chan, joined with him.

In a Facebook post Tuesday, Zuckerberg, 28, said he’s “proud of the work” done by the foundation that his Newark donation launched, called Startup: Education, which has helped open charter schools, high schools and others.

With the latest contribution, he added, “we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next.” He did not give further details on what plans there may be for funds.

“Mark’s generous gift will change lives and inspire others in Silicon Valley and around the globe to give back and make the world a better place,” said Emmett D. Carson, CEO of the foundation.

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Barack Obama Time Magazine Person of the Year

For 2012, Time Magazine has selected President Barack Obama as their Person of the Year.

"For finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union, Barack Obama is Time's 2012 Person of the Year," Time's Managing Editor Richzard Stengel explained.

RELATED - President Obama Fights Back Tears

He also cited both of the president's re-elections, snagging over 50 percent of the popular vote, as one reason he received this honor.

PHOTOS - The Best Barack & Michelle Moments

This is the second year Time has tapped Obama as their Person of the Year -- he previously was selected in 2008 for becoming the first black president of the United States.

Time previously named the eight finalists for 2012's Person of the Year. They included: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Malala Yousafzai (the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for her crusade for better girls' education), Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the three scientists who discovered the Higgs Boson particle.

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Russia gives initial OK to American adoption ban

MOSCOW — Russia's parliament on Wednesday gave overwhelming preliminary approval to a measure banning Americans from adopting Russian children, a harsh retaliatory move against US human rights legislation.

Top Russian officials have expressed unease about the proposal, an apparent indication that the Kremlin opposes the move.

The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Wednesday approved the second reading of a bill responding to the US legislation. The proposed adoption ban was not part of the original bill, but was added as an amendment.

To become law, the measure has to pass a third reading in the Duma, then clear the upper house before going to President Vladimir Putin for his signature.

Putin has not spoken publicly about the measure, but his spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated Wednesday the Russian leader regards it as excessive. Peskov told the Interfax news agency that, although Putin understands the emotions that prompted the move, "the executive powers are taking a more restrained line."

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russia's education minister both spoke out against the amendment and the speaker of the upper house, close Putin ally Valentina Matvienko, cautioned that the lower house was being guided by emotions rather than good sense.

But the overwhelming 388-15-1 vote in favor of the amendment Wednesday included lawmakers from the pro-Putin United Russia party. It was not clear if the opposition from top officials could bring about a reversal.

Many Russians have long resented the adoption of Russian children by Americans, sensitive to the implication that Russians are hard-hearted or economically unable to take care of their own. The resentment is fanned by cases of abuse or deaths of Russian children adopted by Americans.

Underlining the anger, the bill is named after Dima Yakovlev, a Russian-born toddler who died in the United States after his adoptive father left him in an car in the broiling heat for several hours. The father later was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

The measure is in response to a new US law, signed last week by President Obama, which calls for sanctions against Russians assessed as human-rights violators.

That law stems from the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was arrested by the Russian officials he accused of a $230 million tax fraud. He was repeatedly denied medical treatment and in 2009 died in jail. Russian rights groups have accused the Kremlin of failing to prosecute those responsible.

The amended passed by Duma on Wednesday also says any country that passes legislation similar to the Magnitsky Act also will be subject to an adoption ban.

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Stone-crab season suffers in the Keys

Despite rocketing prices for stone-crab claws, many Florida Keys commercial fishermen have nearly given up on the season only 2 months old.

"We may see record prices but also record pain," said Gary Graves, general manager of Keys Fisheries in Marathon. "Prices don't mean anything if you can't catch anything."

Harvests since shortly after the season opening Oct. 15 have been "as bad as I can remember during my 45 years in the business," Graves said. "It's just bleak."

Keys Fisheries, one of the state's leading wholesalers for stone crabs, has laid off half of its production staff, maybe 20 people, Graves said.

"We hate to do it to our people but we're probably not finished," he said. "Right now, a big day for us is 1,000 pounds [of claws]. It should be around 15,000 pounds. We're doing nothing."

Keys Fisheries has raised its dockside prices paid to fishermen several times to encourage fishermen to keep their traps in the water.

Graves said it costs a fisherman about $1,200 in fuel, labor and other expenses to make a day's trip. The fish house's current prices are $9 per pound for medium-size claws and $17 per pound for the coveted jumbos.

"Our wholesale sales prices are higher than that and retail is through the roof," Graves said. "But we can't fill the orders we have."

A Marathon community group recently canceled the organization's annual stone crab feast for members because no claws were to be found.

The season runs until May 15.

Last season, Monroe County produced about 1.1 million pounds of legal-size claws, accounting for a large portion of Florida's total 2.67 million-pound harvest worth an estimated $23.6 million to the commercial fleet.

About 1,000 people statewide are licensed to fish traps for stone crabs. Only the claws are kept. Historically, stone-crab harvests have topped three million pounds of claws.

"The last two years were good and the recruitment looked normal," Graves said. "The first round of trap pulling was fine but it went downhill from there — like falling off a cliff."

Fishermen and researchers are baffled.

"Blame it on global warming, blame it on BP [Deepwater Horizon oil spill], blame it on Mother Nature," Graves said. "Everybody's got an idea but nobody can say why. It's probably a combination of a bunch of things."

News reports from stone-crab fleets farther up the Florida Gulf Coast suggest an octopus population explosion. Crabs are a favorite food of octopus, which are smart enough to get into traps.

"We've seen more octopus in the 6- to 8-pound range, which is abnormal," Graves said. State experts have suggested warm winters may have triggered the octopus boom.

"Things could turn around," Graves said, "but realistically the chances of it happening this season are slim."

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Broward brothers face detention hearing in terrorism case

Two Pakistani brothers accused of a plotting a terrorist attack in the United States face a detention hearing in Fort Lauderdale federal court Tuesday.

The Oakland Park pair pleaded not guilty earlier this month to conspiring to deploy explosive weapons against an American target.

The brothers, 20-year-old Raees Alam Qazi and 30-year-old Sheheryar Alam Qazi, have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

The brothers, arrested in late November by the FBI, remain in custody at Broward County Jail. Prosecutors said that the Qazi brothers were born in Pakistan, but are both naturalized U.S. citizens.

Federal authorities disclosed few details of the ongoing investigation, but they said the alleged plot was “disrupted.” They declined to comment on the weapon type, the target, the terrorism organization or the alleged plot.

Authorities said the indictment was not the result of a sting operation.

Given the nature of the charges, it is likely the defendants won’t be eligible for bail before trial. The brothers and their attorneys may choose not to challenge their detention.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gilbert disclosed in court papers that the case was built on surveillance of the brothers’ phones, including presumably their conversations with foreign contacts. The evidence was obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a law that has been strengthened after 9/11.

Prosecutors said that starting in July 2011, the brothers conspired to provide transportation, money, lodging and other aid toward a plan to use a large-scale weapon somewhere in the United States.

“Any potential threat posed by these two individuals has been disrupted,” Wifredo Ferrer, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a statement issued after the brothers’ arrests. “Since September 11, 2001, the top priority of the Department of Justice and this U.S. Attorney’s Office has been to deter and prosecute acts of terrorism.”

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force.

If convicted, the Qazis each face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison on the material support charge, and a potential life sentence on the weapon of mass destruction charge.

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Iran leader gets the clicks with Facebook rumor

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Facebook page purportedly created by Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attracted nearly 10,000 followers on Tuesday although the site’s content and style raise serious questions about its authenticity.

Iranian authorities had no immediate comment on the site, which apparently went online last week but only recently gained prominence among social media watchers. Despite the possibility that it is a hoax, the page has generated at least 170 comments — laudatory and derogatory, and nearly all in Farsi — that highlight the deep political divisions in Iran and possibly opposition fervor from expatriate Iranians.

One post compared Khamenei to a celebrated ruler of ancient Persia, Cyrus the Great, who significantly expanded the Persian empire 2,500 years ago.

Another wrote: “Mr. Khamenei, how are you visiting this page? With proxy?”

It was a reference to Iran’s blocking of Facebook and many other Western social media sites, and the efforts to bypass the restrictions using proxy server links from outside Iran.

The U.S. State Department said Monday it will keep tabs on the page, but had no comment on whether it was genuine or not. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland joked that Washington is curious how many “likes” the Khamenei page receives.

But much about the page — including an informal photo of Khamenei riding in a car — suggested it was not sanctioned by Iran’s top leader. It is also highly unlikely that Khamenei would endorse a banned outlet such as Facebook.

The Net is not unknown territory for Iranian leaders, however. Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others have official websites. Also, some senior Iranian clerics issue religious opinions by email.

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Oscars Flashback: Halle Berry 2002

At the 2002 Academy Awards, Halle Berry won an Oscar for the drama Monster's Ball. While the award was a first for her, it was more importantly a landmark win for the Oscars. After an emotional acceptance speech, she continues to succumb to emotion when thinking about the enormity of the moment.

In the prior 74 Academy Awards ceremonies, a woman of black descent had never won the Best Actress Award, but that changed in 2002 when Berry was awarded the prestigious award. Reiterating from her acceptance speech, she marvels at the broader significance of the award.

VIDEO: Halle Berry Completes Tom Hanks' Bucket List

"This moment, although I'm standing here...it's really not just about me," Berry says in the pressroom after the show. "It's about so many people that went before me that paved the way and people who are fighting alongside with me and the ones that will come along whose path will be indelibly easier because of everyone.

"So, it's not really about me as much as it's about so many other women of color who have tried to permeate this system for so many years, and today this meant hope. That glass ceiling was broken wide-open and that just feels good for me and for all of them too."

RELATED: Halle Berry: My Love For Olivier Was 'Gradual'

The first woman to chip away at that glass ceiling was Dorothy Dandridge, whom Berry had portrayed a few years prior in the television film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Coincidentally, Berry had received the highest accolades for television (SAG Award, Golden Globe, Emmy) for the first time for portraying Dandridge in the TV film.

While her Monster's Ball role yielded her a historical Oscar, the part nearly went to another actress and Berry had to adamantly reiterate to the film's director and producer that she was a good fit for the role. As she assess, the fruition of her persistence is a major encouragement.

RELATED: How Halle Berry Fixed Her 'Picker'

"I think fighting has always been my way, so I don't think now I'll change," the then-35-year-old Berry says. "I'm sure I'll still have to fight and pave the way, but this just inspires me and lets me know that it's all worth it and if I have to fight ten more years before I make another inroad then I guess that's what I'm going to do."

Berry has since been nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes but has not received an Oscar nomination since making history in 2002. As she predicted, another inroad has had to wait over ten years but may be soon on its way.

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Westchester County won't host gun show

Westchester County will not host a gun show early next year in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn.

County Executive Rob Astorino said it would be inappropriate for the county to hold the event.

Former County Executive Andrew Spano had banned the show after the 1999 Columbine school shootings in Colorado. The ban remained in effect for more than a decade.

Astorino brought back the show in 2010.

His decision comes after Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner called on the county to cancel the show at the government-owned building.

Westchester Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins said banning such shows at the County Center was part of the answer to curbing gun violence.

The show's promoter, Westchester Collectors, didn't return respond to calls for comment.

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American Airlines adds new agreements, flights in South America

In a nod to the importance of Latin America for its business, American Airlines on Monday announced new codeshare agreements with airlines in the region as well as new routes.

American has agreed to codeshare with TAM Airlines, based in Sao Paulo, and LAN Colombia, both part of LATAM Airlines Group.

The airline also said that it will add new routes in late 2013 between Miami and two destinations in Brazil: Curitiba and Porto Alegre. American also plans to add service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Bogota late next year.

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Key Largo man shot in argument over open relationship, police say

What began as a jealous argument almost turned deadly for a Key Largo man involved with a woman in an open marriage, Monroe County police say.

Candice Lee, 37, allegedly shot her former lover, Shakir Muilam, 45, with a .22-caliber rifle after the two argued over her relationship with a new boyfriend, said Deputy Becky Herrin, spokeswoman with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Lee and her husband, whom the Sheriff's Office did not identify, are in an open relationship, which allows them to have other sexual partners, Herrin said.

Lee and Muilam were in a relationship but broke up recently. However, she and her husband allowed Muilam to live with them when he was diagnosed with cancer.

While living with her husband and Muilam, Lee began a new relationship with yet another man. Muilam found Lee and her boyfriend talking early Thursday outside of their home at 217 St. Croix Pl. and became angry, according to police. Lee reportedly told Muilam that if he didn't approve of her new relationship, he could move out. Sometime during the argument, Lee reportedly fell and hit her head.

She went inside the house and came back outside with the rifle and pointed it at Muilam. Lee told investigators that as she and Muilam argued, he reached behind himself and she shot him in the thigh.

Lee said she ran to her next-door neighbor's home to call the police. She then ran back to her home and applied pressure to Muilam's wound.

When deputies arrived, Lee pointed to where the gun was leaning up against a bookshelf. Deputies booked Lee into jail, where she is being held on no bond facing a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

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Modern Etiquette: A bit of netiquette will keep Christmas real

LONDON (Reuters) – Christmas is a convivial time of year when people get together for celebrations and conversation. It’s all about human contact so it’s important that you’re discriminating about how you use your digital devices.

It’s fine if they’re used to facilitate get-togethers and spread seasonal cheer. But Christmas is a real, not a virtual event, so it’s important to discard the phones, tablets and computers and enjoy festive celebrations in the real world.

Christmas cards are still an invaluable and personal way of keeping in touch with far-flung friends and relations.

In these straitened times, however, you might want to cut down the number of cards you send, so it’s fine to explain to your nearest and dearest that you won’t be sending them cards – a personalized seasonal message by text, phone call or email, sent out to individuals, is quite acceptable.

Avoid sending out generic e-cards. They’re lazy and impersonal, and many people will find them lacking in Christmas spirit or just baffling.

If you’re emailing instead of sending a Christmas card, make sure that you send out unique – and individual – messages to each of your recipients. Group emails, like round robins, are to be avoided.

It’s fine to put general seasonal messages on social networking sites, but avoid posting compromising photos.

This is the time of year when we all let our hair down, but not everyone will appreciate the evidence being posted for all to see in cyberspace.

Don’t get too carried away with seasonal cyber-cheer. Spamming your friends and followers with endless Christmas wishes and updates will soon get tedious.

Christmas Day is all about socializing with family and friends, and enjoying good food and good conversation. So don’t spend the big day glued to your phone, rather than interacting with your family.

Ban all phones from the Christmas table.

Eating together is all about sociability and it’s a real insult to the host and/or cook to be transfixed by your texts rather than the turkey and table talk.

Be a good digital host.

Technology is part of our everyday life and Christmas is no exception. If you have friends or family staying in your home, make sure that you have your WiFi password to hand. Offer them access to your network, and hope that everyone adheres to good festive netiquette.

Christmas is the perfect time to make a video call, but choose your timing carefully. Nobody wants to be talking to virtual visitors during lunch or present opening.

Remember the power of the written word.

If you are the lucky recipient of a generous present or lavish hospitality, then hand-writing a proper thank you letter is a much more elegant gesture than texting or emailing, and will be noted and appreciated. It is fine to email or text your thanks for small presents.

(This story has been refiled to fix dateline)

(Jo Bryant is an etiquette advisor and editor at Debrett’s, the UK authority on etiquette and modern manners (www.debretts.com). Any opinions expressed are her own. Debrett’s “Netiquette” is a definitive guide to digital dilemmas and outlines a code of manners for modern communication.)

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Lady Gaga Gimme Shelter With The Rolling Stones

On December 15, Lady Gaga watched (along with millions on Pay-Per-View) watched her dream come true as she performed Gimme Shelter with The Rolling Stones at their 50th Anniversary Concert in Newark, NJ's Prudential Center.

RELATED - 12 Best Gowns of 2012

"I had a life dream to be transported in a time machine to 1973 NJ, beer + badboys. Someone heal me it happened + then I sang with the Stones," she Tweeted after the performance. Clad in a Ray Brown jumpsuit, which made Gaga feel "like a star," the Born This Way hitmaker strutted all over the stage as she and Mick Jagger delivered a dynamic duet.

VIDEO - Gaga Hosts Fame Picnic in Paris

The performance aired on Pay-Per-View, but in case you missed the magic, watch The Rolling Stones and Lady Gaga tackle Gimme Shelter!

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Mom warned ex-babysitter not to turn back on Adam Lanza: report

A former babysitter says he was told to never turn his back on crazed gunman Adam Lanza - even as a young child, according to a new report.

Ryan Kraft, who now lives in California, said he watched Lanza when he was only 9 or 10 and Kraft was a teen, CBS News reports.

Kraft said the shooter's mother, Nancy Lanza, warned him "to keep an eye on him at all times ... to never turn my back, or even to go to the bathroom or anything like that."

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MOTHER DEVOTED HER LIFE TO HIM - THEN HE ENDED IT

NEWTOWN PLANS VICTIMS' BURIALS

Adam Lanza opened fire in two Sandy Hook Elementary classrooms and gunned down 20 first-graders and six educators before blowing his brains out with a single shot to the head.

Kraft said when he first heard about the shooting and that Lanza was involved, "I just couldn't think for a little while. I was shaking," according to the report.

Kraft says he remembers Lanza as quiet, very intelligent and introverted, noting, "Whenever we were doing something, whether it was building Legos, or playing video games, he was really focused on it. It was like he was in his own world."

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Boat sales jump 10% this year

More evidence that the U.S. economy is climbing out of the recession: Sales of new recreational powerboats are estimated to be up by 10 percent in 2012, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

“We are pleased to see the industry growing,” NMMA president Thom Dammrich said. “Our projection is the industry will grow in 2013 by another 5 to 10 percent.”

Dammrich said the level of growth depends on conditions like consumer confidence and the housing market — and sustained increases in Americans’ participation in outdoor recreation.

The 2012 projections represent the first signs of steady growth across the powerboat market since the economy hit bottom in 2008-09 and new boat production dropped 80 percent. Even now, Dammrich, said production and retail sales are only about half of what they were during the peak in 2007.

Fueling the growth in new boat sales are purchases in the 15- to 26-foot range, which make up 96 percent of the 12.4 million boats registered in the U.S., according to the NMMA. While the numbers are up in almost every segment of the industry, the toppers are pontoon boats.

“Twenty-five percent of all boats sold today are pontoon boats,” Dammrich said. “They’re a very versatile boat, very stable. They can be large and roomy. You can fish. You can swim. You can get the family out for the day.”

Dammrich said the only category that has not turned around is stern-drive inboards over 30 feet. Larger and more expensive than the typical family boat, these models are often purchased through home-equity loans, he said. Another factor is this year’s requirement that stern-drive inboard engines have catalytic converters, which increases the cost significantly.

In 2011, boating participation rose 10 percent to 83 million — the largest proportion of adults who went boating since 1997, according to the NMMA. Those boaters who liked the sport enough to buy their own watercraft found very few late-model, pre-owned boats for sale because of the drop in production during the recession.

“Those people are going to end up buying a new boat,” Dammrich said.

One of the key gauges of the industry’s recovery will be the Miami International Boat Show scheduled Feb. 14-18, where manufacturers traditionally unveil their latest innovations. More than 2,000 boats are expected to be displayed.

“I think there will be more new product than we’ve seen in a number of years,” Dammrich said.

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7-year-old in critical condition after accident

Police were investigating an accident involving a 7-year-old who was struck by a vehicle in a Lauderhill neighborhood late Saturday, Lauderhill Police spokesman Rick Rocco said.

The vehicle and its driver, who has not yet been identified, remained on scene after the incident near the intersection of Northwest 27th Court and 56th Avenue.

The child was transported to Broward Health Medical Center in critical condition immediately after the incident, police said.

Details of the accident were not immediately available.

This post will be updated as we receive more information.

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The Surface might be even more overpriced than the iPad

Everyone knows that Apple (AAPL) gets away with charging a premium for its wares because its fans have shown they’re willing to pay more money for their favorite products than fans of, say, Samsung (005930) and Amazon (AMZN) are willing to pay. This practice has led to enormous gross margins for Apple products but has not spawned many imitators because few companies command the sort of loyalty that Apple does. But Microsoft (MSFT) apparently believes it can pull off the trick with its Surface tablet, which is actually priced higher relative to its component costs than Apple’s iPad.

[More from BGR: Has the iPhone peaked? Apple’s iPhone 4S seen outselling iPhone 5]

Fortune uses some data from IHS iSuppli to show that the 32GB Surface’s screen, processor, battery, RAM and storage cost $ 271, or $ 22 less than the same components of a 32GB version of the new iPad. What this means is that based solely on the cost of its components, the Surface would haul in a profit of $ 315 for every 32GB Surface sold while Apple would make $ 296 for every new iPad sold. This doesn’t take into account manufacturing and marketing costs, of course, so we can’t look at it as a definitive count of each tablet’s gross margin.

[More from BGR: Sony’s PlayStation 4 could lose to the next Xbox before it’s even released]

All the same, Microsoft’s belief that it can grab iPad-like margins for the Surface stands in stark contrast with Amazon and Google (GOOG), who are making little if any money selling the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7, respectively.

This article was originally published by BGR

Gadgets 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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State education officials brace for test-score drop due to tougher standards

New York students are heading toward the testing cliff.

Kids in grades 3 to 8 will face much tougher questions on state math and English exams in April and May — and education officials expect scores to nose-dive.

“People are bracing for a major drop,” one official told The Post.

The tests will include complex math problems and reading passages — a third-grade sample features Tolstoy — to gauge whether students meet new national standards called Common Core.

SEE SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS

New York agreed to adopt the higher standards several years ago when it won a $700 million grant in the federal Race to the Top contest.

Last month, Kentucky, the first of 46 states to test students on the standards, reported the number of elementary- and middle-school students rated “proficient” or higher fell at least 30 percent.

New York education officials fear similar, if not worse, results.

“Whenever you raise standards and change the tests, scores go down. We’re trying to be upfront about it,” said Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the state Board of Regents, which was briefed on the tests last week.

Board member Betty Rosa, a former Bronx superintendent, worries the tough tests will devastate poor and immigrant students learning English.

Member Kathleen Cashin, a former Brooklyn superintendent, called it “too much, too soon.”

Teachers, whose performance evaluations will be based 20 percent on how their students do, have not had enough training to teach the curriculum, she said.

One sample question asks third-graders to read a translated short story, “The Gray Hare,” by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. The fable includes the words “threshing floor,” “caftans” and “hoarfrost.”

“It’s absurd vocabulary for that age level and likely to throw even the best reader off,” said Jeff Nichols, a Manhattan father of a 9-year-old boy.

“Are we trying to make children feel inadequate?”

A sample eighth-grade reading test asks 13-year-olds to read a passage from the novel “Little Women.”

One question cites this sentence: “No persuasions or enticements could overcome her fear, till, the fact coming to Mr. Laurence’s ear in some mysterious way, he set about mending matters.”

It asks, “What effect does this sentence provide the reader as the story develops?”

Math items are also more mind-bending. The old third-grade tests required simple multiplication and division. The new tests ask students to fill in and reverse equations, identify fractions and calculate their equivalents, among other tasks.

The eighth-grade tests cover algebra and geometry with concepts such as negative exponents and scientific notation that retired Manhattan math teacher Steve Koss says are not usually taught until ninth, 10th and 11th grades.

“For lower-level and even average students, the test will be a major struggle,” Koss said.

CUNY education professor David Bloomfield said education leaders can blame only themselves.

“They are responsible for the lower standards that got us to this spot,” he said.

susan.edelman@nypost.com

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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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