Candy Sales Are Flat; The Industry Blames The Weather

Halloween candy is offered for sale at a Walgreens store on September 19, 2013 in Wheeling, Illinois.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Halloween candy is offered for sale at a Walgreens store on September 19, 2013 in Wheeling, Illinois.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Halloween candy sales have been flat over the last few years. And candy makers point to several reasons, including one I hadn't thought of: bad weather.

"The past two years have been plagued with major weather disruptions in key celebration regions," Jenn Ellek of the National Confectioners Association tells us in an email.

In 2011, there was unexpected snowfall in the Northwest, which kept candy sales at $2.36 billion for the Halloween season. Sales remained basically flat in 2012, when Hurricane Sandy coincided with the holiday, she says.

So, why is the trade industry forecasting a very conservative growth of 1 percent in candy sales this year? This time, they say it's the day of the week.

According to the NCA, fewer people throw parties and there's less time for holiday preparations when Halloween falls on a weekday compared to when it falls during the weekend.

If this reasoning holds up, the industry could be looking at two good years in the near future, with Halloween falling on a Friday in 2014 and a Saturday in 2015.

But how about all those messages we hear to cut back on sugar and empty calories? Will this end up eating away at confectioners' future growth?

It's not clear, but with all the chatter about tackling obesity, the candy industry has joined the message of moderation.

In fact, the NCA, as part of its Treat Right messaging, has published a Guide to Moderate Candy Consumption.

The portion sizes they recommend are a lot smaller than you might think. If you limit calories from candy to 50 to 100 calories per day, that equates just 15 to 25 small jelly beans.

Or, if you're craving chocolate, make it one fun-sized candy bar (that's the small one).

Perhaps to keep sales up, candy-makers will have to sell more packages — with less in them. As we've reported, the move to downsize candy bars is well underway.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/31/242115164/candy-sales-are-flat-the-industry-blames-the-weather?ft=1&f=1001
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Bulls PG Rose to start despite sore neck

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose (1) goes to the basket between Miami Heat's Chris Bosh (1) and Ray Allen (34) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Rose missed the shot. The Heat won 107-95. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose (1) goes to the basket between Miami Heat's Chris Bosh (1) and Ray Allen (34) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Rose missed the shot. The Heat won 107-95. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose (1) slides past Miami Heat's Chris Bosh (1) for two points during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

After blocking a shot by Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose (1), Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) falls to the court during the second half of a NBA basketball game in Miami, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. The Heat won 107-95. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) blocks a shot by Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. The Heat won 107-95. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

CHICAGO (AP) — Derrick Rose is in the starting lineup for the Chicago Bulls' home opener against the New York Knicks after missing Thursday's shootaround due to a sore neck.

Rose warmed up with black tape on either side of his neck, but opted not to talk to reporters. He was in his usual spot at point guard when the starting lineups were released.

It will be Rose's first meaningful home game since he injured his left knee in the 2012 playoffs.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said earlier that Rose has a sore neck and is a game-time decision. He also said the 2011 NBA MVP isn't sure how he got hurt.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-10-31-BKN-Bulls-Rose/id-919ad95e742c4451ade56dd2f3cd8f23
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Obama’s Halloween: No ‘web’ problems here

Obamacare may be the nightmare before Christmas for those trying to sign up online, but it turns out that the White House does have a functioning web operation. And it was on full display Thursday night as President Barack Obama celebrated Halloween with some 5,000 area schoolchildren and kids of military families.

The web in question housed a giant inflatable black widow spider above the entrance of the famed South Portico, with about a dozen more of the eight-legged creepy-crawlies swarming down the columns, escorted by bats and crows. Two large autumn wreaths hung nearby.

At about 5:30 p.m., kids walked up the driveway and formed a line that snaked from near the main door, past the East Wing, down the driveway as far as this pooler's eye could see.

The president, first lady Michelle Obama, and her mother Marian Robinson emerged shortly thereafter.

"Hi guys! Come on down," the president called out. He was wearing an orange shirt, black sweater and khakis. The first lady donned in an orange and black top, orange pants. Mrs Robinson was in orange as well. All three carried baskets with White House treats wrapped in individual clear-plastic packages.

Nearby, bales of hay were home to four carved white pumpkins spelling out B O O ! under the vigilant eye of an inflatable black cat.

Not far, one cobweb-festooned pumpkin bore the carved message “LET’S MOVE!” (When this reporter was growing up, that and the fact that Pres. Obama proclaimed Nov. 2013 to be National Diabetes Month a few hours ago might have served as a warning to skip That House, lest you get 14 pennies in a UNICEF envelope and a near-its-past-due-date bag of baby carrots. But the Obamas gave out real treats, including boxed White House M&Ms, and orange butter cookies shaped like the White House, as well as a dried fruit mix. A junior administration official shared a piece of cookie with your pooler. Cookie = tasty).

The procession of kids began with Nakaiya, 10, who was dressed as "a goddess." She clutched a green plastic jack-o-lantern treat basket. The most popular costumes (at least during the stretch of time when this reporter was present) seemed to be Mario (of video game legend) for boys and Dorothy (with ruby slippers) for girls. But there were pirates, fairies, a few LEGO Ninjago Ninjas, a helmet-less Darth Vader, a Waldo, a couple of Captain Americas (one asked for his treat to be placed on his shield). There was a Big Bad Wolf, a superbly convincing Madeline, a dad, mom, and three kids as Smurfs. Harry Potters and Hermione Grangers outnumbered Thomas the Tank engines. Reporters swooned over a homemade Abraham Lincoln costume.

The president's comments were mostly inaudible, except when he recognized one little girl in a white flowing outfit and a hood or hat that resembled an iconic hairstyle: "Princess Leia!" he called out, grinning.

The Babka family's home-made costumes may have been this reporter’s favorites: Mom and Dad as graham crackers, kids as a Hershey bar and a marshmallow. Those S'Mores are originally from Ohio, but he is a Marine stationed in Virginia.

There were grown-up actors clad as Wizard of Oz characters – perhaps most notable was Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, in a giant inflated clear plastic bubble. Other costumes: Zebras, Snow White, a luchadora, a penguin, a flamingo, Dan Marino, a stoplight, Scooby-Doo, Indiana Jones, the Wicked Witch, the Tin Man.

The first dogs were represented. A Sunny statue, made of ribbons, was dressed as a sunflower. Bo, made of pipe cleaners, was a pirate, complete with eye patch, saber, hat with a bone decoration, and striped trousers.

On the South Lawn proper stood a ring of ghosts (they appeared to be sheets supported by posts). In front of the East Wing garden, 14 carved pumpkins spelled out HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama%E2%80%99s-halloween--no-%E2%80%98web%E2%80%99-problems-here-223554158.html
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CWRU researchers aim nanotechnology at micrometastases

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31-Oct-2013

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Contact: Kevin Mayhood
kevin.mayhood@case.edu
216-368-4442
Case Western Reserve University

To infiltrate and quash aggressive cancers that survive traditional therapy

CLEVELANDResearchers at Case Western Reserve University have received two grants totaling nearly $1.7 million to build nanoparticles that seek and destroy metastases too small to be detected with current technologies.

They are targeting aggressive cancers that persist through traditional chemotherapy and can form new tumors. The stealthy travel and growth of micrometastases is the hallmark of metastatic disease, the cause of most cancer deaths worldwide.

The group, led by Efstathios Karathanasis, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and radiology, will spend the next five years perfecting molecular coatings, called ligands, that enable nanochains injected into a patient's blood to home in on micrometastases. The National Cancer Institute awarded the group $1.6 million to pursue the work.

The Ohio Cancer Research Associates awarded the group another $60,000 to increase the efficiency and rapid dispersal of chemotherapy drugs the nanochains tote inside the metastases.

The grants will build on earlier work by Karathanasis, Mark Griswold, professor of radiology and director of MRI research at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and Ruth Keri, professor of pharmacology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and associate director of research at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. They and colleagues invented a nanochain that explodes a barrage of chemotherapy drugs inside a tumor.

"When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, he or she undergoes surgery to remove the primary tumor, then undergoes chemotherapy to kill any residual disease, including distant micrometastases," Karathanasis said.

"Chemotherapy drugs are very potent, but because they are randomly dispersed throughout the body in traditional chemotherapy, they aren't effective with the aggressive forms of cancer," he continued. "You have to give the patient so much of the drug that it would kill the patient before killing those micrometastases."

But delivering the killer drug only to micrometastases is a challenge. They are hidden among healthy cells in such small numbers they don't make a blip on today's imaging screens.

Contrary to traditional drugs, you can control how a nanoparticle travels in the bloodstream by changing its size and shape. "You can think of nanoparticles as a pile of leaves in the back yard," Karathanasis said. "When the wind blows, each leaf has a different trajectory because each has a different weight, size and shape. As engineers, we study how nanoparticles flow inside the body."

The group built a nanochain with a tail made of magnetized iron oxide links and a balloon-like sphere filled with a chemotherapy drug. The chains are designed to tumble out of the main flow in blood vessels, travel along the walls and latch onto integrins, the glue that binds newly forming micrometastasis onto the vessel wall.

When chains congregate inside tumors, researchers place a wire coil, called a solenoid, outside the animal models. Electricity passed through the solenoid creates a radiofrequency field, which causes the magnetic tails on the chains to vibrate, breaking open the chemical-carrying spheres and launching the chemotherapeutic drug deep into a metastasis.

In testing a mouse model of breast cancer metastasis, the chains killed 3000 times the number of cancerous cells as traditional chemotherapy, extended life longer and in some cases completely eradicated the disease, while limiting damage to healthy tissue.

Due to their random dispersal, negligible amounts of a typical conventional chemo drug can reach into a metastasis. In recent testing, a remarkable 6 percent of the nanochains injected in a mouse model congregated within a micrometastatic site of only a millimeter in size. The researchers want even better.

Using the federal grant, the researchers will develop nanochains with at least two ligands, which are molecular coatings designed to draw and link the chains to micrometastases.

The different ligands will seek different locations on cancerous cells, increasing the odds of finding and attacking the target.

Using the Ohio grant, the researchers will find the optimal size of the nanochains, tail and the payload of drugs to make them as efficient and speedy killers as possible. By including fluorescent materials in the nanochains, they will be able to see the chains slip from the blood stream, congregate in micrometastases and explode the drugs inside, and make improvements from there.

Other members of the research group include Vikas Gulani, assistant professor of radiology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and director of MRI at UH Case Medical Center, Chris Flask, director of the Imaging Core Center in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and an assistant professor of radiology, and William Schiemann, an associate professor at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"Such work would not happen in other places", Karathanasis said. "This is truly interactive research with my lab, the Laboratory for Nanomedical Engineering, the Case Center for Imaging Research and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center."

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Oct-2013

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Share

Contact: Kevin Mayhood
kevin.mayhood@case.edu
216-368-4442
Case Western Reserve University

To infiltrate and quash aggressive cancers that survive traditional therapy

CLEVELANDResearchers at Case Western Reserve University have received two grants totaling nearly $1.7 million to build nanoparticles that seek and destroy metastases too small to be detected with current technologies.

They are targeting aggressive cancers that persist through traditional chemotherapy and can form new tumors. The stealthy travel and growth of micrometastases is the hallmark of metastatic disease, the cause of most cancer deaths worldwide.

The group, led by Efstathios Karathanasis, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and radiology, will spend the next five years perfecting molecular coatings, called ligands, that enable nanochains injected into a patient's blood to home in on micrometastases. The National Cancer Institute awarded the group $1.6 million to pursue the work.

The Ohio Cancer Research Associates awarded the group another $60,000 to increase the efficiency and rapid dispersal of chemotherapy drugs the nanochains tote inside the metastases.

The grants will build on earlier work by Karathanasis, Mark Griswold, professor of radiology and director of MRI research at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and Ruth Keri, professor of pharmacology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and associate director of research at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. They and colleagues invented a nanochain that explodes a barrage of chemotherapy drugs inside a tumor.

"When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, he or she undergoes surgery to remove the primary tumor, then undergoes chemotherapy to kill any residual disease, including distant micrometastases," Karathanasis said.

"Chemotherapy drugs are very potent, but because they are randomly dispersed throughout the body in traditional chemotherapy, they aren't effective with the aggressive forms of cancer," he continued. "You have to give the patient so much of the drug that it would kill the patient before killing those micrometastases."

But delivering the killer drug only to micrometastases is a challenge. They are hidden among healthy cells in such small numbers they don't make a blip on today's imaging screens.

Contrary to traditional drugs, you can control how a nanoparticle travels in the bloodstream by changing its size and shape. "You can think of nanoparticles as a pile of leaves in the back yard," Karathanasis said. "When the wind blows, each leaf has a different trajectory because each has a different weight, size and shape. As engineers, we study how nanoparticles flow inside the body."

The group built a nanochain with a tail made of magnetized iron oxide links and a balloon-like sphere filled with a chemotherapy drug. The chains are designed to tumble out of the main flow in blood vessels, travel along the walls and latch onto integrins, the glue that binds newly forming micrometastasis onto the vessel wall.

When chains congregate inside tumors, researchers place a wire coil, called a solenoid, outside the animal models. Electricity passed through the solenoid creates a radiofrequency field, which causes the magnetic tails on the chains to vibrate, breaking open the chemical-carrying spheres and launching the chemotherapeutic drug deep into a metastasis.

In testing a mouse model of breast cancer metastasis, the chains killed 3000 times the number of cancerous cells as traditional chemotherapy, extended life longer and in some cases completely eradicated the disease, while limiting damage to healthy tissue.

Due to their random dispersal, negligible amounts of a typical conventional chemo drug can reach into a metastasis. In recent testing, a remarkable 6 percent of the nanochains injected in a mouse model congregated within a micrometastatic site of only a millimeter in size. The researchers want even better.

Using the federal grant, the researchers will develop nanochains with at least two ligands, which are molecular coatings designed to draw and link the chains to micrometastases.

The different ligands will seek different locations on cancerous cells, increasing the odds of finding and attacking the target.

Using the Ohio grant, the researchers will find the optimal size of the nanochains, tail and the payload of drugs to make them as efficient and speedy killers as possible. By including fluorescent materials in the nanochains, they will be able to see the chains slip from the blood stream, congregate in micrometastases and explode the drugs inside, and make improvements from there.

Other members of the research group include Vikas Gulani, assistant professor of radiology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and director of MRI at UH Case Medical Center, Chris Flask, director of the Imaging Core Center in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and an assistant professor of radiology, and William Schiemann, an associate professor at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"Such work would not happen in other places", Karathanasis said. "This is truly interactive research with my lab, the Laboratory for Nanomedical Engineering, the Case Center for Imaging Research and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center."

###

---

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Share

]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/cwru-cra103113.php
Category: Halloween pictures   Most Receiving Yards In A Game   Mexico vs Panama   houston texans   Matt Harvey  

Bulls PG Rose to start despite sore neck

CHICAGO (AP) — Derrick Rose is in the starting lineup for the Chicago Bulls' home opener against the New York Knicks after missing Thursday's shootaround due to a sore neck.

Rose warmed up with black tape on either side of his neck, but opted not to talk to reporters. He was in his usual spot at point guard when the starting lineups were released.

It will be Rose's first meaningful home game since he injured his left knee in the 2012 playoffs.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said earlier that Rose has a sore neck and is a game-time decision. He also said the 2011 NBA MVP isn't sure how he got hurt.

Rose tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the 2012 playoff opener and missed all of last season. He had 12 points in Chicago's season-opening 107-95 loss at Miami on Tuesday night.

Rose missed an exhibition game in Brazil due to soreness in his left knee. But that was his only significant setback while preparing for this season.

• Sports & Recreation
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bulls-pg-rose-start-despite-sore-neck-233510385--spt.html
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Court blocks ruling on NY police stop-frisk policy

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked a judge's ruling that found the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy was discriminatory and took the unusual step of removing her from the case, saying interviews she gave during the trial called her impartiality into question.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the rulings by U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin will be stayed pending the outcome of an appeal by the city.

The judge ruled in August the city violated the Constitution in how it carried out its program of stopping and questioning people. The city appealed her findings and her remedial orders, including a decision to assign a monitor to help the police department change its policy and the training program associated with it.

During arguments, lawyers in the case said the police department hasn't had to do anything except meet with a monitor since the judge's decision. But the city said police officers are afraid to stop and frisk people now and the number of stop-and-frisks has dropped dramatically.

The three-judge appeals panel, which heard arguments on the requested stay on Tuesday, noted that the case might be affected in a major way by next week's mayoral election.

Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio, who's leading in polls, has sharply criticized and promised to reform the NYPD's stop-and-frisk technique, saying it unfairly targets minorities. He said he was "extremely disappointed" in Thursday's decision.

The appeals court said the judge needed to be removed because she ran afoul of the code of conduct for U.S. judges in part by compromising the necessity for a judge to avoid the appearance of partiality. It noted she had given a series of media interviews and public statements responding to criticism of the court. In a footnote, it cited interviews with the New York Law Journal, The Associated Press and The New Yorker magazine.

The judge said Thursday that quotes from her written opinions gave the appearance she had commented on the case in interviews. But she said a careful reading of each interview will reveal no such comments were made.

The 2nd Circuit said cases challenging stop-and-frisk policies will be assigned to a different judge chosen randomly. It said the new presiding judge shall stay all proceedings pending further rulings by it.

After a 10-week civil trial that ended in the spring, Scheindlin ruled that police officers violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of people by wrongly targeting black and Hispanic men with the stop-and-frisk program. She appointed an outside monitor to oversee major changes, including reforms in policies, training and supervision, and she ordered a pilot program to test body-worn cameras.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented plaintiffs in the case, said it was dismayed that the appeals court delayed "the long-overdue process to remedy the NYPD's unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices" and was shocked that it "cast aspersions" on the judge's professional conduct and reassigned the case.

The city said it was pleased with the federal appeals court ruling. City lawyer Michael Cardozo said it allows for a fresh and independent look at the issue.

Stop-and-frisk, which has been criticized by civil rights advocates, has been around for decades, but recorded stops increased dramatically under Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to an all-time high in 2011 of 684,330, mostly of black and Hispanic men. A lawsuit was filed in 2004 by four men, all minorities, and became a class action case.

About 5 million stops have been made in New York in the past decade, with frisks occurring about half the time. To make a stop, police must have reasonable suspicion that a crime is about to occur or has occurred, a standard lower than the probable cause needed to justify an arrest. Only about 10 percent of the stops result in arrests or summonses, and weapons are found about 2 percent of the time.

Supporters of changes to the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program say the changes will end unfair practices, will mold a more trusted police force and can affect how other police departments use the policy. Opponents say the changes will lower police morale but not crime.

The judge noted she wasn't putting an end to the stop-and-frisk practice, which is constitutional, but was reforming the way the NYPD implemented its stops.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-blocks-ruling-ny-police-stop-frisk-policy-200407179.html
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Lenovo hires Kutcher to design, pitch new tablet

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Computer-maker Lenovo has hired tech-savvy actor Ashton Kutcher to help design and pitch its latest line of tablets, dubbing the Hollywood star a "product engineer" who can bring his ideas along with his image.

It's the latest tech foray for the "Two and a Half Men" performer who recently starred in a biopic about innovative giant Steve Jobs and has invested venture capital in more than a dozen Silicon Valley startups.

The deal was announced Tuesday at a Lenovo live-streamed event in Los Angeles. Lenovo's first video advertisements for the new Yoga Tablet feature Kutcher acting as a product tester in his boxers, a spacesuit and aboard an airplane.

The company said Kutcher will do more than just advertise.

"This partnership goes beyond traditional bounds by deeply integrating him into our organization as a product engineer as we look at developing the next wave of products," said Lenovo spokesman David Roman.

Kutcher — who in recent years has appeared in ads for snack chips and cameras — said of Lenovo, "Entrepreneurship is part of their DNA, and I couldn't ask for a better fit."

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lenovo, with headquarters in Beijing and in Research Triangle Park, N.C., acquired IBM's computer business in 2005 and became the world's top PC-maker ahead of HP in the third quarter. But, like other manufacturers, it has struggled with waning consumer demand for desktop and laptop models.

It's one of several Asian tech companies seeking to loosen Apple's grip on China's tablet market with less expensive Android models.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-10-30-Kutcher%20Sells%20Tech/id-afca0308f2644cf8be8cedc8d5d58480
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How to Build a Fame Monster

The following is excerpted from Blockbusters: Hit-Making, Risk-Taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment, by Anita Elberse, published by Henry Holt & Co.

Standing backstage at Boston’s sold-out TD Garden in March 2011 during Lady Gaga’s smash-hit tour, the Monster Ball, her manager, Troy Carter, paused a moment to take it all in. “It is amazing how far we have come in such a short time,” he said.

After emerging on the pop-music scene in 2008—touring as a supporting act for New Kids on the Block, a boy band beyond its glory years—Lady Gaga broke through in early 2009, when her singles “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” topped international charts. She rapidly became one of the biggest names in entertainment, sweeping up Grammys and Video Music Awards and selling tens of millions of singles. In 2011, Forbes ranked her first on its Celebrity 100 list, ahead of Oprah Winfrey.

As is the case with most “overnight successes,” Gaga’s ascent had been a long time in the making. In the early days of her career, through a relentless touring schedule—for months on end, she put on seven to eight shows a week, sometimes performing three times per night, in clubs around the U.S. and Canada—Gaga had built a fan base with a strong core. “We wanted to build her fan base from the ground up,” Carter said. “Once the audience feels they own something, they are going to run with it, and do the work for you.” She relied heavily on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to spread word of mouth and strengthen her connection with her fans—her ”little monsters,” as she called them. She turned out to be extraordinarily skilled at doing so: By 2011, Gaga was the most popular living person on Facebook and the most followed person on Twitter.

Given her extraordinary success with a grassroots approach to launching her music, one might have assumed that Gaga, Carter, and her label, Interscope, would stick with such a strategy in 2011 for her third album, Born This Way. Yet the Born This Way launch compared more to “a movie blockbuster in the summer months, like Avatar,” as Interscope’s vice chairman Steve Berman put it. “With an artist of Gaga’s caliber,” Carter said, “reaching full potential means doing things on an enormous scale.” He knew that the launch he had in mind would have to go beyond traditional music-distribution channels and would test the limits of what a record label—even one the size of Universal Music Group—could afford. Carter and his team likewise pursued a blockbuster strategy for Gaga's forthcoming record, ARTPOP, due Nov. 11.

Most leading entertainment businesses operate on such a blockbuster model: making risky bets on the development of a select few products, then increasing the stakes by investing a great deal of money in distributing and promoting those products as widely as possible, all with an eye toward opening as big as they can. Companies often set marketing budgets at high levels well before they know how those products will be received in the marketplace. But what’s the rationale? Why would the team behind Lady Gaga want to move away from a word-of-mouth-driven launch that worked so well for them in the past? With Gaga’s new album likely to sell like hot cakes, wouldn’t record label executives prefer to save on any unnecessary marketing expenditures?

Launching entertainment products—albums, movies, television shows, video games, books—using what marketers call a “limited” or “grass-roots” release strategy has undeniable advantages. The basic idea is to gradually discover what level of marketing spending is most appropriate. It is all about being as efficient as possible with the available resources. For a movie, for example, a limited-release strategy generally means that it debuts on only a few screens in major cities, and is supported with print and online advertisements in those regions. The goal is to attract not the largest but rather the right audience to the product, in the hopes that those early customers will in turn spread positive word of mouth and help draw in new audiences. Only if the product takes off—or shows some signs of being on the verge of taking off—will the producer gradually increase the distribution coverage or intensity and support the product with more advertising to further enhance growth. The principle is to spend sizable amounts of money on the marketing of only those products that are worth it—those that truly have a chance of success in the marketplace.

Lady Gaga’s first recordings were released in this fashion. When her first single, “Just Dance,” was released in April 2008, gaining traction proved difficult. “We could not get it played on pop radio,” Carter recalled. “Mainstream radio stations told us it was too much of a dance song for them.” Bobby Campbell, chief marketing officer at Carter’s management firm Atom Factory, agreed: “Dance music simply was not on the air in Top 40 radio.”

So Carter relied on an intense schedule of live performances targeted at communities that seemed especially receptive to her music. “The gay community seemed to stick to her, and that resonated with her personally, so gay clubs were a natural fit to start the work,” Campbell said. “It was about finding different groups: the gay community, the dance community, the club-going community, the fashion community, the art community, and developing those into a larger pool of Gaga fans. So when Interscope made some headway with radio later on, we had this really strong core of fans who had been following her for months, and who felt they were part of the reason why she was successful.”

Jimmy Iovine, Interscope’s chairman, talks about capitalizing on “sparks”: The idea is that if an entertainment product resonates with audiences in a given market, that market can, with the right kind of support, become a launching pad for a wider rollout.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/when_big_businesses_were_small/2013/10/lady_gaga_artpop_how_the_icon_s_grass_roots_approach_to_stardom_turned_into.html
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Adobe Hack Victim Count Skyrockets to 38M

"We often become numb to the numbers when discussing breaches, but 38 million is a vastly different scale of breach -- it's massive," explained Tim Erlin, director of IT risk and security strategy with Tripwire. "It surpasses last year's 24 million record Zappos breach and will undoubtedly cost Adobe tens of millions of dollars."

After initially estimating that a mere 3 million customers had been affected by the security breach it announced at the start of October, Adobe on Wednesday admitted that the actual number now looks to be closer to an eye-popping 38 million. In addition, the breach seems to be more far-reaching than initially thought, extending to the Photoshop family of products as well.

In its original announcement, Adobe said hackers stole 3 million encrypted customer credit card records and login data for Adobe user accounts. This past weekend, however, AnonNews.org posted a file that appears to include more than 150 million username and hashed password pairs taken from Adobe, according to Krebs on Security.

So far, Adobe's investigation has confirmed that the attackers obtained access to Adobe IDs and what were at the time valid, encrypted passwords for approximately 38 million active users, the company said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Marissa Hopkins.

"We have completed email notification of these users," Adobe said. "We also have reset the passwords for all Adobe IDs with valid, encrypted passwords that we believe were involved in the incident -- regardless of whether those users are active or not."

Adobe believes the attackers obtained access to many invalid Adobe IDs, inactive Adobe IDs, Adobe IDs with invalid encrypted passwords, and test account data as well, the company added: "We are still in the process of investigating the number of inactive, invalid and test accounts involved in the incident. Our notification to inactive users is ongoing."

There's no indication so far, however, that there has been unauthorized activity on any Adobe ID account involved in the incident, the company pointed out.

38 Million!

As with most security hacks, information is limited and experts are left filling in the blanks with speculation. For example, there is the question of how one breach could encompass so many people.

"We often become numb to the numbers when discussing breaches, but 38 million is a vastly different scale of breach -- it's massive," Tim Erlin, director of IT risk and security strategy at Tripwire, told TechNewsWorld. "It surpasses last year's 24 million record Zappos breach and will undoubtedly cost Adobe tens of millions of dollars.

"As more information about the attack vector and details emerges, we'll be able to understand what Adobe might have done to prevent this compromise," Erlin added.

A breach of this size doesn't happen overnight, noted Craig Young, also a security researcher with Tripwire.

"Clearly, attackers were on Adobe's networks for a prolonged period of time without being detected," Young told TechNewsWorld. "In fact, the attacks were only brought to light when researchers found Adobe's data on a server used by organized cybercriminals."

Very likely, the hackers attacked an account management server that contained most if not all Adobe accounts, suggested Dodi Glenn, a security researcher with ThreatTrack Security.

Adobe has acknowledged publicly that the breach was possible in part due to server-side accessibility and consolidation of security credentials, noted Lockbox CEO Peter Long.

If nothing else, what this breach has served to highlight "is that a strategy of attempting to secure the infrastructure ultimately can be overwhelmed by a consistent and focused attack," Long told TechNewsWorld.

'Should Have Been Prevented'

Given the magnitude of the numbers involved, it is fair to rethink Adobe's after-the-fact approach to the breach.

When it was first revealed, Adobe apologized and offered free yearlong credit monitoring for affected customers. It also made sure the passwords were encrypted and issued a password reset for the accounts that were compromised, Glenn told TechNewsWorld -- all to the good.

However, "the damage is already done," he added. "The leak occurred, and should have been prevented in the first place."

Where Adobe's response could stand improvement is in providing more transparency about what happened, he concluded, "instead of letting people and security groups speculate."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/79318.html
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Google Fonts now lets you experiment with typefaces in a free app

Google has a lot of free fonts on offer, but it's hard to know how they'll look on a website without putting them into HTML code or buying a preview tool. It's now much easier to experiment with typefaces, however, as Google Fonts has just integrated a typography app. Designers can click a link to ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/8UgLloVI57M/
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Kim Kardashian & Cheryl Cole Party at Kayne West’s Weekend Gig

They’re both worldwide superstars, so it’s no wonder Kim Kardashian and Cheryl Cole are becoming good friends.

The “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” cutie and the former Girls Aloud singer hung out at Kanye West’s concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday night (October 26).

During the gig, Kim and Cheryl posed for a silly selfie, and of course they both posted the image to their Instagram pages immediately.

Furthermore, Cole praised the man of the evening, tweeting, “Kanye West is a genius #fact.” Meanwhile, Kim’s sister Khloe turned out to be quite a fan of Cole- she wrote, “I found a soul sister in @CherylCole tonight #Yeezus.”

Earlier this year, Cheryl reached out to Kim after she received criticism over her pregnancy weight gain. Cole tweeted, “Just wanted to send you a tweet to say I think you are an incredibly beautiful woman inside and out. I can only imagine how tough it is to be heavily pregnant and feeling extremely vulnerable on top of some of the daily criticism you take! I admire your tenacity and send you my best wishes with the rest of your pregnancy.”

Kim replied, “Your message really touched me! Thank you so much for the support & positivity! It’s so important for women to feel confident & at peace during this amazing time! Your sweet tweet really made me smile!”

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/cheryl-cole/kim-kardashian-cheryl-cole-party-kayne-west%E2%80%99s-weekend-gig-950970
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Jony Ive turns Mac Pro RED for charity

Suddenly, the 20th Anniversary Mac seems downright commonplace. Apple's Jony Ive is teaming up with recent design partner Marc Newson to auction a one-of-a-kind red Mac Pro as part of a Product RED charity fundraiser. It's not clear what's different on the inside versus the regular black model, but look at that outside -- it's guaranteed that this workstation will be the centerpiece of the office. Be prepared to pony up if you like the idea of an ultra-exclusive system, though. Sotheby's estimates that the red Mac Pro will sell for $40,000 to $60,000; while that's a steal next to an Apple I, it's not exactly chump change. Check out both the Mac and some (slightly) more affordable rose gold EarPods at the source links.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/26/red-mac-pro/?ncid=rss_truncated
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More study urged on concussions in young athletes

FILE - This Aug. 4, 2012 file photo shows new football helmets that were given to a group of youth football players from the Akron Parents Pee Wee Football League, in Akron, Ohio. It's not just football. A new report says too little is known about concussion risks for young athletes, and it's not clear whether better headgear is an answer. The panel stresses wearing proper safety equipment. But it finds little evidence that current helmet designs, face masks and other gear really prevent concussions, as ads often claim. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - This Aug. 4, 2012 file photo shows new football helmets that were given to a group of youth football players from the Akron Parents Pee Wee Football League, in Akron, Ohio. It's not just football. A new report says too little is known about concussion risks for young athletes, and it's not clear whether better headgear is an answer. The panel stresses wearing proper safety equipment. But it finds little evidence that current helmet designs, face masks and other gear really prevent concussions, as ads often claim. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — No one knows how often the youngest athletes suffer concussions. It's not clear if better headgear is the answer, and it's not just a risk in football.

A new report reveals big gaps in what is known about the risk of concussion in youth sports, especially for athletes who suit up before high school.

The Institute of Medicine and National Research Council on Wednesday called for a national system to track sports-related concussions and start answering those questions.

Despite a decade of increasing awareness of the seriousness of concussions, the panel found young athletes still face a "culture of resistance" to reporting the injury and staying on the sidelines until it's healed.

"Concussion is an injury that needs to be taken seriously. If an athlete has a torn ACL on the field, you don't expect him to tape it up and play," said IOM committee chairman Dr. Robert Graham, who directs the Aligning Forces for Quality national program office at George Washington University.

"We're moving in the right direction," Graham added.

But the panel found evidence, including testimony from a player accused by teammates of wimping out, that athletic programs' attention to concussions varies.

Reports of sports concussions are on the rise, amid headlines about former professional players who suffered long-term impairment after repeated blows. Recent guidelines make clear that anyone suspected of having a concussion should be taken out of play immediately and not allowed back until cleared by a trained professional.

Although millions of U.S. children and teens play school or community sports, it's not clear how many suffer concussions, in part because many go undiagnosed.

But Wednesday's report said among people 19 and younger, 250,000 were treated in emergency rooms for concussions and other sports- or recreation-related brain injuries in 2009, up from 150,000 in 2001.

Rates vary by sport.

For male athletes in high school and college, concussion rates are highest for football, ice hockey, lacrosse and wrestling. For females, soccer, lacrosse and basketball head the list. Women's ice hockey has one of the highest reported concussion rates at the college level.

College and high school sports injuries are tracked, but there's no similar data to know how often younger children get concussions, whether on school teams or in community leagues, the IOM panel said.

"One thing that parents question is, 'Well, should I let my son or daughter play this sport they're asking me to play?'" said sports injury specialist Dawn Comstock of the University of Colorado, who reviewed the report. "If we don't have that type of data on the national level, it's very difficult" to know.

Could safety gear prevent kids' concussions?

Some equipment ads make that claim. But there's little scientific evidence that current sports helmet designs or other gear, such as face masks or headbands for soccer, really reduce the risk, the panel cautioned.

Still, it stressed that youngsters should wear helmets and other sport-appropriate safety gear, because they guard against other injuries, including skull fractures and face injuries.

"Parents deserve to know how safe their children's safety equipment really is," said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who is pushing legislation to curb false advertising and encourage improvements to sports equipment standards.

"While we can't reduce every risk, we should do everything we can to stop misleading advertising that gives parents a false sense of security."

The report found that every state except Mississippi has passed a concussion law since Washington started the trend in 2009, prompted by a 13-year-old who suffered permanent disability after returning to a football game despite a concussion.

The laws address such things as criteria for removal from play and standards for return-to-play decisions, but the report said most are in the early stages of being implemented.

It's not always easy to spot a concussion — symptoms might not be obvious right away — yet most young athletes practice and play without routine access to a professional trained to check them, the panel said. That can leave the decision to bench players up to coaches and parents.

That's especially true before high school and in community leagues, said Tamara Valovich McLeod with the National Athletic Trainers' Association, which long has pushed for concussion education.

Without training, people may not realize you can have a concussion without losing consciousness, or that you can still have symptoms despite a clean CT scan, she said.

Typically, youth athletes recover from a concussion within two weeks. But in 10 percent to 20 percent of cases, symptoms can persist for weeks, months, occasionally even longer, the report found. A second blow before full recovery is especially dangerous.

Nor is the concern only about physical activity.

The American Academy of Pediatrics this week said teachers may need to ease students back into learning after a concussion.

There's increasing evidence that too much mental activity can prolong recovery, too. Sensitivity to light, headaches or memory difficulties may require breaks or extra time on assignments when the student returns to class, the pediatricians' policy says.

The IOM report also said:

—Youths who've already had a concussion are at higher risk for subsequent ones.

—Calls for a "hit count" to limit the number of head impacts in a week or a season make sense, but there's no evidence to say what that number should be.

—Sports officials should examine if there are age-specific rules to make play safer, such as Canadian youth hockey's no-checking rule for the youngest players.

But the report shouldn't scare parents into pulling their kids out of sports, injury expert Comstock stressed.

"The positives of sports as a physical activity still far outweigh the negatives," she said. "We just need to make it as safe as possible."

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-10-30-Youth%20Concussions/id-ce0938cb9c6c4639b8c47c30d9ff012e
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Tesla Officially Opens West Coast Supercharger Circuit, Covering San Diego To Vancouver

Tesla’s West Coast Supercharger Corridor opened today, making it possible for owners of the Model S to travel free between San Diego and Vancouver, using Highway 101 and Interstate 5. This makes a Supercharger reachable within 200 miles to over 99 percent of Californians and 87 percent of those in Oregon and Washington.

A lot of attention has been paid to Tesla’s efforts to make a coast-to-coast trip in one of its vehicles a reality, via Superchargers and other charging stations, but blanketing the West Coast means that Tesla S owners can now travel from essentially the Mexican border to within the Canadian one without paying any money to fill their cars, and with a minimal amount of charging time required. Superchargers can charge a Tesla S to a capacity worth around 200 miles of driving distance in just 30 minutes, and the stations are positioned near restaurants and shopping centers to give you something to do while your car powers up.

To promote the new corridor, Tesla is having two Model S vehicles make the trip from San Diego to Vancouver, and they’ll be pushing updates to their various social media properties along the way. Spoiler alert: those cars are definitely going to make it without incident.

Supercharger rollout continues globally, with Tesla announcing plans in September to cover 100 percent of the population of Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark and Luxembourg, and 90 percent of the population in England, Wales, and Sweden with a station within 320 kms by the end of 2014. Getting past that basic excuse of “I can’t buy one, there’s nowhere to charge” is clearly a huge part of the company’s global rollout strategy, which is why each of these Supercharger network expansions is a big win for Tesla and for founder Elon Musk.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/bC8KVLvRlvU/
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Claire Danes to host Nobel Peace Prize concert

FILe - This Sept. 22, 2013 file photo shows actress Claire Danes at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Danes has been tapped to host the 20th anniversary Nobel Peace Prize concert in December. The Emmy-winning “Homeland” actress will host the Dec. 11 event in Oslo, Norway. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP, File)

FILe - This Sept. 22, 2013 file photo shows actress Claire Danes at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Danes has been tapped to host the 20th anniversary Nobel Peace Prize concert in December. The Emmy-winning “Homeland” actress will host the Dec. 11 event in Oslo, Norway. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Claire Danes has been tapped to host the 20th anniversary Nobel Peace Prize concert in December.

The Emmy-winning "Homeland" actress will host the Dec. 11 event in Oslo, Norway.

The concert will celebrate the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which was awarded the prestigious honor earlier this month.

The watchdog agency works to eliminate the world's chemical weapons and received the prize days after OPCW inspectors started arriving in war-torn Syria to oversee the dismantling of President Bashar Assad's chemical arsenal.

The Nobel Peace Prize concert typically attracts top celebrities. Past luminaries have included Paul McCartney, Rihanna, and Tony Bennett. The lineup for this year's concert has yet to be announced.

___

Online: nobelpeaceprizeconcert.org

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-10-30-People-Claire%20Danes/id-5c4d03938a2b4828a13fcfc9c7c88ea4
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Red Sox win WS title, beat Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara and catcher David Ross celebrate after getting St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Carpenter to strike out and end Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara and catcher David Ross celebrate after getting St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Carpenter to strike out and end Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz carries relief pitcher Koji Uehara after winning Game 6 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis CardinalsWednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara jumps into David Ross's arms after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara and catcher David Ross celebrate after getting St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Carpenter to strike out and end Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina looks back as home plate umpire Adam Wainwright call Boston Red Sox's Jonny Gomes safe on a three run RBI double by Shane Victorino during the third inning of Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. Left is Jacoby Ellsbury, Xander Bogaerts, center and second right, David Ortiz. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

BOSTON (AP) — The old ballpark was packed for a celebration nearly a century in the making.

Players danced around the infield with their families.

Fans remained in the stands, savoring a long-awaited moment generations of New Englanders had never been able to witness.

Turmoil to triumph. Worst to first. A clincher at Fenway Park.

David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox, baseball's bearded wonders, capped their remarkable turnaround by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to win their third World Series championship in 10 seasons.

When it was over, Ortiz took a microphone on the field and addressed the city, just as he did a week after the marathon bombings last April.

"This is for you, Boston. You guys deserve it," the Series MVP said. "We've been through a lot this year and this is for all of you and all those families who struggled."

And the Red Sox didn't even have to fly the trophy home. For the first time since Babe Ruth's team back in 1918, Boston won the title at Fenway. The 101-year-old stadium, oldest in the majors, was jammed with 38,447 singing, shouting fans anticipating a party that had been building for more than nine decades.

"Maybe they won't have to go another 95 years," said John Farrell, a champion in his first season as Boston's manager.

Shane Victorino, symbolic of these resilient Sox, returned from a stiff back and got Boston rolling with a three-run double off the Green Monster against rookie sensation Michael Wacha. Pumped with emotion, Victorino pounded his chest with both fists three times.

John Lackey became the first pitcher to start and win a Series clincher for two different teams, allowing one run over 6 2-3 innings 11 years after his Game 7 victory as an Angels rookie in 2002.

With fans roaring on every pitch and cameras flashing, Koji Uehara struck out Matt Carpenter for the final out. The Japanese pitcher jumped into the arms of catcher David Ross while Red Sox players rushed from the dugout and bullpen as the Boston theme "Dirty Water" played on the public-address system.

There wasn't the "Cowboy Up!" comeback charm of "The Idiots" from 2004, who swept St. Louis to end an 86-year title drought. There wasn't that cool efficiency of the 2007 team that swept Colorado.

This time, they were Boston Strong — playing for a city shaken by tragedy.

"We've dealt with a lot," Dustin Pedroia said. "But our team came together."

After a late-season collapse in 2011, the embarrassing revelations of a fried chicken-and-beer clubhouse culture that contributed to the ouster of manager Terry Francona, and the daily tumult of Bobby Valentine's one-year flop, these Red Sox grew on fans.

Just like the long whiskers on the players' faces, starting with Jonny Gomes' scruffy spring training beard.

"As soon as we went to Fort Myers, the movie's already been written," Gomes said. "All we had to do was press play, and this is what happened."

The only player remaining from the 2004 champs, Ortiz had himself a Ruthian World Series. He batted .688 (11 for 16) with two homers, six RBIs and eight walks — including four in the finale — for a .760 on-base percentage in 25 plate appearances, the second-highest in Series history.

"We have a lot of players with heart. We probably don't have the talent that we had in '07 and '04, but we have guys that are capable (of staying) focused and do the little things," Ortiz said.

Even slumping Stephen Drew delivered a big hit in Game 6, sending Wacha's first pitch of the fourth into the right-center bullpen for a 4-0 lead. By the time the inning was over, RBI singles by Mike Napoli and Victorino had made it 6-0, and the Red Sox were on their way.

"Hey, I missed two games. It's time to shine," Victorino said.

All over New England, from Connecticut's Housatonic River up to the Aroostook in Maine, Boston's eighth championship can be remembered for the beard-yanking bonding.

Fans bid up the average ticket price to over $1,000 on the resale market and some prime locations went for more than $10,000 each. Nearly all the Red Sox rooters stood in place for 30 minutes after the final out to view the presentation of the trophy and MVP award. A few thousand remained when a beaming Ortiz came back on the field with his son 75 minutes after the final out.

"It was an awesome atmosphere here," Lackey said.

The win capped an emotional season for the Red Sox, one heavy with the memory of the events that unfolded on Patriots Day, when three people were killed and more than 260 wounded in bombing attacks at the Boston Marathon. The Red Sox wore "Boston Strong" logos on their left sleeves, erected a large emblem on the Green Monster and moved the logo into the center-field grass as a constant reminder.

"There's I think a civil responsibility that we have wearing this uniform, particularly here in Boston," Farrell said. "And it became a connection initially, the way our guys reached out to individuals or to hospital visits. And it continued to build throughout the course of the season. I think our fans, they got to a point where they appreciated the way we played the game, how they cared for one another. And in return they gave these guys an incredible amount of energy to thrive on in this ballpark."

Red, white and blue fireworks fired over the ballpark as Commissioner Bud Selig presented the World Series trophy to Red Sox owners John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino, leaving a haze over the field.

"When the fireworks went off at the presentation of the trophy out there, when the ballpark was filled with smoke, it was completely surreal," Farrell said. "To be in this position, given where we've come from, reflecting back a year ago at this time, there's been a lot that's happened in 13 months."

Players then put on goggles for a champagne celebration in the cramped clubhouse.

"They just found ways to win," Henry said. "At some point you have to think there's something special happening here."

Among the players blamed for the indifferent culture at the end of the Francona years, Lackey took the mound two days shy of the second anniversary of his elbow surgery and got his first Series win since the 2002 clincher. He pitched shutout ball into the seventh, when Carlos Beltran's RBI single ended the Cardinals' slump with runners in scoring position at 0 for 14.

Junichi Tazawa came in with the bases loaded and retired Allen Craig on an inning-ending grounder to first. Brandon Workman followed in the eighth and Uehara finished.

St. Louis had been seeking its second title in three seasons, but the Cardinals sputtered after arriving in Boston late Tuesday following a seven-hour flight delay caused by mechanical problems. Symbolic of the team's struggles, reliever Trevor Rosenthal tripped while throwing a pitch to Ortiz in the eighth, balking Pedroia to second.

"They were some frustrated guys in there, but overall you can't ask us to go about any better than how our guys did," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Not too many people expected us to do what we did."

Wacha entered 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his postseason career but gave up six runs, five hits and four walks in 3 2-3 innings, the shortest start of the 22-year-old's big league career.

"I just made too many mistakes," he said. "It doesn't matter how hard you're throwing if you can't locate it."

Boston was a 30-1 underdog to win the World Series last winter but joined the 1991 Minnesota Twins as the only teams to win titles one season after finishing in last place. Now, the Red Sox will raise another championship flag before their home opener next season April 4 against Milwaukee.

Boston hit just .211, the lowest average for a Series champion in 39 years and 13 points lower than the Cardinals. But after falling behind 2-1 in the Series on the first-game ending obstruction call in postseason history, the Red Sox tied it the following night on the first-game ending pickoff in postseason play. That sparked the Red Sox to three straight wins and another title.

"When we started rolling," Ortiz said, "nobody ever stopped the train."

NOTES: Boston also won the Series at Fenway Park in 1912. The Red Sox won the first World Series in 1903 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds and in 1916 at Braves Field. ... Catfish Hunter and Jimmy Key each won Series clinchers for two clubs, as a starter and reliever. ... Freese, the 2011 World Series MVP, hit .158 (3 for 19) with no RBIs.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-10-31-World%20Series/id-53e422137c074aecab97e701bfc26e42
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Announcing Engadget's #ScaryGadget Costume Contest!

Tomorrow is Halloween, which means from offices to classrooms, to banks and the streets of your hometown, people will be donning all sorts of costumes. Sure, you could be like everyone on the block and dress like Miley Cyrus, or try to score discount burritos at Chipotle, but why not go for ...

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Michael Morris Wears Wedding Ring, Steps Out With Wife Mary McCormack After Katharine McPhee Scandal

Looks like Mary McCormack needs some space. The In Plain Sight star stepped out with husband Michael Morris on Saturday, Oct. 26, for the first time since Morris was caught kissing Smash actress Katharine McPhee -- and though they were separated by only a few feet, the distance between them was evident.

PHOTOS: Remember these cheating scandals?

Clad in gray skinny jeans and a black top, McCormack, 45, left a noticeable gap between herself and her husband as they exited an office building in L.A. She kept her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, and her left hand (and ring finger) tucked discreetly into the pocket of her pants.

Morris, meanwhile, was very clearly wearing his wedding ring. Like his wife, he wore dark shades, along with a black sweater and jeans.

PHOTOS: Stars caught cheating

The tense outing came just a few days after photos emerged of the Smash director making out with former series star McPhee in a parking lot. According to the New York Post's Page Six, McCormack allegedly ejected Morris from the home they share with their three young kids shortly before the scandal broke.

PHOTOS: Couples who hooked up on set

McPhee, for her part, is also married, but sources told Us Weekly she and husband Nick Cokas have been separated for several months. Which is not to say her situation is easy.

"She is SO embarrassed she was caught," one insider told Us of the American Idol runner-up, 29. "She should have known better."

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/michael-morris-wears-wedding-ring-steps-out-with-wife-mary-mccormack-after-katharine-mcphee-scandal-20133010
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