Flavor Flav Looking At 12 years in Jail For Assault With Knife

A Las Vegas judge has that a trial of Flavor Flav will move on, charging that the rapper threatened his fiancé and her 17-year-old son with a butcher knife.
The 54-year-old rapper will stand trial for a pair of felonies and faces up to 12 years in jail. On April 18, the famed Public Enemy hype man will be arraigned formally on felony charges of assault with a weapon and child endangerment.
Flav, real name William Jonathan Drayton Jr., is expected to plead not guilty.
Reports say he pushed his fiancé down to the ground in October and chased her and her son around with butcher knives in their Las Vegas home.

Bits Blog: Looking at Facebook’s Friend and Relationship Status Through Big Data

WolframAlpha A data visualization shows the clusters of friends on Facebook. Each color represents a different group.

Wolfram Alpha, a computational search engine, released a detailed report Wednesday about people’s friendships and relationship habits on Facebook.

The research is corralled from the details of more than one million people who have signed up for a free feature on the Wolfram Alpha Web site, Personal Analytics for Facebook, that uses complex algorithms to answer questions and generate reports about the social network.

Wolfram Alpha A detailed look at how people meet friends on Facebook.

The research found that the median user has 342 friends on Facebook. This has continued to grow rapidly in recent years. But that number does not include everyone on the service, as “there are significantly more people who have almost no Facebook friends.”

The differentiating factor between people who are ultra popular on the site, and those who are Facebook loners, seems to come down to age.

“After a rapid rise, the number of friends peaks for people in their late teenage years, and then declines thereafter,” wrote Stephen Wolfram, a scientist and entrepreneur. “Why is this? I suspect it’s partly a reflection of people’s intrinsic behavior, and partly a reflection of the fact that Facebook hasn’t yet been around very long.”

The report also showed the relationship status of people across Facebook. People begin to change their relationship status to “in a relationship” in their early 20s, and then at around 27 begin to tag themselves as “engaged.” The next step, of course, is letting the world know they are married. The marriage relationships status continues to grow slowly for people in the late 20s all the way to age 60.

Wolfram Alpha A chart shows the relationship status of people across Facebook.

One curious addition to the relationship aspects of the research found that with age, “the fraction of people who report themselves as single continues to increase for women, while decreasing for men.”

A number of teenagers tend to muddy the statistics slightly by tagging themselves as “married” at a very young age. This is often a result of a strange Facebook hack that teenagers use to note that they are best friends with someone.

Mr. Wolfram compared the data from his research to the United States census data, and found that the two were almost identical, with Facebook users and the real world marrying in their mid-20s.

Using the Facebook data, researchers were also able to determine that although Facebook’s users now total 1 billion, the majority of people on the service are young.

The research also highlights other relationship information — including how people tend to meet and tag friends into grouped clusters around school, work or personal settings, and how the geographic location of friends changes for 18-year-olds as they begin to leave their hometown and head off to college.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 26, 2013

An earlier version of this post misstated the number of Facebook friends among people who have signed up for Wolfram|Alpha's Personal Analytics for Facebook. The median user of the service has 342 Facebook friends; that is not the average number of friends for users of the service.

Gadgetwise Blog: App Smart Extra: Looking for Real Estate Rentals

Town houses, family homes, apartments for rent or land to buy — these are the topics of this week’s App Smart, which covers apps that help you find a new home.

Much more dynamic than a mere hunt through the printouts at a Realtor’s office, apps can search out potential properties in a given area and present you with all the various options in an interactive list.

Several specialized apps are aimed at renters.

A simplified version of the full Trulia property-finding app, for example, just deals with rental properties. Available free for iOS and Android, this app presents you with a map view of available rental properties that match the settings you enter for property type, number of bedrooms and price range. Map markers are color-coded for at-a-glance info: Green means the property was added to the database in the last 24 hours, gray means you’ve already checked out the details, and black means the listing is older but you haven’t checked it out. Since the rental market can move swiftly in some places, this could be useful. Don’t expect too many bells and whistles from this app, but if you’re looking for a home to rent, it can probably help make some early decisions.

Zillow Rentals is a similar, rental-only version of the full Zillow property-finder map that has a slightly more icon-based interface. It’s also less about showing you data on a map and more about presenting you with potential rental properties in a list — which may or may not suit the way your mind works. The app is free on iOS and Android.

Various real estate companies have their own apps, of course, and RE/MAX Real Estate Search is a good example (free on iOS, Android). It’s just as feature-rich as the other apps mentioned, and it’s designed to be fairly easy to use thanks to clear icon and menu options. It’s really for properties that are for sale, rather than for rent, and it’s mainly designed to tell you about properties that RE/MAX has on its own books.

“Realtor.com Real Estate — Homes for sale and rent” is another free app of this type for iOS and Android. It offers features that match many of its peers, and is just as easy to use, but it’s advertised with the promise that “90% of listings updated every 15 minutes” and all the rest are updated “at least once per day.” If you’re in a hurry to find a home, or you’re looking in a popular area where properties don’t stay on the market for long, this may be useful to you.

Remember, too, that despite the fact these apps offer rich data on the specifications of rental or purchase properties you may be interested in, they simply won’t beat a visit in person, where you can get a feel for the area and perhaps chat to potential neighbors. App technology hasn’t quite progressed that far yet!

Quick call

The new Calendars By Readdle app, free on iOS, is a stab at replacing Apple’s own Calendar app on iPads and iPhones. It syncs with Google calendar and Apple’s calendar. And it’s certainly more colorful, thanks to color-coded event markers which may remind you, at a glance, what you’re up to on a particular week or day. It also includes SMS reminders for events, which Readdle thinks is better than built-in “push” notifications.

Beyonce Is Photod In The STUDIO . . . With NO MAKEUP ON… Looking Like A Mom!

Bey is working with MIGUEL on her new alum. That's a GOOD MOVE for Bey . . . cause right about now Miguel is THAT DUDE!!!

Anyways is it just us . . . or is Bey starting to LOOK HER AGE. Which depending on WHO YOU ASK . . . is anywhere from 33 to 40!!

‘Real Housewives of Miami’ Star Punches Homeless Man In Nuts — Cops Looking Into Video

'Real Housewives' Star
Punches Hobo In Nuts ...
Cops Looking Into Video

"Real Housewives of Miami" star Peter Rosello -- the son of housewife Alexia Echevarria -- appeared to have assaulted a homeless man on camera this week, then posted the video online ... and now, police are looking into the footage.

The video was shot in South Beach Monday night -- you can see Peter looking into the camera, and introduce the "prank" by saying, "Punching a hobo in the nuts."

Peter then walks up to a sleeping homeless man and tells him, "I was gonna give you five dollars" ... before dropping his fist into the man's crotch.

Peter and his cameraman then run to a nearby car and make their escape. 

A rep for the Miami Beach PD tells TMZ, the department is currently trying to identify the victim in order to open an investigation.

Attempts to reach Peter were unsuccessful. A rep for "Real Housewives" had no comment.

Disruptions: Disruptions: Looking Beyond Silicon Valley's Bubble

Jim Wilson/The New York TimesA party to celebrate AirBnB’s new headquarters. A select group of people in the Valley are oblivious to the rest of the world, ensconced in their own protective bubble.

It is still up for debate whether there is a bubble in Silicon Valley.

One thing I know for sure: much of Silicon Valley is enveloped in a bubble.

I moved to the center of the tech industry from New York City last year, and I have never experienced anywhere quite like the Valley.

The money here is obscene. The newly minted rich are obsessed with outperforming their rivals. One industry party I attended had a jungle theme. This included a real, 600-pound tiger in a cage and a monkey that would pose for Instagram photos. A prominent Googler’s Christmas party in Palo Alto had mounds of snow in the yard to round out the festive spirit. It was 70 degrees outside. Sean Parker, a founder of Airtime, threw a lavish, $1 million party that included models he hired to roam the room and a performance by Snoop Dogg.

Eat dinner with start-up founders and venture capitalists, and the conversation can quickly shift from industry banter about the latest billion-dollar acquisition to the type of private jet people own.

This is where a select group in the Valley are oblivious to the rest of the world, ensconced in their own protective bubble. In the rest of America, where the unemployment rate is stuck above 8 percent, people are struggling to cover their mortgages or to find jobs that won’t be replaced by technology or sent overseas. In Silicon Valley, some people are worrying about which multimillion-dollar home they can buy — there are only so many available, after all — or whether their handcrafted jeans subtly signal that the wearer is more attuned to aesthetics, like, say, Steve Jobs was.

This is a company town, like Los Angeles and the movies, or Washington and politics. Everything revolves around the tech industry; there is often nowhere to hide.

Like other tech reporters I have spoken with, I often hear pitches for people’s start-ups in the most bizarre places: waiting in line at coffee shops or on the beach. “Hey! You’re Nick Bilton from The Times!” I once heard someone yell when I was standing at a bathroom urinal. “I’m an entrepreneur — can I show you my new iPhone application?”

Everyone here introduces themselves as an “entrepreneur.” It’s as if they hand out the title at the airport when you arrive. “Welcome to San Francisco, you are now an entrepreneur! Which start-up T-shirt would you like?”

This belief that everyone is an entrepreneur has a stultifying effect. It can drive founders to seek an easy acquisition instead of a quest for true innovation and a sustainable, profitable business — a truly entrepreneurial challenge.

There is also a bizarre micro-celebrity culture here. People who are famous within the Valley but wouldn’t be noticed anywhere else in the world, even if they were spray-painted fluorescent yellow, create copycat start-ups, with only slight modifications on a previous success — a diminutive variation of Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

But there is another side to the Valley. One where people are building truly innovative companies. Where founders aren’t driven by seeing their name on tech blogs or tweeting a picture of themselves with their new investors, M.C. Hammer or Ashton Kutcher.

There are truly excited inventors, designers and programmers here, some of the brightest people in the United States, who are trying to build something that will fix a problem in the world. This is why I love working in Silicon Valley.

Where else in the world would people try to make a better and more efficient taxi service, thermostat or tool for revolt? Where else would they reinvent education, the Boy Scouts and even government? And there are those who are helping the economy, creating services that enable people to find new forms of income.

Once you are able to navigate through the sludge of pandering and ostentation, you can see there is truly magical work taking place.

Luckily for people who live outside the bubble of Silicon Valley, there is a wonderful group of creators here who believe that everything is broken and that technology, creativity and guts can actually fix it.

Disruptions: Disruptions: Looking Beyond Silicon Valley's Bubble

Jim Wilson/The New York TimesA party to celebrate AirBnB’s new headquarters. A select group of people in the Valley are oblivious to the rest of the world, ensconced in their own protective bubble.

It is still up for debate whether there is a bubble in Silicon Valley.

One thing I know for sure: much of Silicon Valley is enveloped in a bubble.

I moved to the center of the tech industry from New York City last year, and I have never experienced anywhere quite like the Valley.

The money here is obscene. The newly minted rich are obsessed with outperforming their rivals. One industry party I attended had a jungle theme. This included a real, 600-pound tiger in a cage and a monkey that would pose for Instagram photos. A prominent Googler’s Christmas party in Palo Alto had mounds of snow in the yard to round out the festive spirit. It was 70 degrees outside. Sean Parker, a founder of Airtime, threw a lavish, $1 million party that included models he hired to roam the room and a performance by Snoop Dogg.

Eat dinner with start-up founders and venture capitalists, and the conversation can quickly shift from industry banter about the latest billion-dollar acquisition to the type of private jet people own.

This is where a select group in the Valley are oblivious to the rest of the world, ensconced in their own protective bubble. In the rest of America, where the unemployment rate is stuck above 8 percent, people are struggling to cover their mortgages or to find jobs that won’t be replaced by technology or sent overseas. In Silicon Valley, some people are worrying about which multimillion-dollar home they can buy — there are only so many available, after all — or whether their handcrafted jeans subtly signal that the wearer is more attuned to aesthetics, like, say, Steve Jobs was.

This is a company town, like Los Angeles and the movies, or Washington and politics. Everything revolves around the tech industry; there is often nowhere to hide.

Like other tech reporters I have spoken with, I often hear pitches for people’s start-ups in the most bizarre places: waiting in line at coffee shops or on the beach. “Hey! You’re Nick Bilton from The Times!” I once heard someone yell when I was standing at a bathroom urinal. “I’m an entrepreneur — can I show you my new iPhone application?”

Everyone here introduces themselves as an “entrepreneur.” It’s as if they hand out the title at the airport when you arrive. “Welcome to San Francisco, you are now an entrepreneur! Which start-up T-shirt would you like?”

This belief that everyone is an entrepreneur has a stultifying effect. It can drive founders to seek an easy acquisition instead of a quest for true innovation and a sustainable, profitable business — a truly entrepreneurial challenge.

There is also a bizarre micro-celebrity culture here. People who are famous within the Valley but wouldn’t be noticed anywhere else in the world, even if they were spray-painted fluorescent yellow, create copycat start-ups, with only slight modifications on a previous success — a diminutive variation of Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

But there is another side to the Valley. One where people are building truly innovative companies. Where founders aren’t driven by seeing their name on tech blogs or tweeting a picture of themselves with their new investors, M.C. Hammer or Ashton Kutcher.

There are truly excited inventors, designers and programmers here, some of the brightest people in the United States, who are trying to build something that will fix a problem in the world. This is why I love working in Silicon Valley.

Where else in the world would people try to make a better and more efficient taxi service, thermostat or tool for revolt? Where else would they reinvent education, the Boy Scouts and even government? And there are those who are helping the economy, creating services that enable people to find new forms of income.

Once you are able to navigate through the sludge of pandering and ostentation, you can see there is truly magical work taking place.

Luckily for people who live outside the bubble of Silicon Valley, there is a wonderful group of creators here who believe that everything is broken and that technology, creativity and guts can actually fix it.

Disruptions: Disruptions: Looking Beyond Silicon Valley's Bubble

Jim Wilson/The New York TimesA party to celebrate AirBnB’s new headquarters. A select group of people in the Valley are oblivious to the rest of the world, ensconced in their own protective bubble.

It is still up for debate whether there is a bubble in Silicon Valley.

One thing I know for sure: much of Silicon Valley is enveloped in a bubble.

I moved to the center of the tech industry from New York City last year, and I have never experienced anywhere quite like the Valley.

The money here is obscene. The newly minted rich are obsessed with outperforming their rivals. One industry party I attended had a jungle theme. This included a real, 600-pound tiger in a cage and a monkey that would pose for Instagram photos. A prominent Googler’s Christmas party in Palo Alto had mounds of snow in the yard to round out the festive spirit. It was 70 degrees outside. Sean Parker, a founder of Airtime, threw a lavish, $1 million party that included models he hired to roam the room and a performance by Snoop Dogg.

Eat dinner with start-up founders and venture capitalists, and the conversation can quickly shift from industry banter about the latest billion-dollar acquisition to the type of private jet people own.

This is where a select group in the Valley are oblivious to the rest of the world, ensconced in their own protective bubble. In the rest of America, where the unemployment rate is stuck above 8 percent, people are struggling to cover their mortgages or to find jobs that won’t be replaced by technology or sent overseas. In Silicon Valley, some people are worrying about which multimillion-dollar home they can buy — there are only so many available, after all — or whether their handcrafted jeans subtly signal that the wearer is more attuned to aesthetics, like, say, Steve Jobs was.

This is a company town, like Los Angeles and the movies, or Washington and politics. Everything revolves around the tech industry; there is often nowhere to hide.

Like other tech reporters I have spoken with, I often hear pitches for people’s start-ups in the most bizarre places: waiting in line at coffee shops or on the beach. “Hey! You’re Nick Bilton from The Times!” I once heard someone yell when I was standing at a bathroom urinal. “I’m an entrepreneur — can I show you my new iPhone application?”

Everyone here introduces themselves as an “entrepreneur.” It’s as if they hand out the title at the airport when you arrive. “Welcome to San Francisco, you are now an entrepreneur! Which start-up T-shirt would you like?”

This belief that everyone is an entrepreneur has a stultifying effect. It can drive founders to seek an easy acquisition instead of a quest for true innovation and a sustainable, profitable business — a truly entrepreneurial challenge.

There is also a bizarre micro-celebrity culture here. People who are famous within the Valley but wouldn’t be noticed anywhere else in the world, even if they were spray-painted fluorescent yellow, create copycat start-ups, with only slight modifications on a previous success — a diminutive variation of Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

But there is another side to the Valley. One where people are building truly innovative companies. Where founders aren’t driven by seeing their name on tech blogs or tweeting a picture of themselves with their new investors, M.C. Hammer or Ashton Kutcher.

There are truly excited inventors, designers and programmers here, some of the brightest people in the United States, who are trying to build something that will fix a problem in the world. This is why I love working in Silicon Valley.

Where else in the world would people try to make a better and more efficient taxi service, thermostat or tool for revolt? Where else would they reinvent education, the Boy Scouts and even government? And there are those who are helping the economy, creating services that enable people to find new forms of income.

Once you are able to navigate through the sludge of pandering and ostentation, you can see there is truly magical work taking place.

Luckily for people who live outside the bubble of Silicon Valley, there is a wonderful group of creators here who believe that everything is broken and that technology, creativity and guts can actually fix it.