Wynwood co-working center funded by Knight Foundation, angel investors

The LAB Miami announced Thursday it will open a 10,000-square-foot co-working center in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and local angel investors are investing $650,000.

As Miami’s startup community continues to grow, The LAB Miami said its “work-learn campus” will offer an in-house mentor network that will include investors and serial entrepreneurs, said Wifredo Fernandez, co-founder of The LAB Miami with Danny Lafuente and Elisa Rodriguez-Vila.

The LAB Miami, now in a 720-square-foot space in the same neighborhood, turned a Goldman building at 400 NW 26th Street into an artsy, modern space that can support 300 members, including tech startups, programmers, designers, investors, nonprofits, artists and academics.

In addition to offering space to work, the new co-working space plans to offer courses and workshops in business and technology — including a startup school and code school — as well as art, design and education, Fernandez said. It will be a welcoming space for traveling Latin Americans, too. “We want this to be a community center for entrepreneurs,” said Fernandez, explaining that the mix of activities and workshops will be structured by the needs of the LAB’s members.

While the Knight Foundation’s Miami office has sponsored many entrepreneurship events in the past four months, this is the foundation’s largest investment announced so far in its efforts to help accelerate entrepreneurship in Miami, said the Knight Foundation’s Miami program director, Matt Haggman. The Knight Foundation’s Miami office, which made accelerating entrepreneurship one of its key areas of focus this year, is investing $250,000 with the rest of the funding coming from a group of investors lead by Marco Giberti, Faquiry Diaz-Cala, Boris Hirmas Said and Daniel Echavarria.

“This is an important part of our strategy,” said Haggman. “Entrepreneurs need places to gather, connect and learn.”

The LAB Miami has already hosted several events, including HackDay and Wayra DemoDay earlier this week, and the co-working space plans to open for membership in January.

Co-working space will start at $200 a month to use the communal tables, and private offices that will accommodate up to six are also available. The LAB will also offer “Connect” memberships for $40 a month, which allows members who do not need co-working space to participate in events. In addition, there will be phone booths, classrooms, flexible meeting spaces, a lounge area, a kitchen, a “pop-up shop” for local fashion, art or technology products, a shower for those who bike to work and an outside garden with native landscaping.

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‘Jewish Spirituality’ lecture series to start Dec. 16

Temple Israel of Greater Miami will kick off its Jewish Spirituality Series on Sunday with Rabbi Arthur Green, who was named one of the "top 50 rabbis in America for 2012," by Newsweek Magazine.

Green will speak on the topic, "Spirituality for a New Era."

A highly respected scholar, teacher and expert in the field of contemporary Jewish spirituality, Green is rector of Hebrew College Rabbinical School and professor emeritus at Brandeis University. He also is the author of several books, including Radical Judaism: Rethinking god and Tradition. His most recent book is titled Hasidic Spirituality for a New Era.

The event will start at 9:30 a.m. with a light breakfast followed at 10 a.m. by the program, at which time Green will engage participants in an open conversation about the future and how each person can play a more active role shaping it.

The series will continue on Jan 22, when Nathan Katz, who arranged for the Dalai Lama to come to Miami three times, will speak on "Contemporary Global Spirituality."

According to a press release from the temple, more and more Americans describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." In his lecture, Katz will focus on the question, "What is spirituality, and can it truly be separated from religion?"

The author of 15 books, including Who Are the Jews of India, a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and his recent memoir, Spiritual Journey Home, Katz is a Florida International University research professor in the School of International and Public Affairs, the Bhagwan Mahavir professor of Jain Studies, academic director of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, and director of the Program in the Study of Spirituality, which is a co-sponsor of the series.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro, an award-wining author, poet, educator and the founding rabbi of Temple Beth Or in Miami, will close out the series on March 1, with the topic, "Amazing Chesed."

According to the press release, many Jews do not believe that grace is a central concept in Judaism, and an essential element in living "Jewishly." Shapiro disagrees and will draw from many facets of Jewish wisdom to answer that question in the affirmative.

Shapiro is recognized as one of the most creative figures in contemporary American Judaism and his prayers are included in worship services across the denominational spectrum of American congregations.

Admission to the series is free and open the public, and will be held in the Wolfson Auditorium at Temple Israel, 137 NE 19th St.

For more information call the temple at 305-573-5900 or email info@templeisrael.net.

New dean

Warm congratulations to the Very Rev. Douglas Wm. McCaleb, who recently was elected the new dean of the Episcopal North Dade Deanery.

McCaleb, the spiritual leader at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at 464 NE 16th St., was elected at the 43rd Annual Diocesan Convention.

The Diocese of Southeast Florida is composed of six deaneries, divided geographically for both administrative purposes and for representation on the diocese’s Executive Board. McCaleb is the executive head of the deanery, which is responsible for the planning and financial aspects of the deanery, as well as being responsible for the study of the needs and opportunities of the church and to evaluate diocesan programs. In his position of leadership, McCaleb will also delegate the necessary authority and responsibility to carry out such work.

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EXCLUSIVE: Brandi Glanville Releases Book Cover

Brandi Glanville's upcoming book, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders, is picking up buzz in the Twittersphere what with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star's notorious back-and-forths with LeAnn Rimes, and ET has an exclusive first look at the cover art of the hardcover.

RELATED: Brandi Says Her Son Got Sick Eating LeAnn's Laxatives

The book supposedly details Brandi's split from ex-husband Eddie Cibrian (who's now married to LeAnn Rimes), telling the story from her point of view.

In an interview with Fox 411, Brandi described the book, saying, "It's a cautionary tale about breaking up and making sure that before you become part of a 'we' you have to become an 'I' and I wasn't. It's just a tale of what I went through, the mistakes I made, what I'd do differently, the things that I did that I'm proud of. There's a lot of embarrassing detail. I want people to not be embarrassed going through breakups and divorces, to know what to do before they get involved in a relationship."

Drinking and Tweeting will be released February 12.

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Nurse in royal hoax was found hanging from scarf, left three notes behind: coroner

LONDON — A nurse who passed a hoax call into the hospital room of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge apparently killed herself three days later, with a coroner's officer saying Tuesday she was found hanging by the neck and a detective saying she left three notes.

Coroner's officer Lynda Martindill said nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe in her room by a colleague and a member of the security staff at London's King Edward VII Hospital last week.

Police detective chief inspector James Harman said Saldanha also had injuries to her wrists. He told the coroner's inquest that three notes were found in the room. Police have said there were no suspicious circumstances, meaning nobody else was involved in Saldanha's death.

AP

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha

As well as examining the notes, he said police were interviewing her friends, family and colleagues and looking at emails and phone calls to establish what led to her death. The case is being treated as an apparent suicide.

Saldanha answered the phone last week when two Australian disc jockeys called to seek information about the former Kate Middleton, who was being treated for severe morning sickness. The DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, and Saldanha was duped into transferring them to a nurse caring for the duchess.

Australia's media watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, said on Thursday it was launching an official investigation into whether the radio station, 2DayFM, breached its broadcasting license conditions and the industry code of practice

Coroner Fiona Wilcox opened and adjourned the inquest until March 26.

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Lennar to borrow $1.7 billion from Chinese bank

Miami-based Lennar Corp. has gotten approval on $1.7 billion in loans from China Development Bank to fund the development and construction of two major projects in San Francisco, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

The contract, set to close by Dec. 31 subject to various conditions, would mark the first U.S. loan by the big state-owned Chinese bank. One condition — tagged the “Chinese component”— is that China Railway Construction Corp. be included as a general contracting partner in the project, the person said.

Closing by year’s end is crucial because of new tax rules set to take effect, the person added.

The agreement, first reported in The Wall Street Journal, would provide funding for the first six years of what is envisioned to be a 20-year project.

The loan agreement, reached Dec. 7 after Lennar officials met in China with bank officials, provides for $1 billion in financing to a partnership led by Lennar to redevelop Hunters Point Shipyard-Candlestick Point, a site in southeast San Francisco spanning more than 700 acres, the person said. Plans for the mixed-use community call for nearly 12,000 residential units on the site. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2013.

Under the pact, the Chinese bank would provide another $700 million to a partnership of Lennar, Stockbridge Capital Group and Wilson Meany, a real estate investment and development firm, to redevelop Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Islands in San Francisco Bay. Some 8,000 units of housing are planned for the mixed-use project on 535 acres. The U.S. Navy is set to turn over the first parcel of land to the development company in late 2013.

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Parents of students at Broward school warned of Legionnaires’ Disease exposure

Parents of students at Olsen Middle School in Dania Beach were being informed on Tuesday that their children may have been exposed to someone diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease, Broward School District officials said.

The person with Legionnaires’ Disease was not a student, district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said. They did not say if the infected person was a teacher.

Automated ‘robo-calls’ were made to the telephones of Olsen Middle School parents that explained how the district was working with the Broward Health Department

To read the entire Sun Sentinel story click here.

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This Kid Dances Better Than a Cheerleader

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:

RELATED: The Badass Bug Shotgun You Never Knew You Needed

So we were ready to toss this video aside after the first few seconds. Our thinking: we have seen way more “Gangnam Style” videos than we ever wanted to … but, we’re glad we stayed for the whole thing. 

RELATED: The Only ‘Kiss From a Rose’ Cover You’ll Ever Need

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In the coming weeks nerds will proclaim that you will need to see The Hobbit despite its terrible reviews. When they do, and they will, just show them this trailer and its really solid Sean Bean theorem: 

RELATED: Movie and Television Characters Need a Lesson in Talking Trash

RELATED: This Is What Happens When David Beckham Meets Mere Mortals

So this is Frank Ocean singing Radiohead (quite well). And this is also the video which you should have handy the next time your boss catches you YouTubing that terrible (but really great) Ke$ ha song. 

Old dogs, new tricks? 

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Hugh Hefner's Fiancee Shows Off Engagement Ring

If the size of the diamond is any indication of Hugh Hefner's love for bride-to-be Crystal Harris, it's a safe bet to say that he's head over heels.

RELATED: Hugh Hefner Gets Marriage License?

Harris revealed her engagement ring on Tuesday, via her Twitter feed.

"My beautiful ring from [Hugh Hefner]," Crystal posted along with photos of the giant sparkler.

The couple is reportedly planning to wed on New Year's Eve.

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Pics bare chilling anatomy of hit in Midtown

The NYPD yesterday released a dramatic series of surveillance photos that show a killer about to gun down his unsuspecting target on a busy Midtown street.

Brandon Lincoln Woodard, 31, had just checked out of the swank 6 Columbus hotel near Columbus Circle when he was followed by the assassin on West 58th Street and killed near Seventh Avenue Monday afternoon.

The assassin escaped in a getaway car. Cops early this morning were questioning the couple who rented the car, The Post has learned, although investigators don't believe they were driving it — but they are looking at the possibility they may have loaned it to someone who then used it in the crime.

Meanwhile, the law student appeared nervous as he had what turned out to be his final breakfast, at the La Parisienne diner.

“He ate breakfast at the counter but he was always looking over his shoulder,” said cashier Dimitrios Drimalitis, 61. “He looked scared and afraid of something.”

1. A silver Lincoln MKX sedan pulls up along West 58th Street and parks in an open spot near Seventh Avenue. Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, the hit man (circled) exits through the passenger door, looks around and paces back and forth next to the sedan. He's 20 minutes early and his victim, Brandon Woodward, 31, is still checking out of the swanky 6 Columbus hotel.

2. The killer pulls his sweat-shirt hood over his head. At about 1:15 p.m., Woodward walks east on the north side of West 58th Street and crosses Broadway. He checks his smartphone, as if looking for directions, and passes right next to his assassin, who is waiting for an opportunity to strike.

3. Woodward turns around and walks west. He glances over his shoulder at the hooded man but seems not to recognize the killer and keeps going. The assassin approaches from behind, pulls a gun and blasts Woodward at close range with a single 9mm shot to the head. The 31-year-old father crumples to the ground. The shooter enters the Lincoln sedan and is whisked away by his getaway driver.

Woodard returned to his hotel and then left at 1:15 p.m., possibly lured away by the killer and drawn into a trap, said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

“It’s certainly a distinct possibility,” Kelly said. “We are looking into that.”

Cops said Woodard was killed with a weapon that ballistics determined was also used in a 2009 shooting in which two men riddled a St. Albans, Queens, house with bullets. No one was hit.

“They never found out who did it’’ or why, said Eshe Warner, 24, whose late grandmother, Iris Warner, owned the home at the time.

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With spam, it’s better not to give or receive

Q. Recently I’ve been unable to send emails from my home email address. In addition, my incoming email contains several notices of undeliverable emails that I didn’t send that are addressed to people I don’t know. I suspect that my computer is infected by some malicious software and is being used to send spam email — and that those that are undeliverable are being returned. What should I do?

Joseph Campbell Burnsville, Minn.

I agree that your PC has been taken over by hackers and is being used to send spam.

The fact that you aren’t able to send emails from your home account supports this theory, since it indicates that your Internet service provider believes you are spamming and has temporarily blocked your ability to send email to anyone.

I suggest you download and run the free version of security program Malwarebytes (go to www.tinyurl.com/cwbd73f and click “free download.”) If that doesn’t work, try Windows System Restore to eliminate recently installed software (see www.tinyurl.com/y9q9apj and www.tinyurl.com/ykgps6.) Then call your Internet service provider; explain what happened and what you’ve done to fix it. If your PC is clean, you’ll be allowed to send email again.Q. I’ve recently received a lot of spam, including some that appear to be from people I know — except that the messages come from the wrong email address. How does a spammer use a familiar name with a fake email address and send it to me?

Also, is there a way to find out the identity of the people who send spam emails? I’ve read that the email address of the sender is not always accurate.

Ginger Bramlett Rockwall, Texas

The bogus email that appeared to be from your friend, but came from the wrong email address, is from a spammer who is trying to trick you into opening the email.

Why did this happen? Your friend’s email may have been hacked and his or her address book stolen, providing the spammer with a host of addresses where an email bearing your friend’s name might be opened by the recipient.

It’s hard to find out who actually sent spam, because originating email addresses are easy to fake.

I suggest you send these emails to your spam filter so that you and others may be spared at least some spam in the future. In addition, your Internet service provider allows you to block spam that comes from a specific domain name — the part of the email address that follows the symbol, such as Yahoo.com. See www.tinyurl.com/cxmq4m7.

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