apothegm

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The Pacific Ocean meets up with the small but quiet town of Barra de Navidad, the last stop South on Mexico’s Costa Alegre. On one side of a large sand bar rests the town. The other side opens up to a large natural lagoon.

Boats entering the area have the option of anchoring for free in the Lagoon, or paying to enter the marina. While it is free to anchor in the Lagoon, just because something is free it doesn’t always mean it’s the best. When it comes to free or cheap, we feel you often get what you pay for. Sometimes it is good. Like spending 50 pesos for the best pastor street tacos, or anchoring in beautiful fair weather anchorage where the sand under your anchor is free. Other times “no vale la pena” like they say in Mexico, it is not worth it.

In this case, what do I mean? How could something that is free not be worth it in the world of penny pinching cruising? Entering the Barra lagoon can be sketchy because the channel markers end at the Marina entrance. Many boats venturing past the marina entrance into the free lagoon have run aground.  The thought of running aground made us nervous. However, if you carefully plotted and followed the correct way points marking the otherwise invisible channel into the lagoon, how could you run aground?

Our question was soon answered. At the fuel dock just past the marina entrance, we met a very nice couple who had arrived after sailing nonstop all the way from Ziuahtenejo, about 250 miles South. We chatted a bit and they appeared very knowledgable, as this wasn’t their first visit to Barra. Being the rookie visitors we were, we stood on the fuel dock dumb founded as we watched them attempt to drive their boat directly across the sand bar. “REVERSE!” screamed the wife who was now standing on the bow.

“BAck UP, BaCk UP, BAck UP!”

Amazingly, with all the shouting and reversing, they were able to release themselves from the clutches of doom unscathed. Again during the same visit we heard a few more calls via VHF radio for help from boats that had either hit a rock at the entrance, or once again run aground just past the marina entrance. 

Once inside the sand bar, the holding can be muddy, and weak. When weighing anchor some report dragging a huge mess of mud and gunk onto the forward deck. Great! We’ve just saved a few dollars. Now let’s justify that by creating more work because we all know that sailing a boat in Mexico requires nothing more than a cocktail. Besides we have nothing better to do with our time except get the boat ready for our next passage, and so on, and so on . . . Actually . . .

In Barra (de Navidad) the docks were alive with excitement. Many boats were arriving at this little oasis from both the North and the South, willing to spill the beans on where they’ve been and where they were going!

In fact, our first night in Barra wasn’t spent washing our decks, filling up water tanks, and re-provisioning as planned. Instead we were whisked away by a group of people heading into town to watch the sun-set, grab a bite to eat, and find some delicious churros a la street vender.

“You coming?” They shouted. “Taxi is here!”

The marina in Barra along with the Grand Bay Resort sit on the opposite side of the lagoon. An extensive water taxi system transports hotel and marina guests across the lagoon 24-hours a day. Before you get too excited, this is not Disneyland. The taxi’s are not free with your stay at this fine resort, but we think $3 round trip per person is pretty affordable.

Many complain the the prices of the marina are too high, but we figure it is all relative to the experience. For example, all of the marinas in Puerto Vallarta are .08 cents more expensive per foot than the most expensive marinas in La Paz. From Baja you trade the amazing solidarity, beauty of the Islands, and Sea of Cortez for; fresh tuna, Sunday markets, Banderas Bay sailing, live music, cheap street tacos, and free Thursday night movie showings. There’s that word again.

In Barra the prices go up significantly from Puerto Vallarta for a marina stay. Just how much? An additional .30 cents per foot, but depending on the length of stay the price actually goes down. Your best option is to get comfortable and stay the entire week to get the weekly rate, over the daily or three day rate. Then again, you must consider your own budget. You will obviously pay more at a lower rate for a longer stay.

What’s included? The resort at Barra does not discriminate between hotel guests and marina guests. This means as a visitor on a boat you have full access to the resort sans bracelet. This includes access to all of the resort pools, poolside towels, and amenities such as free Wi-Fi and hot showers.

Ok, ok. For .30 cents more a foot it doesn’t seem like you get that much, that is until you’ve been living on your boat at anchor for some time. Grab your pen and pencils, and gentleman take note! Staying inside the Barra marina is a nice treat for the ladies and a nice treat for your crew. In the case of the ladies or your crew, “sí vale la pena!” ~ “It IS worth it!”

The resort and its trails are beautiful. Take a stroll and watch for iguanas and fresh papaya in the brush.  Explore the many different areas of tranquility and relaxation. Choose your spot and settle down with a nice book or your drink of choice. When it starts to heat up take a dip in the hot tub and throw yourself down one of the many pool slides.

The best deals at the resort happen to be at the pool side restaurant. For $15 the Hamburgesa Cowboy is an all beef burger, with bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado, served on a sesame seed bun, accompanied by American French fries. It happened to be the best burger I had experienced in all of Mexico! Still, some might argue that these costs are astronomical! Who would pay $15 for a hamburger and $3 for a water taxi ride in Mexico?

You’re looking at her – me! Look, I never signed up for this adventure to restrict myself to a life time of hermit boat living. If I couldn’t figure out a way work in a few splurges here and there, then I would have decided to stay at home where I can make my own hamburgers anytime, anywhere. This $15 was going for the most amazing hamburger on the Pacific Ocean that I’ve tasted in the last two years.

But, if $15 for an amazing burger is still not in your budget, no worries. Perhaps a $4 breakfast at the Grand Cafe won’t break your pocket book in half. Order any egg plate on the breakfast menu for 60 pesos and sit back and wait for a grand feast! Each breakfast comes with an assortment of sweet breads, tortillas, fruit, coffee and juice.

Of course breakfast at the Grand Cafe can only be had if you can overcome the “Barra Addiction” for just one day. The dealer had a name but was known by many as “The French Baker.” He arrives early each morning with his stash. He has his own boat, and VHF radio. With the quick ring of his bell, he announces his arrival at the marina. The substance was butter, and the addiction . .  . French pastries. One bite of anything in his stash, and your hooked.

Each morning you try to resist the temptation, but you’ve secretly been conditioned. That bell. That bell wakes you out of deep sleep! You know he has arrived. He’s in the marina, but where? Before you can say ham and cheese croissant, he’s on your dock greeting your with a huge smile and a friendly “Bonjour Madame!” You have a limited amount of cash on purpose. It’s too easy to want to sample it all. These goods are high quality.

One morning our friend Dan on Rocket Girl was brave enough to ask the question, “Hey Buddy, what are you putting into these pastries that make them so addicting?” The answer?

Love.

With an answer like that, “sí, vale la pena!”

The dishwasher! The perennial optimization problem. Even the chronically untidy have been known to harbor strong opinions on efficient loading technique. But did you know dishwasher manuals actually include photos and illustrations of ideal rack layouts? (Be honest – did you even realize your dishwasher had a manual?)

Read more...

My colleague Jay Yarow thinks that Apple should buy Tesla. 

He makes a brilliant case; you can read the whole thing here. However, he's completely wrong. 

It's a provocative, scintillating idea: Apple buying Tesla would create a New Economy Dream team, unifying the most admired company in the world with the one that actually wants to change that world.

Not incidentally, Apple buying Tesla would bring about a synthesis of Silicon Valley and the Tesla's game-changing vision for mobility that many people have been yearning for. 

To Jay's credit, he puts this zany idea in a correctly zany context: It's so zany that he's the only one calling for it. 

I can't overstate this: Zany ideas are what move the world forward. At the level of pure awesomeness, it makes perfect sense for the company that Steve Jobs built (but not by himself of course) and that Elon Musk built (also not by himself) to be joined. My pulse races just thinking about it.

But then my cool head prevails and I settle down. 

I have to thank Jay for the thrills.

But then I have to tackle his argument, which hinges on two points (maybe three).

DON'T DO IT, APPLE!

First, the idea that Tesla needs to better manage its production process. Here's Jay:

Why would Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk want to sell his company to Apple? For one, I am assuming Apple offers a nice price for Tesla. After all, Apple has ~$155 billion in cash and access to the debt markets if it wants to raise more cash. Tesla's market cap is ~$30 billion, so even at twice the price Apple could easily afford it.

There are other, more nuanced reasons for Tesla to sell, and Apple to buy.

I started thinking about this again after Tesla reported earnings last week. During the company's earnings call, Musk was asked by analysts whether Tesla had a problem stimulating demand for Teslas. Musk said the demand was not a problem, but supply and manufacturing were. 

"People don't quite appreciate how hard it is to manufacture something. It is really hard," Musk said. "I have great respect for people who manufacture large numbers of complex objects because there's like several thousand unique parts in a car."

Oh, really? Hmmmmm. Who manages to manufacture large numbers of complex objects? Who, who, who? 

I know! Apple! Apple makes millions of iPhones, millions of iPads, and millions of Macs. 

Indeed, Tim Cook is regarded as a supply chain genius. This is where Apple has innovated since Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO and Cook stepped up. If you look at the numbers, Cook's innovation has enabled Apple to create ridiculous profit margins, for its industry.

Bravo, Tim Cook!

Now he's even managed to supervise the creation of a new Apple product that I think will open a whole new vista for the company, in real luxury products, as opposed to luxury-adjacent products, like the iPhone — the Apple Watch is going to be big in the luxury world.

But the problem with Jay's argument here is that manufacturing a car is orders of magnitude more complex than manufacturing a consumer electronics gadget that's designed to be sold for less than a few thousands bucks and destined to be thrown out or recycled in a few years. The effective life of an iPhone is — what? — three or four years, max? The effective life of a $100,000 Tesla Model S is at least a decade and really more like two or three decades. 

Teslas are built to last. iPhones are built not to.

I don't think Tim Cook, adept as he may be at dealing with touchscreens and processors in the Asian supply chain, could breeze in and streamline the production of a car that needs to be very fast, very safe, uses all manner of never-before-seen drivetrain and power technologies, and is currently assembled by huge robots and human beings in California.

It's not even an apples-to-oranges comparison. It's more like comparing an apple to an elephant.

The second point that Jay makes to support his argument is that Apple is full of guys who dig cars and want to reinvent them — guys on the Apple board, guys who design Apple's products (Jony Ive, Marc Newson), guys who run the business. These guys love hot cars: Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsches, Bentleys. They want to design and build awesome cars that blow your mind!

I can't tell you how many people like this who the auto industry has chewed up and spit out over the past 100 years. Heck, the whole idea of creating in Tesla a brand-new shiny car company with revolutionary ideals nearly ended in tears for Musk, back in 2008. Everyone who wants to reinvent the industry comes at it from the point of view of a teenager who had a Ferrari or Porsche poster on his (almost always his) bedroom wall.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST BUDGET FOUR-DOOR?

But the reality of the business is that while Ferrari, for example, makes wonderful cars and also tons of money, it's a miniscule part of the global market. Just as Apple wants to sell millions and millions of iPhones and iPads, carmakers want to sell millions and millions of cars. And not hot cars, but boring cars: mass-market sedans, workhorse pickup trucks, and versatile SUVs.

After setting a tone for his brand with the the exhilarating, high-performance Model S sedan, Musk can now say mission accomplished and move on to developing the mass-market Model 3, which he hopes to produce in the hundred of thousands.

I doubt that Cook and Ive and all the Apple guys with their Porsches and Ferraris want to grow up just so they can buy a company whose overarching goal is to create the electric Toyota Corolla.

But let's give Jay the benefit of the doubt and assume that a consumer electronics supply chain guru can transfer his talent to the auto industry, and that Cook & Co. would be okay with building the finest $30,000 four-door sedan ever seen by human eyes on planet Earth.

MONEY MONEY MONEY...

What difference, then, would Apple's billions of cash on the balance sheet make for Tesla?

Well, if Tesla proceeds according to Musk's plan and builds a $5 billion batter factory in Nevada — and then perhaps more "Gigafactories" in other states — and also ramps up production of the Model S, brings the Model X SUV to market next year, and develops the Model 3 on schedule...

... then Tesla will be getting close to being "real" car company, instead of what it is now: A very interesting company producing one very expensive car. By pushing hard to get the Gigafactory deal done, Musk has demonstrated that this is what he sees as Tesla's destiny. Teslas, Teslas, everywhere.

But few enterprises in human experience are as good at taking cash and making it go away than car companies. At full-tilt, using state-of-the-art "lean" production methods refined over decades, a highly skilled workforce, and selling their product to people who are happy to go into debt for years to sit in traffic for hours — car companies burn billions per quarter, face the constant threat of cyclical downturns when people just drive their old cars and don't upgrade to new ones, and generate moderate profits with limited prospects for significant future growth. 

What person in his right mind would want to get into this business?

Now you can see why the Elon Musks of the world don't come along very often. Tesla is still alive, but most of its competition, at least in the electric-car startup world, has fallen away. So if Apple did want to buy a car company, I'll concede that the choice would be obvious — because there's really only one car company to buy, excluding the numerous existing players encumbered by having been car companies since cars shared the road with horses. 

So while Jay is probably right that Apple can find better uses for its $155 billion cash hoard than stock buybacks, if I were Cook and I decided to buy Tesla, I could just as easily take a substantial portion of that $155 billion, put it in a Ferrari parked at Apple HQ, and set it on fire. I could then at least say that I had the courage to destroy a Ferrari in the course of obliterating Apple cash.

To be honest, I don't even think Musk would consider this a good use for Apple's money.

THE ELON FACTOR

Finally, there's the matter of Elon Musk himself. As we learned at his media hootenanny last month for the Model D, Musk isn't just Iron Man — he's Iron Man plus Steve Jobs.

But really, he's better than Jobs, who only got to walk around with nifty little glass-and-metal devices and talk about how nifty they were.

For his part, Musk brought out a giant orange robot and commanded it to sling around a thousand-pound car chassis. Then he gave people dragstrip joyrides in the actual vehicle. 

Then he drove home and probably switched over to being the CEO of his other company, SpaceX, and worked all night on designs for a rocket big enough to send people to Mars.

When Steve Jobs left, we did need another Steve Jobs. But we got someone who's aiming higher. We got Musk.

Tim Cook is fantastic, but I really don't see Musk going to work for Tim Cook. Musk is now playing for a level of importance in the human race that far transcends Jobs' very meaningful and important contribution, and whatever advice Cook can offer to improve Tesla's manufacturing processes.

Tesla is ultimately a solution to global warming. SpaceX is supposed to make us "multiplanetary," because you never know...

Musk is in it for the species.

It's necessary to understand this about him. He doesn't care about money, except as a means to an end. His companies aren't companies in the traditional sense — they're solutions to enormous problems, solutions that take advantage of the power that entrepreneurs now wield to gather funding for their dreams. His two main companies — Tesla and SpaceX — are doing the kind of astounding things that capture the imagination.

Smartphones and social networks are super. But they don't do o-60 in 3 seconds with nothing coming out of the tailpipe, and they don't want to go back to the Moon.

Additionally, if Cook wants visionary advice, I think he can just call Musk up and ask him what to do. Frankly, I think Musk would consider it something of a distraction.

GET TESLA WHILE THE GETTING IS GOOD

What about another point that Jay makes — that Apple will inevitably build a car in 20 years and should buy Tesla while Tesla is small and cheap so that it isn't necessary to start from scratch?

That would be extremely risky. Tesla is operating in our existing world of getting around, which still involves cars and drivers and roads. Musk's plan for the next few decades is about improving that situation. 

Google, meanwhile, is building the actual car of the future, which is small and driverless and something that Apple's car lovers can appreciate at an intellectual level but would very much not like to drive. Or be driven in. It's actually more of a node in a futuristic mobility system that treats your physical location as something to be overcome with very complex maps and extremely powerful artificial intelligence. 

It's pretty much the opposite of what Tesla wants to do, although Tesla will likely be incorporating more and more "autonomous" driving technologies into its cars in coming years. 

Apple buys Tesla now to avoid having to buy Tesla later. But then later arrives and and Apple discovers that it bought the wrong idea.

I love the incredibly boldness of what Jay proposes. I just think it would be a very bad idea for both Apple and Tesla. 

SEE ALSO: Apple Should Buy Tesla

Join the conversation about this story »

Mini Metro is an upcoming game in the style of Sim City, except you're only building subway lines.

Mini Metro is an upcoming minimalistic subway layout game. Your small city starts with only three unconnected stations. Your task is to draw routes between the stations to connect them with subway lines. Everything but the line layout is handled automatically; trains run along the lines as quickly as they can, and the commuters decide which trains to board and where to make transfers.

However the city is constantly growing, along with the transport needs of its population. How long can you keep the subway system running before it grinds to a halt?

Oh man, this is great fun for transportation nerds. Site says it'll be out in "early 2014" for PC, Mac, Linux, iPad, and Android. You can play an early version on the site or d/l an alpha version for OS X, Windows, or Linux.

Tags: cities   subway   video games

Charlie on s/v Ceilydh

For nearly as long as sailors have been going to sea, their cats have been going with them. Whether as miracle workers, mousers, or mates, nary a crew member has been more valued than the ship's cat. Certainly, why we live aboard has changed throughout the course of history, but who we bring along to keep us company appears to be timeless. (Friends of Fido: Standby, dogs on board is an upcoming topic!)


_________________________________________________
Topic Coordinator: Jane (more JOY everywhere!)

Learn some nautical history - a fun introductory piece about "the ship's cat," from Sarah (Blue Water Dreaming). And a second post about Fluffy's forays afield.

• The Ship's Cat
• Four furry little land legs

This post is packed with specifics, starting with how to introduce your cat to the boat. A guest post by Sandy, published on Saltwater Suzi and Cap'n Larry's (The Frugal Mariner).

• How We Convinced Our Cat to Go Cruising

Learn more about the move aboard process from Tammy (Things we did today).

• Test Week With Cats
• Boat Gear for Cats

Oh dear. Tasha (turf to surf) dares to SHAVE her darlings and posted a video about it. She also wrote about going wild at the Charleston Petco, and her ambitious toilet-training plan.  There's also a post written from Charlie's point of view, to help other cats adjust to shipboard life.

• Kitty-centric: The Barber of Vero Beach
• Kitty-centric: 3 Fun feline frills
• Kitty-centric: Toilet training cats
• 7 Self-help Tips (from one cat to another)

Here are a few posts about the exploits of my cats (Jane, more JOY everywhere!). Read about cats moving aboard, cat overboard, missing cat, found cat, etc.

• Cats on JOY

And here are a few posts about the exploits of Diane's cat (Ceilydh Sets Sail). Read about cat swimming, cat seasick, cat being imported to Australia, and more. Also a fun "small world" piece remembering her previous boat cat.

• Cat on Ceilydh

Details and pictures (!) of cat surgery in Grenada, from Willie (Mark & Willie).

• A Cat, a Transmission and a Dinghy Concert - Grenada

Mike (Zero to Cruising!) wrote posts about adopting a kitty and clearing through customs in Trinidad and St. Vincent with a cat on board.

• How has having a cat changed your boating life?
• Cat customs

Lynn (s/v Celebration) wrote a heart-rending memorial for her 21-year-old cat.

• The Never Ending Cat

Leigh (Living the Life Aquatic) contributed this story of how her old cat Zoe went missing on a weekend trip.

• The Past 48 Hours

What do you do with a seasick cat? See Robyn's story (The Adventures of Smart Move), along with "before-and-after" pictures of Lilly.

• A Tale of a Seasick Cat!

Catless himself, the skipper of S/V Blondie-Dog pens an homage featuring some of Key West's famous felines.

• Kitty, Kitty, Kitty... I Like Cats... They're Low Maintenance

First Mate Neptune tells tales of his adventures aboard SV Re Metau.

• The Real Cruising Kitty: Neptune

Jessica (Matt & Jessica's Sailing Page) describes adopting a cat partway into their cruise, and what they learned after the first two months:

• Georgiana On My Mind
• A Boat Cat With No Water

If you want it straight from the horse's mouth (so to speak!), check out Bailey's blog:

• Bailey Boat Cat

Along with other adventures, Suzanne's (Orbis Non Sufficit) cat went for a swim ... in the galley sink!

• Ship's Cats

A couple of months in, here it is from the cat's point of view:

• My Name is Jetsam ... and I'm a Boat Cat (Things We Did Today)

And just for grins, here's an ad for a no-maintenance ship's cat, contributed by s/v Octopussy (s/v Octopussy)

• Later, Seagulls

Zeehag (SK Solitary Bird) sails with bubba, who wins first prize for "best picture of a cat in a porthole".

• bubba daboatkat

Project Motor Boat shares an adoption story: they were in the Turks and Caicos and they decided that one tiny kitten was not enough:

• We Adopted Not One But Two

Drena (Sailing Journey), getting ready to start cruising, writes about Leo's first visits to the boat.  He's 12 and a bit grumpy, so will he be able to adjust to being a cruising cat? [Note: 5/19/2013 - Drena is MoFi's 100th blogger!]

• the adventures of leo
• adventures of leo: uh-oh

The crew aboard SV Serenity writes about how their cat, Tack, may have reached spiritualization before them. Perhaps it was his close brush with death(?) when he fell in the water? They also recount Tack's newest hobby: seat snatching. What else are you gonna do for fun on a 30 foot boat? You can also read about the custom cat door they made and how they cleared Tack into Mexico.

• The tabby's den
• Tack overboard
• Fat cat on a little boat
• The most expensive cat door in the world
• International kitty

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Mikael Mossberg and Brent Stiefel eyed the drink menu at Canon, a bar in Seattle that bills itself as "the western hemisphere's largest spirit collection." It's the kind of place where it's easier to get demoralized than drunk.

So Mossberg, a "whiskey appreciator for the last few years," figured it was time to make good on an idea he had been kicking around.

"If you don't have the expert level of knowledge," Mossberg told Business Insider, "How do you choose?"

So began Distiller, a new web-based whiskey discovery platform. The company, which has been in development since May and today moved from beta to version one, is geared toward anyone looking for the right bottle of whiskey — the connoisseur, the dabbler, even the gift-giver.

The interface is pretty simple. Just answer a few preliminary questions about what you're looking for and Distiller's algorithm does the rest.

It feels almost like a throwback startup. Booze Google. But Mossberg says existing whiskey-finding web products leave a lot to be desired. Maybe they have a lousy mobile interface, are focused more on the social grandstanding of "checking in" than the quality liquid itself, or they just straight up aren't accurate.

We're in something of the whiskey Renaissance right now. The craft distillery boom is adding more options to liquor store shelves and barroom menus. Mossberg figured there was room for another whiskey aggregator in the mix.

"To me the idea really started when I was trying to expand my palate," Mossberg said. "I would often find myself at a bar or store, and that's pretty daunting."

Distiller guides users through a set of filters asking about mood, personal knowledge, and budget, before presenting them with personalized bottle recommendations. 

So how does Distiller cobble knowledge together? It employs a "tasting table" of whiskey professionals — authors, bloggers, bar owners, restaurateurs — to give notes. Mossberg calls them his "Iron Chefs of whiskey." He's got American whiskey experts, ones for Scotch, world whiskey, bourbon, etc. Each bottle gets rated and reviewed in person, Mossberg says, so as to not use brand-influenced distiller's notes or content that's already out there.

Distiller then takes the notes from the tasting table and pumps it through an algorithm that organizes by flavor point, availability, popularity, price, and more. "Each step takes into consideration what you're looking for," explains Mossberg.

Currently Distiller has about 150 reviewed bottles, with plans to get up to 500 next year.

Between high prices and the elitist culture, "There can be a really high barrier to entry for learning a lot about whiskey," Mossberg says. "The future to us is to create a one-stop shop, be all end all whiskey discovery hub."

That future includes an iPhone app, currently pending approval. And more bottles. In terms of, you know, making money, Mossberg says they have a few ideas for down the road (Stiefel's media/entertainment/VC firm Votiv is Distiller's current backer).

For now, it's all about upping the user base. Distiller is hoping those users will create a Distiller profile, which allows them to save and track recommendations and amass a digital whiskey collection. That's shareable via Facebook and Twitter, of course.

"Who we're going after is a wide range of people who want to learn about craft distilleries, people who are really discovering for the first time, and people who have been long-time appreciators of whiskey," Mossberg said. "There's an endless supply of new things to try."

Here's how it works.

It's holiday time, so I made this one a gift.

Appreciator. Why not.

Off the charts scared me, so "pretty adventurous" it is.

If it's a gift for a good friend, not a great friend.

Drumroll....

The coolest part is the flavor profile chart.

SEE ALSO: 17 Bottles Of Booze That Make Perfect Holiday Gifts

Join the conversation about this story »

Just as the Pied Piper painting returns triumphant to the Palace Hotel, another iconic bar mural is in jeopardy. The Double Play Bar & Grill's Seals Stadium mural is reportedly on its way out, a victim of a redevelopment next door that would eliminate the restaurant's back room. The mural, which captures fans and players in the middle of a game, is a paean to San Francisco's original baseball team whose erstwhile stadium was kitty-corner to the Double Play's current location. [Chron]

You'll raise a glass to this idea: Drync, an iOS app launching Wednesday, lets you snap a picture of a bottle of wine and then purchase it instantly

The Boston-based wine startup, which this week announced $900,000 in funding, allows drinkers to scan wine labels or ads and buy the bottles. If you don’t have the label, you can search and enter text or browse through curated wine lists. The app's image-recognition function can identify more than 1.7 million varieties. The social side of the service lists ratings, recommendations from wine experts and an in-app checkout.

More about Apps, Startups, Wine, Alcohol, and Apps Software

I'm looking for a list of iconic films that feature San Francisco. Incredibly, this question doesn't seem to have been asked here before, at least not that I can find. I've recently enjoyed include Dirty Harry and The Conversation. I'm particularly interested in similar movies, especially those that show SF as it used to be a few decades ago. But I'm also a fan of cheezy action movies like The Rock. Bonus points if they're currently available on Netflix Watch Instantly or Amazon Instant Video.