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ALAMEDA (KPIX) — San Francisco fog. It’s as iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge. So, when the distillers at Alameda-based Hangar 1 Vodka decided to transform an essential vodka ingredient, all they had to do was look across the bay. “Sixty percent of vodka is water,” explains Caley Shoemaker, Hangar One’s head distiller. “We started thinking ‘what’s a way that we can make something that’s fun and creative and different but that is gonna have a positive impact on this drought in California’.”

Because Netflix doesn’t own the global licensing rights to all of the movies and TV shows it carries, a good deal of its programming remains completely unavailable to subscribers outside of certain geographic regions. Indeed, one of the reasons why Netflix is so intent on developing its own original programming is precisely because they don’t have to deal with thorny licensing issues. Now if you find yourself in the frustrating position of wanting to watch something on Netflix that is otherwise geographically restricted, there’s a new desktop app that can help turn that dream into a reality.

Though it’s not widely known or talked about, there are legal implications to launching things into space. In the US, each and every launch by a private company has to have clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). That’s because the US signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1969, a treaty that sets out the obligations and limitations to activities in space. The FAA has routinely given their ascent to commercial launches, but things may be starting to get a little tricky in space. ... The Outer Space Treaty was signed in 1967, and has some sway over space exploration...

The Bay Area has one of the nation’s highest rates of car thefts, according to the FBI.Her friends jokingly call it “Boomerang.” Maika Nicholson’s car has been stolen four times, but has also returned four times. “I always come out to make sure it’s there because often times it’s not,” Nicholson said, about her ’97 Honda Civic. “It’s been stolen in San Francisco three times and probably been broken into three or four times, I would say – I can’t even keep count anymore.” This week, her car came back for the fourth time. San Francisco Police found it less...

The restaurant world in Los Angeles is rapidly changing, and it seems that no matter how old the eatery there’s always something new to try. Case in point: Philippe The Original’s plan, as of today, to start offering delivery. The plan, says popular delivery app Caviar, is to bring Philippe’s in as a full-time partner, which means customers will be able to enjoy their own French dip sandwiches without leaving the office. The new delivery option kicks off today , with Philippe’s also turning out soups. sides, salads, and desserts to help complement the iconic sandwich. It’s just the latest...

AMITE, La. - Decked out in full cap and gown, complete with a valedictorian cord, Andrew Jones showed up to his graduation from Amite High School ready to experience his hard work paying off. He didn't get the chance because of what he was wearing on his face. "Eventually they took my gown," he recalled, "They told me they had to take my gown from me."

Double doozy: Deerfield man lost $25,000 gambling & had $30,000 cash stolen by woman he picked up at casino After a night of gambling and a rendezvous with a sexy young woman he took home from the casino, a Deerfield Beach welder suffered a $55,000 double-doozy loss, according to a sheriff's office incident report. Guy Paul, 52, was gambling in the High Limit Room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood when an orange-haired woman wearing a leopard-print dress caught his eye, the report said. She went by "Dana" and together they spent about 90 minutes drinking...

Cybercrooks have put together a new scam that falls halfway between ransomware and old school browser lockup ruses. The new class of “tech support lockers” rely on tricking users into installing either a fake PC optimiser or bogus Adobe Flash update. Once loaded the malware mimicks ransomware and locks users out of their computers. Unlike Locky, CryptoWall and their ilk it doesn’t actually encrypt files on compromised Windows PCs, however. Jérôme Segura, a senior security researcher at Malwarebytes, said “tech support lockers" represent a class of malware more advanced than browser locks and fake anti-virus alerts of the pre-ransomware past....

Good article by tech worker suggesting his theory of demographics, artistic license and college indoctrination.

A number of conservative groups started an anti-Target protest in the wake of the chain’s April 19 statement that transgender customers in its North Carolina stores could use restrooms and fitting rooms of the gender they identify with. “We observed a noticeable fall off in traffic at Target during the last week in April and a meaningful pickup at Walmart during that same time,” said Richard Chmiel, chief executive of RS Metrics, which uses satellites to monitor thousands of retail parking lots across the country in order to identify changing business trends. “We suspect the bathroom boycott which was gaining...

They have a socialist paradise in Venezuela! People there receive "according to their needs". But you'd better not need much in Venezuela Lest you find your self buried under weeds. Oooooooooohhhhh! They're cooking cats on every corner in Caracas. In Maracaibo they make a meal of mud. Palmasolans put pepper on their pooches. Hugo Chavez sure turned out to be a dud! The professors in their classes in the US Tell their students that socialism is great. But I don't think they'd be asking for seconds If Spot and Mittens were cooked and on their plate! Oooooooooohhhhh! They're cooking cats...

every time I fill up my car, I suspect all the different octane gasoline are exactly the same, 91 octane. The only difference is what it is called (eg. gold) and the price. Gas company puts in the same octane gas, with a little advertising, gets more money by calling it gold or premium plus. It is all marketing. Unsuspecting driver feels better buying higher price gas for their beloved car. Any one likes to comment.

That's Google's "doodle" for today. Do you have any idea who that is? That's Yuri Kochiyama, a Japanese-American. It's apparently her 95th birthday. Ok. By the way, she's a black separatist -- even though she's not black. That's right, she stands for blatant, in-you-face discrimination by black people against everyone who isn't black. She has been influenced by (and met) Malcolm X. Yes, that Malcolm X. Oh, and she engaged in taking over the Statute of Liberty to demand the release of four extremists who opened fire in the US House of Representatives. (Incidentally, Carter later pardoned them; you see,...

The legendary 49ers linebacker, who retired in 2015, is now a khaki pants-wearing, 9-to-5 office worker at Open Source Storage, a tech startup in Campbell. Willis currently serves as the executive vice president of partnerships and is on the Open Source Storage advisory board. And, according to a profile in Mashable, those aren't just empty titles; Willis puts on his button-down and shows up to work every day. "Monday through Friday, Willis commutes to work at a Silicon Valley office park," writes Mashable. "He's got a list of favorite lunch spots nearby. Sometimes he takes video calls from home, or...

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet agreed Wednesday to set aside some €600 million ($675 million) of taxpayers’ money to encourage people to buy electric cars — via an “environmental bonus.” The costs of the scheme will be shared with the auto industry, which is also putting up €600 million. New car-buyers stand to get a €4,000 ($4,500) subsidy if they buy a purely electric car, and €3,000 if they opt for a hybrid car, which combines a battery and a small combustion engine. Not only that, electric cars will be exempt from motor vehicle taxes for 10 years. Economy Minister Sigmar...

German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer and the US group Monsanto said Thursday they are in talks on a possible merger to create a global player in pesticides, seeds and genetically modified crops, following weeks of speculation about a possible tie-up. Both sides have emphasized that the talks are still only exploratory at this stage and neither has mentioned how much any proposed deal would be worth. But with Monsanto’s market value estimated at around $42 billion (€37.5 billion), observers say it would be bigger than the recent acquisition of Switzerland’s Syngenta by China National Chemical Corp. […] The US group has...

Beijing will soon be able to launch nuclear missiles from the sea. And that's going to make it harder to deter any future Chinese aggression. -- China's about to join an exclusive club for nuclear powers. After decades of development, 2016 could be the year the Chinese navy finally sends its ballistic-missile submarines-"SSBN" is the Pentagon’s designation-to sea for the first time for operational patrols with live, nuclear-tipped rockets. (link to full story) http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/19/china-s-nuclear-subs-are-ready-to-terrorize-the-sea.html

This is just a headline currently on the Drudgereport. He's probably going to link to an article soon. But this seems positive, so I'm posting it now.

And these trendy New Yorkers lapped it upThe cream keeps rising to the top at Organic Valley. After earlier hit ads like "Saving the Bros" and "Real Morning Report," the brand really milks it in a new spot by having one of its dairy farmers, Gerrit van Tol, open a peculiar pop-up store on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan and do business for a single weekend last month. Spoofing the hipster coffee-house/artisinal-maker mindset, the store specialized in Organic Valley Half & Half, treating the oft-overlooked mixture as if it were a premier caffeinated beverage. Customers could even order their H&H in...

The world is still paying attention to millennials and their migration habits, despite Generation Z’s incoming threat. And while millennials appear to like cities, thanks to their good public transportation and myriad Apple Stores, a new study says some of the world’s biggest urban areas are in danger of losing their young people in the next 10 years. Global initiative group YouthfulCities interviewed 15,000 millennials in 34 cities all over the world, splitting them up by continent. And of those millennials, 58 percent said they planned to leave their city within the next decade, noting that they’re being driven out...