Menlo Park

Amid a furor over his orders to prepare for moving hundreds of federal earthquake scientists out of the Bay Area, the director of the U.S. Geological Survey pledged Wednesday that they will not be moved out of California. Gordon P. Eaton said in a staff memo last week that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt wanted the relocation because rents and other costs of living are soaring in the Bay Area.

A memo sitting on the desk of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt contains a plan that could result in serious damage to a government agency that is of vital importance to California. According to sources who asked not to be identified, the memo calls for gutting the Western headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, where scientists carry out research on everything from earthquakes to volcanoes to water quality.

The ultimate act of violence is to take a human life, and it is the reason Harris is currently on Death Row. Now the State of California is preparing to retaliate in kind. When this happens, each and every Californian will be an accomplice to premeditated murder. As a resident of this state, I reject this position. I abhor the crimes Harris has committed. Yet if California joins the killing states of the U.S. and carries out this execution, are we, then, any better than he? Have we not shown the same disregard for the sanctity of human life?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Android users may be about to get some good news from Facebook. The giant social network is holding an event at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters next week. The invitation simply reads: "Come see our new home on Android. " Could it be that Facebook is ready to show the world a new version of Android with loads of Facebook-friendly features? Is it possible that this new version will come on an HTC handset? A Facebook spokesman declined to comment. But it's quite possible -- even likely -- that Facebook is about to make a major product announcement, TechCrunch says . "Imagine Facebook's integration with iOS 6, but on steroids, and built by Facebook itself," TechCrunch writer Josh Constine said.

Helena Cobban argues that Israel is "irrelevant to the American campaign in the gulf, and, at worst, seriously detrimental to it" ("Strategic Ally, Strategic Myth," Commentary, Aug. 16). Moreover, she questions the overall value of the U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation which has been developed over the past decade. She is wrong on both counts. If Arab readiness to join with the U.S.

Facebook is trying to make mobile messaging more conversational with some changes it's been rolling out this past month, but one of those could lead to some awkward moments between you and your friends. Among the new Facebook messaging features that are on its iOS and Android apps are a new, more visible real-time typing indicator and a feature that shows you where your friends are messaging you from, a spokeswoman for the company said. The features, she added, are especially meant to improve group messages.

Jeff Berg isn't the first veteran talent agent to start over. For one, his onetime arch nemesis, former Creative Artists Agency honcho Michael Ovitz, did it years ago. But at age 65, Berg, the former chairman and chief executive of International Creative Management, is one of the first to launch a new agency in the current Hollywood landscape, which has been buffeted by shifting sands and an overall retrenchment in an economically challenged entertainment...

SAN FRANCISCO - Get ready for the Facebook phone. The company is close to unveiling a smartphone whose software keeps the social network front and center. It is part of an overall strategy to advance Facebook's ambitions to dominate mobile devices the way it has desktop computers. Facebook Inc. has scheduled a news conference Thursday at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to show off an HTC smartphone that operates on software called Facebook Home. The social network's News Feed, messaging, photo uploading and other features will be integrated into the phone, according to reports.

TV viewers finally should get some relief from a major annoyance: excessively loud commercials. On Thursday, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, which limits the volume of TV commercials, goes into effect. The federal law, known as CALM, requires broadcasters to ensure that TV commercials maintain the same volume as the entertainment programming in which the ads are contained. Prompted by an outcry from irritated consumers, Congress more than a year ago passed the law, sponsored by Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park)

Your Facebook Timeline is getting another makeover. The social network announced Wednesday a number of changes to users' personal pages that will help them better express what's important to them. The update also comes with a much-needed cleaner layout. "We heard from you that the current Timeline layout is sometimes hard to read," Facebook's announcement detailing the changes said. "Starting today, all posts are on the right side of your timeline, with photos, music and other recent activity on the left.