The Challenges of Launching an Encore Career

Many people dream about launching a second career in a field they have always wanted to try. But the transition into an encore career can be a long and costly process.
Most people earn a significantly lower amount of money (43 percent) or no money at all (24 percent) during the transition from one job to the next, according to a recent MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures survey conducted by Penn Schoen Berland. The online survey of 253 adults between ages 44 and 70 who are currently in encore careers found that over half (57 percent) of these older workers had to tap their personal savings to make ends meet during the transition.
"That transition is not necessarily a very easy or a sure thing," says Jim Emerman, executive vice president of Civic Ventures. "The financial hardship of the transition, while not really surprising, really jumped out at us as one of the big challenges."
It often takes a significant amount of time for older workers to launch second careers. Three quarters of the survey respondents currently in encore careers experienced an employment gap of longer than 6 months. And a third (34 percent) of these older workers were unemployed for two or more years before they found another job. Some people used that time to volunteer (23 percent) or retrain by taking college courses (20 percent).
When Lisa Roger, 53, a former software engineering project director, was laid off in 2009, she faced a substantial reduction in income for about 14 months. She had to use her savings, collect unemployment benefits, and sign up for COBRA continuing health coverage to make ends meet. During the transition she participated in the Encore Hartford program in Storrs, Conn., a fellowship that helps experienced professionals transition to the nonprofit sector. She eventually found a new job as a family self-sufficiency services manager for the Norwalk Housing Authority. "Today I don't make nearly the salary that I did as a software engineer and I am ok with that," Roger says. "The work is incredibility rewarding. I know I am making a difference." The new job has caused her to reevaluate her retirement plans. "I used to feel that I was going to retire at a really early age, before 65," Roger says. "The career that I am in now, I see myself going beyond that because it is so rewarding."
Older workers are motivated to make a career change by a variety of financial and personal reasons. Insufficient income (28 percent) and inadequate savings (25 percent) were among the top reasons for making the switch. But realizing that some lifetime goals have yet to be fulfilled (28 percent) and a desire to make a bigger difference in the world (21 percent) also play a large role in decisions to move on to something new. Sometimes the transition is sparked by health problems (15 percent), an empty nest (11 percent), or hitting a specific age such as 50 (12 percent). Some people also speak of a spiritual calling into a new line of work (12 percent).
Most people switched into new jobs at for-profit businesses (22 percent) or nonprofit organizations (20 percent). Education (19 Percent), health care (15 percent), and government agencies (6 percent) are also popular second career choices. "Some people will work longer in their current jobs, whatever they are, and other people will want a change," says Emerman. Often the new job comes with shorter hours and a more flexible schedule. People in encore careers work an average of 30.5 hours per week, the Civic Ventures survey found.
Almost half of people who made a career change (47 percent) did so between ages 50 and 59. Only 3 percent of those surveyed changed careers at age 60 or older. The typical person in an encore career expects to continue working for an average of another 11 years and eventually retire at an average age of 69. They have an average of 24 years of work experience.
Many individuals need to keep working for the income (69 percent) and benefits (30 percent). Other people launch second careers to stay active and productive (58 percent), pursue a new challenge (6 percent), and because they simply enjoy the work (31 percent). Some older workers also want to give something back by helping others in the community (35 percent) and staying involved with other people (19 percent).
"People are living much longer and they are healthier, and so they want to stay engaged. People need and want and are able to work longer," says Emerman. "If people are out of work now or worried about their current job, the idea of a next career that combines continued financial security with personal satisfaction and something that they are passionate about is very strong."

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The Importance of Being Self-Reliant in Retirement

Most baby boomers are at various stages of preparing for retirement, depending on whether they were born at the beginning or end of their generation. The smart ones realize that effective planning starts well before retirement age. Important calculations need to be made to determine what it will take to survive financially throughout the retirement years. Post-work lifestyles and passions also need to be defined, and consideration for unexpected events should be taken into account whenever possible.
Counting on others to provide for us in our old age is a risky proposition. In the U.S., the ratio of working-age citizens between ages 15 and 64 supporting those over 64 is currently 5:1. By the year 2050 this ratio will drop to 3:1, according to United Nations data. In China things are even worse. They will move from the current 9:1 ratio to 3:1. And in Japan the ratio will be 1:1 in 2050.
It is important to rely on ourselves and our own resourcefulness. Society is changing to deal with the aging demographic with less generous pension plans, longer working hours, and an increase in the retirement age. Back in the 1980s, 38 percent of people had traditional pensions. By 2008 the number dropped to 20 percent. If a traditional pension will not be part of our retirement equation, we need to fill in the blank with other investments and savings alternatives.
Don't count on Social Security to foot your entire retirement bill either. With an average monthly amount of $1,230 paid at the beginning of 2012, it should only be viewed as a supplement to your other sources of retirement income. It is a piece of the puzzle, but should not be considered the entire solution.
Health demands and expenses will increase as we age. Fidelity estimates that a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2011 will need $230,000 to cover likely out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement. And this estimate does not even include the cost of long-term care. Such burdens could prove catastrophic if we do not plan ahead with additional savings, health insurance, and long-term care coverage.
Most people approaching retirement would like the option to stay in their current home if they choose to and remain healthy enough to safely do so. Paying down your mortgage over the years provides flexibility, and the equity can be available for emergencies. Whether a decision is made to stay in the existing home or sell, having the option empowers senior citizens.
Remaining independent in retirement requires planning ahead, realistically evaluating your situation, and taking appropriate action to provide for your retirement needs. You can't count on the government or your former employer to finance your retirement years. It's something you need to take care of yourself.

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World's biggest Titanic attraction opens in Belfast

The largest Titanic visitor attraction in the world opened in the ship's Belfast birthplace on Saturday, some 100 years after the doomed liner was built in the same yards.
Almost 100,000 tickets for Titanic Belfast, a striking aluminium-clad building which tells the famous ship's story through special effects, interactive screens and a ride, have been sold ahead of the opening.
Organisers hope the £97 million ($155 million, 116 million euro) centre can boost tourism in the British province, which was torn apart by sectarian strife for three decades until the late 1990s.
"We want to bring people to Northern Ireland not just to see what a generation 100 years ago were able to achieve, but what this generation can achieve in this new era of peace," said First Minister Peter Robinson.
Cyril Quigley, a 105-year-old who watched the Titanic's launch more than a century ago, joined the province's leaders at the opening of the building, which takes the form of four of the ship's huge prows.
"All I saw was this big thing sliding out into the water," Quigley said as he recalled watching with his parents. "I was only four and half."
Quigley said the new centre, which rose from the derelict Harland and Wolff shipyard, was "wonderful".
"I often thought they would make another plastic ship here and have it as a restaurant or something, but this is fantastic," he said. "It's like our Sydney Opera House."
The biggest, most ambitious ship of the age hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton to New York, sinking on April 15, 1912. Of the 2,224 people aboard, 1,514 perished.
Organisers hope the six-storey Titanic Belfast, which also features a banqueting space containing a replica of the ship's grand staircase, will attract 425,000 visitors in its first year, including many from Asia.

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Detained Nigerian newspaper journalists released

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — An official says two Nigerian journalists have been freed after being detained without charges for more than a week by the nation's secret police following writing stories about a radical Islamist sect and alleged military abuses.
Mohammed Garba, president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, said Tuesday that Musa Mohammed Awwal and Aliyu Saleh, journalists with the weekly Hausa language newspaper, Al-Mizan, were freed around noon. Garba said the two men had not been abused or mistreated while in custody. He said the two men may have to return for questioning again by Nigeria's secretive State Security Service.
The two journalists were arrested Dec. 24 at their homes in Kaduna. Their newspaper has published a series of stories about alleged military abuses and the sect known as Boko Haram.

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C. African Republic capital fears rebel attack

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Kpademona Marcel and other residents of the capital of Central African Republic have watched in fear as rebels from the country's north seized control of more than half the country in less than a month. On Tuesday, all he could do was pray that a solution to the crisis could be found without the violence reaching Bangui.
"We are afraid for our nation and for our fellow citizens in the countryside," Marcel said, standing on the steps of the Notre Dame cathedral before a New Year's Day Mass. "The rebels are imposing themselves on the population and stealing things. We are here praying for peace."
As a new year began, the fate of the capital with 700,000 people, remained unclear. Government forces backed by a regional multinational force held a line in Damara, just 75 kilometers (45 miles) from Bangui. The rebels hold the city of Sibut, about 185 kilometers (115 miles) from Bangui.
While President Francois Bozize, after nearly a decade in power, has proposed a coalition government to include the rebels, a spokesman for the alliance of rebel groups advancing through the country said Monday they did not trust his offer. Former colonial power France already has said it will not protect Bozize's regime and has about 600 troops in the country just to protect its own interests.
Trucks full of soldiers bounced on the rutted roads of Bangui that are dotted with shacks where people can charge their mobile phones. Police officers stopped vehicles at intersections in another sign of stepped up security in this capital at the heart of Africa where even the banana and palm tree leaves are coated in heavy red dust from the earth.
Troops from neighboring nations arrived in the country, with a contingent from Gabon expected Tuesday. Their arrival comes a day after about 120 soldiers flew in from Republic of Congo with a mission to help stabilize the area between rebels and the government forces.
The political instability already has prompted the United States government to evacuate its ambassador and about 40 other people. There have been no mass civilian evacuations from the capital, though many residents have temporarily relocated to the southern side of Bangui, considered further from the path of a potential rebel invasion arriving from the north.
One woman in Bangui said she knew many people who already had fled the city but said she had too many family members to leave herself.
"I have five children and two grandchildren. I prefer to stay here and die with my children if it comes to that," she said, giving her name only as Lucienne.
In the Bimbo neighborhood, traders went about their business, selling everything from leafy greens to meat at roadside stands.
"We don't support what the rebels are doing," said banana farmer Narcisse Ngo, as a young boy played nearby with a monkey corpse for sale along with other meat. "They should be at the table negotiating without weapons. We are all Central Africans."
The landlocked nation of 4.4 million people is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium and yet remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Central African Republic has suffered many army revolts, coups and rebellions since gaining independence from France in 1960.
The rebels behind the current instability signed a 2007 peace accord allowing them to join the regular army, but insurgent leaders say the deal wasn't fully implemented and has made a variety of demands including payments to former combatants.

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Stampede after fireworks kills 61 in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A crowd stampeded after leaving a New Year's fireworks show early Tuesday in Ivory Coast's main city, killing 61 people — many of them children and teenagers — and injuring more than 200, rescue workers said.
Thousands had gathered at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan's Plateau district to see the fireworks. It was only the second New Year's Eve fireworks display since peace returned to this West African nation after a bloody upheaval over presidential elections put the nation on the brink of civil war and turned this city into a battle zone.
With 2013 showing greater promise, people were in the mood to celebrate on New Year's Eve. Families brought children and they watched the rockets burst in the nighttime sky. But only an hour into the new year, as the crowds poured onto the Boulevard de la Republic after the show, something caused a stampede, said Col. Issa Sako of the fire department rescue team. How so many deaths occurred on the broad boulevard and how the tragedy started is likely to be the subject of an investigation.
Many of the younger ones in the crowd went down, trampled underfoot. Most of those killed were between 8 and 15 years old
"The flood of people leaving the stadium became a stampede which led to the deaths of more than 60 and injured more than 200," Sako told Ivory Coast state TV.
Desperate parents went to the city morgue, the hospital and to the stadium to try to find missing children. Mamadou Sanogo was searching for his 9-year-old son, Sayed.
"I have just seen all the bodies, but I cannot find my son," said a tearful Sanogo. "I don't know what to do."
State TV showed a woman sobbing in the back of an ambulance; another was bent over on the side of the street, apparently in pain; and another, barely conscious and wearing only a bra on her upper body, was hoisted by rescuers. There were also scenes of small children being treated in a hospital. One boy grimaced in pain and a girl with colored braids in her hair lay under a blanket with one hand bandaged. The death toll could rise, officials said.
After the sun came up, soldiers were patrolling the site that was littered with victims' clothes, shoes, torn sandals and other belongings. President Alassane Ouattara and his wife Dominique visited some of the injured in the hospital. Mrs. Ouattara leaned over one child who was on a bed in a crowded hospital ward and tried to console the youngster. The president pledged that the government would pay for their treatment, his office said.
The government organized the fireworks to celebrate Ivory Coast's peace, after several months of political violence in early 2011 following disputed elections.
This is not Ivory Coast's first stadium tragedy. In 2009, 22 people died and over 130 were injured in a stampede at a World Cup qualifying match at the Houphouet Boigny Stadium, prompting FIFA, soccer's global governing body, to impose a fine of tens of thousands of dollars on Ivory Coast's soccer federation. The stadium, which officially holds 35,000, was overcrowded at the time of the disaster.
A year later, two people were killed and 30 wounded in a stampede at a municipal stadium during a reggae concert in Bouake, the country's second-largest city. The concert was organized in the city, held by rebels at the time, to promote peace and reconciliation.
Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer, growing more than 37 percent of the world's annual crop of cocoa beans, which are used to make chocolate.

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Angola: Stampede kills 10 at religious gathering

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Angolan media say 10 people, including four children, have died in a stampede during a religious gathering at a sports stadium in Luanda, the Angolan capital.
Angop, the Angolan news agency, cited officials as saying Tuesday that 120 people were also injured. The incident happened on New Year's Eve when tens of thousands of people gathered at the stadium and panic ensued. Faustino Sebastiao, spokesman for the national firefighters department, says those who died were crushed and asphyxiated.
The event in the southern African nation was organized by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, an evangelical group founded in Brazil.
In western Africa, a crowd in Ivory Coast stampeded after leaving a New Year's fireworks show early Tuesday, killing 61 people and injuring more than 200.

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South Africa: Mandela rests at home

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's presidency says former leader Nelson Mandela is progressing with his recuperation from illness and doctors are closely monitoring his condition.
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said Wednesday that "everything is moving OK" as 94-year-old Mandela rests at his home in Johannesburg after a hospital stay last month.
The former president received treatment for a lung infection and also had gallstones removed.
Maharaj says Mandela is "taking it easy" and is under "close medical attention."
Mandela spent 27 years in prison under apartheid and became South Africa's first black president in democratic elections in 1994.

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US home sales rise 2.1 percent in October

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose solidly in October, helped by improvement in the job market and record-low mortgage rates.
The increase along with a jump in homebuilder confidence this month suggests the housing market continues to recover.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales rose 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million. That's up from 4.69 million in September, which was revised lower.
The sales pace is roughly 11 percent higher than a year ago. But it remains below the more than 5.5 million that economists consider consistent with a healthy market.
As the economy slowly recovers, more people have started looking to buy homes or rent apartments. Prices are steadily climbing, while mortgage rates have been low all year. At the same time, rents are rising, making the purchase of a single-family home or condominium more attractive.
"Altogether, the report is encouraging," said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital. "Our view is that housing is in a recovery phase," he added, though it will be restrained by limited credit and modest job gains.
A separate report Monday showed confidence among homebuilders rose this month to its highest level in six and a half years. The increase was driven by strong demand for newly built homes and growing optimism about conditions next year.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index increased to 46, up from 41 in October. Readings below 50 suggest negative sentiment about the housing market. The index last reached that level in April 2006. Still, the index has been trending higher since October 2011, when it stood at 17.
The Realtors' group said Superstorm Sandy delayed some sales of previously occupied homes in the Northeast. Sales fell 1.7 percent there, the only region to show a decline. Those sales will likely be completed in future months, the group said.
The median price for previously occupied homes increased 11.1 percent from a year ago to $178,600, the Realtors' said.
A decline in the number of homes available for sale is helping push prices higher. There were only 2.14 million homes available for sale at the end of the month, the lowest supply in 10 years. It would take only 5.4 months to exhaust that supply at the current sales pace. That's the lowest sales-to-inventory ratio since February 2006.
Prices are also benefiting from the mix of homes being sold. Sales of homes priced at $500,000 and above have jumped more than 40 percent in the past year. Sales of homes and condominiums that cost less than $100,000 fell 0.6 percent.
There have been other positive signals from the housing market. Applications for mortgage loans to buy homes jumped 11 percent in the week ended Nov. 9, compared with a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers' Association said last week. Purchase applications are up 22 percent in the past year.
Foreclosures are slowing. The number of properties that began the foreclosure process in the first 10 months of the year fell 8 percent compared with the same period last year, RealtyTrac said last week.
And builders broke ground on new homes and apartments at the fastest pace in more than four years in September. The jump could help boost the economy and hiring.
Still, the market has a long way back to full health. Many potential home buyers cannot meet stricter lending standards or produce larger down payments required by banks.
That can be a particular problem for first-time homebuyers. They accounted for 31 percent of sales in October, down slightly from September and below the 40 percent that is common in a healthy market.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that banks' overly tight lending standards may be preventing sales and holding back the U.S. economy.

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News Summary: US home sales rise 2.1 pct. in Oct.

SALES RISE: U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose moderately in October, helped by improvement in the job market and record-low mortgage rates. Sales rose 2.1 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million according to the National Association of Realtors.
INVENTORIES: A decline in housing inventory is helping push prices higher. There were only 2.14 million homes available for sale at the end of the month, the lowest in 10 years.
GAINS LIKELY TO CONTINUE: As the economy slowly recovers, more people have started looking to buy homes or rent apartments. Mortgage rates are at record lows and rents are rising. That makes buying a home more attractive.

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News Summary: US 30-yr mortgage rate at record low

RATES AT RECORD LOW: Average U.S. mortgage rates fell to fresh record lows this week, a trend that is boosting home sales.
THE NUMBERS: Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average 30-year loan rate dipped to 3.31 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1971. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage dropped to 2.63 percent, also a record.
HOUSING RECOVERY: Home sales and construction are rising, providing a much-needed boost to the economy. Lower rates have also persuaded more people to refinance. That usually leads to lower monthly mortgage payments and more consumer spending.

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Retirement Savings Plan Reality: Save More

There's a buzz building in California over a state move to create a retirement savings plan for private employees with no workplace 401k. It might seem that everyone has plenty of access to a retirement savings plan, but at least a third of U.S. households get to retirement with just Social Security to back them up, reports MarketWatch.
The "pioneering" part of such a retirement savings plan would be the opt-out clause. Under the California plan, which has to get past some federal rules and IRS hurdles, eligible workers would be automatically registered with the plan at a deduction rate of 3% of pay. They would have to choose to quit the plan, although of course they could instead choose to increase the takeout.
The enforced deductions requirement of a good retirement savings plan is backed by research from Harvard and the University of Copenhagen. According to the research, giving people a tax break encourages them to save, but not much. Using data from Denmark, which is similar to the U.S. system but offers more detail, academics found that tax subsidies worth $1 raised the national savings rate by a penny.
More On Forbes: 25 Best Places For A Working Retirement
That's not much bang for a buck. Meanwhile, previous research found that an automatic retirement savings plan, such as the proposed California "opt-out" model, is very effective at raising savings rates.
The reason, the researchers conclude, is that only about 15% of people in the system are active savers, that is, people who think about retirement and how much money it will take to achieve that goal. The remainder, a whopping 85%, are totally passive savers. They will save if obligated but make no concrete plan regarding their life after work.
All of this would be quite the revelation, except that private pensions have a long and quite well-documented history, starting back in 1980 in Chile. Under reforms instituted by the military regime of the time, anyone with a formal job in the South American country is required to pay 10% beyond a minimum monthly income level. There is an income tax break, too, on retirement savings plan contributions, which can be up to 20%.
More On Forbes: Do You Have Enough Money To Retire
The Chilean system was reformed in 2008 to create a bigger safety net for the poor, essentially granting public pensions to those who did not earn enough to participate in the private system. Currently, 13 countries have either private or quasi-mandatory pension systems, reports the OECD.
All pension plans fall into two categories, defined benefit or defined contribution (DC). A defined benefit plan puts the burden on future taxpayers to meet a minimum payout, which is essentially how Social Security works in the United States. A defined contribution retirement savings plan, the basis for private pension systems such as a 401k, means it's up to savers to put enough away and to invest and manage their savings carefully over decades.
Your retirement savings plan
As the OECD notes, "the starting point for a successful DC plan is a sufficiently high contribution rate." Put another way, depending on the market to deliver miracles is a mistake, but a similarly large (and common) mistake is believing that setting aside pennies in a retirement savings plan will add up to big dollars down the line.
The agency concludes:
In DC pension systems, one clear goal for policymakers should be to improve the design of default investment strategies so that investment risk is reduced as the worker approaches retirement. Such lifecycle investment strategies may need to be carefully regulated to ensure that workers are offered sufficient diversification and protection from market shocks in old age.
Amen and hallelujah, we say. Whatever the outcome in California, two points about a proper retirement savings plan by now should be impressively clear to everyone: You need to save more, sooner, and you absolutely must have a serious, long-term investment plan to protect and grow that nest egg over time.

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US home sales surge to highest level in 3 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of previously occupied homes jumped to their highest level in three years last month, bolstered by steady job gains and record-low mortgage rates. The report was the latest sign of a sustained recovery in the housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales rose 5.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in November. That's up from 4.76 million in October.
Previously occupied home sales are on track for their best year in five years. November's sales were the highest since November 2009, when a federal tax credit that was soon to expire spurred sales. Excluding that month, last month's sales were the highest since July 2007.
Sales are up 14.5 percent from a year ago, though they remain below the roughly 5.5 million that are consistent with a healthy market.
"The report is encouraging, and the positive momentum established in the housing market during 2012 appears likely to continue into 2013," Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital, said in an email.
Superstorm Sandy delayed some sales in the Northeast, the Realtors' group said. Those delayed purchases will likely close in the coming months, though the increase will be modest, the group said.
Even so, sales rose 6.9 percent in the Northeast last month compared with October. Sales increased 7.2 percent in the Midwest, 7.9 percent in the South and 0.8 percent in the West.
Job growth and low home-loan rates have helped drive purchases. Prices are also rising, which encourages more potential buyers to come off the sidelines and purchase homes. And more people may put their homes on the market if they feel confident they can sell at a good price.
In addition, the excess supply of homes that built up during the housing bubble has finally thinned out. The number of previously occupied homes available for sale fell to nearly an 11-year low in November. The supply of new homes is also near its lowest level since 1963.
At the current sales pace, it would take 4.8 months to exhaust the supply of homes for sale. That's the shortest such span since September 2005.
At the same time, more people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.
As low supply and rising demand push up prices, builders will likely be encouraged to start work on more homes in coming months, economists said.
"That's a good reason to feel optimistic about housing next year," said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. "We just don't have enough homes right now, and we need to start building."
Builder confidence rose in December for a seventh straight month to the highest level in more than 6½ years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.
The pace of home construction slipped in November, but it was still nearly 22 percent higher than a year earlier. Builders are on track this year to start work on the most homes in four years.
Economists note that the increase in building should lead to more construction jobs, though it hasn't yet done so. That could mean more construction hiring is coming.

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Ms. Mac: 'Cute, Awkwardly Dressed'

Designer: PabloDeLaRocha.com, BlueStacks
She has freckles, a normal-sized head, wears t-shirts and jeans. She is also "awkwardly dressed" and "pretty cute." She is the average female Mac user, according to an infographic complied and released by software start-up BlueStacks.
The company, which makes software that allows Android apps to run on computers, just released a new version of its Mac app. Install the program and you can access Android apps right from Apple's OS X operating system - Angry Birds, Instagram, all your favorites.
But the company didn't want to just release the software. In honor of the announcement, it created an infographic based on data from its Facebook users about what Ms. Mac looks like.
According to the graphic, which you can view below, 27 percent of female Mac users have long hair, 48 percent wear glasses and 52 percent are under 20. Forty percent use Mac OS X Lion, 14 percent OS X Mountain Lion, 20 percent OS X Leopard, and 8 percent Snow Leopard.
However, you should take these findings with a grain of salt; they are based primarily on responses from BlueStacks' 1.1 million Facebook fans. Some of it is based on data from Nielsen, but BlueStacks confirmed that the majority of the information was pulled from its own users and its social media fans.
"We have a lot of early adopter fans who were into helping," BlueStacks VP of marketing, John Gargiulo, told ABC News. "We also hired a data scientist who has been parsing through the data and talking with people who use BlueStacks. We like to do things that are a bit fun and different."
BlueStacks created a similar infographic about Android users last year. Not surprisingly, 70 percent of male Android users wear t-shits and 62 percent wear jeans. (It's like that line from that '90s movie "Can't Hardly Wait": "He is sort of tall, with hair and wears t-shirts sometimes.")
Regardless, if you're looking for a fun infographic / full body image of the alleged Ms. Mac 2012, you can click the image below.

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Makers of $99 Android-Powered Game Console Ship First 1,200 'Ouyas'

Like Nintendo's Wii U game console, the Ouya (that's "OOH-yuh") has an unusual name and even more unusual hardware. The console is roughly the size of a Rubik's cube, and is powered by Android, Google's open-source operating system that's normally found on smartphones and tablets.
Ouya's makers, who are preparing the console for its commercial launch, encourage interested gamers to pop the case open and use it in electronics projects ... or even to write their own games for it. Especially if they're among the 1,200 who are about to receive their own clear plastic Ouya developer consoles.
Not exactly a finished product
The limited-edition consoles, which have been shipped out to developers already, are not designed for playing games on. They don't even come with any.
Rather, the point of these consoles is so that interested Android developers can write games for the Ouya, which will then be released to gamers when the console launches to the public. Fans who pledged at least $1,337 to Ouya's record-breaking Kickstarter project will get one, and while they're not quite suited for playing games on -- "we know the D-pad and triggers on the controller still need work," Ouya's makers say -- the clear plastic developer consoles serve as a preview of what the finished product will look like, and a reminder of Ouya's "openness."
You keep using that word ...
In the food and drug industries, terms like "organic" and "all-natural" are regulated so that only products which meet the criteria can have them on their labels. In the tech world, however, anyone can claim that their product is "open," for whatever definition of "open" they like.
The term was popularized by the world's rapid adoption of open-source software, like Android itself, where you're legally entitled to a copy of the programming code and can normally use it in your own projects (like Ouya's makers did). But when tech companies say that something is "open," they don't necessarily mean that the code or the hardware schematics use an open-source license.
How Ouya is "open"
Ouya's makers have released their ODK, or developer kit, under the same open-source license as Android itself. This allows aspiring game developers to practice their skills even without a developer console, and to improve the kit however they want. The hardware itself is currently a "closed" design, however, despite the clear plastic case. The makers have expressed enthusiasm for the idea of hardware hackers using it in projects, and have said, "We'll even publish the hardware design if people want it," but so far they haven't done so.
What about the games?
The most relevant aspect of "openness" to normal gamers is that Ouya's makers say "any developer can publish a game." This model is unusual for the console world, where only select studios are allowed to publish their wares on (for instance) the PlayStation Network, but is more familiar to fans of the anything-goes Google Play store for Android. Several big-name Android developers -- including console game titan Square-Enix -- have already signed up to have their wares on the Ouya.
Preordered Ouya game consoles (the normal ones, not the developer edition) will ship in April. They will cost $99 once sales are opened to the general public.
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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Quad-core Sony Xperia Z with 1080p display rumored to debut at CES

Sony (SNE) has long been rumored to be readying a high-end Android-powered smartphone with a 5-inch display. The Xperia Z, which was previously known as the Yuga, was revealed in a variety of leaked images and was even the subject of a recent review. According to a report from Chinese website ePrice, Sony is expected to debut the handset at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The Xperia Z is said to be equipped with a full HD 1920 x 1080-pixel display, a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a microSD slot and a 13-megapixel camera. ePrice claims the Xperia Z will be released on January 15th, just a few days after it is announced.

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Android vs. Android: LG looks to ban Samsung tablet in South Korea

Are there any technology companies Samsung (005930) isn’t fighting in court right now? LG Display (LPL), of which Android vendor LG Electronics (066570) owns a majority stake, confirmed on Friday that it has filed an injunction seeking to ban Galaxy Note 10.1 sales in South Korea. The panel maker claims the tablet infringes three of its patents relating to its display technologies and it is looking to ban sales of the device as a result. LG Display is also seeking damages of nearly $1 billion from Samsung affiliate Samsung Display if the Galaxy Note 10.1 remains on the market.
[More from BGR: The Boy Genius Report: The Wii U is Nintendo’s last console]
“Through this action, LG Display seeks to completely stop the sale, manufacture, and importation of [the] infringing Samsung product,” LG Display said in a statement to Dow Jones Newswires.
[More from BGR: Samsung could face $15 billion fine for trying to ban iPhone, other Apple devices]
The new lawsuit follows a complaint filed last week by Samsung Display alleging that various LG products infringe seven of its patents related to LCD panels.

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Windows Phone Store doubled in size this year

Windows Phone has had a difficult time battling Android and iOS in the mobile space this year thanks to a glaring lack of apps. Unfortunately for Microsoft (MSFT), its Windows Phone Store falls short compared to Apple’s (AAPL) App Store, Google’s (GOOG) Play Store and even the Amazon Appstore. Microsoft is gaining ground, however, as the company revealed earlier this week that it published more than 75,000 new apps and games to its Windows Phone Store this year alone, more than doubling the catalog’s size. To put that figure in perspective, Google and Apple boast more than 700,000 apps in their respective stores, and Research in Motion (RIMM) will look to start strong with more than 70,000 apps promised for the release of BlackBerry 10.

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Baseball-Jones still Japan-bound despite arrest

TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Former Major League Baseball player Andruw Jones's Christmas morning arrest on a battery charge will not endanger his move to Japan's Rakuten Eagles, the club's president said on Thursday.
The Curacao-born outfielder was taken into custody in an Atlanta suburb on Tuesday after police were called to his home following a domestic dispute with his wife.
"We received a report it was a domestic fight which escalated," Eagles president Yozo Tachibana told Japanese media of the former Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees slugger.
"Unless there is any more big surprises, we intend to go ahead as planned with his contract."
The 35-year-old Jones began his stellar MLB career at Atlanta and won 10 Gold Glove awards, cracking 434 home runs in MLB with five different clubs.
He joined Japan's Eagles, based in the country's quake-hit northeast, earlier this month on a one-year contract worth $3.5 million.

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Jones still Japan-bound despite arrest

 Former Major League Baseball player Andruw Jones's Christmas morning arrest on a battery charge will not endanger his move to Japan's Rakuten Eagles, the club's president said on Thursday.
The Curacao-born outfielder was taken into custody in an Atlanta suburb on Tuesday after police were called to his home following a domestic dispute with his wife.
"We received a report it was a domestic fight which escalated," Eagles president Yozo Tachibana told Japanese media of the former Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees slugger.
"Unless there is any more big surprises, we intend to go ahead as planned with his contract."
The 35-year-old Jones began his stellar MLB career at Atlanta and won 10 Gold Glove awards, cracking 434 home runs in MLB with five different clubs.
He joined Japan's Eagles, based in the country's quake-hit northeast, earlier this month on a one-year contract worth $3.5 million.

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ADVISORY-Reuters yearenders to move from 0200 GMT

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Reuters will repeat a series of sports yearenders from earlier this month at 0200 GMT on Friday.
Overall yearender
American professional sport
Asian review
Best quotes of the year
Timeline
London Olympics
Soccer
Tennis
Golf
Cricket
Rugby
Cycling
Motor racing
Major league baseball
Basketball
NFL
Ice Hockey

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Baseball: Matsui announces retirement from Major Leagues

Hard-hitting Hideki Matsui, who set milestones for Japanese players in Major League Baseball, announced his retirement on Thursday, the organization's website reported.
The 38-year-old Matsui played 10 seasons in MLB, seven of them with the New York Yankees, producing the most home runs, runs batted in and walks by a Japanese player in the league.
A two-time All-Star with the Yankees, he was the first Japanese-born player to win World Series MVP honors in 2009, going 8-for-13 with three homers and eight runs batted in as the Yankees beat the Phillies for the title in 2009.
One of Japan's most dominant hitters with the Yomiuri Giants from 1993-2002, he joined the Yankees in 2003.
In 10 Major League seasons, he batted .282 with 760 runs batted in while playing with the Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays.
Nicknamed "Godzilla" for his powerful swing, Matsui belted 332 home runs in Japan and hit 175 more in the Major Leagues.
He spent his last season with the Rays, playing in 34 games and batting .147.
"This is a Hall of Fame-caliber player, based on the body of work that he's done," Rays manager Joe Maddon told reporters last summer.
"Had he done all of that in the United States, which he may have done had he started here sooner, you're definitely talking about a player of that kind of stature."
Matsui played 1,250 consecutive games to finish his Japanese career and did not miss a game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, playing 518 consecutive games.
He was a three-time MVP and nine-time All-Star in the Central League in Japan before signing with the Yankees.

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YEARENDER-Olympics sparkle at height of magical British summer

LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - London defied Britain's wettest summer for 100 years, potential transport and security chaos and a depressed economy to stage a marvellous 2012 Olympics during a magical year for British sport.
Over the past century Britons have become resigned to watching the rest of the world beat them at games they had either invented or codified at the height of the island nation's imperial splendour.
This year, to their fans' surprise and delight, British teams and athletes surpassed themselves across a range of sports, including third place in the Olympic medals' table behind the world's two great economic powers the United States and China.
Englishman Bradley Wiggins, who looks like a throwback to the English beat groups of the swinging sixties with his mop of hair and straggling sideburns, became the first Briton to win the Tour de France prior to taking a fourth Olympic gold medal.
After finishing runner-up in four grand slam finals during a vintage era for men's tennis, Scotland's Andy Murray finally made the breakthrough as the first British male in 76 years to win one of the big four titles with victory over Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open.
And Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, winner of four PGA titles including the PGA championship by a record eight strokes, was awarded the annual Jack Nicklaus award for player-of-the-year. At the age of 23 he was the youngest recipient since Tiger Woods in 1997.
At the heart of the year's sporting action, London staged the summer Olympics for the third time to unanimous acclaim throughout the world.
Under the assured stewardship of organising committee chairman Seb Coe, as adroit in the convoluted realm of sports politics as he had been on the track while winning two Olympic 1,500 metres titles, the London organisation was impeccable.
Transport, one of the biggest worries in a cramped and crowded city, worked smoothly with enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowds flocking to venues sprinkled among some of London's more celebrated landmarks.
Rain fell nearly every day during the early part of a gloomy summer before an overdue burst of hot sunshine in the week leading up to the Games in late July. Thereafter the weather reverted to a more familiar English blend of the good, the bad and the indifferent without causing any serious disruptions.
Even the admission by a private security firm a fortnight before the 16-day festival that it could not supply enough guards proved an unexpected bonus.
Thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen stepped into the breach and their disciplined professionalism and unfailing good humour further boosted the feel good factor.
The day after a quirky but compelling opening ceremony fusing historical and cultural glories with quintessentially British eccentricity, Michael Phelps took to the pool.
Winner of a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps faltered initially, finishing fourth in the 400 metres individual medley behind fellow-American Ryan Lochte.
By the end of the opening week, the American through sheer willpower was back to his best, finishing his competitive career with 18 gold medals from four Games. They included four golds in London and 22 medals overall to make him the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history ahead of former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who collected 18.
FINEST HOUR
While Phelps was gracing an Olympic pool for the last time on the middle Saturday of the Games, the nearby Olympic stadium erupted during Britain's finest Olympic hour.
Reflecting the face of modern multi-cultural Britain, Somali immigrant Mo Farah won the 10,000 metres and the daughter of a Jamaican father and English mother Jessica Ennis finished first in the heptathlon. Greg Rutherford, the great-grandson of an England soccer international, won the long jump.
Usain Bolt, who had made a mockery of the world 100 and 200 metres records in Beijing, shrugged off doubts about his form, fitness and the threat of training partner Yohan Blake, who had beaten him twice at the Jamaican trials, to become the first man to retain both Olympic titles.
Jamaica swept the 200 medals and Bolt finished a triumphant week for his tiny Caribbean nation by anchoring the 4x100 relay team to a world record and establish beyond any doubt that he is the greatest sprinter to step on to a track.
Kenya's David Rudisha provided the most spectacular individual performance on the track, spread-eagling the field to break his own world 800 metres record without the benefit of pacemakers.
Chelsea kicked off the British sporting summer with an unexpected triumph in the Champions League final, defeating Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena to win the European club title for the first time.
After the west London club had eliminated favourites Barcelona in the semi-finals with a scrupulously disciplined defensive display, Didier Drogba levelled the scores in the 88th minute of the final with a header before converting the final spot kick in the penalty shootout.
ARMSTRONG SCANDAL
Wiggins, who had survived the worst life could throw at him, triumphed in the most brutal and demanding of the European road cycling classics.
Abandoned at the age of two by his alcoholic Australian father, himself a professional cyclist who was found dead of head injuries on a street in 2008, Wiggins fought his way out of a council estate with gritty determination and drive.
His victory in the Tour, possibly the greatest individual British sporting achievement of the year and followed by a fourth Olympic gold, was accompanied by unwelcome if not unexpected baggage.
Given the sport in general and the Tour in particular are notoriously drug-tainted, Wiggins was forced to endure a barrage of questions about doping during and after the race.
"If I doped I would potentially stand to lose everything," he responded. "My reputation, my livelihood, my marriage, my family, my house... my Olympic titles, my world titles."
The questions, to Wiggins and his rivals, will not go away soon.
Later in the year, American Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency published a report accusing him of being involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen". Armstrong continued to deny ever taking drugs but elected not to contest the charges, which the sporting authorities took as an effective admission of guilt.
Murray's breakthrough came after he avenged his Wimbledon final defeat to Roger Federer to beat the Swiss master in the Olympic final.
Serena Williams collected gold in the singles and doubles during a winning streak when she added the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles to her trophy cabinet.
POULTER LEADS FIGHTBACK
McIlroy also played a full part in the year's most remarkable comeback. After confusion over a tee time, he needed a police escort in his haste to reach the Medinah course on the final day of the biennial Ryder Cup between Europe and the United States when the hosts needed only 4-1/2 points from 12 singles matches to win.
Instead, the Americans conceded 8-1/2 points to the Europeans who won 14-1/2 to 13-1/2. McIlroy prevailed over the previously undefeated Keegan Bradley and German Martin Kaymer sank a five-foot putt on the 18th green to secure the 14 points Europe needed to retain the trophy.
Englishman Ian Poulter, who like the late Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie before him reserves his best for the Ryder Cup, turned around Europe's fortunes by earning one of two points in the fourballs on Saturday. Poulter, possessor of one of the more startling wardrobes in a sport not noted for sartorial restraint, was one of eight players to win on Sunday to finish with a 4-0 record overall.
Although another Briton, Jenson Button, won the final Grand Prix of the season in Sao Paulo nobody could deny Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who at the age of 25 became Formula One's youngest triple world champion.
The German was last on the opening lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix but fought back in a damaged car to finish sixth.
One arena where a British national team performed much as it always does at major tournaments was in the national game of soccer.
For once, under a new coach Roy Hodgson, expectations were not exaggeratedly high for England before the European championships jointly hosted by Ukraine and Poland and losing on penalties to Italy in the quarter-finals was greeted with a resigned shrug rather than outraged indignation.
Spain, the country who took 44 years to win a major tournament, became the first to win three in a row, retaining the European title after triumphing in the 2010 World Cup.
They destroyed Italy 4-0 in the final and their endlessly inventive midfielder Andres Iniesta was named player of the tournament.
Iniesta's Barcelona team mate Lionel Messi was carried off in a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious knee injury after colliding with Benfica goalkeeper in a Champions League group match on Dec. 5.
Four days later the Argentine scored both goals in a 2-1 La Liga win over Real Betis to overhaul German Gerd Mueller's previous record of 85 goals in a calendar year set in 1972. Both goals were set up by Iniesta.
Pele's record of 75 scored in 1958 was already well behind him and, at the age of 25, Messi is in exalted company.
"Leo is supernatural. He doesn't have limits," marvelled Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
Britain's golden year lingered into December, with yet further cause for celebration through sports developed in Victorian public schools whose passion for organised games inspired Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics.
England, 12/1 outsiders before the match, thrashed world rugby union champions New Zealand 38-21 at Twickenham to bring an abrupt halt to increasingly fevered speculation that the current All Blacks team are the best side ever to play the game.
Then the England cricket side, humiliated in the first test of a four-match series in India, bounced back with captain Alastair Cook leading by example to win the next two by convincing margins.
The last test was drawn and England sealed the series 2-1, their first test series victory in India since 1985 and India's first home series defeat in eight years.

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