Dreamliner probe widens after excess battery voltage ruled out

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. safety investigators on Sunday ruled out excess voltage as the cause of a battery fire this month on a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jet operated by Japan Airlines Co (JAL) and said they were expanding the probe to look at the battery's charger and the jet's auxiliary power unit.

Last week, governments across the world grounded the Dreamliner while Boeing halted deliveries after a problem with a lithium-ion battery on a second 787 plane, flown by All Nippon Airways Co (ANA), forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in western Japan.

A growing number of investigators and Boeing executives are working around the clock to determine what caused the two incidents which the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says released flammable chemicals and could have sparked a fire in the plane's electrical compartment.

There are still no clear answers about the root cause of the battery failures, but the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board's statement eliminated one possible answer that had been raised by Japanese investigators.

It also underscored the complexity of investigating a battery system that includes manufacturers across the world, and may point to a design problem with the battery that could take longer to fix than swapping out a faulty batch of batteries.

"Examination of the flight recorder data from the JAL B-787 airplane indicates that the APU (auxiliary power unit) battery did not exceed its designed voltage of 32 volts," the NTSB said in a statement issued early Sunday.

On Friday, a Japanese safety official had told reporters that excessive electricity may have overheated the battery in the ANA-owned Dreamliner that was forced to make the emergency landing at Japan's Takamatsu airport last week.

"The NTSB wanted to set the record straight," said one source familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

U.S. investigators have already examined the lithium-ion battery that powered the APU, where the battery fire started in the JAL plane, as well as several other components removed from the airplane, including wire bundles and battery management circuit boards, the NTSB statement said.

On Tuesday, investigators will convene in Tucson, Arizona to test and examine the charger for the battery, and download non-volatile memory from the APU controller, with similar tests planned at the Phoenix facility where the APUs are built. Other components have been sent for download or examination to Boeing's Seattle facility and manufacturer facilities in Japan.

Securaplane Technologies Inc, a unit of Britain's Meggitt Plc that makes the charger, said it will fully support the U.S. investigation.

Officials with United Technologies Corp, which builds the plane's auxiliary power unit and is the main supplier of electrical systems on the 787, said they would also cooperate with the investigation.

The NTSB's decision to travel to Securaplane's facility sparked fresh questions about the safety of the lithium-ion batteries that remain at the heart of the investigation.

While the 787 is the most aggressive user of lithium-ion battery technology in commercial aviation, the industry at large is testing it, and the FAA has approved its use in several different planes, each governed by "special conditions."

"Lithium-ion batteries are significantly more susceptible to internal failures that can result in self-sustaining increases in temperature and pressure," the FAA said in 2006, when it allowed Airbus to use lithium batteries for the emerging lighting system on its A380.

Securaplane, which first began working on the charger in 2004, suffered millions of dollars of damages in November 2006 after a lithium-ion battery used in testing exploded and sparked a fire that burned an administrative building to the ground.

Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said an investigation into the 2006 fire was later determined to have been caused by an improper test set-up, not the battery design. He declined comment on the current 787 investigations.

After the fire, a former Securaplane employee named Michael Leon sued the company, alleging that he was fired for raising security concerns about charger and discrepancies between their assembly documents and the finished chargers.

Leon's suit was later dismissed.

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Blackhawks throttle Kings 5-2

The Blackhawks beat the Kings 5-2 on Saturday.

LOS ANGELES — The Kings owned the moments before the drop of the puck on the 2013 season as they received their Stanley Cup championship rings and watched as a banner was raised to the rafters of the Staples Center commemorating their '12 title.

The Blackhawks owned pretty much every moment thereafter as they throttled the Kings 5-2 Saturday in front of an initially jubilant and then stunned crowd of 18,545.

Marian Hossa had two goals and an assist, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had a goal and an assist and Michael Frolik also scored as the Hawks spoiled the Kings' party.

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It was Kane's early goal with the Hawks holding a two-man advantage that helped ease some concerns from last season, including an anemic power play and some inconsistent play from goaltender Corey Crawford. When Kane stepped into a one-timer after a pass from Hossa and rifled it past Jonathan Quick from a low angle, the Hawks had their first power-play goal and Crawford had a lead with which he could work. Not long after, the Hawks had a three-goal cushion on scores by Hossa and Frolik and ended the first period in complete control.

"That's a huge part of the game when you get a five-on-three early," Kane said. "We had a couple of chances when we could have scored but it didn't work in our favor, and then (we had) nice motion and got a goal."

It was a huge boost to a power-play unit that finished tied for 25th last season with a 15.2 percent success rate.

"We have to get a little chemistry and move it around a little bit," Kane said. "It's a good start. Hopefully, it will come better than last year. With the focus we have on it this year and how important it's going to be, it's definitely something we need to improve, and I think we will throughout the year."

When Toews scored early in the second to stake Crawford to a four-goal lead, the goalie took advantage. He allowed only scores to Rob Scuderi when screened and to Jordan Nolan while he was down on the ice after a scramble.

"That's the best start you can ask for, for a first game like that," Crawford said. "All around everyone battled hard and it was just a solid game. I was seeing the puck really well and was focused. On scrambles I felt like I was following the puck well and moving side to side."

The Hawks also got off to a nice start on the penalty kill — another problematic area in '11-12 — by blanking the Kings on all five of their opportunities with a man advantage.

"All areas of our game were pretty solid," coach Joel Quenneville said. "And our special teams were definitely better than we saw last year."

Added Kane: "You have to be happy with the way everyone played. That's probably the perfect game teamwise to start the year."

ckuc@tribune.com

Twitter @ChrisKuc

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America’s national parks weigh solitude against cellular access

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – As cell phones, iPods and laptops creep steadily into every corner of modern life, America’s national parks have stayed largely off the digital grid, among the last remaining outposts of ringtone-free human solitude.

For better or worse, that may soon change.

Under pressure from telecommunications companies and a growing number of park visitors who feel adrift without mobile-phone reception, the airwaves in such grand getaway destinations as Yellowstone National Park may soon be abuzz with new wireless signals.

That prospect has given pause to a more traditional cohort of park visitors who cherish the unplugged tranquility of the great outdoors, fearing an intrusion of mobile phones – and the sound of idle chatter – will diminish their experience.

Some have mixed emotions. Stephanie Smith, a 50-something Montana native who visits Yellowstone as many as six times a year, said she prefers the cry of an eagle to ring tones.

But she also worries that future generations may lose their appreciation for the value of nature and the need to preserve America’s outdoor heritage if a lack of technology discourages them from visiting.

“You have to get there to appreciate it,” Smith said. “It’s a new world – and technology is a part of it.”

Balancing the two aesthetics has emerged as the latest challenge facing the National Park Service as managers in at least two premier parks, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, consider recent requests to install new telecommunications towers or upgrade existing ones.

There is no system-wide rule governing cellular facilities in the 300 national parks, national monuments and other units the agency administers nationwide. Wireless infrastructure decisions are left up to the managers of individual park units.

The agency’s mission statement requires it to protect park resources and the visitor experience, but each individual experience is unique, said Lee Dickinson, a special-uses program manager for the Park Service.

“I’ve had two visitors calling me literally within hours of each other who wanted exactly the opposite experience: One saying he didn’t vacation anywhere without electronic access and the other complaining he was disturbed by another park visitor ordering pizza on his cell phone,” Dickinson said.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

Wireless supporters say more is at stake than the convenience of casual phone conversations. Cellular providers say new wireless infrastructure will boost public safety by improving communications among park rangers and emergency responders.

They argue that the ability to download smartphone applications that can deliver instant information on plants and animals will also enrich park visitors’ experiences.

“Our customers are telling us that having access to technology will enhance their visit to wild areas,” said Bob Kelley, spokesman for Verizon Wireless, which is seeking to install a new 100-foot cell tower at Yellowstone.

Rural communities that border the national parks also stand to benefit from enlarged cellular coverage areas.

On the other side of the debate, outdoor enthusiasts worry that bastions of quiet reflection could be transformed into noisy hubs where visitors yak on cell phones and fidget with electronic tablets, detracting from the ambience of such natural wonders as Yellowstone’s celebrated geyser Old Faithful.

Expanding cellular reception may even compromise safety by giving some tourists a false sense of security in the back country, where extremes in weather and terrain test even the most skilled outdoorsman, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Tim Stevens, the association’s Northern Rockies director, said distractions like meandering moose already challenge the attention of motorists clogging park roads at the height of the summer tourist season.

“People brake in the middle of the road to watch animals. The added distraction of a wireless signal – allowing a driver to text Aunt Madge to say how great the trip is – could have disastrous consequences,” he said.

Yellowstone already offers some limited mobile-phone service, afforded by four cellular towers previously erected in developed sections of the park.

But vast swathes of America’s oldest national park, which spans nearly 3,500 square miles across the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, still lack wireless reception in an age dominated by Wi-Fi and iPad users who expect access even in the most remote locations.

Park officials see definite signs that a portion of the roughly 3 million annual visitors to Yellowstone, which crafted a wireless plan in 2008, are finding the lack of cell phone coverage disconcerting.

Park spokesman Al Nash said he routinely fields calls from anxious relatives of Yellowstone visitors unable to contact their loved ones.

“They say, ‘My gosh, my niece, daughter or parents went to Yellowstone, and we haven’t heard from them for three days,’” he said.

(Reporting and writing by Laura Zuckerman; Editing by Steve Gorman and David Gregorio)

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Obamas join military families for kids’ concert

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia are rocking out with hundreds of kids from military families and Washington-area public schools at the Kids’ Inaugural Concert.

Pop star Usher started off the proceedings Saturday evening with his hit song “Yeah.” The concert is chock-full of A-list talent, including Katy Perry, Mindless Behavior and members of the cast of the Fox series “Glee.”

The concert continues a tradition started at the 2009 inauguration by honoring the nation’s military families. It’s being hosted by Mrs. Obama and the vice president’s wife, Jill Biden, and emceed by Nick Cannon.

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Well: Holly the Cat's Incredible Journey

Nobody knows how it happened: an indoor housecat who got lost on a family excursion managing, after two months and about 200 miles, to return to her hometown.

Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an R.V. rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Year’s Eve — staggering, weak and emaciated — in a backyard about a mile from the Richter’s house in West Palm Beach.

“Are you sure it’s the same cat?” wondered John Bradshaw, director of the University of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute. In other cases, he has suspected, “the cats are just strays, and the people have got kind of a mental justification for expecting it to be the same cat.”

But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her.

“I really believe these stories, but they’re just hard to explain,” said Marc Bekoff, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Colorado. “Maybe being street-smart, maybe reading animal cues, maybe being able to read cars, maybe being a good hunter. I have no data for this.”

There is, in fact, little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues, or orientation by the sun.

Scientists say it is more common, although still rare, to hear of dogs returning home, perhaps suggesting, Dr. Bradshaw said, that they have inherited wolves’ ability to navigate using magnetic clues. But it’s also possible that dogs get taken on more family trips, and that lost dogs are more easily noticed or helped by people along the way.

Cats navigate well around familiar landscapes, memorizing locations by sight and smell, and easily figuring out shortcuts, Dr. Bradshaw said.

Strange, faraway locations would seem problematic, although he and Patrick Bateson, a behavioral biologist at Cambridge University, say that cats can sense smells across long distances. “Let’s say they associate the smell of pine with wind coming from the north, so they move in a southerly direction,” Dr. Bateson said.

Peter Borchelt, a New York animal behaviorist, wondered if Holly followed the Florida coast by sight or sound, tracking Interstate 95 and deciding to “keep that to the right and keep the ocean to the left.”

But, he said, “nobody’s going to do an experiment and take a bunch of cats in different directions and see which ones get home.”

The closest, said Roger Tabor, a British cat biologist, may have been a 1954 study in Germany which cats placed in a covered circular maze with exits every 15 degrees most often exited in the direction of their homes, but more reliably if their homes were less than five kilometers away.

New research by the National Geographic and University of Georgia’s Kitty Cams Project, using video footage from 55 pet cats wearing video cameras on their collars, suggests cat behavior is exceedingly complex.

For example, the Kitty Cams study found that four of the cats were two-timing their owners, visiting other homes for food and affection. Not every cat, it seems, shares Holly’s loyalty.

KittyCams also showed most of the cats engaging in risky behavior, including crossing roads and “eating and drinking substances away from home,” risks Holly undoubtedly experienced and seems lucky to have survived.

But there have been other cats who made unexpected comebacks.

“It’s actually happened to me,” said Jackson Galaxy, a cat behaviorist who hosts “My Cat From Hell” on Animal Planet. While living in Boulder, Colo., he moved across town, whereupon his indoor cat, Rabbi, fled and appeared 10 days later at the previous house, “walking five miles through an area he had never been before,” Mr. Galaxy said.

Professor Tabor cited longer-distance reports he considered credible: Murka, a tortoiseshell in Russia, traveling about 325 miles home to Moscow from her owner’s mother’s house in Voronezh in 1989; Ninja, who returned to Farmington, Utah, in 1997, a year after her family moved from there to Mill Creek, Wash.; and Howie, an indoor Persian cat in Australia who in 1978 ran away from relatives his vacationing family left him with and eventually traveled 1,000 miles to his family’s home.

Professor Tabor also said a Siamese in the English village of Black Notley repeatedly hopped a train, disembarked at White Notley, and walked several miles back to Black Notley.

Still, explaining such journeys is not black and white.

In the Florida case, one glimpse through the factual fog comes on the little cat’s feet. While Dr. Bradshaw speculated Holly might have gotten a lift, perhaps sneaking under the hood of a truck heading down I-95, her paws suggest she was not driven all the way, nor did Holly go lightly.

“Her pads on her feet were bleeding,” Ms. Richter said. “Her claws are worn weird. The front ones are really sharp, the back ones worn down to nothing.”

Scientists say that is consistent with a long walk, since back feet provide propulsion, while front claws engage in activities like tearing. The Richters also said Holly had gone from 13.5 to 7 pounds.

Holly hardly seemed an adventurous wanderer, though her background might have given her a genetic advantage. Her mother was a feral cat roaming the Richters’ mobile home park, and Holly was born inside somebody’s air-conditioner, Ms. Richter said. When, at about six weeks old, Holly padded into their carport and jumped into the lap of Mr. Richter’s mother, there were “scars on her belly from when the air conditioner was turned on,” Ms. Richter said.

Scientists say that such early experience was too brief to explain how Holly might have been comfortable in the wild — after all, she spent most of her life as an indoor cat, except for occasionally running outside to chase lizards. But it might imply innate personality traits like nimbleness or toughness.

“You’ve got these real variations in temperament,” Dr. Bekoff said. “Fish can by shy or bold; there seem to be shy and bold spiders. This cat, it could be she has the personality of a survivor.”

He said being an indoor cat would not extinguish survivalist behaviors, like hunting mice or being aware of the sun’s orientation.

The Richters — Bonnie, 63, a retired nurse, and Jacob, 70, a retired airline mechanics’ supervisor and accomplished bowler — began traveling with Holly only last year, and she easily tolerated a hotel, a cabin or the R.V.

But during the Good Sam R.V. Rally in Daytona, when they were camping near the speedway with 3,000 other motor homes, Holly bolted when Ms. Richter’s mother opened the door one night. Fireworks the next day may have further spooked her, and, after searching for days, alerting animal agencies and posting fliers, the Richters returned home catless.

Two weeks later, an animal rescue worker called the Richters to say a cat resembling Holly had been spotted eating behind the Daytona franchise of Hooters, where employees put out food for feral cats.

Then, on New Year’s Eve, Barb Mazzola, a 52-year-old university executive assistant, noticed a cat “barely standing” in her backyard in West Palm Beach, struggling even to meow. Over six days, Ms. Mazzola and her children cared for the cat, putting out food, including special milk for cats, and eventually the cat came inside.

They named her Cosette after the orphan in Les Misérables, and took her to a veterinarian, Dr. Sara Beg at Paws2Help. Dr. Beg said the cat was underweight and dehydrated, had “back claws and nail beds worn down, probably from all that walking on pavement,” but was “bright and alert” and had no parasites, heartworm or viruses. “She was hesitant and scared around people she didn’t know, so I don’t think she went up to people and got a lift,” Dr. Beg said. “I think she made the journey on her own.”

At Paws2Help, Ms. Mazzola said, “I almost didn’t want to ask, because I wanted to keep her, but I said, ‘Just check and make sure she doesn’t have a microchip.’” When told the cat did, “I just cried.”

The Richters cried, too upon seeing Holly, who instantly relaxed when placed on Mr. Richter’s shoulder. Re-entry is proceeding well, but the mystery persists.

“We haven’t the slightest idea how they do this,” Mr. Galaxy said. “Anybody who says they do is lying, and, if you find it, please God, tell me what it is.”

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Media savvy public makes spinning the message harder

We have become a nation of theater critics, judging everything before us not solely in terms of what is said or done but the quality of the performance.

This is the legacy of the public relations business, which lost one of its leaders last week with the death of Chicago's Dan Edelman at age 92.

Over the course of Edelman's career in strategic communication — which began as part of a World War II Army unit that combated the Nazis' psychological warfare and ended atop the world's largest independent PR agency — the work of shaping an image, conveying a message, and effectively interacting with the media and general public moved out from the wings to center stage.

Spin and branding have gone from jargon to common usage, terms your mother might not only use but use correctly. An increasingly media savvy and wary public is looking beyond the news to the forces, counsel and ultimate goals that shaped it. And there's nothing wrong with that until it obscures what, if anything, is truly important about the story being told.

Look at the headlines of recent days, and think of just how much discussion has been focused on the PR machinery at work.

Some of the stories are trivial yet elevated to the level of something we're supposed to care about, such as cyclist and lab rat Lance Armstrong seeking to undo years of lying and cheating in a sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, or Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o's star-crossed romance being exposed as fiction. Other stories have more weight.

Nearly all of them, however, have been scrutinized, at least in part, on the stagecraft and strategic communications involved.

There is nearly always a discussion of the effectiveness of the strategy behind the message being advanced and how it was conveyed — what's being sold, how it's being sold, whether we're buying it and why. Then there's the analysis of how it's covered, whether the media got it right, asked too many or too few questions, missed what should have been the point — either through negligence or bias or both.

"The way it's evolved over the years is the public has become very cynical of news media," said Vince Wladika, an East Coast-based consultant who's among the most hard-core PR spinners I know. "That also makes (the PR person's) job hard because you get a good story and it's a true story and the public, a lot of times, dismisses it as too good to be true. So it's certainly not easy.

"We've definitely become a much more cynical society than when Edelman started his business. You can also make the case that the reporting or the reporters have become more cynical. But you can also say they're smarter and do their research more. … The consumer is smarter, too, and the flip side of that is you've got to be buttoned-up more when you present stuff."

Even the Chicago Bears' hire of a head football coach was analyzed on the basis of the figure cut by Canadian Football League import Marc Trestman and how he conducted himself in his introductory news conference — both in the mainstream media and in the social media Greek chorus of Twitter. At least to the extent that it wasn't completely overshadowed by the Te'o story.

"The people I follow on Twitter, the Bears hire normally would be big news," said Peter Marino, vice president of communications at MillerCoors. "Then they have this press conference, and I've seen very little about what Marc Trestman is going to bring the Bears because this Te'o story is the dominant story. It's taking up all the air."

The Te'o story looms large in part because it is a rat's nest of all the things people look for when sizing up strategic communications at work: There's media mythmaking, crisis management, the dangers and benefits of the speed with which news and views travel in the wired world.

Deadspin.com broke the news Wednesday that Te'o's dead girlfriend was a hoax. The story racked up hundreds of thousands of views in minutes, and Notre Dame held a hastily arranged news conference at which the football star was deemed a victim. The media, which had accepted the girlfriend tale as fact, was immediately chastised for failing to adequately vet Te'o's too-perfect story of tragedy dovetailing into inspiration.

There was talk of deadline pressures that hampered fact-checking efforts. Some still suspected Te'o as complicit in a ploy to gain sympathy support among Heisman Trophy voters. And though parts of what happened remain fuzzy, a PR debate raged about whether Te'o needed to do an interview to get in front of the story.

Myths and mistakes have always found their way into the news ecosystem. What's changed is their life cycle, like the news cycle, has sped up considerably the increased scrutiny, awareness and exposure.

"You used to only have so many outlets to deal with, but now you have thousands more," said Wladika, who's worked in-house and out in advancing the viewpoints of NBC Sports, Major League Baseball, Fox Sports, Comcast, Sirius XM and others. "For the general public, you can argue that's fantastic. But from a crisis communications or strategic communications standpoint, it makes it infinitely harder because you have so many more folks you have to deal with and your news cycle is reduced."

Edelman's son and successor, Richard, eulogized his father at a memorial service Friday at Chicago Sinai Congregation by recalling the personal relationships at play in his father's public relations efforts.

The public has a different relationship with the media and the messages than they did when the elder Edelman was starting out. Nothing is accepted at face value. The danger is that when the theatrics draw too much attention, everyone loses sight of the story.

"It's a lot more complicated," Wladika said. "That's for sure."

philrosenthal@tribune.com

Twitter @phil_rosenthal

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Players suspended after Simeon-Morgan Park incident

Simeon principal Sheldon House told the Tribune on Friday that access to a game between the Wolverines and Julian at the high school was limited and that the media was not allowed inside the gym.

House said he made that decision in light of what happened Wednesday at Chicago State University, where 17-year-old Morgan Park student Tyrone Lawson was shot and killed in a parking lot outside the gym after a game between Morgan Park and Simeon.

Just before Lawson was killed, players from Simeon and Morgan Park were involved some pushing and shoving during the postgame handshake inside the gym. Police arrested two suspects and recovered a gun shortly after Lawson was shot in the back.

House said he made the decision to limit access to Friday’s game in light of those events, and “so they don't have to deal with questions and articles about the situation the other night.”

Three Chicago Police cars sat in the lot outside of the gym at the school Friday.

A Chicago Public Schools spokesman told the Tribune that the decision was up to the school.
“The school felt very strongly they did not want media in the school today,” the spokesman said. “I can’t tell them how to run their school.”

The CPS spokesman said House “was very insistent that no media be allowed.”
Simeon coach Robert Smith told the Tribune by phone Friday afternoon that he was instructed not to speak with the media by CPS and House on Thursday morning.

Triton College coach Steve Christiansen said he was in gym for the game, which was won by Simeon 67-36 behind 27 points and nine rebounds from Duke-bound senior Jabari Parker.

“About 100 people were in the gym. I almost didn't get let in,” Christiansen said. “They didn't let a lady in behind me. It seemed like just family members.”

Vernell Pondexter, a dean at Julian, said family members of Julian players were allowed in the gym and that there were some Simeon students in attendance. He added that his school doesn’t allow fans from opposing teams to attend games.

“I think it’s a good idea. We do it at our school,” Pondexter said. “We only allow family members and our students to come to the game.”

According to a CPS official, two players were suspended for one game each for their involvement in Wednesday’s altercation.

Per Chicago Public Schools policy, a spokesman did not name the students who have been suspended. The CPS official said the Public League will make crowd control adjustments as needed for upcoming games. Communications regarding sportsmanship and mentoring are being sent to athletic directors and coaches, he said.

The location of the Jan. 26 meeting between Simeon and Young, likely to draw several thousand fans, is being reviewed, according to the official. The game was originally set to be played at Chicago State. Sites for the Public League semifinals and final also will be examined.

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Exclusive: Japan’s Sharp cuts iPad screen output

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – Sharp Corp has nearly halted production of 9.7-inch screens for Apple Inc’s iPad, two sources said, possibly as demand shifts to its smaller iPad mini.

Sharp’s iPad screen production line at its Kameyama plant in central Japan has fallen to the minimal level to keep the line running this month after a gradual slowdown began at the end of 2012 as Apple manages its inventory, the industry sources with knowledge of Sharp’s production plans told Reuters.

Sharp has stopped shipping iPad panels, the people with knowledge of the near total production shutdown said. The exact level of remaining screen output at Sharp was not immediately clear but it was extremely limited, they said.

Company spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said: “We don’t disclose production levels.”

Apple officials, contacted late in the evening after normal business hours in California, did not have an immediate comment.

The sources didn’t say exactly why production had nearly halted. Among the possibilities are a seasonal drop in demand, a switch to another supplier, a shift in the balance of sales to the mini iPad, or an update in the design of the product.

Macquarie Research has estimated that iPad shipments will tumble nearly 40 percent in the current quarter to about 8 million from about 13 million in the fourth quarter, although Apple’s total tablet shipments will show a much smaller decrease due to strong iPad mini sales.

APPLE SHARES

Any indication that iPad sales are struggling could add to concern that the appeal of Apple products is waning after earlier media reports said it is slashing orders for iPhone 5 screens and other components from its Asian suppliers.

Those reports helped knock Apple’s shares temporarily below $ 500 this week, the first time its stock had been below the threshold mark in almost one year.

Apple, the reports said, has asked state-managed Japan Display, Sharp and LG Display to halve supplies of iPhone panels from an initial plan for about 65 million screens in January-March. Apple is losing ground to Samsung, as well as emerging rivals including China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp.

NO BIG CHANGE AT OTHER MAKERS

In addition to Sharp, Apple also buys iPad screens from LG Display Co Ltd, its biggest supplier, and Samsung Display, a flat-panel unit of Samsung Electronics.

Both LG Display and Samsung Display declined to comment.

A source at Samsung Display, however, said there had not been any significant change in its panel business with Apple, which has been steadily reducing panel purchases from the South Korean firm.

A person who is familiar with the situation at LG Display said iPad screen production in the current quarter had fallen from the previous quarter ending in December, mainly due to weak seasonal demand that is typical after the busy year-end holiday sales period.

Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said some of the product cutbacks at Sharp are probably seasonal.

“The March quarter is almost always weaker than the December quarter,” he said, adding that Apple also consolidates suppliers of certain components during quarters with weaker demand. “The Korean manufacturers are more efficient and typically have lower costs.”

Apple’s iPad sales may have also suffered amid a weak Christmas shopping period that hurt other consumer gadget makers as well.

CROWD OF RIVAL PRODUCTS

Apple also faces stiffening competition in tablets from a growing crowd of rival products from makers including Samsung with its Galaxy and Microsoft Corp’s Surface. A consumer shift to smaller 7-inch screen devices, which Apple responded to late last year by launching its iPad mini for $ 329, are adding pressure.

BNP Paribas expects the iPad mini will eat into sales of the full-sized iPad, with the mini rise to 60 percent of total iPad shipments in the January-March quarter.

Looking to cut into Apple’s market share in the smaller segment are Amazon.com Inc with its Kindle and Google Inc with its Nexus 7.

CEO Tim Cook, who is credited with building Apple’s Asian supply chain, has overseen several gadget launches, including the iPhone 5, the latest iPad models and the iPad mini during his first year, is under pressure to deliver the kind of product innovations that wowed consumers during Steve Jobs’ tenure to keep his company’s profit growth stellar.

Sharp, which also supplies screens for the iPhone, has been working with its main banks on a restructuring plan after posting a $ 5.6 billion loss for the past fiscal year. To secure emergency financing from lenders including Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi Financial Group it had mortgaged its domestic factories and offices including the one building screens for Apple.

In December, Qualcomm Inc agreed to invest as much as $ 120 million in Sharp and the two companies said they would work to develop new power-saving screens.

(Additional reporting by Poornima Gupta in San Francisco; Writing by Tim Kelly; Editing by Ken Wills and Richard Chang)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Schilling to sell bloody sock worn in Red Sox 2004 World Series

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) – Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, owner of a bankrupt video game company, plans to auction off a blood-stained sock he wore in the historic 2004 World Series championship.

The sock, worn by Schilling in Game Two of the first World Series won by the Red Sox in 86 years, is expected to fetch more than $ 100,000 when it hits the auction block next month, Chris Ivy, director of sports at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, said on Thursday.

Schilling took the mound after having an unorthodox surgical procedure done on his injured right ankle, enabling him to pitch in Game Two of the team’s four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The sock had been on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, since 2004, Ivy said.

Online bidding for the sock will open at $ 25,000 on February 4, followed by a live auction in New York on February 23, he said.

Last year, the state of Rhode Island sued Schilling and the former head of a state economic development agency over a $ 75 million loan guarantee the agency made to 38 Studios, a failed video game company owned by the retired baseball player.

The quasi-public agency made the loan in 2010 to lure Schilling, who promised to bring 450 jobs to the economically depressed state from neighboring Massachusetts. The deal was brokered by former Rhode Island governor Donald Carcieri.

38 Studios filed for bankruptcy in June, leaving Rhode Island taxpayers responsible for repaying roughly $ 100 million, including interest, to private investors who had bought bonds the state issued on behalf of the company.

The lawsuit charges some of the defendants committed larceny and permitted the video game company to rely on financial assumptions that were based on “known false assumptions.”

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and David Gregorio)

Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Well: A Great Grain Adventure

This week, the Recipes for Health columnist Martha Rose Shulman asks readers to go beyond wild rice and get adventurous with their grains. She offers new recipes with some unusual grains you may not have ever cooked or eaten. Her recipes this week include:

Millet: Millet can be used in bird seed and animal feed, but the grain is enjoying a renaissance in the United States right now as a great source of gluten-free nutrition. It can be used in savory or sweet foods and, depending on how it’s cooked, can be crunchy or creamy. To avoid mushy millet, Ms. Shulman advises cooking no more than 2/3 cup at a time. Toast the seeds in a little oil first and take care not to stir the millet once you have added the water so you will get a fluffy result.

Triticale: This hearty, toothsome grain is a hybrid made from wheat and rye. It is a good source of phosphorus and a very good source of magnesium. It has a chewy texture and earthy flavor, similar to wheatberries.

Farro: Farro has a nutty flavor and a chewy texture, and holds up well in cooking because it doesn’t get mushy. When using farro in a salad, cook it until you see that the grains have begun to splay so they won’t be too chewy and can absorb the dressing properly.

Buckwheat: Buckwheat isn’t related to wheat and is actually a great gluten-free alternative. Ms. Shulman uses buckwheat soba noodles to add a nutty flavor and wholesomeness to her Skillet Soba Salad.

Here are five new ways to cook with grains.

Skillet Brown Rice, Barley or Triticale Salad With Mushrooms and Endive: Triticale is a hybrid grain made from wheat and rye, but any hearty grain would work in this salad.

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Skillet Beet and Farro Salad: This hearty winter salad can be a meal or a side dish, and warming it in the skillet makes it particularly comforting.

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Warm Millet, Carrot and Kale Salad With Curry-Scented Dressing: Millet can be tricky to cook, but if you are careful, you will be rewarded with a fluffy and delicious salad.

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Skillet Wild Rice, Walnut and Broccoli Salad: Broccoli flowers catch the nutty, lemony dressing in this winter salad.

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Skillet Soba, Baked Tofu and Green Bean Salad With Spicy Dressing: The nutty flavor of buckwheat soba noodles makes for a delicious salad.

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