Microsoft pushes new Windows to developers

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Days after launching Windows 8, Microsoft Corp is mounting a strong campaign to win over the software developers it needs to kick-start its new operating system.

A lack of apps is Microsoft’s Achilles heel as it attempts to catch Apple Inc and Google Inc in the rush toward mobile computing.

Windows 8, the new Surface tablet and a range of Windows-based phones – all unveiled in the past week – are designed to close that gap, but the world’s largest software company still needs to convince developers to recreate the thriving ‘ecosystem’ that made PCs so successful.

“Please go out and write lots of applications,” Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer pleaded with 2,000 developers on Tuesday, kicking off an annual, four-day meeting at its campus near Seattle.

The event, called ‘Build,’ is the equivalent of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference and Google’s I/O event.

Microsoft gave each paying attendee one of its Surface tablets and 100 gigabytes of free space on its SkyDrive online storage service. On top of that, handset partner Nokia threw in a free Lumia 920 smartphone running Windows Phone 8.

The unprecedentedly generous give-away signals the intent of what Microsoft openly calls “evangelism.” Most developers at the meeting, who paid up to $ 2,000 to attend, are already converted to the Windows religion. But this year there is a feeling that Microsoft can re-establish itself as a relevant platform for developers.

“The sessions are overflowing. Everybody wants to learn,” said Greg Lutz, product manager at development tools company ComponentOne, who is attending the conference.

“The Surface is really exciting. It’s been interesting to see people that would normally be critics of Microsoft surprised to see how good it is,” said Lutz, whose company makes features that developers can use in apps, such as calendars or charts.

Microsoft recognizes it needs apps to flesh out its new online Windows Store and make Windows 8 machines more attractive to users, said Russ Whitman, chief strategy officer at Ratio Interactive, a design agency that helps companies create apps.

“The catalog (of apps) is where they are weak, there’s no doubt,” he said. “But if Microsoft stays focused on quality not quantity, they can win.”

DEVELOPER DOUBTS

When Windows 8 launched on Friday, some major content providers had prominent apps in the Windows store, such as Netflix Inc, the New York Times and Rovio’s Angry Birds Space. But big names such as Facebook and Twitter were missing.

Twitter moved to rectify that on Tuesday, announcing that a native Windows app would be rolled out “in the months ahead.” Dropbox, a fast-growing cloud storage service, also announced it would soon have a Windows app, as did online payment firm PayPal and sports network ESPN.

But Facebook, which now has more than 1 billion users, has not yet made public any plans for a Windows app, despite the fact Microsoft is a minor shareholder.

And Microsoft still has to overcome indifference from many developers who do not see demand from users or simply do not have the resources to build Windows apps alongside iOS and Android.

“Windows 8 is getting good reviews and the tile user interface is a great fit with our geo-visual content,” said Jason Karas, CEO at website Trover, where users can share photos of interesting discoveries. “It’s on the roadmap for Trover, but we are still a very lean team, so we’re hesitant to support a third platform until we have all the innovations we want to see in iPhone and Android in place.”

Microsoft has yet to persuade other influential online services, for example car-rental firm Zipcar or real estate information firm Zillow, to develop for Windows 8.

To get more developers on board, Microsoft is spending this week demonstrating how it is making it easier to develop apps for Windows and get them into the real world.

A key part of that is a new set of tools tying in its Azure cloud service, which allows Windows apps to easily harness data stored in remote servers.

“Some of the new changes are pretty incredible and are going to make developing, especially some of the mobile apps, much easier,” said Mike Cousins, a software developer following the conference by webcast from Calgary, Canada.

“It just makes it super-easy to integrate mobile clients into your application,” said Cousins, who is developing Shuttr, a site for photographers to display and sell their work. “It’s been reduced from probably a week’s work to minutes.”

400 MILLION NEW MACHINES

Microsoft’s best argument to developers is the sheer size of the Windows user base.

Microsoft sold 4 million upgrades to Windows 8 in its first four days, a mere fraction of the 670 million or so machines running Windows 7. Ballmer said there would be 400 million new devices running Windows next year, including PCs, tablets and phones, and the company would be marketing heavily to consumers.

That is an attractive audience for developers, and Whitman at Ratio Interactive said he saw many new faces at Microsoft’s event this week who previously were more interested in web-based apps and other platforms.

“There’s a new generation of developers that can build on Windows 8 that have been building using JavaScript and HTML,” he said. “Seeing some of those developers show up and talk about building apps using other languages is pretty cool. It’s a whole different group than Microsoft has traditionally been able to court.”

One Wall Street analyst said developers may even be tempted to switch back to Microsoft after working with Apple’s iOS platform.

“There does seem to be some excitement about the new operating system and many of the new devices that are coming to market,” said Jason Maynard, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities. “We have heard some developers talk about ‘re-Microsofting’ and moving from their Macs for app development.”

Cousins said that once developers see the user base for Windows 8 grow, the momentum will start to have an effect.

“All the new PCs people buy will be Windows 8, and people will start demanding Windows 8 apps from companies, and then they will start making them,” he said. “I think we’ll see a wave of apps coming out pretty soon.”

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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‘Wilfred’ Gets 3rd Season From FX

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Wilfred” will bark once more.

FX has given the series, which stars Elijah Wood as a struggling young man who befriends his neighbor’s curiously human-like dog, a third season, the cable network said Wednesday.

The 13-episode third season will debut in June 2013.

In addition to the third-season order, writers/producers Reed Agnew and Eli Jorné have been promoted to executive producers and showrunners for the show. David Zuckerman, who adapted the series for American television from the Australian show of the same name and served as executive producer/showrunner for the first two seasons, will remain as executive producer.

“Wilfred’ averaged 2.63 million total viewers for its second season, with 1.71 million of them in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic.

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RIM starts carrier testing on BlackBerry 10 devices

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion has started carrier testing of its new line of BlackBerry 10 devices ahead of the launch of the devices in the first quarter of 2013, the company said on Wednesday.

“In the last week, BlackBerry 10 achieved lab entry with more than 50 carriers, a key step in our preparedness for the launch of BlackBerry 10 in the first quarter of 2013,” said RIM’s Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, in a brief statement.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is seeking to turn around its faded fortunes with the launch of the BB10 devices, as its aging line-up of BlackBerry devices loses ground to Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s line of Galaxy products, especially in the key North American and European markets.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Janet Guttsman)

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A Minute With: Rapper RZA putting on “Iron Fists” for new movie

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Rapper and music producer RZA is best known as the leader of the hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan which also includes such popular members as Method Man, Ghostface Killah and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

RZA branched out into film, taking on small acting roles and scoring music, including the soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino‘s “Kill Bill: Vol. 1.”

Now, nearly a decade later, 43-year-old RZA has combined his childhood love of martial arts movies to co-write with Eli Roth the feature film “The Man With the Iron Fists,” which he also directs and acts in the title role.

Shot on location in China, and co-starring Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu, Iron Fists is set during the 19th century and sees several groups of warriors and assassins descend on a village in search of gold. The quiet and unassuming local blacksmith (RZA) ends up being the village defender.

RZA, whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, sat down with Reuters in Hollywood to talk about the film and the future of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Q: You had to pull double duty, working simultaneously in front and behind the camera. How did you balance that?

A: “My spirit had to be extra strong to pull this off. It was difficult because in the morning (as the director) I’m worrying about everybody else, I’m talking fast. Then I have to get ready for the scene and I gotta sync my voice down to this guy. I gotta sync my spirit to him. He doesn’t smile once in the film. I smile. I’m not this morbid dude. He’s almost empty.”

Q: This is your biggest acting role to date. What did you learn as an actor?

A: “The thing about playing him that I could attest to as an actor was that I was lonely in China. I was personally lonely. And I think that shows on screen (in the character).”

Q: You’re in an exotic location with Russell Crowe and some of the biggest names in martial arts. How could you be lonely?

A: “I had no love, yo. You know what I mean? Going into a massage parlor is not gonna give you no love. I was yearning for it. For a brief minute there, I learned why actors fall in love with their co-stars.”

Q: How’s that?

A: “Because the only girl I had was (co-star/love interest) Jamie Chung. We all went out one night after shooting and Jamie had a guy friend with her. I looked over and I was so jealous. I felt weird. I told my buddy, ‘I’m about to punch this guy in the face!’ In that moment, I just felt that she was my woman. And the sad thing for me is, it would have been a one way street because she wasn’t interested in me at all.”

Q: Looking back on your first experience directing a studio movie, what do you think?

A: “It was hard work. It was 18 hour days. It was cold. The food was terrible sometimes and the language was an issue. But I kept it fun. I didn’t let nothing deter me from this path. I’m grateful and happy I had a chance to learn this craft and express it. I feel that out of everything I do as an artist – I make music, I write lyrics, I’m into fashion and clothing – filmmaking is the perfect medium and accumulates it all. I found what I should be doing. I matured into being this kind of person.”

Q: So many members of the Wu-Tang Clan are doing their own thing. Will you be assembling again soon for another album?

A: “Only time will tell. For now, I will say Iron Fists is Wu-Tang. We have all the members participating on the soundtrack. And if you look closely, you’ll notice that when (Rick Yune’s character) needs a second suit of knives, there are W’s on that second suit. You gotta look closely though. So the Wu-Tang is there. I made it subtly into the film so fans can enjoy it and feel the energy.”

Q: Some groups have their time in the spotlight and disappear. Others manage to evolve and stay relevant. Where is Wu-Tang at?

A: “To me, film is the medium that Wu-Tang needs to be at. I don’t think Wu-Tang needs to be in clubs while we gettin’ drunk and dancing. We need to be in theaters now where we sitting with our families and really appreciating our childhood in a different way. This is the reason why (movies like) ‘Iron Man’, ‘Captain America’, ‘Thor’, ‘The Avengers’ all work. Because we are adults who read comics and now we want our children to understand what we love.”

Q: So Iron Fists is the beginning of that for Wu-Tang – having others understand and appreciate the martial arts you all love?

A: “If Iron Fists goes over well and people accept it, we got great ideas for part two already. We’ve got a great sequel for all the characters and back stories that are so remarkable.”

Q: Sounds like you’re creating your own Marvel universe in a sense.

A: “Essentially, yes.”

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Meningitis outbreak toll: 377 illnesses, 29 deaths

An outbreak of fungal meningitis has been linked to steroid shots for back pain. The medication, made by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts, has been recalled.

Latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Illnesses: 377, including nine joint infections.

Deaths: 29

States: 19; Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

___

Online:

CDC map: http://www.cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/meningitis-map.html

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Canadian dollar ends near flat after GDP data shows contraction

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar weakened below parity against the U.S. currency before clawing back to end little changed on Wednesday after data showed the Canadian economy contracted unexpectedly in August.

The currency weakened to a session low shortly after the gross domestic product data pointed to slower growth in the third quarter and supported the Bank of Canada‘s message that interest rate hikes are not imminent. It later pared those losses.

“We are pretty much ending unchanged from where we started the day, but we saw a 50-point range and that’s the largest we’ve seen in a week,” said Dave Bradley, director of foreign exchange trading at Scotiabank.

The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$ 0.9990 to the greenback, or $ 1.0010, compared with C$ 0.9993, or $ 1.0007, at Tuesday’s close.

Bradley said the market was still suffering from poor liquidity due to the absence of many U.S. traders recovering from monster storm Sandy.

“Despite the U.S. equity markets opening again, a lot of New York based participants are out of the market … I think liquidity and general flow is at a minimum,” Bradley said.

With October 31 marking the end of the financial reporting year for Canadian banks, Bradley noted the Canadian currency was virtually unchanged from a year ago within a few basis points of parity.

Mark Chandler, head of Canadian fixed income and currency strategy at Royal Bank of Canada, said the currency could be weighed down by the August GDP numbers, which showed a 0.1 percent contraction, through to the end of the week.

“It’ll linger for a little bit, the only thing that could change the tune on this is we have payrolls,” he said.

Canada and the United States are set to release monthly employment data on Friday.

U.S. equity markets were mostly flat on Wednesday, opening for the first time this week after shutting their doors ahead of Hurricane Sandy. <.N>

With the GDP data backing up recent Bank of Canada comments that rate rises are “less imminent”, the price of Canadian government debt turned positive after the data, especially at the front end of the curve, and outperformed U.S. Treasuries.

The two-year bond was up 5 Canadian cents to yield 1.076 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond rose 20 Canadian cents to yield 1.788 percent.

Overnight index swaps, which trade based on expectations for the central bank’s key policy rate, showed that after the data traders pulled their bets on the possibility of a rate hike in late 2013.

(With additional reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Chizu Nomiyama)

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Clinton calls for overhaul of Syrian opposition

ZAGREB (Reuters) – The United States called on Wednesday for an overhaul of Syria‘s opposition leadership, saying it was time to move beyond the Syrian National Council and bring in those “in the front lines fighting and dying”.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signaling a more active stance by Washington in attempts to form a credible political opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said a meeting next week in Qatar would be an opportunity to broaden the coalition against him.

“This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes but who, in many instances, have not been inside Syria for 20, 30, 40 years,” she said during a visit to Croatia.

“There has to be a representation of those who are in the front lines fighting and dying today to obtain their freedom.”

Clinton’s comments represented a clear break with the Syrian National Council (SNC), a largely foreign-based group which has been among the most vocal proponents of international intervention in the Syrian conflict.

U.S. officials have privately expressed frustration with the SNC’s inability to come together with a coherent plan and with its lack of traction with the disparate internal groups which have waged the 19-month uprising against Assad’s government.

Senior members of the SNC, Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other rebel groups ended a meeting in Turkey on Wednesday and pledged to unite behind a transitional government in coming months.

“It’s been our divisions that have allowed the Assad forces to reach this point,” Ammar al-Wawi, a rebel commander, told Reuters after the talks outside Istanbul.

“We are united on toppling Assad. Everyone, including all the rebels, will gather under the transitional government.”

Mohammad Al-Haj Ali, a senior Syrian military defector, told a news conference after the meeting: “We are still facing some difficulties between the politicians and different opposition groups and the leaders of the Free Syrian Army on the ground.”

Clinton said it was important that the next rulers of Syria were both inclusive and committed to rejecting extremism.

“There needs to be an opposition that can speak to every segment and every geographic part of Syria. And we also need an opposition that will be on record strongly resisting the efforts by extremists to hijack the Syrian revolution,” she said.

Syria’s revolt has killed an estimated 32,000. A bomb near a Shi’ite shrine in a suburb of Damascus killed at least six more people on Wednesday, state media and opposition activists said.

NEW LEADERSHIP

The meeting next week in Qatar’s capital Doha represents a chance to forge a new leadership, Clinton said, adding the United States had helped to “smuggle out” representatives of internal Syrian opposition groups to a meeting in New York last month to argue their case for inclusion.

“We have recommended names and organizations that we believe should be included in any leadership structure,” she told a news conference.

“We’ve made it clear that the SNC can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition. They can be part of a larger opposition, but that opposition must include people from inside Syria and others who have a legitimate voice which must be heard.”

The United States and its allies have struggled for months to craft a credible opposition coalition.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has said it is not providing arms to internal opponents of Assad and is limiting its aid to non-lethal humanitarian assistance.

It concedes, however, that some of its allies are providing lethal assistance – a fact that Assad’s chief backer Russia says shows western powers are intent on determining Syria’s future.

Russia and China have blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at increasing pressure on the Assad government, leading the United States and its allies to say they could move beyond U.N. structures for their next steps.

Clinton said she regretted but was not surprised by the failure of the latest attempted ceasefire, called by international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi last Friday. Each side blamed the other for breaking the truce.

“The Assad regime did not suspend its use of advanced weaponry against the Syrian people for even one day,” she said.

“While we urge Special Envoy Brahimi to do whatever he can in Moscow and Beijing to convince them to change course and support a stronger U.N. action we cannot and will not wait for that.”

Clinton said the United States would continue to work with partners to increase sanctions on the Assad government and provide humanitarian assistance to those hit by the conflict.

(Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Nexus 10 Costs $100 More Than Kindle Fire, Has 10x the Apps

Amazon appears to be positioning its Kindle Fire lineup of tablets as the Pepsi to Apple‘s Coke, as John Gruber put it earlier this week. The various iPad models are better made and have more apps, but lack a handful of features and cost a lot more.

How does the 8.9 inch Kindle Fire HD compare to Google’s new Nexus 10, however?

Smaller and cheaper

The Nexus 10′s 10-inch display puts it ahead of even the iPad’s screen size, and the enormous bezels make it wider as well (although it’s thinner and lighter than the iPad and right up there with the smaller Kindle). On the other hand, its $ 399 price point puts it in between the $ 499 iPad and the $ 299 Kindle Fire.

While the Nexus 10 is only available in a 16 GB model, though, for $ 384 you can get an 8.9 inch Kindle Fire with 32 GB of storage and without “special offers” (read: ads). That’s still $ 15 cheaper than the Nexus 10. Amazon has long competed on price, thanks in part to its inhumanely efficient warehousing system, and the Kindle Fire continues to beat its competitors here.

More than ten times fewer apps

As of the time of this writing, there were 56,971 apps in the Amazon “Appstore for Android,” the only store Kindle Fire owners can buy their apps from.

Every one of those apps is available on the Nexus 10 and other Android tablets, however, because they can get to the Amazon Appstore too. Meanwhile, according to Ian Sherr and John Letzing of the Wall Street Journal, the Google Play store just reached a total of 700,000 apps, putting it roughly on par with Apple’s App Store and many times ahead of the “Appstore.”

Not quite that simple?

In reality, many of those “apps” are wallpapers and experiments. Most of the “big name” apps, like Facebook and Evernote, are available on both the Kindle Fire and Google Play. The Appstore’s selection and app versions still tend to lag, though, and neither store has many apps designed just for tablets compared to the iPad’s selection.

The unique features each offers

Beyond their price tags and raw volumes of apps, each tablet offers unique features. The Nexus 10 lets you personalize your home screens with custom app selections and widgets, while the Kindle Fire uses a “Cover Flow” style carousel. The Kindle Fire lets you stream movies from Amazon Instant Video if you have an Amazon Prime subscription, while the Nexus 10 has the latest Google apps like Google Earth and the Chrome browser.

The biggest ways that the Kindle Fire shows its cheap pricetag? It’s packed full of ads, on the lock screen and even in the corner of the homescreen (removing them costs $ 15 extra), and its slow, laggy performance has been widely panned by reviewers. In contrast, Google’s last Nexus tablet benefitted from performance enhancements which made animations and scrolling extremely smooth, and the Nexus 10 should as well.

Available when?

The 8.9 inch Kindle Fire is available for preorder now, and goes on sale on Nov. 20. The Nexus 10 will be available for purchase on Nov. 13.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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Disney to make new ‘Star Wars’ films, buy Lucas co

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A decade after George Lucas said “Star Wars” was finished on the big screen, a new trilogy is destined for theaters after The Walt Disney Co. announced Tuesday that it was buying Lucasfilm Ltd. for $ 4.05 billion.

The seventh movie, with a working title of “Episode 7,” is set for release in 2015. Episodes 8 and 9 will follow. The new trilogy will carry the story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia beyond “Return of the Jedi,” the third film released and the sixth in the saga. After that, Disney plans a new “Star Wars” movie every two or three years. Lucas will serve as creative consultant in the new movies.

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said Lucas, chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm Ltd. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger said Lucusfilm had already developed an extensive story line on the next trilogy, and Episode 7 was now in early-stage development.

The Walt Disney Co. announced the blockbuster agreement to buy Lucasfilm in cash and stock Tuesday. The deal includes Lucasfilm’s prized high-tech production companies, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, as well as rights to the “Indiana Jones” franchise.

Iger said in a statement that the acquisition is a great fit and will help preserve and grow the “Star Wars” franchise.

“The last ‘Star Wars’ movie release was 2005′s ‘Revenge of the Sith’ — and we believe there’s substantial pent-up demand,” Iger said.

Kathleen Kennedy, the current co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will become the division’s president and report to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn.

The deal brings Lucasfilm under the Disney banner with other brands including Pixar, Marvel, ESPN and ABC, all companies that Disney has acquired over the years. A former weatherman who rose through the ranks of ABC, Iger has orchestrated some of the company’s biggest acquisitions, including the $ 7.4 billion purchase of animated movie studio Pixar in 2006 and the $ 4.2 billion acquisition of comic book giant Marvel in 2009.

Disney shares were not trading with stock markets closed due to the impact of Superstorm Sandy in New York.

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Hospitals battled to protect patients as Sandy raged

NEW YORK (Reuters) – At one New York hospital where backup generators failed, staff carried premature babies down more than a dozen flights of stairs in one of the more dramatic moments for healthcare workers during powerful storm Sandy.

Record flooding and power outages across the northeastern United States made for a long night caring for the most critically ill, as several hundred patients were evacuated in New York City, day-time hospital staff slept overnight on vacant beds and less urgent procedures were postponed.

From Maryland to Massachusetts, hospitals large and small had prepared for the worst as the storm approached, stocking up on supplies and ensuring backup power generators were ready. At least 30 people were reported killed by the storm, and millions left without power.

In its aftermath on Tuesday, many hospitals were still limiting care to the neediest patients, canceling chemotherapy sessions and elective surgeries and anticipating a new influx to emergency rooms as travel conditions improved.

New York University‘s Langone Medical Center near the city’s East River was one of the hardest hit as eight feet of water flooded its basement. It evacuated all 215 patients, including critically ill infants, when its backup generator failed.

“It is a very long operation because they have to hand move every patient. There are no elevators and some of the patients are on the 15th floor,” said hospital spokeswoman Lorinda Klein. “All the patients have been safely transported … the nurses had battery-operated machinery for patients that needed that level of care.”

Nearby Bellevue Hospital also grappled with a power outage and visitors on Tuesday were turned away at the door as many hallways remained dark, though a receptionist assured them that patients “are okay and have lights.”

The Manhattan Veteran Affairs Hospital and the New York Downtown Hospital, both in low-lying areas of lower Manhattan, evacuated patients before the storm hit. Other city hospitals picked up the slack, including Beth Israel Medical Center, where one student nurse said nurses had stayed put at the hospital since Sunday, with some working multiple shifts.

Dr. Adam Levine, an attending physician at Rhode Island Hospital’s emergency room, began to see patients injured in the storm overnight.

“I treated a man who was driving and had to stop very suddenly when a branch crashed into his front windshield,” he said. While many people tried to wait out the night with whatever ailed them, some took the risk to drive to the hospital. “We admitted one woman who relies on home health care attendants and when they could not come to her she had to come to the hospital and be admitted because there was no one to care for her,” he said.

PLUGGING UP WINDOWS

In tiny Crisfield, Maryland, on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, McCready Memorial Hospital claims to be the smallest hospital in the state of Maryland with only half a dozen beds.

Situated at sea level on a tiny peninsula, the hospital faced a 6-foot storm surge and wind-driven rain that brought water into the building as power from the electrical main flickered off and on.

“We’re at sea level, so it doesn’t take much to get right up close. We’re up high enough so water didn’t enter the building through any doors. But it did enter through some windows,” said Shane Kelley, who handles community outreach for McCready.

Kelley said staff plugged the leaking windows with towels and used large commercial vacuums to clear water before closing off rooms. While no new patients showed up for emergency care during the storm, McCready had 11 emergency room visitors before noon on Tuesday, mainly elderly people who waited out the storm before seeking care for hypothermia and respiratory problems.

“We remained open throughout the storm. We did have to go onto our generator several times throughout the storm. We did lose power. At this point, we’re all here as a team and able to accept any patient who needs our help,” said Kelley.

St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut, closed its chemotherapy infusion center and other outpatient areas and between 60 and 80 of the hospital’s 2,700 staff slept in the empty hospital beds.

Danbury Hospital and New Milford Hospital, both members of the Western Connecticut Health Network, canceled outpatient services and elective services.

The 85-bed New Milford hospital lost power and fell back on a generator. The 371-bed Danbury hospital weathered the storm using a cogeneration plant, which spokeswoman Andrea Rynn said provides steam power when it needs to come off the local utility grid.

(Additional reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, David Morgan, Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Toni Clarke; Writing by Debra Sherman; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Claudia Parsons)

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