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  Rita Moreira, a visitor from Brazil, was walking past Zuccotti Park around noon on Sunday when she stopped to gaze at a man drinking a cup of coffee and pedaling a stationary bicycle connected to several wires. “What is that?” she asked. The bicyclist, Keegan Stephan, replied: “We’re charging batteries.” He went on to explain that the bronze Schwinn he was pedaling was connected to a flywheel that was, in turn, connected to a dynamo. Energy created by the dynamo flowed through a motor and a one-way diode to charge a bulky black marine battery that sat on the ground next to the bike. When the battery was fully charged, Mr. Stephan, said, it would be brought into the Occupy Wall Street encampment inside the park and used to power laptops and cellphones. He estimated that it might take six hours of pedaling to charge a battery that would then provide 100 hours of use. Mr. Stephan, 26, a bike mechanic and a member of an environmental group called Time’s Up, said tha...

Amy Shumer was on the Howard Stern Show this morning to promote herself and her comedy CD, Cutting . You may know her from the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen. Amy shared her stories about the roast, both the stuff we all saw on the roast and the other behind-the-scenes drama, including some Tyson awkwardness. Amy just recently filmed a movie with Steve Carell entitled Seeking a Friend for the End of the World that should be hitting theatres next year. During her interview she mentioned that she posed “nude” in Cosmopolitan Magazine and that she discusses that often in her stand-up acts and on her CD.

  (CBS) - Nearly a month after the death of Steve Jobs, many of us are still reflecting on his life and legacy. The Sunday New York Times published the eulogy delivered on Oct. 16 by Steve Jobs' sister, Mona Simpson, at his memorial service at the Memorial Church of Stanford University. "I want to tell you a few things I learned from Steve, during three distinct periods, over the 27 years I knew him. They're not periods of years, but of states of being. His full life. His illness. His dying," said Simpson in her eulogy. Steve Jobs: Revelations from a tech giant Steve Jobs: 1955 - 2011 Some of the things she learned about him was the conscious effort that Jobs put into everything he did in life. She would write that he was "never embarrassed to work hard." Simpson wrote of how Jobs was never ashamed of failure. And how her brother "cultivated whimsy." "He tried. He always, always tried, and always with love at the core of that ...

  PALO, Leyte, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Eastern Visayas is confident that the observance of All Souls Day and All Saints Day here will be orderly and peaceful, the PNP-8 regional director, Chief Supt. Arnold Revilla told local media. He said the entire Eastern Visayas police force is “100 percent ready to secure public cemeteries and other public places during” those days. Revilla said his command has already established police assistance centers (PACs) all over the region in coordination with the Philippine Army and other enforcement agencies, barangay and barangay tanods, non-government and religious organizations, and other concerned groups in the area to assist the traveling public, maintain peace and order in cemeteries and nearby environs. He also said that in every cemetery throughout the region, especially in highly populated areas in big towns and cities, a PAC has been put up to keep order in the area. These centers, said Revill...

Eva Longoria is not happy being romantically linked to Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes. The 36-year-old actress has slammed the recent dating speculations by writing on her Who Say account, "First Jessica Simpson, now this. Once again, press gets it wrong, Matt Barnes and I are not dating!" "We are doing a charity event together for Padres and Athletes vs. Cancer," so the Gabrielle Solis of "Desperate Housewives" insisted. She went on to question, "Why is the truth never the headline? Why did I bother to comment when they put your statement at end of articles? #stillannoying." Eva, who divorced San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker in 2010, was rumored to be dating Matt after New York Post's Page Six came out with a report on Sunday, October 30 that the Texas-born actress "may have her eye on a new baller". It was said that the two were "very flirty" while dining with friends at Il Mulino, Greenwich ...

  The state of Tennessee is rewriting the rules in an effort to oust Occupy Nashville protesters from Legislative Plaza. Three weeks into the protest that has drawn scores of protesters — and even more homeless — to the plaza, state officials announced this week that they were imposing a curfew and a daily permit fee for any groups who want to gather in the space. The state backed off an original demand that the protesters disperse by 8 p.m. Thursday, but officials posted signs warning people against staying overnight and said they expect the group to begin following their permit requirements today. Occupy Nashville members say they’re ready to hold their ground and risk arrest. In the ensuing stalemate, new supporters have rallied to the Occupy Nashville cause, saying the issue has now become a question of whether Tennesseans have the constitutional right to peaceably assemble.“If you don’t hear from me, call the city jail,” 71-year-old Rip Patton told his friends....

  Students and New Haven residents had an unexpected visitor during Family Weekend: a record-breaking October snowstorm that left New Haven with over four inches of snow. With Connecticut blanketed in white, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced a state of emergency Saturday evening as the storm broke records throughout the East Coast. By 10 p.m. Sunday, 535 houses in New Haven and at least 788,000 statewide were in the dark, according to press releases from the electric utilities United Illuminating and Connecticut Light & Power. “Never before in anyone’s recollection or in history has such a storm hit the state so early,” Malloy said Sunday morning. “This is the largest number of power outages that we have ever experienced.” The storm set new records with over 20 inches of snowfall in the northeastern part of the state, according to the National Weather Service. The original Connecticut record for October had been 9.5 inches and was recorded in Norfolk, Conn. in 1987. ...

Schools across the Northeast U.S. closed for a snow day after a record snowstorm hit the region over the Halloween weekend. The school closings were a result of what is reported to be one of the earliest and heaviest snowfalls for the month of October in at least 135 years.    The snow after the storm, which reportedly went up to 30 inches in some areas, left millions without power and electricity and was reported to have caused the deaths of at least eight people. Emergency was declared in Massachusetts - which was worst hit by the snow - as well as New Jersey , Connecticut, and some parts of New York state.   Several public schools in the Portland and East Hampton areas of Connecticut were reported to be closed for all of Monday. The Worchester Telegraph reported that several schools districts in the area of Worchester, Massachusetts, were closed for all of Monday as well. A large number of schools in northern New Jersey (particularly in the counties of Ess...

Have you picked up any books lately that are such good reading that you hate for them to end? I have to admit that for me that occurrence is rare. There are good books out there of course, but hard to put down? Not so many. That is why I am pleased to announce that Karen White's latest novel The Strangers of Montagu Street is definitely hard to put down. This novel is number three in White's "Charleston" series. It started with The House on Tradd Street and was followed by The Girl on Legare Street . Each book is a continuation of the stories concerning Melanie Middleton, a successful real estate agent in Charleston, South Carolina. She also has the unfortunate talent of being able to communicate with the dead. This talent was passed to her through her mother's side of the family. Melanie is in an on again/off again relationship with author Jack Trenholm, and at the start of this latest book it is definitely off. He has become engaged to her cousin R...

  With no winner in the Powerball drawing Saturday night, the jackpot has grown to almost a quarter of a billion dollars.Wednesday night's drawing will be worth $245 million to a single winner. A winner choosing the cash option would get $146 million before taxes. Saturday night's numbers were 11, 16, 40, 51, 56 and the powerball was 38. As big as $245 million sounds, the jackpot has been larger. In 2006, eight co-workers in Nebraska split a $365 million prize. The Mega Millions jackpot is up to $78 million. The next Mega Millions drawing will be Tuesday.

No-Shave-Novemberers will always quarrel with each other about whose “Novembeard” is the best. This time around, the University Singers of Maine are putting on a fundraiser aiming to stop the quarrels. The “No-Shave November Black Bear Beard Contest” is an effort by the University Singers to fund their trip to Europe, which is currently scheduled for May 2012. “The purpose of this contest is to help the University Singers fundraise for our trip to Europe in the spring in a new and more creative way,” said Sarah Tourigny, publicity manager for the University Singers. The group typically tours locally, but would like to take their act overseas. “The opportunity to tour and promote the university in Europe, we find, is a great one. Despite that, we have to bear the financial burden of it entirely as students. We are looking forward to working hard to accomplish this goal and appreciate all the help we receive in the process,” Tourigny said. Fundraising is key to achieving ...

New week, new look! Fresh off her Footloose press tour, Julianne Hough debuted a cute new cut on Monday at the 15th Annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala in L.A. On Thursday, Hough stopped by Nine Zero One Salon in West Hollywood, where an onlooker tells PEOPLE she was “super bubbly, all smiles and happy.” There with a friend, Hough decided to cut her hair to “get it healthy,” the witness says, and decided the time was right. “Hough explained that she won’t work again until the new year, so now is the perfect time to repair the damage to her hair from so much recent styling,” the onlooker continues. Hough’s hair had been quite long recently; during her Footloose tour, she wore it down, both straight and with loose waves. Tell us: Do you like Hough’s new cut?

Mayor Ed Lee on Tuesday issued his first veto since taking office in January, describing legislation intended to close a loophole in San Francisco's law requiring employers to provide some funding for their workers' health care expenses as bad for business. "This legislation aims to solve an important problem, but imposes an overly broad approach to solving a discrete set of issues," Lee said in his veto letter. The Board of Supervisors approved the proposal on a 6-5 vote last week, setting up a showdown with Lee just weeks before the Nov. 8 mayoral election, in which polls show him as the front-runner in a field of 16 candidates. Four of his rivals, Supervisor John Avalos, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, city Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and state Sen. Leland Yee, have signaled they will make Lee's veto a campaign issue, having rallied on the steps of City Hall this month urging him to support the plan. It's unlikely sponsors of the legislation will get eig...

New Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said today that pitcher John Lackey will have Tommy John surgery and miss the 2012 season. Lackey had elbow soreness during the season, and recently saw a specialist, Dr. Lewis Yocum. "John Lackey will go ahead and have Tommy John surgery," Cherington said during the news conference at which he was introduced as the successor to Theo Epstein, who has left to become president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs. "John Lackey pitched through circumstances this year that I don't think any of us can fully understand, and he got beat up for it along the way," said Cherington. "He was dealing with some stuff both on the field and off the field that were really difficult. I thought he showed tremendous toughness pitching through that. That game he pitched in New York at the end of the season where he helped us as we were grinding away for every win we could, I thought got overshadowed by how the season ended....

The Boxer Rebellion have released a new music video for the song 'The Runner'. The music video was filmed and recorded at Shepherds' Bush Empire, and is designed as a present to fans, after the band were forced to cancel a string of shows after personal tragedy. The band released the following statement: "Thank you for all your recent words of support. We hope you can enjoy this video from our London show at Shepherds Bush Empire until we can meet on the road again. Nathan, Adam, Piers and Todd."  The band have said they will be back on tour in December.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Dozens of police in riot gear and hundreds of protesters in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse in downtown Oakland on Tuesday, with authorities using tear gas to respond to demonstrators' repeated agitations. The latest such skirmish came around 9:30 PDT as some protesters began throwing rocks among a crowd that had reconvened in front of City Hall, where a haze of chemical smoke still hung in the air following a similar clash about an hour earlier only blocks away. Police briefly dispersed a crowd heading back toward the downtown area where an Occupy Wall Street encampment was dismantled earlier in the day. Helicopters scanned the area late Tuesday and scores of officers wearing helmets and carrying clubs patrolled the streets as protesters gathered only a few feet away. Authorities are denying reports that they used flash bang canisters to help break up the crowd, saying the loud noises came from large firecrackers ...

If you own a sweater, or pencil skirt or pair of oxfords from J.Crew, you have already been acquainted with Jenna Lyons, even if you don't know her by name. The creative director and president of J.Crew, who is currently going through a messy divorce, is credited with developing the retail behemoth's preppy-yet-offbeat aesthetic. In recent years, Lyons has become a style personality, the antidote to the Alexander McQueens and Lady Gagas of the world, known for mixing basics with the subtly quirky. Women deeply identify with the laid-back, 6-foot-5 creative director and have increasingly been interested in the minutiae of her life. In 2008, J.Crew sought to take advantage of Lyons' appealing personality by creating "Jenna's Picks," a section in their catalogues dedicated to her favorite items Lyons has appeared in magazines like Glamour, InStyle and Lucky and has even been on "Oprah" in a segment filmed in her closet. Forbes magazine said that she ...

Stephanie Madoff Mack's husband Mark Madoff committed suicide last year Stephanie says father-in-law Bernie is a sleaze who ogled her bottom when she was pregnant Bernie is obsessed with cleanliness and borderline OCD, new book says Ruth Madoff may have been born illegitimately Ruth is obsessed with staying youthful and has had two face lifts, the book says She is also a diet obsessive who never eats carbs, but would pick chicken carcasses out of the trash to lick the bones, Stephanie claims Both Madoffs mocked the housekeeper's accent and complained about her 'incompetence' non-stop, the book claims Bernie Madoff once eyed up his daughter-in-law's bottom when she was pregnant with his grandchild and made crude jokes about how big it was, she has claimed. Stephanie Madoff Mack said the disgraced financier is a sleaze and a hygiene freak who forced her to sign a pre-nup to 'protect his business'. He was so obsessed about cleanliness that he...

  MUMBAI: When the richest man in India completed his extravagant 27-storey house here last year, it incited a public debate along the lines of "What's he trying to prove?" Now, the chatter involves a different question: Why hasn't he moved in? The owner, Mukesh Ambani, and his spokesman have declined to discuss the matter, leaving plenty of room for theories. One popular explanation is that despite the time and money lavished upon it, the building does not conform to the ancient Indian architectural doctrine known as vastu shastra. Certainly the home-which is called Antilia and reportedly has three helipads, six floors of parking and floating gardens-looks lived in. At night, the cantilevered tower is lit up bottom to top, inside and out. Yet, friends of the family say that after the last canapes have been served and the guests have bidden goodbye, the Ambanis often decamp to Sea Wind. That is the more modest, 14-storey tower that Ambani, his wif...

  After months of anticipation and leaked software screen shots, Google finally unveiled Android 4.0, also known as “Ice Cream Sandwich,” the latest update to the search giant’s Android mobile platform. The new operating system should eventually merge Android’s tablet OS (version 3.0, aka Honeycomb) with the platform’s smartphone OS (version 2.3, aka Gingerbread). Dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, the unified OS isn’t an incremental update, but rather a complete OS makeover with changes that range from the elimination of physical navigation buttons to the creation of an entirely new font, “Roboto,” for user interface menus. “We want to go beyond smart,” said Android head honcho Andy Rubin at Google’s press conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning. “We took all of the innovation that’s available at Google, and put it into developing this phone.” Among other improvements, Ice Cream Sandwich brings a slew of enhancements to Google’s proprietary applications, includin...

  This week, the guys and gals of How I Met Your Mother “gots to know.” From looking up the skinny on Ted’s dating prospects, to finding out the sex of baby Eriksen, the gang battles the “Mystery vs. History” question on several fronts. The one person not in on the fun was Robin’s new beau, Kevin, who hasn’t yet found his place in the group. I can only imagine how much the Internet has changed how dating works these days. With our generation so insistent on putting our lives on Twitter, Facebook, and every other social media network that pops up each week, you really can get to know someone before you even meet them (Yes, I know … Pot meet Kettle). For Ted, I doubt that this is a good thing; despite his promise, he couldn’t get through the appetizer course without giving into his curiosity. Lily and Marshall’s quandary was a bit different from Ted’s. For him, there’s no promise of anything past the first date, but the Eriksen’s boy will be around for a while. Consi...

  Eftpos Payments Australia managing director Bruce Mansfield had a go at scaring his former employer Visa yesterday  telling the Australian Financial Review EPAL is considering a solution for international transactions. EPAL is currently piloting a new card containing chip technology, which basically brings it in line with Visa and MasterCard branded debit cards. Thanks to the Reserve Bank’s changes to interchange fees, and some smart marketing by the card schemes, Australia’s banks have ensured branded cards are now widely in circulation. To really take on the card giants, EPAL has a significant journey ahead, with mobile payments planned for 2012, and online payments not on the roadmap until 2013. Now that BPAY’s proposed MAMBO project is defunct, EPAL probably feels it has a little more time up its sleeve to get online payments right. One of the reasons MAMBO received criticism was because it didn’t offer a real solution for international transactions, some...

  Save for a few tone deaf slip-ups such as claiming to be a part of the middle class, Mitt Romney seems to be less prone to making wild, inaccurate claims while on the campaign trail. Which is why the Romney's treatment by Bad Lip Reading, the web series that dubs nonsense over celebrities' mouths, is so much fun to watch. The beauty of Bad Lip Reading is that the creators diligently ensure that the absurd stuff they make people say matches up exactly to their lips on video. So to an untrained eye, it looks like Romney really is saying "Ding-dong lama wanee, jumpin' with an ice pick." Romney's may be the funniest yet because, let's face it, who would be surprised for Bachmann or Perry to go off the rails like this?

  No, it's not your imagination. You really have waited longer to get that extra hour of sleep this year. In fact, Daylight Saving Time (DST) comes to an end on the morning of Sunday, November 6, when you move the clocks back one hour. Or, you forget to move the clocks back one hour and find yourself at work an hour early before the office lights are even turned on. The extended DST began back in 2007, after the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 came into effect and the clocks were set back one hour on the first Sunday of November instead of the last Sunday of October, reports International Business Times. They also changed the start of DST to the second Sunday of March from the first Sunday of April. There's been a number of conflicting reports about how much energy is saved from Daylight Saving Time. Back in the 1970's, studies showed we saved 1% of energy nationally, which was a big motivation for adopting DST. On the one hand, states like California argue the ener...

  “Saving Private Ryan” quotes are some of the most intense quotes of any war movie. In this 1998 Steven Spielberg epic, Tom Hanks stars as an officer leading a group of soldiers on a dangerous mission to locate a paratrooper behind enemy lines in World War II. With plenty of action and memorable quotes, “Saving Private Ryan” is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. “See you on the beach.” Captain Miller The opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” shows the grim reality of the Normandy Beach invasion. Tom Hanks's character, Captain Miller, gives his soldiers some last minute instructions before they disembark and begin the bloody battle, ending with this optimistic quote. “Where's the sense of riskin' the lives of the eight of us to save one guy?” Private Reiben Many “Saving Private Ryan” quotes attempt to grapple with the weight of the unit’s special mission. The soldiers are instructed to find Private Ryan and bring him to safety. Understandably, most ...

  Is that Kelly Ripa on Say Yes to the Dress ? You'd better believe it! The Live with Regis and Kelly host has temporarily taken on the role of bidal dress consultant. A preview for Kelly Ripa's Say Yes to the Dress episode reveals that what the pint-sized host and actress lacks in wedding dress expertise she makes up for in enthusiasm. Watch the clip below! Working with a budget of $10,000 (an "incredible" amount according to Ripa) a bride-to-be named Kimora requests something both glamorous and "very dramatic." "I'm so nervous because it's this young woman's big day, and this really matters," Kelly Ripa confesses to the cameras. The mother of three (son Michael Joseph is 14, daughter Lola Grace is 10 and son Joaquin Antonio is now 8-years-old) eloped with Mark Consuelos in 1996, after meeting on the set of All My Children . Task one for Ripa? Lacing up a dress for the blushing bride-to-be, properly surprised to have a ...

  In an era when most movie effects are computer-generated, creating real, remote-controlled robots was “the most central decision” for “Real Steel,” director Shawn Levy told the audience at Monday’s early IMAX screening of the film. “In this moment, you can do everything digitally, so most movies just do everything digitally,” Levy said at the screening, hosted by Hero Complex’s Geoff Boucher. “It’s quicker. It’s often cheaper. So this notion of building real, full-scale, remote-controlled robots is kind of heresy now because it’s unnecessary. But it’s not unnecessary if you consider that you are going to get a visual reality and a reality to the performances that is incomparable.” Evangeline Lilly, who starred opposite Hugh Jackman in the robot-boxing film, which opens this weekend, praised Levy and the filmmaking team, saying the experience of acting with a real robot was considerably different than green-screen work on her other projects. “I’ve worked with a ver...

  For months, Herman Cain languished on the margins of the Republican presidential campaign. But in the past few weeks, something happened that even Cain did not see coming. He became a front-runner for the nomination. The Atlanta businessman has shot up in the polls and become a ubiquitous presence on national television. His “9-9-9” plan to reform the tax code has become a household term. His sense of humor and upbeat style have injected a bit of light into a campaign that has centered on the gloom of the economy. Cain, who brought to the race no obvious constituency to back him, has benefited as other conservative favorites took turns in the spotlight and then fell away, bowing out — or flaming out. But he also has used a series of televised debates to raise his profile and establish himself as a powerful communicator with a simple plan to restart the economy. “My message of common-sense solutions is resonating with people,” Cain said in an intervie...

  Colorado's Wolf Creek shocked the snow industry with the announcement that the resort will be opening October 8, 2011 -- i.e. tomorrow -- for the weekend. A very active-yet-friendly competition to be the first to open takes place among a handful of resorts every season. The usual suspects -- Arapahoe Basin, Loveland and Aspen/Snowmass in Colorado and Sunday River, Maine -- have all been eagerly dropping news of snowmaking and impending storms since late September. Wolf Creek beat them all by a landslide. Long before most of the ski swaps have happened and before even the other "early openers" have cranked up their bull-wheels, Wolf Creek will fire up their with specially-priced tickets to honor the three feet of fresh that's fallen this week: $33 for three lifts. Nova, Bonanza and Treasure will be operating 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with varied terrain for all levels of skiers and snowboarders. The opening will include Alberta Face and Treasure Falls and reg...

  There’s more to the souped-up version of iPhone 4 than you think. There’s a faster processor, a better battery, faster data speeds and a camera, with an eight megapixel sensor and a 33% faster capture speed and improved low-light performance. EVEN BEFORE the Special Media Event that Apple held on Tuesday was over, a certain level of disappointment was heard through Twitter. Apple fans throughout the region were glued to their computers to follow the events as newly appointed CEO Tim Cook took to the stage in California to unveil the iPhone 5. Or so we thought, as what was really unveiled was a souped-up version of iPhone 4 rather than the super-duper and brand-new iPhone 5 many of us had come to expect. But there is every reason to be excited about the 4S. The disappointment did not lie with the new CEO, however, as Cook seemed to do a good job. He doesn’t have the reality-distortion field of Steve Jobs, but then very few people do. Cook and his crew made announc...