Silicon valley ban

A massive influx of funding is a boon to any nonprofit. But it can come with challenges, as well, including: how to swiftly scale the organization to put that money to use; how to maximize the efficiency of every dollar; and how to plan more ambitiously and strategically than before. Shortly after raising more than $24 million in a single weekend—more than six times an entire year’s typical donations—the American Civil Liberties Union sought answers to those questions by enrolling in the Y Combinator startup accelerator. The Mountain View, California-based company’s accelerator program runs for three intensive months. Y Combinator is best known for launching startups such as Airbnb, Reddit and Uber. The ACLU is no startup, of course. It was founded in 1920. But there’s no question that support for and interest in the civil liberties nonprofit has surged since the election.“When we put the word out that we’d be including the ACLU in our winter … [Read more...] about ACLU looks to Silicon Valley in managing funding surge

Lavish free lunches are the stuff of Silicon Valley legend, and a treasured perk in the roster of on-campus benefits that tech companies use to lure workers. But two San Francisco legislators are looking to do away with the practice, saying it hurts local businesses who can't compete, reports CBS San Francisco. "We see thousands of employees in a block radius that don't go out to lunch and don't go out in support of restaurants every day," said  Ryan Corridor, owner of Corridor, a restaurant blocks from San Francisco's city hall. "It's because they don't have to." On the other hand, when Square, a nearby payment processing company, closes its cafeteria every other Friday, Corridor sees such a surge it sometimes has to increase its staffing, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. "You can't compete with free. Free food is a wonderful amenity but doesn't do anything to extend the community around it," said Gwyneth Borden, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. … [Read more...] about San Fransisco looks to ban free lunch at tech companies

By Joe Garofoli Published 2:47 pm PDT, Thursday, August 16, 2018 For the second time in a week, a social media company has banned a California Republican House candidate’s biographical ad because it contained what the company deemed “inappropriate content.” The content was footage of the 1970s Cambodian genocide that the parents of Central Valley congressional candidate Elizabeth Heng survived. Last week, Facebook banned the four-minute ad for five days before restoring it after facing public pressure. Twitter also banned the ad, before restoring it Thursday. “We had momentarily rejected the ad for breaking our Inappropriate Content policy,” Laura Pacas, a Twitter spokeswoman, told The Chronicle. “We reverted this decision, and the ad is no longer banned.” Twitter’s “inappropriate content” policy says ads can be banned if they are seen as “threatening, violent, gruesome, abusive, shocking, disturbing, … [Read more...] about Twitter bans GOP candidate’s ad for ‘inappropriate content,’ then relents

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said Twitter has not sufficiently explained why certain conservatives were being suppressed on the social media platform. Her comments came Friday in an interview on Fox News' “Fox & Friends.” They follow a tweet by President Donald Trump on Thursday saying his administration will look into claims the social media platform was “shadow banning” prominent Republicans. Shadow banning is a term used to describe Twitter allegedly reducing the visibility and reach of some of its users to others. In this case, some Republicans, including McDaniel, were not appearing in the auto-populated drop-down search box on Twitter. According to Vice News, Twitter appears to have made adjustments and is no longer limiting those Republicans in its search results visibility. Twitter has maintained the issue was not aimed at Republicans and was the unintended result of a new policy. But McDaniel said Twitter needs to … [Read more...] about RNC’S McDaniel: Twitter Should Explain Why It ‘Shadow Banned’ Conservatives

Share Tweet Email building a better bay area Share: Share Tweet Email EMBED <> More Videos <iframe width="476" height="267" src="https://abc7news.com/video/embed/?pid=5300629" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The City of Mountain View is drafting an ordinance that would ban people who live in their RVs from parking on public streets. Share: Share Tweet Email KGO By MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KGO) -- The City of Mountain View is drafting an ordinance that would ban people who live in their RVs from parking on public streets. The decision was first made in March. Now, two civil rights groups, including the ACLU, are challenging the proposal and calling it "cruel and unusual punishment." RELATED: Berkeley City Council approves ban on overnight RV parking Francisa Ramirez Vazquez and her husband live in a trailer parked on a public street in Mountain View. Both work full-time jobs, … [Read more...] about Civil rights groups challenge proposed Mountain View RV ban