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If you're waiting for someone who has to drive in San Francisco, especially around the Moscone Center area, take a deep breath and get comfortable. A giant tech conference is in town and it's causing all sorts of detours and delays. Scott Budman reports. (Published Monday, Nov. 6, 2017)
Codie the bear, Cloudy the ram, Appy and friends — despite the cute, fuzzy animal emojis adorning the giant blue Salesforce sign smack in the middle of Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, Dreamforce is, for the uninitiated, serious business (aka the world’s largest software conference).
The annual tech event by cloud giant Salesforce typically brings in more than 100,000 people to San Francisco every year — 170,000 people are expected to show up this year from all over the world over the course of the next three days shutting down streets, filling up hotels, and injecting millions of dollars into the local economy. One of the only negatives, especially for residents, is traffic. So if you’re driving, bring extra patience.
Eighteen years ago, Salesforce started in a small apartment in San Francisco. Today it is leasing the tallest, most expensive building in the city — the Salesforce Tower, a 1,070-ft-high skyscraper, the tallest on the West Coast.
Salesforce also made news after it decided to close the pay gap for employees. The company’s CEO, billionaire philanthropist Marc Benioff, spent $6 million to close the gender gap, and has promised to evaluate salaries on a regular basis.
On Saturday, Benioff shared a video of a mountain lion walking outside his house in the Presidio. The timing of the mountain lion sighting presents an intriguing coincidence given that one of the designated "Dreamojis," or emoji for Dreamforce, just so happens to be an apparent lynx or other member of the cat family known as "Appy."
Benioff used the hashtag #AppyDF while sharing his mountain lion encounter on social media.
Every year, Salesforce brings in influential speakers — including women like Patricia Arquette and Jessica Alba — to reinforce the importance of women in the workplace.
This year, former first lady, Michelle Obama, will be taking the stage Tuesday. However the event has requested no publicity or cameras from the media.
On Monday, actor and venture capitalist Ashton Kutcher or @aplusk was part of the keynote which focused on “tech innovations as a force for good.” Other keynote speakers included Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo, and Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted.
The company announced a new cloud partnership with Google which industry experts say could pose a direct challenge to Microsoft.
It’s not all work at Dreamforce — Tuesday's lineup brings with it a concert at AT&T Park featuring Alicia Keys and Lenny Kravitz which will benefit UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, and on Thursday night, there’s a benefit concert, “Band Together Bay Area,” to help North Bay wildfire victims and evacuees.
And if this star-studded lineup wasn’t enough, Puerto Rican singer and philanthropist Luis Fonsi will be performing his #1 hit “Despacito” on Wednesday to help raise $1 million toward hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.
If you’re visiting from out-of-town, Dreamforce has put together a list of places to check out in San Francisco, a little R&R for when you’re not busy with keynotes, sessions, networking or just generally being a "trailbrazer" at the Dreamforce Campground.
There's also the PartyForce app, which guides you through more than 150 parties taking place throughout the city from Nov. 6 to Nov. 9.
Frazer Brown writes,
At London Super Comic Con this weekend I stood in line to get some ‘Swamp Thing‘ stuff signed, to add to the growing pile of plastic and paper things I don’t quite know what to do with in my office (But somehow serve as creative stimuli in my peripheral vision whilst working)*
Naturally my first stop for ‘Swamp Goods’ was Yanick Paquette’s booth.
Whilst chatting with Yanick, young James (aged 6) arrived with his dad and nervously presented the artist with his own crayoned vision of Swamp Thing for Yanick to keep. In return Mr YP drafted a totally gratis Swampie for James to treasure for ever. It was all incredibly sweet.
I then proceeded to walk away from Yanick’s stall without paying for ANY of the stuff I had taken! Like a thieving Toe Rag**.
Contacting him on Twitter the same day to apologise this was the response I got:
I’d like to nominate Yanick Paquette for the ‘Nicest Artist at LSCC Award’***
*watching netflix
** Toe Rag noun, British, Informal /təʊraɡ/ a contemptible or worthless person.
***Award doesn’t actually exist
Frazer Brown is a lifelong fan of the ‘Swamp Creature’ genre of comics. So much so, he’s investing time and money on two projects that involve creatures of the ‘Slime’ or ‘Swamp’ variety in 2016. Funny how life turns out. You can follow him on twitter @frazerbrown
About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist.
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NYCT/MTA
As Earth Day approaches and as part of recommendations from a blue-ribbon commission tasked with reducing the impact of public transit on the environment, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit (NYCT) has installed approximately 6,500 sustainable composite ties in a major Staten Island Railway (SIR)
track renewal project to repair significant damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.
The St. George SIR terminal is undergoing a major track and switch reconstruction project as the railway continues to recover from Sandy-related damage. Prior to the storm in October 2012, a terminal rehabilitation project had been planned to repair and update signals, switches and track. Sandy made the project critical when storm surge flooded SIR tracks and the entire St. George yard complex with corrosive saltwater, highlighting areas where flood protection or protective infrastructure needed to be installed. The saltwater significantly damaged all 12 tracks, multiple switches, equipment and cables, as well as facilities and the train control tower.
“With careful planning and foresight, we took this opportunity to not only make critical Sandy-related repairs but to do it better using environmentally friendly materials,” said Doug Connett, vice president and chief officer for Staten Island Railway.
NYCT started the St. George renewal project in September 2014, with plans to integrate resiliency measures while replacing outdated or damaged equipment and making repairs. Those resiliency measures include raising signal equipment to 72 inches above the tracks, raising platforms for battery and generator enclosures and installing a new third rail system.
Repairs at St. George include the replacement of 12,000 linear feet of track and installation of a total of approximately 7,500 high-density plastic rail ties. The ties, which are made of 100 percent recycled materials, were manufactured by Axion International.
The change in track tie materials from wood to high-density plastic stems from a recommendation made by the MTA’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability, which released a report in 2009 on ways to operate a greener transit system throughout the New York area. The commission’s final report made nearly 100 recommendations to reduce the MTA’s carbon footprint while generating savings and economic growth, one of which included a recommendation that the MTA expand procurement of sustainable railroad ties across all rail agencies.
The $105-million St. George Terminal project is taking place with no service interruptions to customers and is 55 percent complete with composite tie installation to be completed by June 1.
Virginia State Parks will offer free parking on Jan. 1, 2018, giving visitors the opportunity to enjoy special hikes or self-guided hikes on more than 500 miles of trails across 37 state parks.
In addition, Virginia State Parks will hold the First Day Hikes Photo Contest and the New Year Challenge. Each contest has a $500 gift certificate as the top prize, as well as other prizes.
In the Richmond area, Pocahontas State Park hosts a New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day hike that begins Dec. 31 at 11 p.m. and ends with a New Years bonfire and a sparkling cider toast. On New Year’s Day, Pocahontas will offer five other hikes, including a stroller-friendly hike, an advanced hike, a First Day Run, an orienteering hike, as well as a hike for family and friends.
Other parks with multiple hikes and difficulties include Bear Creek Lake, Holliday Lake and Twin Lakes state parks.
Some of the more unique hikes include Grayson Highlands State Park, with the possibility of seeing wild ponies. Guaranteed to be colder than other parks, hikers flock to the park for the challenge, the view of snow-topped mountains and the ponies.
New River Trail State Park will feature a hike and bike on the new mountain biking trail. At False Cape State Park, hikers will take the Terragator, the beach transport vehicle, down the beach and then hike to the North Carolina border.
Hikers can see bison at Wilderness Road State Park and amazing geological formations at Natural Tunnel and Natural Bridge state parks. The hike at Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park includes a tour of the historic town of Big Stone Gap.
Virginia State Parks welcomes bikes and horseback riders at parks with those facilities. Leashed dogs are welcome everywhere except False Cape State Park. Details for all hikes can be found here: http://bit.ly/VSPFDH2018.
For more information about Virginia State Parks activities and amenities or to make a reservation for one of the more than 1,800 campsites or 300 climate-controlled cabins, call the Virginia State Parks Customer Care Center at 800-933-7275 or visit www.virginiastateparks.gov.
With no let-up in protests over sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab, 10 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) have been deployed in four districts of Punjab.
Three companies each of the BSF have been deployed in districts of Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar, while one has been deployed in Tarn Taran.
Tension has been prevailing in the state since incidents of holy book sacrilege have come to light sparking protests across the state.
Meanwhile, in a fresh incident, pages of the holy book were found torn at Gurusar village in Bathinda district on Tuesday morning leading to tension in the area. As the incident came to light, villagers gathered to protest against the incident.
Heavy police force has been deployed to ensure that the situation doesn’t go out of control.
In Jalandhar, 10 people were rounded up by the police in connection with the clash between the shopkeepers and the Sikh protesters on Monday. The police also conducted flag march. Policemen also kept a close watch at various markets, including Mai Hera Gate and Rainik Bazar.
Traffic also remained suspended on the National Highway 1, only to be cleared by noon on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, protesters lifted blockade from various places in Tarn Taran, a day after two people were detained by the police.
On Monday, a ‘granthi’ of a gurdwara at Nijjapura village in Amritsar district was arrested for allegedly desecrating the holy book while a baptized woman was arrested in Ludhiana in connection with the Ghawaddi village desecration case.
Meanwhile, Sikh outfits continued to stage dharnas at several places in Punjab against incidents of sacrilege and to press for arrest of police officials involved in firing at Behbal Kalan village in which two persons were killed.
First Published: Oct 20, 2015 13:41 IST
The return of point guard Mo Williams to the Cleveland Cavaliers was news that made sense on a number of levels, especially in regards to financial and depth issues related to the team. Williams, who will turn 33 in December, will have a new role in this comeback, one that will hopefully protect the team from the disaster that very likely cost the Cavaliers their first NBA title.
Williams can still put points on the board, which is one reason why signing him appealed to the Cavs’ front office. Still, the question about exactly what Williams can provide to the team’s offense is one that remains.
During his previous two-plus seasons from 2008-11, Williams was a fixture in the team’s backcourt. In his first season, he was part of a squad that won 66 regular season games, a record for the franchise. That season, Williams reached a peak in scoring by averaging 17.8 points per contest.
Those numbers would begin to decline until hitting bottom during his one year with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2013-14, when his scoring average dipped to 9.7 per game. However, a resurgence took place this past season, when he again became a part-time starter and averaged 14.2 points while playing for both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets.
The clearest indication of what Williams could still do with the ball was shown during the Timberwolves’ January 13 game at Indiana. Connecting on 19 of 33 shots from the field, Williams torched the Pacers for 52 points, one of eight games with Minnesota in which he tallied more than 20 points.
After heading to Charlotte, he had a 12-game stretch that began in late February that saw him average 21 points a game.
Outside of his rookie year and the aforementioned 2013-14 campaign, Williams has always averaged double-digits in scoring, and has never been shy about launching up shots. He also still has a knack for being able to effectively dish the ball to teammates, something LeBron James can attest to from their two previous seasons together when Williams averaged 4.6 assists per game.
That year with Portland and his only full season with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011-12 were years in which Williams was strictly a reserve, which will be his role with the Cavaliers. In that season with the Clippers, he averaged 13.2 points per game.
Combining those two seasons means that Williams was good for approximately 11.5 points a game. While that doesn’t overwhelm anyone, compare them to the average production of Matthew Dellavedova during his two seasons with the Cavs: 4.7 points.
Williams averaged roughly 26 minutes per game in those two reserve years, compared to Dellavedova’s 19 per contest. Even taking into account the additional time on the court that Williams spent still makes him a more productive option.
Plus, Williams does have experience as a shooting guard, which could allow head coach David Blatt to shift the guard over on those inevitable nights when J.R. Smith (assuming he re-signs) is ice-cold with his outside shot.
Of course, the underlying idea behind giving Williams more minutes is to keep Kyrie Irving refreshed, and more importantly, healthy. Irving’s scary injury history and the impact it had on the NBA Finals is etched into the mind of every Cavalier official, player and fan.
In many ways, Williams is like Smith, a free-wheeling shooter who can fall victim to cold spells when it comes to his shot. However, Williams won’t be looked upon as an integral part of the lineup, just a potentially valuable chip to have when needed.
Plus, Dellavedova will still be around to inject some fire into the team when necessary. The NBA Finals unfortunately showed that Dellavedova’s threshold for effectiveness reaches a certain point before quickly diminishing. Using him as a third option will allow his all-out energy to be maximized.
Williams gives the Cleveland offense just a little more push, with the starters providing much of the support in that area. Whatever he can give will undoubtedly be more than what was provided last year, which in turn will hopefully lead to a happier ending.
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November 15, 2012 12:58 IST
J ust one week after United States President Barack Obama's convincing re-election, his faithful Vice President Joseph Biden led the White House celebration of Diwali, reflecting on the significance of festival of lights, and also acknowledging the presence of Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu American elected to the US Congress, and also Ambassador Nirupama Rao, who like Gabbard, seemed to have that gravitational pull in terms of the guests wanting to pose for pictures with them.
Also present at the celebration that was closed to the press, were Dr Ami Bera, on the brink of becoming the first Indian American physician elected to the US Congress from the 7th District in California, and Kumar Barve, the majority leader in the Maryland House of Delegates, and the most senior Indian American legislator who was elected to the State Assembly nearly two decades ago.
The nearly two-hour celebration, held on November 13 at the Old Executive Office Building -- which lies adjacent to the White House and houses the administrative offices of the White House -- after which the guests moved to the Indian Treaty Room for the reception, was attended by a select cross-section of about 200 members of the Indian American community from across the country, senior Indian American staffers in the administration like Dr Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, and also erstwhile officials, including Aneesh Chopra, the first chief technology officer in the White House and now making a run for lieutenant governor of Virginia, several US lawmakers and one of the priests from the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland, Ramesh Babu, who recited a shloka and assisted Biden in the lighting of the diya and then wrapped the ceremonial shawl on the vice president.
After greeting the guests with a Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak, Biden began with a quip that had the audience in peals of laughter as he said Diwali was all about light over darkness, "and that's what we are all about -- trying to shed some light."
But then getting serious, he said, "It's a very special time for all of us here today and a time which means a great deal to me personally, and it means a lot to see so many good friends as I look out on this audience."
Biden then greeted Rao and also the deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Washington, Ambassador Arun Kumar Singh, and said he had joked with Singh earlier that "if I had his hair, I could have been important."
And, then to sustained applause and raucous whoops, Biden recognised Gabbard, who stood up and greeted the guests with a namaste.
Biden said, "There is a distinction that you come to the Congress as the first Hindu to be elected to the legislature and I am looking forward to working with you," and then reverting to his humorous side, quipped, "As (Congressman) Rush Holt (who was among half-a-dozen lawmakers present) can tell you, that could be a blessing or a curse."
He then reiterated that even though "it's a strange thing to say to this audience that Diwali is the festival of lights and that on this day, we celebrate light over darkness, and equally is important, compassion over hatred and there's such an overwhelming need to have in our world today."
Biden said, "Every year, Diwali reminds us of the fundamental human bonds that unite us, which are much more powerful than those things that divide us. Right now, people of four major faiths are celebrating Diwali -- millions of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists in India and here in America are lighting lamps in their homes -- and are reflecting on a year gone by and are trying as we all are here for a good year to come."
"But even as we celebrate here today, we also remember the work that is still ahead as we strive together to build a better world," he said, and exhorted everyone "to commit ourselves to bring light to any place that is still facing darkness. And, as we all know, there are tens of millions of people that are still facing darkness around the world."
Biden, then referring to the horrific massacre of Sikh worshippers in the Wisconsin gurdwara on August 5, said, "Earlier this year, we faced that stark reminder of evil that still exists when a gunman walked into a holy place in Oak Creek in Wisconsin and opened fire. It was another shock to the system."
"But as my mother would say -- she always said -- 'Joe we have something terrible, and now good will happen, if you fight these evil forces, the fact is that it did in a way bring various communities together that I don't know that one anticipated would happen and the way in which it would happen."
Biden asserted, "We saw the resilience of a community that refused to consider itself as victims and instead they drew strength from their faith and people across this country of all faiths offered compassion and their support."

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