A major winter snow storm is expected to leave people in the Northeast from Maryland to Boston stranded in their homes for at least another two days with nothing more to do but sit around on their computer listening to iTunes and playing online poker.

With the exception of a few homes that lost power, online gambling companies are gearing up for a big couple of days, particularly poker and casino sites that usually witness large spikes in activity when bad weather keeps the public indoors.

It's been a relatively warm and snowfree winter in the Northeast.  That region's first big snowstorm long prior to Christmas day demonstrated how apt people are to gamble heavily online when prevented from venturing outdoors.

Nine.com (see web site here) – a leading entertainment gaming company on the web - saw a 28 percent increase in Tri-State activity as temperatures dropped and snow forced thousands of commuters to stay home back in early December.

The most dramatic increase occurred as many New Jersey employees opted to work from home instead of dealing with traffic disruptions and unsafe driving conditions.

"We saw a peculiar uptick in our New Jersey-area players and realized that it corresponded to the weater," said Nine.com spokesperson, Jack Abrams after the first big storm of the season. "As soon as temperatures dropped, our numbers began to rise.

"My guess is that more New Jersey employees that work in New York opted to telecommute for the day, and play some poker on the side. Many accounts that are only active in the evening were being used during business hours."

The New Jersey area routinely accounts for about 10 percent of Nine.com's million-plus clientele in America.

Today's snow storm dropped a record 26.9 inches (68.3 centimeters) of snow on New York City's Central Park Zoo. In December 1947, the park recorded 26.4 inches of snow. In Maryland, 22.5 inches fell in Baltimore's suburbs.  Similar amounts fell all up and down the coast between the two cities. 

Airports were not likely to be fully functional for at least another 24 hours.

Elsewhere, temperatures were expected to fall to around 40 degrees in Miami Beach overnight and only rise slightly during the day.  People all up and down the East Coast were likely to remain indoors. 

....Maybe he thought it was Dan Quayle. 

A hunting companion of Vice President Dick Cheney was recuperating from shotgun pellet wounds to his face, neck and chest Sunday after Cheney accidentally shot the man in a weekend quail-hunting trip on one of Texas' biggest ranches, according to the ranch owner and the vice president's office.

You'd think he had noticed after the first shot???