Danny Puff

NEW YORK (AP) The first-ever autism-friendly performance of the Broadway hit "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" will take off this spring and tickets go on sale Thursday.

The Theatre Development Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides access to live theater, said Wednesday it bought all the tickets for the matinee on April 27 at the Foxwoods Theatre and will offer them at a discount for children and adults on the autism spectrum. Tickets range in price from $35-$80.

The Spider-Man musical will be the fifth show in the fund's autism-friendly program. The first was Disney's "The Lion King" in October 2011, followed last year with performances of "Mary Poppins," a second performance of "The Lion King" and one of "Elf: The Musical." Each time, the shows got enthusiastic feedback from grateful families.

Lisa Carling, the Fund's director of accessibility programs, said surveys taken after previous autism-friendly performances showed strong interest for one of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark."

"We're grateful to the show's producers, management and creative staff and crew for accommodating the Autism Theatre Initiative and uniting with us to make the show an unforgettable experience for all," she said in a statement.

Autism disorders strike one in 100 children, according to U.S. government estimates. Children with the diagnosis are often sensitive to loud noises and harsh lights and find it difficult to sit still or remain quiet. Autism spectrum disorders include both severe and relatively mild symptoms.

The Broadway shows have been slightly altered to make those with autism more comfortable, including cutting jarring sounds and strobe lights. Quiet areas with beanbag chairs and coloring books, staffed by autism experts, also will be created inside the theater for those who might feel overwhelmed.

The Fund, which has consulted an advisory panel of experts in the field of autism, has also made itself available to consult with other theaters attempting their own autism-friendly performances. It also publishes downloadable guides telling children with autism what to expect during the show, including the plot, what ushers do and what to do during a curtain call.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to share our production with those affected by autism," said "Spider-Man" producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris in a statement.

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Online: http://www.tdf.org/spiderman

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NEW YORK (AP) Barbara Walters isn't "scratching too much" from chickenpox, but she says she won't be back at "The View" for three more weeks.

Walters phoned into the ABC talk show Wednesday. Calling from her home, she reported that she's weak but not in any pain.

She was hospitalized on Jan. 19 after fainting and cutting her head at a party in Washington. The 83-year-old has said she had the chickenpox and a temperature at the time, but didn't realize it. She suffered a concussion and got six stitches. She was released 10 days later.

She announced Wednesday: "I'm not itching away."

Then she marveled that the best remedy for itching is an age-old one, saying: "We have Facebook, Twitter and calamine lotion."

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LAS VEGAS (AP) A newly announced "Star Wars" sequel was on everyone's mind when J.J. Abrams took the stage Wednesday at a Las Vegas video game conference, but he made only a sideways mention of the film he has been hired to direct.

The reference was a throw-away joke from his last franchise reboot.

The director played a scene from his 2009 "Star Trek" film to illustrate the importance of embroidering films with subtle details, and freeze-framed on a shot of a familiar "Star Wars" robot peeking from space junk.

"So they're looking at all the debris that's out there, and curiously, it's R2D2," he said, drawing a roar of laughter.

Gabe Newell, president of video game developer Valve, shared a stage with Abrams at the Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain Summit at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

"So now I have to go back through your movies looking at all the debris to figure out what movie you're going to direct next?" Newell asked.

Abrams has given die-hard fans few clues about his vision for the seventh live-action "Star Wars" film. He was announced as its director in January.

The Sin City appearance left fans of The Force hungering for more insight.

"I'd love to know who they'll focus on, what character, how far in the future it will be set, things like that," said Sadierose Schwartzmiller, 19, a comic-book creator who won her ticket to the event in an art contest.

Abrams has made a name for himself as a trusted steward of beloved fantasy universes, directing well-received additions to the "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible" franchises.

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas opened the door to the latest round of spin-offs when he sold his Lucasfilm empire to The Walt Disney Co. for $4.05 billion last fall. The company is planning three sequels and two peripheral movies focusing on characters.

"Episode VII" is tentatively scheduled for release in the summer of 2015.

Last month, Abrams told a group of reporters that he wanted to make sure the sequel was "something that touches people."

On Wednesday, he did give his audience of nerds and gamers one revelation when he announced his intention to collaborate with Newell the man behind the hit games "Portal," "Half-Life" and "Counter-Strike."

"There's an idea that we had for a game that we'd like to develop," he said.

Fans wanted more information on that, too.

"If they would reveal even the genre," said Kellen Smalley, 32, a gamer. "If they would bring what J.J. does with stories to the 'Star Wars' games, it would be very fun."

Abrams' development company, Bad Robot Interactive, has released apps related to his movies. Newell said his company would like to work with Abrams on a movie adaptation of "Portal" or "Half-Life."

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Hannah Dreier can be reached at http://twitter.com/hannahdreier

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BOSTON (Reuters) - Software makers Microsoft Corp and Symantec Corp said they disrupted a global cyber crime operation by shutting down servers that controlled hundreds of thousands of PCs without the knowledge of their users.

The move made it temporarily impossible for infected PCs around the world to search the web, though the companies offered free tools to clean machines through messages that were automatically pushed out to infected computers.

Technicians working on behalf of both companies raided data centers in Weehawken, New Jersey, and Manassas, Virginia, on Wednesday, accompanied by U.S. federal marshals, under an order issued by the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

They seized control of one server at the New Jersey facility and persuaded the operators of the Virginia data center to take down a server at their parent company in the Netherlands, according to Richard Boscovich, assistant general counsel with Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit.

Boscovich told Reuters that he had "a high degree of confidence" that the operation had succeeded in bringing down the cyber crime operation, known as the Bamital botnet.

"We think we got everything, but time will tell," he said.

The servers that were pulled off line on Wednesday had been used to communicate with what Microsoft and Symantec estimate are between 300,000 and 1 million PCs currently infected with malicious software that enslaved them into the botnet.

HIJACKING SEARCHES

The companies said that the Bamital operation hijacked search results and engaged in other schemes that the companies said fraudulently charge businesses for online advertisement clicks.

Bamital's organizers also had the ability to take control of infected PCs, installing other types of computer viruses that could engage in identity theft, recruit PCs into networks that attack websites and conduct other types of computer crimes.

Now that the servers have been shut down, users of infected PCs will be directed to a site informing them that their machines are infected with malicious software when they attempt to search the web.

Microsoft and Symantec are offering them free tools to fix their PCs and restore access to web searches via messages automatically pushed out to victims.

The messages warn: "You have reached this website because your computer is very likely to be infected by malware that redirects the results of your search queries. You will receive this notification until you remove the malware from your computer."

It was the sixth time that Microsoft has obtained a court order to disrupt a botnet since 2010. Previous operations have targeted bigger botnets, but this is the first where infected users have received warnings and free tools to clean up their machines.

Microsoft runs a Digital Crimes Unit out of its Redmond, Washington, headquarters that is staffed by 11 attorneys, investigators and other staff who work to help law enforcement fight financial crimes and exploitation of children over the web.

Symantec approached Microsoft about a year ago, asking the maker of Windows software to collaborate in trying to take down the Bamital operation. Last week they sought a court order to seize the Bamital servers.

The two companies said they conservatively estimate that the Bamital botnet generated at least $1 million a year in profits for the organizers of the operation. They said they will learn more about the size of the operation after they analyze information from infected machines that check in to the domains once controlled by Bamital's servers.

Their complaint identified 18 "John Doe" ringleaders, scattered from Russia and Romania to Britain, the United States and Australia, who registered websites and rented servers used in the operation under fictitious names. The complaint was filed last week with a federal court in Alexandria and unsealed on Wednesday.

The complaint alleges that the ringleaders made money through a scheme known as "click fraud" in which criminals get cash from advertisers who pay websites commissions when their users click on ads.

Bamital redirected search results from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing search engines to sites with which the authors of the botnet have financial relationships, according to the complaint.

The complaint also charges that Bamital's operators profited by forcing infected computers to generate large quantities of automated ad clicks without the knowledge of PC users.

Symantec researcher Vikram Thakur said Bamital is just one of several major botnets in a complex underground "click fraud ecosystem" that he believes generates at least tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

He said that researchers at will comb the data on the servers in order to better understand how the click fraud ecosystem works and potentially identify providers of fraudulent ads and traffic brokers.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg in the world of click fraud," said Thakur.

Boscovich said he believes the botnet originated in Russia or Ukraine because affiliated sites install a small text file known as a cookie that is written in Russian on infected computers.

The cookie file contains the Russian phrase "yatutuzebil," according to the court filing. That can loosely be translated as "I was here," he said.

Microsoft provided details on the takedown operation on its blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2013/02/06/microsoft-and-symantec-take-down-bamital-botnet-that-hijacks-online-searches.aspx

(Reporting By Jim Finkle; Editing by Claudia Parsons and Leslie Gevirtz)

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NEW YORK (AP) The Wanted is trying to keep it real: The boy band has signed on to do a reality series on E!

The British fivesome announced Wednesday that their show will debut in June. A press release said the behind-the-scene series will be "unvarnished" and "nonglossy."

The Wanted broke onto the U.S. music scene with the Top 5 hit "Glad You Came." They dropped their self-titled U.S. debut EP last year, and have released two successful albums and multiple singles in the United Kingdom.

The group is planning a full-length album and international tour for the fall.

Their U.S. manager is Scooter Braun, who also manages Justin Bieber. The band members include Max George, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Siva Kaneswaran.

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Online:

http://www.thewantedmusic.com/

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) "Xena: Warrior Princess" actor Lucy Lawless says she's won a "great victory" after a New Zealand judge handed her a modest sentence but declined to order costs sought by oil company Shell for her role in a protest aboard an oil-drilling ship.

Lawless and seven other Greenpeace activists were each ordered Thursday to pay 651 New Zealand dollars ($547) costs to a port company and complete 120 hours of community service after earlier pleading guilty to trespass charges.

Last February, Lawless and six other activists climbed a drilling tower on the Arctic-bound vessel Noble Discoverer to protest oil exploration in the Arctic. Another protester helped from the ground. Lawless spent four days atop the 174-foot (53-meter) tower, camping and blogging about her experiences. The action briefly delayed the ship's voyage.

Shell Todd Oil Services, which had chartered the ship, sought about 650,000 New Zealand dollars ($545,000) in reparations from the protesters.

Lawyers for the activists contended that amount was excessive. In his ruling, Judge Allan Roberts said the company could pursue its claim through the civil court system.

Shell Todd declined to comment on whether it would pursue civil action. In a statement, the company said it has "always supported the efforts of law enforcement to respond to this incident and to deter such activity in the future."

Lawless is best known for her title role in "Xena" and more recently for starring in the Starz cable television series "Spartacus."

"I consider it a great victory that the court has struck down the reparation demand from Shell, which I think was absolutely ludicrous," Lawless said.

She said she was happy to clean toilets, pick up litter or do whatever else was required for her community service and that she has no regrets about taking part in the protest, which she said has helped highlight concerns about oil exploration in the Arctic.

Greenpeace says more than 2 million people have signed its petition to make the Arctic a sanctuary and off-limits for oil exploration.

Lawless said she plans to continue protesting against climate change and oil drilling.

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Forget about statistics for employment and industrial production, it is being claimed that the price of a hamburger is showing where Europe's economic reforms are working - and where they are not.

By studying the different prices for McDonald's Big Mac burger throughout the euro zone between July 2011 and January 2013, Guntram Wolff, an economist at think-tank Bruegel, found evidence that struggling countries like Ireland had tightened their belts and others had not.

The price of a Big Mac has been used by The Economist for decades as a partially tongue-in-cheek way of judging global currency valuations - the gist being that it costs the same to make but is charged at different prices around the world.

Wolff took the data and found that the price rise in Greece, Portugal and Spain has been less than the euro zone average, while in Ireland the price actually fell. These are the main countries undergoing deep economic reform due to the debt crisis.

This contrasts with price rises above the euro zone burger average in Germany.

Wolff concludes from this that economic adjustment is working. For example, In Ireland, which has made spending cuts after receiving international aid, the burger price has fallen from 3.80 euros to less than 3.50 euros.

There is one notable exception, however. Heavily-indebted Italy is the most expensive country in the euro area to buy a Big Mac - 3.85 euros - while it costs just 3.64 euros in Germany.

"Italy," said Wolff, "needs to apply the right policies to address high inflation."

http://www.bruegel.org/nc/blog/detail/article/1005-what-does-the-big-mac-say-about-euro-area-adjustment/

(Reporting By John O'Donnell. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)

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VIENNA (AP) One sleepy little side street in Vienna just got sleepier.

Tucked behind a Gothic church and surrounded by Renaissance-era houses, a new studio is offering deal-makers, movers and shakers and foot-sore tourists respite at a price: a half-hour power nap for 11 euros ($15).

But Reflexia is more than just a place for shut-eye. The establishment's massive arches and thick walls built centuries ago act as if they were made specifically to protect from the outside world, and visitors who cross its threshold are offered soft mood music; a heaping plate of prosciutto with chunky bread; coffee, tea and soft drinks, and a wake-up that is personal and gentle.

"People know sleep as a need but not as a product," owner Peter Schurin says. "Our task is to change that in some ways."

Schurin describes his establishment as "a fitness center for the spirit," and his business model might be well-timed, even if the Austrian capital is anything but an edgy city that never sleeps.

Most stores here are closed on Sundays. On Fridays, the work day ends at 3 p.m., or earlier, judging from the traffic jams clogging the main arteries out of the city of 1.8 million. In fact, Vienna regularly tops Mercier surveys as the world's most livable city in part because of its outsized calm factor.

At the same time, Austria's status in Europe as an "Island of the Blessed" is being eroded by the kind of work-related stress common to other Western societies.

A study last year involving doctors, unions and employers estimated that stress-related illnesses are costing Austria's economy 7 billion euros almost $9.5 billion a year in treatment and absences of its 3.7-million strong work force. Michael Musalek, head of Vienna's Anton Proksch medical institute, says the number of burn-out victims "is steadily growing."

Enter Schurin and his establishment.

Services at Reflexia range in cost and substance. The 11-euro, half-hour cat nap takes place in a dim room where black leather loungers are separated by Japanese folding screens; a one-hour snooze in a private chamber can be purchased for 40 euros ($60).

Those who can't sleep can play computer games, grab a book off the club room's shelf or just sit back and relax with a drink and a bite for 6 euros ($8) an hour.

The only thing missing so far? Sleepy customers.

On Tuesday, a day after the grand opening, candles were burning and the Italian ham was waiting but the couches were empty except for one.

On it was Gundula Schatz, who described herself as both a client and a prospective partner looking to offer yoga courses at the establishment. Asked how her couch felt, she replied "like in seventh heaven!"

Schurin says he's patient.

"While we were still building with all the mess and dust, people passed by and saw the word 'sleep' ... and turned to me and said, 'Can I sleep here?' And I said 'Yes, but please wait until we're open.'

"Austrians are cautious people," he added. "It takes them a while to get used to new ideas."

But the concept left at least one passer-by cold Tuesday.

"I sleep on the job," said Rolf Bachler, when asked if he was in need of a power-nap.

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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Beyonce Knowles can't seem to leave the house without catching flak from somebody these days.

First, the "Halo" singer was criticized last month for her less-than-live performance of the National Anthem at Barack Obama's inauguration.

Now, Knowles has attracted the ire of animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for wearing leather during her halftime performance at Sunday's Super Bowl.

According to the New York Times (which - who knew? - keeps track of such things), Knowles' outfit, which was conceived by New York designer Rubin Singer - consisted of a cropped leather motorcycle, matched with a leather bodysuit made with strips of python and iguana.

Knowles' use of all that animal hide, surprisingly, did not sit well with PETA, who accused the singer of being out of touch with shifting fashion trends.

"We would take a bet that if Beyonc watched our video expos s ... she'd probably not want to be seen again in anything made of snakes, lizards, rabbits, or other animals who died painfully," PETA said in a statement. "Today's fashions are trending toward humane vegan options, and Beyonc 's Super Bowl outfit missed the mark on that score."

Of course, Knowles could have ditched the offending outfit altogether - at which point she'd have the Parents Television Council hounding her instead of PETA.

PETA did, however, show some love for Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs - even though he covets a leather-covered ball for a living.

"The game was great, however, and so is Baltimore Ravens linebacker and yesterday's Super Bowl champion Terrell Suggs, who has just joined PETA in protesting the fur industry by starring in PETA's 'Ink, Not Mink' campaign," the organization added.

A spokeswoman for Knowles has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment because, really, if you were her, would you willingly place yourself in the middle of this?

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TORONTO (AP) -- A modern BlackBerry with a physical keyboard might not arrive in the U.S. until May or June, a month or two behind other parts of the world, the chief executive of the smartphone maker suggested in an interview.

Although Research in Motion Ltd. CEO Thorsten Heins said the exact release date will depend on each wireless provider, he said the physical keyboard version, the BlackBerry Q10, will likely be released eight to 10 weeks after a carrier releases a model with only a touch screen, the BlackBerry Z10. The Z10 is expected in the U.S. in mid-March, so eight to 10 weeks brings the U.S. date for the Q10 to mid-May to early June.

"We're trying to get it as close as we can," Heins said in an interview this week with The Associated Press.

Both models are part of RIM's attempt at a comeback after the pioneering brand lost its cachet not long after Apple's 2007 release of the iPhone, which reset expectations for what a smartphone should do.

RIM promised a new system called BlackBerry 10 to catch up, using technology it got through its 2010 purchase of QNX Software Systems. But it has taken more than two years to unveil new phones that are redesigned for the new multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers are now demanding.

RIM said last week that the Q10 should be out on some global carriers in April, but it wouldn't say then whether that schedule applied to the U.S.

In the interview, Heins said it was up to the carriers to do the necessary testing and to decide whether they can shorten the process. He said eight to 10 weeks after the Z10 launch was "a good range" of what to expect.

Such a delay would further complicate RIM's efforts to hang on to customers tempted by Apple's trend-setting iPhone and a range of devices running Google's Android operating system. Even as the BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, many BlackBerry users have stayed loyal so far specifically because they prefer a physical keyboard over the touch screen found on the iPhone and most Android devices. But the temptations to switch grow with each additional delay.

Heins told the AP that he's disappointed the touch-only BlackBerry won't be released in the United States until mid-March, but he said the U.S. and its phone carriers have a rigid testing system.

"We need to respect that. Am I a bit disappointed? Yeah, I would be lying saying no. But it is what it is, and we're working with all our carrier partners to speed it up as much as we can," Heins said in Monday's interview at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto, ahead of Tuesday's debut of the touch-only model in Canada.

RIM unveiled new BlackBerrys last week after excruciating delays allowed Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in the industry. The stock fell 12 percent after Wednesday's kickoff, despite mostly favorable reviews about the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. There's concern the phone isn't coming out sooner than the March date for the U.S. announced last week.

Black and white versions of the touch-screen Z10 were released in the U.K. last Thursday and in Canada on Tuesday.

Heins said early data suggests a substantial number of U.K. users are moving from other platforms to BlackBerry, even though RIM initially targeted longtime BlackBerry users.

"It's beyond expectations," Heins said. "White is sold out already. The black is hard to stock up again. It's very encouraging. I won't share the number because I need to verify it, but we are getting a substantial number of users moving from other platforms to BlackBerry."

In Canada, telecom provider Bell said advance orders for the Z10 exceeded that of any previous BlackBerry model. "We're seeing intense interest today," Bell spokesman Mark Langton said. "Sales are quite robust."

RIM's stock increased nearly 8 percent to $16.15 in midday trading Tuesday after closing up 15 percent Monday following initial reports of strong U.K. sales and an upgrade of the stock by an analyst.

Heins said the company would have to regain market share in the U.S. for BlackBerry to be successful. The U.S. has been one market in which RIM has been particularly hurting, even as the company is doing well in many places overseas. According to research firm IDC, shipments of BlackBerry phones plummeted from 46 percent of the U.S. market in 2008 to 2 percent in 2012. The iPhone and Android now dominate.

Heins, who one year ago replaced longtime executives who had presided over BlackBerry's fall, said he's confident BlackBerry can become the third ecosystem behind the iPhone and Android.

"We need to win back market share to be relevant," Heins said. "We have to be aggressive in the U.S. market."

To send a message that the BlackBerry is back, RIM ran an ad during Sunday's Super Bowl game in the U.S. suggesting that there's so much the new phones could do, it'd be easier to list the outlandish things that they can't. The Canadian company is also in the process of changing its name to BlackBerry to emphasize that brand.

Some analysts have questioned RIM's decision to release a touch-only version first considering that its most loyal users love the physical keyboard for typing.

Heins said the full touch screen was more complicated and they needed to focus on releasing that first. He has also acknowledged that RIM failed to quickly adapt to the emerging "bring your own device" trend, in which employees bring their personal touch-screen iPhones or Android devices to work instead of relying on BlackBerrys issued by their employers

Heins said the company wants to participate in that trend by releasing a touch version first.

Heins also addressed possible interest other companies might have in RIM should BlackBerry 10 prove successful and whether the Canadian government might block a foreign takeover.

"The recognition for BlackBerry 10 and what we built is pretty high. We got good reviews," he said. "That moves you into the middle of the radar screen so I expect some activity around it but we'll look at it one by one. We'll assess it and we'll make decisions with the board on what make sense."

Heins recently chatted with top Canadian government ministers, including the industry minister, at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"These guys are reasonable, rational people. At the end of the day it's about employment, it's about economic health, it's about Canada playing a major role," Heins said. "If the right logic and rational applies I don't think they will just block it for their own sake. They could have done it with Nortel and the patents."

Several months ago RIM's decline evoked memories of Nortel, a former Canadian tech giant, which declared bankruptcy in 2009 and was picked over for its patents.

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