BURBANK, Calif. (AP) "That '70s Show" actress Lisa Robin Kelly has been arrested in Southern California on suspicion of drunken driving.

The California Highway Patrol says officers noticed signs of possible intoxication when they helped move the 43-year-old actress' stalled car off Interstate 5 in Burbank late Saturday.

The CHP said that after an investigation, officers arrested and booked her on suspicion of DUI. Kelly was released on $5,000 bail.

An email to her agent was not immediately returned.

It was not her first brush with the law. Kelly and her husband Robert Joseph Gilliam were arrested last November in connection to a disturbance at their home in the Charlotte, N.C., suburb of Mooresville.

Kelly portrayed Laurie Forman, sister of Topher Grace's lead character Eric, on the FOX series, which ended in 2006.

NEW YORK (AP) A finger-pointing political argument on Fox News Channel boiled over when a male conservative talk show host shouted at a woman to "know your role and shut your mouth."

The man, Bill Cunningham, later asked Fox contributor Tamara Holder, "Are you going to cry?"

Fox on-air personalities on Friday were talking about the exchange on Sean Hannity's prime-time show the night before. Commentator Juan Williams concluded that Cunningham "obliterated the line" of civil discourse in his argument with Holder. The two had been brought on by Hannity to discuss whether Attorney General Eric Holder no relation to Tamara had committed perjury.

Cunningham, sitting next to Tamara Holder in a New York studio, called her "one of the stooges of the left that will always be there to excuse away criminal behavior." He said she had the "incurable fatal condition of liberalism that caused people like Eric Holder to be the consulary of Barack Hussein Obama."

He was jabbing a finger at Holder, who returned the favor.

"I really hope that when you speak to a judge, you don't point your finger in the person's face the entire time," she said. "Your finger does not make your point."

Cunningham is a former assistant attorney general in Ohio whose wife is on the Ohio Court of Appeals. He hosts radio and television talk shows.

"Whose finger is in my face right now?" Cunningham asked.

Replied Holder: "Mine, because I'm telling you to shut up."

"You shut up!" Cunningham said. "Know your role and shut your mouth."

Cunningham could not be reached for comment Friday.

It was only three weeks after another exchange on Fox, where daytime host Megyn Kelly said she was offended by a male colleague's suggestion that children of working mothers don't fare as well as children with stay-at-home moms. One Fox contributor, Erick Erickson, said that in nature, males were traditionally dominant.

Later, Cunningham repeated his assertion that Holder was a "liberal stooge and an excuse-monger for the Obama administration."

After Holder paused, Cunningham asked, "What, are you going to cry?"

"No, I'm not going to cry," Holder said.

Admonished by Hannity at the end of their segment to shake hands, they refused. "I don't shake hands with trolls," Holder said.

Things were still smoldering on Friday when Fox returned to the argument. Daytime host Martha McCollum hosted a segment with Williams and Fox contributor Mary Katherine Ham on whether the combatants had gone too far.

"The merits of the argument might be on the Cunningham side," Ham said, "but I'm on Team Tamara on the comment of knowing your role."

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) An Iowa man's online classified ad offering an oak coffin for sale neglected to mention the full skeleton inside, so police interrupted the deal and seized the bones.

The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reported (http://bit.ly/14eMNn6 ) that the coffin belonged to the now-defunct Council Bluffs chapter of the International Order of Odd Fellows, which promotes anonymous giving to the poor.

Dave Burgstrum placed the ad on the Craigslist website to sell the coffin for $12,000 because he's trying to raise money to pay the property taxes on the fraternal organization's hall.

Burgstrum said the coffin was made in the 1900s and had been used in the group's rituals to represent death. The bones had been in there for years.

"They were just there as long as anyone could remember," said Burgstrum, who is one of a handful of remaining members of the Council Bluffs chapter of the Odd Fellows.

Burgstrum said lodge records suggest the skeleton was donated by a doctor who retired in the 1880s.

But Council Bluffs Police detective Michael Roberts said human remains cannot be sold without proper identification.

"If they had papers of origination, then they would be OK to own," Roberts said.

The skeleton was sent to the Iowa State Medical Examiner. Pottawattamie County forensic investigator Karen Foreman said it's unlikely the skeleton will be identified, but the race and gender can be determined. And if the skeleton is Native American, federal law requires that it be returned to the tribe.

Burgstrum said the laboratory is welcome to keep the skeleton. His interest has always been in selling the coffin.

"I'm ready to wheel and deal on it," he said. "I'd like to get those taxes paid."

The largest full moon of 2013, a so-called "supermoon," will light up the night sky this weekend, but there's more to this lunar delight than meets the eye.

On Sunday, June 23, at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT), the moon will arrive at perigee the point in its orbit bringing it closest to Earth), a distance of 221,824 miles (356,991 kilometers). Now the moon typically reaches perigee once each month (and on some occasions twice), with their respective distances to Earth varying by 3 percent.

But Sunday's lunar perigee will be the moon's closest to Earth of 2013. And 32 minutes later, the moon will officially turn full. The close timing of the moon's perigee and its full phase are what will bring about the biggest full moon of the year, a celestial event popularly defined by some as a "supermoon."

You can watch a free webcast of 2013 supermoon full moon on SPACE.com on Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 June 24), courtesy of the skywatching website Slooh Space Camera. [Amazing Supermoon Photos of 2012]

While the exact time of the full moon theoretically lasts just a moment, that moment is imperceptible to casual observers. The moon will appear full a couple of days before and after the actual full moon most will speak of seeing the nearly full moon as "full": the shaded strip is so narrow, and changing in apparent width so slowly, that it is hard for the naked eye to tell in a casual glance whether it s present or on which side it is.

During Sunday's supermoon, the moon will appear about 12.2 percent larger than it will look on Jan. 16, 2014, when it will be farthest from the Earth during its apogee.

Supermoon's big tides

In addition, the near coincidence of Sunday's full moon with perigee will result in a dramatically large range of high and low ocean tides. The highest tides will not, however, coincide with the perigee moon but will actually lag by up to a couple of days depending on the specific coastal location. [The Moon Revealed: 10 Surprising Facts]

For example, for New York City, high water (6.3 feet or 1.9 meters) at The Battery comes at 8:58 p.m. EDT on Sunday, or more than 12 hours after perigee. From Cape Fear, N.C., the highest tide (6.5 feet or 1.9 m) will be attained at 9:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, while at Boston Harbor a peak tide height of 12.3 feet (3.7 m) comes at 12:48 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, almost 2 days after the time of perigee.

Any coastal storm at sea around this time will almost certainly aggravate coastal flooding problems. Such an extreme tide is known as a perigean spring tide, the word spring being derived from the German springen, meaningto "spring up," and is not as is often mistaken a reference to the spring season.

Spring tides occur when the moon is either at full or new phase. At these times the moon and sun form a line with the Earth, so their tidal effects add together (the sun exerts a little less than half the tidal force of the moon.) "Neap tides," on the other hand, occur when the moon is at first and last quarter and works at cross-purposes with the sun. At these times tides are week.

Tidal force varies as the inverse cube of an object's distance. We have already noted that this month the moon is 12.2 percent closer at perigee than at apogee. Therefore it will exert 42 percent more tidal force at this full moon compared to the spring tides for the full moon that will coincide with apogee next January.

Huge moon at moonrise

Usually the variation of the moon's distance is not readily apparent to observers viewing the moon directly.

Or is it?

When the perigee moon lies close to the horizon it can appear absolutely enormous. That is when the famous "moon illusion" combines with reality to produce a truly stunning view. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, a low-hanging moon looks incredibly large when hovering near to trees, buildings and other foreground objects. The fact that the moon will be much closer than usual this weekend will only serve to amplify this strange effect.

So a perigee moon, either rising in the east at sunset or dropping down in the west at sunrise might seem to make the moon appear so close that it almost appears that you could touch it. You can check this out for yourself by first noting the times for moonrise and moonset for your area by going to this website of moonrise times by the U.S. Navy Oceanography Portal.

Happy moon-gazing!

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of the Sunday Supermoon and you'd like to share it for a possible story or image gallery on SPACE.com, please send images and comments, including equipment used, to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, N.Y. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

'Supermoon' Photos from Around the World: March 19, 2011 Moon Master: An Easy Quiz for Lunatics Full Moon: Why Does It Happen? How Does It Affect Us? | Video Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) Jay-Z's got 99 problems and the Billboard chart is one.

Billboard said Friday it will not include the 1 million album downloads Jay-Z is giving to Galaxy mobile phone users through a deal with Samsung. Jay-Z announced the partnership this week. His new album, "Magna Carta Holy Grail," will be released July 7, but it will go out to 1 million Samsung users on July 4.

In a letter posted on Billboard's website, editorial director Bill Werde says it won't count the downloads because Samsung ultimately isn't selling the album on its phones. He adds that it wasn't easy turning down Jay-Z's request to include the downloads on the Billboard chart.

Werde writes: "The passionate and articulate argument by Jay's team that something was for sale and Samsung bought it ... doesn't mesh with precedent."

____

Online:

http://www.billboard.com

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - More than a third of all women worldwide are victims of physical or sexual violence, posing a global health problem of epidemic proportions, a World Health Organization report said on Thursday.

The vast majority of women are attacked or abused by their husbands or boyfriends, and common health problems they suffer include broken bones, bruises, pregnancy complications, depression and other mental illnesses, the report said.

"This is an everyday reality for many, many women," Charlotte Watts, a health policy expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and one of the report's authors, told Reuters in an interview.

She said she was shocked by pictures this week showing celebrity chef Nigella Lawson being grabbed by the throat by her art collector husband Charles Saatchi. He has since been cautioned by police for assaulting her.

"We don't know the details of what is going there, but it does illustrate this happens to all women - it's not just poor women, or women in a certain country. This really is a global issue," Watts said.

The report, co-authored by Watts and Claudia Garcia-Moreno of the WHO, found that almost two fifths (38 percent) of all women murder victims were murdered by intimate partners, and 42 percent of women who have been victims of physical or sexual violence by a partner have injuries as a result.

Garcia-Moreno pointed to recent high-profile rape cases in India and South Africa that have put a spotlight on the treatment of women worldwide.

The brutal gang rape in December of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi sparked a global outcry and unprecedented protests in India demanding better policing of sex crimes. The woman later died from her injuries.

"These kinds of cases raise awareness, which is important, and at the same time we must remember there are hundreds of women every day who are being raped on the streets and in their homes, but that doesn't make the headlines," Garcia-Moreno said.

The report found that violence against women is a root cause for a range of acute and chronic health problems, ranging from immediate injury to sexually transmitted infections, to HIV, to depression and stress- and alcohol-related health disorders.

Women who suffer violence from their partners are 1.5 times more likely to get syphilis, Chlamydia, or gonorrhea. And in some regions, including sub-Saharan Africa, they are 1.5 times more likely to become infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, the report found.

The WHO is issuing guidelines for health workers on how to help women suffering domestic or sexual abuse. They stress the importance of training health workers to recognize when women may be at risk of partner violence and to know how to respond.

This includes ensuring that consultation rooms can be totally private and confidential, that appropriate referral systems are in place, and that women at risk from partners should not be sent back home.

In a statement accompanying the report WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the violence had caused health problems of "epidemic proportions", adding: "The world's health systems can and must do more for women who experience violence."

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Airline passengers irritated at having to turn off their devices could soon see some reprieve, with regulators set to allow wider use of gadgets in flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to relax the ban on using some types of personal-electronic devices at low altitudes, allowing passengers leeway during taxiing and even takeoffs and landings, according to industry officials and draft recommendations prepared by a high-level advisory panel to the agency.

Getty Images The FAA is expected to relax rules for some types of electronic devices at low altitudes. Above, a passenger checks his phone before exiting the plane at Long Beach, Calif., airport in 2012. For fliers, the new rules would likely mean an end to familiar admonitions to turn off and stow all electronic devices. Cellphone calls are expected to remain off limits, however. The draft doesn't make any recommendations regarding phone use because the FAA didn't authorize the panel to delve into that particularly controversial area.

Details are still being debated by the group and inside the FAA and could change. Still, the draft report reflects a consensus that the existing rules, essentially unchanged since the 1960s, have been overtaken by dramatic changes in technology and passenger expectations.

"As the consumer electronics industry has exploded," the report says, the FAA's traditional stance of giving individual airlines leeway to evaluate the safety of specific devices before allowing them to remain on at low altitude "has become untenable." In practice, airlines follow the FAA's guidance and slap a blanket prohibition on all devices until planes climb to 10,000 feet.

The FAA may be forced to act due to the sheer number of passengers flouting today's rules. The experts who wrote the draft referred to recent industry research showing that nearly one-third of passengers reported that, at least once, they accidentally left some device on throughout a flight.

Unless the FAA eases its standards, the advisory group frets that "confidence in the FAA and the [industry's] ability" to integrate personal electronic device usage will erode, and a "nonstandard system" of patchwork rules adopted by individual airlines "could emerge that further confuses the public."

The FAA's anticipated decision would relax the rules for use of approved devices from the time cabin doors close to when the plane reaches 10,000 feet. Some devices, such as e-readers, could even be used during all phases of a flight, if the FAA goes along with the thrust of the draft recommendations.

The document is likely to bolster arguments of lawmakers, safety experts and everyday ticket buyers who contend the vast majority of today's portable electronics pose little or no risk of interfering with aircraft systems.

The FAA likely won't make a formal decision on the matter until after it receives the final version of the advisory panel's study, now delayed two months to the end of September.

An FAA spokeswoman released a statement saying the agency "recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft, that is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions."

"At the group's request," the statements adds, "the FAA has granted the two-month extension to complete the additional work necessary for the safety assessment."

Eliminating or easing today's strict constraints would amount to a major cultural shift for travelers from frequent fliers to celebrities many of whom are seemingly tethered to their digital gadgets and frequently fume when flight attendants tell them to power off.

A 2011 incident involving actor Alec Baldwin in which the actor was kicked off an American Airlines plane for playing a Scrabble-like game on his phone before it started taxiing gained global attention.

The impending changes also portend business opportunities for airlines, which are scrambling to satisfy customer demand for faster airborne connections along with expanded Wi-Fi entertainment and business applications.

By some estimates, the world-wide market for such offerings already is close to $3 billion annually, with as many as 20,000 new Boeing and Airbus jets slated to be modified for onboard connectivity over the next decade.

The debate also has international ramifications, since rules for Wi-Fi systems, and especially cellphone usage, vary among airlines and countries.

"It would be much more convenient for us" to have a single global standard, according to Alexandre de Juniac, chairman and chief executive of Air France. "Right now, it's a nightmare," he said, figuring out airspace where cellphone calls from planes are prohibited.

The current draft doesn't discuss changes to cellphone rules, but says members of the panel believe a discussion of cellphone use and whether allowing it would be an imposition on some passengers should be part of their final product and the group intends "to provide a separate addendum" that the agency "may or may not address."

The Federal Communications Commission has a long-standing ban on cellphones using certain frequencies in flight, due to potential interference "with wireless networks on the ground," according to the draft.

Formed by the FAA last August, the 28-member panel includes industry, government and pilot-union representatives. Its findings have been eagerly awaited by airlines, regulators and safety experts around the world prompting some discussion at the Paris International Air Show this week.

"The FAA will set an umbrella safety standard for the world," said Stuart Dunleavy, vice president and general manager of the in-flight media and connectivity business of Thales SA.

The original rules, written in 1966, took shape in an era when experts feared electromagnetic interference could wreak havoc with critical navigation systems and radios aboard aircraft. During the years leading up to this latest review, the FAA called on the industry to conduct four separate safety studies and ended up adopting the broad policy that personal electronics pose minimal risk at higher altitudes.

The FAA has also said that listening to or watching a hand-held device can distract passengers if emergencies occur close to the ground.

The draft report emphasizes that over the years, technical advances and stepped-up testing have contributed to building "much more tolerant" aircraft, while devices have improved dramatically to use less power, transmit weaker signals and "stay within a tighter range of frequencies." The combined result, according to the document, is "much less potential to cause interference."

For airliners that pass stringent tests, the panel envisions allowing essentially unlimited, or what it calls "expanded gate to gate use," of electronic devices. The draft also urges that starting in 2015, the FAA require new models to comply with the strictest industrywide standard.

Mr. Dunleavy of Thales said that "we absolutely haven't seen any concerns about interference from passenger devices."

The conclusions are borne out by industry practice, according to Jay Gandhi, head of EMT Labs, a Mountain View, Calif., firm that tests hand-held devices for electronics manufacturers. They typically generate such weak electromagnetic fields "there is no way they can overpower aircraft systems," according to Mr. Gandhi.

While the draft document is still missing certain key sections and some detailed recommendations, it repeatedly urges the FAA to ensure that current and future airliners incorporate features shielding critical systems from potential interference.

Eventually, the draft envisions three different safety announcements before flight.

For those planes with limited built-in protections, passengers would be told to power off devices until they are advised it is safe to hit the on switch.

On many other planes, flight attendants would give the green light to use certain electronics from gate to gate, except in rare instances when the captain asks they be turned off because they could interfere with certain types of instrument landings.

And according to the draft report, passengers on the third category of planes would hear the following announcement: "This aircraft tolerates emissions from electrical devices for all phases of flight."

Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com

More From The Wall Street Journal Missing the Target http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324188604578545204199664048.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324299104578531132265680630.html

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) A woman says she and her 5-year-old developmentally disabled daughter were thrown out of a theater during a "Beauty and the Beast" performance because the girl was making giggling and humming noises she makes when she's happy.

Samantha Torres, of New Bedford, said her daughter, Nadia, suffers from a chromosome abnormality and can't speak. Nadia was squealing, giggling and humming along with the Disney musical at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island on June 2 when the entire party, including Torres' other child and a nurse, were told to leave, she said.

"They did not ask me to leave. They told me I had to leave," Torres told The Standard-Times (http://bit.ly/1aowedp).

Theater marketing director P.J. Prokop denied that.

He said the girl was distracting other theater-goers and the group was offered different seats. Audience members "were turning around; they were looking; they were also kind of gesturing," Prokop said.

"It is the theater's responsibility to try and ensure that everyone can hear and have a good time," he said.

Torres said she was never offered the chance to relocate. The group was already sitting near the rear of the 3,100-seat theater and the only people bothered by Nadia were the ushers, she said.

Torres plans to take up the theater on an offer to conduct sensitivity training for ushers.

She is also working with the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council to develop a guide on how entertainment venues can prepare for people with disabilities.

"I think it's going to have a happy ending for a lot of people," she said.

___

Information from: The (New Bedford, Mass.) Standard-Times, http://www.southcoasttoday.com

ROME (AP) Hospital officials in Rome say U.S. actor James Gandolfini died after suffering cardiac arrest.

Dr. Claudio Modini, head of the emergency room at the Policlinic Umberto I hospital, said Gandolfini arrived at the hospital at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday and was pronounced dead at 11 p.m. after reanimation efforts in the ambulance and hospital failed.

He told The Associated Press on Thursday that an autopsy would be performed starting 24 hours after the death, as required by law.

MARIPOSA, Calif. (AP) An unattended campfire near a main route into Yosemite National Park has grown into a blaze that has led to the evacuations of 1,500 people and 800 homes, officials said Tuesday.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials released the cause of the fire Tuesday, as 2,200 firefighters - up from more than 700 Monday - worked to gain the upper hand on it amid windy, dry conditions. No other details were available about where the fire started, spokeswoman Karen Guillemin said.

The fire 6 miles northeast of Mariposa has burned more than 2 square miles and was 15 percent contained. Though temperatures were down, officials feared the weather conditions could still fuel the flames, officials said.

The fire, which started Sunday, has not grown in size from Monday evening but is burning on the interior, Guillemin said. One firefighter suffered a minor injury, but no structures have been damaged or destroyed. Crews are clearing brush to create defensive space around homes, laying fire line and dropping retardant from the air.

Firefighters in Colorado were mopping up remaining hot spots from the most destructive wildfire in state history that destroyed 502 homes and charred more than 22 square miles after it broke out Tuesday, June 11. The Black Forest Fire just outside Colorado Springs killed couple Marc Allen Herklotz, 52, and his wife, Robin Lauran Herklotz, 50, who were identified by authorities Tuesday.

The Colorado fire was 85 percent contained Tuesday as hundreds of evacuated residents were allowed back into the burn area, though they were warned that many would return to rubble, not their homes.

Colorado firefighters were also finishing work putting out a wildfire that burned 5 square miles near Canon City in southern Colorado.

A wildfire in northern Arizona on Tuesday afternoon led to mandatory evacuations for at least 10 homes west of Prescott in Yavapai County and 150 homes in the valley below Granite Mountain were on standby status for evacuation. Wind gusts of up to 22 mph pushed the fire from 20 acres to about 200 within an hour, and before spreading to more than 600 acres but away from populated areas.

There was no immediate threat to any structures. Authorities didn't know how the fire started.

U.S. Forest Service officials said one air tanker, five engines and 250 firefighters were battling the fire with more tankers, engines and crews on the way.

The fire was burning in scrub brush on Granite Mountain, sending up huge plumes of smoke that was settling in communities around Prescott and carried 70 miles away to Williams.

"It's a huge concern locally and immediately because it's active and moving," said fire information officer Mary Zabinski. "We're certainly in drought conditions and with this current system moving through the Southwest, it's wind-driven and fuels-driven because they're so dry."

Wildfires have also charred nearly 100 square miles of dry, rugged terrain across New Mexico since the end of May, with the largest fire still raging in the Gila National Forest. Hot, windy weather helped the 39-square-mile Silver Fire grow overnight, and firefighters were concerned since critical fire weather was expected through the rest of the week.

No homes have burned in New Mexico, but land managers in the Gila and Santa Fe National Forests were already bracing Tuesday for the post-fire threats of erosion and flooding from summer rains.

In Mariposa, state Route 140 into Yosemite National Park remains open. Tourists can see some smoke from the road itself, but it does not affect visitors in the park, said Yosemite National Park spokesman Scott Gediman. The fire is burning about 35 miles west of the park boundary, Gediman said.

"Visitors coming into the park are fine," he said. "We're not discouraging visits, just the opposite. If people have plans, there's absolutely no reason for them not to come."

Fire officials said fire danger is extreme in California this year, due to an especially dry spring. Already this year, more than 80 square miles have burned across the state. At this time last year, only about 30 square miles had burned. Cal Fire has responded to 2,600 fires so far in 2013, a 75 percent increase from 2012, officials said.

Samantha Weber, who lives in Midpines, a rugged, unincorporated area about 35 miles west of Yosemite, said she knew the fire near Yosemite was headed for her home when she saw charred leaves drifting at her.

"I saw entire leaves that are blackened and blistered just floating through the air," Weber told the San Francisco Chronicle. "They looked like birds."

The fire was helped by swirling winds and dry conditions that residents said are severe and arrived surprisingly early this year.

"It is kind of always dry here in the summer," Weber said. "But it was an especially dry spring, so things are really dry."

Ed Helms, his wife and three adult children were told to evacuate their home in Hites Cove on Sunday as they celebrated Father's Day in the backyard.

"We had to leave the steaks we were cooking on the barbecue to pack up and get out," Helms told the Modesto Bee.

The Red Cross has set up a shelter in Mariposa for evacuees.

An estimated 94 percent of wildfires have human causes, Guillemin said.

"Humans need to stop and think fire prevention before they do anything outdoors, so they can help prevent fires," she said.

PRESTON, Minn. (AP) A Minnesota mother and her 18-year-old son are accused of stealing nearly $5,000 in frozen gopher feet and selling them for a bounty.

Thirty-seven-year-old Tina Marie Garrison and Junior Lee Dillon, both of Preston, were charged last month with receiving stolen property and theft. They allegedly gave the feet to local townships that offer rewards as they try to limit the gopher population.

Garrison has pleaded not guilty. Her son has a hearing next month.

The complaint says a gopher trapper reported to authorities that bags of feet were stolen from his freezer. According to the complaint, the owner found Dillon had turned in $1,014 in feet in November. In December, Garrison turned in $3,780 in feet.

The Post-Bulletin (http://bit.ly/1299xC8) reports Dillon denied turning in any feet for the bounty.

___

Information from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com

NEW YORK (AP) U.S. retail sales of video games, hardware and accessories declined 25 percent in May as demand for aging game consoles continued to fade and fewer new games launched compared with last year, according to market researcher NPD Group.

NPD said late Monday that total video game sales were $386.3 million, down from $517 million in May 2012. The decline comes as and Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. are getting ready to launch new consoles later this year. The Xbox One, the successor to Microsoft's Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 4, successor to Sony's PS3, are expected to boost game sales over the holiday season.

Hardware sales dropped 31 percent year-over-year to $96 million from $139 million. Software sales also fell 31 percent to $175.1 million from $255.4 million. The month's best-selling game was "Injustice: Gods Among Us," from Warner Bros. Interactive, followed by "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" from Activision Blizzard Inc. Nintendo's "Donkey Kong Country Returns" came in at No. 3.

Sales of gaming accessories slid 6 percent to $115.3 million from $122.5 million.

NPD estimates that sales of new video game discs, hardware and accessories account for about half of what people spend on games.

Cowen and Co. analyst Doug Creutz expects the year-over-year declines to continue in June and July, but after that expects several consecutive months of increases, with the launch of the next "Madden" game from EA, the launch of "Grand Theft Auto V" from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. in September and other blockbuster game releases.

"In general, we believe the fact that (the new) consoles appear poised for a good launch is far more important than current NPD trends," Creutz wrote in a note to investors.

Activision's shares were unchanged at $14.73 in morning trading. Shares of GameStop Corp., the world's largest video game retailer, slid 20 cents to $38.30. Microsoft's stock rose 3 cents to $35.03. Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. rose 27 cents to $22.70.

iOS 7 Review Apple unveiled its vision for the future of mobile computing last week and the Internet erupted. A new feud was born, not between iOS fans and Android fans or between Apple fans and Samsung fans, but among iOS users themselves. On one side, a legion of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users were fawning over the redesigned software shown off by Jony Ive and company. It s a breath of fresh air it s amazing it s positively mind-blowing. On the other side, iOS 7 was panned. Many longtime Apple fans watched in horror as Apple peeled back the layers on its new iOS interface, and all the great features were instantly overshadowed by Apple s controversial new design. Is iOS 7 a brilliant push forward? Is it a tragedy in the making?

[More from BGR: Video: Secret settings uncovered in iOS 7]

It has been a week since iOS 7 debuted and now that the rush-into-print, knee-jerk reactions are behind us, let s take a closer look at the future of Apple s mobile devices.

[More from BGR: iPhone 5S display leaks as mass production begins]

Apple has never created anything that looks like iOS 7 before. Never, ever. This is important, because many longtime Apple users were blindsided by the bold new look.

As a company, Apple is known for many things. Design sits somewhere near the top of the list. Apple s hardware is gorgeous and unparalleled, and its software is sleek and beautiful even when it fails miserably. As rivals try desperately to catch up and as they spend billions on new product development, no notebooks are as sleek as Apple s, no tablets are as striking as the iPad, and no smartphones are as stunning as the iPhone.

Apple has been matched or even surpassed by rivals in some areas, but design is not one of them.

So it is easy to see why longtime Apple fans find iOS 7 so jarring. The look and feel of iOS has been so widely praised over the years that many people are having trouble letting go. iOS also sparked a fundamental shift in the way companies design smartphone interfaces. In fact, one Apple rival loved the iPhone so much it created a 132-page document to help its engineers copy many aspects of iOS pixel by pixel.

But now, many of the core characteristics that defined iOS for six years are gone without a trace. Panic was inevitable.



The dust has settled since Apple took the wraps of iOS 7 last week, and opinions seem to be leveling out to an extent. Bloggers and pundits who exploded with rage have since backed up a bit. Starry-eyed Apple fans who squealed with excitement have calmed down as well. So now, we can finally all take a deep breath and talk about iOS 7.

At its core, iOS 7 is a fundamental departure from earlier versions of iOS in terms of user experience. Historically, navigating iOS was very linear. Open an app, close an app. Open another app, close another app. iOS 7 is all about layers, however, and I have a feeling that this is something we ll see Apple really start to run with in future versions of its mobile platform.

Navigating iOS 7 is different. Panels open on tops of apps and transparency effects provide a unique visual reminder that other parts of the OS lie beneath the current view. Apple really ran with this concept, too. For example, each key press on numbers in the new Phone app or on the lock screen provides a fleeting glimpse of the wallpaper that sits beneath the app. It s a very cool effect that does not go unappreciated, and there many are other small design elements that show Apple is still a company that sweats the little things.

There are also new transition animations when navigating iOS. Transitions zoom in and out of icons when opening and closing apps, adding another element to the layering concept. In iOS 7, everything is connected. It also has a very bouncy feel to it.

I find that some animations are overly complex though, such as the transition when closing the task manager, and this makes the user wait a few extra beats in between functions. Apple is moving in the wrong direction here but we re talking about an early beta so hopefully the release version will see these transitions get out of the user s way much faster.



Apple s new user interface appears to be quite similar to earlier versions on the surface, but it is in fact a complete departure from the UI found in iOS 6 and earlier builds.

Beyond the home screen, which indeed looks much like earlier iOS home screens, lies a completely redesigned experience. Every single Apple application has been rebuilt from the ground up, and some apps have undergone such drastic overhauls that they are barely recognizable.

As had been rumored in the weeks leading up to WWDC, the iOS 7 user interface is flat. All of the textures and skeuomorphic elements that have characterized iOS for more than half a decade are gone. But flat is only half the story here.

The interfaces in new Apple apps aren t just flat, they are completely different from the apps they replace. Some applications bear absolutely no resemblance to their predecessors. And even the ones that carry forward the same basic layouts as older apps, like Messages, have such a minimalistic new look that the resemblance isn t always immediately apparent.

Put it like this: You will have no problem transitioning from iOS 6 to iOS 7. Your parents, on the other hand, probably will. But just as they did when they first transitioned from a flip phone to an iPhone, they ll get over it.



For the most part, iOS is still very logical and easy to use. There are areas where the interface falls apart a bit, but the beta 1 label says it all many, many things will change before iOS 7 reaches the public this fall. In its beta form though, there are some real missteps in iOS 7 that are pretty shocking. Here s one example:

Apple, a company defined by design and collective smarts, made a pretty elementary design snafu right on the iOS lock screen.

Slide to unlock sits near the bottom of the display on the lock screen and shimmers, as it always has. But the simple slider button graphic is now gone. Instead, just beneath the words slide to unlock, sits an arrow pointing upward. Sliding upward doesn t unlock iOS though. Instead, this arrow is meant to alert the user to the presence of the new Control Center, which provides quick access to several settings and controls. To unlock an iOS device, the user still must swipe from left to right.

On the surface, this might not seem like a big deal. Think about it from a new iOS user s perspective, however and this is very important, considering how many new iOS users there will soon be if Apple is indeed prepping a new low-cost iPhone.

You tap the unlock button for the first time on your new iPhone or iPad, and your attention is immediately drawn to the shimmering slide to unlock directive near the bottom of the display, which is situated directly above an arrow pointing upward.

You place your finger directly on the words and slide up. Nothing happens. You try again from the center of the display. Nothing happens. One more attempt, this time beginning right on the up arrow itself. A panel of various buttons and sliders appears, but you still can t find the home screen.

It s a stupid mistake. And Apple doesn t often make stupid mistakes when it comes to design. It s akin to placing a traffic sign showing an arrow curving to the right on a street just before the road ahead curves to the left.



On the other side of the coin, iOS 7 has many changes that are absolutely fantastic.

While the new OS doesn t address all of the major complaints surrounding iOS, it definitely tackles a healthy number of them. Multitasking will finally be kicked into high gear now that third-party apps can perform more processes in the background without battery life taking a major hit, and the new Control Center finally provides easy access to key settings and utilities.

The updated Mail app has big improvements and searching actually seems to work now. Safari mobile is much improved as well, with a great new interface and a unified address and search bar. AirDrop is a great new alternative to NFC-based file-sharing, the new Notification Center features are nice (though Apple really took a step backwards by eliminating the weather widget and replacing it with a text-based forecast for the current day only), and iTunes Radio is a welcome addition to Apple s entertainment portfolio, though there are definitely better options out there for users seeking a more comprehensive solution.



I also love the new task manager UI in iOS 7, which was shamelessly stolen from webOS. Thumbnails featuring screen captures of each open app in its most recent state are lined up on the screen. Tapping one will open the related app and flicking one upward will close the app. As someone who was a big fan of the webOS platform before HP sent it away to live on a farm, I think the new multitasking interface is a big step in the right direction, even though Apple engineers couldn t be bothered to come up with their own solution.

But as mentioned earlier, there are plenty of things I haven t been able to get past. I find the new icons to be absolutely hideous, for example. They re juvenile in all cases and downright ugly in some instances, and I m fairly surprised that this is work that left the drawing board at Apple. I would be embarrassed to have been involved in their creation. There are also a number of surprising omissions, an example of which might be the lack of any kind of indication in the Calendar app on days that have scheduled appointments. I would expect that issues like this will be addressed prior to launch, however.

And yes, it s still always sunny in iOS, I m afraid.



IOS 7 isn t about today, it s about tomorrow.

This is important to keep in mind while reading about iOS 7 in the coming months and while using it yourself beginning this fall. There might be a 7 in the name of this software, but it s really version 1 of Apple s new vision for the future of mobile. This is the foundation, and Apple will look to build from here.

Not everyone will like iOS 7 right away. In fact, some people might never like the changes introduced in iOS 7, wishing instead that iOS could have stayed the same forever. Of course, we have all seen how well that worked out for Nokia, BlackBerry and Microsoft.

And the beauty of iOS, of course, is that regardless of how you feel about all of these changes many of which are quite drastic one of the main things that makes iOS so fantastic remains: There is still a massive ecosystem of great apps.

Third-party apps are the lifeblood of Apple s mobile devices, and all your favorite apps will still exist on your device in iOS 7 as they do in iOS 6. Many of them will undergo some cosmetic changes as developers look to mirror iOS s new design identity, but their core functionality will live on. Actually, many of them will get even better thanks to all of the new APIs Apple is making available to developers with iOS 7.

Beyond that, keep in mind as you read about iOS 7 in the coming weeks that Apple really rushed to get the first beta of iOS 7 out on time. Apple s programmers and designers were in such a rush that they couldn t even finish the iPad build in time for WWDC. The final version of iOS 7 that ships this coming fall will be quite different from early beta versions, and you can count on that.



My biggest problem with iOS 7 is the same problem I had with iOS 6, which was the same problem I had with iOS 5: Apple s mobile platform just isn t getting any smarter.

A fear I had leading up to WWDC was that Apple might be spending all of its time and resources on a visual redesign, which could have meant exciting new features and important enhancements would be few and far between. Reality ended up being a bit less grim, but Apple certainly did not strike a balance between renovation and innovation. iOS 7 does include some important new functionality, of course, but the emphasis was clearly on design.

What meaningful, innovative functions can iOS 7 perform that iOS 6 could not?

Many Apple pundits keep making the same argument over and over again. Apple doesn t have to innovate every year. Apple is the most profitable smartphone vendor in the world. The iPhone 5 is the best-selling smartphone on the planet. iOS gets better all the time. And so on. But how much longer will this argument work before people start to want more? How much longer will we be happy with the same core feature set underneath a few new functions borrowed from other platforms?

As I noted, iOS 7 is the beginning of the next chapter in the book of iOS. This is the foundation that Apple will build on in iOS 8 and beyond. And truly I hope Apple has some surprises in store for us some real innovation because based on what I m hearing from well-placed sources at one of Apple s biggest rivals, things are about to get pretty exciting in the smartphone industry over the next few years.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - NASCAR driver Jason Leffler died from injuries suffered when his car slammed into the wall of a dirt raceway in New Jersey, state police said.

The crash occurred during a race at the Bridgeport Speedway in Logan township in southern New Jersey, near Philadelphia, state police spokesman Sergeant Adam Grossman said.

Leffler, 37, of Huntersville, North Carolina, was rushed to the Crozier Hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead at 9:02 p.m., police said.

The raceway calls itself the "Fastest Dirt Track in the East." It consists of a spacious 5/8-mile high-banked dirt oval, where average speeds reach well over 100 miles per hour, according to the track's website.

Leffler was a two-time winner of the Nationwide Series. He had been racing for over a decade, with experience in so-called midget race cars as well as the Indianapolis 500, where he placed 17th in 2000, his website noted.

New Jersey State Police said in a Twitter posting that the accident was under investigation.

"NASCAR extends its thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to the family of Jason Leffler who passed away earlier this evening," the organization said in a Twitter posting. "For more than a decade, Jason was a fierce competitor in our sport and he will be missed."

(Additional reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Tim Gaynor and Peter Cooney)

NEW YORK (AP) Even as a pared-down version of Microsoft's Office software package arrived on the iPhone, the company is holding out on extending that to the iPad and Android devices as it tries to boost sales of tablet computers running its own Windows system.

Microsoft also isn't selling Office Mobile for iPhone separately. Instead, it comes as part of a $100-a-year Office 365 subscription, which also lets you use Office on up to five Mac and Windows computers. Microsoft made the app available through Apple's app store Friday.

Microsoft Corp. is treading a fine line as it tries to make its subscription more compelling, without removing an advantage that tablet computers running Microsoft's Windows system now have the ability to run popular Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Microsoft has been pushing subscriptions as a way to get customers to keep paying for a product that has historically been sold in a single purchase. The company touts such benefits as the ability to run the package on multiple computers and get updates for free on a regular basis.

A subscription can be more expensive than buying the package outright for just one or two computers, but those wanting the iPhone app won't be able to avoid the recurring fees. Microsoft said it wants to give customers yet another reason to embrace subscriptions by offering Office on the iPhone only with a subscription.

The iPhone app will let people read and edit their text documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations at the doctor's office or at a soccer game. But many people will prefer doing those tasks on a tablet's larger screen. Office is available on those devices through a Web browser, but that requires a constant Internet connection, something many tablets don't have.

"The nature of the Office suite, being productivity-focused, makes it better-suited for a larger mobile screen," said Josh Olson, an analyst with Edward Jones. "The issue then becomes, 'How do you provide the Office offering in its best-suited mobile environment without negating a distinguishing characteristic of the Windows 8 tablets?'"

He said Microsoft isn't likely to offer Office on the iPad and other tablets until it sees sufficient adoption of Windows tablets first. Because of that, the new mobile app is likely to increase consumer awareness, but it won't significantly increase subscriptions.

Another analyst, Rick Sherlund of Nomura Securities, warned that delaying a tablet version on non-Windows devices will merely help competitors.

"Office is a bigger business for Microsoft than Windows, so we see more urgency to preserve and extend the Office franchise cross platform," he said.

Apple, for one, is refreshing its iWork package this fall, while Google bought Quickoffice last year. The two offerings are among several that are capable of working with Office files on mobile devices, though people using them may lose formatting and other details.

Chris Schneider, a marketing manager with Microsoft's Office team, would not comment on any plans for the iPad or Android.

The regular version of Office works on Windows 8 tablets, and most of the features are available on a version designed for tablets running a lightweight version of Windows called RT. Customers needing to use Office on a larger screen than a phone might be drawn to the Windows tablets, which have lagged behind in sales and cachet compared with Apple's iPad and various devices running Google's Android system.

The iPhone app comes with Word, Excel and PowerPoint and will sync with Microsoft's SkyDrive online storage service. Microsoft said people will be able to pick up a Word document exactly where they left off on another computer tied to the same account, while comments they add to a Word or Excel file will appear when they open it up on another machine.

Although documents will be reformatted to fit the phone's screen, the company said the iPhone app will preserve charts, animation, comments and other key properties. That's not always the case with programs offered by Google and other companies to work with Office files on mobile devices.

But the app doesn't offer the same range of features available on regular computers.

It's meant for lightweight editing, not complex calculations or heavy graphical work, Schneider said. Someone about to give a speech can review a PowerPoint presentation and fix a typo, for instance. Someone getting a Word or Excel document as an email attachment can add comments or make changes, then send it back, either as an email attachment or through a sharing feature on SkyDrive.

Rather than have it do everything, Schneider said, "we designed the Office Mobile for iPhone to meet the scenarios that make the most sense."

The iPhone app also won't have Outlook for email, Publisher for desktop publishing and Access for databases. Microsoft's OneNote software for note-taking has been available for free separately for iPhones and iPads.

People with Office 365 subscriptions will be able to run the new app on up to five iPhones, in addition to the five Mac or Windows computers. People in the United States were able to get it from Apple's app store Friday. Availability in other countries will follow in the coming days. Downloading is free, but a subscription is needed for the app to work.

It's possible to use the iPhone app on an iPad, but the documents are merely blown up to fit the size of the screen. You won't get to see more of a document despite the larger screen, and text and graphics won't look as sharp when enlarged.

Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., already makes a version for phones running its Windows Phone 8 operating system. An Office 365 subscription isn't required for that, and those apps do not count toward the five mobile devices permitted for each subscription.

___

Online:

Microsoft Office: http://office.microsoft.com

Acer Wearable Gadget Release Date The verdict is still out on wearable technology and whether or not it will become the next big thing. Acer s smartphone chief, ST Liew, is optimistic about its future and said his company will release its first wearable device sometime next year. In an interview with Pocket-Lint, the executive noted that wearable technology presents a tremendous opportunity for companies. He believes that the industry hasn t exploded yet, but when it does it could be a multi-billion dollar market. Liew didn t give many details about the company s upcoming gadget, although he hinted at a device with long battery life and features such as inductive charging. A number of companies are said to be exploring wearable technology. Earlier reports have suggested that Google, Apple, Samsung, LG and Microsoft are all planning to release smart watches in 2014.

[More from BGR: Video: Woz explains how cloud computing is turning us into Soviet Russia]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- Beyonce has settled a New York City lawsuit that said she didn't play fair in a deal for a video game structured around her.

Court records show the case was closed Friday after the Grammy Award-winning singer and Gate Five LLC agreed to drop it.

A lawyer for Gate Five says the terms are confidential. A lawyer for Beyonce hasn't returned a call seeking comment.

Gate Five had said Beyonce made a lucrative deal for a game called "Starpower: Beyonce," then demanded a new agreement and abandoned the project. The company says it lost its nearly $7 million investment and 70 people lost their jobs.

Beyonce's lawyers had said she was within her rights to get out of the deal because Gate Five didn't have needed financing.

by Rob Walker | @YahooTechAs you ve heard by now, Facebook is enabling the use of hashtags the #device for topic-tracking long familiar to users of Twitter.

I can t get excited about yet another way to chime in about the NBA Finals or bicker about the NSA in real time, but the #overkill coverage is a great excuse to sing the praises of a very clever, and genuinely productive, use of hashtags over on Instagram that I learned of recently via the photo site PetaPixel. The hashtag is #litterati, and its goal is to clean up the physical world.

The project is the brainchild of Jeff Kirschner, an entrepreneur in Oakland. As he explains in this brief video overview, he was out walking with his children when his young daughter pointed out some trash that doesn t go there. Increasingly bugged by the amount of litter in the supposedly eco-conscious Bay Area, he dreamed up a distinctly West-Coast-techie scheme.

The idea is to photograph a piece of litter, post your image to Instagram with the hashtag #litterati and then, of course, dispose of that garbage properly. This strikes me as a cunning subversion of certain Instagrammers notorious penchant for documenting the mundane: If it s a good idea to share an image of your brunch, why not share an image of street detritus? The implication that you ve just done a good deed by ridding the public sphere of Instagrammed trash adds to the appeal; and the fact is, trash can be actually a more interesting photo subject than eggs benedict. As of today, the number of #Litterati photos totals 10,647 a lot of garbage!

In addition to pushing the hashtag and starting a dedicated @Litterati Instagram account, Kirschner set up Litterati.org, which collects tagged images and exploits the data offered by participating Instagrammers in several ways: There s a map drawing on the relevant geotags, and a stats page that totals up contributions by state, country and most commonly found items. Cigarettes and plastic top the latter chart, but it s notable that this list includes several brand-specific listings: Starbucks, Marlboro, McDonalds, Snickers, Coke, etc. Kirschner sees potential to use this crowd-found data to start conversations with local governments and companies, about everything from the distribution of trash cans to improved packaging, on the road to a a litter-free planet.

Litterati from Jeff Kirschner on Vimeo.



Okay, so a litter-free planet is probably not going to happen. But give #litterati its due. There s no shortage of frivolity, silliness, and trivia in social media including nonstop participatory Twitter hashtag diversions like #MyFirstTimeBeingHigh, or whatever similar trope is trending when you read this. But after all, as Alexis Madrigal reminded readers of TheAtlantic.com, the hashtag was not invented by a tech company, it was invented by a Twitter user. And like any other digital tool, its ours to do with what we wish.

If that means ridiculous social media fads, fine. But if, every so often, it means something curiously fun and genuinely positive, then that deserves respect, and support. A different kind of writer might even call @Litterati an example of #hashtagtivism. Obviously I would never do that, but I d love to see more projects like this whatever you want to call them. So follow @Litterati on Instagram, or #litterati-tag your own Instagram pictures of garbage you cleaned up and watch them emerge in the digital landfill on Litterati.org.

LONDON (AP) The Duchess of Cambridge has officially named a cruise liner at a gala ceremony.

The former Kate Middleton, wearing a black and white print coat and a black hat, boarded the Royal Princess for the naming ceremony, which included a blessing and the traditional smashing of a bottle across the hull.

The duchess cut a ribbon that set the bottle free moments before it broke open against the hull.

The ceremony in Southampton on Thursday included a brief tour of the ship for the duchess, who is expected to give birth to her and Prince William's first child in mid-July.

It is expected to be her final solo engagement before the birth, although she is expected to join other senior royals at the upcoming Trooping the Color ceremony.

The duchess has been designated the godmother of the ship, a symbolic position dating back to the 19th century. The actresses Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren have also served in this role.

William's mother, the late Princess Diana, also officially named a cruise ship at the same spot in 1984.

The new 3,600-passenger Royal Princess is scheduled to begin cruising the Mediterranean this summer.

Apple product lovers, your iPhone and iPad interfaces will look radically different this year.

At Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), held at the Moscone West Center in San Francisco, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other company executives unveiled new operating systems, iOS 7 for i-devices and OS X Mavericks for Macs, as well as a new version of its MacBook Air and a sneak peek at the next MacBook Pro.

Although Apple didn't announce any new iOS devices, the big redesign featuring an array of new software upgrades in the iOS 7 operating system will make existing devices seem new.

"We want to make the best product that people use more and love more than anyone else's," Cook said.

Let's recap the major announcements:

iOS 7: An Elegant Upgrade

The best way to describe iOS 7's new redesigned interface is that it looks like a crystal-clear pane of layered glass with elegant "flat" icons and features.

Simple and clean, Cook said, it is the "most significant iOS update since the original iPhone [debuted]."

iOS 7 will be available on the iPhone 4 and newer, iPad 2 and newer, iPad Mini and the fifth-generation of iPod Touch, starting in the fall. Developers can start playing with a beta version of the new operating system today.

Apple's New iOS 7, MacBook Air: First Look

In iOS 7, an active home screen features a new, 3D-like experience when you move the phone around and a semi-translucent keyboard. Swiping up from the bottom of the device brings up the Control Center, which allows users to manage several controls such as turning Wi-Fi on and off, opening apps, changing the screen's brightness and using Flashlight -- potentially killing off existing third-party flashlight apps.

Speaking of apps, iOS 7 sports several welcome updates to the iPhone app experience.

Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, announced that iOS 7 has improved Multitasking for apps -- basically, separating apps that are used constantly versus apps that get occasional use -- and will allow for better battery life.

Apps will now be updated automatically through Apple's App Store.

Apps are big business for Apple. Cook announced today that the company has paid out $10 billion to app developers, and there are 900,000 apps available in Apple's App Store, which has had 50 billion app downloads.

There are hundreds of other new features in iOS 7, including the Notification Center, enhanced Photos, Safari, Airdrop, upgrades to Siri's interface and voice, as well as the introduction of iTunes Radio.

Airdrop, a feature that allows users to send files from one Mac to another, is coming to iOS devices for the first time, but will only be available on the iPhone 5, the fourth-generation of iPad and the iPad Mini.

For Even More Details about iOS 7, Read our Live Blog

iTunes Radio: Answer to Pandora, Spotify

iTunes Radio, a free Internet radio service based on the music users listen to on iTunes, is Apple's answer to Internet radio giants such as Pandora and Spotify.

Similar to other online music-streaming products, iTunes Radio has over 200 stations and allows users to create stations based on artists or songs, but Apple's version also offers stations based on what others users are talking about, including a Trending on Twitter station and an Artists on Tour station.

The feature is built into iOS 7, and will be available on supporting iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad devices, as well as iTunes on Mac and PC and Apple TV.

Internet radio has become the new favorite hook of tech giants to attract new users. Just last month, Google announced it was jumping on the online music streaming bandwagon with its All Access service through Google Play.

OS X Mavericks Revealed for Apple Desktops

Previous versions of Apple's iMac desktop operating systems have all been named after cats, but "this is the first OS update delayed due to a dwindling supply of cats," said Apple's Federighi, who is the chief of iOS and OS X operating systems.

Behold OS X Mavericks, which Federighi said was inspired by the California setting into which Apple was born: the Mavericks Invitational big wave surfing contest is held annually in Northern California.

Lots of new features were included in this upgrade: Tagging, Multiple Displays, Calendar updates, Safari with a new side bar, Notifications and iCloud Keychain updates, as well as the debut of Apple Maps and iBooks, now available on iMacs.

With Tagging, users can now tag files to make them more searchable. You can tag your photos or other kinds of content to group things together.

The Finder window, which allows users to search through content saved or downloaded to the computer's hard drive, now has tabs, which can be color-coded, so users can toggle between multiple file paths and searches, like a web browser.

The new operating system also included "next advanced technology," which meant improvement on battery life. The new system brings down CPU activity by 72 percent, meaning more "compressed memory," Federighi said. CPU stands up central processing unit, which handles the tasks and processes currently running on a computer.

The new system can compress inactive memory to free up space for open memory. This makes things like opening documents or reopening an application happen faster.

Notifications was also given a new upgrade in Mavericks that makes it a smarter tool. Users can now reply to emails and iMessages right inside a notification. Apps that send notifications to iOS devices will also send them to your Mac now, too.

For Even More Details about iOS X 10.9 Mavericks, Read our Live Blog

New MacBook Air Has 'All Day Battery Life'

What good would all this new software be without some new hardware to play with it on?

Apple today revealed a new MacBook Air, which will start shipping today, featuring "all day battery life," according to Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

That actually means is that the 11-inch MacBook Air will support nine hours of battery life, while the 13-inch is promising 12 hours of battery life.

Apple's New iOS 7, MacBook Air: First Look

The New Air will also include fourth generation Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors, with a new Intel HD Graphics 5000 clip that boasts up to 40 percent faster performance for gaming and graphics intensive apps. Apple executives said the computer's new flash storage provides speeds up to 45 percent faster than the previous generation and nine times faster than traditional hard drives -- good news for gamers and movie watchers.

It will also have dual microphones, a FaceTime HD camera, a high-speed Thunderbolt port and two USB 3.0 ports.

The 11-inch MacBook Air will go for $999 for 128GB and $1,199 for 256GB. The 13-inch Air is selling for $1,099 for 128GB and 256GB on $1,299.

Sneak Peek: New Mac Pro Coming Later This Year

Apple teased a new Mac Pro computer, which is a model that hasn't seen an upgrade in a while. But it won't be available until later this year.

Billed as the "future of the pro desktop," the computer's hardware features a revamped redesign inside and out.

On the outside, a 9.9-inch-tall, black, glassy cylindrical structure replaces the familiar silver aluminum rectangle.

On the inside, Apple executives promised the new Pro will have a "unified thermal core," a "revolutionary" system that will include the next generation Xeon Intel processors, dual workstation-class GPUs, Thunderbolt 2, PCIe-based flash storage and ultra-fast ECC memory.

In a nutshell, the new Apple computer promises to have "10 times the speed of any notebook hard drive," Schiller said.

There was no mention of a price for the new Mac Pro, nor any mention of a new MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

For Even More Details about Apple's Developer's Conference, Read our Live Blog

Also Read

The father of Edward Snowden told ABC News he's concerned for his son since Edward revealed himself to be the source of a series of top secret leaks from the National Security Agency.

Lonnie Snowden, who spoke briefly with ABC News Sunday, said he's still digesting and processing the news reports about his son, who he last saw months ago for dinner. Lonnie Snowden said the two parted that meal with a hug.

Edward Snowden, 29, went from obscurity as an NSA contractor to a controversial international figure Sunday when The Guardian newspaper published an interview in which Snowden said he was the source of headline-grabbing news stories about the NSA's vast surveillance programs -- from the shadowy agency's penchant for vacuuming up millions of Americans' phone call information to spying on foreigners' internet activity.

READ: Edward Snowden, NSA Contractor, Claims to Be Source of Surveillance Program Leaks

He did it, Edward Snowden said, because he believed the U.S. government had "granted itself power it is not entitled to" in the form of a "horrifying" surveillance capability.

"You are not even aware of what is possible. The extent of their capabilities is horrifying," he told The Guardian. "I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded... That is not something I am willing to support or live under."

Snowden has been reportedly in hiding in Hong Kong, and an employee at Hong Kong's Mira Hotel told ABC News he checked out of that hotel earlier today.

Now, on the run and in apparent fear of U.S. recriminations, a complex portrait is being revealed of a man who went from being a high school dropout to a CIA computer specialist to a highly-paid private contractor and, eventually, to a man in hiding from the most powerful country in the world.

"I do not expect to see home again, though that is what I want," Snowden told The Guardian.

READ: Snowden Could Face Extradition From Hong Kong Hideout

Who Is Edward Snowden, Reported NSA Leaker?

Much of what is known about Edward Snowden was revealed by Snowden himself in a lengthy interview he gave The Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald in Hong Kong, some of which has been confirmed by ABC News through records requests and interviews.

According to a scant U.S. Army file, Snowden was born June 21, 1983. The Guardian reported he was raised in Elizabeth City, N.C., and then Maryland.

Snowden told The Guardian he was a high school dropout who later earned his GED. He also said he attended community college to study computer science, but didn't complete the coursework there either.

A neighbor of Snowden's in Maryland said when Snowden was a teenager, she would often see him on his computer late at night, but she always assumed he was doing school work, unaware that he reportedly dropped out of school.

"I was just totally shocked when I found out that the whistleblower was him," the neighbor said. "You think you know somebody and you don't."

Snowden said he enlisted in the Army in 2003, but Army records said it was 2004 that he signed up in the Army Reserves as a Special Forces recruit. He told The Guardian he enlisted because "I wanted to fight in the Iraq war because I felt like I had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression."

Snowden was apparently an enlistee of an Army program that ensures the recruit of at least a shot at joining the famed Green Berets, whose motto is De Oppresso Liber, or Free the Oppressed. However, Snowden's military records say he left the service just a few months after signing up and did not complete any training. He told The Guardian he broke both his legs in a training accident and was discharged.

From there, The Guardian reported he worked at the University of Maryland as a security guard for a secret NSA facility within the university. He then joined the CIA and worked abroad and undercover as a technical assistant, he told The Guardian. The CIA declined to comment Sunday on Snowden's employment there.

Snowden left the CIA in 2009 only to go to later work for another spy agency, the NSA, as a private contractor with computing giant Dell and then technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii. Snowden described his work in the private sector in a series of titles -- "systems engineer, systems administrator, senior adviser for the Central Intelligence Agency, solutions consultant and telecommunications informations systems officer" -- before becoming an "infrastructure analyst for the NSA." Booz Allen Hamilton confirmed Snowden's employment there and said he joined less than three months ago.

A neighbor in Hawaii told ABC News Snowden and a woman moved out of their home about a month ago. Before that, the neighbor said the couple was disengaged and standoffish.

Wherever he is now, some U.S. officials are calling for his prosecution.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., became one of the first U.S. officials to call for "extradition proceedings at the earliest date" and warned that "no country should be granting this individual asylum."

With his future uncertain, Snowden told The Guardian from hiding that he has no illusions about what could be waiting for him now that his face and name are known to what he described as the "world's most powerful intelligence agencies."

"If they want to get to you, over time they will," he said. "I think the sense of outrage [over the NSA programs] that has been expressed is justified. It has given me hope that, no matter what happens to me, the outcome will be positive for America."

And just as his father is concerned about him, Snowden says he worries about his family.

"My family does not know what is happening... My primary fear is that they will come after my family, my friends, my partner, anyone I have a relationship with," he said. "I will have to live with that for the rest of my life."

Today Snowden's father was reportedly visited by two men who identified themselves as FBI agents.

ABC News' Matthew Mosk, Akiko Fujita and Christopher Good contributed to this report.

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Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 movie about her fight over the pollution of a California town, was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated at Lake Mead near Las Vegas, authorities said Sunday.

Brockovich was arrested late Friday night after breath tests showed her blood-alcohol level was just over twice the legal limit of .08, said Edwin Lyngar, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

A game warden noticed she was struggling and needed assistance while trying to moor her motor boat at the Las Vegas Boat Harbor, he said. Brockovich had been out on the boat with a male companion but was alone when she tried to dock it.

"She was not sure how to maneuver the boat into the dock," Lyngar told The Associated Press. "It's a simple thing if you can think clearly. But if you add alcohol and unfamiliarity of the area, it can all cause serious problems."

Brockovich, 52, of Agoura Hills, Calif., was released from the Clark County Detention Center after posting $1,000 bail.

In a statement issued Sunday, she apologized for her actions but stressed that she did not operate the boat in open waters. She only moved the boat within its own slip, she said.

"At no time was the boat away from the dock and there was no public safety risk," Brockovich said. "That being said, I take drunk driving very seriously, this was clearly a big mistake, I know better and I am very sorry.

"After a day in the sun and with nothing to eat it appears that a couple of drinks had a greater impact than I had realized," she added.

Under Nevada law, a first-time offense of boating while intoxicated is a misdemeanor that draws fines from $1,000 to $2,000 but no jail time. Authorities were unsure whether it was Brockovich's first arrest on the charge.

Brockovich's efforts to sue Pacific Gas & Electric for polluting the water supply of a small Southern California town were adapted into a big-screen story, "Erin Brockovich," starring Roberts in the Oscar-winning title-role.

Last year, Brockovich was back on the big screen in the documentary "Last Call at the Oasis," which explores challenges related to the planet's dwindling and increasingly polluted water supply.

STOCKHOLM (AP) Sweden's Princess Madeleine married New York banker Christopher O'Neill in a grand ceremony in Stockholm on Saturday. Here's a look at key facts about the couple and the wedding.

THE COUPLE

Princess Madeleine, 30, is the youngest of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia's three children and fourth in line to the throne. She has studied child psychology, art history, ethnology and history at university and is known for her stylish clothes and glamorous lifestyle. She now lives in New York where she works for the nonprofit World Childhood Foundation, founded by her mother.

British-American Christopher O'Neill works as a partner and head of research at Noster Capital in New York. His late father, Paul O'Neill, set up the European head office of Oppenheimer & Co in London in the 1960s and his mother, Eva Maria O'Neill, is involved in several charities for the preservation of Salzburg, Austria. He went to boarding school in Switzerland, holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from Boston University and a master's degree from Columbia Business School in New York.

THE WEDDING

The wedding ceremony took place at the Royal Chapel in central Stockholm. After the wedding, a 21-gun salute was fired at five second intervals and the couple greeted the public outside the castle. They then travelled in a procession through the capital in a special horse-drawn carriage, the Parade Barouche, that was also used by the king and queen at their weddings. Finally they sailed by boat to the royal residence and UNESCO World Heritage site Drottningholm Palace, 10 kilometers (six miles) west of the city center, where a private wedding reception will be held.

THE GUESTS

Some 470 guests attended the wedding, including the U.K.'s Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and Sophie; Princess Takamado of Japan, and princes and princesses from Norway, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg and Monaco. O'Neill has many super-rich friends, such as Opel heir Georg von Opel, Cadbury chocolate heir Joel Cadbury, Colombian billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo and Aidan and Fizzy Barclay. Other well-known invites were the CEO of fashion retailer H&M, Karl-Johan Persson, golfer Jesper Parnevik, Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson and Broadway's "Phantom of the Opera" star Peter Joback.

THE DRESS

Madeleine was wearing a dress of pleated silk organza with a four-meter (13-foot) trail, designed by Italian Valentino Garavani. The top part of the dress was lace, with a deep, v-shaped cut in the back. The bridal bouquet consisted of classic white garden roses, as well as lilies of the valley and the traditional myrtle from Sofiero Castle in southern Sweden.

SWEDEN'S ROYAL FAMILY

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, of German-Brazilian descent, met during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. They were married in 1976 and have three children. Their oldest daughter is 35-year-old Crown Princess Victoria, who married her personal trainer Daniel Westling in 2010. Their daughter, Estelle, was born in 2012. Prince Carl Philip, 34, is third in line to the throne after Estelle. He is not married but is in a relationship with former reality TV star and glamour model Sofia Hellqvist.

by Rob Walker | @YahooTechIs the government spying on you? Perhaps. Throw the Feds off your trail by wasting the rest of the afternoon with the following fun diversions.

Shutterbugging: In the smartphone era it s (way too) easy to snap pictures of strangers on the street. But check out this video on Petapixel of invasive street photography pioneer Mark Cohn back in the day, as he pops camera flashes right in people s faces, takes borderline creepshots of a woman s calves, and somehow manages to avoid getting punched.

This Way: AdWeek brings you the world s most intelligent street sign.

Dancing About Gizmos: Tuur Van Balen and Revital Cohen designed an object whose only function is to be manufactured, and (working with a choreographer) created this fascinating video that visualizes assembly-line movements as dance. Via Wired Design.

Beautiful Failures: Computer crashes as art.

Look What s Missing: Image Not Available messages as art. Via Creators Project.

Fashionably Weird: Beautiful Decay shares some appealing fashion-subverting design work from Atelier Ted Noten, such as: Ice picks and cocaine are sunk into acrylic and transformed into designer bags. Perfume sprays down the barrel of a gun, its silencer concealing nail polish. Nuff said.

Unfashionably Weird: How many terrible T-shirts are for sale on Zazzle? Enough to support at least two Tumblrs dedicated to, uh, highlighting the unfortunate results of opening up this form of creativity to the masses. Via Metafilter.

iPad in the Kitchen: How to make a rustic-looking tablet stand from a cutting board. Via Bem Legaus.

iPad in the Bathroom: Easily adjust iPad to any orientation, angle or position . Stable heavyweight base with convenient toilet paper holder. Truly horrible.

Stop Following: Untweep checks your Twitter followers so you can dump those who don t tweet often enough. I don t know. I m vaguely attracted to the idea of only following people who never tweet at all.

And Finally: If you ve ever wanted to climb a construction crane, walk out to the end, and dangle by one hand you re crazy. But this guy did it, with a Go Pro camera. Terrifying. Via Berg.

LOS ANGELES (AP) Richard Ramirez, the notorious serial killer known as the Night Stalker, died early Friday in a hospital, a state official said.

Ramirez, 53, "passed away this morning," San Quentin State Prison spokesman Lt. Sam Robinson told The Associated Press. No other details were released.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Ramirez died of "natural causes." He had been housed on death row for decades and was awaiting execution, even though it has been years since anyone has been put to death in California.

Ramirez had been taken from death row to Marin General Hospital.

Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders that terrorized Southern California in 1984 and 1985, and was sentenced to death.

Satanic symbols were left at murder scenes and some victims were forced to "swear to Satan" by the killer, who entered homes through unlocked windows and doors.

Ramirez was captured and beaten in 1985 by residents of an East Los Angeles neighborhood while attempting a carjacking.

At his first court appearance, Ramirez raised a hand with a pentagram drawn on it and yelled, "Hail, Satan."

After a four-year trial one of the longest in U.S. history Ramirez was sentenced to death in 1989. He also was convicted of many sexual assaults and burglaries.

In 2006, the California Supreme Court upheld Ramirez's convictions and death sentence.

In 2009, San Francisco police said DNA linked Ramirez to the April 10, 1984, killing of 9-year-old Mei Leung. She was killed in the basement of a residential hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood where she lived with her family.

Ramirez had been staying at nearby hotels.

Ramirez previously was tied to killings in Northern California. He was charged in the shooting deaths of Peter Pan, 66, and his wife, Barbara, in 1985 just before his arrest in Los Angeles, but he was never tried in that case.

In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the convictions and sentence.

___

Thompson reported from Sacramento.

by Jason Gilbert | @YahooTechNetflix has released a second video in its new "Netflix Quick Guide" explainer series, and this one answers a question that many of us ask ourselves when coming up empty in our quest to find a movie or TV show on the site: Just how does Netflix choose what to stream?You can see Netflix's answer in the video below. I would re-emphasize that Netflix has been pushing the idea that it is a channel, and not a limitless archive of every moving image since the days of the Lumiere brothers, for some time now. Ever since Netflix made the switch from DVD-first to streaming-first, it has shifted away from the notion that it could act as your Blockbuster video store, where the history of cinema was at your fingertips.Buying up every DVD you could want to rent is much, much cheaper than buying the rights to stream every movie and television show ever, as it happened. This is a difficult concept for a lot of Netflix subscribers who are accustomed to the DVD model to wrap their heads around. And so, as reiterated below, Netflix views itself as a neo-programmer -- that is to say, it is curating a set of movies and television shows that are both affordable (for Netflix) and pleasing (to you). Its success is based on how well it's able to choose programming that its viewers like while still being profitable. But don't take my word for it: Let Netflix explain its programming strategy to you. You can watch the first video in the series, in which Netflix explained Internet streaming, right here.

Justin Bieber is going to space, and he may even shoot a music video in the final frontier.

The teen pop star is the latest celebrity to sign up for a suborbital flight to the edge of space aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, joining actors Angeline Jolie, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio.

"Great to hear @justinbieber & @scooterbraun are latest @virgingalactic future astronauts. Congrats, see you up there!" Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic's billionaire founder, tweeted Wednesday (June 5). (Scooter Braun, Bieber's manager, has also booked a flight.)

Bieber responded with an idea whose seriousness is tough to gauge.

"@richardbranson @scooterbraun @virgingalactic let's shoot a music video in SPACE!! #nextLEVEL," the pop star tweeted to his more than 40 milion Twitter followers.

Seats aboard the six-passenger SpaceShipTwo currently sell for $250,000. To date, more than 600 people have put deposits down to reserve a spot, according to Virgin Galactic's website. However, the space plane hasn't launched anyone to space just yet it's currently in the testing phase, with crewed flights expected to begin by the end of this year.

SpaceShipTwo is designed to fly to suborbital space and back, not make a full trip around the Earth. Passengers will experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of our planet's limb against a black sky, Virgin Galactic officials say.

The spacecraft made its first rocket-powered test flight in April and should begin commercial operations soon, officials say. Branson has said he and his family will be aboard th vehicle's landmark maiden voyage to space.

SpaceShipTwo is the successor to SpaceShipOne, a smaller test vehicle that won the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004 for becoming the first private manned spacecraft to carry people to space and back twice within the span of two weeks.

Virgin Galactic isn't the only game in town when it comes to commercial suborbital spaceflight. XCOR Aerospace is developing a one-passenger space plane called Lynx, which may be up and running around the same time as SpaceShipOne.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on SPACE.com.

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