Personal Best: Training Insights From Star Athletes

Of course elite athletes are naturally gifted. And of course they train hard and may have a phalanx of support staff — coaches, nutritionists, psychologists.

But they often have something else that gives them an edge: an insight, or even an epiphany, that vaults them from the middle of the pack to the podium.

I asked several star athletes about the single realization that made the difference for them. While every athlete’s tale is intensely personal, it turns out there are some common themes.

Stay Focused

Like many distance swimmers who spend endless hours in the pool, Natalie Coughlin, 30, used to daydream as she swam laps. She’d been a competitive swimmer for almost her entire life, and this was the way she — and many others — managed the boredom of practice.

But when she was in college, she realized that daydreaming was only a way to get in the miles; it was not allowing her to reach her potential. So she started to concentrate every moment of practice on what she was doing, staying focused and thinking about her technique.

“That’s when I really started improving,” she said. “The more I did it, the more success I had.”

In addition to her many victories, Ms. Coughlin won five medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke.

Manage Your ‘Energy Pie’

In 1988, Steve Spence, then a 25-year-old self-coached distance runner, was admitted into the United States Long Distance Runner Olympic Development Program. It meant visiting David Martin, a physiologist at Georgia State University, several times a year for a battery of tests to measure Mr. Spence’s progress and to assess his diet.

During dinner at Dr. Martin’s favorite Chinese restaurant, he gave Mr. Spence some advice.

“There are always going to be runners who are faster than you,” he said. “There will always be runners more talented than you and runners who seem to be training harder than you. The key to beating them is to train harder and to learn how to most efficiently manage your energy pie.”

Energy pie? All the things that take time and energy — a job, hobbies, family, friends, and of course athletic training. “There is only so much room in the pie,” said Mr. Spence.

Dr. Martin’s advice was “a lecture on limiting distractions,” he added. “If I wanted to get to the next level, to be competitive on the world scene, I had to make running a priority.” So he quit graduate school and made running his profession. “I realized this is what I am doing for my job.”

It paid off. He came in third in the 1991 marathon world championships in Tokyo. He made the 1992 Olympic marathon team, coming in 12th in the race. Now he is head cross-country coach and assistant track coach at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. And he tells his teams to manage their energy pies.

Structure Your Training

Meredith Kessler was a natural athlete. In high school, she played field hockey and lacrosse. She was on the track team and the swimming team. She went to Syracuse University on a field hockey scholarship.

Then she began racing in Ironman triathlons, which require athletes to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and then run a marathon (26.2 miles). Ms. Kessler loved it, but she was not winning any races. The former sports star was now in the middle of the pack.

But she also was working 60 hours a week at a San Francisco investment bank and trying to spend time with her husband and friends. Finally, six years ago, she asked Matt Dixon, a coach, if he could make her a better triathlete.

One thing that turned out to be crucial was to understand the principles of training. When she was coaching herself, Ms. Kessler did whatever she felt like, with no particular plan in mind. Mr. Dixon taught her that every workout has a purpose. One might focus on endurance, another on speed. And others, just as important, are for recovery.

“I had not won an Ironman until he put me on that structure,” said Ms. Kessler, 34. “That’s when I started winning.”

Another crucial change was to quit her job so she could devote herself to training. It took several years — she left banking only in April 2011 — but it made a huge difference. Now a professional athlete, with sponsors, she has won four Ironman championships and three 70.3 kilometer championships.

Ms. Kessler’s parents were mystified when she quit her job. She reminded them that they had always told her that it did not matter if she won. What mattered was that she did her best. She left the bank, she said, “to do my best.”

Take Risks

Helen Goodroad began competing as a figure skater when she was in fourth grade. Her dream was to be in the Olympics. She was athletic and graceful, but she did not really look like a figure skater. Ms. Goodroad grew to be 5 feet 11 inches.

“I was probably twice the size of any competitor,” she said. “I had to have custom-made skates starting when I was 10 years old.”

One day, when Helen was 17, a coach asked her to try a workout on an ergometer, a rowing machine. She was a natural — her power was phenomenal.

“He told me, ‘You could get a rowing scholarship to any school. You could go to the Olympics,’ ” said Ms. Goodroad. But that would mean giving up her dream, abandoning the sport she had devoted her life to and plunging into the unknown.

She decided to take the chance.

It was hard and she was terrified, but she got a rowing scholarship to Brown. In 1993, Ms. Goodroad was invited to train with the junior national team. Three years later, she made the under-23 national team, which won a world championship. (She rowed under her maiden name, Betancourt.)

It is so easy to stay in your comfort zone, Ms. Goodroad said. “But then you can get stale. You don’t go anywhere.” Leaving skating, leaving what she knew and loved, “helped me see that, ‘Wow, I could do a whole lot more than I ever thought I could.’ ”

Until this academic year, when she had a baby, Ms. Goodroad, who is 37, was a rowing coach at Princeton. She still runs to stay fit and plans to return to coaching.

The Other Guy Is Hurting Too

In 2006, when Brian Sell was racing in the United States Half Marathon Championships in Houston, he had a realization.

“I was neck-and-neck with two or three other guys with two miles to go,” he said. He started to doubt himself. What was he doing, struggling to keep up with men whose race times were better than his?

Suddenly, it came to him: Those other guys must be hurting as much as he was, or else they would not be staying with him — they would be pulling away.

“I made up my mind then to hang on, no matter what happened or how I was feeling,” said Mr. Sell. “Sure enough, in about half a mile, one guy dropped out and then another. I went on to win by 15 seconds or so, and every race since then, if a withering surge was thrown in, I made every effort to hang on to the guy surging.”

Mr. Sell made the 2008 Olympic marathon team and competed in the Beijing Olympics, where he came in 22nd. Now 33 years old, he is working as a scientist at Lancaster Laboratories in Pennsylvania.


This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 15, 2013

An earlier version of this post misstated the year in which Steve Spence competed in the Olympic marathon, finishing 12th. It was 1992, not 2004. It also misidentified the institution at which he is a coach. It is Shippensburg University, not Shippensburg College.

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CalPERS gains more than 13% in investment returns in 2012















































California's massive public employee pension system gained more than 13% in investment returns last year, most of it from stocks and real estate, the agency said.


It was the best year for the California Public Employees' Retirement System since 2006, when the fund gained 15.7%. CalPERS investments were up 1.1% in 2011 as it struggled to regain its footing after the Great Recession.


With more than $250 billion in assets, CalPERS is the largest public employee pension fund in the U.S. The agency administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million current and retired state, school and local government employees and their families.








Though it released returns for the calendar year, CalPERS reports on a fiscal year ending June 30. And its returns in the first six months of its current fiscal year were 7.1%, slightly below the 7.5% it had assumed it would gain for the full fiscal year.


"We're definitely pleased," said Joe DeAnda, a CalPERS spokesman. "Our hopes are that the performance will continue along these lines."


Investment returns are significant because they help dictate the amount of money that government agencies have to contribute to provide retirement benefits for employees. The importance of the fund's investments was magnified in 2008, when it lost 28% amid the global economic crisis and recession.


Rob Feckner, president of the CalPERS board, said he remains optimistic about the fund's future.


"As we emerge from this recession, I am positive we will continue on the path of improved transparency, accountability and ethics," he said.


stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com






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Live updates: Jodie Foster talks it up; 'Les Miserables' wins big at Golden Globes









The musical “Les Miserables” picked up three Golden Globes on Sunday night, including for best musical or comedy, lead actor for Hugh Jackman and supporting actress for Anne Hathaway.


Jackman’s win for playing Jean Valjean in the epic musical based on Victor Hugo's novel was seen as something as an upset, because Bradley Cooper was seen as a favorite for his role as a bipolar young man in the quirky romantic comedy “Silver Linings Playbook.” 


Daniel Day-Lewis won lead actor for playing the nation’s 16th president in “Lincoln.” Steven Spielberg’s historical epic went into the ceremony leading with seven nominations. Until Day-Lewis, the historical epic has been shut out.








PHOTOS: Nominees & winners | Red carpet


Jessica Chastain won for her role as a CIA operative who helps track down Osama bin Laden in “Zero Dark Thirty.” Earlier in the evening, Ben Affleck won a standing ovation, and a Golden Globe, for directing “Argo” — a bit of vindication, perhaps, for being overlooked for an Oscar nomination for the film about a CIA plot to rescue Americans trapped in Iran in 1980.


Since he was snubbed by the movie academy last week, he has won the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for best director for the film as well.


Affleck followed Jodie Foster, who took to the stage to give a ... retirement speech? A coming-out speech? It was hard to tell. She was receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement when she ramped up to confess that she was single ...  and seemed to sidestep directly addressing any questions about her sexual orientation.


Her acceptance speech at the 70th annual awards was also a rant in favor of privacy that brought many people to its feet. Foster noted that she has lived virtually her entire life in the public eye yet wanted to keep some things private. “I have given everything up there from the time I was 3 years old,” she said. “That is reality enough.” (Memo to Foster: Nothing will destroy an attempt at privacy like telling the world you want to keep your life private.)


PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2013 red carpet


She did thank her ex-partner and co-parent, Cydney Bernard, and suggested that she was embarking on Act 2 of her career. In some ways in sounded like a retirement speech. She seemed to say that from now on, she will only take projects that tap into her creativity.


Earlier in the evening, maverick filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was a surprise screenplay winner for “Django Unchained,” his controversial spaghetti Western set during the slavery era, beating out such favorites as the writers of “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Lincoln,” “Argo,” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting this,” said an effusive Tarantino. “I'm happy to be surprised.”


Tarantino’s win meant one more loss for Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” which had gone into the ceremony leading with seven nominations. So far, the historical epic has been shut out.


Meanwhile, Anne Hathaway sang her way to a Golden Globe for supporting actress in a movie as the tragic Fantine in the musical “Les Miserables.”


With her pixie haircut and tasteful white gown, Hathaway was reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn, charming viewers as she thanked her co-stars, family and friends — and had a special thanks for Sally Field, nominated in the same category for “Lincoln.” She noted that Field forged a career that resisted typecasting — something Hathaway has struggled with as well. Field had played the Flying Nun on TV but went on to play Norma Rae and, more recently, Mary Todd Lincoln.


PHOTOS: Moments from the show


"Thank you for this lovely blunt object," Hathaway told the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.  “I'll forever use it as a weapon against self-doubt.”


Earlier in the evening, the movers and shakers of Hollywood leaped to their feet Sunday night to welcome former U.S. President Bill Clinton on stage at the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards as he introduced the clip for the best dramatic picture nominee “Lincoln.”


Clinton, whose appearance was a well-kept secret, noted the challenges the 16th president faced as he toiled to end the Civil War and slavery. “We’re all here tonight because he did it,” Clinton said.


Golden Globes 2013: Live updates | List | Red Carpet | Winners | Ballot | Show moments | Quotes


“Wow,” exclaimed co-host Amy Poehler as Clinton left the stage. “That was Hillary Clinton’s husband! That was exciting!”





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Iowa man, sister reunite thanks to Facebook, boy






DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been reunited with his sister 65 years after the siblings were separated in foster care thanks to a 7-year-old friend who searched Facebook.


Clifford Boyson of Davenport met his sister, Betty Billadeau, in person on Saturday. Billadeau drove up from her home in Florissant, Mo., with her daughter and granddaughter for the reunion at a hotel in Davenport.






Boyson, 66, and Billadeau, 70, both tried to find each other for years without success. They were placed in different foster homes in Chicago when they were children.


Then 7-year-old Eddie Hanzelin, who is the son of Boyson‘s landlord, got involved.


Eddie managed to find Billadeau by searching his mom’s Facebook account with Billadeau’s maiden name. He recognized the family resemblance when he saw her picture.


“Oh, my God,” Boyson said when he saw and hugged Billadeau.


“You do have a sister,” Billadeau said.


“You’re about the same height Mom was,” Boyson said.


Billadeau’s daughter, Sarah Billadeau, 42, and granddaughter, Megan Billadeau, 27, both wiped away tears and smiled during the reunion.


“He didn’t have any women in his life,” Sarah said. “We’re going to get that straightened out real fast.”


Boyson said he’s looking forward to visiting Billadeau near St. Louis and meeting more family.


“I’m hoping I can go and spend a week or two,” he said. “I want to meet the whole congregation. I never knew I had a big family.”


Eddie, who enjoys messing around with his family’s iPad, said he’s glad he was able to assist in making the reunion happen and that he learned about helping others at school.


“Clifford did not have any family, and family’s important,” the boy said.


Near the end of their tearful reunion Boyson and Billadeau presented Eddie with a $ 125 check in appreciation of his detective work.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Daniel Day-Lewis wins Globe for best actor, drama


BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Daniel Day-Lewis has won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama for his performance in "Lincoln."


The other nominees Sunday night were Richard Gere ("Arbitrage"), John Hawkes ("The Sessions"), Joaquin Phoenix ("The Master") and Denzel Washington ("Flight").


The 70th annual Golden Globes are airing live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, with hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.


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Pharmacies Pressed to Meet High Demand for Flu Vaccine





Pharmacies around the city struggled to meet the demand for flu vaccinations on Sunday, a day after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared a public health state of emergency in response to a drastic increase in the number of flu cases this year.







Andrew Kelly/Reuters

People lining up for influenza vaccines at a New York drugstore.







In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Harlem and places in between, pharmacists were turning away people looking for the last line of defense against a virus that appears to be stronger than ever.


“Just to let you know, I can only take one more on the line,” said Carlos Collazo, a pharmacy intern who was called in to work at a Rite Aid in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on his day off. Those who missed the cut, like Tamika Louissaint and her sister, Doris, had to look elsewhere in the neighborhood or put off the injection at least another day, while drugstores waited for more shipments.


“I was a little bit nervous because of the warning,” Doris Louissaint said, referring to Mr. Cuomo’s declaration. “I’ll go someplace else with her.” The sisters walked away.


The city Health Department said it could not provide data on the availability of vaccines. There were shortages in some areas but they were not pervasive, a spokesman for the department said. Yet an informal telephone survey of a dozen drugstores in neighborhoods across the city found that all but three had run out of the vaccine. Most that had exhausted their supplies said they expected to replenish them by Monday.


The governor’s emergency declaration on Saturday temporarily suspended a state law that prohibits pharmacists from vaccinating children.


There have been nearly 20,000 cases of influenza reported across the state so far this season, according to state health officials. That is four times the number of positive laboratory tests reported last season.


On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that the flu had reached epidemic levels nationwide, and local health officials said that was true for New York City as well.


At Mr. Collazo’s store, on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Fifth Street, more than 30 people had signed up for shots by early Sunday afternoon and nearly 60 had signed up on each of the two days before that. The number of vaccinations on a normal day is five.


People who get vaccinated every year joined newcomers prompted, or frightened, into action by the recent warnings.


“It has been insane,” Mr. Collazo said, adding that most people whom he turned away were polite and understanding.


Lucas Watkins missed his usual vaccination in the fall but decided to get the shot when his girlfriend’s boss came down with the flu. When he was turned away from the Rite Aid in Park Slope, his second failed attempt that day, he simply pivoted and left for another drugstore down the way, joining many others on the same parade.


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Detroit Auto Show: GM unveils 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray









General Motors on Sunday unleashed the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the seventh generation of the classic American sports car and the first new version since 2005.


The highly anticipated unveiling came on the eve of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit during a special preview at the city's Russell Industrial Center.


The new Corvette boasts an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque, the most powerful standard Corvette in history, Chevy says, not including limited-edition models.








VIDEO: The 2014 Corvette debut


"For 60 years, the Corvette has represented the state of the art in performance cars. To put it simply, this car is the reason I work at General Motors," said Mark Reuss, North American president, as he stood on stage next to a fire-alarm red model, the tarp just pulled off. "It's presence, the performance, the history and the heritage -- everything it stands for -- always raises the hair on the back of my neck."


Reuss portrayed the car as a beacon for the company's engineering.


"Since 1953, through the good times and the bad times for this company, there was always Corvette, demonstrating what it means to win -- to be the best," he said. "And now, as we continue to bolster Chevrolet's best lineup ever, here comes the best Corvette ever."


The exterior is a study in sharp edges and angles, continuing an evolution started with the 2005 redesign of its more-rounded predecessor. If there's a controversial styling element, it will be the rather busy rear end, which replaces the 'Vette's signature round tail lights with squarish lights that lean away from center. 


"Of all the reveals at this week's NAIAS, the Corvette is bound to be the most polarizing," said Jesse Toprak, a senior analyst at TrueCar.com. "So many enthusiasts feel bound to the Corvette's swoopy heritage and may find the seventh-generation design to be too angular. On the other hand, there are many who loved the re-creation of the new Camaro and who will welcome the design of the new Corvette."


Bill Visnic, an analyst at auto information company Edmunds.com, said he was "on the fence" about the design. 


“There is a need to make them distinctive, but in the case of the Corvette, there is still a need to pay homage to the tradition, and that gives you a mash-up of ideas," he said. "I think it is effective but expected. There is nothing ultra-radical about it. But that is what Corvette is now to Chevrolet and GM.” 


If the styling departs from tradition, Chevy draws on the car's heritage with the return of the Stingray name, first used in the revered second-generation 1963 model, production of which ran through 1967.


“Stingray is one of the hallowed names in automotive history,” said Ed Welburn, GM vice president of global design. “We knew we couldn’t use the Stingray name unless the new car truly lived up to the legacy. The result is a new Corvette Stingray that breaks from tradition, while remaining instantly recognizable as a Corvette the world over.”


PHOTOS: Six generations of Corvettes


The new Stingray will rip through zero to 60 mph in less than four seconds and achieve more than 1G in cornering grip, according to Chevrolet. The car will also be the most fuel-efficient Corvette to date, exceeding the EPA-estimated 26 mpg of the current model.


Both speed and efficiency are aided by a series of weight-saving measures, including a carbon fiber hood and removable roof panel; composite fenders, doors and rear quarter panels; "carbon-nano" composite underbody panels and a new aluminum frame. Chevrolet says that the car will have a 50/50 weight balance between front and rear, optimal for handling and driver feel.


The all-new 6.2L LT1 V-8 engine features three new technologies: direct injection, variable valve timing and an active fuel management system that enables the engine to throttle down to a four-cylinder configuration in certain situations, such as highway cruising, where it doesn’t need the extra juice.


Putting power to the ground will be a new seven-speed manual transmission with what Chevy calls Active Rev Matching, which "anticipates gear selections and matches engine speed for perfect shifts every time." The automatic transmission option is a six-speed with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.


A Z51 performance package will include an electronic limited-slip differential, dry-sump oiling system, integral brake, differential and transmission cooling, and an aerodynamics package that Chevrolet says improves high-speed stability.


The car rides on new 18-by-8.5-inch front and 19-by-10-inch rear wheels. Models with the Z51 performance package feature 19-by-8.5-inch front and 20-by-10-inch rear forged aluminum wheels. Both will wear Michelin Pilot Super Sport run-flat tires that Chevy says were developed specifically for the seventh-generation Corvette.


FULL COVERAGE: 2013 Detroit Auto Show


The car's interior, a point of criticism in past Corvettes, will include carbon fiber, aluminum and hand-wrapped leather trim pieces, and two 8-inch configurable "infotainment" screens. There will be two seat choices: one for all-around comfort and a "Competition Sport" option with aggressive side bolstering to hold the driver in place during hard cornering.


The cockpit also features five settings the driver can select to optimize the car for varying driving conditions: Weather, Eco, Tour, Sport and Track.


"The result is a more rewarding, more confident experience, whether you’re commuting in a downpour or charging through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca," said Harlan Charles, product manager.


GM has not revealed pricing for the new Stingray but said it will be in the range of the current car. The sticker price for the standard version of the 2013 Corvette starts at $50,000 and variations climb north of six figures.


Corvette production in recent years has plummeted -- from more than 40,000 in 2007 to less than 12,000 in 2012 -- but that's likely largely due to an economy that hampered luxury purchases. Historically, Corvette redesigns, which have averaged once every nine years, have boosted production by 50 percent or more.


Excitement over the new 'Vette could burnish perceptions of the entire Chevrolet lineup, said Toprak of TrueCar.com.


PHOTOS: Highlights of the Detroit Auto Show


"Even though the new Corvette will not have significant market share impact for GM, the vehicle remains ... an iconic symbol of American car-making -- combining power and beauty of design," Toprak said. "In a year where GM's sales are expected to be stagnant, the new Corvette will bring the much needed showroom traffic to Chevrolet dealers."


The car will be manufactured at GM’s Bowling Green, Ky., assembly plant, which underwent a $131-million upgrade, including about $52 million for a new body shop to build the aluminum frame in-house for the first time. It will go on sale in the third quarter of this year.



ALSO:


Corvette history: 60 years, six generations


GM hopes new Corvette will boost Chevrolet sales


Chevy puts on international face at Detroit Auto Show


Follow me on Twitter (@LATimesJerry), Facebook and Google+.





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Aaron Swartz dies at 26; Internet folk hero founded Reddit









Aaron Swartz, who co-founded Reddit and became an Internet folk hero for fighting to make online content free to the public, committed suicide Friday. He was 26.


Swartz hanged himself in his Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment, said a statement released by his family and his girlfriend.


"Aaron's commitment to social justice was profound, and defined his life," the statement said. "He used his prodigious skills as a programmer and technologist not to enrich himself but to make the Internet and the world a fairer, better place."





On his blog, Swartz had written of his history of depression.


He was a Harvard University fellow studying ethics when he was charged in 2011 with stealing nearly 5 million articles from a computer archive at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


He faced 13 felony charges, including wire fraud, computer fraud and unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer. Prosecutors said he intended to distribute the articles on file-sharing websites.


Swartz pleaded not guilty, and his trial in federal court was scheduled to begin next month. If convicted, he could have faced decades in prison and steep fines.


On Saturday, his family and girlfriend called his death "the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach" and blamed decisions by the Massachusetts U.S. attorney's office and MIT for contributing to his death.


Some legal experts believe the charges are unfounded since Swartz had been a university fellow, which gave him the right to access the articles.


In 2011, Carmen M. Ortiz, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, defended the charges, telling the New York Times: "Stealing is stealing, whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars."


The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based digital rights group, called him "an extraordinary hacker and activist."


"Aaron did more than almost anyone to make the Internet a thriving ecosystem for open knowledge, and to keep it that way," the foundation said in a tribute on its website.


On Saturday, American historian Rick Perlstein, who was a friend, called Swartz a philosopher as well as an activist. Swartz had also co-founded the political action group Demand Progress, which campaigns against Internet censorship.


"He had this feeling for data and what it could do, how to master it instead of letting it master us," Perlstein told The Times. "He just insisted on and struggled to live a life of maximal authenticity and integrity."


Born in 1986 in Chicago, Swartz created his first Web application — an online encyclopedia that operated much like Wikipedia — when he was 13.


High school bored him, he later said. After his freshman year, he studied at home and took community college classes that included logic and number theory.


At 14, he helped develop the software behind RSS feeds, which distribute content over the Internet.


He was soon working on such major projects as creating universal ways to exchange information through a group founded by Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist considered the father of the World Wide Web.


As a freshman at Stanford University, he studied sociology but left after a year because "I didn't find it a very intellectual atmosphere," he later said.


Swartz moved to Cambridge, where he began to work on a project that in 2005 turned into the social news website Reddit, which taps "the wisdom of the crowds" by letting users submit and rank news and other online content.


Conde Nast purchased Reddit the next year for a figure insiders put at less than $5 million, Forbes reported in November.


In a 2007 speech called "How to Get a Job Like Mine," given at a computer conference, Swartz gave such advice as "be curious," "say yes to everything" and "assume nobody else has any idea what they're doing either."


Swartz is survived by his parents, Robert and Susan Swartz; his younger brothers, Noah and Ben; and his partner, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman.


Times staff writer Jessica Guynn contributed to this report.


valerie.nelson@latimes.com





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Microsoft taps Krikorian to help run its Xbox business






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it hired technology entrepreneur Blake Krikorian to help run its Interactive Entertainment Business as the world’s largest software company plans bigger things for its Xbox gaming console.


Krikorian will be corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business, reporting to Marc Whitten, chief product officer for the division, Microsoft added.






The appointment follows Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Krikorian’s company, id8 Group R2 Studios, which had developed an application that allows users to control home heating and lighting systems from smartphones.


Microsoft is trying to transform Xbox from a gaming device into a broader service that controls most aspects of home entertainment, including music, movies, TV and sports.


“We look forward to his contribution to our team as Xbox continues to evolve and transform the games and entertainment landscape,” Whitten said in a statement.


Krikorian’s Sling Media – which was sold to EchoStar Communications in 2007 – made the Slingbox device for watching TV over the Internet.


Krikorian resigned from Amazon.com Inc’s board in late December after about a year and a half as a director at the company, the Internet’s largest retailer.


(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Milan Fashion Week starts on somber note


MILAN (AP) — Milan Fashion Week started off on a somber note Saturday, as the design world maintained a vigil for the missing CEO of the family-run Missoni fashion house.


The Italian National Fashion Chamber urged the fashion community to post messages on social networks to keep pressure on authorities not to abandon the search for Vittorio Missoni and five others who disappeared aboard a twin-engine plane near Venezuelan islands on Jan. 5.


Designers expressed their solidarity with the family on the first day of menswear previews Saturday.


"No one better than me can understand the pain and anguish that they are experiencing, the suffering of the sister Angela," Donatella Versace told Italian reporters before her menswear preview. Versace's brother, Gianni, the founder of the company, was killed by a gunman in Miami in July 1997.


Despite the uncertainty, the Missoni fashion house confirmed its menswear preview show for Sunday. In a message posted on Facebook, designer Angela Missoni, Vittorio's sister, expressed gratitude for messages of support. Their brother, Luca, a trained pilot, was in Venezuela helping with the search.


"They did very well to confirm the appointment with the new collection. Vittorio would have done the same," said Mario Boselli, head of the fashion chamber.


Thirty-seven brands were holding fashion shows to present their menswear collections for next winter over four days.


___


DOLCE&GABBANA


Dolce and Gabbana's menswear collection for next winter is pure masculinity, infused with southern romanticism.


With motifs of winter roses, illuminated Madonnas and baroque embossing, the 2014 winter menswear collection evokes the design house's Sicilian roots. And to drive home the point, the designing duo chose ordinary Sicilians as their models, as they have done in the past, filling the runway with men who were more muscular, with more pronounced features and often shorter than those usually seen in fashion.


Cinched high-waist pleated pants strongly suggested a bygone era. Trouser lengths varied from calf to ankle, straight or cuffed, while jacket, coats and vests ranged from short waist cuts to long overcoats.


In its most basic iteration, the collection featured black pants paired with white blousons or dark ribbed sweaters — the clothes of a craftsman, a fisherman, a laborer. Detailing like an overlay of white lace on the blousons elevated the look far above mere utility.


And there were also garments fitting of the merchant class — rich brocade jackets and thick furry overcoats and velvet suits. These more formal clothes, including a dark suit jacket overlayed with white lace and finished with velvet trim, could be worn for business, a personal celebration or to Sunday Mass.


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BURBERRY PRORSUM


Tradition meets innovation in Burberry Prorsum's new winter looks for men.


The "I Love Classics" collection — or made more technology-friendly, I (heart) Classics — focuses heavily on outerwear, from the classic trench and duffel, to topcoats, Chesterfields and bombers.


While diving deep into Burberry's archives, designer Christopher Bailey managed also to have fun, adding a touch of whimsy with repeating heart motifs and oversizing military-inspired accents.


"I liked the idea of celebrating things that are familiar, classic, the kind of classic Burberry, classic menswear," Bailey said backstage. "But I wanted to be playful as well."


Bailey married innovation and levity in traditional coats made of light-weight transparent rubber with a repeating heart lining. Bailey said Burberry developed the rubber to be silky to the touch. Cashmere also gets special treatment, with new finishes and bonding to alter the texture.


Colors followed the classic line — camel, bone, olive, navy and black — with deep reds and dark royal purple.


Maintaining a light mood, animal prints also accented classic bags, complementing the Burberry check pattern, and also adorned shoes and boots. Animal print sunglasses complete the look.


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JIL SANDER


Tall, almost Puritan collars gave gravitas to Jil Sander's first winter menswear collection since returning to the label she founded.


The ample lapels made prominent in the collection for next fall/winter often contrasted in tone or texture with the jacket or sweater they accented, and were sometimes layered over more traditional notched lapels. Short-cropped hair kept the focus on neckline.


Suit jackets were kept mostly shorter and allowed to billow slightly in the back. This permitted whimsical layering with longer sweaters underneath — and most of the suits were finished with sweaters, crew necks or mock turtlenecks, rather than shirts. Pants were straight, and ankle-length, giving way to well-polished boots.


While the looks adhered to the line's minimalist credo — simplicity and clean lines — there was nothing austere about it.


The colors and fabrics were both lush and luxurious. Crimson, cobalt and pine contrasted soothingly with more sober grays and black. Even strong shades were easy on the eyes. Materials included chunky corduroy, cashmere knit and leather.


For fun, Sander offered sleeveless pull-over vests, leaving arms and shoulders bare, and sometimes bi-colored in Harlequin fashion. For more serious moments, there were double-breasted pinstripes, distinguished with monochrome panels.


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ZEGNA


Cyber-kinetic patterns give energy to classic looks by Ermenegildo Zegna.


Zegna signals a push for innovation in the title of the collection: "Style for Change."


Zegna zips up the double-breasted suit with graphic lines, while repeating patterns of dots fused into lines give motion to overcoats.


Gray dominates the collection, giving it an urban flair.


The basic look forms around suits, paired with slim, elegant ties or scoop-neck sweaters. Trousers are straight cut without being tight, and might include a cummerbund that elongate the look.


Much attention is flourished on collars, which when small might be decorated with a clip, or when oversized adorned with a clasp.


Textures operate in contrast. Soft alpaca coats are worn over tailored suits.


Shoes taper to a point, while bags span a range from travel backs to computer totes.


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