Mandatory News

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Battery Startup Stem Just Raised Money from Peter Thiel"s Mithril

Peter Thiel: successful businesses are based on secrets

While billionaire investor Peter Thiel has been grabbing headlines for his reported support of Hulk Hogans lawsuit against Gawker (as well as his backing of Donald Trump), one of his investment firms has shown interest in something thats a lot less contrarian: batteries.

On Wednesday, battery startup Stem announced that its raised a new round of $15 million, led by Mithril Capital Management, a fund co-founded by Thiel and Ajay Royan to invest in tech startups that are growing quickly. Mithril is reportedly out raising a second fund of $600 million.

A battery from Stem to help building owners lower electricity bills.Photo courtesy of Stem.

Stem buys batteries from battery giants like Panasonic and Samsung, then installs them in the basements or backyards of companies buildings. The startup then uses smart software to shift the energy load of the building over onto the batteries when the power grid rates are high.

With this battery tech, Stems customers like Wells Fargo WFC, Safeway SFY, Whole Foods WFM, and Reliance Steel RS can lower their monthly energy costs significantly. Energy geeks call this type of battery application behind the meter, and its seeing growing interest from businesses with a lot of facilities and high energy costs.

For more on new battery technology watch our video.

Utilities can also work with Stem so that they can shift the energy loads of buildings that plug into their grid over onto batteries during peak times of day, like a hot summer afternoon. In this way, they have another option for how to manage the demand on their grids.

Stem is one of only a couple startups that won huge deals to work with utility Southern California Edison to use batteries to help the utility manage its grid. Stem plans to deploy a whopping 85 megawatts of batteries to Southern California Edison customers by 2021. For comparison, there were only 221 megawatts of energy storage deployed in the U.S. in 2015, according to GTM Research.

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Stems business model relies on the recent drop in the costs of lithium-ion batteries, which began when these rechargeable batteries became the de facto choice for most cell phones, laptops, and many gadgets. Now battery giants like Samsung and Panasonic are investing in growing their manufacturing, and dropping the costs, of these batteries to be plugged into the grid, paired with solar panels and used to power vehicles, like Teslas electric cars.

With this funding Stem has raised $105 million to date ($68 million in the Series C round). Other investors in Stem include Japanese conglomerate Mitsui, Germanys RWE Supply & Trading, the Angeleno Group, power giant Iberdrola, GE Ventures, the investment arm of GE GE, Constellation New Energy, and Total Energy Ventures, the investment arm of French oil giant Total TOT.

Stem will use the funds to grow its customer list. The company says its battery tech has been installed at 440 facilities in California and Hawaii.

Other companies that are competing with Stem include Green Charge Networks, Greensmith Energy Management Systems, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Tesla TSLA, and even GE. Earlier this month, French power company Engie acquired an 80% stake in Green Charge Networks.

Updated at 9:30 AM PST on May 25th to correct that Stem raised $68 million in its series C round and $105 million in total.

Source: http://fortune.com/2016/05/25/battery-startup-stem-peter-thiel/

Kate Spade"s Kristen Naiman: A "backlash" is coming

2015 Kate Spade Black Friday Haul! // annwynn

This story originally appeared on Glossy, Digidays sister site devoted to fashion, luxury and tech.

Ever since shewas agirlgrowing up in Rye, New York, Kristen Naiman had athing for clothes. Yet shenever thought about a career in fashionuntil a friend suggested she become a stylist.

I was just like Whats styling? That sounds cool, sure! I really had no idea at all. But I did it, and I loved it, Naiman said.

Naiman, who is now svp of brand creative at Kate Spade & Company, started at Cond Nasts now-defunct Cond Nast Sports for Women.There, she realized how clothing could bea vehiclefor storytelling, building on her writing studies at The New School and ultimately leading her to the position of creativedirector for Isaac Mizrahi.

As the fashion industry adapts tothe rise ofdigital and social media, Naiman is establishingwhat it means to be a storyteller in a technological age. Her ability to identify content that clickswith consumers and industry players alike has led to campaigns like the #missadventure holiday campaign featuring Anna Kendrick.

We spoke with Naiman about her relationship with style and how it inspires her work. The interview was edited lightly for clarity.

Why do you love fashion?Ive been obsessed with clothes since I was a teeny, tiny kid. I loved style and the ways people use clothes to express themselves and their individuality. Its really the one creative act that someone has to do every single day, and I think that act is always really incredible to me.

Before you were at Kate Spade, you worked for Isaac Mizrahi. How did your experience there shape your current role?I got hired to make a bookwith Isaac on style, and we instantly connected in this amazing way over our love of culture, stories and clothing. He brought me in very shortly after to be an in-house fashion director. My job there was to really connect all of the creative aesthetic dots from conception of the collection to its final visual execution, making sure that all of those dots were connecting and that the story stayed on track.

How hastechnology impacted the fashion industry? Its empowered the customer. Consumers viewdigital media as an expression of themselves and a way to identifytrends among the networks that they inhabit. As such, they become extensions of the brands they purchase, because as soon as they buy something and take a picture and put it on their channel, theyre advocating for the brand.

How has technology democratized fashion?The democratization of fashion happened before digital really took full hold. It really happened much more through the deep industrialization of process over the last decade. This rise of fast fashion was the final democratizer of fashion in the truest possible sense.

Whats an unpopular opinion you hold about the fashion industry?We have a large oversupply of clothing and product in general. Digital has really done a lot to weed through some of that, but theres going to be a backlash both to the proliferation of information digitally and proliferation of products. But it scares people because nobody knows where its going after that.

What about the rise of Instagram and Snapchat?At Kate Spade, we use all of those channels. Its a form of taking the temperature of culture at any given moment.

What would you advisesomeone trying to break into the fashion world right now?You absolutely have to know what your voice is. Theres no way in the world that youre not going to get knocked down, rejected, have doors closed, and the only thing to do is to keep going. That kind of perseverance and optimism is critical to be successful, but definitely in something like fashion, where its competitive and fast-moving.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNEER5sohH0FvFn2-IQ3sFCUbCotqw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779117190632&ei=AQdGV9DtNJW13gH637OgCA&url=https://digiday.com/brands/kate-spades-kristen-naiman-backlash-coming/

The Death of the Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder - Game 4 - 1st Qtr Highlights | 2016 NBA Playoffs

This is what it"s like to witness the implosion of an idea: Every time you thought the Golden State Warriors might claw their way back in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, they found a way to dig themselves in deeper. They never really played like the team we"d come to adore, and this was confounding and occasionally frustrating, especially if you happen to believe that the Warriors represented something larger than basketball itself, which was pretty much the reason why they caught fire in popular culture in the first place.

Sidebar Thunder Take a Kicking, Keep Ticking: Are the Warriors Done?

There is, of course, much to be said for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that blasted the Warriors at home for the second consecutive game, a 118-94 victory that gave OKC a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Every time the Warriors attempted to pull themselves out of a hole last night, the Thunder had an answer; every time the Warriors would were on the verge of clawing back into this game, they quickly found themselves buried again. They had no rhythm, and Stephen Curry was mysteriously AWOL, perhaps limited by a knee injury that may be lingering more than he would let on; even when Klay Thompson caught fire in the third quarter, it was not enough to bridge the gap with a Thunder team whose supporting cast was clearly playing better on every level.

Maybe this shouldn"t be surprising, given that the Thunder have two of the best and most exciting players in the universe in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It would appear, barring one last-ditch Golden State miracle, that the Thunder are now headed to the NBA Finals. And given the sheer power and force with which Westbrook and Durant have played in this series, maybe it should have been evident all along. Westbrook is a blur and Durant is a pinpoint shooter, and combined with the overachievement of role players like Steven Adams and Andre Roberson, they are nearly unstoppable at this point.

If that"s the case, there will be plenty of time to celebrate Oklahoma City, and to laud the way that franchise has resurrected itself, and the way Westbrook and Durant have finally perfected the team chemistry they"d been seeking for years under first-year coach Billy Donovan. But for now, at least, it is worth mourning what we may have lost last night, as the Warriors dropped two games in a row for the first time this entire season. Because there is a reason the Warriors transcended basketball itself, and there is a reason they inspired a revolution within the sport, and I hope that even if they lose this series, that this is not lost. Because I think it matters.

What the Warriors have done over these past couple of years is remarkable in large part because it felt so utterly improbable. Their three best players, Draymond Green and Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, were all lightly regarded in college, unlike Westbrook and Durant; they all willed themselves to this point, and they did it by gaming the system, by forcing a physical sport to embrace perimeter shooting. This is why aging skeptics like Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley are no doubt enjoying this series; but this is also why the NBA has become more of a populist sport over the past couple of seasons.

So what happens if the Warriors lose this series? What if this, for whatever reason, proves to be the end, and they wind up with one championship ring and a regular-season wins record and nothing more? There will be room for the naysayers to say that they were merely a mirage; there will be room for the believers to insist that they could have done more, if only Curry"s health had held up. My hope is that they"ve already altered the NBA for the better, that they"ve opened up a sport that, particularly in crunch time, tends toward blunt and overly physical play rather than finesse and beauty.

But I don"t know if that"s the case. If the Warriors lose this series, there will still be a way to dismiss them as a passing fad, and that would be a shame, because I can"t think of a professional team in any sport in my lifetime that has been more purely pleasurable to watch. Maybe you want to argue that the idea that fueled their success was all a flimsy dream, but if so, it was one of the most brilliant dreams of my lifetime.

Michael Weinreb is the author of Season of Saturdays: A History of College Football in 14 Games, now out in paperback. You can find him on Twitter @michaelweinreb

Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/the-death-of-the-golden-state-warriors-20160525

Michelle Pugh #2: Woman Mistaken For Ozzy Osbourne"s Mistress Speaks Out

EXCLUSIVE: Ozzy Osbourne"s Alleged Mistress Michelle Pugh Emerges Following Their Alleged Affair

Michelle Pugh is the name of the woman rumored to have had an affair with Ozzy Osbourne, but theres more than one Michelle Pugh in the world. A 42-year-old nail technician from Tacoma, Washington, named Michelle Pugh has been repeatedly harassed by haters, who blame her for the demise of Ozzys 33-year marriage to Sharon Osbourne. In an interview with Us Weekly, Michelle Pugh #2 said the online attacks against her have been hard to take.

It has been really surreal, the other Michelle Pugh said. I wasnt offended by the messages, because I knew they werent for me, but it was quite a hassle for a few days there. The messages were mostly name calling; things you would expect from fans of a female celebrity they love who was wronged! I just deleted them as they came in, I figured it would just be a few, but they kept coming!

Exclusive: Ozzy"s mistaken mistress Michelle Pugh says online attacks have been "surreal." https://t.co/dW4lbWVxSV pic.twitter.com/nLxiY39Q0n

Us Weekly (@usweekly) May 20, 2016

In fact, Michelle Pugh told TMZ she received hundreds of messages with some of the haters calling her names like w***e and home wrecker. Pugh had to block and delete the harassers, and it has hurt her online presence as she tries to build her nail tech business.

The Michelle Pugh involved in the Osbourne scandal has worked as a hair colorist at the high-end Meche Salon in Beverly Hills for a decade. Sharon Osbourne and her daughters are longtime Meche clients who angrily called the salon after The Talk co-host read romantic emails between her husband and Pugh. Pugh was reportedly fired from the salon, after 10 years of employment, in the aftermath of the alleged affair. But while the California Michelle Pughs association with Ozzy ended her Meche career, the Washington Michelle Pugh is dealing with her own career drama.

The biggest inconvenience has been the hijacking of Internet search results away from the online education platform I am building for nail artists called the University of Nails, Pugh 2 told Us. It will take me months to rebuild the search engine optimization that this has thrown askew. Ill have to add my prior name back in for probably another year now!

Another Michelle Pugh has been targeted amidst the Ozzy Osbourne scandal! https://t.co/fmlgXgClgi pic.twitter.com/ZU9fDCn4wQ

HollywoodLife (@HollywoodLife) May 16, 2016

The two Michelle Pughs have never spoken, and the nail tech Michelle says she has had no contact with the Osbournes. It sounds like she just wants her name back!

As for the Michelle Pugh at the center of the Ozzy scandal, she initially called out of work when news of the celeb split first broke. Pughs Meche boss revealed that the stylist called into the salon to say she had a personal emergency to deal with, but TMZ spotted Pugh reporting back to work a few days later. According to Us, at some point, the salon decided to part ways with their top colorist, who worked for 10 years at the celebrity hotspot. Pughs photo and bio still remain on the Meche website.

Ozzy Osbournes hairstylist mistress looks as happy as can be in Beverly Hillshttps://t.co/iG0Nyks4Pspic.twitter.com/ECfjGHSx3s

The world in news (@worldnews_twin) May 14, 2016

Meanwhile, Page Six reported that Ozzy Osbourne has ended his six-month affair with Michelle Pugh because Sharon is his whole life and he cant manage without her. Unfortunately, the Black Sabbath frontman may have to find a way to live without her, because Sharon seems to have had enough and is reportedly considering filing for divorce.

Michelle Pugh #2 has done more talking than the actual Michelle Pugh at the center of the scandal. Maybe at some point, shell open up to tell her side of the story, but for now, the real Michelle Pugh is lying low.

Take a look at the video below for more on Michelle Pugh.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/3117445/michelle-pugh-2-woman-mistaken-for-ozzy-osbournes-mistress-speaks-out/

Wednesday"s 5 things: Donald Trump. Bill Cosby. Falluja.

Bill Cosby"s Going To Trial

1. Campaign 2016

Protesters raised a ruckus last night outside Donald Trump"s rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They broke a glass door, set fires, threw rocks -- in other words, typical protester stuff. Police didn"t arrest anybody, just kept them away from the building where the rally was held. They might as well get used to The Donald. He won Washington state"s GOP primary last night, putting him less than 10 delegates shy of the nomination.

2. Bill Cosby

A Pennsylvania judge has decided there"s enough evidence to put Bill Cosby on trial -- more than a decade after he was first accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home. No word on when the trial will start. But the 78-year-old disgraced comedian faces up to 30 years in prison if he"s convicted on any of the three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault.

3. Iraq

Troops advancing. ISIS entrenched. Civilians in the crossfire. That"s the situation in Falluja, and the United Nations is worried about 10,000 families trapped there. Iraq has dropped leaflets urging resident to leave, but ISIS won"t let them. Getting back Falluja is a big priority for Iraq because, along with Mosul, it"s one of the last two Iraqi cities still in ISIS" clutches.

4. Taliban

The Taliban in Afghanistan has a new leader. Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada was picked to replace Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who the U.S. killed in a drone strike. Akhundzada"s considered more of a religious scholar than a soldier or politician, but that doesn"t really matter, since no one expects the Taliban to suddenly change its murderous ways. Just yesterday, a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul left 10 people dead.

5. Brain injuries

Iconic BMX biker Dave Mirra had CTE, making him the first extreme sport athlete to be diagnosed with the disease. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy has been diagnosed in a number of ex-pro football players. CTE"s believed to come from repeated blows to the head and results in memory loss, rage and mood swings. Mirra shot himself to death back in February.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.

Quote of the day:

"It"s a violent game that I personally don"t think humans are supposed to play."

Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley, who"s been involved with the sport all his adult life, wondering if football is just too dangerous.

Content of the character

Twitter"s stretching its 140-character limit, giving us all more room for those "Game of Thrones" spoilers. Thanks, geniuses.

Breaking the bank

Not everybody in the music industry is broke. Sony"s got enough cash lying around to give Adele a record-breaking $130 million deal.

Web wonder

An Oxford professor wants to use spider webs to create implants for humans. Because that worked out really well for Peter Parker, right?

Phone flexibility

A bendable cell phone is coming. Isn"t that what an Apple Watch is?

Here"s a tip

A waitress gets a 350% tip and a life-affirming note: "Life is short, a friend of mine died last night. Please enjoy a night with someone you love!"

WHAT"S FOR LUNCH

Here"s what"s coming up later

Show and tell

The TSA will show off its new experimental screening lanes at the Atlanta airport - the world"s busiest. The lanes are supposed to speed things up. Yes please.

Number of the day

$2,500

The amount per month Switzerland may give to every adult citizen, if voters OK it.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/us/five-things-wednesday/index.html

Siapa Rosario Castellanos yang Jadi Google Doodle Hari Ini?

Rosario Castellanos Google Doodle

KOMPAS.com - Halaman utama Google pada Rabu (25/5/2016) dihiasi dengan doodle untuk memperingati hari ulang tahun ke-91 dari penyair asal Meksiko, Rosario Castellanos.

Google membuat ilustrasi Rosario Castellanos yang sedang memegang buku sambil memandang bulan. Bagian bulan tersebut dan kepala wanita ini dijadikan unsur untuk membentuk tulisan "Google".

Namun, siapa sebenarnya Rosario Castellanos yang dijadikan Google Doodle hari ini?

Dikutip KompasTekno dari BBC, Rabu (25/5/2016), Rosario Castellanos lahir pada 25 Mei 1925 di Mexico City, Meksiko.

Rosario Castellanos mulai menulis puisi pada tahun 1940. Awalnya, ia berusaha menyenangkan orangtuanya dengan belajar hukum, tetapi malah meninggalkan ilmu tersebut.

Pada tahun 1950, Rosario Castellanos mendapat gelar Master di bidang filosofi dari Universidad Nacional de Mexico. Tesisnya yang berjudul Sobre Cultura Femenina menjadi salah satu pemacu gerakan wanita di Meksiko kala itu.

Sepanjang karirnya, Rosario Castellanos menulis beberapa seri puisi, novel, cerita pendek, dan juga essay. Kebanyakan karyanya mengeksplorasi kehidupan sebagai wanita dan menjadi seorang Meksiko.

Salah satu karyanya yang paling terkenal adalah Ciudad Real, yang berisikan potret kehidupan warga Chamula, Meksiko. Untuk menulis karyanya yang satu ini, Rosario Castellanos mewawancarai doktor dan antropolog yang berjuang menyelesaikan masalah di tempat itu.

Beberapa karya Rosario Castellanos yang diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Inggris adalah Trayectoria del polvo, Looking at the Mona Lisa, Ciudad Real, dan Balun Canan.

Pada 7 Agustus 1974, Rosario Castellanos meninggal karena kecelakaan yang terkait dengan listrik.

Source: http://tekno.kompas.com/read/2016/05/25/06515587/siapa.rosario.castellanos.yang.jadi.google.doodle.hari.ini.

Starbucks mistakes Helen Hunt for Jodie Foster in coffee cup...

Beer Pong with Helen Hunt

We"ve all done it - mistakenly waved at someone we thought was somebody else.

But now US coffee company Stabucks have done just that - in a manner of speaking.

US actress Helen Hunt has tweeted a picture of a drink she ordered from them, saying she asked the barista if she wanted her name.

Hunt says the worker then winked at her and said: "We gotcha" - before writing "Jody" on the takeaway cup.

Hunt then finishes the tweet with the hashtag #JodieFoster, suggesting the barista believed she was Jodie Foster.

52-year-old Hunt won an Academy Award for her role opposite Jack Nicholson in "As Good as It Gets" - while 53-year-old Foster took home Academy Awards for 1988"s "The Accused" and 1991"s "Silence of the Lambs", opposite Anthony Hopkins.

Foster recently spoke to The Picture Show here on Newstalk about her latest directorial venture, "Money Monster".

Source: http://www.newstalk.com/reader/47.339/73436//