Information Security & US & Life & Love & Fashion & Hacking & Passion

Even before Thanksgiving, people were decking their halls with Christmas joy. Now lights sparkle at home, trees stand tall in offices and Santa's at the mall.

Let the Christmas countdown begin, and there's no better place to start than with holiday paraphernalia. Specialty stores across the country dedicate themselves year-round to fulfilling your Christmas needs. These stores are more than just shopping destinations -- they're an experience.

We asked a few of the best-known Christmas stores to name their top competitors, enabling us to come up with this list. Here are five to check out:

Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Michigan

As the world's largest Christmas store, Bronner's is 45 acres of fun. Each year, more than 2 million people visit the store in the idyllic town of Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Approximately 100,000 lights illuminate the salesroom. The store stocks "Merry Christmas" ornaments in more than 70 languages. Oh, and its electric bill averages $900 a day.

Bronner's began in 1945 as a window display-painting business run by Wallace Bronner. Over the years, business boomed and Bronner had to purchase three buildings just to keep up. By 2001, construction began on a building that would bring the total size of Bronner's to 5.5 football fields.

The store's location now includes a Silent Night Memorial Chapel and a half-mile Christmas Lane, decorated with lights. In April of this year, Wally Bronner passed on, but his family still manages Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland.

The Incredible Christmas Place, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

The Christmas Place began as a gift shop 22 years ago in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Since then, Hurshel and Marian Biggs' once-small business has grown into a 43,000-square-foot multi-store complex -- complete with hotel.

"Guests tell us that we are the most beautiful store they have ever experienced," marketing manager Janet Donaldson said.

Visitors can see more than 50 themed Christmas trees decorated by a team of designers at the store. The Inn at Christmas Place opened in 2007. The 145-room hotel is decorated year-round for the holidays and is located right across the street from the Christmas Place village.

Christmas Place is also home to Singing Santa. Santa Dean Townsend greets guests and offers the traditional photos with Santa. He also performs concerts at the store five days a week.

http://www.christmasplace.com
Store Hours (through December): Seven days a week 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Always Christmas in Canterbury Village, Lake Orion, Michigan

Another one of the world's largest Christmas stores also resides in Michigan. Always Christmas in Canterbury Village is located just north of Detroit in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Olde World Canterbury Village is a designated historical site and extends over 21 acres. Aldridge's Always Christmas shop, with more than 90,000 square feet of Christmas accessories, is just one of 18 specialty shops on the premises.

Always Christmas' Web site also boasts of their large collection of Department 56 items and one of the world's largest nativity displays.

"Stan Aldridge and his family have collected a wealth of treasures from around the world," said Teresa Miller, manager of Always Christmas. "The Always Christmas store features antique windows, doors, paneling and a host of other artifacts to add distinction to our beautiful store."

Other stores in the village include Whittington's Clocks and Home Accents, the Royal Confectionary and Canterbury Toy World.

http://www.canterburyvillage.com
Store Hours: Monday -- Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Christmas Loft, multiple locations in New England

The Christmas Loft is actually six year-round Christmas stores. Located in New England, the Christmas Loft has branches in Meredith, North Conway and North Woodstock, New Hampshire; in Shelburne and Stowe, Vermont; and in Hadley, Massachusetts. The largest branch is 12,000 square feet.

Two of the stores feature almost life-size, animated New England Christmas villages. According to co-owners Richard and Ronnie Vander Veer, each village includes a church, a country store, a covered bridge, and villagers scurrying to get their last-minute chores done as Santa and his reindeer hover above them in the sky.

"The stores are alive with the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas and are surely the best way to get into the spirit of the season," Ronnie said. "[The stores] sell more than Christmas merchandise; they sell memories."

http://www.christmasloft.com
Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

St. Nick's, Littleton, Colorado

When you walk into St. Nick's, you instantly feel the magic of Christmas, according to visual designer Chris Davis.

The Littleton, Colorado, store has 22 decorated rooms and more than 100 themed trees (designed on movie themes this year). St. Nick's is also home to a glittering assortment of ornaments, decorations and collectibles from all over the world.

"Many customers come here to feel the true joy of the Christmas spirit and to be filled with inspirations for their own homes," co-owner Susan Sealy said. "It is nice to be a part of that."

St. Nick's has been in business since 1976, according to co-owner Shawn Sealy, and "a family Christmas tradition for generations."

A severe ice storm prompted President Bush to declare Saturday that a state of emergency exists in northern Massachusetts, a move that authorizes the use of federal aid to help the recovery effort.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are to coordinate relief efforts in the counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Suffolk and Worcester.

By Saturday night, there were 180,000 customers without power, said James Mannion, deputy public information officer for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

The declaration "frees up resources from other states around us," he said, adding that state officials have asked FEMA for cots to be used in 70 shelters, where 1,300 people were expected to spend Saturday night.

In addition, 750 National Guard troops were deployed in the affected area, he said.

Though much of the ice melted Saturday, it refroze Saturday night.

"The big problems here are, obviously, the power outages," he said.

Some towns, like Westford, a town of 16,000 residents in northeastern Massachusetts, had no power, he said.

Officials were working to clear roads so that power crews could get in.

Gov. Deval Patrick declared a statewide state of emergency on Friday in response to the storm, which struck Thursday and continued into Saturday.

Milder weather was forecast for Sunday.

 "Planet in Peril: Battle Lines" traveled to a place off the coast of South Africa known as "shark alley," one of the best places in the world to see great white sharks.

The experience is a major draw for tourists, but it's controversial. Local surfers and swimmers say it is changing shark behavior and may be causing more attacks.

Anderson Cooper swam with these great white sharks -- without a cage -- as part of his report for "Planet in Peril: Battle Lines," airing Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

He talked about the experience Thursday morning with "American Morning" anchors John Roberts and Kiran Chetry.

Anderson Cooper: We went diving with great white sharks. There is a big controversy over whether or not these cage tour operators are actually changing sharks' behavior. They chum the water to attract the sharks, tourists get in the water, and so we had the opportunity to go cage diving and also to go free diving with the sharks, which is a pretty rare thing. There's not many people on the planet who actually do it, probably for very smart reasons.

You'll see that tonight on "Planet in Peril." Actually, swimming with great white sharks without a cage, which is among the most remarkable experiences of my life, I've got to say. Anderson dives with great whites »

Kiran Chetry: What do they call that, a free dive with sharks?

Cooper: Yeah, we went free diving with the sharks. The water is chummed with blood, so it's bloody water, and I was just about to get in, and I turned to the guy and said, "Do you have any recommendations?'" And he said, "Project confidence." See how great white sharks are lured to the surface »

Chetry: There you go. Thanks.

John Roberts: He also told you not to breathe, right, because they don't like the noise of the bubbles?

Cooper: Right, they don't like air bubbles.

Roberts: So, meantime you're down there hyperventilating.

Cooper: It's all well and good to say "OK, don't take a breath," but your heart is beating so fast when a huge great white shark is close to you, that you can't hold your breath. So I was actually breathing more and causing more air bubbles. And the sharks open up their mouths and extend their jaws when they're nervous, and that makes me very nervous.

Roberts: You're reminded of when Roy Scheider [in the movie "Jaws"] said, "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Cooper: For me, I think it was, "I need to get back in the boat."

U.S. households, hit by declining home values and stock market losses, have cut back on their debt levels for the first time on record as loans remain scarce amid what appears to be a deepening recession.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday released it latest quarterly look at consumer and business finances showing that households reduced their debt levels by 0.8 percent at an annual rate in the July-September period, the first drop on records that go back more than 50 years.

The decline in household debt levels is evidence of the severe credit squeeze that is occurring as banks, saddled by billions of dollars of losses in mortgage debt, have tightened lending standards and made it harder for people to get loans.

Mortgage debt fell at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the third quarter, the largest decline on record. Mortgage debt had fallen at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the second quarter. Those two quarterly declines are the first such drops in the Fed survey that dates back to 1952.

In past periods of tight credit, mortgage and total household debt have never declined, although the debt growth usually slowed.

The Fed report also showed that households' net worth fell by 4.7 percent in the third quarter to $56.5 trillion, reflecting the hit Americans are taking as the value of their homes and investments decline.

The drop in household net worth - total assets such as homes and checking accounts minus liabilities like mortgages and credit-card debt - marked the fourth straight quarterly decline since total family net worth hit an all-time high of $63.6 trillion in the July-September quarter of 2007.

New unemployment claims surge unexpectedly

New claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, exceeding even gloomy expectations for an economy stuck in a recession that seems to be deepening.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial applications for jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 6 rose to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 from an upwardly revised figure of 515,000 in the previous week. That was far more than the 525,000 claims Wall Street economists expected.

Elsewhere, the U.S. trade deficit rose unexpectedly in October as a spreading global recession dampened the once-strong sales of American exports and the volume of oil imports surged by a record amount, the Commerce Department said.

More layoffs were announced Thursday. New Britain, Conn.-based tool maker Stanley Works (nyse: SWK - news - people ) said it plans to cut 2,000 jobs and close three manufacturing facilities, while Sara Lee Corp. (nyse: SLE - news - people ), known for food brands such as Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm, said it will cut 700 jobs as the Downers Grove, Ill.-based company outsources parts of its business.

New jobless claims last week reached their highest level since November 1982, though the labor force has grown by about half since then.

The trade deficit rose to $57.2 billion in October, from an imbalance of $56.6 billion in September. Analysts had been looking for the deficit to decline to $53.5 billion on lower oil prices. Oil prices did drop by a record amount, but that was offset by a record surge in the volume of oil imports.

The reports, along with investor concerns that an auto bailout bill may not pass the Senate, sent stock markets slightly lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 15 points in morning trading.

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- A Korean immigrant who lost his wife, two children and mother-in-law when a Marine Corps jet slammed into the family's house said Tuesday he did not blame the pilot, who ejected and survived.

"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," a distraught Dong Yun Yoon told reporters gathered near the site of Monday's crash of an F/A-18D jet in San Diego's University City community.

"He is one of our treasures for the country," Yoon said in accented English punctuated by long pauses while he tried to maintain his composure.

"I don't blame him. I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could," said Yoon, flanked by members of San Diego's Korean community, relatives and members from the family's church. Watch Yoon discuss relatives' death »

Authorities said four people died when the jet crashed into the Yoon family's house while the pilot was trying to reach nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Another, unoccupied house also was destroyed.

Yoon named the victims as his infant daughter Rachel, who was born less than two months ago; his 15-month-old daughter Grace; his wife, Young Mi Yoon, 36; and her 60-year-old mother, Suk Im Kim, who he said had come to the United States from Korea recently to help take care of the children.

Fighting back tears, he said of his daughters: "I cannot believe that they are not here right now."

"I know there are many people who have experienced more terrible things," Yoon said. "But, please, tell me how to do it. I don't know what to do."

Marine Corps authorities said the pilot, whose name was not released, was hospitalized after he parachuted from the jet, and an investigation into the cause of the crash has been launched.

The jet had just performed landing training on a Navy aircraft carrier before the pilot reported having trouble, according to the Marine Corps. Authorities described the jet as disabled.

Three bodies -- those of two adults and an infant -- were recovered hours after the crash on Monday. The fourth body -- that of a child -- was recovered Tuesday as firefighters sifted through the rubble of the Yoon house.

Authorities said they did not expect to find any other victims of the crash.

Yoon's minister, Daniel Shin, told reporters the Yoon family had moved into the house a little more than a month ago. He said Yoon came to the United States in 1989 and had since become a naturalized citizen. Yoon works as manager of "a variety store -- a store where they sell a variety of things," Shin said.

Yoon's wife came to the United States about four years ago, Shin said.

Yoon spoke softly when he talked about his wife.

"It was God's blessing that I met her about four years ago. She was a lovely wife and mother," he said.

His voice fading, he added: "She loves me and babies. I just miss her so much."

The Marine Corps said Tuesday it would take "a minimum of five to seven working days" to clean up the crash site.

San Diego resident Ian Lerner said he was heading to lunch at a shopping center about a half-mile from the neighborhood of about 20 homes when he saw the jet flying low.

"It was, oh, gosh, maybe a couple of hundred feet off the ground. And it was quiet; I think the engine was off," Lerner said.iReport.com: See Lerner's photos

"Then all of a sudden, we saw the canopy of the jet explode and go up, and then we saw the pilot blast out of the plane and the parachute open," Lerner said. Watch a witness describe the pilot's main concern »

Another witness said the jet was flying at a low altitude and "just spiraled, right out of [the movie] 'Top Gun.' "

A photograph taken at the crash site showed the pilot, after ejection, sitting on the front lawn, making a call on his cell phone before he was taken to a hospital. Watch burning debris near crash site »

The pilot was the only occupant of the two-seat aircraft, according to the Marine Corps.

The Union-Tribune spoke with Steve Diamond, a retired naval aviator who said he found the pilot in a tree behind a house. He told the paper he helped the man, who Diamond said was a lieutenant in his 20s, down from the tree. See satellite photo showing crash site, airfield »

The pilot told him that after he lost power in one engine, it was decided he would try to get the jet to Miramar on the single working engine, Diamond told the paper.

The pilot was in communication with military air traffic controllers before the jet crashed about two miles from the airfield, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the pilot ejected moments before the crash and landed in a tree. Jason Widmer said he talked to the pilot, who said he had tried to steer the jet from the homes and into a brushy canyon.

"He was pretty shook up and pretty concerned if he had killed anyone," Widmer told San Diego 6. "He had seen his bird go into a house."

A retired general, a pilot who has flown for 40 years and more than 270 missions in Vietnam, said the decision to eject is up to the pilot. F/A-18D planes are very dependable, but any aircraft is subject to error.

That model has two engines, and it can operate with one engine. But if one engine malfunctions, it's possible that a blade can break off and fly into the other engine, causing it to malfunction, too. If both engines are inoperable and the plane descends below 10,000 feet, it's likely the pilot will soon lose control.

When the pilot pulls a ring-like lever, a series of automatic actions is set off: The pilot's harness comes loose, and he is pushed through a canopy, which is rigged to facilitate him breaking through it without causing injury. A pilot can opt to manually activate his parachute, but if he doesn't, the parachute will open on a timer.

The plane would crash randomly once the pilot is no longer in control. See photos of fiery crash site »

Inside a house in the neighborhood, Robert Johnson sat in his living room with his daughter, Heather Certain, and her 2-year-old son, Nicholas, according to the Union-Tribune. They heard the explosion and then saw a giant fireball in the picture window facing their front yard, the newspaper reported. They ran out of the house. Watch aerial footage of crash site »

"The house shook like an earthquake," Johnson said. "I saw the flames right there in front of my house."

(CNN) -- The rapper Common wants to take hip-hop in a new direction, he says, and he has an unsuspecting ally -- President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama "is going to change hip-hop for the better," predicted the rapper, whose eighth album, "Universal Mind Control" (G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen), hits shelves Tuesday.

"I really do believe we as hip-hop artists pick up what's going on in the world and try to reflect that," he told CNN, outlining his belief that mainstream as well as so-called "conscious" rappers -- the more socially aware -- will pick up on what he sees as the more optimistic prospects of an Obama presidency.

"I think hip-hop artists will have no choice but to talk about different things and more positive things, and try to bring a brighter side to that because, even before Barack, I think people had been tired of hearing the same thing," he said.

Likewise, "Universal Mind Control," with its hook-heavy, synthed-out tracks, represents a "broadening" of hip-hop's audience -- one that demands evolution rather than hackneyed revamps of old beats, rhythms and rhymes, Common said. Listen to clips from the album and Common's interview with CNN.com »

Not that Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., is altogether removed from the temptations of his hip-hop brethren.

He serves as a spokesman for Lincoln Navigator and purports on his new album to "rebel in YSL," a reference to designer Yves Saint Laurent. Money is also a weakness, as Common -- No. 14 on Forbes magazine's 2008 list of richest rappers -- regularly invokes the greenbacks he makes and spends.

Still, Common has come at hip-hop from a different angle from many of his colleagues. He was generally considered "underground" until he linked up with Kanye West, who produced his albums "Be" (2005) and "Finding Forever" (2007).

Even now, while paying homage at mainstream hip-hop's altar, the Chicago-born lyricist also enters parishes where most rappers wouldn't be seen. He's helped front movements for HIV/AIDS awareness and vegetarianism, and he's written two children's books emphasizing the importance of self-esteem.

Lyrically, violence has never been his thing; soft-drug use has been mentioned but rarely glamorized; he removed homophobic references from his lyrics years ago; and while there have been hints of misogyny and the occasional N-word in his verses, neither has been a staple of his rhymes.

"I've always been conscious, honestly," he said. "I made a choice on this album, 'Universal Mind Control,' to really make some music that was bright, that would be a little more lighthearted, just because of what was going on in the world." Read more from the interview

With a few exceptions, his latest lyrics are consummate Common. In his beat poet's cadence, the 36-year-old rhymesmith aggressively courts the ladies, personifies hip-hop, aggrandizes himself and his hometown (lovingly, "the Chi"), and respectfully doles out props to hip-hop's forefathers -- most notably to Afrika Bambaataa on the album's title track. Hear the title track »

The album's sound, however, is atypical, moving -- sometimes jerkily -- from club-banger to anthem to ballad to Top 40. The latter even runs counter to the opening verse of "Everywhere": "No pop, no pop, no pop, no pop/We gonna do this thing till the sky just drop."

But the sound is part of "a whole new sound and a new movement" in hip-hop, something he explored out of disdain for repetition and predictability, he said. That might explain Kanye West's relative absence on "Universal Mind Control."

The Louis Vuitton don appears on only one track, the pop-drenched "Punch Drunk Love." But West has long been credited, even by Common, with bringing his fellow Chicagoan to the mainstream after "Be" and "Finding Forever" went gold and leapt up the Billboard 200.

Of course, it's not all Kanye, said Common.

"I'm a true believer that it all boils down to the music, because Kanye can endorse something, and if people don't like it they ain't gonna get with it -- regardless of whoever endorses it," he said.

He compared his working relationship with West to the collaboration he enjoyed with The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams on "Universal Mind Control." Williams, whom Common casually likened to Quincy Jones, pushed him lyrically, much like West did, he said.

Between Williams and Mr. DJ -- who composed backbeats for some of OutKast's biggest hits -- Common arrived at the evolution he sought, he added.

Common also is plotting a change, or at least a detour, in his career path. Though his past cinematic endeavors have been primarily gangster flicks, Common has landed a role in the upcoming "Terminator Salvation" and could play Green Lantern in "Justice League: Mortal" should the derailed movie get back on track.

"I would truly love to go increasingly in the acting direction," he said. "My goal is to be a movie star. I want to be at Will Smith's level. I want to be co-leading with Leonardo DiCaprio."

Fear not, Common fans. The aspiring thespian is confident he can pull off both, though hip-hop might ride sidecar to the silver screen. Acting, he said, seems to improve his music.

"I don't take as much time overthinking it. Actually, since 'Be' I've been working on films and each album has been expanding and increasing, so I feel like I would still make music, but it wouldn't be the main gig," he said.

Selling albums, Common said, is about more than good music, and though he stands proudly by the music he made pre-West, he concedes he didn't do enough to claw his way up from the underground.

"After you make good, quality music, then it's your job to go out there and promote it and to market it and to get it out there to the people. I feel like I wasn't doing that early on," he said. "Now I am, and I feel like I'm growing as a songwriter and working with producers that are very incredible, so I feel all that is contributing to me getting the recognition that I'm getting."

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- A grandmother, mother and young child died when a military fighter jet crashed into a house in San Diego, California, on Monday, igniting a huge fireball, authorities said.

Another child is missing, officials said. A search ended at nightfall Monday but will continue Tuesday morning, a representative for the medical examiner said.

The father is a businessman who was at work at the time of the crash and was not reached for comment, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The F/A-18D plane, which authorities described as disabled, was trying to land at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The jet had just performed landing training on a Navy aircraft carrier before the pilot reported having trouble, according to the Marine Corps. See satellite photo showing crash site, airfield »

"It was, oh gosh, maybe a couple of hundred feet off the ground. And it was quiet -- I think the engine was off," said San Diego resident Ian Lerner, who was heading to lunch at a shopping center about a half-mile from the neighborhood of about 20 homes when he saw the jet flying low. iReport.com: See Lerner's photos

"Then all of a sudden, we saw the canopy of the jet explode and go up, and then we saw the pilot blast out of the plane and the parachute open," Lerner said.

Another witness said the jet was flying at a low altitude, and "just spiraled, right out of [the movie] 'Top Gun.'" Watch witnesses describe the scene »

The house was destroyed. A photograph taken at the scene showed the pilot, who ejected safely, sitting on the front lawn, making a call on his cell phone. He was taken to the hospital, the Marine Corps said in a written statement Monday. Watch burning debris near crash site »

The pilot, whose name was not released, was the only occupant of the two-seat aircraft, according to the Marine Corps.

The Union-Tribune spoke with Steve Diamond, a retired naval aviator, who said he found the pilot in a tree behind a house. He told the paper he helped the man, who Diamond said was a lieutenant in his 20s, down from the tree.

The pilot told him that after he lost power in one engine, it was decided he would try to get the jet to Miramar on the single working engine, Diamond told the paper.

The pilot was in communication with military air traffic controllers before the jet crashed, and the crash site is about two miles from the airfield, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the pilot ejected moments before the crash and landed without injury in a tree about two miles from Miramar. Jason Widmer said he talked to the pilot, who said he had tried to steer the jet from the homes and into a brushy canyon.

He was pretty shook up and pretty concerned if he had killed anyone," Widmer told San Diego 6. "He had seen his bird go into a house."

A retired general, a pilot who has flown for 40 years and more than 270 missions in Vietnam, said the decision to eject is up to the pilot. F/A-18D planes are very dependable, but any aircraft is given to error.

That model has two engines, and it can operate with one engine fine. But if one engine malfunctions, it's possible that a blade can break off and fly into the other engine, causing it to malfunction, too. If both engines are inoperable, and the plane descends below 10,000 feet, it's likely the pilot will soon lose control.

When the pilot pulls a ring-like lever between his legs, a series of automatic actions is set off: The pilot's harness comes loose, and he is pushed through a canopy, which is rigged to facilitate him breaking through it without causing injury. A pilot can opt to manually activate his parachute, but if he doesn't, the parachute will open on a timer.

The plane would crash randomly once the pilot is no longer in control.

Burning debris scorched two additional homes, and a piece of the jet struck another home. "This could have wiped out half a dozen homes, depending on how it landed," said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. See photos of fiery crash site »

Inside one of those houses, Robert Johnson sat in his living room with his daughter, Heather Certain, and her 2-year-old son, Nicholas, according to the Union-Tribune. They heard the explosion, then saw a giant fireball in the picture window facing their front yard, the newspaper reported. They ran out of the house. Watch aerial footage of crash site »

"The house shook like an earthquake," Johnson said. "I saw the flames right there in front of my house."

iReporter Chris Morrow of San Diego said she went to the crash site Monday and saw "two houses that looked like they'd blown up."

The Marine Corps said it is investigating what went wrong with the plane. The military has jurisdiction over the crash site. iReport.com: Smoke rises from fiery crash