Video game shares down in wake of shooting

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shares of video game makers and sellers fell Thursday in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which has renewed debate about violent games and their potential influence on crime.

Shares of GameStop Corp., whose stores sell video games as well as systems like the Xbox and Wii, fell 5 percent in afternoon trading.

Investors are seen as being increasingly concerned that the government may impose tougher rules on the sales of games rated for “mature” and older audiences.

Investors may be worried that parents will also avoid buying first-person shooter games like “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2″ after the tragedy Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary, in which 20 children and six adults were shot and killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza.

“Maybe there will be more stringent efforts to make sure youth are not playing games that they’re not old enough to play,” said Mike Hickey, an analyst with National Alliance Securities. “Maybe there will be a greater effort by parents in managing the content their kids are playing.”

Shares of companies involved in the video game industry, many of which had been dropping since the shooting, declined further Thursday.

— GameStop stock lost $ 1.37, or 5 percent, to $ 26.18. Shares have barely changed since last Thursday’s close, the day before the shooting, to Wednesday’s close.

— Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc., the publisher of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2,” fell 9 cents to $ 10.70. The stock had already dropped 5.6 percent.

— Electronic Arts Inc. shares fell 41 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $ 13.99. Shares had dropped 5.6 percent.

— Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. shares slipped 29 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $ 11.69. The stock had dropped 8 percent.

The declines came as broader markets rose. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.3 percent at 13,295.

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Stars Reveal Their Plans for the Holidays!

Even the hardest working Hollywood stars take time off for the holidays and we caught up some of them to find out the ways they plan to celebrate!

NCIS: Los Angeles star LL Cool J said one must for his holiday will be enjoying the good food of the season. "You know what? I just want to eat a lot of stuff that I'm not supposed
to eat. Just stick my face as deep in the plate as possible -- and just
come out with a shiny face!"

Below are more stars revealing their holiday plans:

RELATED: Stars Get In the Holiday Spirit

Russell Crowe: "We'll just be at home. I've been away for most of this year -- me and my kids will just be hanging out together, pretty low key."

Kristen Stewart: "I don't know... I mean I love Christmas -- I'm looking forward to having some time off -- it's been a while."

VIDEO: Newlywed Blake Lively Reveals Holiday Traditions

Amanda Seyfried: "I'm going to be with my family, they're all here. And we're going to be opening presents -- same old traditional stuff -- which you know is kinda nice."

Katie Holmes: "We're really excited to be performing (in the Broadway play Dead Accounts) all through the holidays-- and ha--  it's exciting!"

VIDEO: Disney Stars Get Creative for the Holidays

Selena Gomez: "I'm going to go home and sleep -- and eat a lot of food with my grandparents." 

Liam Neeson: "Just be by my sons and some immediate members of the family. And do the traditional stuff -- argue over the turkey!" 

Kirsten Dunst: "Eating like everyone else! Eating a lot."

VIDEO: Do Presidents Do Their Own Holiday Shopping?

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Bernie Madoff's brother gets 10-year sentence

The brother of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff has been sentenced in New York to 10 years in prison for crimes committed in the shadow of his notorious sibling.

Peter Madoff was sentenced Thursday after victims described their anguish at losing their life savings in the Ponzi scheme. The sentence was announced in a crowded Manhattan courtroom by Judge Laura Taylor Swain six months after Madoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy and falsifying books and records. He agreed then to serve 10 years in prison. It was four years ago this month that his brother revealed his multi-decade fraud that cheated thousands of investors out of their $20 billion investment. Bernard Madoff is serving a 150-year prison term.

Peter Madoff says he did not know of the fraud but committed other crimes.

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Miami-Dade elections report: County to blame for some problems

The waits of up to seven hours at some Miami-Dade polls during last month’s presidential election occurred in part because the county failed to estimate how much time it would take to fill out 10- to 12-page ballots, did not open more early-voting sites and decided not draw new precincts this year as planned, a report issued Wednesday concluded.

A last-minute surge in absentee ballots that overwhelmed the elections department staff, and a 12-hour Election Day breakdown of a machine that sorts the ballots also delayed the final results tally by two days, according to the department’s after-action report.

Wednesday’s report was the first comprehensive document outlining all of the factors that contributed to troubles in Miami-Dade. State officials, local elected leaders and county administrators have been piecing it together since the Nov. 6 election.

Some of the blame lies with Florida lawmakers, who placed 11 lengthy constitutional amendments on the ballot and cut the number of early-voting days to eight from 14.

But the 53-page report, while not providing any explicit mea culpas, also places responsibility on the county’s election department, run by Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s appointed elections supervisor, Penelope Townsley.

“It was a combination of factors,” Gimenez told The Miami Herald Wednesday evening. “But I can’t put the blame on any one person or one entity. The blame can go all the way around.”

The report points to seven key factors that affected the election, which was budgeted to cost $11.3 million:

• The length of the ballot: The ballot ran 10 to 12 pages, largely thanks to 11 state constitutional amendments and, though the report doesn’t mention them, 10 county charter questions.

• How long it took voters to fill out their ballots: While the department focused on educating voters, an estimate of the average voting time “may have yielded a better gauge for managing the wait times.”

• The number of early-voting sites: The state limits the sites to elections offices, city halls and public libraries. Miami-Dade could have opened more sites, but it budgeted for and stuck with its traditional 20 sites.

• Processing absentee ballots: Miami-Dade received a record number of absentee ballots — including more than 55,000 on Election Day and the day before — which take longer to tabulate because they require workers to verify individual signatures. There were glitches with the post office, only 60 of 150 hired seasonal workers assigned to open ballots showed up to work, and the machine that sorts ballots broke down for 12 hours beginning at 2:30 a.m. Election Day, further delaying the vote count.

• Delays at polling places: Miami-Dade checks in voters manually, using paper voter registries, on Election Day, instead of using quicker and more accurate (and more expensive) electronic registries available at early-voting sites.• Not reprecincting: Though the department had planned to draw new precincts, following once-a-decade legislative redistricting, it ultimately decided not to because the mayor and several commissioners feared new polling places would confuse voters. More than a quarter of the county’s voters would have been relocated, according to the report.

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For South Florida hotels, BCS championship a post-holiday gift

This season is bringing some extra gifts for South Florida’s tourism industry: Tuesday holidays that allow for extra-long weekends away from home and the college football championship that will extend festivities another week.

For locals who want to put relatives up in area hotels or just drive around town without traffic, the crush of visitors might be a bother, but hoteliers are happy to have the crowds.

“This season is going to be more robust than last year,” said Howard Wolfson, vice president of operations for Hospitality America, which operates three Miami Hampton Inn locations.

While business typically drops off after New Year’s Day, Wolfson said, that doesn’t hold true this year.

“There’s not much of a lull this year because of how the holiday falls in the middle of the week,” he said. “More people may be going on cruises or spending time with friends and family — or maybe they’re waiting around for the bowl game.”

More than 70,000 people — mostly Notre Dame and Alabama fans — are expected to attend the sold-out Discover BCS National Championship Game at Sun Life Stadium on Jan. 7, filling hotels from South Beach to Fort Lauderdale. The 79th annual Discover Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, with a match between Florida State and Northern Illinios University, isn’t quite the draw but is expected to bring some visitors as well.

But even before the biggest game, South Florida is proving popular for Christmas and New Year’s travelers.

Overall this season, the number of Americans traveling 50 miles or more from home between Saturday and Jan. 1 is expected to increase 1.6 percent to 93.3 million, according to AAA. In Florida, the number of holiday travelers is expected to hit 4.8 million, a 1.3 percent increase over last year.

While Miami International Airport is expecting a nearly 2 percent drop in passenger traffic between Friday and Jan. 6 over last year — part of a national softening trend — the number of travelers still is expected to hit just more than two million. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport expects more than a million passengers between Thursday and Jan. 2, an increase of 3-4 percent.

The Orbitz Holiday Travel Insider Index named Fort Lauderdale the third most popular destination for Christmas and fifth for New Year’s, a ranking based on hotel bookings.

And Kayak.com, which lets users compare hundreds of travel sites, shows Fort Lauderdale at No. 5 and Miami at No. 7 based on searches for flights around Christmas; for New Year’s, Miami is No. 4 and Fort Lauderdale is No. 6.

Bob Diener, president of lodging deals website getaroom.com, said Tuesday that for the last 21 days, Miami has been the fifth most popular spot for future bookings — and ranks fourth in terms of arrivals in the upcoming 21 days.

“You definitely have a very extended holiday period in Miami,” Diener said. “Which none of my hotel friends are complaining about.”

The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa certainly has no gripes.

The 998-room hotel in Hollywood is hosting Florida State for the Orange Bowl and Notre Dame for the championship — as well as hundreds more people for each time period.

“We are at 100 percent occupancy for both bowl games,” said marketing manager Judy Erickson.

Erickson said the hotel is expecting different shifts of guests: those who are arriving early and staying Christmas, New Year’s guests leaving a day or two after the official holiday and bowl game visitors arriving the Friday or Saturday before the game and staying until Tuesday.

“It’s a good pattern,” she said.

At the Clevelander and Essex House hotels in South Beach, rooms are nearly sold out during New Year’s and the championship despite a three-night minimum. Marketing manager Anna Whitlow said the national championship is driving significant traffic — especially among Notre Dame fans.

“What we’re seeing from Notre Dame is not only are they excited about the game, they’re exited to experience Miami,” she said. “And we’re loving that. We’re excited to host them.”

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The Gritty Sixties Will 'Not Fade Away'

The Sixties, music and teen rebellion are the subject of Not Fade Away, the first feature film from The Sopranos creator David Chase in theaters Friday, and the young stars of the film – including John Magaro, Jack Huston and Bella Heathcote – are refreshingly plugged in to the era of their baby boomer parents.

Video: Mini 'Sopranos' Reunion in 'Not Fade Away' Trailer

"I grew up listening to [Sixties tunes] and loving that music," says Magaro, listing his favorite bands of the era: "Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Beatles, Dylan – there are so many great ones."

Set in 1964, Not Fade Away kicks off with three best friends from the New Jersey suburbs who are inspired by The Rolling Stones and decide to form a rock band. What follows is a true coming-of-age dramedy as the Italian-American pals (played by Magaro, Huston and Will Brill) discover that chicks dig musicians -- but parents don't approve of long hair and "high-heeled" boots.

"In Jersey in the Sixties, if you were in a garage band -- we had pasty skin and really bad hair, and the car you drove and the things you drink … all the real stuff, the details … were so brilliant," says Huston. "It wasn't this sort of glamorized, Hollywood vision of the Sixties. [Our film is] just really honest, beautiful. It's real gritty."

Video Emmy Flashback '03: Gandolfini Reveals His Crush

"David [Chase] is very detail-oriented and he has a very specific vision," elaborates Magaro. "I think he kind of modeled us all after people from the era. I think mine was Dylan, as you might be able to tell from the poster. … When you're a teenager you see these people and you kind of try and emulate them, and I think that's what he was going for."

Also starring Brad Garrett, Christopher McDonald and James Gandolfini, Not Fade Away was also executive-produced by rocker/Sopranos star Steve Van Zandt.

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Madoff victims angry Ponzi schemer brother gets pricey meal ahead of sentencing

They hope you choke!

Two of Bernie Madoff's victims are outraged that his younger brother got to publicly scarf down a pricey meal ahead of his sentencing tomorrow for helping pull off the world's biggest Ponzi scheme.

In a letter to the judge, Jill and Nancy Miller said they are "very unhappy" that Peter Madoff got his punishment postponed from Nov. 9.

"This man was not using the time for getting his 'tax' situation resolved he was out an(d) about enjoying a leisurely lunch in an expensive Upper East Side restaurant where many of his victims would like to eat but can't afford too (sic)," the hand-written missive says.

"He has his nerve showing his face and flaunting his freedom."

The Millers also said they "hope he savored the food 'cause that's not what he will get in PRISON!"

Another wiped-out victim, Natalie Erger, noted with disdain how Peter Madoff has asked to remain free so he can attended his daughter's Bat Mitzvah next month.

"My grandson will be a Bar Mitzvah in November....How can we pay to fly? How much would it cost to drive? What about food and lodging?" she wrote.

"Thanks Madoff brothers."

On the other hand, Robert Roman -- whose wife, Joan, is Bernie Madoff's sister-in-law -- said that while they lost their life savings to the arch fraudster, jailing Peter Madoff "is an answer only to those who seek revenge."

"Peter was victimized as much as Bernard's 'investors' were. His fear of his brother's domination and back-yard bullying, personally witnessed in real time by me, should not have prevailed," he wrote.

"My family will not cast one stone for that failure nor will we receive satisfaction by the incarceration of Peter Madoff."

bruce.golding@nypost.com

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Don’t be a stranger: Many prefer face-to-face meetings

Holiday time can bring you in contact with customers or clients you may not see the rest of the year. But if you’re expecting to be greeted with cheer you may be surprised.

Frustrated business owners and senior executives say they are turned off by being the customers of a service provider who communicates mostly by email.

Although that type of communication is efficient, a CEO recently told me, “I see them as a commodity — faceless and easy to replace.”

More often, executives complain, they have never even met face to face the actual person on their account — a lawyer, accountant, account executive — leaving them asking: Is this the new way of doing business?

Alejandro Fernandez, a senior executive at a Florida industrial parts company, says he hasn’t seen a few of his service providers all year and won’t let that happen again in 2013.

“I’m not saying I need to go to lunch with you every day but if I’m dealing with you for a year, come out and meet me,” he says. “How do they know all the issues they could be addressing if they are just answering the question I ask?”

Of course, business owners and high level managers are busy, and many time-pressed clients even will say they prefer texting to emails or calls.

Michelle Eisner, chief HR and talent officer with Hollander Home Fashions in Boca Raton, says she knows and trusts the initial contact at the law firm she uses, but spends much of her time working with attorneys there she has never met — and that’s OK with her as long as they are “responsive” and their email communication is “short and to the point.”

Eisner says she travels often and even getting her on the phone is challenging. “I want to work with someone who is able to put a decision or opinion in writing and feel comfortable with that.”

But workplace experts say don’t mistake an interest in efficiency for lack of interest in face-to-face interaction.

Jeff Connally, president and CEO of CMIT Solutions, provides information technology services to small business and has 135 offices, including one in Miami. Connally visits his customers a minimum of once a quarter and requires his franchisees do the same. He attributes the company’s high retention of customers to the on-site visits. “We think it’s vital because people do business with people they know and trust.”

Connally says the visits open the door for cross-selling opportunities that email communicators miss out on. His managers will analyze calls that come into the help desk and bring ideas to the client. Visiting in person allows him to understand the company culture, management style and business needs. “As we listen, we find opportunities to deepen the relationship.”

Consultant Jerry Wilson, a recently retired board-elected senior vice president of the Coca-Cola company, recommends knowing how and why to ask a senior executive for face time. “You need to understand the valid business reason. If you’re just asking someone to lunch to plug your company, that can be seen as a time waster and that hurts relations. Also, meeting with a client to ask “how are we doing?” will be seen as a time waster, he says. Instead, do some homework first and bring ideas for how you can help them grow their business or tackle a concern. “That shows a CEO you care about the relationship.”

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Return to sender: Christmas card didn’t come from Governor’s Mansion

TALLAHASSEE --
It is definitely not the Governor’s Mansion. There are no stately white columns on the modest house 3 miles east of the state Capitol.

But that’s the return address on envelopes containing a Christmas card and a $25 historical Christmas ornament sent to several thousand of Gov. Rick Scott’s supporters.

The mail is from Let’s Get to Work, the political committee raising money for Scott’s 2014 campaign, but the name of the committee appears on the envelopes as “Let’s Go to Work.’’

Scott’s committee has raised about $5 million toward 2014. Scott spent more than $70 million to win the job in 2010 but has indicated he will not spend as much of his own money to win re-election.

Steve Andrews, a Tallahassee lawyer embroiled in a bitter lawsuit against the governor, says his wife received one of the packages.

“It’s a typical intimidation tactic,’’ Andrews told the Tampa Bay Times. He says his wife has not donated to the governor’s campaign or his political committee and should not be on his list to receive anything.

Andrews went to the return address listed and discovered young tenants who were steadily tossing out all of the packages postal authorities were returning as undeliverable. Andrews collected a dozen of them and left them with a Tampa Bay Times reporter.

John French, the lawyer who manages Scott’s political committee, says it was all a mistake made by the printer. The return address should have been his home just down the street, the official address of the committee.

Andrews filed suit against the governor earlier this year in an attempt to keep the state from taking over his office building near the Governor’s Mansion. Andrews had a contract to buy the building from the estate of former Gov. LeRoy Collins when Scott pushed to acquire it so he could expand access to the mansion.

French said no one was attempting to intimidate Andrews or his wife.

“I’m sorry if Mr. Andrews felt intimidated,” French said. “No one was attempting to do anything but recognize that his wife had been a contributor to Republicans in the past. Her name will be removed from the list.”

French added: “If the governor sent me a pretty ornament, I’d put it on my Christmas tree.”

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STREAMING: Alicia Keys Live on Letterman

The Live on Letterman concert series is closing out 2012 with an unforgettable performance by Alicia Keys, live streaming now!

PICS: ET's New Music Tuesday!

This caps off a star-studded year for Live on Letterman, which has surpassed 130 million views with the help of Carrie Underwood, Maroon 5, Coldplay, Adele, Mumford & Sons and more.

Alicia will be singing fan favorites like 2007's No One as well as new releases like Girl on Fire -- the title track from her fifth studio album.

Following her live performance, fans can also catch the Grammy winner on tonight's Late Show with David Letterman, airing at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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