Autonomy’s Lynch defends record as HP confirms Federal probe

LONDON (Reuters) – Mike Lynch, the founder of the software firm sold to Hewlett-Packard last year in a deal tainted by accusations of accounting fraud, said he would defend the company’s accounts to U.S. Federal investigators.

HP confirmed in a filing late on Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating Autonomy‘s books.

The PC and printer maker bought the British company for $ 11 billion last year to lead its push into the more profitable software sector.

Autonomy did not deliver the growth expected, resulting in Lynch’s departure earlier this year.

But worse was to come last month when HP wrote off some $ 5 billion of the company’s value and accused its former management of accounting improprieties that inflated its value.

The Silicon Valley company said it had passed information from a whistleblower to the U.S. Department of Justice, the SEC and Britain’s Serious Fraud Office.

“On November 21, 2012, representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice advised HP that they had opened an investigation relating to Autonomy,” it said in the filing.

“HP is cooperating with the three investigating agencies.”

Lynch launched a robust defense of his track record almost immediately after HP made the accusations.

He said on Friday that he was still waiting for a detailed calculation of HP’s $ 5 billion writedown of Autonomy’s value and a published explanation of the allegations.

“Simply put these allegations are false, and in the absence of further detail we cannot understand what HP believes to be the basis for them,” he said in a statement.

“We continue to reject these allegations in the strongest possible terms. Autonomy’s financial accounts were properly maintained in accordance with applicable regulations, fully audited by Deloitte and available to HP during the due diligence process.”

Lynch said he had not been approached by any regulatory authority, but he would co-operate with any investigation and looked forward to the opportunity to explain his position.

HP has refused to concede to Lynch’s demands for more information about the allegations.

“While Dr. Lynch is eager for a debate, we believe the legal process is the correct method in which to bring out the facts and take action on behalf of our shareholders,” it said in response to an open letter from Lynch last month

“In that setting, we look forward to hearing Dr. Lynch and other former Autonomy employees answer questions under penalty of perjury.”

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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ET Flashback: Eddie Murphy Talks '48 HRS.'

"Roxaaaaanne!" After getting raves for his hilarious sketch comedy on Saturday Night Live in the early '80s, Eddie Murphy turned the spotlight on a movie career in 1982 with his first big-screen effort: 48 HRS. ET's Mary Hart sat down with the funnyman in the days before the movie broke big with a revealing interview in which he got candid about stepping out of his comfort zone and getting serious onscreen.

Video: Eddie Murphy's Funny Friends Honor Actor

"I'm looking forward to the movie coming out, and if my acting looks bad in the movie, which I don't think it will, I'm covered: It's like, 'Well, his forte is in comedy,'" he said with a laugh, adding faithfully, "If you're in a catatonic state, [director Walter Hill] can go in the editing room and make you win awards."

Released 30 years ago this month, the sidesplitting action-comedy finds Eddie in fine form as Reggie Hammond, a man doing time for a robbery who is plucked from behind bars to help hard-edged cop Jack Cates (played by Nick Nolte) nab a pair of vicious cop killers. The pair have 48 hours to get the bad guys -- if they don't kill each other first!

Comparing Nolte to a "big brother," Eddie complimented, "Nick's a great guy to work with and a real good actor, real intense actor -- he makes you act."

Video: Emmy Flashback: Eddie Murphy '83

Of course, Eddie's outdoor interview had its share of sidetracked comedic moments, not to mention his trademark laugh, and a few moments in which he poked fun at Mary. Distracted at one point, he observed, "You see those two butterflies just now, trying to get with it?" Watch and enjoy a slice of the veteran comedy star in his prime: humble and hilarious.

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MetroNorth train hits car, halting Connecticut service

REDDING, Conn. — Metro North train service has been suspended on the Danbury line following a train accident involving a car.

A Metro North spokesman said the train struck a car in Redding on Sunday afternoon. The train had no passengers and there was no information about whether there were injuries involving the car.

Bus service will ferry passengers between Danbury and South Norwalk.

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Week brings startup launches, social media advice for 2013

Jared Kleinert, a South Florida entrepreneur, plans to soon launch Synergist, a platform that allow social entrepreneurs to meet potential co-founders online, collaborate and crowdfund their new projects. He also just launched AliveNDead, a blog about risk-taking, and he interns for a Silicon Valley startup.

And when he’s not doing all that, he’s going to class — he’s a junior at Spanish River High School in Boca Raton.

Lester Mapp is CEO and founder of the new Miami-based startup called designed by m. His team has just designed a sleek, ultra-thin aluminum iPhone bumper and launched the project on Kickstarter. After just a few days, Mapp is already more than a third of the way to his $20,000 fund-raising goal.

Read about both these entrepreneurs on The Starting Gate blog, where there’s also a post on the most pressing issues facing small businesses in the coming year — taxes, healthcare, lending and a skilled worker shortage, for starters.

And as you are ringing in the New Year, you may be resolving to beef up your business’ social media strategy. Susan Linning's guest post offers five top tips for boosting your social media effectiveness. Among them: Go beyond retweets and make your posts original, fun and personal (but not too personal.) Use visuals, too. Find this and other news, views and tools for entrepreneurs on the blog, which is at the bottom of MiamiHerald.com /business.

Follow me on Twitter @ndahlberg and Happy New Year to all.

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UM student documents the emotional growth of young dancers as they prepare for Nutcracker performance

University of Miami visual journalism student Monica Herndon spent several months photographing the advanced ballet students of the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet/Miami Conservatory in preparation for their annual Nutcracker held in conjunction with the New World School of the Arts.

The young dancers spent hours in class and rehearsal each week. They do not even reach the advanced level until they put in their approximately “10 thousand hours” of practice, according to director Ruth Wiesen.

At that point, the dancers begin to work on their artistry, while still perfecting their ballet technique.

“Moving Past Technique” explores the emotional growth of young dancers as they strive for perfection in their training. The voices in the piece are Karina Fernandez, 15, and Daniella Bernal, 15.

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Best of 2012 Lists Movies TV Fashion Scandal

ETonline has spent the last week showing love to the Best of 2012 -- from film to television to fashion and celeb scandals, we reviewed and ranked the last 365 days, bringing you only the best!

In case you missed any of our Year End Roundups, they're all available below!

12 Most Exciting Stars of 2012

12 Best TV Shows of 2012

12 Biggest Celebrity Scandals of 2012

12 Most Gorgeous Gowns of 2012

12 Best Movies of 2012

12 Favorite Celebrity Couples of 2012

12 Most Memorable News Stories of 2012

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Bronx mom in Newtown 'scam' also solicited funds claiming they were for Hurricane Sandy relief

MyFOXCT

Alleged scammer Nouel Alba leaves Hartford Ct. Federal court after making $50K bail.

The Bronx mom accused of posing as the aunt of Newtown massacre victim Noah Pozner to collect bogus charity donations also solicited funds she claimed were for Hurricane Sandy relief, The Post found.

Nouel Alba -- out on $50,000 bond in the alleged Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting scam – set up at least two organizations in the wake of the devastating October superstorm and asked folks to send money for victims to her personal PayPal account or home address.

Sources said yesterday that New York law enforcement is “aware” of Alba’s post-storm solicitations.

Just days after Hurricane Sandy, Facebook pages, Web sites and blogs sprung up on the Internet, listing Alba’s personal gmail account and Clason Point home on Beach Avenue as contacts.

One group – the NYC Hurricane Relief Fund – claimed to be “a registered charity” whose “founder [has] been funded by the Alba family,” and whose home served as “a drop off location and distribution center.” The charity vowed to find clothing, kitchen appliances, mattresses, furniture and shelter for devastated Sandy families, and claimed “we assign someone to manage each family to ensure that they receive most of the things they need to get back on their feet.”

“100 % of all proceeds goes toward these families,” boasted the site. It provided a tax-ID number that does not show up in state or IRS record databases.

Another charity, Operation Hurricane Sandy Relief for Teachers and Students, ostensibly collected money, backpacks and school supplies. Alba also personally set up an Amazon “wish list” for donated school items, her online footprint shows.

All of the Alba-connected hurricane relief sites have been disabled but cached versions remain online.

Connecticut authorities said yesterday that Alba used Facebook, the phone and texts to solicit donations for a “funeral fund” for her “nephew” Noah after the Newtown bloodbath that killed the little boy, 19 of his classmates and 6 educators.

Alba asked that funds be sent via her personal PayPal account or direct bank deposit, according to a federal complaint against her.

The twisted Alba, 36, even told prospective donors that she had to enter Sandy Hook Elementary School after the bloodbath and identify her “nephew” for police — and said the child had “11 gun shots in his little body.”

Noah’s family has said Alba is no relation.

Alba allegedly sent out her first calls for cash within hours of the shooting.

The next day, she said in an online posting that a funeral fund had been set up “for my brother and families,” according to the complaint in Hartford federal court.

Alba allegedly claimed in a text to one mark that she met President Obama with other family members and he “hugged us even cried [sic] with us.”

Several people were duped into giving donations, the complaint says, although she refunded them before her arrest. Alba was charged with lying to federal agents and released on a $50,000 bond.

She has denied setting up the Newtown donation sites and claims she was framed by Facebook enemies, the feds said.

“I thought it was a really rotten thing to do and I am glad she got caught,” said Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel of Newton, a friend of the Pozner family.

Additional reporting by Doug Auer

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Florida Blue teams up with Holy Cross Hospital

In its latest move to reshape how healthcare is delivered, Florida Blue, the state’s largest health insurance network, has formed an alliance with Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale to deliver integrated care intended to improve quality and lower healthcare costs.

Starting Jan. 1, the insurer will join the 230 doctors in Holy Cross’ Physician Partners to form an accountable care organization (ACO), in which the groups will share savings that are expected to come from coordinated care while maintaining specific quality standards.

Florida Blue already has similar arrangements with a group of Miami-Dade oncologists and Baptist South Florida; Moffitt Cancer Center and Baycare Health System in the Tampa Bay area; and the NCH hospital system in Naples. Jonathan Gavras, the insurer’s chief medical officer, said several more ACOs will be announced shortly.

The ACOs are part of a larger effort by Florida Blue to move away gradually from the expensive fee-for-service model, in which providers are rewarded for each additional treatment.

The plan is replace it with an integrated system that uses evidence-based standards to coordinate care to avoid unnecessary expenses such as duplicated diagnostics and reduce such things as hospital readmissions by ensuring that patients receive the necessary post-hospital services.

The ACOs require that providers and the insurer share financial and quality data — something that both sides have been highly reluctant to do in the past. The reward will be that all will share in savings generated by the system.

While many healthcare theorists believe ACOs may be a major way for the nation to reduce its healthcare costs, Gavras said they’re not a simple fix. “It’s hard work,” he said to get hospitals, doctors and insurers — traditional rivals — to work together.

Shawn Franklin, the Holy Cross executive in charge of physician services, said Holy Cross joined with Florida Blue because “we see ... a huge benefit integrating services, ultimately improving the quality of care ... and lowering cost.”

Holy Cross has been a leader in the national trend of hiring doctors. It now has about 150 on staff and another 80 community doctors that are in its provider network. Physician services continue to lose money for the hospital, Franklin said, but executives are convinced that ACOs will be a large revenue builder in the future.

Unlike the old gatekeeper model of health maintenance organizations, with the new ACOs “you can’t share in any savings without meeting quality criteria,” Franklin said.

Large hospital networks around the country have also been hiring doctors as a prelude to setting up ACOs, and other insurers, too, are starting to get involved. Earlier this month, Aetna announced a new integrated partnership with Baycare in Tampa Bay.

Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, said some other hospitals in the area are starting to explore the possibility of setting up their own ACOs but have yet to act.

Florida Blue has been an aggressive leader in this field of restructuring healthcare. It has set up a bundled payment system with the Mayo Clinic — paying for an episode of care, rather than for each individual service.

More widespread is its move that has put more than 700,000 patients in medical homes — generally with a primary care doctor coordinating their care, offering extended office hours and other benefits — so that basic care is easily available, reducing the need for expensive emergency room trips.

Unlike the old gatekeeper HMOs, the new medical home involves the insurer paying primary care doctors more so that they spend more time with patients. The medical home program was set up in partnership with the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, Gavras said.

“Physicians make more money but overall costs go down,” Gavras said. “You’re investing money up front to get better outcomes.” Unlike the old gatekeepers, doctors in medical homes get bonuses for quality care. “The data is much better” these days, he said. “It’s much easier to measure provider performance.”

The first year of the medical homes program showed “it really works the way everybody thought it would work,” Gavras said, with quality up and costs down. “And physician satisfaction was up.”

Medical homes and ACOs are now separate concepts, but they’re likely to dovetail in the future, Gavras said, with medical homes becoming part of larger ACOs.

Both concepts are emphasized in the federal Affordable Care Act, but Gavras said Florida Blue had been planning for both well before the act was passed in 2010.

“We knew that the healthcare cost trend was unsustainable ... Even if it was repealed tomorrow, we would still be moving toward this model,” Gavras said.

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Crime Watch: New computer for Christmas? Use it safely

Last week I received several emails from readers who wanted me to write again about computer safety since many got a computer for Christmas. Therefore, I pulled some information from one of our crime prevention partners, The National Crime Prevention Council, and here are tips you need to take seriously whether you are a senior or a parent:

• Use anti-virus software and keep it up-to-date. The software is designed to protect your computer against known viruses but, with new viruses emerging daily, anti-virus programs need regular updates. Check with the website of your anti-virus software company to see sample descriptions of viruses and to get regular updates for your software. I do updates on my computer every other day.

• Don’t open emails or attachments from unknown sources. Be suspicious of any unexpected email attachments even if they appear to be from someone you know. Should you receive a suspicious email, the best thing to do is to delete the entire message, including any attachment.

• Protect your computer from Internet intruders by using firewalls. These create a protective wall between your computer and the outside world. They come in two forms, software firewalls that run on your personal computer and hardware firewalls that protect a number of computers at the same time. Firewalls also ensure that unauthorized persons can’t gain access to your computer while you’re connected to the Internet.

• Use hard-to-guess passwords. Mix upper case, lower case, numbers or other characters, and make sure your passwords are at least eight characters long. Don’t share your password and don’t use the same password in more than one place. Don’t use your maiden name or the names of your mother, your children or your spouse’s family. Those are easy to figure out.

• Disconnect your computer from the Internet when not in use. This lessens the chance that someone will be able to access your computer. Also, if you haven’t kept your anti-virus software up to date or don’t have a firewall in place, someone could infect your computer or use it to harm someone else on the Internet.

• Check your security on a regular basis. You should evaluate your computer security at least twice a year.

• Back up your computer data on a thumb drive, just in case we have a hurricane, you can take it with you. There is nothing worse than losing pictures, information and work when a computer crashes.

Last, I want to remind all parents, if you gave a computer to your child, no matter what age, please make sure that the computer is somewhere you can see it.

In closing, I want to wish everyone a blessed 2013, I wish you the best of health and happiness!

With that said, I must remind everyone that there are crazy people out there that like to shoot guns into the air, a deadly habit, therefore the first shot fired you hear please call the police immediately. You might think it’s fire crackers, but it may not be so please stay away from windows or outside at midnight. Remember what goes up must come down, and that is when people get hurt.

Have a great week!

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iOS apps see Christmas sales spike shrink in 2012

Distimo just released its statistics on Christmas Day app downloads and revenue growth… and the download spike is far smaller than it was last year. Back in 2011, Christmas Day iOS app download volume spiked 230% above the December average. This year, the increase was just 87% — far below industry expectations. The revenue spike came in at 70%.

[More from BGR: Google names 12 best Android apps of 2012]

Interestingly, iPad downloads increased by 140% this Christmas, implying that the iPhone download bounce was really modest.

[More from BGR: New purported BlackBerry Z10 specs emerge: 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8MP camera]

A few weeks ago, AppAnnie released statistics showing that iOS app revenue growth had stalled over the summer of 2012, whereas Android app revenue growth was relatively strong at 48% over a five month period. Both Distimo and Appannie are respected companies and their analytics are closely followed by app industry professionals. Could it be that the pace of iPhone app revenue growth has slowed down sharply from 2011 levels, even if Distimo and AppAnnie numbers aren’t entirely accurate?

This article was originally published by BGR

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: iOS apps see Christmas sales spike shrink in 2012
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