South Florida groundhog says its six more weeks of tourism.

In Hollywood beach, the groundhog was not hiding in its burrow.

Instead, the 6-foot tall huggable Punxsutawney Phil (AKA Kevin Maloney) was tap dancing, mingling with guests and waiting for the crowd to jump in the water.

For the ninth year in a row, Hollywood Beach has celebrated Groundhog Day by inviting locals and snowbirds to enjoy a 6:30 a.m breakfast, watch the sunrise, get a quick dip in the water and raise funds for the local lifeguards.

“We always wanted something beach-related,” said organizer, Jeff Hasen, who fell in love with the tradition after celebrating it in Punxsutawney for seven years. The first year he decided to do it in Hollywood Beach, he only had two swimmers. “It’s all about having fun, just a great event for silly people.”

Although the Punxsutawney’s famous groundhog predicted early spring, the Hollywood beach groundhog decided that extending winter is going to be much better for the tourist.

Just like the tradition, the beach was crowded with men and women dressed in top hats and tuxedo tails, except here, they all wore their colorful bathing suits underneath. The children, wore groundhog costumes, painted their cheeks with groundhog whiskers and took turns hugging Phil the groundhog.

“He is the biggest groundhog I ever saw,” said 7-year old Olivia Cruz who was happy to wake up before 6 a.m. to come to Saturday’s Groundhog Day celebration. “I want six more weeks of winter-- I don’t like the cold water but I do like the cold air.”

But the highlight of the morning was when the crowd gathered at the shoreline for the legendary swim, despite the 60-degree weather.

“It’s cold but I brought two towels and I’ll live,” said 71-year old Saundra Bishop, a snowbird from Chicago who wore a bright pink bathing suit. “I put it on my bucket list last year, so I had to do it.”

About 50 brave swimmers ran to the water at once, but it only took about 30 seconds for the majority of them to come running back out of the water.

“I love it, I love it,” shouted Leonard Younger from Ft.Lauderdale who couldn’t contain his joy as he came out of the water. “I’m having such a good time!”

But while Younger lifted his hands to show his accomplishment, others shivered and ran to get towels and sweaters.

“It was cold. But we get together to have a good time for a good cause,” said Paul Schuman, a former lifeguard, who pulled on a big red hoodie after just seconds of being in the water.

In the end, no one knew what the official Punxsutawney’s famous groundhog prediction was, but that didn’t matter. In Hollywood, the folklore says that the beach is good all year long.

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Sony Teases ‘The Future’ of PlayStation in Short #PlayStation2013 Video

Sony‘s CEO, Kazuo Hirai, said he would let Microsoft “make the first move” when it came to releasing a next-generation game console, according to IGN’s Daniel Krupa. But now the official PlayStation blog is teasing viewers with a video entitled “See the Future,” with the #PlayStation2013 Twitter hashtag.

Whatever the future is, it’s apparently got something to do with Feb. 20, the date mentioned in the video. But when it gets here, what will it be like?

PlayStation2013 probably isn’t the actual name

Previous rumors have suggested the next PlayStation console won’t be called the PlayStation 4, because the number 4 is associated with death in Japanese culture. If Sony’s willing to break with its numbering scheme because of tradition, it may be unlikely to tag the actual new PlayStation console itself with the number 13, which is regarded as unlucky in the United States.

Much more powerful hardware

This one’s a given. Unlike in the PC and tablet gaming world, where hardware is regularly updated and improvements tend to be incremental, video game consoles tend to wait years to update before leaping ahead — if you don’t count the two smaller redesigns the PS3 has had over the years while keeping the same performance, anyway, or the introduction of the PlayStation Move controller.

The PlayStation 3‘s big performance draw was its ability to play games on an HDTV, with an upgrade to graphics realism to match. A report by Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett last year suggests that the new PlayStation console may be able to play 3D games (on a 3D HDTV, that is) in 1080p resolution, or regular games in 4096×2160. The latter would basically require a TV as sharp as Apple’s Retina Display.

Far fewer games?

The same report, however, suggests that — as Sony eventually did with the PlayStation 3 — the “PlayStation 4″ may not be able to play any games from the previous generation of consoles.

The PlayStation 3 debuted with the ability to run PlayStation 2 games, but this required it to have both of the PS2′s processor chips inside it. This console-within-a-console design helped push the PS3′s launch price up to $ 599, and Sony soon dropped one of the chips before abandoning them completely. Today’s PlayStation 3 consoles can only play the handful of PS2 games that have been re-released digitally (and are bought separately) on the PlayStation Network.

No place like Home

If the new PlayStation console can’t run PS3 games, that may mean the end of PlayStation Home, Sony’s virtual world and social gaming platform in the style of Second Life (but with Facebook-style games). IGN’s Andrew Goldfarb notes that Sony recently filed a trademark on “BigFest,” however, which it describes as an “online player networking” service in similar terms as PlayStation Home.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Brandi Glanville Talks Plastic Surgery and Says She's Done Talking About Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes

Brandi Glanville's new tell-all, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders, is chock-full of juicy stories about her ex husband Eddie Cibrian, but The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star says that after promotion wraps on the book, she will no longer speak out about the actor and his wife LeAnn Rimes.

Pics: LeAnn Rimes Defends Self with Teeny Weeny Bikini Photos

"As soon the book tour is over, I'm done. I'm not gonna be talking about them publicly," vows Brandi of the topic that has gotten her into a bit of trouble in the past. "I won't be answering questions about them publicly, this is my final chapter. This is all my side of the story is in the book and then I'm done."

As Brandi's book tour has yet to conclude, Eddie is still fair game.

In Drinking and Tweeting, out February 12, Brandi reveals that she took revenge on her ex by sticking him with a $12,000 credit card bill for vaginal rejuvenation surgery after finding out about his extra-marital affair with LeAnn.

Related: LeAnn Rimes On Twitter War with Brandi Glanville

Now swearing off invasive surgeries, Brandi has found more inventive ways to look young. Instead, the RHOBH star has opted for a visit to Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Simon Ourian to get cosmetic fillers injected into her hands, which she says are starting to look "old."

Watch the video to follow Brandi during the procedure!

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White House releases photo of Obama shooting rifle amid gun-control push

AP

President Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David last August in this photo released today by the White House.

WASHINGTON — The White House has released a photo of President Barack Obama firing a gun, two days before he heads to Minnesota to discuss gun control.

In a recent interview with The New Republic magazine, Obama said "yes" when asked if he has ever fired a gun. He said "we do skeet shooting all the time," except for his daughters, at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.

The White House photo released Saturday is dated Aug. 4, 2012, and shows Obama shooting at clay targets on the range at Camp David.

The rifle is cocked in Obama's left shoulder, his left index finger is on the trigger and smoke is coming from the barrel.

Obama is pushing a package of gun-control measures in response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.

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Healthcare experts see bumpy road ahead: “Shift happens”

The healthcare industry in South Florida, like the rest of the country, faces huge challenges in the year ahead as major federal reforms kick in, experts told about 700 people at a University of Miami conference on Friday.

“We are at a critical time in health policy,” said Mark McClellan, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “There are going to be some bumps along the way,” especially starting in 11 months, when the biggest changes in the Affordable Care Act kick in.

“Bumps may be understating what we may go through,” said Patrick Geraghty, chief executive of Florida Blue, the state’s largest health insurer.

They spoke at the conference on the Business of Healthcare Post-Election. The speakers accepted the federal reforms — often referred to as Obamacare — as not only inevitable but necessary. As Tom Daschele, a former Democratic U.S. senator from South Dakota, put it, “having 50 million uninsured is just unacceptable.”

But the reform act, signed into law in 2010, contains more than 2,000 pages, plus thousands of pages more of enabling regulations — details that will have major, and perhaps unexpected, impacts on the healthcare industry, which now makes up almost 20 percent of the nation’s economy.

In October, insurance exchanges will open for enrollment — groups that will allow individuals and small businesses to purchase policies with no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Starting next January, virtually everyone will be required to have insurance, Medicaid will expand in many states, and businesses with more than 50 full-time equivalent employees will be required to provide insurance or pay fines.

“Jan. 1 is a very significant date,” said Steven Ulllmann, director of health policy programs at the UM business school. He called reforms “a process” that will change over time.

“The one thing we know is that healthcare reform will be reformed,” said Chris Jennings, a Washington health policy advisor for the Clinton administration and three senators.

Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the insurers’ trade group, said she had strong ideas about tweaks that could minimize disruption. One arcane, but crucial provision of the law requires that an older person’s policy can be no more than three times as expensive as a young person’s.

The provision will mean huge increases in the policies of younger persons, to pay for the much higher costs of their elders. Insurers are asking for that policy to be postponed for two years, retaining the present maximum spread of about five to one, so that younger people could sign up for insurance without huge sticker shock.

For example, if a 25-year-old pays $100 and a 60-year-old pays $500, the new rule would hike the younger person’s premium to $150 and cut the older person’s premium to $450 — a 50 percent increase for one and a 10 percent decrease for the other.

The thinking of lawmakers was that by lowering ratio, the costs of healthcare would be spread out and shared more equally by the population.

Anne Phelps, a healthcare principal with Ernst & Young, said she favored another change in the law, which now requires that next year a company with the equivalent of 50 employees to provide insurance for anyone working more than 30 hours a week or pay a fine. She thought the threshold should be raised to 32 or 34 hours.

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Feral cats to be trapped at federal wildlife refuges in Florida Keys

Efforts to protect native animals in Florida Keys wildlife refuges will trap feral cats and other unwanted "pests," say federal managers.

The "Final Integrated Pest Management Plan" for the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges, released this week, says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff "will begin actively controlling and removing certain exotic animals from public lands within these refuges."

That includes national wildlife lands at Crocodile Lake on North Key Largo, National Key Deer Refuge based on Big Pine Key, and the Great White Heron and Key West refuges in the Lower Keys.

"They've been talking about this for several years but this is the first we've heard that they're actually going to begin implementation," said Jerry Dykhuisen, an officer of Forgotten Felines, a cat-rescue group in the Middle and Lower Keys.

Forgotten Felines and several other national animal groups oppose trapping feral cats, which often are considered unadoptable and put to death.

A number of conservation groups including the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation and the American Bird Conservancy support the plan, saying birds and local endangered species have few defenses against predatory cats that do not belong in Keys wild areas.

"In terms of influencing the Lower Keys marsh rabbit or Key Largo woodrats chance of persisting, the significance of cat predation exceeds other threats," says the management plan. "Cats impact a remarkable proportion of species in affected communities."

White-crowned pigeons and many other protected bird species "depend upon Keys habitats to sustain them before and after long, over-water migrations," said Audubon Florida's Julie Wraithmell in an FWS statement. "This management plan helps ensure a future for these species in the Florida Keys."

Phillip Hughes, an FWS biologist and acting manager at the Key Deer refuge, said the agency will not mount a large-scale trapping program, but will place traps in known areas where cats and wildlife may come together.

Cats captured will be taken to local animal shelters where staff "can use their expertise regard final disposition of the cats..."

That could include trying to place the cats with "responsible pet owners or placement in long-term cat care facilities on the mainland."

The county-contracted shelter closest to Big Pine Key is based in Marathon.

"When they were talking about this before, there was a no-kill shelter on Big Pine where people could go to get their pets back," Dykhuisen said. "Now there's no shelter at all, so that's a complicating factor."

Iguanas, also considered an unwanted exotic species that eats plants needed by native wildlife, also could be targeted under the plan.

When the draft Pest Management Plan was published in late 2010, the Fish and Wildlife Service received 9,614 comments. The final plan says "over 99 percent" of those were "Internet-generated letters with standard comments."

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How I learned to stop worrying and love Twitter

Is anything more uniquely American than our free-wheeling, 140-character missives?

Twitter is dead, you guys. Writers used to send pithy tweets across cyberspace, borne on the golden wings of Hermes. Now, as T.S. Eliot would say, “Our dried voices, when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless.” Twitter is so uncool, that even if we resurrected the spirits of Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix and got them to tweet never-before-heard song lyrics from the grave, they would have like, 20 followers, tops. And most of them would be spambots. Do you know what else is dead? Rock and roll. When I put on the Dead Weather or Jay-Z, my parents inform me that music used to be all about free love and sharing ideas and now, “Will you turn off that crap you’re hurting my ears.” There is no cool left for me. I must survive on the vapors of Lady Gaga‘s strange perfume and the shiny white veneer of Kim Kardashian‘s teeth. But it’s okay, it’s not like I can tell the difference.

Hi. I’m a twenty-something journalist. And unlike my colleague Matt K. Lewis, I like Twitter.

SEE MORE: Introducing Vine: Twitter’s 6-second video-sharing app

Now, I can see where Matt is coming from. The popularity of Twitter used to befuddle me. When I was in college, I had a private account (rookie mistake) and only followed my friends. My feed read something like an episode of Girls, except with more substance-abuse problems. Twitter did seem kinda like high school, and, as Matt says, was more prison than vision (although to this day, I love a good nonsensical midnight Twitter ramble. And Horse E-Books.) But a couple years later, once I was a working journalist, I started following an increasingly diverse set of people. And another cool thing happened: The Arab Spring. Citizen activists in countries like Egypt, Libya, and Yemen successfully organized revolutionary protests through the social network, and all of a sudden, I stopped viewing Twitter as a place where people just talked about their hangovers. 

Since then, I have been tasked with tweeting from the official accounts of several media organizations — I’m kind of a professional tweeter. By the end of today, I (and my colleagues) will have written and sent out about 70 tweets for Mother Jones — tweets that are (hopefully) informative, spelled correctly, promote our content, match the tone of the publication, and don’t accidentally include cat gifs or naked pictures. If anything should make one despise Twitter, it’s being required to tweet all day long. But instead, it’s only made me more fond of the damn thing.

SEE MORE: 10 famous first tweets from the Pope, Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama, and more

Every day, I get to hear from people, REAL LIVE PEOPLE, who are exercising their free speech rights about something my colleagues and I wrote with our free speech rights. How cool is that? What could be more American than a bunch of strangers conversing in real time about whether the Boy Scouts can constitutionally ban gay members, that great Local Natives album that just came out, and who is really the communist here? (Okay, fine. It’s me.) 

Another point in Twitter’s favor: Go to Facebook or (God forbid) the homepages of various news organizations, and you’re never going to easily or quickly find as many live updates of Hurricane Sandy, the Sandy Hook school shooting, or the 2012 presidential election as you would on Twitter. It’s the go-to place for lightning-quick, easily searchable information. (By contrast, if you need a live update of which color mason jars you should have at your wedding someday, Pinterest has so got you covered.)  

SEE MORE: Why I love Twitter

And unlike journalists exhausted by the troll-y nature of the beast, I like the free-wheeling accessibility of Twitter. The quality of my interactions are mostly positive, probably because I tend to only follow people I would be interested in speaking with in the real world. And just like the real world, sometimes some crazy guy who smells like whiskey and is probably on PCP will try to flash me on the Metro. But that just makes it kind of exciting, right? 

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Lady Gaga Goes On Profanity-Laden Rant With Personal Assistant

Lady Gaga spouted off some serious fighting words while under oath on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013 after her former personal assistant accused her of unpaid overtime wages. The Born This Way singer, 26, referred to Jennifer O'Neal as a "f***ing hood rat who is suing me for money she didn't earn."

"She thinks she's just like the queen of the universe," Gaga said of her former aide during the court battle. "And, you know what, she didn't want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I'm the queen of the universe every day."

The outlandish pop star's rant didn't stop there, with her later referring to O'Neil as a "disgusting human being." Gaga added, "She knew there was no overtime, and I never paid her overtime the first time I hired her, so why would she be paid overtime the second time? This whole case is bull**** and you know it."

RELATED: Gaga Performs at Inauguration Event 

According to a 2011 lawsuit filed in Manhattan (obtained by the NY Post), O'Neal is claiming Gaga owes her more than $393,000, plus damages, for 7,168 hours of overtime.

What do you think? Whose side are you on?

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New York politicians mourn death of former Mayor Ed Koch

AP

Ed Koch raises his arms in victory at the Sheraton Centre after winning the Democratic primary in his bid for a third four-year term on Sept. 11, 1985.

Ed Koch, the fiery New Yorker who served at the city's mayor for three terms, died today at age 88. Politicians and friends expressed their grief today.

Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York:

“Earlier today, New York City lost an irrepressible icon, our most charismatic cheerleader and champion, Edward I. Koch. He was a great mayor, a great man, and a great friend. In elected office and as a private citizen, he was our most tireless, fearless, and guileless civic crusader. Through his tough, determined leadership and responsible fiscal stewardship, Ed helped lift the city out of its darkest days and set it on course for an incredible comeback. We will miss him dearly, but his good works – and his wit and wisdom – will forever be a part of the city he loved so much. His spirit will live on not only here at City Hall, and not only on the bridge the bears his name, but all across the five boroughs.

“I’m expressing my condolences on behalf of all 8.4 million New Yorkers, and I know so many of them will be keeping Mayor Koch and his family and friends in their thoughts prayers. As we mourn Mayor Koch’s passing, the flags at all City buildings will be flying at half-staff in his memory.”

Bill De Blasio, Public Advocate:

""When Ed Koch said ‘How'm I doing?’ it was both a boast and an act of humility. That simple phrase captured the fact that he was deeply connected to everyday New Yorkers. And that connection fueled his urgency and his greatness. He helped bring us out of the fiscal crisis, he helped bring the South Bronx back, he helped give us hope again—all because it was personal for him. He simply wouldn't let New York City fail. Like many, I often disagreed with Ed. But I also got to know and learn from this great man, with a heart and mind as big as the city he loved. Ed Koch is gone now, but his energy and inspiration can never be forgotten by those of us lucky enough to have known him.”

Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York:

"With the passing of Ed Koch, New York has lost one of our most admired public leaders. Ed Koch embodied the highest ideals of public service and his life was dedicated toward making New York - the city and our state - a better place for all. From his days on the front lines of World War II, his time in Congress, to his leadership as Mayor guiding New York City through difficult years, Ed Koch never strayed from his unwavering commitment to serving others.

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Mompreneur jumps into the ‘Shark Tank’

It all started with a 4 a.m. email nearly a year ago: “Do you think a baby bib could change the world? I do...”

Then Susie Taylor included a link to her website, bibbitec.com, and off it went to Shark Tank, the popular ABC television show where entrepreneurs pitch their companies to investors on the show — and by extension, 7 million viewers.

Four months later, as the “mompreneur” was leaving her Biscayne Park home to pick up her kids from school, she got a call from the show asking her to pitch on the spot. Driving with her phone on her shoulder, she told the Bibbitec story.

Shark Tank bit. After a few more back and forths, her segment was filmed last summer.

Friday night, Taylor is scheduled to be on the show pitching Bibbitec’s main product, “The Ultimate Bib,” a patented generously sized, stain-resistant and fast-drying child’s bib made in the USA — Hialeah, to be exact. Bibbitec’s $30 bib can be a burp cloth, changing pad, breast feeding shield, full body bib, place mat, art smock and more, Taylor says.

We won’t be getting any details on what happens Friday night when she and her husband, Stephen Taylor, get into the tank with Daymond John, Mark Cuban and the other celebrity sharks; Taylor has been contractually sworn to secrecy. But whatever the outcome, she believes it will be worth it for the marketing pop.

Taylor was inspired to create her bib after a long and very messy plane ride with her two young sons and started Bibbitec in 2008. She and her team — her husband is CFO, her sister, Heather McCabe, handles sales and marketing, her uncle, Richard Page, is in charge of production, and her aunt, Marcia Kreitman, advises on design — have expanded the line to include The Ultimate Smock for older children and the Ultimate Mini for babies. Coming soon: a smock for adults.

Taylor already got a taste of what a national TV show appearance can do for sales. In September, Bibbitec’s sales jumped 40 percent after she was on an ABC World News "Made in America" segment. “Within 30 seconds, we started getting sales from all over the country and they didn’t even mention our name on the air,” Taylor says. She said that confirmed her belief that a Shark Tank appearance would be worth it.

Plus, Taylor has been hooked on Shark Tank since the first time she watched it in 2008 as she was developing her product. Trained in theater, she admits she didn’t know much about business and learned from the show. She would practice how she would answer the questions.

“I’m all about empowering women who are sitting on the couch watching, because that’s what I was four years ago,” says Taylor. “All I wanted to do was to be on Shark Tank because I believed if I got on Shark Tank the world will see what I am trying to do and that’s all I need. I know it’s a great product.”

Will that theater training come in handy Friday night? Stay tuned. Shark Tank airs at 9 p.m. on ABC and Taylor hopes viewers will join in on Twitter using the hashtag #sharkbib.

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