Boston Entrepreneur Olympics goes for gold

Don't necessarily expect any new world records to be set at Boston's inaugural Entrepreneurs Olympics on Aug. 1. But do expect fun — and for a good cause.

There will be basketball, volleyball, a 5K race and high jump.

But for $20, you can also watch the less athletically inclined vie for first place at typing, tug-of-war, remote-control helicopter races, blind-folded baby-food tasting and bowling with human inflatable orbs.

"It's not about athletic ability," said Erica Rife, program director for the start-up accelerator MassChallenge, one of the event's partners. "It's about coming together as a team to do something for the greater good."

Sasha Hoffman, head of strategy and partnerships at the online payment company Plastiq, got the idea at a charity wine party last January.

"I thought there's really no event that brings together people's different talents," said Hoffman, who also is on the board of Build Boston, a nonprofit that uses entrepreneurship to propel disengaged, low-income students through high school to college. "I thought it would make sense to do a benefit for (Build)."

Plastiq teamed up with MassChallenge, TUGG, the New England Venture Capital Association and T3 Advisors to organize the event, setting $50,000 as their goal, said David Brown, executive director of TUGG, which raises funds for early-stage nonprofits.

By Friday, they had raised $43,000 and had signed up 300 participants, charging $40 for individuals, $500 for teams of 10 and $1,000 for teams of 20, Hoffman said.

But Build also hopes to recruit mentors at the event for the 200 young entrepreneurs it will have in September in Boston schools, said regional executive director Ayele Shakur.

The Entrepreneurs Olympics will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at 1350 Tremont St. in Roxbury Crossing.

But if you miss out, all is not lost.

"We're absolutely planning to have one next year," Hoffman said, "and to make it even bigger."

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mastectomy aid eases recovery

Before she woke up in the hospital after her mastectomy 12 years ago, Cathy McGrath knew her breast would be gone. What she didn't plan for was multiple post-surgical drains — little plastic bulbs with a long tube — to collect fluid.

"I was really taken aback by it," the North Andover woman said. "I thought, how am I going to manage all of these?"

A nurse told her some women pin the drains to their clothes or go to Home Depot and get a tool belt to put them in.

So McGrath asked herself: What would Princess Di or Jackie O do?

"I thought there's no way they'd be going to Home Depot," she said. "They'd want something incognito, discreet, but with a lot of functionality to it, something that would make them look more like a person than a patient."

So McGrath designed the Jacki, a post-surgical jacket for breast cancer patients, and started A Little Easier Recovery, a nonprofit to give the garments away to patients.

On the outside, the Jacki looks like a classic suit jacket in black or plum. But on the inside, it has pockets all the way around the bottom.

The initial version was made of Polartec fleece. But when McGrath told her story to Polartec, the company gave her a deal on a soft, wicking material that is now used in many of the jackets. The rest are made of interlocking cotton.

In the beginning, her aunt sewed the garments, and McGrath gave them to Brigham and Women's Hospital and Tufts Medical Center. When the hospitals told her that patients loved them, she realized she was on to something and applied for nonprofit status, giving her organization a name that she thought was "humble" but fitting.

"There's absolutely nothing easy about cancer treatment," McGrath said. "The most I could give patients was a little easier recovery."

Since then, her nonprofit has given away more than 10,000 of the garments nationwide and been named a finalist in this year's MassChallenge startup accelerator and competition.

McGrath never meets the patients who wear her jackets, but she has received letters from them, like the woman who delivered her father's eulogy wearing the Jacki, or the one who wore it to her son's wedding, or the woman who was just content to wear it while she played Thomas the Train with her toddler.

"It gives patients some sense of dignity as they recover from a surgery that's affected their body image," said Cate Mullen, the nurse coordinator at Tufts Breast Center, which receives about 150 of the jackets each year. "There's a lot of pain, so it's a big relief that it's easier to get into and out of. It's a wonderful thing we can offer them."

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

If you’re smelling burning oil, look out for a leak

I have a 2005 Mazda 6 with the 3-liter V6 engine and 70,000 miles. I do my own oil changes and for the past several changes have noticed a strong smell of burning oil when stopped at lights or in traffic, lasting three weeks after I have done the oil change. I am very careful not to spill any oil onto the exhaust when removing the filter, and to eliminate this possibility I left the filter in place after the last change. This failed to eliminate the problem. The engine burns no oil between changes and no smoke is visible from the exhaust. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In most cases, smelling hot oil at idle indicates some type of external leak or spillage that drips onto the hot exhaust. In addition to the exhaust components near or under the oil filter, check to make sure no oil is dripping from the valve cover gaskets onto the exhaust manifolds, particularly from the front valve cover with the oil filler cap. Perhaps enough oil collects against the gasket when you refill the engine with fresh oil that it slowly migrates past the gasket and drips on the manifold.

The other system to focus on is the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system. Your engine features a PCV valve plumbed into the induction system downstream of the throttle plate, meaning engine vacuum pulls crankcase vapors into the combustion chambers where they are burned. If the PCV valve is stuck or clogged and doesn't open under engine vacuum, the crankcase may become somewhat pressurized and force oil and vapors past the piston rings and into the combustion chambers.

I have an '83 Jeep CJ-7 with the 258 six-cylinder engine. The oil pressure gauge was showing about 50 pounds per square inch when it suddenly went to zero. I connected a mechanical gauge to the engine block and it showed 60 psi. Is this an easy fix? How does the electrical gauge work?

Could you mount the mechanical gauge in or under the dash? If so, you've "fixed" your problem. I've always preferred mechanical gauges anyway for two reasons — they are instant and accurate, and not subject to electrical gremlins.

To determine whether the problem is the gauge or the electrical sending unit on the engine, disconnect the wire from the sending unit and connect a 12-volt test light from this wire to ground. Turn on the ignition. If the lamp flashes, the instrument voltage regulator is good. If the lamp stays lit, the regulator is bad. If the lamp doesn't light, check the regulator's connections and ground. And check for an open circuit in the connection from the regulator to the gauge.

And finally, if the lamp flashes as it should but the gauge isn't accurate, the gauge is the likely culprit.

My 2005 Grand Marquis is scaring me. I put on the brakes to stop but the car suddenly accelerated. I pushed on my brakes with all my might but the car kept going. I had to shift into neutral. By that time I was out in traffic against the light. This has happened three times. My shop could not find anything wrong. Please help!

I am so pleased to hear that you remember the simplest way to stop/prevent any type of unintended acceleration — shift into neutral! The other quick answer is to turn off the key.

What could have caused this? I can only speculate but I would suggest having the cruise control cable disconnected to eliminate this possibility. I would also inspect very carefully the power brake vacuum system, booster and check valve. A sudden, large vacuum leak could bleed off power assist to the brakes while at the same time possibly cause the engine idle speed to suddenly increase.

Did you feel any rapid pulsing in the brake pedal when this occurred, indicating ABS activation? Check for diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) from the ABS system. Ford also suggests checking the ABS module connector for water intrusion.

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

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

The Ticker

Demolition to make way for Millennium Tower

This weekend Suffolk Constructon will demolish the remainder of a 1905 building at the corner of Franklin and Hawley streets that housed part of Filene's. This will allow developer Millennium Partners to begin work on the 625-foot Millennium Tower, which will include 600 condominiums and apartments, about 218,000 square feet of office space and 231,000 square feet of retail.

SEC files charges against
 hedge fund founder Cohen

The Securities and Exchange Commission leveled its most direct shot against billionaire hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen yesterday by filing civil charges that accuse him of failing to prevent insider trading.

The SEC alleged that Cohen, who founded and runs SAC Capital Advisors, failed to prevent two of his portfolio managers from illegally reaping profits and avoiding losses of more than $275 million. Both managers provided information to Cohen that suggested they had access to inside information, the SEC said. But rather than raise any red flags, Cohen praised one of the managers and rewarded the other with a 
$9 million bonus, the SEC said.

Calif. judge finalizing deal
in Toyota acceleration cases

A California judge said yesterday that he's finalizing a settlement worth more than $1 billion in cases in which motorists say the value of their Toyota vehicles plunged after recalls over claims they unexpectedly accelerated.

U.S. District Judge James Selna said he was approving the deal that was announced in December and will affect 22 million consumers.

• Grossman Marketing Group, a print and promotional products company headquartered in Somerville, has announced the hiring of Al Maloney as an account executive who will work out of the company's Somerville office. Maloney's primary responsibility will be to generate new business opportunities throughout the Northeast, including Western Massachusetts and Upstate New York.
• Metabolix Inc. a bioscience company delivering sustainable solutions to the plastics, chemicals and energy industries, announced that Johan van Walsem has been promoted to the position of chief operating officer. In this newly created role, Van Walsem will be responsible for the management of the company's biopolymers, biobased chemicals and crops businesses, as well as the key functional areas that enable these businesses to perform.
• HomeStart has announced the addition of Kate Jordan as the new housing search director. In this role, Jordan will assist homeless individuals and families who are currently being housed in shelters with locating permanent and affordable housing. Jordan will work with HomeStart's management team to oversee the agency's long-term planning goals and assist with the development of programs.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Value shoppers turn to used cars

With used-car prices falling and the quality of late-model cars improving, buyers are now getting a lot more bang for their buck.

Recent redesigns, especially in the midsize- and compact-sedan segments, have left the used-car market full of vehicles that were on the cutting edge several years ago, but at lower prices now.

Those cars have helped to create "some of the best product we've seen in the industry in years" said Alec Gutierrez, an analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "These vehicles are significantly improved over the models they are replacing."

"If the new-car prices are out of your budget and you're looking to buy used to save a few dollars, used cars the past few years are really good products," said Richard Arca, used car analyst at Edmunds.com. "If you take a look now, the manufacturers made huge strides in improving their product" in the past few years.

To make the deal even sweeter, used-car prices are down 6 percent from their peak in May 2011. The average price for a used car at auction was $11,031 in June, according to Manheim, an auction company, and experts don't expect prices to rise soon.

"Prices will continue to soften at a faster rate," Arca said.

"Now is definitely as good a time as any" to buy a used car, Gutierrez said.

Analysts said the quality of used cars has been instrumental in keeping the entire auto sales business afloat.

"Nearly every vehicle in the industry has so significantly improved that it's helped to shore up the industry," Gutierrez said.

Here are some of the top used cars that have been dramatically redesigned over the past few years:

2011 Hyundai 
Sonata

Replacing the fifth-
generation Sonata introduced in 2005, the '11 was introduced to rave reviews. Kelley Blue Book called the stylish mid-sized sedan a "towering home run" in its review. The redesign brought an entirely new look to the car, along with value, quality and a world-class powertrain.

2011 Kia Optima

The previous iteration of the Optima, a bland, boring car with few attractive features, was replaced by this heavy-hitter. Packed with amenities, this mid-sized sedan comes with improved styling over older models and new (at the time) tech features, including Bluetooth connectivity, an iPhone audio input and a glove box that will keep drinks cool.

2012 Ford Focus

This compact got a new look in 2012, but also packs more quality, features and options. Also available as a 5-door hatchback for the first time, the Focus boasts a stronger unit-body structure and a completely retuned suspension. Premium comfort features include MyFord Touch infotainment and standard dual-zone climate control.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

The Cruze marked the beginning of Chevy's turnaround, and for good reason. While not technically a redesign, the Cruze replaced the Cobalt in Chevy's lineup. The compact has an impressive 36 mpg, and the price to back it up. Superficially, the car is attractive inside and out.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Squantum home’s a day at the beach

If you want to feel like you're on vacation year round, this waterfront house for sale in the Squantum neighborhood of Quincy comes complete with deeded access to a private beach.

Built in 2008 by Realtor/owner Theresa Repoff, the three-bedroom single family at 173 Huckins Ave. in Squantum is about 100 feet from the ocean and has water views from most rooms. It's also one of nine neighboring houses that have deeded access to private Sunrise Beach.

The 3,100-square-foot home with Brazilian cherrywood floors throughout, a third-floor family room, three outdoor decks and a basement wine cellar is on the market for $1,195,000. The second-floor master bedroom and the entire top floor have unobstructed ocean views.

The house, which goes front to back from Huckins Avenue to Sunrise Road, has a three-vehicle garage underneath it, with doors opening out to both streets. It has bushes in front along with front, side and back lawns.

A granite paver walk leads to a covered porch and into a cherrywood foyer with a double-door closet.

To the left is a floor-through, recessed-lit living and dining area with crown molding and three large sets of triple windows with transoms above that bring in lots of light and have ocean views, although the house next door blocks sight lines. A gas fireplace with a granite surround separates the living and dining space. At the end of the dining area sit glass doors that lead out to a private rear deck that looks out to the beach.

The dining area segues into a recessed-lit kitchen with 25 white-painted beadboard-styled cabinets above and below greenish blue granite counters with a multicolored glass mosaic tile backsplash. There's a granite-topped central island with a four-burner Bosch stainless-steel gas cooktop. The refrigerator and dishwasher are also Bosch stainless-steel.

Also on this floor is a half bathroom with white marble floors and counters over an antique vanity.

The home's three cherrywood bedrooms are on the second floor, reached via a turning staircase.

The sunny master suite features a three-part window with unobstructed ocean views and glass doors out to a private deck. There's a large walk-in closet with built-in storage as well as a double-door closet. The en-suite ceramic-tiled master bathroom has a walk-in shower and double-sink vanity with creme marble countertops.

There are two other bedrooms on this floor — ideally sized for children — as well as another full ceramic-tiledx bathroom. Opposite the bath, behind a frosted glass door, is a laundry room with ocean views.

The entire third floor of the home is a cherrywood-floored family room, ideal for entertaining with its private outdoor deck with unobstructed ocean views. There's a vaulted ceiling here, lots of windows, a skylight and even a built-in electric fireplace.

The basement has a finished wine cellar and direct access to the garage. There's also a lot of extra storage space in the unfinished areas.

The home has two gas-fired heating and central air-conditioning systems.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Eyeing Google's vision

OK Glass, I see you.

The technological love-child of a smartphone and glasses with a bit of "Star Trek" mixed in, Google's Glass is the pinnacle of possibly-before-its-time, always connected, wearable technology.

Its role in society and our lives is not quite clear yet, but it sure is cool. It is on the faces of thousands of select Glass Explorers right now, one of whom was generous enough to let me try it out for a bit.

Packed in a frame not much larger than bulky sunglasses, the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-enabled device feels like wearing a pair of glasses. The side unit, which includes essentially every important part of Glass, sits comfortably on the ear, despite its size.

Using Glass is surprisingly natural, after a couple minutes of adjustment time. Even when the display is on and active, the screen is in my vision if I want it to be and was easy to ignore. Google describes the view as looking at a 25-inch TV floating eight feet away, and that's about right. The speaker behind the right ear works well, but the touch panel menu takes a bit of use to adjust to.

The self-consciousness of using voice commands does go away, eventually. Triggering commands by saying "OK Glass," I was able to reply to an incoming text, take a picture and search the Web. Still, voice control was not as fluid and natural as it could be. Asking for "images" works fine, but "pictures" does not.

The camera likely will provide the most use for consumers. Given the popularity of Go Pro cameras and first person video, there is enormous potential. Google's original demo famously featured skydivers recording with Glass, but any parent sick of watching a dance recital through a phone will love the concept.

The most impressive feature right now is something long taken for granted: navigation. The screen shows a display similar to Google Maps on a smartphone, but the utility and ease that the map adjusts to your position and direction you face is simple, and brilliant.

There is an urge to actively use Glass constantly, but it excels when it passively sits on your head. Posting texts and calendar alerts via Google Now and breaking news alerts from news apps are all natural uses of the technology. The times when I felt slightly disappointed with Glass were when I was searching for a reason to use it. The future of Glass will depend largely on what apps are developed.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Back Bay’s lobby in the sky

The John Hancock Tower's new neighbor will rise 33 stories and feature a hotel, condos, three restaurants and a roof terrace, under revised filings for 40 Trinity Place released yesterday.

"We've taken the original design and refined it to make it an even more sleek and elegant building," said Jordan Warshaw of Trinity Stuart LLC, which will replace the Boston Common Hotel and Conference Center at Trinity Place and Stuart Street with the 400-foot glassy tower.

The proposed $225 million building would feature three restaurants, 227 hotel rooms on the middle floors, 115 condos on the top 12 floors and a two-story sky lobby on the 18th and 19th stories featuring a "stunning" restaurant, lounge and roof terrace. About 100 parking spaces would be built into the first few stories.

While Mayor Thomas M. Menino endorsed the original plan as "a wonderful addition," some neighbors voiced concern about wind. Warshaw said developers put the original building through wind tunnel testing and made changes.

"We weren't 100 percent pleased with the results, so we went back to the drawing board," Warshaw told the Herald. "The final design is one that essentially has a wind-neutral effect."

Trinity Stuart, which still needs Boston Redevelopment Authority approval, hopes to break ground in late 2013. Developers estimated the project will generate $3.46 million in new tax revenue for the city and $2.09 million in new state cash. Trinity Stuart is comprised of developers Gary Saunders, Jeffrey Saunders and Jordan Warshaw, whose previous project included transforming the former Boston Police Headquarters into Jurys Hotel.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asian stock markets buoyed by Bernanke testimony

TOKYO — Asian stocks were mostly higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains in Europe and Wall Street after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's suggested stimulus policies may continue for longer than expected.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 percent to 14,733.91 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2 percent to 4,989.20. Shares in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Singapore were also higher.

However, China-related shares were mostly lower, continuing to suffer after China on Monday reported a second straight quarter of slower economic growth.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed early gains to fall into negative territory and then was virtually unchanged by midday, at 21,376.72. Benchmarks in mainland China and Taiwan also were lower. The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5 percent to 2,034.32.

"The slowdown of growth in China is still the main concern," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.

In prepared remarks to lawmakers in Congress, Bernanke said the Fed's timetable for reducing its bond purchases was not decided and that the U.S. central bank could even boost them if the economy fails to meet expectations.

The Fed wants to see substantial progress in the job market before scaling back its $85 billion a month in purchase of government bonds and other financial assets, he said.

Expectations the Fed might start tapering off its stimulus in September have been cast into doubt by recent disappointing economic data.

Wall Street was reassured by Bernanke's comments and also by stronger than expected earnings reports by big companies such as Bank of America, which reported higher profits in the second quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average was almost flat at 15,470.52 while the broader S&P 500 index rose 0.3 percent to 1,680.91.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of British shares rose 0.2 percent to close at 6,571.93 and Germany's DAX gained 0.7 percent to 8,254.72. The CAC-40 in France ended 0.6 percent higher at 3,872.02.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was down 14 cents at $106.34 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 48 cents to settle Wednesday at $106.48.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3092 from $1.3117 late Wednesday. The dollar rose to 100.14 yen from 99.62 yen.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Antarctic talks fail on apparent Russia objections

BREMERHAVEN, Germany — Facing apparent Russian objections, the countries that regulate Antarctic fishing failed Tuesday to agree on proposals to create giant marine sanctuaries in the continent's oceans.

Talks in the German city of Bremerhaven ended with no result — the second time in less than a year that negotiations have stalled.

"The outcome is not what we expected or hoped for ... We did not reach a consensus," said Terje Lobach, the chair of the group deliberating the results.

Two plans were on the table: a proposal put forward by the U.S. and New Zealand to protect the Ross Sea, considered one of the world's most pristine, and an Australian-European plan for a sanctuary covering several areas of the Southern Ocean in the eastern hemisphere.

Russia, however, questioned whether there is a legal basis for the 24-nation Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to create the reserves, according to activists present during the talks.

"After two years of preparation, including this meeting, which Russia requested to settle the scientific case for the Ross Sea and East Antarctic proposals, we leave with nothing," the director of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance, Steve Campbell, said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed regret that the commission was unable to reach agreement on establishing marine protected areas, including in the Ross Sea. Despite the setback, he noted that the majority of commission members "were able to find common ground" and there will be another chance to work out a plan to protect Antarctica.

"I've seen firsthand how acidification, pollution, and sea level rise tear at the fabric of our economies, our communities, even our security," Kerry said in a statement released late Tuesday. "But this isn't just a personal priority. The Ross Sea is a natural laboratory. Its ecosystem is as diverse as it is productive, and we have a responsibility to protect it as environmental stewards — just as we do the rest of the ocean."

Scientists have said the ocean sanctuaries there would be ideal places to monitor climate change away from the influence of man, while conservations say the thriving colonies of seals and penguins should be left alone. However, several countries fear that the sanctuaries would have too much impact on their annual fishing haul.

16.31 | 0 komentar | Read More