The first FasTrak adopters remember how quickly they could speed through the Bay Bridge toll plaza in the mornings. Now, 12 years after the technology was introduced, all Bay Area bridges are pushing the electronic toll collection. On the Golden Gate Bridge, they're going so far as to get rid of human toll takers. So why is it that there seems to be more backup at the Bay Bridge FasTrak lanes than the cash lanes? Long lines jam the lanes every day. Lots of people want to know why there aren't more FasTrak lanes and why the lines that do exist seem to take so long. The Bay Area Toll Authority has this response: It's all in your head. The backup, they say, doesn't actually ... Continue reading →
San Francisco Chronicle photographer Mike Kepka follows the saga of the Gold Dust Lounge in this mini documentary film. After 47 years in operation, the well know San Francisco bar frequented by tourist, locals and celebrities alike, fights to keep its doors open after the building landlord sent them an eviction in December 2011. Continue reading →
For those that missed Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons, there was a brilliant “couch gag” in the opening credits: the Simpson family animated by The Ren & Stimpy Show mastermind John Kricfalusi. The bit (above) was bizarre, awkward, weird (yes that’s Homer pouring a beer directly into his cranium), and wonderful. Basically, it’s all the [...] Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry is floating the idea of invading Mexico. Too late: The U.S. military is already up to epaulets there. 10.03.11 From Danger Room The United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement on Saturday, an accord targeting intellectual property piracy. 10.03.11 From Threat Level Ten years ago this month, in a small-ish theater ... Continue reading →
The current Google Doodle, a fully functioning web-based synthesizer in tribute to the late Robert Moog, prominently features a record button. Hundreds of cover songs are being recorded by users around the world using the Moog doodle. Here’s a sampling of some of the best — and geekiest — cover tunes recorded with the Moog Google Doodle, as seen Wednesday on YouTube. Daft Punk’s ‘Aerodynamic’ by Brett Domino The clear winner, so far, is the inspired cover above of Daft Punk’s “Aerodynamic” by Brett Domino. The video, too, is inspired, with multiple simultaneous shots of Domino raging at the keyboard, rushing to re-create the song’s uber-fast synth line in real time. Legend of Zelda Medley Several users are recording cover versions of various Zelda theme ... Continue reading →
It was a bad time for Facebook’s IPO to go south. Retail investors are not happy. Class-action lawsuits have been filed against Nasdaq, Facebook and the three Wall Street investment banks that took it public. The Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Massachusetts Secretary of State are all “looking into” just exactly how the deal went down. So, will that be enough to sate a scorned investment public at large, especially amid a current political climate of public skepticism — if not outright contempt — for Wall Street as a whole? Not at all, especially because it is an election year. Therefore, cue the tsk-tsking politicians lining up Wall Street’s powerbrokers, as well as a Facebook exec, for a session of ... Continue reading →
Ellen Pao FORTUNE -- Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has been sued by one of its own partners, Ellen Pao, for sexual harassment. In a complaint filed in California Superior Court, Pao accuses the firm of discriminating against female employees, particularly in terms of compensation and promotions, due to their gender. She also alleges sexual harassment by a former Kleiner Perkins employee, but that the response by firm management was insufficient. More to come. In the meantime, here is the full suit: Continue reading →
Editor’s Note: Alexander Haislip is a marketing executive with cloud-based server automation startup ScaleXtreme and the author of Essentials of Venture Capital. Follow him on Twitter @ahaislip. Congratulations to Facebook for going public. Congratulations to the employees that are now millionaires. Congratulations to the founders who are now billionaires. Congratulations to the bankers, lawyers and investors who have added to their already considerable wealth. You’ve grasped the brass ring we’re all reaching for. Yet the company that’s been created isn’t what I want from Silicon Valley. Let’s lay aside for a minute the foibles of the founders: Mark Zuckerberg’s hacking Harvard’s servers and the email accounts of journalists, his decision to “fuck” the Winklevii “in the ear” and Eduardo Saverin’s ridiculous tax dodge. Let’s forget ... Continue reading →
