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SAN FRANCISCO, July 8 (Reuters) - Venture capital firm Headline used to be in one of San Francisco's most eye-catching skyscrapers: the pyramidal Transamerica building that has defined the skyline for decades. Venture capital firms are increasingly joining retailers and other businesses in finding homes outside downtown San Francisco. [1/5]People enjoy the afternoon in Presidio, a former military base-turned-national park in San Francisco California, U.S., July 7, 2023. They're actually really excited," said Eurie Kim, whose venture firm Forerunner left downtown for the Presidio in early 2022. "Mayor Breed continues to implement strategic initiatives to help stabilize existing businesses and recruit new ones as part of her Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco's Future plan.

Persons: Mathias Schilling, Schilling, Rex Salisbury, Carlos Barria, They're, Eurie Kim, CBRE, Lisa Petrie, Jon Rehagen, Molly Martell, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Breed, Colin Yasukochi, Krystal Hu, Peter Henderson, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: FRANCISCO, Venture, Employees, Presidio, Westfield, San, Felicis Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Letterman, Cambrian Venture, San Francisco Bay Area, REUTERS, Presidio Trust, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Family Museum, Catalyst, Brand, San Francisco Mayor London, Downtown San, CBRE's Tech, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Presidio, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco's, There's, Sand, Silicon Valley, South, downtown San Francisco, San Francisco California, U.S, Marin, San Francisco ., South Park, Downtown

☆ South Park's creators have eliminated tipping at Denver's famed Casa Bonita. Servers now make $30 an hour — and some are mad.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Casa Bonita, a 50-year-old Mexican restaurant in Colorado, reopened after a $40 million renovation. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker bought the joint, which was featured in their show. The series, which is set in the fictional small town of South Park, Colorado, features Casa Bonita in an episode in its seventh season. Trey Parker (left) and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, purchased Casa Bonita in 2021. The zany interior of Casa Bonita, pictured in 2019, has been remodeled, while still being faithful to the original, the new owners have said.

Persons: Matt Stone, Trey Parker, —, Araya Doheny, Casa Bonita's, Fox31, Axios, It's, Hyoung Chang, Stefanie Jones, Jones Organizations: Casa, Service, The Denver Post, Casa Bonita, Employees, Denver Gazette Locations: Casa Bonita, Colorado, Lakewood , Colorado, South Park , Colorado, Park, Bonita, Denver

Everyone in San Francisco got a Prius, and they were so smug about their Priuses that the air over San Francisco became covered in smug. Global laming.”FARHAD MANJOO: And it really sort of was the start of what I think of as the troll-y right. And that sentiment I think came from “South Park.” If you think about especially younger people on the right who kind of found fame online, people like Ben Shapiro or Steven Crowder, this YouTuber who takes the tone of “South Park,” I think, to a very extreme degree. One thing I see often from right-wing celebrities or influencers like Donald Trump Jr. for example, is constantly tweeting “South Park” memes. That was the joke that “South Park” was making in 2005, and now it’s the view of the right.

Persons: FARHAD MANJOO, ” FARHAD MANJOO, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, STEVEN CROWDER, Jackson, That’s, Brown, Donald Trump Jr, Garrison, ” Organizations: Global, Biden Locations: San Francisco

☆ He was employee No. 8 at Stripe. Now, he's taking on Salesforce and AWS with $50 million in new funding for his startup Render. Here's the pitch deck it used.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

That led to Render, a cloud provider that has now raised $50 million in Series B funding. That's the idea behind Render, a tech startup that makes a modern cloud to build and run apps and websites. RenderBefore Render, Goel got hired as the eighth employee of a then-unknown tech startup called Stripe. It serves more than half a million developers, an increase from just under 100,000 developers in July of 2022, Goel said. The latest funding will allow Render to hire its first chief of marketing and expand its engineering team.

Persons: Anurag Goel, Elliott Robinson, Mary D'Onofrio, Catalyst, Goel, Salesforce, It's, They've Organizations: Investors, Bessemer Venture Partners, Fund, Web Services, Microsoft, Google, Developers

☆ Farhad Manjoo on ‘South Park’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Farhad Manjoo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But it isn’t the topicality of “South Park” that best explains America. In “South Park,” correctness of any sort — religious, scientific, pedagogical, geopolitical or whatever else — is sus. For Donald Trump Jr., “South Park” memes are the height of wit. In 2018 “South Park” even acknowledged that Al Gore was right: ManBearPig turned out to be real. But the damage was done; the monster had already begun to eat the people of South Park.

Persons: topick, ”, Trey Parker, Matt Stone’s, Parker, Stone, Donald Trump’s, Vladimir Putin’s thuggery, Ron DeSantis, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Stone’s, they’ve, Eric Cartman’s —, Andrew Sullivan, “, Donald Trump Jr, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Cartman, Bob White, Al Gore, ManBearPig Organizations: Trump Locations: America, Colorado, South Park

☆ I used AI to double my income in one year. It wasn't hard to do and didn't cost me anything.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Kristen Walters | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

She used AI to help create faceless YouTube videos, affiliate content, and digital products like ebooks. So I thought I'd share some of the ways that I'm currently using AI to make money in 2023. But combined, they add up to a substantial monthly income from both YouTube Adsense and affiliate products. Digital productsI've been creating simple digital products like ebooks, workbooks, audiobooks for over a decade now.Man, I'm getting old. Of course, you don't have to use ConvertKit.I've also sold digital products using Teachable, Etsy, Gumroad, and my own website(s).

Persons: Kristen Walters, I've, it's, Jasper, ConvertKit.I've, people's, snoop, It's Organizations: YouTube, Adsense, Jasper, Management, PAS, Amazon Associates, AIDA, Publishing, KDP Locations: Jasper, Park

☆ The Refries That Bind: A Cavernous Cantina Returns, Cliff Divers and All
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Matt Richtel | David Williams | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But for generations of Colorado children, arguably the most commonly shared experience involved Casa Bonita, a vast, filthy, poorly-lit, underground restaurant with food that many diners deemed barely edible. Casa Bonita — sprawling over 52,000 square feet in Lakewood, a Denver suburb — served steamed refried beans, tacos and enchiladas to thousands of people a day, buffet-style. “Oh, that’s a place,” Mr. Parker would respond, he said recently. It’s weird.” Like so many Colorado children, Mr. Parker had held his birthday parties there. Then, in 2020, Casa Bonita went bankrupt, hit by the pandemic slump.

Persons: Casa, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, ” Mr, Parker Organizations: NoEata Locations: Colorado, Casa Bonita, Bonita, Lakewood, Denver, —, Casa

☆ Manhattanhenge is coming to New York City tonight. Here's where to see it best.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Manhattanhenge is happening in New York City on Monday. It's the phenomenon where the setting sun perfectly aligns with the city's street grid. The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson coined the term. The term Manhattanhenge was coined by the popular astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a native New Yorker. The Tudor City Overpass in Manhattan and Hunter's Point South Park in Queens are two more scenic spots, he says.

☆ TV and film writers are fighting to save their jobs from AI. They won’t be the last
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A powerful new crop of AI tools, trained on vast troves of data online, can now generate essays, song lyrics and other written work in response to user prompts. While there are clearly limits for how well AI tools can produce compelling creative stories, these tools are only getting more advanced, putting writers like August on guard. But as part of their demands, the WGA is also fighting to protect their livelihoods from AI. Stephanie Elam/CNNWhile film and TV writers in Hollywood may currently be leading the charge, professionals in other industries will almost certainly be paying attention. “Watch this #WGA strike carefully,” Justine Bateman, a writer, director and former actress, wrote in a tweet shortly after the strike kicked off.

☆ TPG’s funeral deal is stuck in awkward purgatory
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, April 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - TPG (TPG.O) is stuck between the mortal world and the afterlife with its dalliance with Australia’s funeral-services company InvoCare (IVC.AX). But the roughly 20% stake it picked up around the same time locks the pair into an awkward dance. InvoCare was open to better terms, and offered the suitor access to limited, non-public financial information. Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States, rising global worries about financial stability will make it harder to do deals. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ South Korea's chip dilemma gets sharper
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

China's security review of the $66 billion Micron is largely seen as retaliation against U.S. export controls on chipmaking technology. Yet Yoon has reason to do what America asks at the expense of South Korean companies. Bolstering the security alliance amid rising nuclear risks from North Korea will be on the top of his agenda; negotiating better terms for South Korean electric-car and chip investments into the United States will be another. As the chip war heats up, and threatens to widen, Seoul will find keeping its top two trading partners happy even tougher. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Thyssenkrupp gives investors wrong kind of breakup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - An abrupt CEO departure adds yet more problems for Thyssenkrupp’s (TKAG.DE) long-suffering investors. Merz was drafted in after her predecessor Guido Kerkhoff himself left after just 14 months, amid an aborted steel spinoff. Progress on a listing of Thyssenkrupp’s hydrogen business or a steel spinoff has been slow, despite a plan to hive off weaker units. Thyssenkrupp says it will continue its transformation, and appointed a former Siemens (SIEGn.DE) executive, Miguel Ángel López Borrego, to replace Merz. Yet investors still smarting from a minus 37% total return under its last bold CEO now seem to be expecting more of the same.

☆ Philips’ convalescence has way longer to run
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation of 359 million euros beat analysts’ average estimate of 226 million euros, per Visible Alpha data. The recall of faulty breathing devices and ventilators means Philips needs to set aside another 575 million euros for lawsuits on top of over 1 billion euros last year, but that’s less than Bernstein analysts’ expectation of 2.4 billion euros. Still, probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and further claims from injured patients mean Philips may need to cough up more money. Jakobs still faces some fundamental questions: Philips’ 7% EBITA margin last year was way off rival Siemens Healthineers’ (SHLG.DE) 18%. That explains why the latter trades on 28 times its 2023 earnings, versus Philips’ 19 times.

☆ Bob Iger’s stalling may be stifling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $180 billion company run by Bob Iger is kicking off its second round of layoffs, according to Reuters, part of an effort to cut $5.5 billion in costs. That’s a solid effort to keep activist Nelson Peltz, who had griped about Disney’s margins, at bay for now. The tricky part is ensuring assets don’t lose even more value before Iger heads out the door. Iger said he would leave the company and is meant to be setting up a successor. The balance act is ensuring Iger doesn’t degrade value, leaving a mess for his successor, whenever that person comes along.

☆ Twitter gave a gold checkmark to a troll account impersonating a defunct Disney TV channel for kids, which then posted a racial slur
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A fake Disney account was given a verified gold checkmark before it was suspended on Monday. Twitter appeared to give a gold checkmark to a random account pretending to be an official Disney account, before suspending it after a tweet from the account went viral. The troll also suggested they'd already had the gold checkmark for two days before gaining attention with Monday's viral tweet. After Twitter removed verified checkmarks from everybody who wasn't subscribed to Twitter Blue last week, a backlash saw some campaign to "Block The Blue." The handle used by the trolls was previously used by an official Disney account until October 2020, when the TV channel by the same name was closed down.

☆ ‘South Park’ showdown animates streaming dilemma
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Paramount Global (PARA.O) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) bosses are fighting over “South Park” like the foul-mouthed cartoon fourth graders featured in the hit adult-oriented series. Paramount has countersued its rival to stream the program whose library Warner Bros Discovery bought for $500 million, along with the rights to new episodes, for its newly rebranded Max service. Not long ago, producers were keeping movies and shows to beef up their own streaming audiences. Paramount boss Bob Bakish and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav both champion the idea of letting others carry the content for which their companies are paying so dearly to develop. These sorts of complicated dealings will only get tougher as the streaming wars get more cutthroat.

☆ P&G earns household-staple status
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $356 billion company said on Friday that sales grew 4% year-over-year to $20 billion in the three months ended March 31. That growth was led by a 10% price hike for the second consecutive quarter, while also growing market share in the United States. P&G warned of higher commodities and packaging costs, as well as wage inflation. P&G is proving that the cushy Charmin double roll is irreplaceable. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Paramount fires back at Warner Bros. Discovery in 'South Park' streaming lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Discovery in a lawsuit over the streaming rights for the comedic cartoon, and is seeking more than $50 million in unpaid fees. Warner alleged Paramount withheld specials and other related "South Park" content as its own fledgling streaming service, Paramount+, was lifting off. Discovery's argument that Paramount Global was required to deliver additional South Park content is baseless and wholly unsupported by the parties' agreement. Warner said in the earlier filing that during the bidding process for the streaming rights Paramount had allegedly asked if they could share the rights for Paramount+. The company added that Warner's HBO Max – which is being relaunched as Max – continues to feature the entire "South Park" library.

☆ 9 startups bringing AI tech to Netflix, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and more Hollywood studios — and attracting millions in VC funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

VCs and private equity have poured millions into startups bringing AI tech to film and TV production. AI startups disrupting Hollywood include MARZ and Wonder Dynamics, cofounded by "X Men" star Tye Sheridan. Investment in AI startups for entertainment is "blowing up right now," said Michael Blank, head of consumer investing at CAA. There are already AI tools that can write full scripts. Vendors and investors told Insider that over time, AI tools will change jobs, not replace them.

☆ We're initiating a position in this retailer as a turnaround play
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Shortly after the opening bell on Monday, we will be initiating a position in Foot Locker (FL) , buying 350 shares at roughly $38.46. Foot Locker shared its fourth-quarter 2022 results and held an investor day event last Monday. Closing these doors will also allow Foot Locker to shift resources and products to higher performing off-mall and A/B locations. But one point to keep in mind about Foot Locker is that this is a turnaround play. Nike sneakers sit on display at a Foot Locker store inside the South Park Mall in Strongsville, Ohio, March 4, 2014.

With estimates pushing higher, we think the rally in META still has more room to run, prompting us to raise our price target. Bullpen The newest addition to our bullpen is Foot Locker (FL). Foot Locker has also been a victim of the shift to shopping on ecommerce platforms, given its large presence in malls. But if she can do for Foot Locker what she achieved at Ulta Beauty, Footlocker's shares can go much higher. An employee arranges a sneaker display at a Foot Locker Inc. store inside the South Park Mall in Strongsville, Ohio.

☆ These 8 startups are bringing AI technology to Netflix, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, and more — and attracting millions in VC funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

VCs and private equity have poured millions into AI startups seeking to disrupt film and TV production. Startups making waves in Hollywood AI include MARZ and Deep Voodoo, founded by the creators of "South Park." Generative AI has spawned a raft of tools with real-life applications to Hollywood — and VCs are getting in on the action. There are already AI tools that can write full scripts. Vendors and investors told Insider that over time, AI tools will change jobs, not replace them.

☆ AI-generated audio of Joe Biden and Donald Trump trashtalking while gaming is taking over TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Allegra Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

On TikTok, faked audio created by AI of Joe Biden and Donald Trump gaming has become a hit meme. But the ease with voice AI can be used for jokes also shows how easy it is to fake convincing quotes. The Biden Cinematic UniverseOn the @bidenandfriends TikTok account, "Sleepy Joe" plays Minecraft and other video games with his best (and worst) buddies. Other political and celebrity figures pop up in various installments, but the core trio of Trump, Biden, and Obama seems to persist across the lore. "I remember when people thought AI would kill us all, but this is how we use it," commented one TikTok user.

☆ ‘South Park’ lawsuit: Warner Bros. Discovery sues Paramount for $500 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Discovery filed a lawsuit against Paramount Friday, claiming the rival media company breached its half-billion-dollar exclusivity contract with HBO Max by airing “South Park” on its own streaming platform, Paramount+. Nearly all “South Park” episodes air first on Paramount-owned Comedy Central. Then came the pandemic, and WarnerMedia was told that the new production of “South Park” would be halted, according to the complaint. In March 2021, Paramount launched Paramount+, and Warner Bros. Warner Bros.

☆ ‘South Park’ on Paramount+ Prompts Warner Bros. Discovery Lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Warner Bros. Discovery said it paid more than $500 million to exclusively stream ‘South Park’ episodes on its HBO Max platform until 2025. Warner Bros. In the lawsuit, filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court, Warner Bros. Discovery said it paid more than $500 million in 2019 to exclusively stream new and existing “South Park” episodes on its HBO Max platform until 2025.

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