“Las Vegas man arrested in son’s death in crash - Las Vegas Sun” plus 4 more

Las Vegas man arrested in son’s death in crash - Las Vegas Sun
For Americans, Plastic Buys Less Abroad - New York Times
Boling: No matter what happens today, Mora optimistic - Tacoma News Tribune
Pay phones relics of the past in a world that's gone mobile - Greenville News
Graphite mimics iron's magnetism - EurekAlert

Las Vegas man arrested in son’s death in crash - Las Vegas Sun

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 01:35 PM PDT

The Associated Press

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 | 1:38 p.m.

A Las Vegas man has been arrested on charges of automobile homicide and possession of a controlled substance in a Sept. 23 crash that killed his son in southern Utah.

46-year-old Brandon Arduino was booked into a Las Vegas jail after Utah authorities issued an arrest warrant for him. He remains there pending extradition to Utah.

Arduino was heading south from Cedar City, where he had appeared in court on a charge of distribution of a controlled substance, when his car veered off Interstate 15 and rolled.

His 13-year-old son, Brandon Christopher Arduino-Boggs, was not wearing a seat belt and was killed.

Arduino escaped with minor injuries.

Utah Highway Patrol troopers said they found prescription bottles of OxyContin and hydrocodone in the car.

___

Information from: The Spectrum, http://www.thespectrum.com

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

For Americans, Plastic Buys Less Abroad - New York Times

Posted: 04 Oct 2009 09:52 AM PDT

BETTER pack some cash on your next trip abroad. Americans are finding that their credit and bank cards aren't as convenient as they once were while traveling overseas.

The problem: American cards lack a special chip, now commonly used in many foreign countries, causing the cards to be rejected by some merchants and kiosks.

That's what Nancy Elkind, a lawyer from Denver, discovered in Paris when she wanted to use the popular Vélib' bicycle rental system on a weeklong vacation with her husband last spring. They tried to swipe various cards at the rental kiosk, which doesn't take cash, and all the cards were rejected.

Then, thinking the problem might be with the kiosk and not their cards, they tried other Vélib' locations around the city. But each time, their cards were not accepted.

"We gave up, and kept walking around Paris, commenting occasionally on how much fun it would be to do some exploring by bike," Ms. Elkind said.

The couple's cards, which rely on magnetic-stripe technology for transactions, lacked an embedded microprocessor chip, which stores and processes data and is now commonly used in Europe. Such chip-based cards — commonly referred to as chip-and-PIN cards because users punch in a personal identification number instead of signing for the purchase — offer an extra layer of protection against the theft of cardholder data and counterfeiting, and they are designed to replace magnetic stripe technology and signature payments.

The chip-and-PIN technology usually isn't much of an issue when making purchases at a store, or paying for a meal in a restaurant, as most of those merchants still have credit card terminals that can read the magnetic stripes. Likewise, A.T.M.'s typically recognize and accept many cards whether they have a chip or a magnetic stripe.

But American cardholders have had their cards rejected by automated ticket kiosks at train stations, gas pumps, parking garages and other places where there are no cashiers.

The alternatives aren't ideal. Carrying around a wad of cash is a throwback, not to mention a security concern, for many travelers trained over the years to use plastic for purchases abroad.

And as more countries around the world move to chip-and-PIN cards, it's inevitable that Americans will encounter more difficulties paying for things abroad.

Twenty-two countries, including much of Europe, Mexico, Brazil and Japan, have adopted the technology, according to the Smart Card Alliance, a nonprofit association that promotes chip cards. About 50 other countries are in various stages of migrating to the technology in the next two years, including China, India and most of Latin America, according to the association.

In the last year, Canada began rolling out chip-and-PIN cards and plans to stop accepting magnetic stripe debit cards at A.T.M.'s after 2012 and at point-of-sale terminals after 2015.

These governments like the cards because they reduce fraud. With an embedded microcontroller, large amounts of data can be stored on the card itself rather than in a central database, and counterfeiting such a card is difficult.

But the United States banking industry has no immediate plans to adopt the technology. Part of the reason, experts say, is that fraud issues haven't been as prevalent here as in other countries.

The expense of converting the country to chip-and-PIN technology is also a deterrent. Javelin Strategy and Research, a consulting company for the financial services industry, has estimated the cost for the United States' to migrate to the technology at $5.5 billion, mainly for new payment terminals — an expense that neither retailers nor banks want to shoulder.

Doug Johnson, vice president for risk management policy at the American Bankers Association, said that American banks were concerned about security but that there were no plans to move to chip-and-PIN cards. "There are a lot of hurdles," he said, "both from a cost standpoint as well as a network standpoint, we need to broach."

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Boling: No matter what happens today, Mora optimistic - Tacoma News Tribune

Posted: 04 Oct 2009 09:23 AM PDT

After losing a winnable home game at home against Chicago, and now having to face a very losable game today at Indianapolis, Seahawks coach Jim Mora was asked whether a coach can allow himself to consider the grim possibility of starting the season with a 1-3 record.

With the team, you have to keep it as narrow as possible in terms of focus, he said. All we can control this week is preparing for (the Colts) and playing as well as we can on Sunday.

But as the head coach? Surely there are little mental Ws and Ls projected to games all the way down the schedule.

Its natural as a head coach that you think big-picture, Mora said. I look at the schedule. I would be lying if I (said I) dont peek at it. This is a long season. You never want to discount any loss, or your record, but a lot of things are going to happen in this season, and theres a lot of great challenges ahead for us.

When Mora outlined the specific challenges for the week, he pointed to the obvious: Being disciplined against Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, coming out ahead on turnover difference, controlling the ball and protecting field position.

Of course, he didnt mention one of the Seahawks traditional sore spots: games in the Eastern Time Zone. Since the start of the 2003 season, the Hawks are 5-15 in games three time zones away.

Coach Mike Holmgren tried making a number of changes in the travel routine once it became an issue. Nothing seemed to work and he finally decided he would just stop talking about it.

Mora has instituted some general practice protocol that might affect the teams readiness for morning competition. On some mornings during a typical week, weightlifting gets started before 7 a.m., and meetings are under way shortly thereafter. Practices generally are finished by early afternoon, a time when they were getting started under the previous regime.

The 2009 version of the Seahawks also will travel on Saturday rather than Friday, even on three-time-zone trips.

More relevant than the Seahawks balky biological clocks is the condition of their hamstrings, knees, obliques and ribs. Most notably, backup quarterback Seneca Wallace will be operating behind backup left tackle Brandon Frye rather than having Pro Bowlers Matt Hasselbeck and Walter Jones at those respective positions.

The return to health of linebacker and veteran defensive leader Lofa Tatupu, however, will help cope with the manifold challenge that is Manning.

Mora could point to countless examples of teams especially under new staffs that bounced back from shaky starts. The Seahawks were 2-2 heading into an Oct. 9 game at St. Louis in 2005, the season they advanced to the Super Bowl.

Im not pleased to be 1-2, but Im excited about our football team, Mora said. I think we continue to get better. I look where were ranked statistically in the league, and I see us being productive.

The Seahawks are 10th in the NFL in total offense and 11th in total defense. Of course, a 28-0 win over St. Louis (0-3) in the opener bolstered those numbers.

I feel like were starting to get some of our best players back, and I feel like while they were gone, young guys stepped in and played admirably, Mora said.

I like the direction this teams headed in; I dont necessarily like our record, but I love our mind-set, our attitude, our work ethic, and I think there are real positives on the horizon for this team.

How does that horizon look if the Hawks lose, as predicted by the oddsmakers, and fall to 1-3?

Theyve got a best-case scenario that seems plausible. The next two games are at home against 1-2 Jacksonville and 1-2 Arizona. The subsequent week is the bye, after which they could expect to see some of their injured starters return to the field.

November and December will be difficult, with four road games on the November docket alone.

With a loss to Indy today, 2009 could start looking a lot like 2008. But if the Seahawks can scramble back to .500 at the bye week, all good things remain possible.

Dave Boling: 253-597-8440

Dave.boling@thenewstribune.com

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Pay phones relics of the past in a world that's gone mobile - Greenville News

Posted: 04 Oct 2009 10:06 AM PDT

(3 of 3)

World Communications charges 25 cents for a three-minute call anywhere in the continental U.S. But it also makes money when customers dial 800 numbers or directory assistance or even emergency calls.

Anywhere we have a phone, it does OK, Kenneth Walker said. It if doesnt, we take it out.

At World Communications peak it got into the business in 1985 when phone companies were deregulated it had 180 pay phone locations.

But its like any other business, Walker said. Its not as good as it used to be.

The Walkers said they make more money with their coin-operated air hoses and vacuum cleaners at service stations than they do pay phones these days.

You can call it a hobby these days, Ruby Walker said.

Disappearing act

There were more than 2 million pay phones in the United States in 2000, but by 2006, there were slightly more than 1 million, according to the FCC.

Scott, the S.C. Public Communications Association president, said pay phones are popular in low-income areas and any place people travel. But he said the pay phones along Myrtle Beachs strip are all gone. There isnt a single pay phone at the Myrtle Beach airport, and maybe five or six at the Columbia airport.

Unless the state steps in and subsidizes them in some way, Scott said, theyll all disappear.

Scott said there should be legislation to guarantee a certain number of phones available to the public, with a stipend to keep phones going as a public service.

There ought to be enough so if your car breaks down, he said. You could walk a mile and find a phone.

Five years ago, said Jim McDaniel, a spokesman for the S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff, which represents the public interest in utility regulation, there were about 1,200 companies licensed to provide pay phone service in South Carolina. Today, there are 101 with active certification.

And I cant be sure all of them are even operating, he said.

So, if any legislation ever gets introduced and passed there may not be any phones left, said Phil Gosnell, owner of P&E Enterprises, of Boiling Springs.

Five years ago he owned pay phones in 100 locations, and he serviced phones for other companies throughout the Upstate, too. He owns only seven phones now.

When it went out, it went fast, Gosnell said. About three years ago it dropped off almost completely.

Gosnell said he had locations that were big money-makers: Schools, halfway-houses, convenience stores, housing projects and hospitals. He needs to average about $5 a day per phone in coin revenue to break even on his costs.

Every time I started losing money, I pulled the phone, he said. Now, there arent any good locations left.

About the only locations making money are state and local jails and prisons, Gosnell said.

And one guy has all those tied up, he said. He has North Carolina, South Carolina, and I think Georgia. The long-distance charges are unbelievable in prisons.