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Remember when it was cool to get DVDs by mail?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

Netflix announced Tuesday that it will end its DVDs-by-mail business on Sept. 29. After that, no more discs will be shipped in the once-ubiquitous red envelopes.My first reaction was: They still do this?My second was to recall how cool and convenient it once seemed to be able to order DVD rentals online and have them shipped straight to the house.Today, in the era of streaming video and pay-per-view, Netflix's DVD shipments seem almost quaint."Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home -- and they paved the way for the shift to streaming," Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said in a statement."We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come."Times change. And few things illustrate that as profoundly as the way technological advances keep reinventing businesses (hi, Amazon!).Separately,...

Laces & Boh Doran Are Keeping the Spirit of the 90s Alive and Well With Their New Song “In My Room.”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

LACES represents years of potential realized in an awe-inspiring way. She remains defined by the same openness and extraordinary voice that originally distinguished her as Charlotte Sometimes, but with a more refined personal style. LACES has not forgotten her dark and edgy side. She’s just showing a different facet, full of self-acceptance and warmth, a light at the end of the tunnel. Her current output is remarkably diverse: As LACES, she writes and performs outstanding alt-pop tunes. LACES has also worked producing music for cartoons like Jem & the Holograms, Baby Alive, Littlest Pet Shop, Equestria Girls, and also TV shows and specials for leading networks like CW, Netflix, ABC, and many others. A testament to both her willingness to be vulnerable and the clarity of her vision, somehow simultaneously polished and raw. There are no empty spaces in LACES’ songs, but they always come out with a message of hope.Her new single “In My Room” is a stunning co...

From the Desert to Your Feet: Voes & Co Launches Innovative Cactus Leather Boots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

From the bustling streets of Vancouver to the fashion capitals of the world, Desiree Dupuis, the founder of Voes & Co, is making her mark as one of the pioneers of a plant-based fashion revolution. With the upcoming launch of her Chelsea Boots made with cactus leather, she is shaking up the industry and putting her brand on the map.As a vegan since 2008, Desiree was disheartened by the widespread use of animal-derived leather in fashion, especially in footwear. Fueled by her love for shoes and a desire to create a more sustainable and compassionate alternative, she founded Voes & Co in 2022, and the rest is history in the making.What sets Voes & Co apart from other vegan footwear brands is their use of innovative and sustainable materials. While many companies have been using purely PU plastic-based materials for their leather alternative products, Voes and Co is at the forefront of the movement incorporating plant-based materials. Cactus leather, in particular, is one o...

Oakland engineering firm denies Bay Area college district’s “pay-to-play” allegations, threatens suit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

The CEO of an Oakland-based firm is asking a San Mateo County judge to throw out certain sections of a complaint filed by the San Mateo County Community College District last month as part of its ongoing corruption crackdown, arguing the district’s allegations have “flung wildly and recklessly” and put his business at risk.Filed Feb. 8 in San Mateo County Superior Court, the complaint seeks damages from five contractors and consultants the college district worked with during the time Ron Galatolo was chancellor. Galatolo was charged with misappropriating public funds and tax evasion in 2022 following a corruption probe by the San Mateo County DA’s office.The suit names Allana, Buick & Bers, Inc., an Oakland company going on 36 years, and argues that the firm gave thousands of dollars worth of gifts from Galatolo in exchange for a contract to build a solar farm at Cañada College in 2013, which a corruption probe by the DA’s office contends was rife with financial abuse.The distri...

GOP plans to block vote to replace Feinstein on Judiciary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

By Ali Zaslav, Alayna Treene and Sydney Kashigawi | CNNSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that he hopes to replace Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland and aims to set up a floor vote on the issue this afternoon, which Republicans are expected to block.Senate Democrats are seeking to temporarily replace Feinstein on the powerful panel that processes judicial nominees as the California Democrat remains absent, recovering from shingles.Feinstein, who has already announced she’s not seeking reelection, initially said she expected to return to Washington “by the end of the March work period,” but that her return got “delayed due to continued complications related to my diagnosis.”She recently said she plans to return “as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel.”But her return date is still unclear and she asked just last w...

Alleged ‘brazen’ theft of startup’s documents should be Silicon Valley wake-up call, fired worker says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

A longtime Silicon Valley tech executive claims in a new lawsuit that a Mountain View financial-technology firm stole intellectual property from its San Francisco rival so easily that every startup should fear the same thing happening to them.Scott Ellison of Palo Alto alleges in his lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was wrongfully fired from Mountain View firm Stampli after reporting to its CEO that a newly hired executive had misappropriated documents from his former employer — a competitor in San Francisco named Front — and had given the materials to Stampli along with live links providing access into Front’s internal systems.“This to me is not just beyond wrong, it’s so brazen,” Ellison said in an interview.After finding the alleged live links, Ellison “wanted to throw up,” he said. What upset him most was realizing that he was looking at a vulnerability he believes is widespread among Silicon Valley startups, including Stampli, Elliso...

Powerball ticket worth $1.5M sold in Los Gatos still unclaimed ahead of deadline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

(BCN) -- A Powerball ticket worth more than $1.5 million after being purchased in Los Gatos in October will expire next Monday if no one comes forward to claim it, California Lottery officials said Tuesday. The ticket bought at a Mobil gas station at 15380 Los Gatos Blvd. matched the five numbers --19, 36, 37, 46 and 56 -- from the Oct. 26 drawing, missing only the Powerball number 24. Judge tentatively OKs $725M Facebook settlement: How to apply for a payout The ticket is worth $1,556,855, but that money will instead go to public school funding if it is not claimed by Monday, according to lottery officials. Another ticket matching the same five numbers from the Oct. 26 drawing was also purchased in Southern California and has already been claimed. Whoever has the winning ticket should sign the back of it and then go to one of the California Lottery's nine offices around the state, including in Milpitas and Richmond in the Bay Area, to fill out a claim form. The winner can als...

Suspects in Palo Alto armed robberies arrested

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

(KRON) -- Three suspects who police believe committed two armed robberies within 25 minutes of each other on Monday night have been arrested, according to the Palo Alto Police Department. The suspects have also been connected to a third armed robbery that took place later in the evening in Milpitas.No one was physically injured in any of the robberies, police said. The three suspects were booked into jail on multiple felony counts. CHP releases more details on Eliyanah Crisostomo homicide The Palo Alto PD said the two initial robberies occurred in the south end of Palo Alto within 25 minutes of each other.The first robbery happened on the 1100 block of Trinity Lane at about 6:35 p.m. It happened after a "neighbor may have interrupted an auto burglary," PAPD said. Nobody was injured, and the suspects fled in a white SUV that may have been a Kia. Police said one suspect pointed a handgun as they were fleeing. An investigation revealed that a family of four had just returned home an...

Dominion Was Never Going to Save Our Democracy From Fox News

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

Lawyers representing Dominion Voting Systems talk to reporters outside the Leonard Williams Justice Center following a settlement with Fox News in Delaware Superior Court on April 18, 2023 in Wilmington, Del.Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesWill private equity save American democracy?That question, which has lurked behind the defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News, was answered today in an unsurprising fashion: no.Fox and Dominion reached a $787.5 million settlement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin in the Delaware trial. A jury had been selected, and everyone was preparing for what seemed likely to be a six-week trial that would scrutinize Fox’s broadcasting of false conspiracy theories that Dominion machines stole votes from then-President Donald Trump. Dominion was seeking $1.6 billion in damages from Fox.The settlement is not a total shocker. Just days ago, there was a flurry of speculation that Fox wanted to settle, with the g...

4 killed in Maine home; 3 wounded in linked highway shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:38 GMT

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — Four people were fatally shot at a house in Maine on Tuesday shortly before gunfire wounded three others on a busy highway, in a pair of crimes that are linked, authorities said. One person was in custody.Police closed a portion of the interstate highway and residents and businesses in the area were ordered to shelter in place for about 90 minutes before authorities determined there was no threat to the general public.Police declined to discuss possible motive or identify the person in custody, or the shooting victims. One of the highway victims was critically wounded, they said. The crimes began in rural Bowdoin, where the bodies were found, and continued with gunfire 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the south on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth, police said.Law enforcement officers, some carrying long rifles, could be seen canvassing areas near the highway after the shootings. At one point, heavily armed officers at an off-ramp peered inside the trunk of a car that had ...