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☆ A tech worker wore Apple's 'creepy' Vision Pro headset during his wedding photos — much to his wife's dismay
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A software engineer wore Apple's Vision Pro headset during his wedding. The bride told the SFGATE she found Apple's headset a "little creepy" and "a little uncanny." Users have been seen wearing the Vision Pro in various public places, including while driving. AdvertisementA tech worker wore Apple's Vision Pro headset during his wedding photo shoot — much to his new wife's dismay. Wright told the science and technology news outlet Futurism he had a "bad habit" of carrying the Vision Pro with him everywhere.

Persons: —, Jacob Wright, Wright, Cambree Wright, she'd Organizations: Service, Business, LinkedIn

☆ Son of former YouTube CEO found dead in UC Berkeley dorm
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Marco Troper, son of YouTube's former CEO Susan Wojcicki, was found dead in his UC Berkeley dorm at 19. The UC Berkeley freshman was found dead in his dorm room on campus on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the school confirmed to the outlet. Troper was found unresponsive Tuesday at the student housing complex Clark Kerr Campus at about 4:23 p.m. local time, UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore told NBC. … One thing we do know, it was a drug," she told SFGATE, calling her grandson "loving" and a "math genius." Wojcicki told the outlet that a toxicology report will take up to 30 days to receive results.

Persons: Marco Troper, Susan Wojcicki, —, Janet Gilmore, Esther Wojcicki, SFGATE, Wojcicki Organizations: UC Berkeley, Service, Clark, NBC, Berkeley Fire Department, Business

☆ Wary flyers are paying extra to avoid Boeing's 737 Max planes: reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wary passengers appear to be changing their bookings to avoid Boeing's 737 Max planes. Kayak said use of its 737 Max search filter increased threefold in the days after the incident. AdvertisementAnxious flyers appear to be actively avoiding boarding Boeing's 737 Max planes, even if that means paying extra for a different fight. It's not the first time Boeing's 737 Max fleet has had issues. In 2019, two Boeing 737 Max planes crashed , killing nearly 350 people.

Persons: —, TikTok influencer @culturework, SFGate, Culturework, Jay Franzone, Boeing Max, Max, It's Organizations: Alaska, Service, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Washington Post, Federal Aviation Administration, Max, Kayak, United Airlines

☆ Marc Benioff says he gets around 8 hours of sleep a night and starts every morning the same way
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Benioff says he sleeps eight hours a night and meditates for up to an hour a day. Benioff said that he averages about eight hours of sleep a night. Though some business leaders swear they can survive on half the amount of sleep, Benioff isn't one of them. Asked about the entrepreneurs who say they get only four hours of sleep a night, Benioff quickly batted the idea down. Benioff also has a strict meditation routine that he's been dedicated to since 1992, according to GQ.

Persons: Marc Benioff's, Benioff, —, Marc Benioff, Jack Dorsey, Indra Nooyi, Jeff Immelt, Barack Obama, Donald Trump Organizations: GQ, Service, Pepsico, General, SFGate, San Locations: San Francisco, Plum Village, France

☆ A Silicon Valley tech investor's wedding at a famous Utah landmark left the site completely trashed, council member says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Silicon Valley investor's wedding at a natural Utah landmark was larger than he initially let on. The Bureau of Land Management eventually had to clean up leftover trash and abandoned property. AdvertisementGibson wrote a letter to the Bureau of Land Management asking about the event and sharing her photos. But rangers with the agency eventually had to collect "abandoned property and refuse," according to the outlet, which cited the land management email. Gibson and other town officials are now asking the Bureau of Land Management to keep such receptions from happening in the future.

Persons: Andrew Chen, —, Pamela Gibson, Emma Waldron, SFGate, Chen, Andreessen Horowitz, Gibson, Jazmine Duncan, Waldron Organizations: Land Management, Service, Labor, Miss, Valley, Twitter, of Land Management, Business Locations: Utah, Castle Valley, Castleton, Moab , Utah, Castle

☆ Vomit fees are being added to some restaurant brunch bills. Be careful with those bottomless mimosas!
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

California restaurants are charging customers $50 cleaning fees for drunken incidents, reports say. Bottomless brunch specials give customers an hour or so to enjoy as many mimosas as they want. A $50 cleaning fee will automatically include in your [tab] when you throw up in the public areas. San Francisco-area restaurant Home Plate has added the warning of a $50 cleaning fee to their menu. Airbnb hosts charge guests up to $300 in cleaning fees in some cases.

Persons: —, Chaiporn Kitsadaviseksak, SFGate, hasn't, Uber Organizations: Service Locations: California, San Francisco, Francisco

☆ San Francisco says tiny sleeping 'pods,' which cost $700 a month and became a big hit with tech workers, are not up to code
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sleeping "pods," which have become popular with San Francisco's tech workers, are not up to code. A San Francisco authority issued a violation for the pods on Tuesday, The SF Examiner reported. The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection issued a notice violation for the pods, which contain beds, but no windows, on Tuesday, The San Francisco Examiner reported. Representatives for the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours. In San Francisco, the Brownstone-made pods go for $700 per month.

Persons: —, James Stallworth, SFGATE, Christian Lewis, i'm Organizations: SF Examiner, Service, San Francisco Department of, San Francisco Examiner, ABC, Tech Locations: Francisco, Mint, San Francisco

☆ Tech workers are paying up to $700 a month for tiny bed 'pods' in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Startup founders are paying up to $900 a month to stay in tiny four-feet tall bed "pods." The tiny spaces only fit one twin bed, run on monthly contracts, and don't need a deposit. AdvertisementAdvertisementTech workers are paying up to $900 a month to stay in tiny bed "pods," small boxes made of wood and steel just four feet high. The bed pods are arranged in are stacked two-high in dorms, and they run on monthly contracts and don't require a security deposit. San Francisco skyline.

Persons: —, Christian Lewis, Spellcraft, James Stallworth, SFGATE, Stallworth, Alexander Spatari, Lewis, i'm Organizations: Service, ABC Locations: San Francisco, Bakersfield, Palo Alto

☆ Dianne Feinstein survived several assassination attempts by terrorists, including a failed flower-pot bomb attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dianne Feinstein survived multiple assassination attempts in the 1970s. In one incident, a terrorist group planted a bomb in a flower box outside her daughter's window. AdvertisementAdvertisementCalifornia Senator Dianne Feinstein survived multiple assassination attempts during her long career in politics. The left-wing, anti-capitalist terrorist group carried out a series of bombings throughout the state over the decade in the 1970s. In a 2008 interview with SFGATE, Feinstein said that the assassination attempts "helped form who I am and what I believe."

Persons: Dianne Feinstein, Feinstein, —, Dan White, Harvey Milk, Mother Jones, Bert Feinstein, SFGATE Organizations: New, Service, San Francisco, of Supervisors Locations: California, Monterey

☆ Dianne Feinstein once said that one of the 'hardest moments' of her life was finding Harvey Milk shot dead by her colleague
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Senator Dianne Feinstein found Harvey Milk dead in 1978. She once said the killings of Milk and George Moscone was one of the hardest days in her life. "I heard the doors slam, I heard the shots, I smelled the cordite," Feinstein told CNN. "I found Harvey on his stomach," she told SFGATE. "I think in my face you saw the pain of the day 30 years ago," she told SFGATE in 2008.

Persons: Dianne Feinstein, Harvey Milk, Milk, George Moscone, Feinstein, —, SFGATE, Dan White, White, Moscone, Dan, Harvey, White's, I'm, I've Organizations: San Francisco's, Service, San, Supervisors, City, City Hall, CNN Locations: San Francisco's, City, California

☆ McDonald's sued for 'severe burns' from spilled hot coffee — again
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Alex Portée | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A San Francisco McDonald's is being sued after a woman in her 80s allegedly sustained "severe burns" from a scalding cup of coffee and was refused help by store employees. Childress alleges that the incident caused her to suffer severe burns, scarring, emotional distress, as well as hospital and medical expenses. Peter Ou, the owner and operator of the San Francisco franchise in question, responded to TODAY.com's request for comment via email. According to NBC News, in 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck sustained third-degree burns when a hot coffee from a New Mexico-based McDonald's spilled onto her lap. In a statement to local outlet SFGate, her lawyer, Dylan Hackett, said the coffee cup had not been "properly" covered and the coffee itself was "scalding."

Persons: Francisco McDonald's, Mable Childress, Childress, Peter Ou, McDonald's, Stella Liebeck, Dylan Hackett, Hackett, SFGate, … Nobody Organizations: NBC News, San Francisco Superior, San Francisco Locations: Francisco, San Francisco, New Mexico

☆ A driverless car in San Francisco drove right into wet concrete and got stuck after seemingly mistaking it for a regular road: 'It ain't got a brain'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A driverless Cruise car got temporarily stuck in wet concrete in San Francisco on Tuesday. A driverless Cruise car with no passengers got stuck in wet concrete at a construction site in San Francisco on Tuesday, SFGATE first reported. "It thinks it's a road and it ain't because it ain't got a brain and it can't tell that it's freshly poured concrete," Harvey told SFGATE. A rise in commercial AVs in San Francisco would "inevitably lead to an increase in traffic congestion and the number of dangerous incidents," Chiu's office said in a press release. "San Francisco will suffer serious harms from this unfettered expansion, which outweigh whatever impacts AV companies may experience from a minimal pause in commercial deployment."

Persons: SFGATE, Paul Harvey, Harvey, Rachel Gordon, Cruise, Gordon, David Chiu, Chiu, Waymo Organizations: San Francisco Department of Public, New York Times, Times, California Public Utilities Commission, General Motors, Google Locations: San Francisco, California, SF, Francisco

☆ The Orlando Magic, an NBA team sponsored by Disney, donated $50,000 to Ron DeSantis' super PAC
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Orlando Magic is currently sponsored by Disney. The team just donated $50,000 to the super PAC supporting DeSantis' presidential campaign. A representative from the Orlando Magic told Insider the company does not "publicly comment on political contributions." The Orlando Magic donated $50,000 to DeSantis' super PAC while also taking in sponsorship money from Disney, a corporation that DeSantis and his state administration have been headbutting with in a yearslong feud after Disney pushed back against what critics called his "Don't Say Gay" legislation. As part of a "multi-year agreement" with Disney, the Orlando Magic team jersey prominently sports a 2.5 in x 2.5 in Disney logo on the front of their uniform.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Paolo Banchero, Alex Shultz, it's, Richard DeVos, Donald Trump's, Betsy DeVos, It's, Dan DeVos Organizations: Orlando, Disney, Florida Gov, Service, NBA, Republican Florida Gov, Federal, DeSantis, Orlando Magic, SFGATE, Democratic House, Maverick, USA, Conservative, National Republican Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida

☆ Workers at San Francisco's Anchor Brewing are trying to buy the brewery as it faces liquidation under Sapporo ownership
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Workers are reportedly offering to buy San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Co. and manage it themselves. Anchor, owned by Japanese beer giant Sapporo, announced this month that it would shutter. Anchor and Sapporo did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter or the closing from Insider. The Anchor workers aren't the only ones interested in buying and preserving the brand. Sapporo touted Anchor's "strong brand power" and potential for growth in a statement explaining its acquisition of the brewery in 2017.

Persons: Dave Infante, Pedro de Sá, Mike Minami, Mike Walsh, Sam Singer Organizations: Anchor Brewing Co, Service, Privacy, Brewing, Sapporo USA, Anchor, Sapporo, San Francisco Chronicle, LinkedIn, Cola Locations: Sapporo, Wall, Silicon, San Francisco, Vinepair, Sapporo USA, California

☆ Fact Check-Image shows Stephen King cover art, not a real article saying JKF survived assassination
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Cover art that featured on the back of a Stephen King novel is circulating online with the false claim that it shows an authentic news article reporting that U.S. President John F. Kennedy survived his assassination in 1963. Examples of the image shared online can be seen (here) and (here). A search for the image shows that it featured in an article published by the SFGATE in 2015 reporting on a TV series based on the novel (here). Authentic headlines published in 1963 reporting on Kennedy’s assassination can be seen in The Connecticut Post and Business Insider (here), (here). The image does not show an authentic news article reporting that John F. Kennedy survived his assassination and instead, shows cover art that featured on the back of Stephen King’s novel, “11/22/63.”This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

Persons: Stephen King, John F, Kennedy, JFK, “ JFK, ”, Jack Epping, Earl Warren, Lee Harvey Oswald, Stephen King’s, Read Organizations: Daily, Facebook, Darhansoff, Verrill, Agents, The Connecticut Post, Business, Chief, Reuters Locations: The Connecticut, Dallas , Texas

☆ Cinemark is shutting its theater in San Francisco's biggest mall as the downtown exodus continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Cinemark in San Francisco's Westfield mall is closing due to "local business conditions." Major retailers have been pulling out of San Francisco, and many have attributed it to crime levels. The 52,000-square-foot site in the Westfield San Francisco Center will have its final screenings on Thursday, SFGATE reported. The operator announced the closure in an email to patrons on Wednesday, The San Francisco Examiner reported. The announcement came just days after The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Westfield had stopped paying its $558 million mortgage on the San Francisco mall – the city's biggest – and was surrendering it to lenders.

Persons: —, SFGATE, Cinemark, hasn't Organizations: Westfield, Service, Westfield San Francisco, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Centre, San Francisco Chronicle, San, Foods, Navy, Nordstrom, City, San Francisco Police Department, Census Bureau, Tourism Locations: San, Westfield, San Francisco, City and County, Florida, San Francisco's

☆ Store closures are hitting San Francisco as office vacancies and fears of crime are on the rise. Here's the full list of retailers pulling out of the city's downtown neighborhood.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Alex Bitter | Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nineteen retailers have left San Francisco's Union Square area since 2020. The area has lost 17 retailers since 2020, The San Francisco Standard reported last month. Stores that have closed in downtown San Francisco over the last few years include:Most retailers haven't referenced crime specifically as their public rationale for closing. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which owns the mall where Nordstrom is located, said that the department store's closure "underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco," according to Bloomberg. Do you work in downtown San Francisco or have a story to share about store closures?

☆ Store closures are hitting Downtown San Francisco as office vacancies and fears of crime are on the rise. Here's the full list of retailers pulling out of the city's downtown neighborhood.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nineteen retailers have left San Francisco's Union Square area since 2020. The latest departures include Nordstrom and Office Depot, The San Francisco Standard reported. Stores that have closed in downtown San Francisco over the last few years include:Most retailers haven't referenced crime specifically as their public rationale for closing. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which owns the mall where Nordstrom is located, said that the department store's closure "underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco," according to Bloomberg. Do you work in Downtown San Francisco or have a story to share about store closures?

☆ A San Francisco office building was worth $300 million before the pandemic. Now, it could sell for only $60 million — a perfect example of why downtowns are in trouble
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A 22-story office tower in San Francisco that was worth $300 million in 2019 is for sale. The office tower, which sits at 350 California Street, was previously worth around $300 million during its last sale, office brokers told The Journal. The building's expected decline in value reflects the current crisis facing the real-estate industry across the US, and remote work's heavy impact on San Francisco's office buildings, in particular. Over a quarter of San Francisco's office space is empty as well, according to CBRE. Last summer, for example, Salesforce had half of its Salesforce Tower office space listed for lease as a sublet.

☆ The San Francisco cafe that inspired 'Bob's Burgers' closes its doors after 43 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Just For You Cafe, the San Francisco joint that inspired "Bob's Burgers," has closed its doors. According to SFGate, the restaurant closed after rising inflation and mounting debt brought the establishment to its knees. In the mid-aughts, "Bob's Burgers" creator Loren Bouchard and writer Nora Smith wandered around San Francisco, searching for inspiration for the setting of their developing cartoon. In an interview with SFGate, Bouchard said he took photos all around San Francisco, but nothing quite matched Just For You. "I looked in the window and saw something big," he told SFGate last year.

☆ High-speed train from Las Vegas to Los Angeles in the works after Brightline reaches agreement with unions on $10 billion project
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brightline announced a deal with rail unions to build a 218-mile, high-speed line from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The company plans to connect Las Vegas to Southern California via rail capable of traveling 200 mph. A Las Vegas tourism website estimates that a trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas by car takes an average of four hours, depending on traffic conditions. The rail line is set to run from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, according to the company's website. The press release said the rail line will have stops in Rancho Cucamonga, Apple Valley, and Hesperia, California.

☆ Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google is asking cloud employees and partners to share their desks and alternate days with their desk mates starting next quarter, citing "real estate efficiency," CNBC has learned. Google also used its internal data it has on it its employee office return patterns to inform the decision, the FAQ stated. In addition to slower office return patterns, the company has slowed hiring and laid off 11,000 employees in January. A Google spokesperson explained, "Since returning to the office, we've run pilots and conducted surveys with Cloud employees to explore different hybrid work models and help shape the best experience. In the fourth quarter, Google Cloud brought in $7.32 billion, growing 32% from the prior year, considerably faster than the company's overall growth rate of less than 10%.

☆ Who the heck paid $100,000 for an old Twitter logo statue in Elon Musk's auction?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A statue of Twitter's bird logo sold for $100,000 at auction, according to multiple reports. The statue was part of Twitter's fire sale that included hundreds of surplus items. The online auction opened on Tuesday morning, and by the afternoon, bidding was at $12,000 for the statue. A larger neon version of the Twitter logo sold for $40,000 at the auction, according to SFGate. HGP declined to comment on the bid prices for the Twitter logo statue and other items.

☆ Another tech bubble bursts: 2022 has been brutal for Silicon Valley workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +28 min

Gem: 100A maker of recruiting software, the startup cut a third of its workforce Nov. 1, The Information reported. HealthCare.com: 149The health insurance marketplace announced the job cuts Aug. 3, Miami Inno reported, citing state regulatory filings. Fabric: 120The robotics startup said July 13 that it was layoffing off 40% of them, TechCrunch reported, citing company confirmation. It affected about 300 people, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported, citing company confirmation. Policygenius: 170The online insurance company cut about 25% of its staff, Axios reported June 6, citing company confirmation.

☆ Millions of fire ants threaten to 'rain down' on Hawaii residents and sting them in their sleep, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kauai's most extensive infestation of fire ants poses a health risk to Hawaii's residents and tourists, officials say. Welts caused by fire ants stings can "last for weeks," according to the Kauai Invasive Species Committee. Welts caused by the stings can "last for weeks," the Kauai Invasive Species Committee said, per SFGATE. The Kauai Invasive Species Committee has launched a significant media campaign to alert residents of the free-at-home test kits available to help them detect the presence of the invasive species, SFGATE reported. The Wailua River cuts through the lush tropical vegetation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Hawaii.

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