Richard Baum, 72, Dies; Presided Over Chinapol

Richard Baum, who presided over Chinapol, an online discussion group about China that has become an essential forum for many experts, diplomats and journalists, died Dec. 14 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 72. The cause was cancer, said his son, Matthew. Dr. Baum, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, was an accomplished China scholar who wrote influential works...

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‘We Are Young’ Performed on Vintage Computer Parts

Old computer parts find new life as rock stars with a little help from YouTube user BD594. The “band” — we’ll just call ‘em the Ctrl-Alt-Deletes — perform a delightfully geeky rendition of the hit fun. song “We Are Young.”[More from Mashable: If Santa Were a Hipster]Vintage hard drives provide the beat as a Yamaha CX-5 tickles the ivories and an HP Scanjet 3C plays frontman with the vocals. Pssh,...

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Giada De Laurentiis: My Daughter Still Believes in Santa

Courtesy Giada De LaurentiisThe tree’s done. The stockings are hung. Giada De Laurentiis and her family — husband Todd Thompson and their daughter Jade Marie — are officially ready to host the holidays.“Christmas Eve is the big tradition in an Italian family. It’s when my entire family gets together,” the newest face of Clairol tells PEOPLE exclusively.“This year, for the first time, it will be held...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Yen falls, Nikkei surges as Japan gets a new government

TOKYO (Reuters) - The yen fell to a 20-month low against the dollar on Wednesday, buoying the benchmark Nikkei stock average to nine-month highs, as Japan swore in a new prime minister eager to pursue drastic stimulus steps to drive the country's economy out of deflation. Asian shares and other assets were capped in thin holiday trade, with investors focusing on the fate of U.S. negotiations...

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Military Plane Crash in Kazakhstan Kills 27

MOSCOW — A Kazakh military plane crashed on Tuesday in the southern part of Kazakhstan, killing 27 people, including the acting director of its border protection service, the authorities said. The plane, an An-72, crashed around 7 p.m. about 12 miles from the city of Shymkent near the border with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan’s Committee for National Security said in a statement. The fatalities...

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How ‘Doctor Who’ Kept Its Big Christmas Secret Off Twitter

Tonight Doctor Who fans get to gorge on their annual Christmas fix — a full-length special episode the series has produced every year for the holiday since 2005. This time, however, there’s some extra spice in the form of a new regular cast member: Jenna-Louise Coleman debuts in “The Snowmen” as the Doctor’s next companion.Except it’s not her debut. Coleman actually made her first appearance in the...

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Jack Klugman, Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. Star, Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman 12/24/2012 at 07:35 PM EST Jack Klugman, The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. star beloved by TV, movie and theater audiences for five decades, died in Los Angeles on Monday, one of his sons told the Associated Press. He was 90."He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it and he...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Yen on defensive on U.S. fiscal worry, helps Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Uncertainty over whether U.S. lawmakers will strike a deal by an end-of-year deadline to avert a severe fiscal retrenchment undermined the yen and bolstered Japanese shares on Tuesday in low volume, with many participants away on Christmas holiday. The dollar rose to a 20-month high of 84.965 yen early on Tuesday in Asia, as Japanese markets caught up with global investors...

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