How Students Used Big Data To Analyze Crime In San Francisco

As cities go, San Francisco is a safe place to live: Homicides are about half of what they were a few years ago and property crimes are declining. The tourism trade is also up, and tech startups are resurging.

But students at KIPP King High School in San Lorenzo, California, have discovered that the picture is less positive when looked at through the lens of big data.

Working with HANA for Humanity, a groundbreaking program that enables nonprofits to solve problems using publicly available data in the SAP HANA in-memory database platform, the students were able to analyze around 1.5 million crime records from 2003-2012.

They then overlaid additional data sets — locations of liquor stores, whether there was any graffiti in the neighborhood, the presence of police precincts, etc. — from nonprofits and other governmental agencies. Several hundred million data points were crunched, revealing some surprising facts:

• One block of Bryant Street has had more than 30,000 documented instances of crime in the last 10 years, translating into one incident every three hours.
• There are 10 liquor stores where a vast majority of crime occurs — within a mere 0.2 mile radius.
• Crime against property continues to be an ongoing problem; and though violent crime appears to be under control, larceny/theft and vehicular theft account for 27% of the City’s reported crime incidents.
• Whenever the 49ers or the Giants have a home game, there's a 20% spike in crime. Weekend games result in much larger crime spikes than when games are held on Mondays. Additionally, crime levels vary, depending upon the opposing team and if there is a win for the home team (wins typically generated more crime than a loss or a tie).

Big Data technologies like SAP HANA can have a meaningful impact on society. Knowing which neighborhoods to police at what time of day, determining the optimal route for the police patrol car, ensuring that broken street lamps are promptly fixed and graffiti cleaned up before it begins to fester ... these are small actions that City Hall can take to ensure that San Francisco remains not just an iconic landmark but also a safe place to live for its 800,000 residents.

report by: kingsley Bashemi

Facebook Just Launched A New Feature: Here's How To Protect Your Profile From Unwanted Searches

Facebook's Graph Search feature is rolling out to everyone today. The new search tool lets you to search Facebook's huge amount of data to get consolidated results. Mark Zuckerberg stressed Graph Search's privacy awareness at the big reveal months ago. "Every piece of content has its own audience, most content is not public, and you can only search for content that has been shared with you," Zuckerberg said at the time. Despite this reassurance, you still should take some time to look at your Facebook privacy settings to make sure things you share don't inadvertently show up in search. 

Facebook's New Graph Search Launches Today — Here's How It Works Today, Facebook is finally launching its new Graph Search feature. The new search tool uses your Facebook connections and interests to come up with relevant results for people, photos, places, and interests. These are generally results for which a regular Web search would come up empty — like "places I visited in 2010" or "photos of my friends taken before 1980" or "restaurants my friends like." (In fact, Facebook struggled with naming its new search feature, fearing that anything with "search" in the name would make people think of a Web search engine like Google.) We've been playing with Graph Search for the past few months and its easy to see why naming the product was so hard. This is not Google Web search—it's something completely different. The interface strongly guides users to doing these kinds of searches, responding with plain-English suggestions for questions. Here's what you can expect to experience with Graph Search starting today.

Thanks to Kingsley Bashemi who contributed to this article.

Business Is Booming For Luxury Automaker Bentley

Bentley global sales were up 9% in the first half of 2013, compared to the first six months of 2012. The luxury automaker has delivered 4,279 cars since January, it announced this morning.

Growth was even stronger in the Americas, its largest region, with a 12% increase in sales.

These most recent numbers are part of a larger trend: Bentley sales have been steadily rising over the past four years.

 

In a statement, Kevin Rose, Bentley's Board Member for Sales, Marketing, and Aftersales, gave some of the credit to the recent introduction new models, the Continental GT Speed and the Continental GT Speed Convertible.

In February, Bentley officially unveiled the Flying Spur, the fastest and most powerful four-door it has ever produced.

Sales were down 23% in China, a drop Bentley attributed to the fact that the Flying Spur, a "major car for this region," is not yet fully available there.

In an April interview, Bentley COO Christophe Georges said the company's recent success can be credited to its decision to develop new products and keep its dealerships open, even in the midst of the financial crisis.

"Whatever the stress is in your market, you cannot compromise the brand," he said. "We didn’t compromise on customer satisfaction. We didn’t compromise on the brand. We didn’t lose our network, and we invested in new products."

Here's How Prince Alwaleed Spends His '$29.6 Billion' Fortune:the-fabulous-life-of-prince-alwaleed-2013

Prince Alwaleed was born into Saudi royalty.  It's a classic he-said-she-said — except she is Forbes' Senior Editor Kerry Dolan and he is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, considered to be the richest man in Saudi Arabia and one of the richest people in the world. They're fighting over how much the Saudi Arabian prince is worth. Alwaleed believes the number is a $29.6 billion, while Forbes disagreed and placed him at number 26 on its annual billionaires list with a net worth estimate of $20 billion. Regardless, Alwaleed is still rich beyond belief from his stake in his Kingdom Holding Company, his Saudi real estate investments, shares in Arab media companies, and investments in public and private companies globally, including Twitter.

Prince Alwaleed was born into Saudi royalty.  He is the son of Prince Talal and Mona Al Solh. His maternal grandfather was the     first prime minister of Lebanon and his paternal grandfather, King Abdulaziz, created Saudi Arabia.

He attended a California school for college. It was while attending Menlo College in Atherton, California that he acquired what many believe to be a Western world outlook, making him the go-to Saudi investor for American businessmen.

He got his big break when he invested in a little company called Citicorp. He received a $30,000 gift, a $300,000 loan, and a house from his father after graduating, and slowly began investing. In 1991, when Alwaleed was 36, he made a high-stakes decision to invest in Citicorp, which made him $800 million. By 2005, that had turned into $10 billion.

He's married to the gorgeous Princess Ameerah. Princess Ameerah is Alwaleed's fourth bride (and his only current wife — Alwaleed is a one-wife-at-a-time kind of guy). They've been married for eight years, and she is heavily involved in charity work.

He has met many of the richest and most impressive people on the planet. Alwaleed makes a point of meeting and being seen with the world's royals, politicians, and celebrities.He and his wife were guests at Kate Middleton and Prince William's royal wedding, and he's met the Queen of England, Prince Charles, Nicholas Sarkozy, Queen Rania of Jordan, Michael Jackson, and the former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, among others. 

He owns an estimated $700 million in jewelry. When Forbes' Kerry Dolan visited with the Saudi Prince in 2009

, he reportedly showed her part of his impressive jewelry collection that he claimed neither he nor his wife even used: "The most spectacular set on display was a diamond and emerald necklace with three emeralds the size of sparrow eggs dangling from the center, with earrings and a ring to match. With a combined total of 200 carats, the set is worth $40 million," Dolan wrote.

He sleeps only four hours a night and loves CNBC. The prince follows a bizarre schedule of going to bed at 4 or 5 am, and waking up at 9 am. He then eats one big meal a day at 8 pm which he calls "lunch." The TV is constantly turned to CNBC while Alwaleed is eating or working, and the Saudi royal has even appeared as a guest on his favorite TV channel.

He's a women's rights advocate (sort of). The prince takes pride in the fact that nearly 65 percent of the staff at his palace and his investment company, Kingdom Holding, are women.  But he's been accused of doing it for publicity: For instance, Business Insider's Nicholas Carlson reports his female pilot Hanadi Zakariya Hindi has hardly flown any of Alwaleed's aircraft, and when she was hired, Alwaleed told his aviation staff that she never would.

He bought the third biggest yacht in the world for $500 million.  Alwaleed's old yacht, the New Kingdom 5KR Yacht, was 282 feet long, and appeared in the Bond movie "Never Say Never Again." The boat has a disco, cinema, helipad, pool, guest rooms, and more. But Alwaleed commissioned a new yacht double the size at 557 feet, making it the third biggest yacht in the world. It's expected to be delivered in 2014 and will cost a reported $500 million.

He owns a lot of expensive cars, too. His collection includes a Rolls Royce Phantom, which retails just under $500,000, a $48 million diamond-encrusted Mercedes Benz SL 600, and several other Lamborghinis and Ferraris. 

He bought (and then sold) an Airbus 380 plane. It was reportedly tricked out with three floors, a Turkish bath, a "concert hall" with seating for 10, a boardroom with holographic projectors, and a garage for his Rolls Royce. The aircraft cost an estimated $500 million. Alwaleed recently sold the plane to a private buyer for an undisclosed price, with proceeds going toward his investments in Saudi Arabia and the greater Middle East, according to his spokesperson.

But he still owns his Boeing 747.

Alwaleed owns a $220 million Boeing 747 with a throne, two bedrooms, and a 14-seat dining table with 11 flight attendants from around the world. 

He lives in a 420-room palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Alwaleed's palace is made with high-quality marble and hung with large portraits and photographs of himself. It also has two indoor pools and an outdoor tennis court.

He also owns a huge farm/resort on the outskirts of the city. The Farm has over 120 acres, and has a miniature version of the Grand Canyon, a mi
ni-zoo, horse stables, and five artificial lakes. 

Alwaleed is a big game hunter. He often goes on hunting expeditions, and shoots game that are typically illegal to hunt. His prized animal is a stuffed zebra that he killed with his daughter. His palace is filled with the taxidermied animals that are put on display for guests to admire.

He hires little people to act like his "court jesters." vBusiness Insider's Nicholas Carlson reports: "Almost every source we spoke to, including Alwaleed's o

fficial spokesperson, confirmed that, like a medieval monarch, Alwaleed keeps in his entourage a group of dancing, laughing, joking dwarfs." The sources continued that even though they were initially shocked, in Saudi culture it would be considered charity since the little people would most likely be out of work and considered "freaks" in the country.

But it's not all about the toys: Alwaleed also donates heavily to charities. It is common for Alwaleed to make donations to petitioners, as well as to numerous charities and causes through the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation (even if it might just be for publicity). He has given to those affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, as well as to universities like Harvard and Cambridge.  by. Kingsley.......

 

Ja Rule

Rapper Jeffrey Atkins, also known as Ja Rule, was sentenced to 28 months in prison in July 2011 for failing to file tax returns with the IRS after admitting that he did not file his taxes for five years

Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes walked out of a federal prison in April after serving a tax evasion sentence that began in December 2010. He claimed that he was not legally obligated to pay federal taxes, an argument a jury did not buy.

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage revealed in 2010 that he owed $14 million in back taxes, which he has been working to pay off since. A federal tax lien filed last year said he owed $6.2 million from income in 2007.

Sinbad

Comedian Sinbad racked up a large unpaid tax bill, owing $8 million in 2009 to the IRS for 1998 to 2006 income, according to an IRS court filing in 2012. California officials also reported he owed that state $2 million. After filing for bankruptcy and selling his home, Sinbad used the tax troubles as material for a reality show.

OJ Simpson

While O.J. Simpson has known bigger legal problems, delinquent taxes are on the list. The former football star, who's serving a long prison sentence in Nevada, owed the IRS and state of California hundreds of thousands of dollars for the past decade, according to court documents.

Lil' Kim

Lil' Kim blamed her accountant when her tax troubles arose in 2005. The rapper was still behind in paying the government by more than $1 million in 2012.

Pete Rose

Baseball legend Pete Rose spent five months in prison for tax evasion convictions in 1990, stemming from money made selling autographs and memorabilia. The tax man returned to his door with a $1 million lien for back taxes in 2004.

Willie Nelson cleared his $32 million tax debt to the IRS by selling assets and with profits from an album titled "The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories." He discovered in 1990 that his accountants had not fully paid his taxes, a find made tougher by losses from investments in the 1980s.

Judy Garland : celebrity tax woes

Singer/actress Judy Garland's tax debt forced her to do something she vowed she would never do: host a television show. Reeling from poor ticket sales for "A Star is Born," Garland signed a $24 million deal with CBS for "The Judy Garland Show" in 1962 to pay the IRS for delinquent taxes dating back a decade.

Lauryn Hill reports to prison

Singer Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in prison on Monday after telling a judge she intended to pay taxes, but it was just a question of when. Yet Hill isn't the only star with tax problems.

Ezinne Akudo Wins Miss Nigeria 2013

Ezinne Akudo on Saturday  beat 32 other contestants to clinch the covetous crown of  Miss Nigeria held  at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos

The 22 year old Law graduate of Abia State went home the star prize of a brand new car, a trip to California and N3m.

Akudo will  represent Nigeria at the Miss World pageant scheduled of September in  Indonesia.

 After a series of competition, 10 beauties scaled through the Abuja zonal screening, and headed to Lagos for the final selection where she emerged. The Miss Nigeria 2013 beauty pageant held last weekend in Lagos yielded Ezinne Akudo as the winner. Miss Akudo takes home a 3 million naira cash prize, a brand new car, accommodation for a year, a trip to California sponsored by MUD Cosmetics, and free trips to any part of the country by Aero Contractors.

A John Kumuyi Wedding Eye-Witness Defends Love Odih

A commenter on the wedding post of John Kumuyi and Love Odih claims to be an eye witness to the wedding and that the photos have been unfairly and maliciously over analysed. Looking at the picture above, one may be tempted to agree, but could it be that by the time reception photos were taken, some of the make up had faded? Read the account and decide for yourself. (www.romancemeetslife.com)

As a friend of the couple, I can’t keep silent anymore. The picture being circulated is not what the bride looked like on the wedding day, it was digital altered to destroy the lives of the new couple and may you all be forgiven for the damage you caused the church of God and the new couple. As someone that attended the wedding, the pictures arousing such controversy looks nothing like the bride on her wedding day. (www.romancemeetslife.com)

No white-looking makeup or blush
No earring
No lipstick
No fake eye lash
No mascara
No relaxed hair (blow drier & flat iron can do that! by the way, her hair is that long)
No colored eyebrow
No eye shadow
No ring on finger

You compare earlier pictures of a deeper life bride with a turban covered hair. In the Caribbean generally, the thick turban covering is associated with a satanic worship church. Can you imagine? No!! Ignorance is bliss. Is that what you want the new couple subjected to because of your lack of understanding? A joining that appears to be like under Satan because of hair covering as you understand it in your side of the world? God forbid!

If you want to accuse the bride of the gown, is it showing any body parts? I thought this was the idea of modesty. Let not thy nakedness be discovered.. Love is also not John's lover/heartthrob/girlfriend or any other careless language, these two were brought together led of The Lord though from thousand of miles apart and I'm sure they went through the deeper life church marriage committee process from their countries. (www.romancemeetslife.com)

I hope you feel guilty enough to stop all the lies and great damage you have caused a new couple trying to begin a life together hard school of marriage, and added to that has to live with scrutiny on a public scale, all influenced by lies and doctored images from the haters.. Let each man run their own Christian race, not with eye service or an envious mind.

Congrats to the new couple and may God soothe the irreparable damage caused by online social media (www.romancemeetslife.com)
P.s there are so many other good things online about Love Odih, not just some fabricated and baseless scandal

THE SHUFFLE BOARD Pharrell Wins Again (and Again) and More New Summer Anthems

PHARRELL WILLIAMS IS LITERALLY SLAYING YOU AND THE ENTIRE GAME

The weird thing about Pharrell Williams is that most people I’ve spoken to about him seem to think that he’s been M.I.A. the past few years. But in actuality, he’s been chipping away at the ol’ block with appearances on a bunch of non-charting singles. Last year alone, he hopped on Rick Ross’ “Presidential” remix alongside Rockie Fresh, blessed young tyke Conor Maynard’s “Lift Off” (great song btw) and a handful of others. Frankly, Skateboard P never left.

But this is Pharrell's year. This dude’s track record has been essentially flawless in 2013. He lit up Tyler, The Creator’s “IFHY,” one of the Odd Future leader’s best tracks. He’s on the song of the summer, Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” He’s crooning all over the number one song in the country, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” Come on. This dude is fucking killin’ it.

This week, a handful of new solo tracks from The Neptunes producer quietly slid onto the Internet via the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. I’ve lost my collective shit over “Happy,” the first leak. It’s that swinging, feel-good stuff suitable for kids and adults alike. Pharrell just knows how to do this whole throwback thing. He might just be the retro king.

And that’s evidenced on a few of the other cuts that made the soundtrack. “Just a Cloud Away” makes me want to brush the cobwebs off of my rotten heart and learn to love again. “Fun Fun Fun” chugs along on a guitar so crisp that it could snap the diaper off a baby. And then there’s the theme song “Despicable Me,” which I’m like eh about.

HYPER NOTED The Definitive Guide to Wale’s ‘The Gifted’ Album Credits

The D.C. native is rolling with Rick Ross, and from the looks of it, straight to No. 1. But he didn't get there alone. Get to know the team that helped push the project to the top of the charts.

It took Wale three tries, but he’s on top. After stirring up buzz with critically acclaimed mixtapes (100 Miles and Running, Mixtape About Nothing), the Washington, D.C. rapper debuted back in 2009 with his first album Attention Deficit (Allido/Interscope). The LP was a bid for mainstream success—Wale even tapped a fresh-on-the-scene Lady Gaga for his first single, “Chillin.” But Folarin faltered: the project only sold 28,000 copies in its first week, bowing at No. 21 on the charts and drawing lukewarm reviews from critics.

But Wale didn’t give up—the title of his sophomore album, Ambition (Warner Bros./Maybach Music), said it all. Undeterred by Attention Deficit’s reception, he vented about his struggles on his More About Nothing mixtape and gave away tracks for free as part of his “Throwback Thursday” series. And in February 2011, the outspoken MC announced his signing with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group, putting the wheels into motion for his next studio effort.

The hard work paid off. Ambition, released in November 2011, entered the charts at No. 2, selling 168,000 copies in its first week. If there were any fears that signing with Ross would derail his focus, the LP proved otherwise. “Lotus Flower Bomb” featuring Miguel, the project’s first single, became his biggest hit to date, scoring a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song and earning gold certification.

Now, after keeping the streets hot with his December 2012 mixtape Folarin and contributing to MMG’s Self Made Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Wale will hit No. 1 with his third album The Gifted (Atlantic/Maybach Music, June 25), and unseat Kanye West’s Yeezus (Def Jam) from the top position. But Wale didn’t get there on his own. Here’s an extensive breakdown of the team behind The Gifted.

THE STAR

WaleMyspace // Official // Twitter

Contribution: Writer and Performer, all songs; Executive Producer; Producer, “Simple Man”

Native to Washington, D.C., the rapper, born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, has released three solo albums including his most recent, The Gifted. He got his start on a more mainstream level after signing with Mark Ronson’s Allido records in 2007, later inking a deal with Interscope to release his debut Attention Deficit in 2009. Two years later, he signed with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group and participated in the group album Self Made Vol. 1 and its sequel. His sophomore album Ambition was released the same year as the first MMG compilation.

Picture Perfect Beyoncé Kindly Asks You to Check Your Camera

Queen Bey rocked the Staples Center stage last night with an all-female backing band. If there are any flaws in the "Mrs. Carter Show World Tour," it was certainly hard to spot them without a zoom lens. She's focused, man!

Last night at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, Beyoncé was cautious. After sites posted unflattering pictures of Queen Bey from her Super Bowl performance, her publicist went into cleanup mode, asking them to pull the offending snapshots. Few obliged, of course, so Team Bey did the next best thing: they banned all cameras from future performances, including her “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour,” which wrapped its European leg in early June.

For the third night of her North American leg (and her second at Staples), Beyoncé took the stage, flaws and all. But throughout the performance, it was hard to detect them. Two writers braved the concert together, trying to make sense of the power that Beyoncé harnesses and learning that while a picture is worth a thousand words, a Beyoncé show is priceless.

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF BEYONCE INTERNET MEMES

Before I begin, I should note that Beyoncé performed her second Los Angeles show in four days (with a Las Vegas concert sandwiched in between) to a packed Staples Center, even with General Admission floor tickets going for $89 a pop. She’s got five more performances in the next week, each in a different city. The roar when she finally took the stage was deafening, and the production level of the entire concert was off the charts. Even I, an indifferent fan, got a few goosebumps when she sang the opening lines of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” There’s no denying her unbelievable dedication and overall “it” factor.

Having said all that, after a rather unflattering photo popped up from her Super Bowl performance, Beyoncé banned all cameras from her current “Mrs. Carter” tour. Coming from a certified jackass and a professional troller, this is a major no-no, the public relations equivalent of trying to put out a fire with a bucket of oil. Dude, you’re supermodel levels of attractive. Who cares about a silly picture. Just laugh it off, and the whole thing will eventually fade away. A camera ban does nothing because people will undoubtedly find ways around what you’re trying to prevent, like writing an entire review about it.

No cameras on tour? No problem. There’s an infinite amount of ways to Photoshop backgrounds and add captions to keep the meme alive. One photo is more than enough. And let’s not forget that EVERY SMARTPHONE IN THE AUDIENCE HAS A CAMERA BUILT INTO IT. Security may have been able to keep the venue camera free, but attendees were free to sneak in blunts or whatever other illegal substances they wanted, since those don’t set off a metal detector. Great job, guys!

Naturally, this picture was in my head the entire concert, and now that I’ve seen Beyoncé perform in person, I can say that she makes weird faces like that a lot. But they’re proof that she’s literally putting all of her energy into giving the crowd their money’s worth, because her face wouldn’t contort into such unbecoming poses if she were half-assing her way through it. And towards the end of the night, the stars aligned, the seas parted and for one magical moment I saw her hit that pose exactly. She was even staring in my direction when it happened—it was as if there was a flash of divine intervention, a celestial being telling me “impart this wisdom onto others.” And now, I share it with you.

During a medley of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” (she spliced in riffs and verses from pop hits with her own material throughout the performance), Beyoncé took a moment to remind the crowd that she was born and raised in Houston, Texas: “The dirty South, and in the South, we like to get dirty.” She followed by channeling her inner blues, singing “hey” three times in that deep Southern baritone (think “Ol’ Man River”), clearly pushing the limits of her vocal range. Combined with her dancing, which unlike many pop stars was just as rigorous as the backups who didn’t have to sing, her body tensed and went into overdrive. So before you make a joke at her expense, just keep in mind there’s a reason she turns into She–Hulk—she’s one of the hardest working pop stars in the business, a literal superhero. Now, make your joke.