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Today\'s Scuttlebot: Wireless Light Bulbs and Windows 8 Hardware

The technology reporters and editors of The New York Times scour the Web for important and peculiar items. Monday's selection includes a hardware challenge as laptop makers prepare for Windows 8 and light bulbs for the home that can becontrolled via an app.

I.B.M.\'s Watson Goes to Medical School

Next up for Watson, I.B.M.'s clever question-answering computer? A stint as a medical student at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

The collaboration, announced on Tuesday, includes a bit of controlled crowdsourcing, with the Cleveland clinicians and medical school students answering Watson's questions and correcting its mistakes.

“Hopefully, we can contribute to the training of this technology,” said Dr. James K. Stoller, chairman of the Education Institute at Cleveland Clinic. The goal, he added, was for Watson to become a “very smart assistant.”

Part of Watson's training will be to feed it test questions from the United States Medical Licensing Exam, which every human student must pass to become a practicing physician. The benefit for Watson should be to have a difficult but measurable set of questions on which to measure the progress of its machine-learning technology.

Yet Watson, it seems , is not an answer to the nation's looming shortage of physicians. “We're not going to roll Watson in and certify it as a doctor,” said Dr. David Ferrucci, the I.B.M. scientist who is the principal investigator for the Watson project.

Once trained, Watson ought to be able to help physicians cope better with the rapid pace of incoming new research. Dr. Stoller estimates that the “half-life of existing knowledge” in medicine is probably down to four to eight years on most topics. After that, it's obsolete, or partly so.

“What we learned in medical school loses accuracy over time, and is doing so at an accelerating rate,” Dr. Stoller observed.

For Watson, medical knowledge offers a complex knowledge terrain with deep and rich information, and a multitude of interrelationships between possible causes of a patient's symptom. Highly probable answers exist, even correct ones, but there are many possibilities and paths to a decision. The human body is n ot a standardized, multiple-choice test.

The goal for Watson's artificial intelligence technology, said Dr. Ferrucci, is to move beyond simply presenting Watson with questions, and getting answers back - which it did so impressively in defeating human Jeopardy champions last year.

In medicine, he said, you have a problem with many variables. For example, a 69-year-old female with certain symptoms, vital signs, family history, medications taken, genetic makeup, diet and exercise regimens.

Someday, Dr. Ferrucci said, Watson should be able to collect and assess all that patient data, and then construct “inference paths” toward a probable diagnosis â€" digesting information, missing nothing and winnowing choices for a human doctor.

“That's where we want to go with Watson,” Dr. Ferrucci said.



Google Introduces New Emergency Resources in Response to Sandy

Google has scrambled to post online resources for people who want information about the deadly storm Sandy, including maps showing evacuation routes and shelters and a new service that sends emergency alerts to Google users.

On Monday night, the company introduced the new service, public alerts, to show warnings about natural disasters and emergencies based on information from government agencies like Ready.gov and the National Weather Service. Google said it had planned to introduce the service later, but sped up the process in response to Sandy. In the future, it will add alerts from other services, like Nixle, which publishes messages from the local police.

The alerts show up in response to searches on Google.com and Google Maps, and appear unprompted on the cellphones of people with the latest version of Android, through Google Now.

“This is part of our continuing mission to bring emergency information to people when and where it is relevant,” N igel Snoad, a product manager for Google Crisis Response, wrote in a company blog post.

Using Google Maps, the company has created a map of the storm area. Markers show where power is out; the location of evacuation shelters and routes; traffic conditions; and where surges, floods and high winds are expected. There are also public alerts. People can choose different views, including the addition of cloud imagery or location-based Webcams and YouTube videos to the map.

Google has also published a New York City map with shelters, Webcams, evacuation routes and other information from NYC Open Data, the city's Web site for sharing data with software developers.

The public alerts and maps are products of Google Crisis Response, part of Google.org, the company's nonprofit arm, whose focus is to use Google products and engineers to help solve problems. It was started in 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina and has published online resources for disasters like hur ricanes and oil spills since then, including the person finder feature that was used after the Japan earthquake.

For the Sandy maps, Google has drawn information from the Red Cross, the National Hurricane Center, Weather.gov, Storyful and the United States Naval Research Laboratory, among others.

A search on Tuesday for “New Haven flooding” showed a public alert about coastal flooding. A search for “hurricane Sandy” showed, above the usual search results, links to government Web sites with storm updates and to Google's crisis map.

“We hope that you get the information you need to make preparations and stay safe if you are in the area,” Ka-Ping Yee, a software engineer at Google Crisis Response, wrote in a company blog post.



Google Introduces New Emergency Resources in Response to Sandy

Google has scrambled to post online resources for people who want information about the deadly storm Sandy, including maps showing evacuation routes and shelters and a new service that sends emergency alerts to Google users.

On Monday night, the company introduced the new service, public alerts, to show warnings about natural disasters and emergencies based on information from government agencies like Ready.gov and the National Weather Service. Google said it had planned to introduce the service later, but sped up the process in response to Sandy. In the future, it will add alerts from other services, like Nixle, which publishes messages from the local police.

The alerts show up in response to searches on Google.com and Google Maps, and appear unprompted on the cellphones of people with the latest version of Android, through Google Now.

“This is part of our continuing mission to bring emergency information to people when and where it is relevant,” N igel Snoad, a product manager for Google Crisis Response, wrote in a company blog post.

Using Google Maps, the company has created a map of the storm area. Markers show where power is out; the location of evacuation shelters and routes; traffic conditions; and where surges, floods and high winds are expected. There are also public alerts. People can choose different views, including the addition of cloud imagery or location-based Webcams and YouTube videos to the map.

Google has also published a New York City map with shelters, Webcams, evacuation routes and other information from NYC Open Data, the city's Web site for sharing data with software developers.

The public alerts and maps are products of Google Crisis Response, part of Google.org, the company's nonprofit arm, whose focus is to use Google products and engineers to help solve problems. It was started in 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina and has published online resources for disasters like hur ricanes and oil spills since then, including the person finder feature that was used after the Japan earthquake.

For the Sandy maps, Google has drawn information from the Red Cross, the National Hurricane Center, Weather.gov, Storyful and the United States Naval Research Laboratory, among others.

A search on Tuesday for “New Haven flooding” showed a public alert about coastal flooding. A search for “hurricane Sandy” showed, above the usual search results, links to government Web sites with storm updates and to Google's crisis map.

“We hope that you get the information you need to make preparations and stay safe if you are in the area,” Ka-Ping Yee, a software engineer at Google Crisis Response, wrote in a company blog post.



Coastal Surge Forecast From Hurricane Sandy Prompts Evacuations

The computer models forecasting the track of Hurricane Sandy over the next three days are converging upon a landing around southern New Jersey that could create record coastal flooding and a big enough storm surge that state and local officials have ordered mandatory and voluntary evacuations along the coast from Delaware to Connecticut.

“There is no avoiding a significant storm surge event over a large area,” said Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Center, in a conference call with reporters on Saturday afternoon.

In New Jersey, National Weather Service officials in Mount Holly issued a flood warning at 5 p.m. that said a 10-to-12-foot storm tide was possible along the Atlantic Coast, the Delaware Bay and the Raritan Bay, which could lead to coastal flooding in many locations.

The two high tides on Monday will be the most dangerous ones, the flood warning noted, with major to record coastal flooding exp ected. Between the coastal flooding and expected high winds, New Jersey's barrier islands may be cut off from the mainland during both high tides.

NOAA

This map from the National Hurricane Center looks at the probability of storm surge at three feet. Storm surge from Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath could reach four to eight feet from Maryland to Massachusetts, with some of the worst coastal flooding near Atlantic City, and could pose significant risk for New York City, according to the latest forecasts.

As my colleague Matt Flegenheimer reports, the New York region's transit systems may shut down Sunday evening. In addition to concern about high winds, there is also concern the subways are at risk of flooding. Amtrak is beginnin g to trim back its service, with updates being posted to amtrak.com/alerts.

At a news conference Saturday evening, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other New York City officials said that the biggest unknown was the size of the storm surge that might occur, especially on Monday night, when, they said, it could set a record. Mr. Bloomberg said that it would probably develop more slowly than in an ordinary hurricane, and that it would be watched very closely. The officials acknowledged that the surge might exceed what was experienced in Hurricane Irene, and that it might require shutting off steam pipes, might damage underground electrical systems and might even flood subway tunnels, which could cause prolonged problems.

At 5 p.m., Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware ordered 50,000 residents along the coastline in Kent, New Castle and Sussex counties to evacuate by Sunday evening because of the flooding risk. The mayor of Wilmington, Del., also ordered the evacuation of pe ople living in low-lying areas of the city.

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie announced Saturday that he was closing the state's 12 casinos, starting at 4 p.m. Sunday. He called for the mandatory evacuation of barrier islands south of Point Pleasant, including Long Beach Island, and coastal towns from Atlantic City to Wildwood to Cape May.

“Everyone's saying, ‘This is crap, it isn't going to happen. The weathermen always get it wrong, so I'm just going to hang out here,' ” Governor Christie said at a news conference in Middletown, in central New Jersey. “Please don't, O.K.? We have to be prepared for the worst here.”

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jerrsey issued evacuations.

Rick Fuentes, head of the New Jersey State Police, said that a landfall near Delawar e Bay could send a storm surge up the Delaware River, adding to the flooding threat in some portions of western New Jersey, in addition to the coastline.

Mayor Bill Finch of Bridgeport, Conn., posted a warning to residents.

In nearby Fairfield, residents along the shore were under mandatory evacuation orders.

The National Hurricane Center gave this breakdown on Saturday of their projections for the storm surge.

STORM SURGE…THE COMBINATION OF A DANGEROUS STORM SUR GE AND THE TIDE WILL CAUSE NORMALLY DRY AREAS NEAR THE COAST TO BE FLOODED BY RISING WATERS. THE WATER COULD REACH THE FOLLOWING DEPTHS ABOVE GROUND IF THE PEAK SURGE OCCURS AT THE TIME OF HIGH TIDE…

SE VA AND DELMARVA INCLUDING LOWER CHESAPEAKE BAY…2 TO 4 FT

UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY…1 TO 2 FT

OCEAN CITY MD TO THE CT/RI BORDER…4 TO 8FT

LONG ISLAND SOUND…RARITAN BAY…AND DELAWARE BAY…4 TO 8 FT

SURGE-RELATED FLOODING DEPENDS ON THE RELATIVE TIMING OF THE SURGE AND THE TIDAL CYCLE…AND CAN VARY GREATLY OVER SHORT DISTANCES. GIVEN THE LARGE WIND FIELD ASSOCIATED WITH SANDY…ELEVATED WATER LEVELS COULD SPAN MULTIPLE TIDE CYCLES RESULTING IN REPEATED AND EXTENDED PERIODS OF COASTAL AND BAYSIDE FLOODING. IN ADDITION… ELEVATED WATERS COULD OCCUR FAR REMOVED FROM THE CENTER OF SANDY.

State and city officials in New York are closely monitoring the forecasts because of concern that landfall farther north could cause a s torm surge in New York City big enough to flood the Battery and even inundate the subways.

There is no way to be sure, since it depends upon so many factors, including the timing of the storm's arrival, how long it lingers and where its most forceful winds and waves would be felt.

The National Hurricane Center has created interactive graphics that zoom in on particular sections of the coast so that a user can see the probabilities of flooding at any height.

Various models, updated frequently, show where the flooding is expected to be worst. A projection on Saturday showed 30 or 40 percent risks of four-foot storm surges around Atlantic City and New York City.

On the WunderBlog, the meteorologist Jeff Masters compares the current situation with New York City's experience during Hurricane Irene last year, when this was also a concern. It uses the latest experimental models and explains what is at stake.

“I give a 20 percent chance that Sandy's s torm surge will end up flooding a portion of the New York City subway system,” he said.

As he noted, the city had a narrow escape from Hurricane Irene, and in some ways this storm poses greater risks. Storm flooding is something the city has being worried about for some time, and as the seas rise from climate change, the worries are likely to remain with us for a generation to come. Mireya Navarro of The Times reported on these risks last month.



Janine di Giovanni Answers Reader Questions on Syria

Janine di Giovanni, who described the experience of reporting from Syria for The Lede last week, has answered a selection of questions posed to her by our readers.

Q.

Ms. di Giovanni, while in Syria, had you ever tried to find out what has happened to Mrs. Asma al-Assad and whether you could have an interview with her?
 - J. von Hettlingen, Switzerland

A.

I did try to interview Mrs. Assad because there are many questions I would have liked to have asked her. For instance, as a mother, how can she stand by and allow such inhumane treatment of children and civilians? It proved impossible to reach her. I think the last thing the First Lady wants is to give interviews, nor is she in a position to. Also, she has no need to. Although one thing I noticed in Damascus on my first trip is that most people, before the war, had tremendous respect for her, unlike in Jordan, where I have worked and where the locals I talked to were quite unpleasant about Queen Rania.

Q.





I'm glad that for once we get a view from the Syrian government's side. Congratulations and thanks. I feel that our media have been very one sided and superficial in this conflict, basically cheering on the rebel and acting as an instrument of the western strategy.
 - Christof Zalka, Switzerland

A.


It's very easy to tell the rebels story â€" first of all, because reporters have access to them. Anyone can fly to Turkey and cross the border and work with them, though of course there are serious risks. But it's difficult to get a visa, difficult to find stories when you work in a regime, and difficult when you are not given a lot of time in country. I had seven days. I am surprised that people assume I support the regime simply because I went as a legal journalist - all I wanted was to give another side to the story - but it's not MY Side. Journalists are not advocates for a position, other than trying to give readers information so they can themselves make informed decisions. Thank you for writing.

Q.

“Bleary-eyed?” Reportorial impressionism as reporting? That's all you can say about Assad's totalitarian onslaught? Come on! Who cares if they are bleary-eyed - what are the eyes like of the civilians who have had to escape the attacks of the Syrian army? The point of view of the Syrian army is just propaganda. This is all dubious because of its source. Poor bleary-eyed victims - is what Janine's's trying to say - making us feel sympathy for the murderers? New York Times, give us a break, no more of this; do not serve as a conduit for Assad propaganda, please. What I'd like to know - what is the essential unstated fact in this is whether Di Goivanni had to have her copy passed by the Assad regime censors. If you are The New York Times you will answer.
 - Ex- Expat, Middle East

A.

I did not pass my copy to censors. Absolutely not, under no circumstances. In fact, in terms of working in closed countries - and I have worked in many - working under the Assad regime was not nearly as difficult as Saddam's Iraq or working undercover in Chechnya. Because I was alone, and I was not with a television crew, it was easier for me to work and to maneuver. There were no censors, although I am sure my phone was hacked as well as my e-mail. There's nothing I could do about this, but it never influenced who I spoke with or what I reported.

The only place I have ever had to pass my copy to censors - and I did so only because I would not have been allowed to report if I had not - as when I was with British troops in Helmand, Afghanistan. And even then, the censor took out nothing; he was more worried that I would give away location of the soldiers and endanger them.

I do not think I portrayed the Syrian soldiers as victims - I just said they were exhausted from fighting. I think in covering any conflict it is essential for journalists to try to tell the story from both sides so that readers can make their own informed decisions. I have reported combat for 20 years and one thing I learned is that soldiers don't necessarily always swallow a regime's politics - often they have to be there, and it's the last place they want to be. Of course there are “true believers” but if there are, then it is my job as an eyewitness to say what they are thinking. If I had been alive during World War II, I would have wanted to be a witness in Berlin to the Nazi regime. Bearing witness is our job. Reporting the Assad regime does not mean it is my own personal belief.

There are many people reporting the position of the opposition Free Syrian Army. I had a rare opportunity as a reporter to report from the regime side. This does not mean in any way I support the Assad regime. I am a r eporter and while I have gotten involved in other stories I have reported - Bosnia, for example, as I lived in Sarajevo during the siege - I am simply trying to tell the story, without a spin. Just write the facts as I see them.

Q.





Hi Janine. Standout reporting from Homs and glad you made it out safe. I'm interested to know what ultimately led you to agree to report this story by yourself and, understanding now what you saw, whether you think the coverage of the war has been thorough enough to capture what's really happening on the ground. Again, thanks for taking the risks.
 - Andrew, New York

A.

Hi Andrew. I always work on my own, occasionally with a photographer. I actually find it easier, and sometimes safer. I weigh risks very carefully, as someone who has a lot of experience, and I do think this assignment was worth it - because Homs has been widely reported from the opposition perspective and barely at all from the regime side. I want to know what they think, what goes on in their heads - and I also wanted to see civilians who were returning to their homes near the front line. The basis of my work is usually to see how war effects the lives of civilians and the fabric of society.

Has the reporting captured what's on the ground? This is a very tiny slice of what is happening in Syria today. But sometimes, as a journalist, you can only hope to capture the small details and hope that leads to a bigger story.

Q.





I believe that Mao said “political power comes from the barrel of a gun.” Another dictator, Joseph Stalin, said when asked “what will the Pope say?” replied “how many divisions does the Pope command?” The point is that in all these types of struggles, it does finally get down to brute force before the issue is decided. Sad but true.
 - Designer, New York

A.

I do not agree. Power is not always from guns, but from people power. Gene Sharp, who is the guru of non-violent resistance, modeled on Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi, has written many textbooks on how to start revolutions without violence. Tunisia was a fairly good example of that; Serbia another - a group of students and farmers overthrew the dictator Milosevic. I think that violence is always a last choice, and even then, I do not condone it. Remember Syria started out as peaceful protests before the government fired on demonstrators.

Q.

Once again, where is the U.N.? They do nothing unless the U.S. is leading the charge (and paying the bills). Shameful.
 - SW, San Francisco

A.

Please don't get me started on the U.N. I lived through Bosnia, Rwanda, East Timor, Kosovo, Iraq and Af ghanistan in their string of disasters. I am the most bitter about Srebrenica. But in this case, I have to defend them. Russia and China are blocking them from doing anything - and the U.N. monitors are frozen, hopelessly, and not allowed to work. The ones I met want to get on the ground to see what is happening, to negotiate. Kofi Annan left the mission frustrated and beaten. Remember, as head of the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations, he also was around when the Serbs massacred 8000 men and boys in Srebrenica, and during Rwanda, so he should have known better. I have great respect for Lakhdar Brahimi, but I fear he has taken on a hopeless mission - neither side wants a ceasefire yet, or is ready for negotiation.



State-by-State Guide to Hurricane Sandy

Last Updated | 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 30 â€" We are taking a state-by-state look at the devastation caused in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, including unprecedented flooding damage in New Jersey and New York City, where the subway system will be shut down for at least four days, as our colleagues report. . An interactive map shows where more than 6 million people across the Northeast are without power. At least ten people in New York, three in New Jersey and two in Connecticut were among the multiple people whose deaths have been attributed to the mammoth storm that created havoc from North Carolina to New England.

New York Times reporters are delivering live updates from across the region and Northeast.

Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia | Maryland | New Jersey | New York | North Carolina | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | Virginia | West Virginia

CONNECTICUT

WTNH-TV reports on Tuesday from Milford, Conn., which was badly hit by Sandy

At least two people died as a result of the storm that flooded low-lying areas in coastal towns and left hundreds of of thousands of people without power, reports The Hartford Courant on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Governor Dannel P. Malloy, who is touring coastal towns to inspect the damage, lifted the restriction banning cars and t rucks from state highways.

A town-by-town list from Connecticut Light & Power.

More than 360,000 people were evacuated over the weekend from low-lying areas along the coast from Old Saybrook to Fairfield amid growing concern about flooding from the hurricane's surge in Long Island Sound.

WTNH-TV in Hartford delivered this report on the damage the storm caused to Metro North.

WTNH-TV provides an update on the damage the storm caused to Metro North

After Hurricane Irene last year, power companies in Connecticut were harshly criticized for taking more than a week to restore power to tens of thousands of customers. Luther Turmelle, a reporter for The New Haven Register, reports that Connecticut can once again expect widespread power failures:

TRANSPORTATION: Governor Malloy lifted travel ban on state highways on Tuesday. No commuter rail service. Amtrak cancelled service.

EVACUATIONS: Branford, Fairfield, Old Saybrook and East Haven. WTNH-TV published a town-by-town evacuation list.

POWER/UTILITIES: More than 600,000 customers were without power on Tuesday.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER RESOURCES:

Hash tags: #ctsandy, #sandyct

The Twitter account for the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection:

The American Red Cross Safety and Preparation Tips for Connecticut Residents

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Facebook

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Twitter

Facebook updates from the Naval Submarine Base, Groton, Conn.

News Media Twitter Accounts to Follow:

News updates from NBC Connecticut

The New Haven Register on Facebook

The Yale Daily News on Twitter

The Stamford Advocate updates for Fairfield County on Twitter

DELAWARE

Brian Stelter for The New York Times in Lewes, Del..

Delaware banned cars and trucks from the state's roadways other than “essential personnel” as part of its emergency restrictions. Gov. Jack Markell said the next 24 hours would get “a whole lot worse”.

“The most important thing right now is for people to use common sense,” Governor Markell said. “We didn't want people out on the road going to work and not being able to get home again.”

Some roads were completely closed. Delaware Route 1 was shut down from Fenwick to Dewey because of flooding. “We've seen some substantial flooding on Route 1,” said Rob Walker, a public information officer for Sussex County.

Coastal flooding was the chief concern in Delaware as Hurricane Sandy churned offshore on Monday. In Lewes, a low-lying town at the tip of
the Delaware Bay, ocean water crept into homes as an intracoastal waterway was overwhelmed by storm surge. Police cut off all access to
the flooded part of town on Monday afternoon, enforcing a statewide ban on all driving that was put in place before dawn.

In this short video, you can see the rising water in Lewes, flooding homes.

South of Lewes in Rehoboth Beach, the surge tugged sand fences out to sea and swept over the dunes in some spots, leaving seashells and
other debris on the boardwalk. The ocean receded somewhat during low tide, but emergency officials feared that the evening's high tide would swamp the boardwalk area.

The wind also began t o kick up and contributed to scattered power failures around the state.

Evacuations were mandatory in flood-prone parts of the state, from Fenwick Island on the southern border with Maryland to New Castle, a hundred miles north. All businesses within the evacuation zones were ordered closed by 6 p.m. Sunday.

“This storm is severe and its potential damages significant,” Governor Markell said in a statement on Sunday. “It is critical that residents in areas of greatest risk leave those areas now before the storm's full force is felt and lives are put at greater risk.”

The state set up a hot line, (800) 464-4357, for members of the public who have questions about the storm. The Delaware Emergency Management Agency also posted updates on its Web site.

Gov. Jack A. Mark ell talking about emergency plans during a visit to the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center in Georgetown, Del.

TRANSPORTATION: All highways closed except for essential personnel. Amtrak canceled service along the Northeast Corridor on Monday. Route 1, the coastal highway in Delaware, was closed on Sunday after the ocean flooded a portion of it.

EVACUATIONS: Low-lying areas in Sussex, New Castle, Kent Counties. The Delaware Emergency Management Agency published a complete list of towns, areas and evacuation routes. Red Cross centers opened at noon, including ones at Cape Henlopen High School, Milford Middle School, Dover High School and William Penn High School in New Castle, which also welcome pets.

FORECAST: Coastal flooding. H urricane-force winds were expected on Monday. Rainfall of four to eight inches was expected over portions of the mid-Atlantic states, including the Delmarva Peninsula, with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches possible. Updates here.

POWER/UTILITIES: Long-term, widespread power failures are expected.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Hash tags: #desandy, #sandyde

Emergency Management on Facebook.

The Delaware Citizen Corps

PrepareDelaware on Twitter

Delaware State Police Newsroom on Facebook

Delaware weather updates on Twitter

The News Journal on Twitter

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Strong winds and rain knocked down trees and power lines but the Washington, D.C. area escaped the “brunt of the storm” and was starting to return to normal, as the Washington Post reports.

On Tuesday, the METRO and federal government offices in the District of Columbia remained closed to the public, and nonessential personnel did not have to report to work, the Office of Personnel Management announced.

Public schools were closed on Tuesday. More than 250,000 people were without power, based on an interactive map from The Post.

The nation's capital is far enough inland so it was able to avoid the worst of the winds. Also, the city's low-lying areas, including Georgetown and the tidal basin of the Potomac River, experienced some flooding.

Pepco, the utility company that was criticized for leaving people in the district without power for more than a week after a storm in June, called customers over the weekend reminding them to prepare and issued a warning on Twitter.

TRANSPORTATION: Metro subway trains and buses were out of service on Monday. All Maryland Area Regional Commuter train service was canceled on Monday. Amtrak canceled Northeast Regional, Acela, Keystone and shuttle service for Monday, and service north to New York City was suspended at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Virginia Railway Express train service was canceled Monday.

POWER/UTILITIES: Pepco is expecting widespread power failures.

FORECAST: Winds of as much as 45 m.p.h., and gusts over 60 m.p.h., beginning on Monday morning and lasting for at least a day. The worst conditions were expected on Monday night. Coastal flood warnings called for a surge of one to three feet above normal, leading to moderate flooding, especially on Tuesday. Updates can be found here.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

American Red Cross in the National Capital Region on Twitter

Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Twitter

D.C. Homeland Security on Twitter

D.C. Fire and E.M.S. on Twitter

D.C Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs on Twitter

D.C. Department of Transportation on Twitter

The Washington Post's Capital Weather blog on Twitter

The Washington Post's local news updates on Twitter

MARYLAND

Ocean City felt the impact of Sandy's fury on Monday as the ocean crashed over dunes and brought down half of the city's famed pier, reports WBOC-TV in Ocean City.

The mayor issued evacuation orders for Ocean City's most flood-prone neighborhoods, which were inundated.

As the storm approached, the state's eastern coast was under warning for hurricane-force winds, as was the whole coast from Virginia to Rhode Island, including Chesapeake Bay. Serious flooding was not expected in Chesapeake Bay, but shifts in the storm's trajectory raised concerns about flooding in the bay as the storm now appears to push water inland into rivers and streams already likely to flood.

Even in the mountainous western reaches of the state, winds will gust to 45 m.p.h. or more beginning late Monday and lasting for a day or two. Along with heavy rain, and in the mountains even snow, this can be expected to bring down trees and power lines.

While Ocean City was being evacuated for the coastal storm surge of a hurricane, a blizzard warning was issued for Garrett County and other regions in the west of the state, lasting from 3 p.m. Monday to 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The state has experienced many instances of widespread, prolonged power failures during extreme weather in recent years, and no one expects this time to be different.

Baltimore County issued a plea for people in flood-prone areas to consider evacuating and said conditions would be at their worst on Monday, lasting until Tuesday. Rain started to fall in Baltimore at midafternoon on Sunday.

Schools in Baltimore, Montgomery County and elsewhere around the state announced they would be c losed on Monday. And the port was closed:

President Obama signed an emergency declaration order for the state, meaning that federal assistance may be delivered in advance.

Maryland canceled early voting on Monday. The state government shut down except for nonessential personnel. That means no motor-vehicle licensing or inspection offices were open, for example.

Gov. Martin O'Malley said at a Monday briefing that “there will be people who die and are killed in this storm.”

“We need to watch out for each other, but the inte nsity of this storm is such that there will undoubtedly be some deaths that are caused by the intensity of this storm, by the floods, by the tidal surge and by the waves,” he said.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

American Red Cross from central Maryland on Facebook

American Red Cross Lower Shore for Maryland and Virginia on Twitter

Maryland Emergency Management Center on Twitter

Maryland Department of Transportation on Twitter

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Twitter

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore on Twitter

Baltimore Police Department on Twitter

The Baltimore Sun on Twitter

NEW JERSEY

Gov. Chris Christie gives an update on the storm during an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC's TV's Today Show.

At least three people have been killed as a result of the storm, which has caused unprecedented damage along the coast, said Governor Chris Christie. More than two million people are without power. Search and rescue missions are underway up and down the coast, where an unknown number of people are cut off and without power. A video of Governor Christie's 10 a.m. briefing on Tuesday and latest updates from the emergency management command center can be found here.

Ocean waters along the New Jersey coast moved inland even before Sandy made landfall at about 8 p.m. Monday, filling up streets and washing away piers and boardwalks. Waist-deep floodwaters in some locations wreaked havoc, as The Star Ledger reports. But on Tuesday morning, it was evident that the surge caused record-breaking flooding and unprecedented destruction.

Because of the storm's size and strength, its impact stretched for hundreds of miles beyond its center.

PATH and New Jersey Transit service was suspended, and it could take days before full service is restored. The George Washington Bridge was re-opened on Tuesday but the Gar den State Parkway remained closed in both directions south of Interchange 129 in Woodbridge Township.

Some photos posted on Twitter offer a glimpse of the impact of the storm, starting Monday.

More than 2,200 people remained in shelters in New Jersey, according to the State Office of Emergency Management. But some p eople in the most vulnerable areas had hunkered down in their homes; in Cape May County, the southernmost portion of the state, officials estimated that perhaps 40 percent of the residents of the county's barrier islands had decided to stay put, complicating search and rescue missions.

TRANSPORTATION: New Jersey Transit and PATH service was suspended. The Garden State Parkway in both directions south of Interchange 129 in Woodbridge Township was closed. Hundreds of flights into and out of Newark Liberty International Airport were canceled.

EVACUATIONS: A mandatory evacuation order was issued for thousands of residents in low-lying areas along the coast. Residents of the state's barrier islands were told to evacuate by 4 p.m. Sunday, and Atlantic City casinos were closed.

POWER/UTILITIES: More than 2 million people are without power, more than from Irene.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Gov. Chris Christie on Facebook

Gov. Chris Chri stie on Twitter

Gov. Chris Christie on YouTube

Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark on Twitter

New Jersey Department of Emergency Management on Facebook

A breaking news Twitter account from The Record

The Star-Ledger on Twitter

The Asbury Park Press on Twitter

N.J. 101.5 News on Twitter

The Atlantic City Press on Twitter

NEW YORK

New York Times reporters are fanned out across the city and region, covering the aftermath of the storm and providing live updates here. An interactive map showing power failures and flooding and wind damage from the storm.

Six photos posted on Twitter showing the impact of the storm in the city.

An explosion at a Con Edison plant contributed to a power failure that plunged people and businesses into darkness from 34th Street in Manhattan to the Battery.

A video of the explosion at Con Edison utility station on Monday night that contributed to the power failure affecting hundreds of thousands of people. Credit: TrillianMedia.

On Long Island, there was widespread flooding and hundreds of thousands of customers were without power on Tuesday. The Long Island Power Authority has this interactive map with the latest on the power failures and what actions are being taken.

Our correspondent, Sarah Maslin Nir, reporting from the eastern end of Long Island.

In Midtown Manhattan, a high-rise crane has been apparently damaged and is dangling some 80 stories over the sidewalk at 157 West 57th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, as our colleagues report. The police have blocked off the area and were evacuating surrounding buildings.

The storm created major transportation problems across the region. Governor Andrew Cuomo shared this photo on Twitter showing a boat in the middle of the commuter rail tracks in a town in northern Westchester County.

The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel were closed for traffic at 2 p.m. on Monday, and will remain closed for the duration of the storm. Mr. Bloomberg said that New York City public schools would remain closed. The subways may not be operational for four to five days.

More than 375,000 people were ordered on Sunday to evacuate their homes in Brooklyn, Queens and Lower Manhattan. Our colleagues have amassed a detailed list of closings and another map and list about evacuations and closings resulting from the storm.

What does the storm look like from the 51st floor of the New York Times building in Times Square? Find out here.


TRANSPORTATION: Unprecedented damage to the city's subway and bus service, commuter rails, tunnels. The George Washington Bridge was opened on Tuesday but other bridges remained closed as inspectors made safety checks.

EVACUATIONS: More than 375,000 people were ordered on Sunday to evacuate low-lying areas in Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. More than 3,000 were in emergency shelters as of Monday morning, Mayor Bloomberg said.


POWER/UTILITIES: More than 2 million people without power in New York state, including residents and businesses from lower Manhattan to 39th Street. Governor Andrew Cuomo provided updates on his Twitter account on Tuesday morning.

SOCI AL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Live updates from The New York Times Metro Desk on Twitter

Live updates from Governor Cuomo

New York mayor's office on Twitter

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Twitter

Rachel Sterne, chief digital officer for New York City, on Twitter

Notify NYC on Twitter

New York State Office of Emergency Management on Twitter

New York State agencies, via NY-Alert, on Twitter

American Red Cross in Greater New York on Facebook

New York City Evacuation Centers on FourSquare

Nassau County Office of Emergency Management on Twitter

Suffolk County Fire Department and Emergency Services on Facebook

Westchester County government on Facebook

Westchester County government on Twitter

Newsday on Long Island on Twitter

Suffolk County News on Twitter

New York 1 Weather Twitter

NORTH CAROLINA

Hurricane Sandy battered hundreds of miles of the North Carolina coast on Monday, causing flooding and damage, but it wreaked the most havoc and cost two people their lives when a 180-foot three-masted ship sank in rough seas near the Outer Banks. The ship is a well-known a replica of the one made famous in the 1960 MGM film “Mutiny on the Bounty.” It was used in the film “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.”

The Coast Guard staged a daring early-morning helicopter rescue, captured on video, early Monday morning, pulling 14 crew members from the sea. Two people remained missing, according to the Coast Guard.

Th e Coast Guard posted video of rescue.

The ship had set sail from Connecticut, bound for Florida. Although its crew was aware of the impending storm, they believed they could sail around it. But with Hurricane Sandy spanning more than 500 nautical miles, they were unable to avoid running into it.

Bobby Outten, Dare County manager, discussing the impact of the storm on the Outer Banks.

The Hurricane was moving north in the Atlantic far off the North Carolina coast, so the state was not confronted with the full force of the storm. Still, there were reports of major flooding in the Outer Banks, with roads and highways being shut down. One casualty was the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills.

A Web cam in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks delivers a live view of the storm.

TRANSPORTATION: Flooding was reported on some highways and roads. State Highway 12 was closed in some places.

FORECAST: Storm surges of four to six feet were predicted, and rainfall of up to eight inches is possible. Inland, there may be significant snowfall along the North Carolina-Tennessee border.

EVACUATIONS: No evacuations were ordered in the state.

POWER/UTILITIES: Scattered power failures were reported.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

North Carolina Emergency Management on Facebook

North Carolina National Guard on Twitter

Cape Fear Red Cross on Twitter

Carolina Region Red Cross

PENNSYLVANIA

Long before Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City. at 8 p.m. Monday, the gigantic storm had already been producing steady rain and gusts of wind as high as 55 miles per hour, bringing down trees and power lines and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.

Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia said that about 150 people checked into the city's three emergency shelters by Monday morning, but as the day went on the shelter population swelled. As Jon Hurdle reports, West Philadelphia High School was taking in people seeking refuge.

Among them was Garrett Tate, 56, who was stranded in Philadelphia when trying to return to his home in Atlantic City on Sunday evening, when New Jersey Transit stopped running the trains that connect the cities.

Mr. Tate, who works for a gaming company, said he was not worried about his apartment in Atlantic City, which was forecast to bear the brunt of the hurricane, because the property is on an upper floor.

He welcomed the facilities provided at the West Philadelphia shelter. “I'm very happy to be here,” he said.

As of Monday, the police were advising evacuations, as this video from Darby shows.

As he avy rain lashed Philadelphia on Monday,, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation banned the use of some categories of vehicles, including overweight trucks, tandem trailers, and motorcycles, and adjusted the speed limit.

Gov. Tom Corbett added Pennsylvania to the list of states that declared a state of emergency. All bus, rail and trolley services in the city were suspended and public schools closed.

Mayor Nutter had estimated that as many as 10,000 people in the city live in flood-prone areas and encouraged p eople to make use of the shelters.

“With a storm of this magnitude, we are looking at a multiday restoration,” said Martha Phan, a spokeswoman for Peco, the power utility.

Ms. Phan said 500 field crews, including some from Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, were ready to repair the damage to power lines brought down by falling trees. Ms. Phan warned customers to stay away from any downed power lines, and said people should call (800) 841 4141 to report power failures.

A refinery operated by Philadelphia Energy Solutions was cutting its output in response to the storm, said Cherise Corley, a spokeswoman for the company, which normally processes 330,000 barrels of crude oil a day into petroleum products. “We continue to monitor the storm and take the appropriate precautions. We are currently running at reduced capacity,” she said.

The City of Harrisburg prepared for flash-flooding, tree damage and power failures into Tue sday.

Gov. Tom Corbett discussed preparations for Hurricane Sandy.
Mayor Michael A. Nutter gave an update on preparations for Hurricane Sandy on Sunday.

TRANSPORTATION: All public transportation in Philadelphia was suspended.

EVACUATIONS: Shelters were set up in Philadelphia and made available to more than 10,000 people who live in flood-prone areas.

FORECAST: Major flooding and high winds are expected.

POWER/UTILITIES: Long-term and widespread power failures are expected.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Mayor Michael A. Nutter on Twitter

America n Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter on Facebook

Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management on YouTube

Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management on Twitter

The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News on Twitter

The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News on Facebook

Glenn Schwartz, a meteorologist for NBC10, on Twitter

NBC10 News on Twitter

6ABC's “Action News” on Twitter

RHODE ISLAND

More than 80,000 customers were without power Tuesday as officials began to assess the damage from the flooding along the Rhode Island coast and inland.

Like much of the East Coast, the state was under a state of emergency Monday, and mandatory evacuation order s were issued in coastal and low-lying parts of Bristol, Charlestown, Middletown, Narrangsett, South Kingstown, Tiverton and Westerly, according to WPRI.com

Although his neighborhood in South Kingstown was evacuated at 6 a.m. Monday, Kevin Finnegan was still inside his bar there, the Ocean Mist, on Monday afternoon, watching the surf. The beach there has been stripped down over the years by coastal erosion, imperiling the shoreline access road, but Mr. Finnegan said that, so far, the storm had actually been good for the beach.

“The first tide was lighter than we thought, it brought in a bunch of sand,” said Mr. Finnegan, hopeful the sand will the beach withstand Monday night's high tide. “But it's not over, it could get worse in the next three to five hours.”

Officials in Newport and East Providence called for voluntary evacuations in those cities.Ten shelters opened around the state for people in areas considered dangerous.

By early Monday e vening, more than 80,000 National Grid customers in Rhode Island were without power.

All the ports in southeastern New England, including Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay, were closed to vessel traffic on Sunday evening, and remained closed Monday.



TRANSPORTATION: With heavy rain and wind in the forecast, bridges could be shut down and roads flooded.
EVACUATIONS: Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for some low-lying communities.
POWER/UTILITIES: More than 80,000 people were without power Monday. Widespread power failures are expected.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Rhode Island Emergency Management on Facebook

Providence Emergency Management Department on Twitter

Providence Department of Public Safety on Twitter

VIRGINIA

There was significant flooding in Norfolk and Virginia Beach on Monday and other parts along the coast of eastern Virginia, while heavy snow fell in the elevated parts of the state's southwest and western counties.

“You've got flooding in south and southeast Virginia,” Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said. “You've got blizzard in western and southwest Virginia. And you've got high winds and heavy rain in northern Virginia. That's what it's going to look like now for the next 24 to 36 hours.” .

Mr. McDonnell said he would seek an expedited emergency declaration from the federal government to speed aid to battered parts of the state.

“This is going to be a long haul,” he said when he declared a state of emergency before the storm. “We will no doubt have rain and high winds through Tuesday, and in Northern Virginia significant wind and rains into Wednesday. People are going to have to be patient,” he told reporters.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell outlined emergency plans at a briefing on Sunday.

The coastal area known as Hampton Roads saw flooding early in the day in what Governor McDonnell called an “astronomically high tide” and powerful surf. With more than 100 secondary roads closed because of flooding, the state suspended high-occupancy restrictions to increase use of highways.

Authorities closed the Midtown Tunnel in Norfolk, and some low-lying areas were evacuated.

Ahead of the storm, the commander of United States Fleet Forces ordered all Navy ships in the Hampton Roads area to prepare for a sortie as Hurricane Sandy traveled up the East Coast. The Navy posted a video on YouTube showing the preparations.

The Navy uploaded this video showing preparations for Hurricane Sandy.

TRANSPORTATION: At least 100 secondary roads, as well as parts of Interstate 77, were closed because of flooding, and some areas reported ice on the roads. The state lifted high-occupancy vehicle restrictions on highways. The Midtown Tunnel between Portsmouth and Norfolk was closed.


EVACUATIONS: The state did not mandate any evacuations or order lane reversal to aid traffic away from the coast, but some residents evacuated coastal areas. Governor McDonnell said 28 emergency shelters had been opened.

FORECAST: Coastal hurricane-force winds, prolonged high winds inland, coastal and inland flooding, and heavy snow in the western mountains. Updates for Virginia are at weather.gov.

POWER/UTILITIES: Dominion Virginia Power reported already restoring power to some 40,000 outrages by Monday afternoon, but the number of homes likely to lose power was expected to rise sharply as the full brunt of the storm came ashore. The utility brought in more than 2,500 extra workers to respond to the storm. Long term, widespread power failures were expected.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Virginia State Police on Facebook

Virginia Department of Emergency Management on Facebook

Virginia Department of Emergency Management on Twitter

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell on Twitter

Virginia Dep artment of Transportation on Twitter

Red Cross of Southeastern Virginia on Twitter

Red Cross of Southeastern Virginia on Facebook

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk on Twitter

WEST VIRGINIA

This map from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center shows the forecast probabilities:

As Hurricane Sandy collided with a warm front over the Mid-Atlantic on Monday afternoon, rain and heavy, wet snow fell more and more steadily across West Virginia.

Talk of “how much are we going to get” turned into “what's closed,” reports Cynthia McCloud, a writer who is contributing to this report.

Some school districts called off classes for Tuesday. Some counties' government offices will be closed, including courts. Some p eople took out their skis.

Early voting in Morgan County on Tuesday was suspended because of the storm, according to Secretary of State Natalie Tennant. Her office sent out a warning to all early voters to use caution if going to the polls during the storm.

A utility company map of power failures in northern West Virginia showed the number steadily climbing, reaching 6,300 by late afternoon, with most of them in Morgan County, where 3,330 were without power.

Power problems in some cities caused traffic lights to go out. Production in at least one Tucker County coal mine was idled for a time because of a power failure. The mine was operating again by late Monday afternoon.

At least one fatal automobile accident was blamed on the storm.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin outlined preparations at a briefing on Sunday, telling people that they needed to be ready “for all scenarios.”

“Gather batteries, flashlights, bottled water, nonperishable food items, blankets, medications, a battery-operated radio and other necessities. Be sure to check on each other - family, friends and neighbors,” he said in a statement. “Our West Virginia National Guard and other resources are on standby, so that we may act quickly if needed. Our Department of Highway staff is on call and ready - they have tested their plows and other snow equipment and are scheduled to begin work at midnight tonight. Additionally our utility companies are making preparations.”

The June 29 “derecho” windstorm cut off power to hundreds of thousands of the state's residents, and many did not get power back for two weeks. There is a high likelihood that power will take a long time to restore this time, as well.

This time, though, the storm will be followed by cold weather, making shelter a bigger issue. The Charleston Daily Mail reports that T.D. Lively of the state Division of Homeland Security said the American Red Cross had several shelters on standby, adding that “typically West Virginia doesn't have a large need for sheltering because people tend to stay with family.”

TRANSPORTATION: Amtrak service is canceled. All forms of transportation are likely to be paralyzed by the two to three feet of snow expected.

EVACUATIONS: None are expected, but shelters may be needed.

FORECAST: A blizzard with wet snow and high winds, especially at elevations, that could produce more than two feet of snow. Rain and flooding. Updates are available here.

POWER/UTILITIES: Long-term, widespread power failures are expected. Information on how to report a power failure is at appalachianpower.com and dom.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

If you lose pwr, report online at http://t.co/1WZo2iCV (mobile outage site too) or call Va1-800-956-4237; WV1-800-982-4237; TN1-800-967-4237

- Appalachian Power (@appalachianpowe) 28 Oct 12

West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on Twitter

West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on Facebook.

John H. Cushman from Washington, Jon Hurdle from Philadelphia; Brian Stelter from Lewes, Del; Thomas Kaplan from Little Egg Harbor, N.J. Jennifer Preston, Christine Hauser, Cynthia McCloud, Sharon Otterman, Marc Santora and Michael Schwirtz from New York contributed to this report.



David Barboza Answers Reader Questions on Reporting in China

The Times's Shanghai bureau chief, David Barboza, reported last week that close relatives of Wen Jiabao, the prime minister of China, hold billions of dollars in hidden riches. Here are his answers to questions from readers prompted by the article.

Q.

As the NY Times's Shanghai bureau chief, I assume you are a China old hand. I'm curious about what prompted you to write this article? What was your rationale for the timing of this article? Have you ever got a feeling of being used? - Casablanca

A.

I have been in China since 2004, and as a correspondent for the Business section, I have focused my reporting energies on economic, financial and business issues. Throughout my tenure in China there has been a lot of discussion about whether the families of high-ranking government officials have benefited from the country's economic transformation by receiving so-called secret shares in corporations. This is a regul ar topic of dinner conversation when bankers, lawyers and accountants gather in Shanghai and Beijing. I had been told many times that this is typically done by using “nominee investors,” friends or people not easily identifiable in the shareholder records as having ties to politicians. These nominees, I was told, often hold shares for the relatives of powerful politicians, giving them a stake in a company.

About a year ago, as I was reporting a series of articles about China's state-managed economy, I decided to see if there was any evidence behind the theory. I started looking into the business ties of several high-ranking leaders. Anyone who knows business and finance in China knows that the conjecture about the prime minister's relatives was particularly persistent, so my focus eventually narrowed on the Wen family. I knew this would be a time-consuming and difficult task, but I was determined to answer this question. I plowed in, and to my great surprise found that there was a tremendous amount of information available in the public record. My reporting did not find illegality or corruption. It did reveal the names of Mr. Wen's relatives hidden behind dozens of investment vehicles that few people had ever heard of.

Q.

I almost believed all the allegations against Wen in your article (most of the report pointing him as double-handed and heavily involved in the alleged corruptions) until the end of your report, which indicates that he almost divorced his wife because of her questionable business deals, and he was willing to let history judge him. Unfortunately, most people would not finish reading such a lengthy report, or their opinions have been formed based on the first half of your report…. Please enlighten me and other readers how you can justify your strong allegations first and then hinting you may not be sure of the allegations. Let me be clear: We are all fed up with corruptions in China (and elsewhere), but I am afraid your report may cause confusions to the readers, and leading to much tighter government control â€" meaning more corruptions and left-leaning policies in China in the future. Hope that is not what you are wishing for. - Pacific, USA

A.

I have to disagree with your assertion that I first listed strong allegations and then suggested I wasn't sure about the allegations.

My goal in undertaking this story was to determine whether the relatives of the prime minister had large stakes in Chinese companies, and to figure out how much wealth they had accumulated. If there were clues as to how these relatives made their fortunes, that would obviously tell us something about how things work in China for the relatives of senior leaders.

I didn't make allegations, I described my findings: the relatives of the prime minister have controlled a fortune that has had a value of at least $2 .7 billion over the last decade, according to the public records I reviewed.

As with all reporting on any given subject, we did not conduct our investigation in a vacuum. We went directly to the people whose names appeared on the documents we tracked. We made repeated efforts to reach the prime minister and his various relatives to give them the opportunity to discuss the documents or to refute our findings. They did not respond or declined to comment. So the next best option was to explore the public record and share with our readers what the prime minister has said publicly about corruption and whether he has sought personal gain. We also cited documents released by the WikiLeaks organization because they also shed light on the subject and might help the reader better understand the context of our findings. There was an interesting State Department cable from 2007, which refers to the prime minister and his family's business dealings.

Q.
< p>First of all, thanks for publish the article. It's an eye opening. My question is what are the implication of your article on the upcoming communist transition on November 8, 2012? Obviously, there's someone trying to discredit Wen Jiabao and his reformist faction. Who would benefit the most from your article? Is it Wu Bangguo and Zhou Yongkang's hardline faction?

I have a strange feeling that New York Times has become a tool in a factional struggle between different factions of Communist party. Your article is not exactly surprising, it's an open secret that nobody's hand was clean in China's leadership. The whole government was corrupt. It's impossible to be an honest government official. Only thing surprising is the scale of corruption, I was thinking hundreds of millions before, thanks to NY Times, now I know it's in billions. - Jordan, Bend, Ore.

A.

My apologies. I have to confess that I'm a business correspondent and do not cover Beijing politics, nor was the Party Congress a focus of my investigation. So I can't really tell you the political implications of this article. You may have seen a comment in the article from Minxin Pei, who is at Claremont McKenna College. He believes this will weaken Wen in the last months of his term. There are two other experts who specialize in this area - Li Cheng and Kenneth Lieberthal, both at the Brookings Institution in Washington. We may be hearing more from them in the coming weeks about the 18th Party Congress and the transition, which will involve naming the next president, widely expected to be Xi Jinping, and a new prime minister to replace Wen Jiabao, likely to be Li Keqiang. My colleagues in Beijing are in the midst of a fascinating series about that transition called “Changing of the Guard.”

Q.

It is interesting that a few days ago, several Chinese sites reported that a thick bundle of material about Wen's family wealth was sent to major US news agent by unidentified parties. The speculation was that this was the revenge for people who are sympathetic to Bo Xilai. Could Times tell us why it decided to do this now to Wen even though rumor about it had been going for years. Has the intentional leak played any role in the timing? If yes, I think that Times should mention it. This is a tremendous reporting, but it would be useful for the readers to know the context of this report. We would actually learn more about intricates about Chinese politics. â€"Joy, Poughkeepsie

A.

Your questions are excellent. Why now? Because it took that long to gather and evaluate the evidence, which involved thousands of pages of corporate and regulatory documents that we obtained through public record requests to various government entities in China.

I began looking into the business dealings of Wen Jiabao's family late last year. I had been working on a series called “Endangered Dragon,” which looked at China's government-managed economy, and wanted to include a piece that would give deeper insight into how China's capitalism worked at the top. It is a broad subject, which I decided would be made more manageable by focusing on one family. I chose the prime minister's family because I had heard conjecture about their business dealings for many years. People talked openly about the family's wealth as if it was fact, but there was really no reporting on the subject that I could find that cited hard evidence backing up the claims. I kept scratching my head about why no one had tried to truth-squad the widespread rumors.

So I got started last year, and within a month or so, I was discovering intriguing things about some of the businesses, but each new discovery required digging deeper and deeper. I expected to finish the project within a month, by working weekends, but it took more than a year!

I have read the speculation tha t some “insider” gave me information, or that some enemies of the prime minister dropped off a huge box of documents at my office. That never happened. Not only were there no leaked documents, I never in the course of reporting met anyone who offered or hinted that they had documents related to the family holdings. This was a paper trail of publicly available documents that I followed with my own reporting, and if I might hazard a guess, it was a trail that no one else had followed before me.

In short, given the amount of effort this investigation required, I'd be stunned if there were a box of documents sitting somewhere that contained all of this work. If only it were so easy!

Q.

A great article with a lot of details. May I ask you how you can get into such detailed level of information? Did you get any leads from someone inside the Wall? It seems to me it is almost impossible to untangle such a network of secret dealings without any hint from the people in the know, and these are probably people who are Wen's enemies. Thank you. - Jack, NY

A.

My only real source for this lengthy article was a filing cabinet full of documents I requested from various Chinese government offices over a period of about a year. After having some luck with my initial requests for corporate registration documents from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce bureaus, I went on a reporting spree: requesting and paying fees for the records of dozens of investment partnerships tied to the relatives of Wen Jiabao.

I also began making lists of individuals and companies and trying to figure out who the people were and what their relationships were to one another; and what, I asked, was the purpose of all these partnerships - many of which had similar shareholders lists.

Although S.A.I.C. records are open to the public, few journalists in China have really made good use of the m. They are invaluable sources of information about private companies. Two excellent Chinese publications, Caixin and the 21 Century Business Herald, have regularly used S.A.I.C. records. These two publications have done some groundbreaking business reporting here. But government restrictions on writing about the families of senior leaders limits the scope of investigative journalism in China, particularly when the families of high-ranking officials are involved.

So, Jack, there was no person “inside the Wall” helping me. I read the documents, called lawyers, accountants and financial experts for advice about how to make sense of the records. Occasionally I met someone who was able to identify one of the shareholders. But I told very few people that I was working on a story about the prime minister's relatives. Even my closest friends did not know. I knew talking about my research could be risky, and might derail the project.



EMC Acquires Silver Tail Systems

The data storage giant EMC said Tuesday that it had acquired Silver Tail Systems, an antifraud start-up.

EMC did not disclose the price for Silver Tail, which is based in Menlo Park, Calif. But it has acquired a number of security start-ups in the past few years as it expands beyond its core business of data storage. Its largest acquisition was the 2006 takeover of RSA Security for $2.1 billion. Last year, it acquired NetWitness, another security start-up. That price was never disclosed, but people close to the acquisition talks said NetWitness sold for $400 million, more than 10 times its 12-month trailing revenue.

EMC is not the only tech giant chasing security start-ups. Earlier this year, Apple, which typically avoids triple-digit million-dollar acquisitions, acquired AuthenTec, a security start-up, for $356 million, its second-largest acquisition to date. Meanwhile, venture capitalists are pouring millions into security start-ups: They collectively invest ed $935 million in computer security start-ups last year, almost double the $495 million they invested in 2010, according to a Moneytree report.

Before founding Silver Tail four years ago, Mike Eynon and Laura Mather worked for three years on the antifraud teams at eBay and PayPal, two of the most targeted sites on the Web. From they learned they started Silver Tail, which searches for online fraud in real time. The company maps out what normal behavior is at a Web site and uses that intelligence to spot for anomalies, like a hacker breaking in, or large volumes of transactions coming from a single computer.

Mr. Eynon and Ms. Mather founded Silver Tail with an initial $2 million in backing from Leapfrog Ventures, Seraph Group and Startup Capital Ventures. Last year, the company received another $20 million from those investors as well as Andreessen Horowitz and Citi Ventures, the venture arm of Citigroup.

Scott Weiss, the partner at Andreessen Horowitz who led the investment, said that in the last year, Silver Tail had grown to nearly 100 employees, from 12, and that the product was being used by several top American banks. He added that the experience of the start-up's founders at eBay and PayPal has resonated with banks, e-commerce companies and government agencies.



An Update for the Corporate Help Desk

BMC Software, which makes products for managing corporate computers and employee help desks, is releasing a product that personalizes delivery of things like documents and corporate software to personal devices. People will be able to use it to order their own computers, automatically know if something urgent is going on in their businesses, or make appointments to talk to a help desk, instead of just waiting on the phone to describe a problem.

If someone is traveling, the system uses the personal device's geolocation service to help find a local office on Google Maps. A company can put its own floor plan into the map, so people can find meeting rooms or the location of a printer that has been set up to work with the device. Secure content, like sensitive corporate documents and internal phone numbers, can be stored online and retrieved through the service.

“Right now, compared to what consumers have, when you walk into an office and have to use the help desk , you go back in time,” said Robert Beauchamp, BMC's chief executive. “Context-aware content delivery will transform the experience of using corporate information technology.”

It should also cut down the cost of running a help desk, since it automates activities like telling people that an online expense reporting system isn't working, setting up voice mail or providing preapproved applications.

When there are calls to the help desk, they will most likely be prioritized, much the way credit card companies can tell when a high-value customer is calling in. “We have customers with aerospace engineers and truck drivers, and they all get treated the same by the information technology department,” Mr. Beauchamp said. “Now, who the user is will be known by the I.T. department.”

BMC is also hoping that the product, called MyIT, gives it a little more visibility. BMC sells products to more than 50,000 companies, and it is a critical part of the connec tion between corporate servers and the people who use them, but few people outside of I.T. know about it. MyIT will be branded on user devices, Mr. Beauchamp said, much the way Intel put “Intel Inside” stickers on personal computers.

BMC will also be capturing a lot of user data by running MyIT, which can be analyzed to learn more about how people use their tablets from the road, and how I.T. services should be changed. In the future, that could mean new businesses, or at least even more personal attention during office hours.



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