journal

From Almaden Valley to Silicon Valley

I hadn't realized it, but this photo basically encompasses the bulk of Silicon Valley, viewed from the very southernmost tip (Almaden) it's northenmost hinterlands (San Francisco).

San Jose's downtown is just to the right of where the frame ends - I have a picture of that too, I'll have to look at it to see how much detail is there.

Click on the picture to see some of the structures I've labeled. To see the structures themselves, your going to have to load the original version of the pic (click on 'all sizes', then on the largest size).

I took this handheld on my now-outdated 6.1 megapixel 300D, using a 50mm prime lens, no filters.

I feel fortunate to have the privilege of living a short drive (and long hike - part of the fun) from here.

New Almaden

We've spent the last few weekends exploring Quicksilver Park, a 3000+ acre area set aside by Santa Clara to preserve New Almaden, a historic mine (and related town). Named for Almaden, a famous Spanish quicksilver mine, New Almaden provided most of the mercury which facilitated the California Gold Rush.

The park is huge, and I've only managed to explore a small part of it. About a decade ago, while hiking up there, I stumbled across the remains of the quicksilver refinery... I've looked for it each time I went up there, but to no avail. It's not on any of the trail maps (in fact, I had to 'trailblaze' last time I found it). We *have* found a number of shafts, tunnels and ramshackle buildings left over from those days.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, I'm reading Angle of Repose (for which Wallace Stegner won his Pulitzer), which briefly touches on some of the history of the mine. It was recommended to me by a fascinating and charming retired french (Stanford, woowoo) professor we met while travelling in Europe, and she was so insistent that I read it (old teaching habits die hard, I guess) that I did, even though it involved no spacecraft, extra dimensions, or alien forms of thought. One of the central characters is an engineer though, so thats something. Great book, once you get over the lack of death rays n' stuff.

Hybrids as Activism

This morning, while listening to Exxon's latest $10,000,000,000 profit announcement, I thought to myself "HA! At least they're getting $100 less every month from me".

Then it hit me: when I switched to my Prius, I in effect took $1200-$1400 off my ExxonChevronValdezMobil tithe. Thats a lot of money for a single customer.

True, I had to pay slightly more than I would have for a car minus the hybridness, but that money went to a company that has wholeheartedly espoused conservation, so in my mind, that counts as a Good Thing.

Now all we need is to get another 10 million people to do the same thing, and their profits would be history :)

Katie Couric Represents All That is Wrong With Media

Yesterday, I spotted a blurb on Crooks and Liars covering how Katie had challenged Howard Dean on the Abramoff deal:

Katie: Hey, wait a second. Democrats took-Democrats took money from Abramoff too, Mr. Dean.

Howard: That is absolutely false. That did not happen. Not one dime of money from Jack Abramoff went to any Democrat at any time.

Katie: According to the CRP, Abramoff and his associates gave 3 million dollars to republicans and 1.5 million to democrats...

Howard: Not-one-dime.

Katie: We'll obviously have to look into that and clarify that to our viewers at a later date...

Well, this morning I was watching the Today show (I'm stuck in a hotel room in Ottawa, my viewing choices were very slim), and low and behold, they DID revisit it. As in Matt Lauer saying "Howard may have been technically correct, but...".
He then went on to generally describe the true state of affairs.

What got me is that there has been a uproar about this for WEEKS. Unless you live in Patagonia, if you know how to read, you MUST have heard about it. How could Katie be so utterly, unabashedly, embarrassingly, stubbornly clueless?

I mean, all she had to do was scan a newspaper. Any newspaper.

Ten seconds later, I got my answer. See, talk turned to the Oprah and how she pimped some fabricated book, the lies of which had been exposed. On this, Katie was fully informed. She gushed about how she watched the whole Oprah episode wherein the lying author was castigated.

Katie seemed outraged that this author had lied about his personal life, and had seem unrepenting in his Oprah performance. I chuckled at the irony of this 'reporter' getting mad about some schmuck, but being OK with all the lies coming from Bush, which she had just finished dutifully repeating to her public.

I kept chuckling as I headed off for a long shower. When I walked back to the TV, maybe ten minutes later, I was completely floored to see that THEY WERE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS SCHMUCK.

These guys, the corporation that produces them - they're fucking morons.

Chris Matthews is a Fucking Moron.

From Crooks and Liars

Matthews: "When I think of people who come to this country from other countries - they speak Spanish-Puerto Rico which is not another country, but is the common wealth. Hardest working people, they're extremely entrepreneurial if it's just owning a flower shop, it's owning a small business-a bodega-right? ... Matthews: They sound like they are natural republicans to me.

What fucking planet does this clueless idiot live on?

The New DeYoung

Visited the new DeYoung museum over the weekend, as part of my new resolve to do one new thing every weekend (easy to do in the SF Bay Area).

I took my kids... I hate to brag, but I will anyway: they're really extraordinary when it comes to places like this. Where I suspect other kids would be bored, mine were jumping around, pointing out details ("I wonder why the artist made everything blurry except these two parts?", etc). True, towards the end of the day, they were museumed-out, but then again, so was I.

As a child, my parents always sought out new and unusual experiences for us, which was wonderful. These usually came in the form of strange camping adventures, month long sails, etc.

I am following their example, though in my own way: wierd and exotic foods, frequent discussion of history, art, and science (no religion, yet), different places, different people. And, oh yeah, sailing and camping too :)

Get Perpendicular!

Excellent riff on Schoolhouse Rock...

I call BS

I think the writer of this report was probably misinterpreting his statistics...

In the study, employees around the country were asked about workplace alcohol use during the previous 12 months. The sample was designed to reflect the demographics of the U.S. work force from ages 18 to 65, the researchers said. Participants were promised confidentiality.

Seven percent said they had drunk alcohol at least once during a workday. Lunch was the preferred time to drink, according to the study, which was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

I must hang out with a bunch of drunks. Now, it's not like we drink at *every* lunch - at most, we have beer with lunch two or three times PER YEAR. So I just don't buy that less than one out of ten people do the same.

And don't even get me started on hangovers.

50 Greatest Gadgets

I don't think thing PC world's list is very good (I mean, a RAZR is nice, but TOP 50? Gimme a break), but I thought it funny that I've owned 16 outa 50 (1, 3, 4, 7, 16, 20, 25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, and 39). I was a bit miffed my first digital camera (the Casio QV-100, which followed the QV-10 as the second consumer camera ever) didn't make the list.

Happy New Year!

Well folks, it's been a helluva year, hasn't it? It saw everything from disasters both natural and political, to inspiring achievements on every front. What a year to be alive in!

For me, it started in the thick of one of the most challenging projects of my career, mixed in with finishing our beachhouse. In there somewhere I bought 3 cars, sold two, almost sold my boat twice, spent 5 weeks in PR outfitting our place in Rincon. Finally, it wrapped up with my family and I embarking on a most interesting vacation (more about this in subsequent posts, I hope).

All this excitement was great, but I'm hoping for a more subdued, reflective 2006. Except for them there political disasters, that is - keep 'em coming :)