Welcome to the ITProPortal weekend roundup column, where our editors look back at the week’s stories and pick out the best bits.

The articles that caught my attention this week relate to hoaxes, failures, and leaks. 

At the start of the week, we published an update to a story from a few weeks back where Samsung launched an investigation into the Galaxy S3 smartphone. this was after images emerged online showing that the phone had over-heated and exploded in a car.

The owner claimed the malfunction happened when the S3 was sitting untouched in his car’s phone holster. He said, “a white flame, sparks and a bang came out of the phone. I pulled in to look at my phone, the phone burned from the inside out. Burned through the plastic and melted my case to my phone.”

We updated the original story when news from Samsung’s fire Investigation surfaced. Samsung uncovered the exact cause of the damage, with the report stating, “The energy source responsible for generating the heat has been determined as external to the device” and “the device was not responsible for the cause of the fire.”

“The only way it was possible to produce [the] damage…was to place the device or component parts within a domestic microwave.” The S3 owner had apparently been trying to fix water-damage in the device, and the “large amount of external energy” placed on the device was responsible.

There are less hazardous ways of fixing water damaged phones, using either silica gel or uncooked rice. place the affected mobile in an airtight container, with either product, overnight and the water should be drawn out – although if components are already fried, this won’t help. Microwaving the handset is clearly not the answer.

The first leak of the week came when photos appeared online allegedly showing an iPhone 5 engineering sample. this highlighted a taller, thinner mobile, broadly in line with previous rumours suggesting Apple’s next-generation flagship smartphone would have a larger form factor.

The handset in the pictures retained the style of the current generation iPhone 4S, but offering a larger display, potentially 4in, as opposed to the 3.5in screen found on Apple’s present flagship device.

The case is also taller at 120mm, making it 5mm larger than the 4S. Key positioning points appear to be in place and also similar, with the only real potential design revelation being the appearance of a small hole between the rear camera and the LED flash, which could be a rear-facing microphone used for AV recording and noise reduction.

The second notable leak came on the last working day of the week – also an iPhone 5, but with a much better picture. These new photos show the next-gen iPhone, next to an iPhone 4. The latest pictures show a number of key design features, including a larger display and smaller dock connector heavily rumoured for some time now.

This won’t be the last leak surrounding the iPhone 5, though some of these should be taken with a pinch of salt. in saying that, the new form factor of the phone does seem to be a constant throughout recent rumours and photos. The anticipation for the new handset is starting to ramp up now, though. Let’s just hope someone carelessly leaves a prototype in a bar, again.

The failure of the week came from O2, which suffered a catastrophic outage leaving its customers unable to make or receive calls. this was first spotted on Wednesday 11 July, at around 1:30pm.

This issue grew into a two-day problem for a significant amount of customers, affecting both data and text messaging, too. It was finally resolved on Thursday 11 July, at around 1:30pm. O2 posted a message to its website stating that tests now show that all 2G and 3G services have been fully restored for affected customers.

The network outage was a troubling one and seemed reminiscent of issues observed by BlackBerry handset owners, last year. that wasn’t just confined to O2, but to every network supporting and carrying the Research in Motion devices. These phones couldn’t receive emails, BlackBerry Messages or gain Internet access – for a whole week!

O2 customers should consider themselves lucky, as the issue was resolved in around 24-hours. There will inevitably be a loss of confidence in O2, as a result of the problems. It’s too early to tell how customers will react, but it’s clear that O2 needs to come up with some decent good will packages. If you’ve decided to leave O2 as a result of the outage, check out our top eight mobile phone deals for angry O2 customers.

Weekend Roundup : Samsung Galaxy S III damaged in Microwave, Apple iPhone 5 photos leaked and O2 suffers a network failure

London, (Pal Telegraph) – Everybody knows that the smartphone of the moment is the Samsung Galaxy S3 (S III) and it looks bound to be a smash hit for Samsung. Due to be released at the end of May for the UK and Europe and in the summer for the US, some of its main competition will come from Apple’s iPhone 4S. Today we want to look at the iPhone 4S vs. the Samsung Galaxy S3 and also give readers a review roundup.

the Galaxy S3 has some very decent specs and features and first impressions seemed quite impressive although since then we’ve noted a rather mixed reception. We’ll give you some idea of the key specs and features of the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 4S before moving on to what the reviews had to say. We’ve already given readers official specs of the Galaxy S3 but brief highlights include an Exynos quad-core processor for the international variant, with the US version possibly dual-core to enable LTE.

other notable specs for the Galaxy S3 include a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with 1280 x 720 resolution (309ppi), 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p HD video capture, a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 16/32GB of internal storage with microSD expansion, NFC support and running Android 4.0 ICS skinned with TouchWiz. There’s also a 2100mAh battery, which sounds impressive but of course given the large screen and quad-core processor it has a lot to power. we can’t judge the battery performance yet though so we’ll reserve judgement on that for now. If you want to see more on the Galaxy S3 then check out the video below our story showing a hands-on look. the Galaxy S3 certainly has a lot to recommend it then and for those who favor the Android OS this is an obvious choice of new smartphone. There are others though who would consider Apple’s iOS platform and might be thinking of the current iPhone 4S and Tech Digest has compared the two. the iPhone 4S by comparison has a 3.5-inch IPS TFT LCD display with Apple’s infamous Retina Display and resolution of 960 x 640 offering 326ppi. Both the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 4S have excellent displays then and your choice between the two may simply depend on screen size. the processor for the iPhone 4S is an 800MHz dual-core A5 chip, which though it may sound dated offers speedy and smooth performance. Compared to the quad-core of the Galaxy S3 though (in some regions), some may feel this is one up to Samsung. the iPhone 4S also comes in three storage options, 16, 32 and 64GB but has no expandable memory. It also has an 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p video recording capability and a front-facing VGA camera while its lithium-ion battery offers around 8 hours of 3G talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing and 9 hours of Wi-Fi browsing. the iPhone 4S runs on the latest Apple iOS and as we said earlier, operation systems alone may be the main factor for some as many people have a clear preference between Android and iOS. Both platforms offer a huge variety of apps from either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store. the iPhone 4S features the popular Siri voice recognition software and Samsung has brought its own S Voice to the Galaxy S3. Another point to remember is that the Galaxy S3 for the US will feature LTE connectivity but that doesn’t exist on the iPhone 4S (though may come to the iPhone 5). Another thing to take into account is the design of the phones and although some people have not exactly been blown away by the look of the Galaxy S3 and it’s plasticky feel, others were not impressed when the iPhone 4S came out last year with the same design as its predecessor. we cannot compare pricing yet on these two smartphones as no pricing has been announced yet for the Galaxy S3. Ultimately both phones are very decent smartphones indeed although some of the specs of the iPhone 4S are beginning to look a little dated. Of course we should remember though that the iPhone 5 may not be too much further away and it will be certainly be interesting to compare the Galaxy S3 and the next iPhone when it appears. for now though personal preference will play a big part in how you choose between the Galaxy S3 or the iPhone 4S. now we’ll move on to our look at some of the reviews so far for the Galaxy S3. Firstly PC World looks at the Galaxy S3 against the iPhone 4S and HTC one X. It points to the advantage of the microSD slot for the Galaxy S3 and its huge display and slimness at only 0.34inches compared to the iPhone 4S, which measures 0.37-inches thick. this review sums up by saying that although the camera for the Galaxy S3 isn’t a major step up, the processor and LTE connectivity more than make up for it. Another review, this time on Wired, explains a lot about the software of the Galaxy S3 rather than hardware so this is a good review to check out if you want more on that. It delves into the facial recognition feature, Smart Stay, Direct Call, Pop Up Play and S Voice and the phone’s aesthetic touches. Next we looked at a review from Computerworld, consisting of a hugely comprehensive Q & a. one of the questions asks if the Galaxy S3 is better than other phones to which the response is that there is no one ‘right’ choice and that it comes down to what the individual wants. Although the Galaxy S3 is described as a “compelling choice” it’s also stated, “There’s nothing about the Galaxy S III that makes other recent high-end devices look inherently worse or outdated in comparison.” In our final look we came across an article on PC & Tech Authority that asks if Samsung’s innovation is outpacing Apple’s. this points to the rich catalog of Apple iOS apps and the aluminum and glass of the iPhone 4S design making it feel more “grown up” than other plastic designs. However it goes on to say that Samsung has obviously listened to its customers to come up with the intuitive experience and larger screen offered by the Galaxy S3 and refers to Apple as “caught napping.” We’d be really interested to hear from readers with thoughts on these two flagship smartphones. taking into account our comparison and review roundup, have you a definite preference for one over the other? Maybe you’re going to wait to see what the iPhone 5 has to offer before you decide? You may feel that the Galaxy S3 wasn’t everything it could be, or alternatively feel that Apple has indeed been ‘caught napping?’ let us know with your comments. Another thing to take into account is the design of the phones and although some people have not exactly been blown away by the look of the Galaxy S3 and it’s plasticky feel, others were not impressed when the iPhone 4S came out last year with the same design as its predecessor. we cannot compare pricing yet on these two smartphones as no pricing has been announced yet for the Galaxy S3. Ultimately both phones are very decent smartphones indeed although some of the specs of the iPhone 4S are beginning to look a little dated. Of course we should remember though that the iPhone 5 may not be too much further away and it will be certainly be interesting to compare the Galaxy S3 and the next iPhone when it appears. for now though personal preference will play a big part in how you choose between the Galaxy S3 or the iPhone 4S. now we’ll move on to our look at some of the reviews so far for the Galaxy S3. Firstly PC World looks at the Galaxy S3 against the iPhone 4S and HTC one X. It points to the advantage of the microSD slot for the Galaxy S3 and its huge display and slimness at only 0.34inches compared to the iPhone 4S, which measures 0.37-inches thick. this review sums up by saying that although the camera for the Galaxy S3 isn’t a major step up, the processor and LTE connectivity more than make up for it. Another review, this time on Wired, explains a lot about the software of the Galaxy S3 rather than hardware so this is a good review to check out if you want more on that. It delves into the facial recognition feature, Smart Stay, Direct Call, Pop Up Play and S Voice and the phone’s aesthetic touches. Next we looked at a review from Computerworld, consisting of a hugely comprehensive Q & a. one of the questions asks if the Galaxy S3 is better than other phones to which the response is that there is no one ‘right’ choice and that it comes down to what the individual wants. Although the Galaxy S3 is described as a “compelling choice” it’s also stated, “There’s nothing about the Galaxy S III that makes other recent high-end devices look inherently worse or outdated in comparison.” In our final look we came across an article on PC & Tech Authority that asks if Samsung’s innovation is outpacing Apple’s. this points to the rich catalog of Apple iOS apps and the aluminum and glass of the iPhone 4S design making it feel more “grown up” than other plastic designs. However it goes on to say that Samsung has obviously listened to its customers to come up with the intuitive experience and larger screen offered by the Galaxy S3 and refers to Apple as “caught napping.” We’d be really interested to hear from readers with thoughts on these two flagship smartphones. taking into account our comparison and review roundup, have you a definite preference for one over the other? Maybe you’re going to wait to see what the iPhone 5 has to offer before you decide? You may feel that the Galaxy S3 wasn’t everything it could be, or alternatively feel that Apple has indeed been ‘caught napping?’ let us know with your comments.

Source: phonesreview

iPhone 4S vs Samsung Galaxy S3 & review roundup

A hero state trooper who wandered into a CVS just in time to stop an armed robbery in progress will be honored by the Boston Celtics [team stats] tonight.

Trooper Jon MacKinnon, a seven-year veteran of the state police, will receive a Heroes among us Award from the Celtics tonight.

MacKinnon will be honored for his actions on Jan. 6, when he walked into a Newton CVS as a man with a knife held up the store’s pharmacy.

MacKinnon stopped at the Rte. 9 store to stock up on bottled water at the beginning of his shift. He was about to leave when a woman alerted him to “a guy acting weird at the pharmacy counter” at the rear of the store, he told the Herald the day of the incident.

MacKinnon silently walked to the back of the store, where a man wielding a knife stood behind the counter, along with about five female employees who simply stared at MacKinnon.

After sneaking up behind the suspect with his weapon drawn and shouting for him to drop the knife, the man ran from the store, with MacKinnon in pursuit.

MacKinnon subdued the man with pepper spray and took him into custody.

State police Colonel Marian J. McGovern congratulated MacKinnon on the recognition.

“we are proud of the manner in which he performed his duties when faced with a highly dangerous and unpredictable situation. Trooper McKinnon’s actions represent the high levels of skill that troopers strive to achieve,” she said.

The suspect, Stephen Garland, 27, of Lynn was charged with armed robbery and receiving stolen property of more than $250.

Celtics to honor hero trooper tonight

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak spoke to students at the University of Southern California about the company he started with Steve Jobs in the 1970s.

At the presentation on 19 April, Wozniak revealed that he was designing circuits and learning about electrons at a young age, after he discovered a journal “in a closet”.

The journal contained “articles about these things called computers! there were no books, no magazine sin book stores, no place where you can run into anything about what are computers and this had things about 0s and 1s about how we can add them. That’s when I fell in love with science,” said Wozniak.

Wozniak told the students that he and Steve Jobs shared a common interest in pranks, as well as computers. “when you’re building something for yourself, you put so much emphasis in making it so perfect it couldn’t be finer,” Wozniak explained. “Steve Jobs knew where to sell things. I never thought about that. I just built things for fun.”

So that’s how the partnership between the two Steves began. Wozniak would design devices, Jobs would sell them.

Wozniak revealed that in order to create Apple Computers, he had to make sacrifices: “I sold my most valuable possession, my HP-65 calculator. it was worth $500; I only got $250 because the guy didn’t show up with the rest.”

“the Apple Two computer was really the heart of the computer. I designed it in three months, back when I had four days and nights without sleep. Your mind, when you are falling asleep or waking up, your mind gets into a less inhibited work state,” Wozniak told the students. “go to sleep thinking about the problem really hard, wake up in the middle of the night and have a solution.”

Wozniak advised: “think different. the way things have been done before, that’s like a formula, you hardly ever step back. What if it were all different? a whole new world, a virtual world that doesn’t really exist. with products, sometimes, oh my God, sometimes that leads you to a much better solution.”

Steve Wozniak recently expressed his worries about the struggle faced by entrepreneurs aiming to start a technology business. He was also quoted as saying that he wished his iPhone did all the things his Android does, and that the Macintosh was a failure, but he queued up for the new iPad nonetheless.

Steve Wozniak speaks about Apple’s early days – Mac – Macworld UK

Etan Patz disappeared in 1979.

He never got off the block, investigators believe.

Authorities are digging up the basement of a SoHo building where they believe a handyman buried the body of Etan Patz — whose disappearance 33 years ago sparked one of the most extensive and heart-wrenching manhunts in US history.

Leads developed by Manhattan DA Cy Vance’s office suggest the boy is buried in the basement of 127 Prince St., where neighborhood handyman Othneil Miller, 75, had a workshop when the six year old disappeared in May 25, 1979, law enforcement sources told the Post.

Miller had befriended the boy, and would give him a dollar or two for helping out around the shop, sources said, adding that Miller is the “target” of their probe.

Investigators recently interviewed Patz’s mother Julie, who told them they should talk to Miller, of Quincy Street in Brooklyn.

Investigators knew about him after Etan went missing, but did not consider him a suspect until recently.

After talking to Miller, the feds put “scent pads” – which absorb odors – in the basement and then brought them to a cadaver dog, and “got a hit,” which means the dogs got the scent of human remains, sources said.

The feds brought the dog to the basement and got another hit, the sources said.

Agents subsequently questioned Miller, who blurted out: “What if the body was moved?” the sources said.

Miller has not been charged and is not in custody.

A team of 40 investigators started digging through the concrete basement floor of the SoHo building about 8:30 a.m. searching for evidence and the possible remains.

“Obviously we’re hopeful that we’ll find evidence in the disappearance of Etan Patz. There is obviously probable cause that exists for us to be here,” said FBI spokesman Tim Flannelly at the scene.

More than 40 cops and FBI agents swarmed the neighborhood surrounding the seven-story building and cordoned off a section of Prince between West Broadway and Wooster Street — a block filled with galleries, lofts and clothing boutiques.

Authorities said the digging could take as many as five days as investigators painstakingly pore through the evidence in the 13×62-foot space.

Police vehicles on the scene in SoHo today.

“this will be going on for several days. it could go on for up to five days,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

Patz – whose photo was one of the first to be put on the side of a milk carton – was last seen walking two blocks from his home to a bus stop for the ride to school.

“Time doesn’t matter to us and NYPD in investigations like this. he was 6 when he disappeared and we’re not going to quit,” Flannelly said

“We are hoping we can provide some sense of closure to the investigation and to the family, but in the event that we don’t, I think people need to know that we’re committed to these investigations and we’re not going to give up.”

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the space had been looked at before.

Browne said he has spoken to parents but didn’t comment on what they said.

The search for evidence “would be either human remains, clothing or personal effects that may lead to the identification of Etan Patz,” Browne said.

The boy was never found despite one of the largest missing-child searches in history.

Etan was officially declared dead in 2001.

Vance re-opened the case after taking office two years ago.

FBI spokes Jim Margolin confirmed today that the feds were looking for new evidence in the case.

“We are conducting a search in connection with the Etan Patz case,” he said, declining to elaborate.

Stanley K. Patz, the boy’s father, who lives nearby on Prince Street, declined comment

Investigators are leaning away from the decades-old assumption that Patz was abducted by convicted pedophile Jose Ramos.

Ramos, now in prison for an unrelated case, was never charged with Patz’s abduction.

The day he disappeared, Etan ran down three flights from his SoHo loft, kissed his mother goodbye, dashed out his front door to head west on Prince Street, and then vanished somewhere on the next block as he approached West Broadway.

It was Etan’s first solo walk to the school bus stop on the corner.

When he didn’t return, cops fanned out in a massive hunt throughout lower Manhattan, tearing through basements and sewers and closets of family friends.

Stan and Julie Patz had worked hard to renovated the empty shell of a loft, building it into into a loving home for Shira, 8, Etan and Ari, 2.

Stan was a commercial photographer, while Julie used their space for a toddlers’ day care center.

For months and years after Etan seemingly vanished into thin air, Stan tirelessly spread out photos of his son, in hopes of keeping their search on the public’s mind.

Images of the smiling, young blond Etan were plastered on posters around new York — and, for the first time, on milk cartons.

Milk carton pictures have become a regular tactic in missing-child cases.

FBI, cops digging up SoHo basement in connection with boy’s 1979 disappearance

one of the biggest points of congressional outrage over the General Services Administration’s Las Vegas conference scandal has been the fact that GSA spent more than $6,000 — a small fraction of the conference’s $823,000 price tag — on 300 commemorative coins for conference attendees.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has been particularly vocal about the coins at this week’s hearings, calling their production “hypocritical” for an agency meant to focus on how to best cut administrative costs from government. Issa, however, has held substantially different views on commemorative coin legislation in the past, The Huffington Post reported Thursday.

Issa has supported more than two dozen pieces of legislation backing special U.S. Mint coins celebrating historical events or American organizations, according to The Huffington Post. among the Mint coin productions that Issa has backed have been commemorations of former President Ronald Reagan, the Model T, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day (half the profits from this run of coins would go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation if the bill passes the Senate).

The Huffington Post also points to coins GSA minted in 2008 to mark the presidential transition as evidence that agency spending also went unchecked under President Bush. Issa’s office denied the Bush administration had anything to do with the coins, telling The Huffington Post they were approved by President Obama’s transitional committee.

“It’s pathetic and ironic that someone is offering a GSA Obama-Biden transition commemorative as an example of waste under the Bush administration," Issa spokesman Fred Hill told The Huffington Post. "They’re even throwing Obama’s own transition team under the bus in an effort to blame Bush.”

But The Huffington Post stuck with its story, saying sources confirmed the coins were approved by GSA leadership under Bush.

Before GSA outrage, Issa backed numerous commemorative coins

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and apparently there’s no such thing as a free preview of paid Apple software, either. as noted by MacStories, Apple has removed the trial versions of Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Aperture from its website, instead directing customers to the Mac App Store to purchase those titles.

Where Apple once offered the free iWork downloads, the company’s website now says, “The trial version of iWork is no longer supported. but you can easily purchase Keynote, Pages, and Numbers from the Mac App Store.” The Aperture trial page sports a similar message, along with a warning that you must delete the free trial version before you can install the full version from the Mac App Store.

The apps are indeed available on the Mac App Store—and for less than they ever cost in their boxed retail versions: you can get all three iWork apps for £13.99 each (or £41.97), where the boxed version used to sell for £69; Aperture costs just £54.99 in the Mac App Store, where the box used to cost £169. but “cheaper than before” isn’t the same as a free trial, of course.

In fact, Apple doesn’t allow trial, demo, or beta software in the Mac App Store; it encourages developers to post such software on their websites. Apparently, however, Apple has chosen to forsake that approach itself.

Free trials were once a hallmark of the Mac user experience, with shareware apps offering various means by which you could try before you buy: Some developers went with time-limited demo versions of their apps, some chose to offer feature-limited versions (“you can try the software out, but you can’t save/print/etc.”), and some coupled both limitations together.

When it came to the iOS App Store, Apple didn’t allow developers the option of creating true demo versions of their apps, so many developers turned to offering both free and paid versions of their apps. Free versions often lack a complete feature set or include advertisements, and—with rare exceptions powered through in-app purchases—can’t be upgraded directly: you need to go back to the App Store to grab the full version if you do choose to upgrade. When Apple introduced the Mac App Store, it adopted the same approach.

It’s unclear why Apple has turned its back on free trials; the company didn’t respond to Macworld’s request for comment. certainly, Apple makes more money when customers buy apps than when they try them out and decide not to buy them. The good news is that—despite the fact that Apple claims in public that it doesn’t offer refunds for Mac App Store sales—customers generally report success when asking the Mac App Store support team for refunds if purchases don’t work out as well as hoped.

Still, many times customers can tell whether software is right for them with a few minutes of hands-on experience. Disappointingly, that will no longer be an option for customers considering purchases of the iWork apps or Aperture.

Apple ditches iWork, Aperture free trials – Mac software – Macworld UK

THE MAP– “Campaign 2012-Road to 270: Obama defends typically GOP states in race to 270,” by AP’s Thomas Beaumont: “President Obama begins his re-election campaign defending traditionally Republican territory that he carried when he won the White House four years ago. Republican Mitt Romney is looking to reclaim any combination of these GOP strongholds now in flux. … the political spotlight will shine brightly again on Florida, and the Upper Midwest, especially Ohio. but changes in the nation's demographics will mean heavy attention paid to the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest. ‘for a long time the map was static. I don't think that holds true anymore,’ said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to former Democratic presidential nominees Al Gore and John Kerry. …

“Obama expanded the Democratic footprint on an electoral map that had changed little between George W. Bush's narrow 2000 election and 2004 re-election. against McCain, Obama captured nine states that Bush had won four years earlier. Besides Florida and Ohio, Obama took North Carolina and Virginia … There were victories as well in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico and Nevada. in Florida, unemployment tops 9 percent, tourism is slow to recover, gas prices are high and trouble persists in the housing market; all that works against Obama. but his team is aggressively organizing in the state, and his visit Friday was his 16th since taking office, more than almost any other swing state.”

AP’s MATH:

–UP FOR GRABS (104 electoral votes): Colorado (9), Florida (29), Iowa (6), New Hampshire (3), New Mexico (5), Nevada (6), North Carolina (15), Ohio (18), Virginia (13)

–LEAN D (56 EVs):  Michigan (16), Minnesota (10), Pennsylvania (20), Wisconsin (10)

–SOLID D (186 EVs): California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.

–LEAN R (32 EVs): Arizona (11), Indiana (11), Missouri (10)

–SOLID R (156 EVs): Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming

–Story http://yhoo.it/HFKq13 Glance, with narrative on swings http://yhoo.it/ISzoph (math tip: Byron Tau)

PLAYBOOKERS: Any calls you strongly disagree with? do you have a single favorite bellwether this year? is Virginia the new Ohio? Colorado? Ohio? Or is it still all about Florida? Send thoughts to mallen@politico, and we’ll use the smartest ones tomorrow.

THE PRESIDENT IN COLOMBIA – “Obama cites potential of billion consumers in the Americas,” by Reuters’ Laura MacInnis in Cartagena: “President Obama stressed on Saturday the ‘great promise’ for business growth in the Americas, seeking to play up the economic heft of the region he has paid little attention to in his first three years in office. in remarks prepared for a meeting of corporate chief executives in Cartagena, Colombia, where he is attending the 33-nation Summit of the Americas, Obama described U.S.-Latin American ties as ‘one of the world's most dynamic trade relationships.’ ‘With nearly a billion citizens – nearly a billion consumers – among us, there's so much more we can do together,’ according to excerpts of his speech released by the White House.

“‘for the Americas, this is a moment of great promise. And I believe if we seize the opportunities before us, we'll continue to be each other's economic partners of choice,’ he was set to tell the gathering of CEOs on Saturday morning, which precedes the formal start of the regional leaders' summit. among the companies represented at the CEO gathering were Pfizer Inc, Chevron, Pepsico and Cisco Systems Inc.”

SENT HOME — WashPost A8, “U.S. agents accused of misconduct: SECRET SERVICE MEMBERS IN COLOMBIA – Allegations said to include contact with prostitutes,” by David Nakamura and Joe Davidson: “the U.S. Secret Service is investigating allegations of misconduct by agents who had been sent to Cartagena, Colombia, to provide security for President Obama’s trip … Edwin Donovan, an agency spokesman, said that an unspecified number of agents have been recalled and replaced with others …  Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said the accusations relate to at least one agent having involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena. …

“Adler said the entire unit was recalled for purposes of the investigation. … the Washington Post was alerted to the investigation by Ronald Kessler, a former Post reporter and author of several nonfiction books, including the book ‘in the President’s Secret Service’ … Kessler said … that soliciting prostitution is considered inappropriate by the Secret Service, even though it is legal in Colombia when conducted in designated ‘tolerance zones.’ However, Kessler added, several of the agents involved are married.” http://wapo.st/IVV7zj

–AP’s Frank Bajak, in Cartagena: “on Friday night, a caller who said he had knowledge of the situation told the associated Press that the misconduct involved prostitutes in Cartagena … A Secret Service spokesman did not dispute that. A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and requested anonymity, put the number of agents at 12. … the agents at the center of the allegations had stayed at Cartagena's Hotel Caribe. … A hotel employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said the agents arrived at the beachfront hotel about a week ago. the employee described the agents as drinking heavily during their stay.”

** A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: the Export-Import Bank's authorization expires in 48 days. Now is the time for Congress to help small business exporters and save jobs. the Bank's transactions support nearly 290,000 jobs in the United States — that's 1,000 jobs every working day for a year. Support the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank — it's all about jobs! Learn more at www.nam.org/exim. **

BIRTHDAYS: Amy Brundage, celebrating with afternoon drinks with friends on a sunny day … NBC rising star Garrett Haake … Betsy Andres of the Speaker’s office (one day after her husband Geoff Embler) … Adam Levine, National Security editor/founder of Security Clearance blog is 40 … Caleb Jones will spend his afternoon with buds at Nats Park. ask him where he plans to find his birthday key lime pie … WaPo’s Matt Zapotosky … Sasha Issenberg … Kentucky Dems’ Liz Fossett … best darned pollster in New Hampshire Rich Killion … AP’s Eileen Sullivan … Joe Rospars, Blue State Digital founding partner and creative director  … New Hampshire’s Joel Maiola … CRC Senior V.P. Keith Appell (h/t Joe Brettell) … PCCC spox Neil Sroka … David Humphreville … Suzy Hemauer … Nick Merrill (h/t Teresa Vilmain) … Loretta Lynn is 80 … Pete Rose is 71 (h/ts AP)

BIRTHWEEK (was Thursday): Ashley Smith (hat tip: Daniel Son)

BIRTHWEEK (was Friday): Nick Schaper, U.S. Chamber’s Executive Director, Digital Strategic Communications (hat tip: Abram Olmstead)

BIRTHDAYS TOMORROW: Chris Potter Stewart (aka mr. Sarah Crawford) … the Re-Elect’s Frank Benenati … BIRTHDAYS MONDAY: Doug Heye

THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD: “on Saturday morning, the President will participate in the CEO Summit of the Americas at the Hilton Hotel in Cartagena, Colombia. … in the afternoon, the President will attend an arrival ceremony at the Julio César Turbay Ayala Convention Center. … Later in the afternoon, the President will attend the Plenary Session of the Summit of the Americas at the Julio César Turbay Ayala Convention Center. There will be a limited travel pool spray at the top of the plenary session. in the evening, the President will attend a leaders’ dinner. This dinner at Casa de Huéspedes is closed press.

“on Sunday morning, the President will participate in an official leaders’ photo at the Julio César Turbay Ayala Convention Center. There will be limited pool coverage of the photo. Later in the morning, the President will participate in a leaders’ retreat at the Julio César Turbay Ayala Convention Center. There will be a limited travel pool spray at the top of the retreat. in the afternoon, the President will hold a multi-lateral meeting with Caribbean leaders at the Julio César Turbay Ayala Convention Center. There will be a limited travel pool spray of the meeting. Later in the afternoon, the President will attend a bilateral meeting with President Santos of Colombia at Casa de Huéspedes. There will be a stills only pool spray at the top of the meeting. next, the President will attend a working lunch with President Santos of Colombia at Casa de Huéspedes. This lunch is closed press. Afterwards, the President will hold a joint press conference with President Santos of Colombia. the press conference at the Casa de Huéspedes is open press … in the evening, the President will tour San Pedro Claver Church. There will be travel pool coverage of the tour. following the tour, the President will participate in a cultural event with President Santos of Colombia at the Plaza de San Pedro. … the President will then depart Colombia en route Washington, DC. the departure from Rafael Núñez International Airport and the arrival on the South Lawn are open press. …

“on Monday, the President will attend meetings at the White House. on Tuesday, the President will welcome Tony Stewart and the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers to the White House to honor Tony Stewart’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.  the President will also recognize the efforts by Tony Stewart and NASCAR to give back to their community as part of their visit, continuing the tradition begun by President Obama of honoring athletes and sports teams for their efforts on and off the field. on Wednesday, the President will travel to the Cleveland, Ohio, area to deliver remarks at an event on the economy. Later, he will travel to Michigan to attend campaign events. the President will return to Washington, DC in the evening. on Thursday, the President will welcome the BCS National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide to the White House to honor their 14th championship and theirexceptional 2011-2012season.  the President will also continue his tradition of honoring sports teams for their efforts both on and off the field by recognizing the efforts by the Crimson Tide to give back to their community. on Friday, the President will welcome the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride to the White House.”

THE V.P.’S WEEK AHEAD: “the Vice President will be in Wilmington, Delaware [this weekend]. There are no public events scheduled. … on Tuesday, the Vice President will attend a campaign event in Washington, DC. on Wednesday, the Vice President and other Senior Administration Officials will host an event in the South Court Auditorium to highlight the critical need to reauthorize the Violence against Women Act. on Thursday, the Vice President will attend campaign events in Phoenix, Arizona, and Los Angeles … on Friday, the Vice President will attend a campaign event in Santa Barbara.”

THE SHOWS, from @MattMackowiak:

–NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN); political roundtable with former Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN), Republican strategist Mike Murphy, NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie and NBC News’ Chuck Todd

–ABC’s “This Week”: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner; roundtable with ABC News’ Cokie Roberts, former Obama White House Domestic Policy Adviser Melody Barnes, the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Gigot, the Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel and Romney campaign advisor Kevin Madden

–CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner; discussion of the Trayvon Martin case with Georgetown University’s Michael Eric Dyson, author and TIME Magazine columnist Tourè (“Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness: what it Means to be Black Now”), CBS News legal analyst Jack Ford and CBS News’ mark Strassman; political roundtable with Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus, CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell and CBS News’ John Dickerson

–“Fox News Sunday”: Obama campaign chief strategist David Axelrod and Romney campaign senior adviser Ed Gillespie; Chris Wallace’s tribute to the life of his late father, legendary journalist Mike Wallace (first appearance on air since his father’s death); roundtable with Fox News’ Brit Hume, U.S. News & World Report’s Susan Milligan, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) and the New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny

–CNN’s “State of the Union” (SUN 9am ET / 12pm ET): RNC Chair Reince Priebus; Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA); actor and comedian bill Cosby

–CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS Live”: (SUN 10am ET / 1pm ET): White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling; discussion of Africa with the New York Times’ East Africa Bureau Chief Jeffrey Gettleman; discussion of the future of the World Bank with Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

–CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: (SUN 11am ET): Former Fox News producer Joe Muto; political roundtable with Politico’s Jonathan Martin and Sirius/XM’s Julie Mason; media roundtable with former CNN correspondent Lola Ogunnaike and American University’s Jane Hall; segment on the late Mike Wallace with CBS News’ Bob Simon and CBS News’ Steve Kroft

–NBC’s “the Chris Matthews Show”: Roundtable with co-author and TIME Magazine’s Michael Duffy (“the Presidents’ Club”), NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, the Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman and the associated Press’ Kasie Hunt

–Univision’s “Al Punto” (SUN 10am ET): President Barack Obama; RNC Chair Reince Priebus; singer and songwriter Charly Garcia; roundtable with BBC Mundo’s Adrian Fernandez, independent journalist Marcelo Raimon and Noticias Univision’s Daniel Morcate

–MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes” (SUN 8-10am ET): Roundtable with Reuters columnist David Cay Johnston, Demos’ Heather McGhee, Center for American Progress Action Fund president and CEO and former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), former Labor Department Chief Economist and Princeton University’s Betsey Stevenson

–MSNBC’s “Melissa Harris-Perry” (SUN 10am-12pm ET): Roundtable with TheGrio.com managing editor Joy-Ann Reid, U.S. News & World Report’s Rick Newman, Citizen Radio co-host Allison Kilkenny, former Bush administration Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy Randa Fahmy Hudome and the National Center for Transgender Equality’s Mara Keislin; transgender activist and author Kate Bornstein

–ABC7’s “inside Washington”: (SAT 7pm ET on NewsChannel 8 / SUN 9am ET on ABC7 WJLA): Roundtable with Washington Post columnist Colbert King, NPR’s Nina Totenberg, syndicated columnist mark Shields and Politico columnist Roger Simon

–PBS’s “to the Contrary”: Gov. Beverly Perdue (D-NC); roundtable with Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Independent Women’s Forum’s Sabrina Schaeffer, Global Summit of Women’s Irene Natividad and conservative commentator Darlene Kennedy

–TV One’s “Washington Watch with Roland Martin”: (SUN 9am ET): Roundtable with Empowerment Temple (Baltimore) Pastor Jamal Bryant, Drexel University’s Donald Tibbs, co-director of the Advancement Project Judith Browne-Dianis and MSNBC contributor Jeff Johnson; journalist / commentator panel with American Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan, MSNBC analyst Robert Traynham, Politico’s Joe Williams and syndicated columnist George Curry

–SiriusXM's “Polioptics” with Adam Belmar and Josh King (SAT & SUN 12pm ET / 6 pm ET): the Washington Post's Ned Martel on Hilary Rosen, Ann Romney, and the prime time cable confabs that spawn multi-day gender-fueled kerfuffles waged by the punditocracy from the comfort of a new wave of in-home uplink studios. And the Body Man: an update from New York Times' Ashley Parker, unofficial chronicler of that mysterious campaign role, leading to a special conversation with Stephen Goodin, former body man to bill Clinton and now president of Red River Strategies, on how to read the president's mind. on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. Ch. 124, also available for download on iTunes and at www.polioptics.com.

** A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: every day, the Export-Import Bank is helping small and medium-sized manufacturers create jobs and compete globally. the Export-Import Bank's authorization is set to expire on may 31, and failure to reauthorize the Bank will damage manufacturers' competitiveness, costing jobs and harming economic growth. More than 85 percent of the Bank's customers are small and medium-sized businesses — the lifeblood of our economy — and will be negatively impacted if the Ex-Im Bank is not reauthorized. the Bank supports nearly 290,000 jobs in the United States — that's 1,000 jobs every working day for a year. And the Export-Import Bank supports manufacturers at no cost to the taxpayer. From FY06 to FY10, the Bank returned more than $3.4 billion to the Treasury. Support the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank — it's all about jobs! Learn more at www.nam.org/exim. **

AP opening map favors Obama: 242 lean, solid electoral votes; Romney: 188 — 12 Secret Service agents sent home; prostitutes involved? – Brundage, Haake, Issenberg, Rospars b’day

If Vice President Joe Biden is known as the gaffe veep, just imagine Rep. Allen West.

On Friday West said he doesn’t expect to be tapped for a VP slot, but if he got that call he’d consider it.

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In full West flourish, he also told CNN’s Kyra Phillips that he does not know the GOP’s likely nominee, Mitt Romney, very well, but would get to know him.

“Well, you know, I’ve never been out on a dinner date with him if that’s what you’re asking me,” West said. “so I don’t know if I would like him. But I think that we’d have to sit down and discuss things.”

Friday’s lively appearance pales in comparison to some of his more famous moments. Here’s POLITICO’s look back at the Florida Republican’s 10 most memorable lines:

1. “You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!” — July 19, 2011 in an email to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, where he also called her “the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable” member of the House.

2. “so I’m here as the modern day Harriet Tubman to kind of lead people on the Underground Railroad away from that plantation into a sense of sensibility.” — August 17, 2011, on Fox News saying he wants to lead black voters away from the “21st century plantation” of the Democratic Party.

3. “we need to let President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and my dear friend the chairman of the Democrat National Committee, we need to let them know that Florida ain’t on the table. Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else. You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America.” — January 28, 2012, speaking at a Lincoln Day Dinner in West Palm Beach for the Peal Beach County GOP. West later backpedaled on his “get the hell out” statement, saying his words had been misinterpreted.

4. “if Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very proud of the [Democratic] Party because they have an incredible propaganda machine.” — December 15, 2011, linking the Nazi propagandist Goebbels with the Democratic Party while talking to reporters in the Capitol.

5. ”I will drive the car!” — July 26, 2011, after House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy played a clip from the film “The Town” in an attempt get Republicans on board with House Speaker John Boehner’s debt plan. In the clip, Ben Affleck’s character says, “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. You can never ask me what it is. You can ask me about it later” and his friend replies, “Whose car are we gonna take?”

6. “No. I like chocolate chip ice cream and I will continue to like chocolate chip ice cream. so there’s no worry about me changing to vanilla. I like to, you know, ride my motorcycle. what do you want me to do? You want me to change my behavior and ride a scooter? I’m not into that.” August 9, 2011, answering the Sun Sentinel’s question, “should gay people change their behavior and not be gay?”

7. “I must confess, when I see anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool.” — July 18, 2011, in a post on the website Red County.

8. “I would take these gentlemen over and let them get shot at a few times and maybe they’d have a different opinion.” — may 26, 2011, speaking to the Miami Herald about members of the House who had voted to for a proposal that would have required President Barack Obama to submit a clear timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan.

9. “I need a bucket.” — Sept. 26, 2011, responding during a radio interview about what he thinks of when Rep. Wasserman Schultz’s name is mentioned.

10. “Pretty woman, walking down the street…” — February 7, 2012, singing Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” at his 51st birthday party.

Top 10 Allen West lines

Hilary Duff shared the good news of the birth of her and husband Mike Comrie’s son with her friends and fans on Thursday. the actress gave birth to a 7 pound, 6 ounce baby boy on Tuesday, March 20.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's new Leading Ladies

“He is surrounded by so much love!! Mom and baby are both doing extremely well,” Duff tweeted on Thursday.

“We are overjoyed and feel like the luckiest parents in the world,” she added.

VIDEO: Hilary Duff wants Her Novels to be Turned into Movies

Duff and Cromie, who got married in August 2010, made the announcement one year later that they were expecting her first child. She had announced the pregnancy on her website, saying that they were “extremely happy and ready to start this new chapter.” In October, Duff appeared on Ellen and revealed that she was having a boy.

Duff, known for her breakout role in Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire, has also appeared in episodes of NBC's Community and CW's Gossip Girl and starred in the ABC Family movie Beauty & the Briefcase.

Comrie plays professional hockey for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.

Hilary Duff Gives Birth to Baby Boy