VCast Closing Reveals Hidden Danger of “App Stores”

If you bought a smartphone from Verizon Wireless in the last couple of years, you may have noticed that it came with not one, but two app markets: the Google Play store (formerly known as the Android Market), and VCast, or Verizon Apps. VCast debuted in 2010 as an alternative app market which supported Verizon carrier billing, back when Google Play did not, and sold apps on Blackberry smartphones as well.

Now Verizon is closing the doors on the Verizon Apps store, as it’s just informed app developers. Verizon customers aren’t scheduled to be notified until January of next year, but work is already in progress behind the scenes to remove Verizon Apps from millions of smartphones. Once it’s removed, it will have unpleasant — and completely avoidable — consequences for some of Verizon’s customers.

How app stores work

Before app stores existed, buying “computer software” online was very much a do-it-yourself experience.

First, you had to find the store, which was sometimes no easy feat. Then you had to download and install it yourself, often with no guarantee that it’d actually run on your hardware. Finally, whenever your app got an update you’d either have to go download and install it all over again, or else be interrupted by that specific app’s updater (sort of like how Java and Flash do even today).

App stores changed all that

But they did so at a cost: Nearly all apps bought through Google Play and the iPhone’s App Store are affected by DRM, or Digital Rights Management software. This ostensibly makes apps harder to pirate, by tying your apps to your app store account and keeping you from making copies of them. But it also means that at any time, the company which runs the app store can kill your apps that you already purchased.

This can be a good thing

When Google discovered the “mother of all Android malware” on Google Play, it was able to kill the infected apps even on people’s devices, and clean things up very quickly. But on the other hand, this can also mean people losing their apps with no warning or explanation, like in Martin Bekkelund’s report of a person who lost her entire Kindle account and everything on it.

What about in Verizon’s case?

According to Verizon, “Apps that require a monthly license check will no longer work” after the Verizon Apps store is killed. It goes on to explain which apps this includes, and gives a list that encompasses pretty much every way to pay for an app. Anything on that list that you bought from Verizon Apps, simply won’t work pretty soon. Even if some of yours still work, you won’t be able to redownload them if you delete them, or put them on a new phone that you buy … unless, of course, you’re a hacker and know common techniques to defeat Verizon’s DRM.

Some people, of course, have already faced this … such as if they had to change their legal name and abandon an app store account linked to it, to escape being stalked or for other reasons. In that case, say goodbye to everything that you’ve purchased.

Does it have to be this way?

Popular game and app bundles, like MacHeist and the Humble Indie Bundle, sell apps which are DRM-free and can be copied to any device which can run them. There’s even a Humble Android updater, to keep your smartphone games up to date. Meanwhile, Linux “package managers” worked like app stores years before Apple’s, but were (and still are) often run by nonprofit organizations with democratically elected governing boards.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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Broadway takes a big hit from Superstorm Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) — Superstorm Sandy, which darkened Broadway for four days, predictably ravaged the box offices around Times Square, with shows losing more than $ 8.5 million from the previous week.

The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, released data Tuesday that showed, as expected, all shows took a hit. One of the hardest hurt was the Matthew Broderick musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” which lost $ 538,853.

Since the storm actually affected two weeks of data, the League estimates that grosses managed just $ 33.66 million for that period, a drastic fall from the same time frame last year, where the box offices earned $ 42.2 million. Attendance also plunged 19 percent from the 10-year average.

The storm, which struck last Monday, forced all 40 Broadway theaters to shutter the night before. All shows were up and running by Thursday night, but the damage had been done, though few expect the pain to last.

“It will come back to its former life, there’s no question about it. Broadway is New York and everyone celebrates the theater in this city,” said Barry Weissler, who has been producing work on Broadway since 1982. “It’s catch-up time.”

Most shows on Broadway have eight performances a week, but Sandy forced many, including “The Phantom of the Opera,” ”The Heiress,” ”Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “Chicago” to put on just six shows. “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “Evita” only managed five shows. Altogether, 48 individual performances were canceled.

Other shows that took a beating include “Wicked,” which lost $ 490,996, though it still managed to pull in $ 1,166,275. The least hurt was “Rock of Ages,” which lost just $ 59,209.

Sandy joins other recent shocks to have rocked Broadway finances, including the Sept. 11 attacks, which shuttered theaters for two days, and Hurricane Irene in 2011 that wiped away a weekend’s revenue.

“Storms will not stop us, the terrible tragedy of 9/11 will not stop us. Theater will continue. It’s one of the oldest art forms known to man and it will continue,” said Weissler, who together with his wife, Fran, has produced such shows as “Grease,” ”Chicago” and “Annie Get Your Gun.”

The League said that the losses from Hurricane Irene were actually larger than for Sandy. Not only were 66 individual performances scrapped for Irene, but the storm struck during the busy summer, not the slower fall.

But Sandy may have hurt off-Broadway theaters more. The SoHo Rep and The Bank Street Theater lost power and had some flooding, while many other downtown theaters lost power, including the MCC Theatre and SoHo Playhouse. The Canal Park Playhouse canceled all November and December performances.

The infectious drumming show “Blue Man Group” was quieted, the immersive, genre-bending show “Sleep No More” was stilled, and The Public Theater was shut down for almost a week. The lobby at its home at Astor Place is now a collection site for post-Sandy supplies.

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Multivitamins don’t cut heart disease risk in men – study

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Taking a daily multivitamin does not reduce the risk of heart disease for older men, according to data from a large study presented on Monday.

About half of U.S. adults take at least one daily dietary supplement, the most popular being a multivitamin, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. Physicians Health Study II monitored nearly 15,000 male doctors aged 50 and older for more than 10 years. Participants were randomly assigned to take a multivitamin or a placebo.

“We found that after more than a decade, there is neither benefit nor risk,” in terms of cardiovascular disease, said Dr. Howard Sesso, study author and associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Researchers reported last month that the same trial showed that a daily multivitamin reduced the men’s overall risk of cancer by 8 percent.

“We still feel very comfortable with the conclusions for the cancer findings,” Dr. Sesso said. “The lack of effect for cardiovascular disease versus cancer benefit isn’t necessarily inconsistent. There could be a difference in mechanism of effect.”

The findings were presented in Los Angeles at the American Heart Association scientific meeting and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“It is hard for us to recommend, at this point in time, taking a multivitamin to avoid cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Sesso said, noting that patients need to discuss all over-the-counter medicines with their doctors.

He said patients often view multivitamins as a “quick fix,” which can lead them to let up on other efforts to improve their health.

“The danger of taking multivitamins is that it will lead you to think you can forgo other lifestyle changes,” such as not smoking and maintaining a healthy diet, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor in the department of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and with a grant from BASF Corp. The multivitamins and packaging were provided by BASF, Pfizer Inc and DSM Nutrition Products.

“Many patients think that because they are getting an OTC (over-the-counter) medication it is safe and the risk of complications is low,” said Dr. Elliott Antman, chairman of the AHA Scientific Sessions Committee and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “That appears to be right, but we still need to remind them of the need for lifestyle changes.”

Two other studies involving Omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish oil that were presented at the meeting on Monday also failed to help specific heart conditions.

In one, taking fish oil for a year failed to limit recurrent symptomatic atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat that significantly raises the risk of stroke.

In the other trial, short term use of fish oil failed to decrease incidence of atrial fibrillation that commonly occurs after patients undergo heart surgery.

Dr. Peter Wilson, from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta who was not involved in the studies, was disappointed by the results.

Every time we’ve looked at Omega-3, he said, “we’ve come up short. It’s very discouraging.”

(Reporting By Deena Beasley and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Stacey Joyce, Bernard Orr)

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Service sector growth slips in October, hiring picks up

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed modestly in October, though a measure of employment improved to its highest in seven months, underscoring expectations the economic recovery will remain modest.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index eased to 54.2 last month from 55.1 in September, shy of economists’ forecasts for 54.5, according to a Reuters survey.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

The forward-looking new orders gauge fell to 54.8 from 57.7, but the measure of employment rose to its highest since March at 54.9 from 51.1.

The vast services sector has fared better than its manufacturing counterpart, which contracted during the summer. Still, this was the first time since June that the rate of growth in services firms has cooled.

While manufacturing has begun to grow again, the services sector is expected to remain stronger as it feels less of an impact from weaker exports.

Taken together, the two reports point to an economy that is growing at around a 2 percent pace, analysts said, maintaining the third quarter’s rate of growth and reinforcing the view that the United States is holding on to a modest recovery.

“Moderate growth in the U.S. economy continues,” said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

New export orders contracted to 47.5 from 50.5 against the backdrop of slower global growth and the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis.

Financial markets saw little reaction immediately following the data. Wall Street was little changed in late morning trading as investors were wary of taking aggressive bets the day ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

Services companies in other parts of the world also saw slower growth in October, separate reports showed on Monday. The pace of activity in China slipped, while Britain’s sector grew at its slowest in almost two years. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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Methane warnings ignored before NZ mine disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.

The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces and said the Pike River Coal company was exposing miners to unacceptable risks as it strove to meet financial targets.

“The company completely and utterly failed to protect its workers,” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday.

The country’s labor minister, Kate Wilkinson, resigned from her labor portfolio after the report’s release, saying she felt it was the honorable thing to do after the tragedy occurred on her watch. She plans to retain her remaining government responsibilities.

The Royal Commission report said New Zealand has a poor workplace safety record and its regulators failed to provide adequate oversight before the explosion.

At the time of the disaster, New Zealand had just two mine inspectors who were unable to keep up with their workload, the report said. Pike River was able to obtain a permit with no scrutiny of its initial health and safety plans and little ongoing scrutiny.

Key said he agrees with the report’s conclusion that there needs to be a philosophical shift in New Zealand from believing that companies are acting in the best interests of workers to a more proscriptive set of regulations that forces companies to do the right thing.

The commission’s report recommended a new agency be formed to focus solely on workplace health and safety problems. It also recommended a raft of measures to strengthen mine oversight.

Key said his government would consider the recommendations and hoped to implement most of them. He would not commit on forming a new agency. Workplace safety issues are currently one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

In the seven weeks before the explosion, the Pike River company received 21 warnings from mine workers that methane gas had built up to explosive levels below ground and another 27 warnings of dangerous levels, the report said. The warnings continued right up until the morning of the deadly explosion.

The company used unconventional methods to get rid of methane, the report said. Some workers even rigged their machines to bypass the methane sensors after the machines kept automatically shutting down — something they were designed to do when methane levels got too high.

The company made a “major error” by placing a ventilation fan underground instead of on the surface, the report found. The fan failed after the first of several explosions, effectively shutting down the entire ventilation system. The company was also using water jets to cut the coal face, a highly specialized technique than can release large amounts of methane.

The report did not definitively conclude what sparked the explosion itself, although it noted that a pump was switched on immediately before the explosion, raising the possibility it was triggered by an electrical arc.

The now-bankrupt Pike River Coal company is not defending itself against charges it committed nine labor violations related to the disaster. Former chief executive Peter Whittall has pleaded not guilty to 12 violations and his lawyers say he is being scapegoated.

An Australian contractor was fined last month for three safety violations after its methane detector was found to be faulty at the time of the explosion.

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Google says Apple patent lawsuit dismissed

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Apple Inc alleging that Google Inc-owned Motorola‘s patent licensing practices were unfair, Google said on Monday.

Apple had been set to square off against Motorola on Monday in a trial in U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin, involving Google’s use of the library of patents it acquired along with Motorola for $ 12.5 billion in May.

“We’re pleased that the court has dismissed Apple’s lawsuit with prejudice,” a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Dismissal of a case with prejudice means the case is over at the trial court level, though it can be appealed.

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate in line with industry standards,” Google said in its statement. “We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.”

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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No Doubt apologize to Native Americans for Wild West video

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Pop band No Doubt was forced to remove a new Wild West-themed music video and issue an apology after getting complaints from the Native American community, saying its intention was “never to offend, hurt or trivialize” their culture or history.

The Southern California band – made up of lead singer Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young – posted an apology on their official website on Saturday following the release of their latest video for the single “Looking Hot.”

“As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history,” the band said.

The video, which debuted on Friday, featured Stefani dressed in tribal garments as a Native Indian princess captured by Young and Dumont dressed as cowboys, while Kanal played a tribe chief who rescues Stefani.

Some users took to social media platforms to criticize the band’s use of tribal imagery, leading No Doubt to remove the video online, adding that “being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.”

“Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people … We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video,” they said.

“Looking Hot” is the second single from No Doubt’s latest album “Push and Shove,” their first studio release in a decade. The band initially rose to fame in the early 1990s in the new wave ska-punk scene and crossed over into pop with hits such as “Don’t Speak” and “Just A Girl.”

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Paul Simao)

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Turkish ex-president’s autopsy fuels poisoning speculation

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – An autopsy on late President Turgut Ozal, who led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s and whose body was exhumed last month, will reveal he was poisoned, his son believes, calling for a full investigation of the “dark years” two decades ago when he died.

Ahmet Ozal was speaking after a newspaper report said high levels of poison had been identified by the autopsy, carried out after his father’s body was dug up on the orders of prosecutors investigating suspicions of foul play in his death.

State forensic authorities have denied the media report.

Ozal’s moves to end a Kurdish insurgency and create a Turkic union with central Asian states have been cited as motives for would-be enemies in the shadowy “deep state”, in which security establishment figures and criminal elements colluded.

Ozal died of heart failure while in office in April 1993 at the age of 65. After undergoing a triple heart bypass operation in the United States in 1987, he kept up a grueling schedule while remaining overweight until he died.

But his family believe he was the victim of a plot.

“Even though 19 years have passed, thanks to technological advances and rigorous investigation they are capable of finding poisonous substances … I believe they will be found,” former member of parliament Ahmet Ozal told Reuters late on Saturday.

“I am 100 percent sure his death was not normal. If it is indeed proven, then Turkey should thoroughly investigate the dark years,” he said, noting that top investigative journalist Ugur Mumcu was killed in a car bomb the year Ozal died.

It was Turkey’s military leaders who appointed him as a minister after a period of military rule following a 1980 coup.

Ozal went on to dominate Turkish politics during his period as prime minister from 1983-89. Parliament then elected him president, but those close to him believe his reform efforts displeased some in the security establishment.

While prime minister, Ozal survived an assassination attempt by a right-wing gunman in 1988 when he was shot at a party congress, suffering a wounded finger. Ahmet Ozal said he believed there was a cover-up over the assassination attempt.

“If the assassination (attempt) is investigated … we may see interesting connections to things happening these days. It could also offer an insight into my father death,” he said, noting a presidential order would be needed for such an investigation.

Turkish political history has been littered with military coups, alleged anti-government plots and extra-judicial killings. A court is currently trying hundreds of suspects allegedly linked to a nationalist underground network known as “Ergenekon” accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

Turgut Ozal‘s brother, Korkut Ozal, said in 2010 he believed Ergenekon had killed the president. ‘Extrajudicial killings’ were common at that time and have been blamed on shadowy militant forces with ties to the state.

STRYCHNINE CLAIM DENIED

Those suspicious about his death have pointed to efforts which Ozal made to end the conflict with Kurdish militants during his time in office, including securing a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ceasefire shortly before his death.

A report in Bugun newspaper on Friday said it had obtained a copy of the autopsy which revealed high levels of “strychnine creatine” in Ozal’s body.

Strychnine is a highly toxic alkaloid used as a pesticide which causes muscular convulsions and death through asphyxia. Creatine is an organic acid which supplies energy for muscle contraction.

However, the head of the state forensic medicine institute, Haluk Ince, said such a substance had not been found and the report had not yet been completed.

“We did not find the material referred to in the newspaper story. We don’t know how that story came about,” Ince told reporters in the wake of the Bugun article, adding the institute aimed to complete its work in December.

No post-mortem examination was conducted at the time of Ozal’s death, reportedly at the request of his widow.

Viewed as a visionary who helped pave the way for the free market economic policies under which modern Turkey has thrived, Ozal also gave firm support to the West, supporting the U.S.-led coalition which expelled Iraq from Kuwait in 1991.

Ahmet Ozal said his father helped transform Turkey from a coup-torn, state-run economy to the emerging power it is now, boosting freedom of expression, religion and private enterprise.

“This was the foundation that gave birth to modern Turkey. Along with this, perhaps the most important was the transformation of people’s mindset. With that you can change anything,” he said.

(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Analysis: Waiting for housing to drive the U.S. economy

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. housing market is on the mend, but the so-called “missing piston” of the world’s biggest economy doesn’t have enough power to get the broader recovery firing on all cylinders any time soon.

Construction and related activity will help rather than hinder U.S. economic growth this year for the first time since 2005. That was before the housing bust helped push the United States into recession, triggering the global financial crisis.

Higher sales, prices and building, albeit modest so far, are a welcome boost as other drivers of the economy falter.

Nonetheless, housing still accounts for only a small part of gross domestic product compared with the boom years.

The housing sector “would have to be on steroids to significantly boost GDP growth,” Paul Dales, an economist with Capital Economics, wrote in a recent research note.

Neither presidential candidate has signaled any new plans to help housing, although the Federal Reserve, aware of the important role of the sector in underpinning the economy, is focusing its latest stimulus efforts in mortgage bonds.

Typically, housing leads the U.S. economy out of recession. But the vast equity losses have stymied the market this time.

Housing’s most direct impact on growth is via construction, remodeling and associated services, known as residential investment. Its contribution to GDP has shrunk from a historical average of about 5 percent, and over 6 percent in 2005, to 2.5 percent in the third quarter of this year.

Economists expect residential investment will add two- to three-tenths of a percentage point to GDP in 2013, helping the economy maintain this year’s pace of growth.

Americans are likely to spend more on home renovations – probably $ 134.2 billion in the 12 months to June 2013, up from $ 115.3 billion at the end of September this year, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

That would still be 8 percent off the peak in mid 2007 when borrowing against home values was still soaring.

Now, homeowners remain wary of taking on debt. Most prefer to save for renovations rather than borrow, said Adi Tatarko chief executive of Houzz, a home remodeling online platform.

Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics says housing-related jobs have grown by an average of 11,000 a month this year. That contrasts with an average monthly decline of 1,000 in 2011 and they should speed up to 30,000 a month by early 2013 as new home construction picks up, he estimates.

Superstorm Sandy, which hammered the U.S. Northeast last week, could put more people to work in construction.

Analysts estimate the U.S. economy needs to create roughly 150,000 jobs a month just to hold the unemployment rate steady.

‘EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS’

The influence of housing reaches further than just construction jobs; it can be a big jolt for consumer spending, which makes up two-thirds of the economy.

Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital, said real estate wealth should begin to boost consumer spending again next year. That would mark an important turning point for households’ finances, badly damaged by the housing market collapse and the drop in stock prices during the financial crisis.

“As the consumer goes, so will the broader economy,” Gapen said.

The swath of homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home is a big factor that has held back the housing recovery. Many “underwater” Americans have been unable to sell their home and buy something more expensive. Such upward mobility in housing has traditionally fueled the market.

More than 20 percent of U.S. mortgages were underwater at the end of June, amounting to 10.8 million homes. Of those, 1.8 million borrowers would recover if prices rose 5 percent, according to data analysis firm CoreLogic .

Price gains like that may not be such a tall order. Economists expect prices to have risen 1.7 percent this year and pick up a further 3.1 percent next year, according to a Reuters poll.

Rising home prices helped 1.3 million homeowners get out from under water in the first half of this year, CoreLogic says.

Those are more homeowners who could potentially refinance their mortgages, putting more spending money in their pockets.

A number of factors suggest the recovery will be slow and modest, like that of the broader economy. These factors include a backlog of pending foreclosures, the large amount of distressed homes up for sale, often at low prices, and the difficulty in getting a mortgage.

In the meantime, the Fed will buy $ 40 billion in mortgage-related debt each month as it tries to bolster the housing sector which Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has called the “missing piston” of the U.S. economic recovery.

“Every little bit helps,” Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James, said of housing.

“People always ask, ‘What’s going to drive the recovery?’ It’s never usually one particular thing, but a lot of little things getting better at the same time.”

(Editing by William Schomberg and David Gregorio)

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Newspaper discloses new Cameron text messages

LONDON (AP) — A British lawmaker says he’s asked the country’s media ethics inquiry to consider newly disclosed text messages sent between Prime Minister David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks, the ex-chief executive of Rupert Murdoch‘s British newspaper division.

The Mail on Sunday newspaper on Sunday published two previously undisclosed messages exchanged between the pair, who are friends and neighbors.

Brooks is facing trial on conspiracy charges linked to Britain’s phone hacking scandal, which saw Murdoch close down The News of The World tabloid.

In one newly disclosed message, Cameron thanked Brooks in 2009 for allowing him to borrow a horse, joking it was “fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun.”

Opposition lawmaker Chris Bryant has asked a judge-led inquiry scrutinizing ties between the press and the powerful to examine the messages.

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