Stanford grads' Web site links
gift-givers with some needy children on the East Side
Hundreds of disadvantaged East San Jose children will soon get a
holiday gift from an online benefactor, courtesy of a volunteer-run
Christmas gift Web site that branched into East San Jose this
year.
A pair of local Stanford graduates and tech workers launched My
Two Front Teeth on Thanksgiving four years ago to make gift-giving
to local tots more efficient. Random visitors to the site have given
more than 2,500 presents to poor children from San Francisco to East
Palo Alto since it launched -- strictly by word of mouth.
``This started sort of on a whim,'' said Josh McFarland, a
product manager at a Redwood City software company, who searched at
the height of the dot-com bubble for an online spot to dispense
presents to needy local children, and found nothing.
This year, My Two Front Teeth -- named after the song ``All I
Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth'' -- partnered with San
Jose charities, including the Family Giving Tree and the Kiwanis
Club -- to identify needy children in the community.
For the next few weeks, visitors to http://www.mytwofrontteeth.org/
can shop for a child's present. The community organizations will
dispense the gifts beginning Dec. 18.
SAN JOSE
Professors to give analysis of
election
Political science professors from San Jose State and Stanford
universities will provide an analysis of the Nov. 5 election at a
Monday forum in San Jose.
Luis Fraga of Stanford will recap the election with a statewide
Latino perspective, and Terry Christensen of San Jose State will
focus on local issues and candidates. The discussion is being hosted
by the Silicon Valley Latino Democratic Forum.
The discussion will take place at 5 p.m. in the board room of the
East Side Union High School District, 830 N. Capitol Ave.
OAKLAND
Fremont woman sentenced in software
case
A Fremont woman who sold millions-of-dollars' worth of pirated
Microsoft computer software and other counterfeit products through
two Bay Area computer stores was sentenced to serve 18 months in
federal prison and ordered to pay $4.5 million in restitution, the
U.S. Attorney's Office announced this week.
U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken handed down the sentence
to Lisa Chan, also known as Kwai Fong Chan, on Monday. Chan, 36,
pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of conspiring to
infringe the copyrights of protected computer software programs. She
initially faced 16 counts of conspiracy, copyright infringement,
money laundering and trafficking in stolen goods in connection with
the pirated programs she sold at three different business: CHL
Microsystems and Micro Current in Fremont; and later Micro Current
Inc. in Milpitas. Chan admitted to authorities that she sold about
6,323 various Microsoft software programs from August 1999 to May
2000 that were counterfeit.
Chan will begin serving her federal sentence Feb. 3.
From Mercury News staff reports