Netflix blames Amazon for Christmas Eve outage






NEW YORK (Reuters) – An outage at one of Amazon‘s web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc‘s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas Day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.


The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television shows from home, Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said. Such devices range from gaming consoles like the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 to Blu-ray DVD players.






Netflix, which is based in Los Gatos, California, has 30 million streaming subscribers worldwide, of which more than 27 million are in the Americas region that was exposed to the outage and could have potentially been affected, Evers said.


Evers said the issue was the result of an outage at an Amazon Web Services‘ cloud computing center in Virginia and started at about 12:30 p.m. PST (2030 GMT) on Monday and was fully restored before 8:00 a.m. PST Tuesday morning, although streaming was available for most users by 11:00 p.m. PST on Monday.


The event marks the latest in a series of outages from Amazon Web Services, with one occurring in April of last year that knocked out such sites as Reddit and Foursquare.


“We are investigating exactly what happened and how it could have been prevented,” Evers of Netflix said.


“We are happy that people opening gifts of Netflix or Netflix capable devices can watch TV shows and movies and apologize for any inconvenience caused last night,” he added.


Officials at Amazon Web Services were not available for comment. Evers, the Netflix spokesman, declined to comment on the company’s contracts with Amazon.


(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Matt Driskill)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Harrison Ford Feeds Homeless on Christmas Eve

Harrison Ford and his family helped spread Christmas cheer on Monday, serving meals to the less fortunate.

RELATED: Harrison Ford on Raiders Stunt in Vintage Footage

The Oscar nominee and his son Chef Ben Ford volunteered at the Los Angeles Mission's Christmas Eve dinner on Skidrow.

Ben, the Executive Chef and proprietor of Ford's Filling Station restaurant in Culver City, CA, cooked over 4,000 chicken dinners for the event, calling it "one of [his] favorite days of the year" in a Facebook message posted Monday.

"Looking forward to sharing this special day with my family," Chef Ben added.

PICS: Celebrities With Santa

Forming the perfect magnanimous tag team, Harrison passed out food while the chef kept busy in the kitchen.

Mayor Anotonio Villaraigosa, Harry Hamlin, Lisa Rinna and Melissa Gilbert also braved the rain to volunteer.

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90-year-old real estate baron, philanthropist Jay Kislak is forever young




















Real estate baron Jay I. Kislak discovered a Fountain of Youth of sorts that springs from an inquisitive and acquisitive mind.

At 90, Kislak is wheeling and dealing in real estate, and he’s exploring history and art with the fervor of a man generations younger.

The patriarch of The Kislak Organization marked 74 years in real estate this year, 59 spent in Miami.





While he has long since appointed a protégé, Thomas Bartelmo, as president and CEO of the diverse family-owned real-estate businesses, Kislak remains chairman. And he is a regular at the headquarters in Miami Lakes.

That is, when he’s not off to Maine for the summer.

Or busy chairing a blue-ribbon commission named by the U.S. Interior Secretary to orchestrate the 450th anniversary in 2015 of the founding of St. Augustine.

Or jetting off to evaluate a possible acquisition. (Kislak recently looked at the potential for real estate development in North Dakota, booming with shale oil, but decided to pass.)

Kislak’s empire has gone through dramatic changes over the years. He built — and eventually sold — commercial banking, mortgage servicing and insurance firms.

Today, with annual revenue in excess of $28 million, his organization focuses on the commercial brokerage business started by his father, Julius Kislak, in Hoboken, N.J., more than a century ago; on owning a portfolio of apartments and other property (Kislak is on the prowl for more), and on managing funds of property-tax certificates, a niche created by the economic downturn.

Looking out his office window at a bustling interchange recently, Kislak mused: “I remember when they built the Palmetto Expressway and you could drive down it and never see another car.”

“The same thing with I-95: There was hardly any traffic,” said Kislak, a slender man with a signature mustache and a thick Hoboken accent that never faded.

Kislak moved to Miami in 1953 to grow the mortgage business, but his world view hardly dates to 1950s Florida. Already a book lover, he began pulling on a thread of Florida history, soon broadening his interest to the early Americas.

Over the decades, Kislak, bankrolled by a stream of brokerage commissions, mortgage fees and apartment rent, grew into a prominent collector of rare books and maps, manuscripts, artifacts and art to feed his fascination with the pre-Columbian era and the European exploration of America.

His wife Jean Kislak shares his passion for collecting. They met at a party for Andy Warhol; it would be her second marriage, his third. Their quest for art, history and collecting has taken them to all continents, even Antarctica.

“We don’t quit [collecting]. But we are going to quit,” said Jean, a former corporate art director. “Acquisition has always been a part of my life. I don’t know if it’s a sickness.”

In 2004, Kislak gave away much of the treasure. His foundation donated more than 3,000 rare maps, manuscripts, paintings and artifacts to the Library of Congress. The gift, estimated to be worth in excess of $150 million, is housed in the ornate Thomas Jefferson building in an exhibit that bears his name. Kislak also funds fellowships for studies of the collection, part of his diverse efforts over the years to support education. Among other things, his family foundation endowed the Kislak Real Estate Institute at Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, N.J., and has provided key support to a real estate program at Florida State University.





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Marvel's Peter Parker in perilous predicament








PHILADELPHIA — After 50 years of spinning webs and catching a who's who of criminals, Peter Parker is out of the hero game.

But Spider-Man is still slinging from building to building — reborn, refreshed and revived with a new sense of the old maxim that Ben Parker taught his then-fledgling nephew that "with great power, comes great responsibility."

Writer Dan Slott, who's been penning Spidey adventures for the better part of the last 100 issues for Marvel Entertainment, said the culmination of the story is a new, dramatically different direction for the Steve Ditko and Stan Lee-created hero.





AP



The cover of the 700th and final issue in the comic book series "The Amazing Spider-Man."





"This is an epic turn," Slott said. "I've been writing Spider-Man for 70-plus issues. Every now and then, you have to shake it up. ... The reason Spider-Man is one of the longest running characters is they always find a way to keep it fresh. Something to shake up the mix."

And in the pages of issue 700, out Wednesday, it's not just shaken up, it's turned head over heels, spun in circles, kicked sky high and cracked wide open.

Parker's mind is trapped in the withered, decaying dying body of his nemesis, Doctor Octopus aka Otto Octavius. Where's Doc Ock? Inside Parker's super-powered shell, learning what life is like for the brilliant researcher who happens to count the Avengers and Fantastic Four as friends and family.

The two clash mightily in the pages of issue 700, illustrated by Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba. But it's Octavius who wins out and Parker is, at least for now, gone for good, but not before one more act of heroism.

Slott said that it's Parker, whose memories envelop Octavius, who shows the villain what it means to be a hero.

"Gone are his days of villainy, but since it's Doc Ock and he has that ego, he's not going to try and just be Spider-man, he's going to try to be the best Spider-Man ever," said Slott.

Editor Stephen Wacker said that while Parker is gone, his permanence remains and his life casts a long shadow.

"His life is still important to the book because it affects everything that Doctor Octopus does as Spider-Man. Seeing a supervillain go through this life is the point — trying to be better than the hero he opposed," Wacker said.

"Doc has sort of inspired by Peter's life. That's what I mean when he talks about the shadow he casts," he said.

The sentiment echoes what Uncle Ben said in the pages of "Amazing Fantasy" No. 15, Slott said.

Editor Stephen Wacker called it a fitting end to the old series, which sets the stage for a new one — "The Superior Spider-Man" early next year — because it brings Peter Parker full circle, from the start of his crime-fighting career to the end.

"In his very first story, his uncle died because of something he did so the book has always been aimed at making Peter's life as difficult as possible," Wacker said. "The book has always worked best when it's about Peter Parker's life, not Spider-Man's."

And with Octavius influenced by Parker's life — from Aunt May to Gwen Stacy to Mary Jane — it will make him a better person, too.

"Because Doctor Octopus knows all of those things and will make decisions on what he saw Peter going through," Wacker said. "In a way, he gets the ultimate victory as he becomes a better hero."










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Memorial set for 2002 Florida gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride




















A memorial service for Bill McBride, the Florida Democrat who defeated Janet Reno for the party’s gubernatorial nomination in 2002 but lost to Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, will be held later this week in Tampa.

The service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church.

McBride suffered a fatal heart attack Saturday while visiting with family in Mount Airy, N.C. He was 67.





McBride defeated Reno, who was U.S. attorney general under President Bill Clinton, in the Democratic primary to run against Bush. Before entering politics, he was managing partner at the prestigious Holland & Knight law firm.

McBride’s wife, Alex Sink, was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2010, losing to now-Gov. Rick Scott. The couple lived outside of Tampa.





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10 Talented Dogs Playing the Piano









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Jessica Simpson Pregnant With Second Child

After weeks of speculation, Jessica Simpson has confirmed that she is pregnant with her second child!


PHOTO - Does Jessica Look Pregnant?

This morning she Tweeted, "Merry Christmas from my family to yours," along with a photo of daughter Maxwell sitting above a message written in the sand. It read: "Big Sis."


VIDEO - Jessica on Reaching 50 Pound Weight Loss Goal

Simpson, who gave birth to Maxwell on May 1, has been spotted wearing lots of loose clothing in recent weeks as rumors swirled that she was pregnant again.

This will be the second child for Simpson and her fiance, Eric Johnson.

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Upstate NY madman left chilling suicide note before torching town and luring firefighters to death








William H. Spengler Jr.A house burns after Spengler set fire to it.

William H. Spengler Jr.



A homicidal maniac -- bent to “do what I like doing best: killing people" -- left a chilling suicide note before torching his neighborhood and murdering two firefighters, police said today.

Ex-con William Spengler Jr., a loser mama’s boy who once spent 17 years in prison for beating his grandmother to death, penned a murderous three-page missive, telling the world why he turned a quiet lakeside neighborhood into hell on earth.

“I still have to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best: killing people,” Spengler wrote his suicide note, made public by police.




Spengler, 62, set his home -- in the tight-knit, upstate town of Webster, just outside Rochester -- ablaze early yesterday morning to lure volunteer firefighters to the scene. The gutless killer then methodically shot four of those fireman, two fatally, before blowing his brains out.

"There was no motive in the note...there were some ramblings in there, said Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering told reporters this morning. “There was intelligence information that we obtained that our investigators need to follow up on. It spoke mainly that he intended to burn his neighborhood down and kill as many people as possible."

Four whiskey bottles, filled with gasoline, were found unspent against his house, law enforcement sources told WHEC-TV.

UPSTATE MADMAN SETS BLAZE TO LURE FIREFIGHTERS TO DEATH

Spengler ignited his deadly blaze with a flare gun that was recovered at the scene, the local NBC affiliate reported.

The sadistic killer was found with a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver, Mossman 12-gauge shotgun and a Bushman semi-automatic AR-15 rifle with 30-shot magazine, police said. Crazed gunman Adam Lanza used the same make of Bushman rifle in the tragic Newtown, CT shooting earlier this month.

As a convicted felon, Spengler had no legal right to possess guns so cops want to trace those weapons.

William H. Spengler Jr.A house burns after Spengler set fire to it.

REUTERS

A house burns after Spengler set fire to it.



Police are exploring connections Spengler and his late mom, Arline, had to the West Webster Fire Department, officials said.

Spengler first torched his family’s home on Lake Road, where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, at around 5:45 a.m. — then lay in wait for his unsuspecting prey.

Crouched like a sniper and armed with a rifle and a handgun, Spengler targeted responding firefighters from behind an earthen berm that gave him a clear shot, said Pickering.

“He took a position of cover to be a sniper to shoot the first responders . . . It does appear it was a trap that was set,’’ a grim-faced Pickering said.

It’s unclear why Spengler targeted the men, although he was having personal problems.

He lived with a sister he hated, neighbors said, in the same house where he had fatally bludgeoned his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer in 1980.

The sister, Cheryl, 67, is missing, and cops, fearing the worst, will search the house for her remains.

"This sister is the only one who is unaccounted for and we're chasing down leads trying to locate her. As time goes down and we don't locate her, just like any criminal investigation would lend itself to perhaps foul play had occurred with the sister,” Pickering said.

Spengler’s beloved mother, Arline died in October. In her obituary, donations were directed to the “West Webster Firemen’s Association (Ambulance Fund).’’ It wasn’t immediately clear why.

"As far as motive, all kinds of speculation, and truthfully, we do not know. They're trying to draw a nexus, I know, between the donations of the mother to the fire department. There could be a nexus to 33 years ago when Webster police arrested him for murdering his grandmother,” Pickering said.

“We are aware of it and trying to figure out the connection,” said a source with the sheriff’s office.

One of Spengler’s victims yesterday, 43-year-old Michael Chiapperini, was a volunteer with the West Webster Fire District and a lieutenant in the town’s police department, where he also served as a media liaison.

The selfless Chiapperini, who spent 20 years as cop, had spent time in Suffolk County last month, volunteering for Hurricane Sandy cleanup duty, officials said.

He had just been named a local “Firefighter of the Year.”

He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son who also worked with the volunteer fire department.

The other man killed was volunteer Tomasz Kaczowka, a 19-year-old 911 dispatcher and a community-college student with dreams of becoming a full-time firefighter.

“These people get up in the middle of the night to fight fires,” said Chief Pickering, choking back tears. “They don’t expect to be shot and killed.”

Two more volunteer firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were wounded by bullets. A cop suffered injuries from shrapnel. All three were expected to survive.

Hofstetter, who also works full time for the Rochester Fire Department, was hit in the pelvis and the bullet lodged in his spine. Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.

The firefighters had to fall back after shots were first fired, allowing flames from Spengler’s home to spread to neighboring houses.

Spengler then traded shots with officers who arrived with an armored truck they used to remove the injured, as well as people living nearby.

He was chased on foot from his perch, then killed himself before he could be subdued, cops said.

Four houses burned to the ground and four more were damaged by the time the blaze was brought under control.

Dozens of people had to be evacuated from the smoldering area on Christmas Eve.

During the gunfight, emergency radio communications captured someone frantically saying he “could see the muzzle flash coming at [him],” as Spengler fired.

The audio, posted on the Web site RadioReference.com, also had someone reporting, “Firefighters are down!” and saying, “Got to be rifle or shotgun — high-powered . . . semi or fully auto.”

It would have been illegal for Spengler, as a convicted felon, to possess any firearm at all.

Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn said he couldn’t help thinking about the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and other mass shootings in recent years.

“It’s sad to see this is becoming more commonplace . . . across the nation,” O’Flynn said.

At West Webster Fire Station 1, there were 20 bouquets on a bench in front. Another bouquet had roses with three gold-and-white ribbons saying, “May they rest in peace,” “In the line of duty,” and, “In memory of our fallen brothers.”

Gov. Cuomo asked New Yorkers to pray for the firefighters’ families, victimized by this “senseless act of violence.”

Last December, a 15-year-old boy doused his home in Webster with gasoline and set it ablaze, killing his father and two brothers, ages 12 and 16.










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Miami: We’re still busiest cruise port




















Florida’s ports are steaming bow-to-bow in the race to be the world’s businest cruise ship port.

Though some publications have reported Port Canaveral in the lead with 3,761,056 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, PortMiami officials Monday said they had hosted 3,774,452 passengers during the same period, putting it slightly ahead. Fort Lauderdale’s PortEverglades reported 3,689,000 passengers for the period, putting it slightly behind the others in third place.

“We’re all very close,’’ said Paula Musto, PortMiami spokeswoman.





PortMiami has slipped below its previous high of 4 million plus passengers because of changing ship deployments, she said. That number is expected to again cruise past 4 million in 2013 as several new ships homeport in Miami.

Jane Wooldridge





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South Florida Christians immerse themselves in the spirit




















In the days leading up to Christmas, Brenda Lans, a Miami law-firm administrative assistant, sang religious carols with other Lutherans to harried travelers at Miami International Airport.

Jorge Rollo, an office manager, oversaw the sprawling Gift of Bethlehem tableau on the grounds of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in southwest Miami-Dade.

Teenage siblings Coraliz and Dennis Morales shivered in the chilly darkness outside Faith Presbyterian Church in Pembroke Pines as characters in a Living Nativity.





Count them all among the Christians who believe that taking religion public during the late-December shopping frenzy helps make “Keep Christ in Christmas’’ and “Jesus is the Reason for the Season’’ more than bumper-sticker slogans.

Whether in small groups — the Rev. David Imhoff of Grace Lutheran Church in Miami Springs called his 13 carolers a “flash mob for Jesus’’ — or casts of hundreds like the Gift of Bethlehem, the activities become missions for the faithful.

“On a spiritual level, it was so rewarding,’’ said Lans, 55, who isn’t in a church choir and described her singing contribution as “backup noise’’ to those with good voices. “It’s good to get back to the old traditions of caroling which give you the true meaning of Christmas...I felt uplifted doing that.’’

Another caroler, Elizabeth Maldonado, said that singing “Away in the Manger,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and “Silent Night” for TSA agents, travelers and rental-car agents fulfills an obligation to evangelize, but in a way that doesn’t put people off.

“That’s the greatest commission, to go spread the Gospel,’’ said Maldonado, 53, who sang with her husband, George Sr., 52, and son George Jr., 13.

“Jesus commanded us to do that...Christmas is about the birth of our Savior, but some forget and some have not been told,’’ she said. “The only way to reach them is through love, not to criticize. You can’t push God into their lives, but you can show Him by your actions.’’

Coraliz, an 18-year-old Flanagan High School student, said she was freezing on Friday night when she spent two hours as a shepherd in the Living Nativity scene, as traffic whizzed by on Taft Street, but she didn’t mind.

“Advent is really special,’’ she said. “It’s a time when you honor Christ and thank Him for everything he has done for you, and you have to remember that this day of Christmas is the day that He brought His son to save us. As a Christian, that’s the biggest day of the year. I think it’s really easy to forget what we’re celebrating, and it reminds people what the point is.’’

“We get so wrapped up in Santa and shopping and parties, which are all wonderful, but in reality, this is the birth of the man who gave way to our salvation, and that’s to be celebrated,’’ said Rollo. He called the Gift of Bethlehem, which recreated life in the town where Jesus was born — right down to the lepers, horses, and open-fire bread bakers — “a celebration of our faith and spirituality, and that 2,000 years ago, Mary and Joseph put their faith in God and had this baby.’’





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