San Francisco warns Musk he needs permit for giant, flashing X sign

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco sent the company formerly known as Twitter a warning Monday that it needed proper permits for the giant, flashing new X sign atop its headquarters, after the tech firm twice refused to let building inspectors check it.

The sign, installed on the roof of the company's downtown office last week, is part of owner Elon Musk's bid to rebrand the troubled social media giant to the 24th letter of the alphabet.

But local residents have complained, both to media and on Musk's app, about the brilliant flashing lights emitting from the sign at night. Some have also complained about safety, suggesting the sign -- which looms over the building's edge -- does not appear securely anchored to the roof.

A building inspector following up on a complaint first went to the tech firm's headquarters on Friday -- but was not allowed onto the roof to check the sign, according to the complaint posted on a city website.

Instead, an X representative told the inspector that the structure was "a temporary lighted sign for an event," the complaint showed.

A second attempt by an inspector to check the sign was also rebuffed on Saturday, according to the city.

On Monday the city sent X a notice of violation warning that it needed proper permits for the sign. The city website says that such notices can result in fees, but it was not immediately clear if X would face any financial penalty.

When contacted by AFP about the complaint, X replied with an automated message saying it would respond "soon."

Musk has brushed off the backlash to the sign and to the rebrand in general, responding with a laughing emoji to one X user's post about the city being at odds with him over the new sign.

The billionaire killed off Twitter's globally recognizable bird logo early last week as he rebranded the company he hopes to turn into a super-app inspired by China's WeChat, which would function as a social media platform and also offer messaging and payments.

Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, the platform's advertising business has collapsed as marketers soured on Musk's management style and mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.

In response, he has moved toward building a subscriber base and pay model in a search for new revenue.

Workers last week were stopped while removing the Twitter sign and blue bird logo from the headquarters due to a lack of proper permits.

Agence France-Presse

Fil-Ams win at SF Bay Area Critics Circle Awards

SAN FRANCISCO — Rinabeth Apostol and Tiffany Villarin both won Best Actress in a Play—in a tie, for playing twins—at the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle’s 42nd Annual Excellence in Theatre Awards.

Robert Brill won Best Set Design for his work on Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s production of the musical “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations.”

The awards—for productions staged in 2017—were announced and presented to the recipients at the Victoria Theatre.

Brill won for his work in the Best Set Design-in a House with more than 300 Seats category. Written by Dominique Morisseau, “Ain’t Too Proud” was staged August to November last year, directed by Des McAnuff.

Twins

Apostol and Villarin won for their roles as twins L and M, respectively, in Marin Theatre Company’s staging of “peerless,” in the Best Actress in a Play-in a House with 100 to 300 Seats category.

Staged in March of 2017, Jiehae Park’s dark comedy was directed by Margot Bordelon.

WATCH: Trailer of Marin Theatre Company’s “Peerless”

Loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” the sisters delve into diabolical means when one of them loses a slot to a prestigious university.


Recent credits

Apostol’s credits include Jessica Hagedorn’s “Dogeaters” staged by Magic Theatre in San Francisco in 2016 as well as stints with San Jose Repertory and East West Players, among others.

Villarin’s credits include Goodman Theatre and Silk Road Rising in Chicago and Ensemble Studio Theatre and Diverse City Theater in New York, among others.

Both actors recently concluded acting stints at Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays in Kentucky.

Apostol was part of the cast of Susan Soon He Stanton’s “we, the invisibles” and Villarin was part of the cast of Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s “Do You Feel Anger?”

Villarin will be in Ma-yi Theater’s production of “Teenage Dick” in New York from June to July. (She was previously in Ma-yi’s “House Rules,” a comedy about Filipino American familes.)

“Teenage Dick” is Mike Lew’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” set in a high school. It will be staged at Public Theater. Sound design will be by Fil-Am Fabian Obispo.

Upcoming

Brill has also designed the sets for “Frozen: Live at the Hyperion” at Disney California Adventure Park (where costumes were designed by Tony Award winner Fil-Am Clint Ramos) and the Broadway production “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.”

A recipient of the Michael Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration, Brill is a founding member of Sledgehammer Theatre and a professor of scenic design at University of California-San Diego.

“Ain’t Too Proud” will be staged in Washington, DC at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from June to July and in Los Angeles at Ahmanson Theater from August to September.

source: usa.inquirer.net

SF property tax appeal deadline is tomorrow, Sept. 15

SAN FRANCISCO — The filing period for a formal appeal of the 2017/2018 assessed property value in San Francisco will close Friday, September 15, the city assessor’s office announce. The period for appeals opened on July 2, 2017.

There are over 210,000 parcels in the City and County of San Francisco. The Office of the Assessor-Recorder is responsible for establishing a taxable value for each of those parcels. Every year in July, the Office of the Assessor-Recorder mails a Notice of Assessed Value (NAV) to all property owners.  The NAV includes the assessed value of the property, which is used to calculate the annual property tax due.

However, if property owners believe the market value of their property is lower than the assessed value found on the NAV, it is the owner’s right to file a formal appeal to temporarily lower the assessed value.

To file a formal appeal, taxpayers must submit an application form to the Assessment Appeals Board by September 15, 2017. After receiving the completed application and filing fee ($60), the Assessment Appeals Board will schedule a hearing and property owners will have the opportunity to provide evidence to support their claim. A translator can be made available upon request.

“Our office believes in arriving at a fair taxation value.  If you have additional information that supports your value, we want to hear about it and we want you to know about your rights,” said Assessor Carmen Chu.

The Assessment Appeals Board is a separate entity from the Office of the Assessor-Recorder and is responsible for independently hearing these appeals.

To file an appeal, property owners must complete an Application for Changed Assessment and submit a non-refundable $60 administrative processing fee no later than this Friday, September 15, 2017. For more information, please visit www.sfgov.org/aab.

To avoid penalties, property owners are required to pay their property taxes on time even if they have filed a formal appeal.

 

source: usa.inquirer.net

Hot ghost pepper burns hole in man’s esophagus

Eating spicy food adds a definite “kick” into one’s dining experience, but one American man found out that it could have terrifying consequences.

The Journal of Emergency Medicine recounted an incident about a 47-year-old man who ate a ghost pepper during an eating contest in San Francisco, California, which tore a one-inch hole in his esophagus.

Upon consumption of a hamburger laden with a ghost pepper puree, the unidentified contestant was driven into a violent fit of vomiting.

In an effort to calm the ensuing inferno, the man guzzled six glasses of water but the torture kept on and he finally called for medical help.

He was immediately escorted to an emergency room at UCSF Medical Center and intubated in an operating table, the report said. Doctors were shocked to discover a 2.5-cm rupture in the distal esophagus.

They also found a collection of food debris and air in his chest, which caused his lung to collapse.

The man’s unique condition was so severe that he was hospitalized for 23 days and was sent home with a gastric tube in his abdomen.

Senior author of the study and UCSF associate professor of emergency medicine Craig Smollin described the man’s predicament. “There are many people who have ghost peppers and most people don’t develop any type of severe symptoms,” he said, adding that the pepper only caused a slight tear but that his reaction made it worse.

The ghost pepper, or bhut jolokia, is one of the hottest spices on earth and is more than twice hotter than the habañero pepper.

The scorching pepper measures more than 1,000,000 units on the Scoville scale, which gauges a pepper’s heat.  Khristian Ibarrola

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Lady Gaga to sing at Super Bowl, Grammys

LOS ANGELES, United States—Lady Gaga will perform at two of February’s most-watched events as she sings the national anthem at the Super Bowl and leads a tribute to David Bowie at the Grammys.

The National Football League announced that Lady Gaga would sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl 50 on Sunday in San Francisco, where British rockers Coldplay will be the halftime entertainment.

The Super Bowl is often the most-watched television event each year in the United States, and the league generally seeks out non-controversial performers.

Lady Gaga has increasingly traded her ostentatious stage persona to focus on singing pop classics, performing duets with 89-year-old Tony Bennett.

Lady Gaga turns 30 next month and plans to release an album in 2016.

While the National Football League rarely picks artists known for controversy, their performances can draw intense scrutiny as when Christina Aguilera botched lyrics in the national anthem in 2011.

Lady Gaga was separately announced Tuesday as a performer at the Grammy Awards on February 15 where she will lead a tribute to Bowie.

Gaga will perform “a multisensory testament to the icon’s incredible artistry and a reflection of his limitless creativity,” the Recording Academy said in a statement.

The tribute will be directed by Nile Rodgers of Chic fame, a longtime friend of Bowie who produced his disco-infused 1983 album “Let’s Dance.”

Bowie, one of the most influential figures in pop music history who invented glam rock before experimenting in soul, electronica and jazz, died on January 10 after a previously undisclosed battle with cancer.

Lady Gaga—with her array of glittery costumes and sexual openness—is one of many contemporary stars who claims artistic descent from Bowie.

Despite the wide respect for Bowie in the music world, the British artist won only one Grammy during his half-century career, which was for a video.

Bowie, who lived in New York but enjoyed more commercial success in Britain and other European countries, was also presented a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 2006.

This year’s Grammys, the biggest night in the US-based music industry, will also feature performances by superstar British ballad singer Adele as well as award nominees including rapper Kendrick Lamar, who is in the running in the most categories at 11.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

SF Bay Area DA’s crack down on sex, human trafficking

SAN FRANCISCO–District attorneys from several San Francisco Bay Area counties launched a joint a public education campaign to combat human trafficking.

District attorneys from San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties banded together to ask the public to be on the lookout for signs of possible trafficking believed to increase dramatically during big events such as the coming 50^th Super Bowl in the Bay Area.

The Super Bowl is expected to draw a million people to events in San Francisco and other main Bay Area venues particularly Santa Clara where the Levi’s Stadium is located.

Lawful-looking activities

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon hosted fellow DAs Steve Wagstaffe of San Mateo County, Nancy O’Malley of Alameda County and Jeff Rosen of Santa Clara County at the San Francisco International Airport Aviation Museum to ask for public’s assistance in thwarting and reporting incidents of sex trafficking. Human trafficking if not properly identified may seem to be lawful activities, they said.

San Mateo DA Steve Wagstaffe noted that human trafficking is a crime that knows no boundaries: “Traffickers will conduct their insidious conduct in all communities in our state, whether urban or rural, wealthy or poor and high or low crime rates.”

San Francisco DA Gascon believes that that recognizing the signs of human trafficking and reporting suspicious behavior would give voice to the victims. “Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery,” declared DA Gascon.

San Francisco’s victims services Unit Chief Gina Castro-Rodriguez said in an interview that trafficked and exploited victims include those who don’t have access to their own documents or their own money, are barred or not allowed to see people that they want to see, do not have freedom of movement or to speak freely, or don’t receive pay or not compensated enough, among others.

Undocumented need not worry

She said further that the undocumented need not fear reporting crimes because “we are not asking or looking for immigration status both in the prosecution and victim’s services side.”

“You have no reason to be scared for we are here to protect victims and help alleviate the problems that are coming from this crime. Feel free to get in touch with us at 850 Bryant St., San Francisco with email address victimservices@sfgov.org and phone number 415 5549044.”

DA Jeff Rosen, whose Santa Clara county’s human trafficking task force recently linked up with the Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) to use fleet of buses and a hundred rail cars as virtual billboards for their own awareness campaign.

Filipina victims

From probably the most populous Bay Area county, DA Nancy O’Malley of Alameda County disclosed that they do have Filipino victims who have been fooled into both labor and commercial sex trafficking.

“We have one very big case involving 50 different victims some were from China, some were Filipina and they were all women and we were able to separate them away from the traffickers,” O’Malley revealed.

“We also see labor trafficking involving primarily women who come from the Philippines for work and think they are going to work in a legitimate business then put into working in a restaurant or in a nail salon or places like where they are not getting paid. They are also forced to live in poor conditions above the restaurant where everybody also stayed,” she added.

All Filipino victims that O’Malley and her team have seen so far are female, either in housekeeping, or in private homes, especially in care homes.

“They are among the women who come together to speak out about the victimization. They have been very brave because some of them are here without documentation, but they realize that they are being victimized and they are going to speak out for themselves and for others. They are courageous women who stepped up after they realized what’s happening is not right especially in assisted living homes, care homes and the like,” O’Malley asserted.

She also has Filipinas who work on her staff who have been very helpful in their outreach mission to Filipino community.

On lookout for more victims

“Although I have no knowledge of any Filipino victims, just the same, I feel that some of the victims are definitely in fear and are unseen, signs that we have not tapped enough into the community,” said Castro-Rodriguez.

“However, we know that the Filipino community is vulnerable as an immigrant community,” said Rosen.

“In fact, the person that created the poster that goes around Santa Clara county to raise awareness spent time in the Philippines where he saw instances of human trafficking that inspired him to make posters that highlight its dangers when he came to this country,” Rosen disclosed.

“It is a big plus that our prosecutor in charge of all our human trafficking cases is a Filipina, Paola Estanislao, who can also speak Tagalog,” he added.

Filipina Deputy DA

In a separate interview recently, Deputy DA Estanislao hoped that unheard victims, including Filipinos, would come forward so that their cases could be acted upon.

“I hope to hear more feedback from Filipinos victims, including the undocumented ones, through conversations with the community.   What are the barriers that keep them from reporting and what can be done to break down the barriers? I can only make an educated guess that there is fear, hesitation, a cultural and/or language barriers that keep them from reporting,” Estanislao disclosed.

She said further: “The victims have to realize that we are not concerned with getting these victims in trouble. We are concerned with holding their perpetrators accountable. We are hoping with more awareness about that and we’re hoping we can build more trust.”

Estanislao explained that there are U and T visas that allow victims of human trafficking and violent crimes to stay legally in the country if they are being victimized. They can also get housing assistance, material support and mental services, among others, as needed.

source: globalnation.inquirer.net

Apple Event Live: Tim Cook takes stage, cuts Apple TV price

SAN FRANCISCO—CEO Tim Cook has taken the stage at Apple’s event Monday morning in San Francisco.

Cook is expected to unveil the company’s newest device, the smartwatch, and make the case for why it’s a must-have gadget. Apple teased the smartwatch in September but has given few details. Scheduled to hit the market in April, industry watchers are eager to see if Apple’s version will be the tipping point for the sluggish smartwatch market. There was similar skepticism when Apple released the iPad in 2010, yet the company has successfully sold millions and its popularity has shaken up the PC market.

The stakes are high for a company that just dislodged AT&T as one of the 30 stocks comprising the venerable Dow Jones industrial average. The watch is the first brand-new device Apple has launched without Steve Jobs.

Below is a live blog of the event. All times PDT.

10:12 a.m.

Cook announces a price cut for Apple TV to $69, from $99. He says 25 million units have been sold so far.

The availability of HBO as a stand-alone service comes as more people turn to the Internet to watch television. HBO previously was available on Apple devices, but only with a cable or satellite subscription.

10:10 a.m.

Cook shows a trailer from the upcoming season of “Game of Thrones.”

10:05 a.m.

Cook walks on stage to talk about Apple’s retail stores and offer an update on Apple TV. He’s joined by HBO CEO Richard Plepler to announce that Apple will be the exclusive partner of HBO’s upcoming stand-alone subscription service, HBO Now.

There will be a new HBO Now channel on Apple TV. It will be possible to get it on iPhones and iPads, too. The service will cost $14.99 and will be available in early April — in time for the season premiere of “Game of Thrones.”

10 a.m.

The event begins with a video of an Apple store in West Lake, China. Customers holding Apple products cheer as employees count down to the opening of the store in January.

9:55 a.m.

Journalists, industry analysts and Apple guests fill the auditorium of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for the start of the event.–Anick Jesdanun

source: technology.inquirer.net

Mystery Apple event planned for March 9, likely on Watch

NEW YORK–Apple sent invitations Thursday (US time) for a mystery event due to take place March 9, amid speculation about an imminent launch of its much anticipated Apple Watch.

The invitation simply said “Spring Forward,” referring to the fact that clocks will spring forward one hour in the United States the day before for daylight savings time.

Apple said the event would take place at 10:00 am (1900 GMT) in San Francisco.

The company has said that its smartwatch wearable devices, unveiled last year to much fanfare, were on track to begin shipping in April.

It will mark Apple’s first new product type since the iPad in 2010.

Apple has previously indicated that the entry price would be $349 in the United States, and that two different sizes would be available in three collections, including the “Apple Watch Edition,” featuring 18-karat gold cases in yellow or rose, sapphire crystal and finely crafted bands and closures.

Experts see great growth potential in wearable electronics like the Apple Watch, which could help increase the popularity of such devices.

source: technology.inquirer.net

SF minimum wage rises to $11.05 per hour starting ‘15

• Voters to decide Nov. 4 whether to raise it to $15/hour in 2018

SAN FRANCISCO — The City’s minimum wage of $10.74 per hour will be adjusted to $11.05 per hour, effective January 1, 2015, the office of Mayor Edwin M. Lee announced.

Tomorrow, November 4, San Francisco voters will consider whether to increase the local minimum wage to $15.00 by July 1, 2018.

In December, City Hall will be mailing updated multilingual posters announcing the new rate to registered businesses with employees. Employers are required to post the notice in their workplace.

“A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay,” stated Lee. “That’s why I worked closely with Supervisor Jane Kim and the entire Board of Supervisors and with large and small businesses, nonprofits, labor groups, and those who represent working families to bring a fair and responsible consensus measure to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour.”

“Given all that San Francisco has already done to support a living wage, it’s no surprise that we’re leading the nation again,” said Supervisor Jane Kim, lead co-sponsor of the Minimum Wage Ordinance on the November ballot.

“Voters will get a chance to pass the most robust minimum wage increase in the country on November 4th.  Our residents deserve to be able to live where they work and support their families, period.”

In November 2003, San Francisco voters enacted a local minimum wage rate, and the law provides for annual rate adjustments based on the previous year’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan area.

The City uses the CPI adjustment published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in September to set the following year’s rate. Employers must pay San Francisco’s higher minimum wage for all covered work performed within the City.

When the San Francisco minimum wage of $8.50 per hour rolled out in 2004, the City had the highest minimum wage rate in the country. Because the legislation called for increases along with CPI, San Francisco still has the nation’s highest minimum wage at $10.74 per hour.

Despite CPI adjustments, the minimum wage has not kept pace with the true cost of living in San Francisco. Earlier this year, Mayor Lee convened a working group led by labor, nonprofit and business experts to consider a significant increase to the local minimum wage. Their consensus proposal would gradually increase the minimum wage.

The Federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour. The California minimum wage is $9.00 per hour, and is slated to rise to $10.00 on January 1, 2016. Neither the Federal nor the State minimum wages are adjusted annually for inflation. San Francisco was among the first local jurisdictions to enact a minimum wage higher than Federal or State minimum wages. A growing number of cities and counties have passed or enacted local minimum wage laws in the last two years, including the City of Seattle, the City of San Jose, the City of Richmond, Bernalillo County in New Mexico, and Washington, D.C. Lee also supports President Obama’s effort to raise the Federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

Additional information regarding San Francisco’s Minimum Wage Ordinance can be found at www.sfgov.org/olse/mwo or by calling 415-554-6292.

source: globalnation.inquirer.net

2 planes collide over San Francisco Bay

RICHMOND — Two small planes collided over San Francisco Bay, leaving a pilot missing after only one of the aircraft landed safely, authorities said.

Debris was spotted in the water after the Sunday afternoon collision, Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart said.

The collision involved a single-engine Cessna 210 and a single-engine Hawker Sea Fury TMK 20, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The Cessna crashed into the water, and the Sea Fury’s pilot was able to land 40 minutes later, Gregor said.

The pilot and passenger in the Sea Fury — a husband and wife — were not injured, Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner said.

The planes were at the Pacific Coast Dream Machines, an annual festival that features a variety of planes, motorcycles and cars, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Witnesses at Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor told the newspaper that the Cessna spiraled out of control and crashed into the choppy water after the collision.

Wegner wouldn’t discuss damage to the Sea Fury, citing the ongoing investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

FAA records indicate the Sea Fury, a vintage British fighter plane, is registered to Sanders Aeronautics Inc. in Ione. A man who answered the phone at the company’s listed number declined to comment.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Yahoo buying binge continues with Vizify takeover

SAN FRANCISCO—Yahoo on Wednesday added Vizify to the long list of startups it has bought since former Google executive Marissa Mayer took the helm less than two years ago.

The company did not disclose how much it paid for Vizify, which specializes in letting people turn their social media data into videos, infograpics or other visual presentations.

“We have found in Vizify a company that shares our passion for visualization technology and the user experience,” Yahoo said.

Founded in 2011, Vizify is based in Portland, Oregon. Its five-member team will join Yahoo’s media product group in San Francisco.

“As for what’s next, we can’t talk specifics just yet, but we’re excited to bring a more visual approach to data at Yahoo,” the Vizify team said in a post on the company’s website.

“We have a lot more up our sleeves and can’t wait to get started.”

Over 2 dozen startups

Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo has bought more than two dozen startups as Mayer tries to pump new life into the aging Internet pioneer eclipsed by Silicon Valley neighbor Google.

Last month, Yahoo acquired Wander, which makes smartphone visual diary-app Days.

The Days app, launched a year ago, lets people weave images captured at various moments into “visual diaries” of any given days in their lives.

The Wander team will go to work in Yahoo offices in New York as the company adds more muscle to its efforts to be center stage on smartphones and tablet computers.

Since taking charge of Yahoo in July 2012, Mayer has made a priority of tailoring products and services for smartphones and tablets with an aim at becoming part of people’s daily habits in the mobile age.

She has also shown a penchant for buying startups to add talented members of their teams to the Yahoo workforce.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Santana reunites with ex-bandmate, now homeless

OAKLAND, California – A news reporter for a San Francisco television station has reunited rock guitarist Carolos Santana with a former bandmate he hadn’t seen in decades and who now lives on the streets of Oakland.

Reporter Stanley Roberts ran into percussionist Marcus “The Magnificent” Malone while working on a story about illegal dumping last week, KRON-TV in San Francisco reported.

Although he initially was skeptical of the homeless man’s claim that the Santana Blues Band got its start in his mother’s garage in the late 1960s, Roberts checked out the story and confirmed it.

And on Friday, he took Santana for a surprise visit to the camper where Malone has been staying.

“You don’t know how afraid I am to let you see me,” Malone said softly after he and the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer embraced.

“We cherish you,” Santana replied. “It’s an honor to be in your presence.”

Santana has credited Malone with being an important influence on his Afro-Latin sound, according to former Rolling Stone magazine writer Ben Fong-Torres’ book “Not Fade Away: A Backstage Ticket to 20 Years of Rock & Roll.”

Malone played congas on Santana’s eponymous first album, but left the band in 1969 shortly before its seminal performance at Woodstock when he was imprisoned for manslaughter, according to Fong-Torres.

The two men told Roberts they had not seen each other since then. During their meeting on Friday, Santana promised to bring Malone a set of congas and to help him get on his feet.

Since Roberts’ story aired, another original member of the Santana Blues Band, percussionist Rod Harper, and producer Bobby Scott also have expressed interest in reuniting with Malone.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

NY Life Insurance aims to capture Fil-Am market in SF Bay Area

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO—One of the leading life insurers in the United States is campaigning to become the preferred provider of life insurance to the Filipino-American community in the Bay Area.

Executives of New York Life Insurance Co. of Silicon Valley led by Corporate Vice President Hector D. Vilchis bared the firm’s plan in a media forum dubbed “Bayanihan at the Fort” held at the Fort McKinley restaurant in South San Francisco on Thursday, Oct. 24.
 


Filipino-American Julie Adams, NYLIC financial services professional, hosted the event, which explained the firm’s hopes of capturing the Filipino community market.

“Our vision is to be recognized as ‘the company of the (Filam) community,’” said Michelle Louie, senior associate for the women’s market. Louie explained the growing importance of the Filipino market.

California is home to 1.95 million Filipinos, followed by Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and New York—totaling 3.4 million in all.

Louie said that Santa Clara (16 percent) and San Francisco (14 percent) counties alone account for 30 percent of Fil-Ams in the region. “Most are educated with a median household income of $75,000 and 39 percent are bachelor’s degree holders,” Louie said. “We’re 168 years old, we have a diverse field force and we’re family-oriented. We’re in perfect alignment.”

In 2011, the insurance company paid out $7.6 billion in benefits and dividends despite the economic recession. In 1990 it nixed becoming a publicly traded company.

Victor Vuong, NY Life Silicon Valley managing partner, said the insurance company has the highest ratings for financial strength. We are recognized as one of the best in the world.”

Adams explained that through the spirit of “bayanihan” (mutual help), NY Life wants a more meaningful approach to the Fil-Am market that also helps to enrich the resources in the community.

“We want to leave a legacy to the future Filipino-American leaders and agents of the company, and the community as a whole. “

source: business.inquirer.net

Apple expected to rev up iPad line as tablet market heats

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple is expected to rev up its iPad line Tuesday as the tablet market heats up with competition from devices powered by software from Google and Microsoft.

Analysts agree that iPads will star at an invitation-only event being held in San Francisco on the cusp of the prime year-end holiday shopping season.

“Job One for Apple is to get something out there on the large-size iPad that gets people excited, then obviously from a specification focus, the Mini needs to catch up with what everybody else has done,” NPD analyst Stephen Baker told AFP.

“There are a lot of other things happening in that large-size tablet space and there is a huge amount of choices in smaller devices.”

Tablets face mounting competition from touch-screen notebook computers powered by Microsoft Windows software and priced between $350 and $500, according to the analyst.

“Apple will… be number one in large-size tablets probably for a long time, but the definition of competition will change,” Baker said.

Apple is also under pressure to adapt to the popularity of premium tablets with high-quality screens in the seven- to eight-inch (18- to 20-centimeter) range where the Mini competes.

Online retail titan Amazon.com on Friday began shipping new seven-inch Kindle Fire HDX tablets with boosted display quality and computing power at the starting price of $229.

“We can’t wait to get this tablet into our customers’ hands,” said Amazon Kindle vice president Peter Larsen.

Google’s latest Nexus 7 tablet powered by its Android software has been a hot seller at a similarly tempting price.

Emailed invitations to the Apple event revealed little other than the time and place, and bore the message: “We still have a lot to cover.”

A graphic in the shape of an iPad showed Apple’s iconic logo under a shower of colorful leaves.

Unconfirmed reports are that Apple will show off a new version of its full-size iPad that will be thinner than its predecessor and boast improved camera capabilities.

Scrutiny of Apple’s supply chain has industry trackers thinking the new iPad will get “narrower, thinner, and lighter” and possibly be built with processors at least as powerful as those used in the freshly-launched iPhone 5S, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

An upgraded version of the iPad mini with an improved screen is also expected.

Gartner’s Baker will be watching whether new iPad models have 64-bit processors as engines in a significant boost that would enable tablets to handle more heavy weight programs and games.

“It has the potential to make tablets much more compelling devices in terms of content creation; making devices more sophisticated with more horsepower-hungry applications,” the analyst said.

“It will increase the likelihood that tablets will displace PCs (personal computers).”

Analysts agreed that top-end, full-size iPads may get a fingerprint recognition security feature that has been a hit in the iPhone 5S.

Such upgrades would promise to entice buyers to pay a bit more for full-size tablets from Apple instead of choosing lower-priced Mini models, boding well for the company’s bottom line.

The iPad remains the largest-selling tablet, according to surveys, but its market share is being eroded by rivals using the Google Android operating system.

“Mobile connectivity continues to grow and its impact is much broader than business stories about which computer makers are selling the most units,” said Kristen Purcell, associate director for research at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

“We see mobile connectivity affecting everything from the way people get news and learn to the way they take care of their health and the way they share their lives through social media.”

Apple was also expected to discuss its computer operating system and its MacBook laptop line at the event.

The company is coming off a wildly successful launch of two new iPhone models last month. It estimates selling a record nine million iPhones in the three days after launching two new versions of the smartphone.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Yahoo CEO says company now has 800 million users

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer says the Internet company now has about 800 million worldwide users, a 20 percent increase since she was lured away from Google 15 months ago to steer a turnaround.

The gain disclosed Wednesday at a technology conference in San Francisco is the latest evidence of the progress that Yahoo Inc. is making under Mayer’s leadership. The Sunnyvale, California, company’s stock has nearly doubled since Mayer came aboard, though she and analysts say that gain primarily stems from the value of Yahoo’s holdings in China’s rapidly growing Alibaba Group.

Mayer says the figure for the 800 million Yahoo users doesn’t include the traffic that the company has picked up from its $1.1 billion acquisition of Internet blogging service Tumblr earlier this year.

Despite the increased traffic, Yahoo is still struggling to boost its online advertising revenue — the main way that the company makes money. In recent quarters, Yahoo’s ad revenue has been barely rising while Google and another rival, Facebook Inc., have been thriving.

Mayer says she believes it her strategy for accelerating Yahoo’s revenue growth will require at least three years to unfold.

Yahoo’s stock shed 29 cents Wednesday to close at $29.19.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Labor Day sale: $849 round-trip from L.A. to Peru on Lan Airlines

Typically, good sale airfares to South America start from Miami. But Lan Airlines launched a Labor Day sale on tickets to Lima, Peru, that show good savings for travelers in Los Angeles and San Francisco too. Round-trip cost for the West Coast cities is $849, but only for a limited time.

The deal: In this sale, prices for round-trip flights to Lima start at $599 from Miami, $749 from New York and $849 from L.A. and San Francisco.

When: Tickets must be purchased by 8:59 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday for departures between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30. Travel must be completed by Dec. 10.

Tested: I found availability for the sale price for nonstop flights from L.A. to Lima leaving Oct. 17 and returning Oct. 24. On Lan, you can check two bags free. In a check of comparative fares for the same dates, I found the same low price on Taca Airlines, but that requires a layover in El Salvador; nonstop flights cost more than $200 extra in my test.

Contact: Lan Airlines, (866) 435-9526

source: latimes.com

Beck Cruises Through Catalog at 'Surprise' San Francisco Show

Is a "surprise show" packed with several hundred people that much of a surprise? Not really, but that's how Beck's gig was billed at Bimbo's last night in San Francisco. In town for the massive Outside Lands festival in Golden Gate Park this weekend, the singer squeezed in a show here at the last minute, and tickets sold out after going on sale at noon with little warning.

The show was a semi-surprise, but for the most part, the set list was not. It's been four years since Beck's last album, and in the absence of new material, the 90-minute performance drew from songs spanning most of his career, from his 1994 breakthrough Mellow Gold to 2008's Modern Guilt. The mild surprise these days lies not so much in what he'll play as in what order he'll play it. Most of his concerts, including this one, make room for favorites like the set-opening "Black Tambourine," "Girl," "Where It's At" (with a brief puzzling keyboard riff quoting Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon") and "Think I'm in Love," even if he did tease things out by waiting until the first encore to unleash the inevitable "Loser" (and, refreshingly, refrained from doing "Devil's Haircut" at all).

Even the most offbeat offering, a barely recognizable thumping blues-rock cover of Bob Dylan's "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat," found release in 2009 on the War Child Presents Heroes benefit compilation. A little oddness peeped out elsewhere as well, with "Bad Blood" (from a soundtrack album to the HBO True Blood series) receiving only its second live performance. Oddest of all, the band tried out Neil Young's "Barstool Blues"without even having rehearsed it, as they cheerfully admitted onstage.

But if the mostly younger-than-Beck crowd was impatient to hear evidence of more recent original material, they didn't show it. The crowd's mood was made merrier by clouds of marijuana smoke, the contact high reaching the stage when the band stumbled over lyrics on "Lost Cause" and had to start over (and then launched into the second verse). "Don't hold it against us if we're playing these a little slower than usual," advised the unruffled star, sporting a natty black hat as he delivered his catalog with calm assurance.

While the five-man lineup Beck now fronts can't replicate all the sampling and miscellaneous special effects that give his studio work much of its exoticism, it also frees him to deliver a more straightforward sound unfettered by gimmickry. Few bands are as adept at combining rock and funk in equal measures, chest-thumping bass deftly supporting squealing rock guitar heroics. "Hotwax" mixed country blues (courtesy of Smokey Hormel's slide guitar), Steve Wonder and hip-hop without coming off as the forced genre-blender it would have sounded like in almost anyone else's hands.

And when Beck exchanged his electric guitar for an acoustic model for a sequence of rootsier songs in the middle of the evening, you almost wondered whether he might have missed his calling as a more sensitive country-blues-flavored singer-songwriter. He hit his most comfortable stride on the chorus of the most lilting of these, "Sunday Sun." Almost as if to make sure the crowd didn't get as comfortable as Beck, however, Hormel and bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen concluded the song with some ear-piercing, amp-humping feedback.

Indeed, Meldal-Johnsen was more animated than the bandleader, leaping onto the drum riser at a couple points. Beck himself rarely strayed more than a few feet from his microphone. Only occasionally did he utter droll asides to the audience, enigmatically announcing, "We have come to tell you about the rhythms of . . . Glendale" before launching into the title cut from Modern Guilt. No comments were forthcoming on his just-announced December 2012 "album" Beck Hansen's Song Reader, featuring 20 songs and "existing only as individual pieces of sheet music, never before released or recorded." Perhaps actually playing them in concert might have been spoiling the fun, at least before those buying the album have the chance to play the tunes themselves.

Beck did have one more genuine surprise to unveil, however, before the evening was over. Barely had the second encore, "Mutherfuker," gotten off the ground before he brought it to a halt, finding it not "grooving" enough for a Thursday night San Francisco audience. Revving up their engines again, the band launched into a far faster and funkier version, somewhat along the lines of how Sly & the Family Stone might have played it. "Okay, that's enough dancing," Beck barked after a few minutes, ever the contrarian. "Stop!"

source: rollingstone.com

U.S. court revives Viacom copyright suit against YouTube

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. appeals court on Thursday revived a billion-dollar lawsuit filed by entertainment giant Viacom accusing Google-owned website YouTube of knowingly profiting from pirated video clips.

The judge handling the appeal reversed a lower court’s decision two years ago to toss out the case, saying that “a reasonable jury could find that YouTube had actual knowledge or specific awareness of infringing activity on its website.”

Viacom sued Google and YouTube in March 2007, arguing that they condoned pirated video clips at the website to boost its popularity.

The lawsuit was merged with a similar complaint being pursued by the English Premier League, which said football clips were also routinely posted on YouTube without authorization.

Viacom’s suit charged that YouTube was a willing accomplice to “massive copyright infringement” and sought more than one billion dollars in damages.

The suit was dismissed in June of 2010 by a federal judge on the grounds that YouTube was protected against Viacom’s claims by provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The 1998 legislation provides protection for Internet firms from copyright violations by their users, and the judge ruled that YouTube’s actions, such as quickly removing infringing videos when requested, were in line with the act.

Viacom’s film and television empire includes many youth-oriented networks like MTV and VH1, popular comedy shows such as Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and the Paramount movie studio.

YouTube was a year-old Internet sensation when Google bought it in a $1.65-billion stock deal in 2006.

The Viacom copyright case was closely watched at the time as film and television studios grappled with adapting to the ease with which digital content could be shared on the Internet.

Online streaming of shows and movies has since become common, with creators finding new sources of revenue from online delivery, including through alliances with services such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Xbox Live.

Resurrection of the Viacom lawsuit came a day after an announcement that Viacom is making films from its Paramount Pictures studio available for rent at YouTube and a Google Play arena at the Internet firm’s social network.

Titles made available include “Hugo” and “The Adventures of Tin Tin” as well as “Captain America” and mobster classic “The Godfather.”

Paramount films were being made available online at youtube.com/movies in Canada and the United States.

Movies could be rented for online viewing at prices ranging from $2.99 for older titles to $4.99 for newly released high-definition films.

YouTube has launched film rentals in Britain, France, Japan, Canada, and the United States, boasting deals with Warner Brothers, Universal, Paramount, Sony Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios.

“Paramount Pictures is one of the biggest movie studios on the planet,” YouTube content partnership director Malik Ducard said in a release breaking the news on Wednesday.

“We’re thrilled to bring nearly 500 of their films to movie fans in the US and Canada.”

source: japantoday.com

Google plans low-price tablet computer

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is teaming with Asia-based hardware makers on a low-priced, 7-inch tablet computer to challenge offerings by Amazon.com and Apple, reports said.

Android software backed by the California Internet giant will power hardware built by partners including Samsung and Asustek to compete with iPad and Kindle devices, according to Digitimes and the Wall Street Journal.

An Asustek tablet could be released as early as May with a price of $199 to make it an option for shoppers considering the Kindle Fire made by Amazon.com, said Digitimes.

Google putting its weight behind an economical tablet would likely put pressure on other gadget makers to lower prices. Google did not respond immediately to an AFP request for comment.

source: japantoday.com

Google lets users monitor their online activity

SAN FRANCISCO — Google on Wednesday began letting people get monthly reports summarizing what they have been up to at the Internet titan’s free online services.

A freshly-added feature keeps people posted on patterns at Gmail, YouTube, online search and other Google venues visited while signed into their user accounts with the California-based company.

“Sometimes it’s helpful to step back and take stock of what you’re doing online,” Google product manager Andreas Tuerk said in a blog post announcing the “Account Activity” feature.

“Knowing more about your own account activity also can help you take steps to protect your Google Account.”

He gave an example of a report potentially revealing that someone’s account was signed into from countries they have not visited or from gadgets they don’t own.

Google will incorporate more of its services into Account Activity reports in coming months, according to Tuerk.

Those who sign up with get password-protected links to reports and tools to manage account privacy.

The new feature was introduced the same month that Google rolled out a new privacy policy allowing the firm to track users across various services to develop targeted advertising, despite criticism from consumer advocacy groups.

Google contends the move simplifies and unifies its policies across its various services such as Gmail, YouTube, Android mobile systems, Google+ social network and Internet search.

But critics including European privacy agencies and U.S. consumer watchdogs argued the new policy, which offers no ability to opt out aside from refraining from signing into Google services, gives the Internet giant unprecedented ability to monitor its users. And some say it violates EU privacy protections.

Google said the changes are designed to improve the user experience across the various products, and give the firm a more integrated view of its users, an advantage enjoyed by Apple and Facebook.

source: japantoday.com