Bloomberg on micro living: I did it for 10 years

He invented the industry-shattering "Bloomberg Box," but young Mike Bloomberg was a flop when it came to putting up a single bookshelf.

The billionaire mayor, one of the wealthiest men in the US, got to reminiscing about his about his early days in New York in the '60s when the discussion on his weekly WOR radio show turned to the 55 "micro" apartments of 250 to 370 square feet that are planned near Bellevue Hospital.

"It's bigger than the apartment I lived in for 10 years, or roughly the same size," Bloomberg recalled, referring to a 325-square-foot fitted-out model at the Museum of the City of New York, where the micros were debuted.

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Mayor Bloomberg

"I used to sleep on a couch sometimes, where you'd open the couch up and it was a pain to take the pillows off and everything and then open it up and make the bed."

The mayor said all his furniture came from the Door Store or Alexander's -- the East Side department store that closed in 1992 -- and when he tried his hand at self-made furnishings the results were laughable.

"I made my own shelves and then I stained them and then the shelves warped," Bloomberg said. "For 10 years, my books rocked back and forth. I was so annoyed with myself. I should have thought of that."

Records show Bloomberg, who made a king's fortune from Bloomberg terminals that provide financial data, now holds title to 11 homes around the world.

On another housing issue, the mayor said he sympathizes with homeowners in Sandy-damaged districts who have no heat and won't re-locate.

"If it were me, I might very well stay at home," he said. "Cold showers are not fun and living with lots of clothing is not fun. But, you know, it's your home. I don't know what I would do. I certainly would not rule out staying at home."

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Lennar design accommodates multigenerational families

In some cases, it may be Grandma moving in with the family. Other times, it may be a recent college graduate returning to the nest.

For all sorts of reasons — financial, medical, personal — a rising number of Americans are moving into extended family households.

Spotting a niche in the growing trend, Lennar Corp. has launched a new concept tailor-made for multigenerational family living.

It’s basically a house within a house: a smaller living unit next to the main home designed to provide independence but also access to the rest of the family household.

“People are really loving the whole concept,” said Carlos Gonzalez, president of the southeast Florida division of Lennar, a Miami-based home-building giant. “We adapted to the market from a design standpoint.”

In Miami-Dade County, Lennar is selling various versions of multigenerational homes in three new developments in Doral, Kendall and Homestead.

Louis Moreno of Kendall and his wife, Danilza Velez, signed a contract for a large NextGen home in The Vineyards development in Homestead last October — even before the models had been built.

“We loved it,” said Moreno, a 45-year-old engineer.

Moreno said his mother-in-law will be able to use the new suite when she visits, as will his family members who frequently come to town from Puerto Rico. “This will provide them with more comfortable space and more privacy,” he said. He also plans to use it as a game room and entertainment area.

The two-story Zinfandel home Moreno picked has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in the main home with a family room and two-car garage. In addition, it has an ample 789-square-foot suite with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchenette. The suite has its own garage, a separate front entrance and an internal door connecting to the main home.

The Zinfandel, which has 2,249 square feet of air-conditioned space in the main house, starts at $283,990 in the Homestead community at 128 SE 28th Ter., but a similar home in Kendall would run about $100,000 more, primarily because of higher land costs, Fernandez said. (In Doral, there is a NextGen home priced at $677,990.)

Some multigenerational models have suites as small as 489 square feet, but all have a separate entrance, a bedroom, a bathroom and some sort of kitchen space.

The idea takes various shapes. One option at the Kendall Square development at 16950 SW 90th St. is a Granny unit above a detached garage.

“Independence is the key word,” said Frank Fernandez, director of sales and marketing for the southeast Florida division.

Depending on local zoning rules, some homes can have full kitchens, others are restricted to kitchenettes with a microwave but no stove. Similarly, some municipalities permit the space to be used as a rental, others prohibit it.

The choice is proving popular. Fernandez said in The Vineyards development in Homestead, 10 of the 14 homes sold to date are NextGen. At Kendall Square, 35 of 107 sales are multigenerational, and at the Isles at Grand Bay development at 11301 NW 74th Street in Doral, five of 48 houses are.

Adapting homes for special needs, such as wheelchairs and safety railings, is done at cost, Fernandez said: “That is company policy.”

As one of the nation’s largest home builders, Lennar has been rebounding strongly from the housing crash. Last week, the builder, whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, posted better than expected earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2012.

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Miami-Dade County Commission helps Miami Dolphins more than voters

If deceptive inconsistency were currency, the Miami-Dade County Commission could make a mint.

And the Miami Dolphins would be happy for it. That way, the county commission could simply give the money away to help cover the football club’s $400 million stadium renovation plan.

Unable to do that, the commission Wednesday urged the Legislature to give the county the authority to raise hotel taxes and give the Dolphins an additional $3 million annual state subsidy.

The plan has the slimmest of chances in the Florida Legislature. It’s controlled by Republicans, many of whom can’t afford to run in a GOP primary where they can be accused of voting to raise taxes or of doling out corporate welfare or both.

But the county commission asked anyway. Despite the long odds.

Is this the same county commission that decided not to ask the Florida Legislature to reinstate 14 early voting days because of the long odds in Tallahassee?

Why yes, yes it is.

“I’m not sure that you’re going to get 14 days out of the state Legislature,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Dec. 14 when a county election advisory group reviewed Election Supervisor Penelope Townsley’s proposal for two full weeks of early voting.

So the commission essentially negotiated with itself and asked for nine days of early voting. That’s just one more than the current eight days, which (coupled with county bumbling over precincts and early voting sites) helped lead to exceedingly long and embarrassing voting lines. The lines stretched for more than eight hours in some places, and made Florida and Miami a national elections embarrassment.

Again.

Even Gov. Rick Scott, who signed the early voting cutback and refused to extend early voting days, realized what a politically bad idea eight days of early voting is. Scott recently proposed a return to 14. That’s not a guarantee it’ll return to 14 days, but it’s a good indication of strong support.

So the commission didn’t ask. Despite the short odds.

The argument was bogus at the time. The commission often urges the Legislature to do things it might not do.

At best, it’s inconsistent. At worst, it’s deceptive. In reality, it’s both. Whether the commissioners are self-deceived or not will take some figuring.

But it’s a good idea of where their priorities are.

More early voting? Well, let’s not ask too much.

Money for a football stadium? Hell, let’s ask for $200 million from taxpayers.

But not every commissioner is to blame.

County Commissioner Esteban “Steve” Bovo, who incidentally supported nine days of early voting, was at least consistent and was one of four commissioners to oppose the Dolphins deal as well. Bovo was a state legislator and said his former colleagues won’t go along with the idea. Also, he said, the last stadium deal from the county was a stinker.

Said Bovo: “The stench of the Marlins deal is in the pores of everything this is about.”

That ain’t the only thing that stinks.

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Samsung’s iPad mini rival, the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, revealed in leaked images

While Samsung (005930) has had tremendous success over the past year with its Galaxy brand of smartphones, the company hasn’t been able to generated the same amount of buzz for its Galaxy tablet line just yet. But now SamMobile points us to the first leaked pictures of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 8.0 that the company hopes will become its flagship tablet in 2013. The pictures, posted on Italian website DDAY, show an 8-inch white tablet that looks like a large Galaxy S III and features thicker side bezels than Apple’s (AAPL) recently released iPad mini. The pictures also show off the new tablet display’s 16:10 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, which packs more pixels per inch than the iPad mini display and its 1,024 x 768 resolution. We’ll get our first official glimpse of the Galaxy Note 8.0 when Samsung shows it off at Mobile World Congress next month.

[More from BGR: The ultimate humiliation: Dell now getting advice from the ‘Dell Dude’ on how to fix company]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Allison Williams Impersonates Dad Brian Williams

Allison Williams admits that when your dad is NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, the man who knows "a lot about a lot," it's hard to tell him anything he doesn't already know. But as his daughter, the Girls star shares with Jimmy Kimmel some inside embarrassing information about the news man and does an impression of her father reading her obituary. It's not as eerie as it sounds!

"I have never once in my entire life broken something down for my dad," Allison said on Wednesday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live! "He's been eight months ahead of me music-wise forever."

In fact, it was her 53-year-old father that first introduced her to Hanson when the brother band was coming up. "Let's just put that out there. He was a fan of Hanson," she revealed.

RELATED: Allison Williams: My Grandparents Saw My Solo Sex Scene

When asked about her dad's reporting, the actress did admit that she wonders how he'd read her obit if ever she were to die. Of how he would announce the death on Nightly News, she joked, "And then he would pause and just sort of look down and say, 'She will be missed. We'll be right back with more news on how you can save on your hard medication.'"

RELATED: Lena Dunham: Brian Williams Is Always On Set

The laughs didn't stop there! Check out Allison and Jimmy's impersonation of royal couple Kate Middleton and Prince William:

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WATCH: Te'o and Couric on his phone calls with 'Lennay Kekua'

Manti Te'o remains doubtful that accused hoaxer Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was the voice he spent hours talking and listening to over the phone, according to a new preview of his interview with Katie Couric, which is set to air in full today.

Te'o reportedly had 1,000 calls with someone he thought was "Lennay Kekua," including one in which he claims to have heard her come out of her coma.

WATCH: TE'O 'HOAXER' IN AWKWARD HUG WITH GRIDDER AFTER USC GAME

Te'o told Couric that he heard breathing followed by her whispering his name.

Couric said Te'o told her, when asked whether he thought it could have been Tuiasosopo, or a man, on the phone, "It didn't sound like a man; it sounded like a woman. If he somehow made that voice, that's incredible. It's an incredible talent to do that, especially every day."

Couric, who's heard the voicemails, said the voice sounded like a woman to her, too.

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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal

The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.

The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.

“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.

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Judge to rule on Miami-Dade absentee ballot ordinance

A judge will rule Wednesday whether Miami-Dade County’s ordinance governing the collection of absentee ballots is constitutional.

The ruling will come in the criminal case against Sergio Robaina, who prosecutors say illegally collected ballots, and filled out two against the wishes of two voters, one of them a woman with dementia. Robaina insists he was just helping elderly citizens who could not deliver their absentee ballots themselves.

Robaina is charged with two counts of violating the ordinance, and two felony counts of voter fraud.

Two years ago, in an effort to crack down on perceived election fraud, the Miami-Dade County Commission passed the ordinance that outlawed the collection possession of more than two absentees ballots, making it a misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail or a fine of up to $1,000.

This past election season, as allegations of absentee ballot fraud rose in Miami-Dade, police used the ordinance as a probable cause-stepping stone to investigate felony charges of voter fraud.

Robaina’s lawyers have asked Miami-Dade Judge Milton Hirsch to throw out the ordinance, saying it unfairly targeted certain voters.

“It cuts off a certain class of voters, for the most part elderly Hispanic who probably live in the Sweetwater area who are accustomed to having confidence in certain people and they talk to them about how to vote,” lawyer Joseph Klock told the judge.

Also, the lawyers alleged, the ordinance is fundamentally unfair because it applies only in Miami-Dade — while some ballots include races for districts that stretch into neighboring counties.

Oren Rosenthal, an assistant county attorney, argued that the commission had every right to enact the ordinance under state law. He also said the ordinance “cuts off a class of fraud that has been proven unique in Miami-Dade County over the years.”

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Bachelor Alum Helene Eksterowicz Engaged

Though it turns out it wasn't meant to be with Bachelor Aaron Buerge from season two of ABC's hit The Bachelor, it looks like Helene Eksterowicz has found love after all.

Helene, 37, who Aaron proposed to in the season finale but split just five weeks later, is engaged to Andrew Goodman, a senior technology consultant for IBM. The two have been dating for a year and a half, and she couldn't be happier.

Pics: Meet Newest 'Bachelor' Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies

"We are very happy about planning our future together," she tells People. "Andrew is a great guy – handsome, loving, family-oriented, hardworking and very non-Hollywood, which is perfect!"

Helene, a middle school psychologist, plans to marry this summer.

Video: Chris Harrison -- Sean Is Most Sincere 'Bachelor' Ever

Aaron has since moved on from their broken engagement as well -- he married Angye McIntosh, his hometown sweetheart, in 2009.

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Google Earnings Reveal Beginnings of a Facebook Problem on Search Revenue

Google beat Wall Street expectations with its fourth-quarter revenues of $ 14.42 billion, but the value of its ads continue to decline, an especially tricky problem with the company’s new search competition from Facebook. Google’s average cost-per-click decreased 6 percent from one year ago, meaning each ad it runs on its biggest business has less value than it did a year ago, continuing a fairly troubling trend for the search giant. It still managed to keep up its paid clicks by getting more and more people to use Google.

RELATED: Google Is Trying to Fix Its Targeted Ad Attitude Problem

Google has managed to offset the decline in click value with that kind of growth for almost a year now, but Facebook’s new Graph Search has the potential to offer users more personalized social-search results — and that could mean higher value for the ads next to them. How much longer can Google can maintain its delicate balance by sheer market power remains to be seen. The company is trying desperately to change its fate with a push for more Google+ integration, which would put advertisers closer to more personal Googling. But so far that hasn’t worked, if the earnings report is any indication. Google’s bet on volume will surely face a test from Facebook’s gamble on the future of social search, no matter what the rival CEOs are saying.

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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