Apple HQ transferring to Texas? Bogus to the core

Editor’s Note: Welcome to screenshots where senior tech reporter Jeff Elder covers the come and go of SF’s biggest industry. Stay tuned as we keep track of all things tech.

Stanford’s Hoover Institution incorrectly reported that Apple moved its headquarters to Austin two weeks ago in a report. That was news for Apple. In the report, a company spokeswoman said, “This listing is inaccurate.” The institution is only 14 miles up I-280 from Apple’s world-famous 180 acre headquarters in Cupertino, and the Stanford Libraries contain 40 archival collections about the company. But the researchers, Hoover fellows Lee Ohanian and Joseph Vranich, used the Austin Chamber of Commerce as their source. Why? One explanation could be in the report’s first footnote, which subtly mentions that the lead author, Vranich, who billed himself as “The moving coach” runs a company that helps companies move from California to Texas. “Liberal cities are a mess – let us help you move to a conservative community,” read a page on Vranich’s website. He has written articles like “Confucius Would Push Chinese Companies To Avoid California” …

Well, that’s good news for The City’s tech startups – and those spooky tech campuses. In his report to the Supes this week, Ted Egan, City Hall’s top economist, said venture capital investments in SF are at an all-time high. And some startups may use that money to rent offices on large tech campuses. Egan said San Francisco is the nationwide leader in office sublet subletting – and commercial rents are falling. “Big tech companies that want to grow fast are making room in the market,” said Egan. “Little ones lease it back.” But he warned: “We still have a big gap between supply and demand” …

Seems like every tech reporter on the bay is covering the big things Theranos Legal proceedings – and even foreign media cannot get enough. I got two breathless emails from a major UK radio station asking if I could do a spot in the process this morning. That made my eyes wider than Elizabeth Holmes’, considering I can’t remember ever writing about the disgraced medical research company. However, I can tell you my favorite tweet so far about the process: “ELIZABETH HOLMES OFFERS TO TAKE A NEW THERANOS LIE DETECTOR TEST TO PROVE INNOCENCE” by Onion-y @ hardmoneymag …

Waymo attracted a lot on Thursday evening Exploratorium after dark Event (now 700-900 geeky partygoers!) With a virtual reality display that shows the self-driving jaguars cruising through the western part of the city. Waymo employs around 2,000 people, some in an office in Potrero Hill, where they work on the San Francisco challenges for Jaguar’s white electric I-PACE models. Such as? The smart cars are amazed at these party buses that look like cable cars because they are not where cable cars should be. And fog, of course. The sensors that tell the cars what is nearby sometimes have a hard time pinching everything when Karla the Fog rolls hard …

Yes, I said Karla. The famous KarlTheFog Twitter account has been quiet for more than a year and a half, but its up and coming sister account @KarlaTheFog has caught up with the slack – if not all of its followers …

New hardware for remote work from a Bay Area company: Palo Alto networks – The World’s Highest Paid Cyber ​​Security Company – just announced Okyo guard Remote worker hardware that creates a private Wi-Fi network separate from their home network to protect workers from hackers and keep them connected quickly. the Alexa– looking hardware costs around $ 150 and will be released this fall …

Palo Alto Networks launches a home device that makes remote workers’ WiFi safer and faster. (Courtesy Palo Alto Networks)

In this week Google announced plans to replenish 120% of the company’s total water use by 2030 and invest in three projects in the Bay Area. And did you know? Kate Brandt, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer who announced the campaign, received the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest distinction the Navy can bestow on a civilian for helping the Navy go green …

Kate Brandt is Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer. (Courtesy of Google)

Later that month the giant Japanese company NTT will open a huge research facility in Sunnyvale where researchers are working on digital twins of people’s hearts. An identical version of your heart that lives on a screen that doctors can experiment on to see how your real heart can be better cared for. And you thought digitally heart was your CD from “Dreamboat Annie”. Watch out or I’ll go crazy for you. I am a wizard…

OK, OK, let’s mention some digital music from this century. Talented local writer Benjamin Schneider says SF rapper Stunnaman02 is the real deal, and the video for “I Know” that he posted on YouTube two weeks ago is really good for my untrained eyes and ears. My SF Media colleague Schneider is a real expert and he says: “Stunnaman is definitely the real deal. Certainly the greatest local artist of 2021. “Believe him, not me …

Submit articles to jelder@sfexaminer.com.

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