Enhance

Ever wanted to know what your dog was doing all day without having to set up a complicated video camera system? People Power, a Palo Alto software company, has released a mobile app that can easily turn an old iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch into a security camera. The company's free app, Presence, makes it possible for users who have Wi-Fi to set up one Apple device as a video camera and another as a monitor. For instance, a dog owner could take an old iPhone, turn it into a camera and then watch the pooch on an iPad at work.

SACRAMENTO - A "Made in USA" label has long been seen as an advantage in marketing a product. Now there are in-state manufacturers that want to see the adoption of an official label that declares Made in California. State Sen. Ellen M. Corbett (D-San Leandro) has introduced legislation to require Go-Biz, the governor's business development office, to come up with a plan - including the new label - to promote California-manufactured products. The bill, now before the Senate Appropriations Committee, would enhance California's reputation for making environmentally safe and energy efficient products, Corbett said.

Re "LAX Gets Face Lift for Democratic Convention," May 2: The pylon beautification of LAX is the worst concept yet. If the design is to enhance the area for incoming Democratic conventioneers, how about doing something about the ugly entrance to L.A. along La Cienega. Surely the old oil fields present no cosmetic panorama for first-time arrivals that use that corridor to enter L.A. Spending money to enhance our image is one thing. Using it foolishly to install pylons is ridiculous.

Forget about learning the state capitals, at least, as the sum total of your knowledge of geography. "Geography is about meaning, not knowing place names and memorizing lists - that was school geography," said Daniel Edelson, vice president for education programs at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. Say hello to the new geography. It runs your GPS unit, takes you on mobile-device-guided tours, helps you find and see hotel rooms before you book them. Want to calculate your estimated time of arrival, locate a nearby gluten-free restaurant, or find out whether it's raining in Río?

Re "The right divide," Opinion, Jan. 11 Todd Gitlin's questioning spirit can only do conservatives good. Among the questions they might consider are: Does the "word of God" trump the Constitution? Is faith more reliable than reason? Should abortion be a crime? Are presidents free to violate statutory law, in wartime or otherwise; and if so, are presidents also free to determine when we are, or are no longer, at war? To what extent do we have the right to inflict casualties on other peoples to enhance our security?

Driving the El Portal Road along the beautiful and previously untouched Merced River Canyon into Yosemite National Park has been an uplifting, special and enjoyable part of the experience of entering the park from Highway 140. However, a current road-widening project of Highway 140 into the park is significantly destructive to the natural environment of Yosemite. A completely inadequate environmental assessment was done that excludes a full study on the impacts of this project on the many federally listed species relying on this previously undisturbed habitat.

Colman Andrews' paean to the pleasures of drinking ("Getting Drunk," Jan. 2) won't do much to change the ridiculous attitude of the extremists who see evil in everything, but it's nice to hear the voice of reason. I particularly enjoyed his comments on the Johns Hopkins questionnaire, since I remember once discussing a similar one with Humphrey Bogart. He was genuinely puzzled that his score on a magazine questionnaire clearly marked him an alcoholic when his life didn't. He used drinking as Andrews seems to--to enhance his enjoyment of life.

Call it a big win for online auctioneer EBay Inc. The San Jose company announced Tuesday that Netscape Communications co-founder and all-around golden geek Marc Andreessen had joined its board of directors. In a statement, EBay Chief Executive John Donahoe said Andreessen's insights would be invaluable as the company seeks to "drive further innovation on our platform, invest in growth opportunities and develop technology that will further benefit our customers, build powerful communities and enhance e-commerce."

I just concluded a business trip to the Midwest and the South. On that trip, I was at six different airports. Unlike Burbank Airport, every one of those airports offered modern, up-to-date facilities. An outdoor baggage claim area is just one of the many shortcomings at Burbank. In fact, one of those airports was so configured like a shopping mall I actually thought I was not in an airport. The city of Burbank has a great opportunity to enhance its image but instead has chosen to view the airport as an albatross.

Our President is 74 and he has cancer. I am the same age, and I, too, have cancer. With my cancer has come an opportunity to be contemplative. I can't help but reflect on the values manifested by our actions and inactions as a nation. A whole litany of things come to mind: the huge amount of money going into weapons research and the minimum amounts going into medical research; our polluted water, air and soil; and the curtailment of vital human services. Your editorial correctly indicates that cancer "strikes the young and old, the fit and the weak, the rich and the poor, the common and Presidents."

When his band mates reach for a way of describing Gustavo Santaolalla, the Oscar-winning musician and producer, they frequently compare him to rock 'n' roll legends: "the Argentine Bob Dylan," the "South American Brian Wilson," and so on. But if they really want to haul out the big-gauge superlatives, they turn to fútbol . (These are Latin Americans, after all.) "I don't know if you're a soccer fan," says Adrián Sosa, longtime drummer for Bajofondo, the stylistically omnivorous band that he and Santaolalla belong to, "but I compare him all the time with guys like Maradona, like Messi.

When California's government employee pension system was established in 1932, it was a model of restraint. Private-sector pensions were still rare then, but California lawmakers had a particular reason for wanting a public-sector pension system: Without one, unproductive older workers had an incentive to stay on the job and just "go through the motions" to get a paycheck, as a 1929 state commission put it. Pensions would encourage those workers to...

In what has become a depressingly familiar ritual, computer security experts revealed this week that hackers with apparent ties to a foreign government - in this case, the Chinese military - had "systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations" since 2006. But while such high-level international cyber intruders grab headlines, most successful online attacks are not all that sophisticated. Despite their Hollywood-enhanced image as inventive uber-geeks, most hackers don't actually have to work very hard to steal data or disrupt websites.

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court wrestled Wednesday with whether to overturn slugger Barry Bonds' felony conviction for obstruction of justice. The three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals weighed whether Bonds broke the law by being evasive in a 52-word answer he gave a federal grand jury in 2003. The grand jury was investigating illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds was asked in the grand jury session whether his personal trainer had ever given him a substance that required a syringe to inject.

A broad-scale plan to preserve the nation's cultural heritage captured on sound recordings and to make more than a century's worth of recorded materials more widely available for educational purposes is being unveiled Wednesday at the Library of Congress in Washington. James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, was scheduled to introduce the library's comprehensive National Recording Preservation Plan, the library's response to Congress' passing of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000.

With one more procedural move, the Sacramento Kings took another step toward Seattle. NBA Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday night that the Seattle group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, which recently reached an agreement to purchase the Kings, has filed for relocation with the league. Stern spoke in Minneapolis before the Timberwolves hosted San Antonio. He called the Seattle group "very strong," and said the appropriate committees have been convened to look over the proposed sale of the Kings and the prospective move.

On busy Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, some well-kept facades conceal a secret. Behind the Mediterranean with wooden doors, the white stucco two-story with a red tile roof, the long wall obscuring a three-structure compound, hides a singular, massive wealth fueled by obsession. This is Larry Ellison territory, where a Bay Area billionaire with seemingly endless patience and resources is buying up the best spots along Malibu's 21 miles of coast. PHOTOS: Expensive things Ellison has bought The Oracle Corp.

Mimi's Cafe, a chain of French-inspired casual dining restaurants based in Irvine, may get a new expansion boost after being sold for $50 million. LeDuff America Inc., owner of Bruegger's Bagels, will take over control of Mimi's from Bob Evans Farms Inc., the companies said this week. Mimi's, launched in 1978 by a former American airman and named after his French paramour, has 145 restaurants in 24 states. But the chain has had several years of slumping same-store sales growth, hit by the same market pressures that have kept the full-service restaurant sector from growing as quickly as fast-food and fast-casual rivals.

As spring training dawned in 2009, Alex Rodriguez faced the cameras and confessed to his use of performance-enhancing substances from 2001 to 2003. "My mistake … I was immature and I was stupid," he said. Yet, that very same year, the New York Yankees star was supplied with performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report published Tuesday by Miami New Times. The newspaper cited 16 records from a now-closed Florida clinic that indicated Rodriguez was provided with human growth hormone and other substances as recently as last year.