Apple Taps Fashion Executive to Head Its Stores — And She Was Worth the Wait

Apple’s exhaustive search for a retail chief finally came to a close with the hiring of Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts. Apple went nearly a year without a vice president in charge of retail, but the wait was worth it: Ahrendts has the stylistic smarts and global reach Apple needs to expand its shopping empire.

Ahrendts will be in charge of all of Apple’s retail efforts, online and off. “I have always admired the innovation and impact Apple products and services have on people’s lives and hope in some small way I can help contribute to the company’s continued success and leadership in changing the world,” she said today in a statement.

In an internal memo, meanwhile, CEO Tim Cook said that he had Ahrendts pegged for the role since they first met in January.

Her appointment may finally close a gaping hole in Apple’s executive team. Last October, Apple announced a major shakeup that included the ouster of then retail head John Browett, who had made a number of ill-received staffing decisions. Browett left during the same putsch that sent iOS vice president Scott Forstall packing. But while Forstall’s responsibilities were redistributed among executives Craig Federighi, Jony Ive, and Eddy Cue, the role of retail head has sat vacant since Browett’s departure.

To go so long without a leader for one of the most important aspects of Apple’s business may seem risky. But the well-established template appears to have allowed Apple stores to coast successfully while Cook took his time luring Ahrendts into the Cupertino fold.

For her part, Ahrendts’ global retail and fashion experience should bode well for a company that’s trying to extend both its reach and its brand. Apple has been trying to deepen its presence in China, a huge and ever-increasingly important global market. During her seven years in charge of Burberry, Ahrendts managed to significantly expand Burberry’s presence in China and other emerging markets, resulting in a more than threefold increase in the fashion brand’s market value ($3.35 billion to $11.18 billion).

As for Ahrendts’ fashion chops, those won’t go to waste at Apple either either. The company is widely rumored to be working on some sort of wearable device — often referred to as the “iWatch” — and Ahrendt is Apple’s second major hire from the fashion industry following Yves Saint Laurent’s Paule Deneve, who was hired to work on “special projects.” Apple has also hired two key folks involved with the development of the Nike FuelBand, designer Ben Shaffer and advisor Jay Blahnik. If the Cupertino mothership is looking for someone to successfully expand the company’s retail savvy as it enters the luxury fashion space — especially in the many parts of the world with better fashion sense than Silicon Valley — you probably couldn’t do much better than Ahrendt.

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661370/s/327fcd60/sc/5/l/0L0Swired0N0Cbusiness0C20A130C10A0Capple0Ehires0Eburberry0Eceo0C/story01.htm
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Nolan and Ellison join local push for higher Minnesota minimum wage (Star Tribune)

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DC crowd pushes through barriers to WWII Memorial

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A crowd converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on Sunday, pushing past barriers to protest the memorial's closing under the government shutdown.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, along with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, were part of the demonstrators.

Cruz and Lee are among the tea party-backed lawmakers who refused to keep the government operating unless President Barack Obama agreed to defund the nation's health care overhaul.

"Let me ask a simple question," Cruz told the crowd of hundreds that gathered beginning at 9 a.m. "Why is the federal government spending money to erect barricades to keep veterans out of this memorial?"

Black metal barricades have lined the front of the memorial since the government closed Oct. 1. That's when more than 300 National Park Service workers who staff and maintain the National Mall were furloughed.

As the crowd entered the memorial plaza, they chanted "Tear down these walls" and "You work for us." They sang "God bless America" and other songs.

"Our vets have proven that they have not been timid, so we will not be timid in calling out any who would use our military, our vets, as pawns in a political game," Palin told the crowd.

The memorial has become a political symbol in the bitter fight between Democrats and Republicans over who is to blame for the shutdown. Earlier rallies have focused on allowing access for World War II veterans visiting from across the country.

Sunday's rally was more political. A protest by truckers converged with a rally by a group called the Million Vet March at the memorial. Participants cut the plastic links between metal barriers at the National Park Service site and pushed them aside.

Later, some protesters carried metal barricades that look like bicycle racks from the memorial to the White House and stacked them up outside the gates, confronting police in riot gear. Some protesters carried signs reading "Impeach Obama."

Police moved the protesters back to set up barricades between the crowd and the White House gate. Some protesters chanted "shame on you" at the officers.

An armored police vehicle also was sent to the World War II Memorial as people lingered there.

District of Columbia police said the crowd was dispersing by 1 p.m., about four hours after the protests began. U.S. Park Police said there had been one arrest at the Lincoln Memorial for assault, but it was not related to the protest, said Lt. Pamela Smith.

Jim Weller of Allentown, Pa., said he came to protest "to stand up for my rights."

"My father was a World War II veteran, shot down in the Philippines in 1945, and for them to shut down this memorial is absurd," he said.

Cindy Good had a message for lawmakers.

"They need to listen to the American people," she said, "and try to work together in Congress to get this whole thing worked out."

After the protest, U.S. Park Police worked to secure the World War II Memorial again, and Smith said they were still closed because of the shutdown.

The Park Police officers, who have been guarding the memorials amid protests over their closure, are not being paid during the government shutdown.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dc-crowd-pushes-barriers-wwii-103656733.html
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Eye Drops Could Treat Age-Related Macular Degeneration

A drop a day might soon keep blindness away. Researchers say they have found a possible treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) — the leading cause of blindness among the elderly — that could be delivered via eye drops.

There currently is no cure for AMD, nor is there a treatment for its most common form, the so-called dry AMD, which affects 90 percent of AMD suffers. The new research, which was conducted in animals, could lead to treatment for people with AMD in the future, the researchers said.

The findings were published Wednesday (Oct. 9) in the journal PLoS One.

There are two forms of AMD: a "dry" early-stage form characterized by a slow and progressive blurring of central vision, and a "wet" advanced-stage form characterized by further vision loss and the development of blood vessels in the back of the eye that can leak and damage surrounding tissues.

Nearly 2 million Americans ages 40 years and older have poor vision caused by AMD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, as many as a third of all people over age 65 have at least some early form of AMD, according to a study published in 2012 in the journal Lancet. Almost all cases of wet AMD develop from dry AMD. [9 Healthy Habits You Can Do in 1 Minute (Or Less)]

Certain antioxidant dietary supplements, such as lutein, initially showed promise in treating AMD, but several large studies found no support for this. So, people with dry AMD can only wait and hope the disease doesn't progress into debilitating vision loss.

Wet AMD is treated with repeated monthly or bimonthly injections, in the eye, of medication designed to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels, such as the cancer drug bevacizumab (known by its brand name Avastin).

In the new findings, the researchers at Tufts University in Massachusetts led by associate professor of ophthalmology Rajendra Kumar-Singh describe their work as a "proof of concept" study. They demonstrated, in mice, that a chemical called PPADS (short for pyridoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2',4'-disulfonic acid) repairs AMD-induced damage to the eye.

Previous research has shown that AMD is caused in part by high levels of the membrane attack complex (MAC), which is a part of a normal, healthy immune system. The MAC typically forms on the surface of invading bacteria, poking holes through them and destroying them. In people with AMD, however, for reasons not entirely clear, the MAC also targets cells in the retina, killing them and causing a loss of vision.

In the new study, the researchers experimented with PPADS because it is thought to interfere with both MAC formation and new blood vessel growth.

Working with anesthetized mice, the researchers induced tissue damage and blood vessel growth characteristic of AMD. They then applied PPADS daily and, essentially, watched the drug heal the eye damage.

Kumar-Singh told LiveScience that the eye drops that ultimately could be used on people likely wouldn't use PPADS, but rather a more refined drug.

This research is the first demonstration that a drug can slow the features of dry and wet AMD by topical application — that is, something that could be self-administered as eye drops.

"An ideal therapy would be one that can be self-administered daily by patients," so that they can avoid uncomfortable injections, Kumar-Singh said.

Robert Mullins, an AMD expert and associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, who was not part of the new research, said he was intrigued by the study. 

"There is very strong support for the idea that MAC contributes to AMD, and that attenuating MAC could be helpful," Mullins said.

However, he said that whether MAC is involved in AMD "is still an area of intense study." If MAC injury is the source of the blood vessel degeneration seen in wet AMD, then local "small-molecule inhibition" as demonstrated with PPADS "holds exciting possibilities," he added.

Christopher Wanjek is the author of a new novel, "Hey, Einstein!", a comical nature-versus-nurture tale about raising clones of Albert Einstein in less-than-ideal settings. His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on LiveScience.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eye-drops-could-treat-age-related-macular-degeneration-110640248.html
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Are These Avant-Garde Popsicles the Frozen Treats of the Future?

Whether they're ice pops or flat Paletas, most icy treats aren't much of an adventure. But these faceted vegan delicacies up the ante: They're designed to have a smoother melt and better mouth feel and than anything you've tried before. That's right—highly engineered popsicle mouth feel. Welcome to the future. It's time to savor the flavor.

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Rookie actor Abdi upstages Hanks in 'Phillips'

Movies

Randee Dawn
TODAY contributor

15 hours ago

Tom Hanks may be the actor with all the Oscars in "Captain Phillips," but it's Barkhad Abdi, a first-time actor who plays the lead pirate in the film, who's sailing off with all the attention lately.

Just ask TODAY's Matt Lauer: "No offense to Tom Hanks, in some ways, you stole this film," he told Abdi on a Thursday visit to the studio. 

"Tom helped me a lot to get the part out, would motivate me in a lot of ways," said the soft-spoken, Somali-born but Minneapolis-based Abdi. 

Abdi was working as a limousine driver when he answered a casting call that ran on a local TV channel. Once cast, he did not get a chance to meet Hanks until the day their characters confronted one another on set, as per director Paul Greengrass' orders. 

"I was a little scared," admitted Abdi. "(I) wanted to see Tom, but I understood the situation of the scene."

In the film, Hanks plays Captain Richard Phillips, whose cargo ship is taken over by Somali pirates while at sea. Abdi is the most conflicted of the pirates, and in his performance he shows Phillips and the audience that he's trapped into this way of life. 

As it turns out, Abdi was a natural-born actor: He ad-libbed what has become one of the film's most memorable lines. As he confronts the captain, he insists Phillips give him his full attention as he orders, "Look at me. I am the captain now."

"I became the character," he told Lauer. "I tried to get to be that guy for that moment.... I had to come out with all I got. I used a lot of imaginations."

For now, Abdi is riding the film's release, but when he goes back home to Minneapolis, he's back to the life of a non-celebrity, helping in his brother's store. But, he told Lauer, "I want to continue to act."

"Captain Phillips" opens in theaters Oct. 11, and the real-life Captain Richard Phillips will be in the TODAY studio Friday, too.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/rookie-actor-limo-driver-barkhad-abdi-upstages-tom-hanks-captain-8C11366858
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In Dubai workers' parallel world, a chance to sing

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A classic Bollywood hit blasted across the DM Labor Camp from loudspeakers cranked to gut-rattling levels. One of the contestants, who had changed out of his work overalls a few hours earlier, shimmied on the stage set up in the courtyard.

Everyone in the crowd of South Asian workers roared — the ones pressing up against the stage, others on the rooftops, and the guys piled on bunk beds watching the show through the windows of their tiny rooms. The spires of the Dubai skyline, where many of them work, shimmered on the horizon.

It's one of the biggest nights of the year for Dubai's workers: the finals of the annual labor camp song contest.

It won't show up in Dubai's tourist brochures or be chatted about in the boutique cafes of its high-end malls. This the parallel universe of the mostly South Asian migrant laborers who built the city-state but are consigned to a separated existence, ferried between their work sites and the camps where they live — teeming housing projects, tucked into industrial parks or on the desert outskirts.

"Welcome to Champ of the Camp!" cried local entertainer Shabana Chandramohan at Thursday night's extravaganza, in which 30 hopefuls warbled, crooned and belted out big Bollywood numbers for a share of 7,500 dirhams, or about $2,050, in prize money — a staggering sum for workers whose monthly salaries average about $300 a month.

Overall conditions for millions of laborers in the United Arab Emirates and across the other Gulf states have improved in recent years after pressure from international rights groups. Additional scrutiny is now coming from activists monitoring the construction of venues for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar's capital Doha.

But the unskilled workers drawn to the Gulf for steady pay also give up something in exchange.

Their lives are often highly regulated by the companies that brought them to the Gulf. The workers generally occupy a narrow world bounded by work sites and the camps, which are mostly three- or four-story housing blocks resembling collections of rundown motels where workers can be packed up to 12 in a room.

A rare break from the routine comes in the form of Champ of the Camp. The contest combines quiz show speed, "American Idol" showmanship and movie trivia knowledge into a traveling roadshow that tours the dozens of camps around Dubai week by week for the workers to compete.

The contestants, in teams representing different camps, must first answer a question from the emcee to identify a Bollywood film and tune. Then they perform it to a karaoke soundtrack for the judges. The workers from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and other countries may not share the same language but are united in their love of Bollywood.

It's always a packed house.

On Thursday, thousands of spectators watched the finalists from more than 3,000 contestants who took part in auditions in July and August.

The acoustics are rough. The heat can be stifling. The atmosphere can be somewhat chaotic as the audience divides its attention between the performers and the free goodies offered by sponsors that include an herbal drink company and Western Union, which competes with other exchange houses for the business of Gulf workers sending money home.

"The idea was to bring some entertainment to the lives of these residents and into the lives of these labor residents," said Rupa Vinod, one of the contest organizers who also doubles as a judge. "This is a needed escape."

The winner, 26-year-old security guard Dhruy Bakshi from Punjab, India, said he tried practicing his vocals in his room after work. But his dead-tired companions objected. So he'd sing while walking through his camp in evenings, even when exhausted.

"After working for 12 hours, six days a week, you can't have time for activities like singing because at the end of the week we just get time to sleep," he said. "And we can say this is kind of like our hobby, our habit of singing. We usually practice daily while on the job or while everywhere."

The competitions began in 2007, launched by the corporate sponsors along with various construction companies and other. Only 30 contestants took part in the first competition. Now, it's a centerpiece event among Dubai's migrant workers.

"This is a fun time," said finalist Ishan Sharma, a 21-year-old machine operator from Punjab, India. "This is different from your job."

Sharma made it through the quarterfinals in early September, but failed to claim the trophy and bask in a shower of gold confetti.

"It doesn't really matter," he said last month. "I was up there. That was me. That is what counts."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dubai-workers-parallel-world-chance-sing-154045149.html
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