leo

Light it up: Epic LED show to wrap SF Bay Bridge in swirls and stars

With the flip of a switch Tuesday night, the San Francisco Bay Bridge, already known as one of the world's most amazing bridges, will undergo an epic transformation.

Starting tomorrow evening, anyone looking at the San Francisco side of the Bay Bridge at night will be wowed by the ever-changing swirls, bursts, star fields, and other patterns of the Bay Lights Project, the world's largest LED art installation.

Created by artist Leo Villareal, the project features 25,000 1-inch LEDs strung for 1.8 miles along the bridge's cables that together make up the pixels on what … Read more

Behind the scenes with the world's largest LED art project

SAN FRANCISCO--I'm standing behind Leo Villareal, watching the well-known artist calibrate settings in the software running on his screen. Each time he moves a slider, one of the world's largest art installations -- mounted on one of the world's most-famous landmarks -- changes in an instant.

It's a gorgeous evening on the Embarcadero, San Francisco's eastern waterfront, with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge dominating the landscape in front of us, and a near-full moon doing its best to overcome the typical evening fog cover. Lights from the city, and from Oakland on the other side of the bay reflect brilliantly in the water. And with just the most subtle adjustments in his custom-designed software, Villareal makes thousands of LEDs strung out over the 1.8 mile-long western span of the bridge almost instantaneously change what they're doing, and how they're interacting with each other. … Read more

Leo GPS watch locates your child in an emergency

If you've ever lost track of your child or an elderly relative, it's hard to forget the panic of not knowing where he or she is. This GPS watch is designed to help prevent your loved ones from going missing.

Besides telling the time, the Leo wristwatch from Guardian Lion Wireless is also a phone, GPS locator, and 911 panic button. It can be used as a tracking device to find your wayward child or older relative with dementia.

As an option, the titanium strap can be locked. It has a tamper alert, so you'll know if anyone tries to take the watch off. A criminal would need bolt cutters to remove it. … Read more

Art Game: If Venus de Milo had an iPhone

When I visited the vast halls of the Louvre Museum in Paris, I was impressed with the longevity of the art within those walls. The Venus de Milo looked as fresh as the day she was chiseled.

When creations come in the form of stone or oil on canvas, they also come with a certain heft. They have the fortitude to stand up to years of viewing. Nowadays, so many of our masterpieces, both grand and personal, come in digital form.

French artist Leo Caillard has been musing on this issue. What becomes of our digital creations after 10 years? How about 500 years? Will deviantART digital creations be on display at the Louvre?… Read more

'Bay Lights' would create curtain of light a mile and a half long

The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 this past weekend, with a spectacular fireworks show to celebrate.

Unfortunately, some of us were home with spring colds and could only listen mournfully to the endless booming while imagining the historic show that was passing us by. Luckily, though, there's another bridge birthday happening in the Bay Area, with a related light-based extravaganza which, if all goes according to plan, should be pretty amazing -- and pretty hard to miss.

As our friends at Wired noted recently, artist Leo Villareal and his supporters want to honor the neighboring Bay Bridge on its 75th birthday by festooning it with 25,000 individually programmable white LED lights. "The Bay Lights" project will create a gigantic, shimmering "light sculpture" that responds to environmental stimuli such as the underlying water, the overriding traffic, and the surrounding weather, and will remain in place for two years.… Read more

HP's former CEO Leo Apotheker killed WebOS

It was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Opotheker in the library with the candlestick who killed off Palm.

In a recent interview with fellow author Rick Mathieson to promote his new book, Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation, former HP Chief Technology Officer Phil McKinney divulged some interesting tidbits about who was responsible for pulling the plug on Palm's WebOS.

He said that it was Leo Apotheker, HP's then CEO, who made the decision to kill Palm's WebOS mobile operating system. HP had only owned the struggling handset maker for about 16 months before it … Read more

HP coughs up close to $47 million on CEO change

For Hewlett-Packard, fiscal 2011 was the year of two CEOs--Leo Apotheker and Meg Whitman--and it cost the company dearly.

In its proxy statement filed today, HP outlined the compensation packages for its relatively new CEO and the parting gift for Apotheker.

The damage? Whitman took a salary of $1 for fiscal 2011 and option awards worth $16.15 million. Toss in other competition and the grand total comes to $16.52 million rounded. And then there's Apotheker, who wrestled with strategy, communications, and a decision on whether to spin off HP's PC unit. Simply put, the Apotheker reign … Read more

HP back in the PC game. Now what?

Hewlett Packard reaffirmed its commitment to the computer business yesterday, bringing to a close three months of dramatic upheaval.

Since August, when HP and then-CEO Leo Apotheker outlined a plan to "explore strategic alternatives" for its Personal Systems Group, HP shaved roughly 20 percent off the price of its stock, damaged its supplier relationships, bewildered consumers and analysts, and, ultimately, ousted Apotheker and replaced him with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.… Read more

Meg Whitman takes over at HP (roundup)

Leo Apotheker is ousted after less than a year at the helm. But are Hewlett-Packard's problems too deep and too tangled for anyone to fix?

HP's top challenge vs. rivals: Continuity Continuity wouldn't be such a big deal for Hewlett-Packard if it didn't have to compete with IBM and Oracle daily. No quick fixes at HP, say analysts (Posted in Between the Lines by Larry Dignan) September 23, 2011 7:01 a.m. PT

Apotheker bids farewell; did he see it coming? Former HP CEO Leo Apotheker exits gracefully, saying Meg Whitman and her executive … Read more

Apotheker bids farewell; did he see it coming?

Former HP CEO Leo Apotheker had the chance to say good-bye to employees yesterday after the company announced his ouster, but questions remain over whether or not he knew he was being replaced.

In a memo sent to employees and seen by CNET, Apotheker expressed "admiration" for HP employees, adding that with their help, they were collectively able to make "important contributions to the company's future."

"Your efforts on behalf of HP and your dedication to our customers have inspired me--and I am confident that HP has a bright future because of the talented … Read more