Wynwood co-working center funded by Knight Foundation, angel investors

The LAB Miami announced Thursday it will open a 10,000-square-foot co-working center in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and local angel investors are investing $650,000.

As Miami’s startup community continues to grow, The LAB Miami said its “work-learn campus” will offer an in-house mentor network that will include investors and serial entrepreneurs, said Wifredo Fernandez, co-founder of The LAB Miami with Danny Lafuente and Elisa Rodriguez-Vila.

The LAB Miami, now in a 720-square-foot space in the same neighborhood, turned a Goldman building at 400 NW 26th Street into an artsy, modern space that can support 300 members, including tech startups, programmers, designers, investors, nonprofits, artists and academics.

In addition to offering space to work, the new co-working space plans to offer courses and workshops in business and technology — including a startup school and code school — as well as art, design and education, Fernandez said. It will be a welcoming space for traveling Latin Americans, too. “We want this to be a community center for entrepreneurs,” said Fernandez, explaining that the mix of activities and workshops will be structured by the needs of the LAB’s members.

While the Knight Foundation’s Miami office has sponsored many entrepreneurship events in the past four months, this is the foundation’s largest investment announced so far in its efforts to help accelerate entrepreneurship in Miami, said the Knight Foundation’s Miami program director, Matt Haggman. The Knight Foundation’s Miami office, which made accelerating entrepreneurship one of its key areas of focus this year, is investing $250,000 with the rest of the funding coming from a group of investors lead by Marco Giberti, Faquiry Diaz-Cala, Boris Hirmas Said and Daniel Echavarria.

“This is an important part of our strategy,” said Haggman. “Entrepreneurs need places to gather, connect and learn.”

The LAB Miami has already hosted several events, including HackDay and Wayra DemoDay earlier this week, and the co-working space plans to open for membership in January.

Co-working space will start at $200 a month to use the communal tables, and private offices that will accommodate up to six are also available. The LAB will also offer “Connect” memberships for $40 a month, which allows members who do not need co-working space to participate in events. In addition, there will be phone booths, classrooms, flexible meeting spaces, a lounge area, a kitchen, a “pop-up shop” for local fashion, art or technology products, a shower for those who bike to work and an outside garden with native landscaping.

Read More..

‘Jewish Spirituality’ lecture series to start Dec. 16

Temple Israel of Greater Miami will kick off its Jewish Spirituality Series on Sunday with Rabbi Arthur Green, who was named one of the "top 50 rabbis in America for 2012," by Newsweek Magazine.

Green will speak on the topic, "Spirituality for a New Era."

A highly respected scholar, teacher and expert in the field of contemporary Jewish spirituality, Green is rector of Hebrew College Rabbinical School and professor emeritus at Brandeis University. He also is the author of several books, including Radical Judaism: Rethinking god and Tradition. His most recent book is titled Hasidic Spirituality for a New Era.

The event will start at 9:30 a.m. with a light breakfast followed at 10 a.m. by the program, at which time Green will engage participants in an open conversation about the future and how each person can play a more active role shaping it.

The series will continue on Jan 22, when Nathan Katz, who arranged for the Dalai Lama to come to Miami three times, will speak on "Contemporary Global Spirituality."

According to a press release from the temple, more and more Americans describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." In his lecture, Katz will focus on the question, "What is spirituality, and can it truly be separated from religion?"

The author of 15 books, including Who Are the Jews of India, a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and his recent memoir, Spiritual Journey Home, Katz is a Florida International University research professor in the School of International and Public Affairs, the Bhagwan Mahavir professor of Jain Studies, academic director of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, and director of the Program in the Study of Spirituality, which is a co-sponsor of the series.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro, an award-wining author, poet, educator and the founding rabbi of Temple Beth Or in Miami, will close out the series on March 1, with the topic, "Amazing Chesed."

According to the press release, many Jews do not believe that grace is a central concept in Judaism, and an essential element in living "Jewishly." Shapiro disagrees and will draw from many facets of Jewish wisdom to answer that question in the affirmative.

Shapiro is recognized as one of the most creative figures in contemporary American Judaism and his prayers are included in worship services across the denominational spectrum of American congregations.

Admission to the series is free and open the public, and will be held in the Wolfson Auditorium at Temple Israel, 137 NE 19th St.

For more information call the temple at 305-573-5900 or email info@templeisrael.net.

New dean

Warm congratulations to the Very Rev. Douglas Wm. McCaleb, who recently was elected the new dean of the Episcopal North Dade Deanery.

McCaleb, the spiritual leader at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at 464 NE 16th St., was elected at the 43rd Annual Diocesan Convention.

The Diocese of Southeast Florida is composed of six deaneries, divided geographically for both administrative purposes and for representation on the diocese’s Executive Board. McCaleb is the executive head of the deanery, which is responsible for the planning and financial aspects of the deanery, as well as being responsible for the study of the needs and opportunities of the church and to evaluate diocesan programs. In his position of leadership, McCaleb will also delegate the necessary authority and responsibility to carry out such work.

Read More..

Fandango launches Oscar-themed web series with Dave Karger

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Fandango is elbowing into the Oscar horse race.

The movie-ticket seller launched its first original digital video series Wednesday, “The Frontrunners,” which will cover the major contenders for the top awards. The show will feature conversations with a star-studded group of Oscar hunters that includes Richard Gere (“Arbitrage”), Amy Adams (“The Master”), Hugh Jackman (“Les Miserables”) and Ben Affleck (“Argo”).

During the broadcasts, actors and directors will deconstruct key scenes from their movies, explaining how they crafted a moment of domestic conflict, in the case of Gere, or decided to intercut between a Hollywood script reading and the Iranian Hostage Crisis, as with Affleck.

However, commerce will be mixed in along with the art. Fandango will offer ticketing information along with the digital videos, with the hopes that the clips will inspire users to check out the movie being discussed.

The show, shot at Soho House in Los Angeles, will be hosted by Fandango’s Chief Correspondent Dave Karger, the movie guru the company lured over from Entertainment Weekly in September. It’s part of a bold bet that Fandango is making on original content.

To that in end, the company tapped former Disney digital executive Paul Yanover to serve in the newly created role of president and tasked him with creating a suite of programming for Fandango and its 41 million unique visitors.

“Our goal with Fandango is to make it the definitive movie-going brand across all platforms,” Nick Lehman, the president of digital for NBC Universal Entertainment Networks & Interactive Media, told TheWrap in October. “We want to continue expanding in ways that entertain and inform and video is key to that strategy. Advertisers are clamoring for it because there is a dearth of high quality original video content on the web.”

As TheWrap reported exclusively in October, Karger is also planning programs that will center on box office contenders and one program that will boast both A-List actors and below-the-line talent.

New episodes of “The Frontrunners” will air weekly through the Academy Awards on February 24, 2013. The first three installments will be available Wednesday

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Barbara Walters Names Most Fascinating Person of 2012

Who topped the list this year?

Tonight, Barbara Walters crowned General David Petraeus as her Most Fascinating person of 2012.

"David Petraeus was not chosen this year for his war record or his exemplary service to his country," said Walters. "This is about military honor, colliding with sex and lies in the digital age."

The former head of the CIA stepped down in November after an extramarital affair was discovered with his biographer Paula Broadwell.
Petraeus, 60, was also given the number one spot in 2010. 

VIDEO: One Direction on What They Look for in a Girl 

Additionally, the legendary journalist sat down with Argo actor/director Ben Affleck, British-Irish boy band One Direction, Olympic gymnast Gabrielle Douglas, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, 50 Shades of Grey author E.L. James, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Prince Harry and Honey Boo Boo were also featured on the list but not interviewed.

This is Walters' 20th season highlighting some of the year's biggest names in entertainment, sports and popular culture.

Read More..

GPS puts brake on taxi scams

Coming soon to a taxi near you: a high-tech GPS system that prevents rate scams by creating an invisible “fence” around the five boroughs.

The Taxi & Limousine Commission is requiring that all new taxi technology — including TV screens and credit-card machines — be outfitted with a system called “geofencing” that prevents drivers from overcharging passengers.

The system uses GPS technology to block drivers from charging a more expensive suburban rate for rides within the city.

Read More..

Lennar to borrow $1.7 billion from Chinese bank

Miami-based Lennar Corp. has gotten approval on $1.7 billion in loans from China Development Bank to fund the development and construction of two major projects in San Francisco, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

The contract, set to close by Dec. 31 subject to various conditions, would mark the first U.S. loan by the big state-owned Chinese bank. One condition — tagged the “Chinese component”— is that China Railway Construction Corp. be included as a general contracting partner in the project, the person said.

Closing by year’s end is crucial because of new tax rules set to take effect, the person added.

The agreement, first reported in The Wall Street Journal, would provide funding for the first six years of what is envisioned to be a 20-year project.

The loan agreement, reached Dec. 7 after Lennar officials met in China with bank officials, provides for $1 billion in financing to a partnership led by Lennar to redevelop Hunters Point Shipyard-Candlestick Point, a site in southeast San Francisco spanning more than 700 acres, the person said. Plans for the mixed-use community call for nearly 12,000 residential units on the site. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2013.

Under the pact, the Chinese bank would provide another $700 million to a partnership of Lennar, Stockbridge Capital Group and Wilson Meany, a real estate investment and development firm, to redevelop Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Islands in San Francisco Bay. Some 8,000 units of housing are planned for the mixed-use project on 535 acres. The U.S. Navy is set to turn over the first parcel of land to the development company in late 2013.

Read More..

Parents of students at Broward school warned of Legionnaires’ Disease exposure

Parents of students at Olsen Middle School in Dania Beach were being informed on Tuesday that their children may have been exposed to someone diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease, Broward School District officials said.

The person with Legionnaires’ Disease was not a student, district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said. They did not say if the infected person was a teacher.

Automated ‘robo-calls’ were made to the telephones of Olsen Middle School parents that explained how the district was working with the Broward Health Department

To read the entire Sun Sentinel story click here.

Read More..

Hugh Hefner's Fiancee Shows Off Engagement Ring

If the size of the diamond is any indication of Hugh Hefner's love for bride-to-be Crystal Harris, it's a safe bet to say that he's head over heels.

RELATED: Hugh Hefner Gets Marriage License?

Harris revealed her engagement ring on Tuesday, via her Twitter feed.

"My beautiful ring from [Hugh Hefner]," Crystal posted along with photos of the giant sparkler.

The couple is reportedly planning to wed on New Year's Eve.

Read More..

Marissa’smail app makeover

Yahoo! rolled out new versions of its popular Web e-mail yesterday, the first major product make-over since Chief Executive Marissa Mayer took the helm of the struggling Internet company five months ago.

Yahoo! released new versions of its Yahoo! Mail product for smartphones and tablets — in keeping with Mayer’s focus on mobile devices — and a revamped version of its Web-based mail product for PC users.

The new PC version of Yahoo! Mail features fewer ads, primarily by doing away with pass-through Web pages that users previously encountered before they could access their inbox and which also appeared after a user sent an e-mail.

As part of yesterday’s makeover announcement, Yahoo! also unveiled an update to its mobile e-mail app for smartphones that are based on the Android operating system, as well as Yahoo!’s first stand-alone app for the iPhone from apple.

Yahoo! closed yesterday at $19.52, up 0.5 percent.

Read More..

With spam, it’s better not to give or receive

Q. Recently I’ve been unable to send emails from my home email address. In addition, my incoming email contains several notices of undeliverable emails that I didn’t send that are addressed to people I don’t know. I suspect that my computer is infected by some malicious software and is being used to send spam email — and that those that are undeliverable are being returned. What should I do?

Joseph Campbell Burnsville, Minn.

I agree that your PC has been taken over by hackers and is being used to send spam.

The fact that you aren’t able to send emails from your home account supports this theory, since it indicates that your Internet service provider believes you are spamming and has temporarily blocked your ability to send email to anyone.

I suggest you download and run the free version of security program Malwarebytes (go to www.tinyurl.com/cwbd73f and click “free download.”) If that doesn’t work, try Windows System Restore to eliminate recently installed software (see www.tinyurl.com/y9q9apj and www.tinyurl.com/ykgps6.) Then call your Internet service provider; explain what happened and what you’ve done to fix it. If your PC is clean, you’ll be allowed to send email again.Q. I’ve recently received a lot of spam, including some that appear to be from people I know — except that the messages come from the wrong email address. How does a spammer use a familiar name with a fake email address and send it to me?

Also, is there a way to find out the identity of the people who send spam emails? I’ve read that the email address of the sender is not always accurate.

Ginger Bramlett Rockwall, Texas

The bogus email that appeared to be from your friend, but came from the wrong email address, is from a spammer who is trying to trick you into opening the email.

Why did this happen? Your friend’s email may have been hacked and his or her address book stolen, providing the spammer with a host of addresses where an email bearing your friend’s name might be opened by the recipient.

It’s hard to find out who actually sent spam, because originating email addresses are easy to fake.

I suggest you send these emails to your spam filter so that you and others may be spared at least some spam in the future. In addition, your Internet service provider allows you to block spam that comes from a specific domain name — the part of the email address that follows the symbol, such as Yahoo.com. See www.tinyurl.com/cxmq4m7.

Read More..