...i'm amazed by the technologies.

So, I was pretty excited today to head over to Facebook this morning. And as I thought it would be, it was pretty neat. We talked with Dave Fetterman, a very energetic, enthusiastic manager of the mobile Facebook team. He filled us in on what has been happening with mobile technology and how it relates to Facebook, and also, partly filled us in on where Facebook is going with mobile technology. He touched on how interns at Facebook have created features that have been part of the Facebook interface and stuff. Cool, and very inspiring.

Then, after lunch at Chipotle, we headed over to Microsoft. We met with vice president, and former co-creater (I think) of the Mac, Dan'l Lewin. I definitely will try to stay in contact with him. How amazing is his story? Wow. Just listening to his advice was great, my favorite points from him were, "Your career is your responsibility, the company provides tools for you." I totally agree, and I can't wait to be responsible for where I'm headed. I also really liked his advice of finding your goal in life, and after you know your goal, figure out what experiences that you will need to attain to meet your goal. I know I'm probably going to bore you with all his advice, BUT I also liked the mission of the 900 Phd researchers at Microsoft to "Further the state of the art: Ensure Microsoft has a future." This encourages the researchers to focus on research, and because they are not told what to do, they really can focus on improving the art of Computer Science. Then we got a sweet demo and tour of all the technologies that Microsoft is researching and thinking possible for our future. We were able to see this sweet screen table thing that you could touch and it just showed us the most amazing, advanced technology I've ever experienced. Wow. Amazing!

After that, we headed out to Intel, where Neal showed us around and explained what he does and a little of how Intel works. He comes from quite the background with experience from start-ups, to Sun Microsystems, to Intel. He explained the differences between the Start-ups (that are all about beer and skittles) and Intel. When we left, it was pouring.

Then we had our last group dinner at La Strada, where we girls were able to dress up all nice, which was fun. I had a delicious steak and souffle! After dinner, Aaron, Pyz, Kiflu, Brad and I headed out to Oak City for some last night drinks!

...GOOGLE.

Ok, so today was cool. We got up early and headed over to Google to meet Craig Cornelius again. We got our Google name tags and were off to see the Google-plex. It was pouring out, but we managed to grab some snacks and make it to our conference room. First we met with Davidson Young, from University Relations. Now, pre sure everyone knows, but I REALLY want that internship, so this was pretty exciting for me. However, he started describing what they look for in interns, or on resumes, and...yea, I'll probably have to make a new one and send it to him, no big deal, ha! Anyway, then we met with Michael Braderman, from Google Enterprise. This was pretty cool because we use Norse Apps at Luther, which is a product of Google Enterprise. After that, we met with Xuefu Wang of Google Books. This was also neat because it was similar to yesterday's meeting with Benetech with what they actually did. Next, Jessica Pfund met with us, from Google Maps. She showed us a product released in third world countries to help make maps. It was SO cool, and such a good idea! They have been using it in Haiti to better help people around the country since after the earthquake. After Jessica, we met with Rick Klau, who is part of the Blogger team. It was cool because we were able to tell him about what we all thought about Blogger since we started using it this past week. Something I really came away with from his conversation was when he corrected a comment we had. The comment was phrased as Google staying "...one step ahead of your competition..." and he corrected it that "...we stay one step ahead of ourselves." I really, REALLY liked this quote because so many people hate the fact that I'm so competitive, but I've always told them I don't think it's bad, because competition is what drives me, and I would never have the drive to be successful if I wasn't competing. The truth is, though, that I'm not competing with others, its always a competition with myself. When I tell myself I can't do something, it gives me more determination to prove that I can do it. See, Google would be a great fit ;).

Afterwards we took the big Google tour then headed to have lunch at Charlie's Cafe in Google. It was SOO good, with a sweet ice cream sandwich for dessert. Pre sure I gained the Google 15 in one day, so...no big deal. Then we went to the Google store where I bought everyone's souvenirs.

After Google, we headed over to the Computer History Museum. We got to watch a demo of the Babbage Computer, which pre sure no one who's reading this knows what that is, except Brad, but...cool for me, cause I learned about it in Computer Architecture. The museum was fun, because I actually knew somethings and recognized somethings...which is rare for me, because often times things at museums are too boring for me and WAY over my head, and sometimes computers too, so it was cool to know stuff.

THEN we went to the Apple Store, I played I Spy in the "Under 6" games :). I found everything, but the chimney...then some kid wanted a turn, and it was time to go, so I couldn't keep looking.

After that, we met with Luther Grad and CPA, Al Brudos, at the Menlo Circus Club. We had some snacks and learned a lot about life after Luther, from Al's perspective, which was pretty neat. A lot about grasping opportunities and things. Really, this all makes me excited for the real world, but kind of scared. It should be exciting if these awesome opportunities present themselves, my fear doesn't lie with not taking them, but more-so with not seeing when they are presented to me, and missing them. But adventures aren't fun without any risk, right?

...there are many options out there.

Today was kind of a neat day for me. We started out at Benetech, a nonprofit company improving technology for humanity. It was kind of eye opening for me, because, well, my friends all know just how materialistic I am, however, I've always had that drive in me to do something with my life that's actually beneficial to people. This whole wanting to work in the healthcare industry or in education in particular. In the past I've always pushed away nonprofit because I figured I wouldn't make enough, but I learned today that there are successful nonprofit organizations that help people with what they actually need, and still make plenty of money to survive. I mean, obviously it's no Google, but, still, whatever.

Then we ate lunch at Mediterranean Wraps where I tried a falafel (sp?) wrap, which was delicioso! Um, then we got in the van and headed over to Sierra Ventures. We talked with Robert about some investment stuff. I found it particularly interesting how Sierra Ventures invested in companies overseas. It was kind of something I didn't really give much thought to before, but cool. Then he talked about LEDs and how cool they are, and how they work, and that went right over my head really, but still, cool.

THEN, we went back into Palo Alto, walked to the Stanford Bookstore and shopped a little, before we got lost on our way to Darbar. We met up with Craig Cornelius from Google, real cool guy. We all had some sweet appetizers and I had some chicken basalini or something, it was also AMAZING!! And then we had some Kulfi for dessert (because it looked like Kiflu, or ifluK, haha!).

...i'll show you the way.

I was the navigator today! Yea, I don't get lost. But we started out or whatever, and we're waiting at this stoplight and CRAZY tree fell onto the car in front of us! Broke the lady's windshield! So, that was quite the start to our day. Some guy got out and moved it for us so we could get through. That was nice.

We were on our way to this state park to see the redwoods. Brought me back to the good days of 4th grade geography. It was so much fun, we were just puddle hopping, catching raindrops and all...but then I got all muddy and my feet got wet. Whatever though, it was fun and super cool...we saw two banana slugs!

Then we were off to Monterey Bay. We watched the penguins being fed and then the otters and then just walked around and chilled. We saw seahorses and a hammerhead shark.

So all-in-all a fun day, but it didn't go without education. I learned that the artichoke capital of the world was...down there somewhere. And that Tolare has the most cows per square foot in the nation (thank you Ryan, and Dad??). I also collected a list of artists from Brad's iPod, because I learned of a bunch of new groups I like :). Then, when we got back, we went out to eat at Applewood Pizza, where I got my favorite pepperoni and pineapple pizza with Kaitlin. Delish.

...we're moving on!

NBD, we moved on today. Got up this morning, watched the Vikings DOMINATE the Cowboys :D...then we headed out here to Menlo Park Inn. We did some laundry then went out for supper at this Turkish restaurant. I tried lamb :S...it was absolutely DELICIOUS though! Crazy, Laura will probably freak out, because I'd never eat it for her, but...well, whatevs I guess.

Then we came back and played Up and Down. I got second in both games, but I was SOO close to beating Kiflu in the last game...SO CLOSE! It was a split second decision to bid 1 instead of 2...wrong choice, I took 2 :(. Next time though!

Then we came back and watched Shawshank, but I fell asleep like 3 times in the first hour, so I came down to go to bed. Then I decided to blog and respond to those who facebooked me. I procrastinate, NBD.

...biking must not be my thing.

We woke up Saturday morning to a bike ride across the Golden Gate! Kaitlin and I rented a tandem. We wanted to head out to Point Bonita or whatever, but...we only made it up the mountain to decide we weren't going down it...because we wanted to be alive for the rest of the trip. We walked around on top and then decided we'd head back. On our way back, Kiflu, Bryan and I stopped on the bridge to watch the dolphins. This is where we met up with Aaron, Brad and Pyz. We came back to the hotel and met for lunch at In-N-Out.

Then we got ready to head out to Alcatraz. We got on the boat and took the night tour around the island. It was an audio tour and I learned a lot! A lot of it reminded me of The Shawshank Redemption, so we watched that when we got back. I fell asleep, then went to bed.

…this is honestly the best!

Our first meeting on Friday was a little later than usual. Thus we could start our morning later with a run on the wharf, where we ran into 2 Milwaukee Bucks preparing for their game against Golden State. After we got back and showered, we took off to Union Square to do some shopping. We stopped at Ghirardelli and cashed in our coupons for free samples and then walked around. The Nike Store was my favorite…oops. We were walking around up by this ice rink, when some dudes from a radio station stopped and interviewed Kaitlin and I. Pre sweet, for real.

Anyway, then we headed out to Porter Noveli to learn about Public Relations. This was neat for me because I didn’t really understand what PR was exactly, but I learned a lot from our encounter with Karen. She talked about the importance of our relationships with people and how relationships really define who we are to the public eye. It is interesting because the idea of networking among people is really being highlighted with everyone we meet. Unfortunately, I have been too lazy to use this advice. I need to get on that. Anyway, that’s mostly what I took from that.

Then we walked over to Creative Commons, a non-profit company who allows people to license their work, but without a full copyright. This allows others to use that work and build on it, but while still crediting the artist. I found it to be a neat idea, and it really reminded me of the open code ideas presented at that thing we went to at the U of M fall semester. Just with the whole idea of how important it is for developing creativity, to allow others to build on that which already exists.

After Creative Commons Kaitlin, Kiflu and I waited at the Levi’s store for Pyz for HOURS while he shopped. Then, crazy-hungry, we took the trolley back to the wharf where I had some DELICIOUS clam chowder! I was surprised how much I liked it!

We got back to the hotel and we headed over to The Purple Onion, the comedy club I researched. We were about fifteen minutes late and waited in line for a half hour; we thought we would never get in. They were starting the show when we hear whispering, “It’s Robin Williams.” Sure enough, Robin Williams comes walking down the stairs and into the club. We waited another fifteen minutes or so and we FINALLY got into the club and enjoyed the show!

We snuck some pictures of Robin after the show, because Pyz wouldn’t let us ask him for an autograph or a picture. Eventually everyone was asked to leave so they could prepare for the next show. We were the first ones out and the first ones in line for that show. At this point Pyz finally allowed us to ask for a picture, in fact he told me he'd be willing to risk a restraining order for one, haha. So when we saw Robin walk in again, I went over and explained our story. “For school! Of course I’ll take a picture with you for school,” was his response. So we got a picture with him, while I was shaking like CRAZY!!

The shows were GREAT! Hilarious! The second show was called Joke-E-Oke, which was a comedy routine in a karaoke style. Pam’s dad (from The Office) was one of the judges. We got a picture with him too. We talked The Office and he told me that he hopes Daddy has a little more of a role in Pam’s life after her little one comes along, HA!

...i've never laughed so hard!

We left this morning to beautiful weather, heading out to Netvibes to meet with Chris. Chris was a very laid back, knowledgeable guy, who worked on the business side of Netvibes, while the coders, and the majority of the company, worked in Paris. I'm not going to lie, I had to do my research of Netvibes, and what I found was basically that it is just a company who creates personalized dashboards. I immediately thought that my Google homepage definitely worked for me, and that Netvibes would definitely never fly. However, after our meeting with Chris, I quickly realized how they took this (what I thought was) out-dated idea of a dashboard, and made it desirable and profitable to other companies. He showed us around the web page and highlighted what makes Netvibes worthwhile for all companies, schools, individuals, etc. Instantly, I was convinced that I needed to use it (which I signed up as soon as we got back for the day), and also that Luther should buy into it. It goes to show how a small idea can be applied to a grander scale and that's how you can do the whole, charge some for the product (the businesses, etc.) and allow others to use it for free (you and me!).

We then ate out at Taylor's Automatic Refresher, great burger joint on the pier...probably better than the In-N-Out burger ;).

I finally caught up on my current events! And discussed (slash listened in on a discussion) politics. Aww...my dad would be so proud!

The newspaper

Next we made our way over to Kiva.org. A really great idea for a company, connecting lenders here in the US to entrepreneurs in third world countries. They took us through the set up of their company and explained how all the financial things worked out and how they are working their way to becoming sustainable with lenders donating an extra 10% of their donations to help keep Kiva running (right now they are at about 6.5%). The most interesting thing I got out of it was really their reaction to our questions of the bad press that they had gotten. They explained how they had to respond and how the misunderstanding was caused by the website wording not being updated when they tweaked the system just a little bit. I found Kiva interesting because of their laid back environment, the enthusiasm of all people we visited with, and the fact that we had actual software developers in the room. It was neat to hear their impressive backgrounds and what drew them to a non-profit organization such as Kiva. As exciting and interesting as it sounded, and for how rewarding and great I think it would be, I felt like their reasons for being at Kiva didn't really convince me to go towards a not-for-profit organization. I think I'd still prefer a start-up out here if I decide to come out here.

Anyway, then we wandered around down by where we ate (I forgot what it was called). Whatevs, we got some cool pictures by the Bay Bridge, ate some Ciao Bella Gelado...Dulce de Leche and Cookie Dough!! Then caught the tram (??) and came back to the hotel.

We left for supper at Scoma's where I had a very delicious three course meal, crab cakes (seafood!) which were...UH-MAZING!! Then like some prawn-pesto linguine...also delicious, however, I couldn't finish it all because I had to save room for my DIVINE dessert...sound kinda, normal...but it was great!...a walnut brownie with some good ice cream (don't remember what kind) and some caramel sauce. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Kiflu: So a farmer has a tiger, a goat, and cabbage...

Brad: So there's a farmer, a goat and a chicken...what's the other animal?

Jacob: A tiger?

Brad: No, why would a farmer have a tiger?

Adam: I guess only Ethiopian farmers must have tigers!

However, the best part of the day...at dinner...the conversation and the laughter...O M G...never laughed SOOO hard in my entire life. For real.

...i've never had so much fun being 10 in my life!

Great! So we began the day at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. It amazed me how successful the businesses that they have invested in have become. I found it very interesting how they explained to us what they looked for in the entrepreneurs who were pitching their ideas. I also found it very cool that they were Venture Capitalists only concerned with the Software Industry, and how all of the investors understand code so that they are better able to understand and interact with the entrepreneurs. Furthermore, I was very impressed with Ann and her success before Hummer Winblad, and after. It’s just kind of exciting and inspiring to know that someone from a small school in Minnesota can be so successful. It really shows the importance of a strong work ethic and the devotion to something you believe in.

I gave my presentation afterwards, so I was excited to be done with the whole standing in front of people thing...

After that, we went and grabbed lunch down by the wharf...and then walked forever...along the beach! to the Exploratorium...which was pretty cool...slash AMAZING!!

We explored!

Pretty sure the kids there thought we were a bunch of creepers playing with their toys...

Unfortunately, with all the time we had...we only made it through about 3/4 of the first floor...in 3 hours. Then it closed :(. But o my gosh, the most fun EVER! I swear.

Then afterwards we had to find our way back to the hotel. Thanks mom for the google maps and directions to the bus stop...I hope you learned how to use the public transit option on google maps now...or the whole "get directions" thing. I guess it can be tricky for some people ;)...

...this is what i need to do!

So, sparing the details (impressive, right?), we started out our day visiting callspark.com and we met with Steve Larsen. It was pretty neat to hear what he had to say, especially for me, because so much of what he mentioned correlated with what the book I read ("Getting Real").

With Steve, and throughout the entire day, I really enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm each person showed when telling us about their company. It's great to see the momentum that people have to help propel their company forward. It's the kind of inspiration I think we should all have when going to work. Wanting to work hard to be successful because the product you are working on, or job that you are doing is just that important. Pretty cool.

(For Mom's benefit)

Then we met with Allison from Aardvark. It was neat, because I hadn't known about it, so I learned about it. Sadly, my parents need to get me an iTouch so I can use that app :). Then we hung out and I visited the Apple Store and played some kid math software that I sucked at. Then Kiflu and I shopped for some little Ferarri's for Liv, Grace and Claire...they're like $400...sweet! And we got free chocolate from Ghiredali (sp?).

Then we headed over to Digg. That was pretty sweet. We each had a beer while listening to his presentation about audaciousness. It was extremely informational and hopefully helpful...but I'm still shy...we're working on that!

Then we went to SFNewTech. I tried the whole mingling thing, we learned about one cool new iTouch app, moodagent...pretty sweet. I also learned about some software this guy was developing to help high school students better manage their money, which I thought was interesting. And after the mingling we heard a bunch of entrepreneurs explain their new projects and through out their ideas and such. They each had 5 minutes to explain and demonstrate and then 5 minutes more for questions from the audience. It was a neat experience, and I hope I can attend again some day.

Also, today was my first time on a metro since Chile. It was super exciting, you have no idea!

...supper was great!

So basically we went out to eat...we had seafood. I tried it. I had Mahi-Mahi, prawn scampi, and I tried a shell-less mussel :). Um...so its a start!

Then we walked around. And then we came back and did the whole internet thing for few hours. Then I went to In-N-Out with Aaron, Drew, Jacob, and Bryan. It was also good.

Now I ate breakfast this morning. I had my eggs! So, that's good.

Now I've got to get ready to go to our busy day.

...time to pack!

Actually, I'm already packed. I just wanted to post something so that my page wasn't empty when all my followers started...following?