How the church appeared on November 13. This Friday -- Black Friday -- Michaela Alioto-Pier's little neighborhood that thrives on ridicule will become a little more ridicule-less. At 9 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, on the day of November twenty-third, two thousand and seven, the store at 2125 Chestnut will open its doors. And at that moment? Apple will welcome in its third San Francisco store, completing the trilogy started by its flagship location on... more ›

Scanning Some Life this morning, we see that the Stockton Street Apple Store caught fire on Sunday morning at around 11 a.m.-ish. Or at least something inside the glassy box was used for kindling. Or an alarm went off. Or none of the above. When we called the store today to confirm the small fire -- after waiting on hold, passed around, and spoken to in a hushed and somber tone -- they told... more ›

We had been a proud, satisfied owner of an Apple PowerBook for a little over two years (and a blue-and-white G3 for five years before that) when it all went quickly downhill last November. Our computer started making these frightening, crackling, static, grinding noises, accompanied by nonsensical beeps, and then it crashed hard. We did an "erase and reinstall," which bought us about two weeks. Then, we had to pay our first somewhat quick... more ›

It's all about the numbers at tonight's Ask a Scientist: The World's Most Fascinating Numbers event. Ask any burning math (from pi to irrational, imaginary, familiar, and beyond) question to Keith Devlin, who is NPR's "Math Guy," as well as a prof and author. There will also be food, drinks, socializing, and chat about "the universe's most fascinating mysteries!" 7 to 9 p.m. Canvas Gallery, 1200 9th Avenue, SF 94122. more ›

Vote no on C -- stop Wednesday's power grab! Today: Who knew they had events at the Apple store downtown? We picked up a flyer when we were (unsuccessfully) trying to get our iPod fixed. Today at 4, Todd Corleto demonstrates two-factor authentication with CRYPTOCard, and for those of you who still can't figure out how to use iTunes, there's a workshop about it at 5. The Apple Store's at One Stockton Street. more ›

. Then we got an email from SFist Karen, asking if anyone had heard about a fire around Stockton Street. We checked the breaking news and it turns out there was a track fire on the BART between the Embarcadero and Montgomery Street stops. Witnesses (including SFist Karen) report seeing a black plume of smoke from street vents in the area. That means BART hasn't yet named a new pope, right? more ›

There are rumors swirling around --which will propagate and give credence to, of course, despite having absolutely no further information -- that Chef Daniel Humm could be leaving Campton Place Restaurant, just off Union square, due to some reshuffling after the acquisition of his restaurant (and the hotel which hosts it) by some LA businessmen. So just in case there is a hint of truth in this, we'll hurry and award him the first Fancy Restaurant 'Fistie. We'll make sure it is accompanied by a very heavy cast iron trophy, just so lifting a suitcase with a 'Fistie in it proves too overwhelming a task, and he just stays put. more ›

The days of being bopped on the shins by little old Chinese ladies carrying pink and white striped plastic bags and suspiciously poking the flesh of fresh fish may be numbered, as DPW tries to pass a law banning overcrowded sidewalks and double-parked trucks in Chinatown. DPW notes that it's very difficult to walk on Stockton Street on the weekends, and the plethora of produce delivery trucks frequently brings traffic to a standstill. Well, suuuuuure -- but come on, DPW! It wouldn't even really be a Chinatown if proud vendors didn't get to show off their electronic chirping crickets outside their store, or the big basket of plastic slippers, or the huge stacks of produce with their colorful misspelled labels (we still love the one we saw in New York that said COC*NTS (we've omitted the offending letter)). How will tourists have an authentic Asian-American experience if they don't get to see, say, an old man in a windbreaker sniffing the butts of fresh crab? And we don't know what we'd do if the 45 bus could just zip on through to Union Square without the maddening stop-start wrenching of our shoulder out of its socket as Cantonese speakers glare at us for refusing to give up our seat. Life doesn't always have to be so plastic-wrapped and convenient all the time, you know! Sometimes we like that wave of nausea we get when the odor of the seafood bins wafts out onto the sidewalk! Picture of Stockton Street off an MTC website more ›

We at SFist love our independent bookstores. We cried when Kepler's closed and cheered when it reopened. Every week in SFist Reads we urge you to visit the many fine independent bookstores scattered around the Bay Area. more ›