Benny Evangelista
SF Chronicle
San Francisco, CA, United States
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Past articles by Benny:
30 Facebook-Cambridge Analytica cases head to San Francisco court
A federal judicial panel has centralized 30 lawsuits seeking class-action status that stem from the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal with a federal judge in San Francisco. A Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Wednesday transferred eight cases filed in Northern California, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas to Judge Vince Chhabria. The panel also noted there were 22 more… → Read More
Richmond cops place woman at center of police sex-abuse scandal on medical hold
Police placed a woman who was at the center of a police sex-abuse scandal on a medical hold early Sunday after a domestic disturbance, Richmond Police Chief Allwyn Brown said on Twitter after she posted a video of the incident on Facebook. In the tweet, Brown said officers were called to the home of the woman who used the pseudonym Celeste Guap about 7 a.m. Brown’s tweet referred to Guap by her… → Read More
Richmond man held in stabbing at El Cerrito BART station
A Richmond man was arrested after another man was stabbed in BART's El Cerrito del Norte Station late Saturday, BART police said. The incident happened inside the fare gates on the station's lower level about 10:21 p.m., BART spokeswoman Cheryl Stalter said. Police then closed the station for the rest of the night, and service through the station was replaced by buses. The station reopened when… → Read More
Train fatally strikes man on tracks at Redwood City Caltrain station
A man on the tracks at the Redwood City Caltrain station was struck and killed by a northbound train late Saturday, the fourth fatality involving the commuter rail service this year, a Caltrain spokesman said. The man was "trespassing on the tracks" at the station about 10:56 p.m. when he was struck, spokesman Dan Lieberman said. The train carried 131 passengers, but no injuries were reported on… → Read More
Headphones maker Monster plans $300 million cryptocurrency offering
Monster Products, known for headphones and electronics cables, is turning to cryptocurrencies as part of its latest bid to reverse a tide of red ink. The South San Francisco company plans to raise $300 million through what's known as an initial coin offering, a sale of digital tokens used both as a store of value and a means of payment. Monster plans to use its Monster Money tokens and… → Read More
California Senate passes net neutrality bill
The state Senate Wednesday approved a bill to replace the federal government's repealed net neutrality regulations, sending the measure to the Assembly. The Senate voted 23-12 to approve the bill authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. "When Donald Trump's FCC took a wrecking ball to the Obama-era net neutrality protections, we said we would step in to make sure that California residents… → Read More
Trump violated First Amendment by blocking Twitter users, judge rules
President Trump violated First Amendment rights by blocking seven people from his official Twitter account, a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday. A public official, even the president, blocking Twitter followers prevents them from exercising their free-speech rights, District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald held in a 75-page ruling. "This case requires us to consider whether a public… → Read More
Maker Faire Bay Area returns to San Mateo this weekend
The do-it-yourself Maker Faire Bay Area returns to San Mateo this weekend - featuring an 8,000-pound robotic machine, workshops from Nintendo and more than 1,200 projects that touch on music, art, science, health and robotics. At least 125,000 people are expected to attend the event, one of the largest "maker" events in the world, which is now in its 13th year. It kicked off Friday with sessions… → Read More
YouTube Red is dead: Google renames and hikes prices on streaming services
Google is shuffling its YouTube streaming music and video services. Google next week will introduce YouTube Music, a free music streaming service supported by advertising, with the ability to create playlists and discover new songs, the company said in a blog post. But the company is also starting YouTube Music Premium, a $9.99 per month ad-free service. This might be confusing for subscribers… → Read More
What scandal? Facebook’s profits soar, user numbers rise
Facebook's powerful revenue machine is blazing ahead despite the recent data-privacy scandal. In its first earnings report since the furor began last month, the Menlo Park social network on Wednesday blew past expectations, raking in nearly $5 billion in profit during the first quarter, up 63 percent from a year ago. Both advertising revenues and membership showed healthy gains. → Read More
Ken Hofmann, former A’s owner and developer, dies at 95
Kenneth H. Hofmann, the dynamic Bay Area homebuilder, philanthropist, outdoorsman and former co-owner of the A's and Seattle Seahawks, died Sunday. He was 95. The A's announced Hofmann's death in a statement released Monday, but did not give further details. "The Oakland A's are deeply saddened by the news of Ken Hofmann's passing," A's President Dave Kaval said in a statement. "He will be… → Read More
California net neutrality bill passes state senate committee
A bill to create California's version of expiring national net neutrality regulation passed its first major test Tuesday by getting through the state Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. The committee voted 8-3 to send the bill authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill, however, still has a long road ahead before gaining… → Read More
Illinois Congressman compares Mark Zuckerberg to J. Edgar Hoover
Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., compared Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the late J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI's controversial founding director. In a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Rush talked about how the FBI's covert surveillance program, called Counter Intelligence Program, or Cointelpro, collected information on civil rights activists like himself. "Your… → Read More
D.C. trip pays off: $2.8 billion haul for Zuckerberg from five-hour hearing
With the eyes of Silicon Valley, Washington and Wall Street focused on him, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday successfully stood up to sometimes tricky questions from senators on topics from privacy scandals to foreign election interference to the tech industry's political leanings. No matter how you look at it, Zuckerberg, the 33-year-old billionaire, profited from sitting for five hours… → Read More
Zuckerberg meets with Feinstein, preps for hearings on Facebook scandal
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg headed into the storm Monday, meeting in Washington with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other top Capitol Hill lawmakers as he prepared for what is expected to be two days of intense congressional hearings. His aim: to try to convince Congress and the public that the social network would protect users' privacy and safeguard future elections against interference. In… → Read More
Big tech companies jointly launch royalty-free 4K UHD video standard
A coalition of technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Amazon, on Wednesday is releasing a new technology they say will give consumers a higher-quality video format for streaming 4K Ultra High Definition shows, movies and games. The 3-year-old Alliance for Open Media said the new open-source, royalty-free format, named AV1, is designed to be a new… → Read More
Federal Trade Commission confirms probe of Facebook in privacy scandal
The Federal Trade Commission confirmed Monday that it has opened an investigation into Facebook's privacy practices in light of news reports of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Tom Pahl, the FTC's acting director of consumer protection, said in a statement that the agency is probing whether the Menlo Park social networking company has engaged in "unfair acts that cause substantial injury to… → Read More
Before #DeleteFacebook, others resisted the social network
Whether because of occupation, age or gender, there are untold numbers of Facebook users who have distrusted the social network to protect their privacy long before the Cambridge Analytica controversy surfaced. And even though they may not be joining the campaign to #DeleteFacebook and remove their data completely, several Facebook members interviewed for this story say they are taking the… → Read More
Hot dog! 49ers pick new concession operator at Levi’s Stadium
The San Francisco 49ers have booted their longtime food and beverage services company and will instead use a Chicago company, Levy, which also serves fans at Oracle Arena and will move into AT&T Park this season. The Levi's Stadium authority signed Levy to serve Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for all events starting in April, the team and the authority announced Wednesday. Levy replaces… → Read More
Net neutrality proponents, opponents square off online
Protesters on both sides of the net neutrality controversy took their causes to the Internet on Tuesday as Senate Democrats introduced a resolution aimed at reversing the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of Obama-era net neutrality rules. Reddit, Slashdot, Change.org, Sonic, Sonos and Etsy and were among about 1,500 websites and tech companies that helped funnel visitors to Operation… → Read More