Buffett says US firms prosper as economy improves

OMAHA, Neb. — Investor Warren Buffett says the U.S. economy continues to improve gradually, and he doesn't think any price "bubbles" are developing.

Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders at the company's annual meeting Saturday that American businesses are thriving as is evident in their profit reports.

The fact that interest rates have remained near zero for several years has some investors worried about bubbles forming in prices.

Buffett doesn't see signs that a bubble is forming in bonds or any other assets. But he says it's unusual that rates have remained low this long.

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App matches complete strangers

For 20 days, when you wake up, go to sleep, and everywhere you go will be sent to a complete stranger, automatically.

You haven't been hacked, and it's not Facebook's newest, privacy-blurring feature. It's 20 Day Stranger, an app designed by a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students and faculty to increase compassion and understanding between strangers who have never met, and never will.

"This is about finding a way of opening a window," said Kevin Slavin, director of the MIT Media Lab's Playful Systems group. "The idea isn't to make your life transparent, it's to give just enough to wonder and imagine and ultimately, to care."

The app, still in development, matches two complete strangers and then gives a running feed of vague descriptions of where the person is, including "near an airport," or "at a cafe."

"We can start to develop this sense of intimate moments with somebody we don't know and will never know," said Tinsley Galyean, co-director of MIT's Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values. "Sometimes it's very mundane, but sometimes they're in the hospital."

The information is intentionally vague, not only for privacy reasons, but also as part of the user experience.

Development of the app began after Galyean asked Slavin and his Media Lab group to try to create software that could produce a sense of understanding and empathy for strangers.

"From a design perspective, it's a really big challenge to make something that has a call to build (something) that makes people surround themselves around compassion," said Taylor Levy, a masters student at MIT.

20 Day Stranger is just one of a growing number of apps that rely on anonymity. Apps such as Secret and Whisper, with which users post anonymous notes that can be seen by their phone contacts, do not bring out the best in people, Slavin said.

The app does not collect any information, instead acting as a link between the two strangers. Tapping into services such as FourSquare, Instagram and Google Maps, 20 Day Stranger sends photos that have been taken where the stranger is, but without any geographical or identifying information. A user would have to recognize a photo to figure out where their stranger is in the world.

"It is explicitly about producing imagination and conjecture, not transmitting information," Slavin said. "What we're interested in is the passive qualities of living your everyday life."

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'Orange Is the New Black' wins GLAAD Media Award

NEW YORK — GLAAD celebrates "Orange Is the New Black."

The Netflix show set in a women's prison was named outstanding comedy series at the 25th annual GLAAD Media Awards' New York ceremony.

Cast members — including Laverne Cox, who won her own GLAAD honor at the organization's Los Angeles awards ceremony last month — accepted the award Saturday at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.

George Takei received the Vito Russo award, presented to an openly gay media professional for promoting equality for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

Other winners Saturday included the films "Concussion" and "Philomena" and Oprah Winfrey's interview with openly gay professional basketball player Jason Collins.

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize fair, accurate and inclusive representation in media of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives.

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Odyssey’s air bag warning light needs to be checked out

I have a 2005 Honda 
Odyssey. About two months ago the passenger air bag light started coming on. I took it in for an oil change and the mechanic said it's nothing to worry about. It bugs me. Can you give me an answer?

No, but Honda's scan tool can. Anytime there's a question or issue with air bags or supplemental restraint systems, have the issue investigated. Why? Because any fault or problem can influence, even prevent, these systems from deploying properly in a crash.

Your vehicle has an impact sensor and a weight sensor in the passenger seat that can determine whether the passenger air bag should deploy or not in a crash. With an occupant weight of 65 pounds or less or a frontal impact where the seatbelt would offer adequate protection, the passenger air bag will not deploy.

If the passenger seat, its upholstery or the OPDS system (occupant position detection system) have been serviced, a re-initialization is required.

Also, Honda did issue a recall for a potentially defective front impact sensor on some 2005 
Odysseys, but this is unlikely the issue with your vehicle.

I have a 1966 Mustang. I have noticed in the past couple of years that when I first start driving, the right front wheel will lock up and slide on a dirt road and the car wants to turn right immediately. After driving the car for a couple of miles the brakes work fine and the car stops straight as an arrow. I had the brakes inspected and there were no leaks or other problems. The mechanic said that sometimes the brake hoses can deteriorate from the inside so I had them changed, but the car still wants to turn right at the first stop. I have read that if a brake line has a stoppage it might cause this. Is this a problem with the right front wheel or maybe the left front wheel is not getting enough hydraulic pressure?

Let me offer two other possibilities: moisture or contamination on the brake shoe friction material and (this is a long shot) the brake shoes on the right front are reversed, meaning the leading shoe is in the trailing position and vice versa.

Many drum brake systems feature a leading shoe that is pushed by the hydraulic wheel cylinder into the direction of rotation of the brake drum. This gives the leading shoe a self-energizing characteristic, meaning that initial contact with the drum tends to self-apply the friction material on the shoe.

In most cases, the leading shoe has a section of shoe at the wheel cylinder end that has no friction material to reduce the self-energizing characteristic. If the two brake shoes are reversed with the full length friction material of the trailing shoe mounted in the lead position, the self-energizing characteristic is magnified.

Any type of contamination on the friction material will change the coefficient of friction and can initially cause a significant imbalance of brake force. As the material is heated and/or dried by application, this characteristic often fades.

To perform a quick DIY test of brake hydraulic pressure, place the front end safely on jack stands and have an assistant apply steady light brake pedal pressure while you rotate each front wheel, feeling for the first indication of brake shoe contact with the drum. Both front wheels should initially exhibit this at the same level of brake pressure.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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Cape Wind opponents vow to continue fighting project

A federal judge has dismissed the latest lawsuit against Cape Wind, but opponents say they are not giving up on their fight to stop the long-delayed offshore wind farm.

"We are still full steam ahead," said Audra Parker, president and CEO of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. "We are still fully committed to defeating Cape Wind."

A federal judge late Friday dismissed the suit brought by the Alliance and the town of Barnstable that challenged the power purchase agreement between Cape Wind and Nstar, and its approval by the state. U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said the federal court has no jurisdiction because individuals are barred from suing states in federal court.

Cape Wind said in a statement that the decision will allow it to move forward with the project.

"This important legal victory provides further momentum for Cape Wind to secure project financing and produce the energy, economic and environmental benefits to the region and the United States by launching a domestic offshore wind industry," said Cape Wind president Jim Gordon.

But opponents vowed to continue their more than 10 year fight to derail the planned wind turbines off the coast of Nantucket.

"This is far from over," said Charlie McLaughlin, assistant town attorney 
for Barnstable.

Parker said the Alliance will appeal.

"We believe we have a strong case both on the merits and the process," she said. "Cape Wind is still not off the ground. It is far from a done deal."

The Alliance has several other legal battles pending. In March, another judge upheld the Interior Department's approval of Cape Wind's turbines, but said two federal agencies must revisit studies on the impact on migrating birds and right whales.

Cape Wind remains in the financing stage, which it plans to complete in the second half of 2014. Construction will begin soon after the project is financed, the company said.

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Preparing Boston for high sea levels

Two years after Superstorm Sandy became a cautionary tale about the dangers of climate change, a team of experts will meet this week to come up with strategies to prepare Boston, Cambridge and Revere for rising sea levels.

The Urban Land Institute will host "Living with Water: The Urban Implications" on Thursday, the first in a series of meetings bringing together architects, engineers, developers and financiers to find ways to help people protect their communities.

"There's been a large body of research on sea-level rise, and we believe the time is now for members of the design and development disciplines within the real estate industry to come up with viable solutions," said Sarah Barnat, ULI's executive director.

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that seas will rise between 3 and 6 feet by the end of this century. Because of how Greater Boston is situated, it will be disproportionately affected, said Dennis Carlberg, sustainability director at Boston University and co-chairman of the ULI Boston Sustainability Council.

Scientists project changing climate conditions will cause Boston Harbor to be as much as 6 feet above current levels, and more than 30 percent of the city will flood during storms at high tide.

"The real underlying question is: How do you change design now for new construction, and how do you modify existing designs?" he said. "This is a whole set of issues we've never dealt with before."

Four teams will look at one of four sites: the Back Bay; new development in Boston's Innovation District; a new, mixed-use construction project on the Revere waterfront; and a district planning initiative for Alewife.

The teams will focus on preparing for a "new normal" when today's storm surge becomes tomorrow's twice-daily high tide, Carlberg said.

Each team will work to answer four questions: how solutions affect the streetscape, what the implications are for policymakers, how property owners and tenants assess and balance their costs and risks, and what different stakeholders need to do, he said. A report on the findings is due out in September.

"The timing of the ULI project is very positive because Boston is updating its climate action plan with a focus on climate preparedness, so the results of their work will help inform our strategy update," said Brian Swett, the city's chief of environment, energy and open space.

The updated plan will be released at the end of this year, Swett said, but officials already have taken steps to mitigate flooding as a result of rising sea levels and Superstorm Sandy-like storms. The Boston Redevelopment Authority now requires all new large developments to complete a questionnaire to ensure flood-proofing and other building-preparedness practices are included in their planning, design and construction, Swett said.

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Decoding the Apple-Samsung patent dispute

LOS ANGELES — Apple and Samsung are suing each other in courts and trade offices around the world, each making claims that the other copied patented mobile device features.

The companies' most-recent legal tussle all but concluded on Friday, when a California jury found that Samsung copied some of Apple's smartphone features. The panel also concluded that Apple illegally used one of Samsung's patents in creating the iPhone 4 and 5.

All told, the jury awarded Samsung $158,400 and Apple $119 million, far less than the $2.2 billion the company sought.

Jurors were ordered to return to court Monday to continue deliberations on a minor matter that could result in a higher award for Apple.

Before determining whether the companies copied phone technologies, jurors had to consider several patents. Here's a look at select patents and the jury's conclusions:

Patent 5,946,647

—Official description: System and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data.

—What it really means: In a mobile device, the technology described in this patent is used to display a pop-up menu of options. One example: When you highlight a phone number on the touchscreen and the software gives you a prompt of options.

—The jury's verdict: The jury found that Apple proved Samsung infringed on the patent across several mobile devices, including the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S III and Stratosphere.

Patent 6,847,959

—Official description: Universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system.

—What it really means: This patent covers a process that's similar to the function of a search engine. It enables the mobile device to access information from a variety of locations, while only listing relevant data for the user.

One of the features in the patent is a graphic interface showing a "Go-To" menu option in a text input window.

—The jury's verdict: Apple failed to prove Samsung infringed on this patent.

Patent 7,761,414

—Official description: Asynchronous data synchronization among devices.

—What it really means: This patent involves a way to synchronize data across computers and mobile devices. In the case of a smartphone, this could apply to synchronizing address books on your phone with online storage.

—The jury's verdict: Samsung did not infringe on Apple's patent.

Patent 8,046,721

—Official description: Unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image.

What it really means: This patent refers to a way of controlling an electronic device with a touch-sensitive display. Specifically, Apple claimed Samsung infringed on a feature of the patent that describes the swipe-and-unlock feature on iPhones.

—The jury's verdict: Apple made its case that certain Samsung devices, including the Admire, Stratosphere and Galaxy Nexus violated patents. But the panel rejected claims pertaining to Samsung's Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch and Galaxy S II Skyrocket.

Patent 5,579,239

—Official description: Remote video transmission system.

—What it really means: Samsung's patent describes a system for digitizing, compressing and transmitting audio and visual signals and then reversing the process for broadcast.

The jury's verdict: Apple did not infringe on a section of Samsung's patent that covers transmitting video in real time over a cellular frequency.

Patent 6,226,449

—Official description: Apparatus for recording and reproducing digital image and speech.

—What it really means: This Samsung patent refers to the kind of dual digital camera that's become standard in many smartphones. As described in the patent, the user is able to change the direction of the camera.

The jury's decision: Apple infringed on Samsung's patent on several versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch.

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Westfield State U. agog over new Google technology

WESTFIELD, Mass. — It was a futuristic sight, as about a dozen students, faculty, and community members gathered around a cluster of screens on the second floor of the Ely Library at Westfield State University late last month to behold a wonder of modern technology.

The wonder that lay before them, projected onto seven screens standing seven feet tall, is Liquid Galaxy, a revolutionary product developed by Google which utilizes the company's Google Earth component to take users almost anywhere in seconds, on Earth or elsewhere.

"It sends Mars data, too," said Tom Raffensperger, the dean of Academic Information Services at Westfield State. "There's a rover up there taking pictures and mapping."

Capable of showing off the red planet just as adeptly as taking users to Fenway Park, Liquid Galaxy's potential is seemingly limitless, and Raffensperger says it will be available to the greater Westfield community during open lab times, after being made available to professors and students first.

As the jaws of students and faculty alike dropped to the floor at the startling realism and accuracy of Google Earth's mapping, professors in the school's geography department took the opportunity to speak about the project, it's humble beginnings, and what it means for the institution.

"It all started when Tim (LeDoux) and I were invited to attend the geospatial technology and higher education workshop at Google in California last summer," said Dr. Carsten Braun, a professor of Geography and Regional Planning at the University. "When we saw the Liquid Galaxy we said 'wow, this is cool, but not just cool — a great teaching tool.' So when we came back, we launched an idea to (Dr.) Liz Preston and Tom Raffensperger saying 'Hey, is this something we could get?'"

Various university departments collectively paid $25,000 to use the program.

"It was really a collaborative effort," said Raffensperger. "It was a lot of departments getting together. The library, we worked hard to make this space available, and the people at IT, academic information services, academic affairs, just a lot of different departments seeing how this would benefit the university as a whole."

Raffensperger added that professors such as LeDoux will be using the program for introductory and advanced global imaging systems (GIS) courses to take students to distant cities.

"As a geographer and planner, I talk a lot about different cities and the issues they're facing, such as Detroit with its bankruptcy," LeDoux said. "I can talk a lot about the legacy — the racism, the disinvestment issues — and that helps students paint a picture, but to take them on the ground and walk through the neighborhoods of Detroit using this, they see it, the abandoned buildings, and it brings home the visual element to them."

"I will be using this in my physical geography class, which is about landforms — glaciers, rivers, mountains, beaches — all kinds of stuff that. With this immersive program, you can experience beach erosion, experience sea level rise, much better than a static picture," Braun said. "We can do labs and say 'let's go to the Grand Canyon, let's look at what goes on at the intersection of land and ocean.'"

"(We'll be) working with the folks from the Art Department, or any other interested people to create content experiences that they can use in their classes," he added. "That's what we're going to be working on in the next few months. 'You teach English Literature, you teach Art, let's see how we can create activities that let students experience this in a special sense.'"

"This can be applied to all the different disciplines at the University," LeDoux added. "Whether you're trying to ground literature for students, poetry that a poet is writing about a landscape, it's a very vivid image, but actually seeing what they're writing about is very powerful."

When asked about the prevalence of this technology, Braun was proud to admit that Liquid Galaxy is so far only available in museums and large research-based institutions, none of which are the size of Westfield State.

"I'd be super happy to talk to anybody about how to make this useful," Braun said. "In a perfect world, we want to help everybody get this. But first, let's take this off the campus and bring it into the community, working in the local schools and make this a tool or experience that we share with the entire community."

"We are very excited to be able to provide this," said Westfield State University President Dr. Elizabeth Preston during the demo. "Part of the reason we decided to invest in the technology is because it's very clear that it has applications for all kinds of disciplines beyond the obvious. So we're very excited to have the technology on campus."

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Debate over 38 Studios bond default to heat up

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island has shelled out the first appropriated funds for its failed investment in Curt Schilling's 38 Studios company, but the debate over whether to honor the rest of the debt is expected to ramp up in the General Assembly.

The state sent the bond trustee $2.4 million for an interest-only payment due to bondholders on Thursday. Lawmakers reluctantly approved the funds last session.

But they will soon have to take up whether to appropriate $12.5 million for the next installment. Gov. Lincoln Chafee has included the amount in his spending plan and maintains that a default would seriously harm Rhode Island's financial reputation and significantly increase future borrowing costs.

The state remains on the hook for some $87 million. Earlier payments came from funds set aside as part of the deal under which Schilling's startup video game company got a $75 million loan.

The Economic Development Corp. agreed in 2010 to back the loan to help lure the company from Massachusetts to Providence. 38 Studios later went bankrupt.

The EDC, now called the Commerce Corp., is suing the former Red Sox pitcher and 13 others, including some of its own former officials, claiming the board was misled into approving the loan guarantee. The defendants deny the charges.

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello says he is waiting for the findings of an outside report on the impact of defaulting on the "moral obligation" bonds. Faye Zuckerman, a spokeswoman for Chafee, said the report by S.J. Advisors should be out soon.

One vocal critic of repayment is Rep. Karen MacBeth. The Cumberland Democrat, who is chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, has introduced legislation for the second year that would prohibit the state from making the payments.

She said the committee will hear testimony on the issue Thursday and is reviewing how the 38 Studios deal came about and whether it was properly vetted.

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New Jersey sports gambling suit tab: $2.8M, rising

NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey's bid to legalize sports gambling has endured defeat after defeat in the courts, but one big winner has emerged, at taxpayer expense — the law firm hired to help Gov. Chris Christie defend a lawsuit filed by the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA.

The firm — Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher — is the same one Christie hired, also with public money, to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal that is plaguing his administration.

According to figures obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, Gibson Dunn billed the state for $2.8 million in fees between August 2012, when the leagues sued to stop Christie from going ahead with his plan to issue sports gambling licenses, and the end of 2013.

The total amount to be borne by taxpayers will be higher when other attorneys' fees are added; for example, former Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and former Senate President Steve Sweeney became part of the case in November 2012, but information on their fees was not available from the attorney general's office.

"We have an $800 million budget deficit," said state Sen. Shirley Turner, one of the few lawmakers to vote against amending the New Jersey Constitution in 2012 to allow sports gambling. "We don't have the money to spend on something on which the odds were long. It could have been better spent for so many other things, to help people in the state who need the help."

The firm's fees come atop hundreds of thousands of dollars it is anticipated to bill the state for the traffic-jam investigation, according to media reports. The legislature has also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars investigating.

Neither a spokesman for Christie nor the law firm responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

The state's last chance for the gambling case is for the U.S. Supreme Court to take it up, a decision that could come this month.

Over the past two years, Christie and other lawmakers have boldly predicted that New Jersey's efforts would result in a landmark ruling that would legalize sports gambling in New Jersey and help revive the state's struggling casino industry. But some legal experts considered the case a long shot from the start, given that it would require overturning the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a 1992 law that restricted sports gambling to Nevada and three other states that already offered betting pools.

"This is not an issue for the courts; it's for the Congress to sort out, and Congress probably needs to sort it out," said Jeremy Frey, a Philadelphia-based lawyer who is an expert in gambling law. "It's not to say that it's not worth doing — but it's a loser."

Frey's words echo those of U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp, who wrote in an opinion last year rejecting New Jersey's arguments that "to the extent the people of New Jersey disagree with PASPA, their remedy is not through passage of a state law or through the judiciary, but through the repeal or amendment of PASPA in Congress."

That route has proved difficult. Separate sports gambling bills introduced in 2012 by New Jersey Reps. Frank Pallone and Rep. Frank LoBiondo have stalled in committee, though both men have said they remain committed to the cause.

Shipp's ruling was upheld on appeal by the 3rd U.S. Circuit in Philadelphia in a 2-1 decision last fall. The court later denied a request to have the matter reheard by the full 3rd Circuit. That has left the Supreme Court as the last resort.

Some legal experts feel New Jersey's chances to have the case heard improved when the Supreme Court last year struck down a part of the Voting Rights Act that required states with a history of voter discrimination to get Washington's approval before changing election processes.

In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg mentioned the 1992 sports gambling law and appeared to question whether it and other laws that treat some states differently from others might be in jeopardy.

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