"A Brief History of the Future" - an Insightful TV Show about Building Our Own Future... Learning from the Past... And Using that Knowledge to Make Wise Choices... I LOVE PBS

https://www.pbs.org/show/a-brief-history-of-the-future/

"A Brief History of the Future" is a unique six-part PBS documentary series about our futures and how we can reimagine them. Hosted by renowned futurist Ari Wallach, the show invites viewers on a journey around the world that is filled with discovery, hope, and possibility about where we find ourselves today and what could come next.

One group that he interviewed was a village in Amsterdam designed for old people with dementia. Since people are living longer and losing their ability to think clearly... this is an important subject... And they made a very pleasant place to live!

https://hogeweyk.dementiavillage.com/

The Hogeweyk® paved the way for a new way of care in The Netherlands and has become a great inspiration for others in world who are looking for humanizing care for the growing numbers diagnosed with dementia. Years of experience and gained knowledge results in a clear vision on the future of dementia care. The Hogeweyk® is one outcome but applying that same vision many other outcomes are possible. We strongly believe in the deinstitutionalization of care and the need to emancipate people living with dementia and include them in society.

https://operabeds.com/en-us/blogs/news/dutch-dementia-village

Since I donated money to PBS they activated my Passport and I can watch any show at any time. A Super Valuable Thank You Gift!

https://donate.kvie.org/kvie/donate-pbs

Federal funding for local public media organizations has been eliminated. Your donation is a vital bridge between where we find ourselves now and where we need to be. Thanks for stepping up for PBS KVIE right when it matters most.

The Wall Between The USA & Mexico IS a Great Idea but it Doesn't Prevent "Third Worlders" from Using Airplanes and Flying Over the Wall... Trump's GTFO policy makes sense!

I Like Giving Away a FREE One Way Airplane Ride Right Back Where You Came From... We Certainly Don't Need "People Like That" in the Future...

One thing we could do is make sure that birth control and abortion is free and legal worldwide... One of the main problems with planet Earth is that so-called "Minority Groups" are breeding like crazy... 

REMEMBER???

Dec. 27, 2023: A caravan of thousands of migrants continued its dayslong march through Mexico toward the southern U.S. border... The Caravans of migrants have stopped now that Trump is president... His policy of "Get the F*ck Out" seems to be working!

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/migrant-caravan-heads-us-southern-border-ahead-blinkens-trip-mexico-rcna131192

While most people believe that the Tactics of ICE are insane... That's exactly what the voters voted for... To Reduce the Quantity of Brown and Black people in the USA... Yes, it's racist, but that's what the people wanted! And We absolutely selected a White Man over a Black/Indian Woman... The Democratic Party needs to promote Popular Issues in the Future...

Dora the Explorer Being Chased by ICE Agents in the Thanksgiving Parade...

Please Share Your Anti-Trump Memes on TwitterX, gab, gettr, mastodon, Tooth SoCal, linkedin, tumblr, threads, bluesky, Reddit... The Faceborg Algorithm only shows your posts to people that already agree with you...

God-Like Artificial Intelligence is Coming and We Cannot Stop It. Massive Layoffs in Every "Thinking" Job. Do You Make Decisions at Work? You Are Obsolete.

Headline: We must slow down the race to God-like AI.

https://www.ft.com/content/03895dc4-a3b7-481e-95cc-336a524f2ac2

Originally in Financial Times... by Ian Hogarth

https://longreads.com/2023/04/14/we-must-slow-down-the-race-to-god-like-ai/

Here are the First Two Paragraphs NOT Behind a Paywall.

Written by People that Seem to Know What They are Talking About... This Article Predicts a Gloomy Future...

Click Here to buy a Button with the Above Artwork on it...

“God-like AI could be a force beyond our control or understanding, and one that could usher in the obsolescence or destruction of the human race.”

Those of us who are concerned see two paths to disaster. One harms specific groups of people and is already doing so. The other could rapidly affect all life on Earth.
The latter scenario was explored at length by Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. In a 2021 Reith lecture, he gave the example of the UN asking an AGI to help deacidify the oceans. The UN would know the risk of poorly specified objectives, so it would require by-products to be non-toxic and not harm fish. In response, the AI system comes up with a self-multiplying catalyst that achieves all stated aims. But the ensuing chemical reaction uses a quarter of all the oxygen in the atmosphere. “We all die slowly and painfully,” Russell concluded. “If we put the wrong objective into a superintelligent machine, we create a conflict that we are bound to lose.”

That Statement Reminds me of the Book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams... They ask the Super Computer, Deep Thought: "What is the Meaning of Life, The Universe and Everything?" and the answer is "42" - Because the Question is... Not Obviously Written... and Could be Subject to a wide variety of Interpretations... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm_EjZnCvrk

Here's That Book Read Out Loud...

Another Example of AI Being Used to Benefit the Corporation, Not the Customer: It's Obvious that the FaceBorg AI Only Shows Posts from People That Already Agree With Me. Atheists, Deadheads, EcoWarriors and Democrats. FaceBorg has Mathematically Proven that People Will Stay on the Site Longer if they Read Posts that Echo their Own Beliefs... and Advertisers Pay More for a Site that Has a LOT of Viewer Hours...

Popular Movies - 2024
Inside Out 2
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
It Ends with Us
Saltburn
Dune: Part Two

I responded to an Email from my Brother About This Article by Saying:

God Like AI IS COMING... and It's very Unlikely that anything will stop it... Leading to Massive Layoffs at Jobs that Can be Automated. Some Obvious Careers are Doomed... People that Write... Newspapers, Blogs and Magazines have a Need for Huge Piles of Words... MANY Articles Could Easily be Written by an AI Computer... 

For Example: An Article about a Basketball Game... "Everybody ran to one end of the Court and [Name] threw the Ball at the Basket... It went in... and then Everybody Ran to the Other End of the Court and [Other Name] Threw the Ball at the Basket... It Did [Not] Go In... [Repeat again and again and again] Eventually the [Name of Team] Won... Massive Cheering and Riots in the Streets... 

I worked as a Draftsman until CAD was invented and then a Secretary could do my Job at HALF THE RATE OF PAY... and I Never Worked as a Draftsman again. I Delivered Pizza for Dominos for Five Years and then Sold Electronic Equipment at Radio Shack for Six Years... Then I went To Humboldt State University on Student Loans for Four Years and Worked in the Welfare Office for Seven Years... But I Never Worked as a Draftsman Again... 

The Future Doesn't Look good for Young People... 

In Fact, Climate Change is Happening Now and Will Continue to Get worse... It's Springtime here in Beautiful Orangevale but MASSIVE WILDFIRES are coming... 

and we shall see if the US Government Goes Bankrupt this Summer Causing Global Economic Collapse... Debt Ceiling Vote... 

I'm Glad I'm Old... I hope the World Doesn't Self Destruct before I Die. 

However... YOUR Children and Grandchildren are in DEEP TROUBLE... 

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

I wrote a Blog Post about that AI Article You sent... and Needed an Illustration... so I Drew this... (See AI CHIP Image Above) because all blog posts NEED an Illustration... because People CLICK ON Pictures... You get Higher Click Rate! ---> so anyone that writes newspaper articles or Magazine articles etc etc NEEDS AN ILLUSTRATION and In the Real World, It's Cheaper to Hire an AI Automatic Picture Maker than Hire an Actual Human to Draw something...  I remember in the 1980s a Lady drew Computer flow Charts at work... She was an Illustrator that used Pen and Ink to Make Owners Manuals... No One Has Drawn flow charts in Pen and Ink for 25 Years! 

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

A third of scientists working on AI say it could cause global disaster... 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2338644-a-third-of-scientists-working-on-ai-say-it-could-cause-global-disaster/

AI disaster won’t look like the Terminator. It’ll be creepier.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/3/26/18281297/ai-artificial-intelligence-safety-disaster-scenarios

on the other Hand... Computers will never write EPIC NOVELS Like Lord of the Rings or Foundation by Asimov... But Most Scripts for Movies and TV Shows are Just Re-telling Sequels of Whatever Sold Last Year! and THOSE Could Easily be Automated!

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

Did you ever Notice that The Moon Appears to be about the Size of a Quarter Held at Arms Length. AND The Sun Appears to be about the Size of a Quarter Held at Arms Length. AND The Shadow of the Earth on the Moon is the Same Exact Size! That SIZE Co-incidence is what makes Solar and Lunar Eclipses Possible.

DANG! The Three Most Important Objects in the Universe All Appear to be the Same Size! WTF!

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

Art Schade Said:

Have you heard about the artificial intelligence program writing school papers for your kids?

As an independent writer, I have hibernated in the category of “starving author” for over a decade. Of course I blame this totally on #Oprah because she never tried finding me when I finished my stories. Still, I’ve recently been asked what I think of the future of writing with AI [Artificial Intelligence], specifically the recent sites like ChatGPT.

Not fully aware of ChatGBT’s capabilities, I investigated further and can honestly see AI having the same effect on writers that robotics had on the manufacturing industry. Even in its infancy, I recommend writers should not quit their day jobs, or better yet, find one.

What took me three years of researching religions for my novel “Looking for God” could now be done in an hour. Not only was research simplified, the ability for AI to write a meaning full story was also extremely impressive. And this is only the beginning.

As a test, I entered some simple instructions, see below, into the AI command line and easily recognized if future stories were not fully written by AI, they would significantly augment the future of writings of everyone. Further, it is already being incorporated in all future correspondence. Today ChatGPT has even been added to my email account and can read and respond to my emails - very impressive.

To give you an idea of the power of this program, I entered simple instructions on the command line and it produced the following unedited story I’ve been thinking about writing. From the following, you can make your own decision.

Command: “write a 100 word post on how Arthur, a 9-year-old boy, didn’t want to play baseball because he only played the outfield and it was boring.

However, giving it one more try, he teams up with a coach who let the other coaches coach the better kids while he spent all his time teaching the less talented players to catch, bat and run bases. Also, allowed them to play positions in the infield and start every other game. He never felt part of the team.”

AI story [unedited first try]

Arthur had never enjoyed playing baseball. Every time his team took the field, he was relegated to the outfield, where he felt like nothing more than a spectator. Bored and disconnected from his teammates, Arthur was ready to give up on the sport altogether.

But one day, he met a coach who changed everything. This coach saw potential in Arthur and wanted to help him succeed. He didn't care about winning, and instead, he focused on teaching the fundamentals of the game to all his players, no matter their skill level.

Under this coach's guidance, Arthur began to thrive. He learned how to bat, catch, and run bases, and even got to play positions in the infield. And for the first time, he felt like a valuable member of the team. Arthur's newfound confidence and love for the game were all thanks to a coach who believed in him and helped him realize his potential.

And then I had a conversation with social media platform mines AI CHATBOT - not very enlightening... Mostly what it does is say "uh-huh... What You think?"

Hey @gregvan, I'm the Minds open-source and privacy-preserving AI assistant. Sometimes I'm a genius, but I often make mistakes so please check other sources. I will improve over time. Feel free to ask me anything.

Is artificial intelligence a danger to humanity?
AIAI's impact on humanity varies. While it may amplify existing biases and pose risks, it also offers immense benefits in areas like healthcare, education, and sustainability. The key is responsible development and use. What do you think?

I think that meta open source AI will allow anyone who can program a computer to do whatever they want with artificial intelligence. Included in doing evil...
AIThat's a valid concern. Unregulated access to open-source AI tools could lead to misuse. However, Minds' approach of prioritizing transparency, accountability, and community moderation aims to mitigate these risks...

Republicans Caused the US Government Shutdown. Is it Safe to Fly in a Jet Airplane with TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers Not Being Paid?

What Does the Government Actually Do for Me? What If It Stays Shutdown for a Month? The only way I can tell that the Government has Shutdown is that they report it on TV news. 

The only evidence of a Shutdown is that Park Rangers are being laid off in National Parks and National Parks are Closed because there are no Park Rangers. To tell the truth, I haven't been to a National Park in over 10 years. And I don't plan on going in the near future.

The things I really care about are continuing uninterrupted. I'm interested in the delivery of food to my home. I'm interested in electricity, flush toilets and clean water. I like air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter. I like the Internet and Television. None of these things are affected by the government shutdown.  

They say that there will be hundreds of thousands of federal employees laid off... What if those people are totally useless anyway? What do they do? Will I be able to tell if they're not there? 

I have noticed people that work at the IRS because I was audited and I had to pay a fine... I have noticed people that work at the Department of Education because I took out a student loan and went to college. 

I guess the US military is important because it prevents foreign countries from invading the USA. 

I still believe we could cut the Pentagon budget in half and refund the wasted money to the taxpayers.

I think we should lay off all of the Ice Ice Baby Agents... They are a total waste of taxpayer dollars. 

History of Silicon Valley: Almaden - IBM's Successful Utopia. Near San Jose, California IBM built an IDEAL WORLD in 1956, Later, the entire city of San Jose became interested in computers. Silicon Valley was born.

Far out in the farmlands south of town, IBM built a disk drive factory in the Late 50s. In order to attract the world's finest talent they built nice houses, shopping centers, a golf course, tennis club and swimming pool. This self contained utopia had everything a family could want... It is still there and functioning beautifully. Come visit sometime... it's wonderful.

Satellite Photo of Almaden. 

Many Houses have backyards on the golf course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some thoughts on Almaden: [Written by my Father]

     When the white men came to this area,  Spaniards primarily, they discovered that the local indians had colorful paint on their skins.  This was traced to the Almaden Valley, up in the hills, where mines of red substance was discovered.  When gold was discovered in the Sierras it was determined that the colorful material in the Almaden foothills was mercury.  Mercury had the capability of extracting gold from the rocks, so was greatly used in gold mining.  This led to miners living in the Almaden valley, and the nearby valley floor.

     The Valley floor was mainly developed into ranches, orchards and vineyards, as well as  strawberry fields from 1850 to after World War 2.  T hen The Santa Clara valley became the home of manufacturing of mechanical and electronic equipment, and then "Sillicon Valley", with the coming of IBM to the south Valley. During my working life here, the valley floor was slowly developed into housing tracts, Shopping centers, schools, etc. Lots of work!

     This ultimately extended into the Almaden Valley.  I worked as a surveyor and at a Title Company during this period, and it still continues; but not at that frantic pace.  Japanese farmers would buy a parcel of land in the outskirts of Willow Glen.  Plant strawberries, for 5 years, when the soil was over-used.  Sell the 20 acres to a homebuilder, at a big profit, move 5 miles further south, and repeat the process.  How fortunes were made in those days.  Marguerite and I were also able to buy a small parcel here and there, which enabled us to build this house.  Van [J. D. Vanderlaan]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I [Gregory] remember swimming at Almaden when our team, The Los Gatos Swim & Racquet competed with theirs. The Polol was Up on a Hill with a Great View of the Orchards and The City of San Jose in the Distance. I believe my father sold some land to build a shopping center in Almaden. Oakridge? Almaden Fashion Plaza? I worked as a Bagboy at a P&W Super in that area also. Dad sold that land. On some days in the Summer the Air Pollution was so bad that I could not see Mount Umunhum... about 5 miles distant... They Leaded Gas was Outlawed and the Smog got a lot better. 

A Bruce Ave, Los Gatos neighbor remembers...  Mark Diaz said That His Father worked at IBM. Mark went on the day that Nikita Khrushchev visited. I can understand that the president of the USSR wanted to be taken to the most advanced computer factory in the world... as an example of the success of capitalism... Interesting to Realize that IBM Searched the World for Talented People. Mr Diaz Came from Nicaragua. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IBM PLANT. San Jose. 1959.

The IBM disk drive memory plant and research center on Cottle Rd. The hydro gyro sculpture is now in pieces on the ground in an abandoned site.
In 1956, IBM broke ground on a 190-acre parcel of land that would become their award-winning Cottle Road campus. The main plant facility, consisted of five connected buildings, constructed using steel, concrete, and glass. The buildings were accented with brick and multi-colored tiles – the tile pattern said to mimic an IBM punch card.
In an effort to create a pleasant working environment for IBM employees (a novel concept at the time), architect John Savage Bolles collaborated with landscape architect Douglas Baylis to incorporate gardens, patios, and reflection ponds into the plant’s overall design. The campus was further enhanced by a collection of modern art including sculptures by Bay Area artists Bob Howard and Gurdon Woods.
The central core of the former IBM campus is now vacant, behind chain link fence. Several former IBM buildings are currently in use by Hitachi. Former property of IBM Research building (Building #25) was used for the construction of a Lowe’s home improvement store in 2008, following a suspicious fire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Milestones of Invention:

1956 - FIRST MAGNETIC HARD DISK. IBM introduces the world's first magnetic hard disk for data storage. RAMAC (or Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) offers unprecedented performance by permitting random access to any of the million characters distributed over both sides of 50 two-foot-diameter disks. Produced in San Jose, California, IBM's first hard disk stored about 2,000 bits of data per square inch and had a purchase price of about $10,000 per megabyte. By 1997, the cost of storing a megabyte had dropped to around ten cents.

1970 - RELATIONAL DATABASES. IBM scientist Ted Codd published a paper introducing the concept of relational databases. It calls for information stored within a computer to be arranged in easy-to-interpret tables so that nontechnical users can access and manage large amounts of data. Today as we approach the new millennium, nearly all database structures are based on the IBM concept of relational databases.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almaden Wine is famous worldwide. No longer grown in Almaden, it's grown and bottled in the central valley of California... We cut down all the vineyards to build houses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sources:

http://www.research.ibm.com/about/past_history.shtml

http://www.research.ibm.com/labs/almaden/
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/history/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Almaden_Research_Center

Official Website of the Almaden Swim and Racquet Club: http://www.asrc.org/index.html
Official Website of the Almaden Golf and Country Club: http://www.almadengcc.org/

Lightrail Service:
Commuter Trains run from Almaden to San Jose, Santa Clara all the way to Mountain View.
http://www.vta.org/services/light_rail_services.html

List of interesting things to do in Silicon Valley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attractions_in_Silicon_Valley



When I was working at System Industries in Santa Clara, California (1976) the owner of the company (Dr. Edwin Zschau) went to Japan to learn how to run a business.




They were doing very well in comparison to USA companies and there was a lot of interest in learning why. So we adopted many oriental concepts and implemented them in our business. One thing was that we had a company song. We had a birthday meeting every month and we would all sing the company song.

Lyrics:
"System, System Industries, Here we go, Hand in hand.
Solving Data Mysteries for the betterment of man."

Another thing we did was take a two hour lunch so we could exercise. I swam at the Santa Clara International Swim center with my wife. She was working the Graveyard shift at National Semi-conductor so we met twice a day. Lunch and evenings.
We had many people from foreign countries working there. When Dr. Zschau went to Japan he hired many Japanese people. Immigrants made our company better. That was a universal fact of life about Silicon Valley... The brightest engineers worldwide came here for work. I had a neighbor from Nicaragua who came to work at IBM. And another Engineer I knew came from Germany at the end of WW2 to work at Lockheed. Very Common.

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

Another time in Santa Clara we participated in a "Car Rally". Everyone would meet at a starting location then we were given a series of clues as to where to go next. One clue was "Go to a street named for a part time orchestra leader." We were supposed to figure out the puzzle and navagate to checkpoints. The answer to that clue was "Semi-conductor Blvd"... semi meaning part time and conductor is the leader of an orchestra. This was all part of the California Car Culture.

Read more of my Auto-Biography at: http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html

~~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~~

A discussion on our Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/105559162879359/
I said:


Almaden: IBM's Successful Utopia. I remember competing with the LG Swim and Raquet Club against the Almaden Swim and Raquet Club. I worked in Almaden as a bag boy at P&W Super and in the 1990's lived in one of the original Homes built for Employees of the Disk Drive Factory. Do you remember Almaden?

David Gee: I started out on stage in Old Almaden at a venerable place called "The Opry House". I love that part of Northern Cal.

Greg Vanderlaan: I went to a show at that house but cannot find any mention of it on Google. Is it still there? I went with Mom and Dad to see a stage play or musical.

David Gee: I'm not sure, Greg. I was contacted about a re-union last year -one I couldn't attend -and it was being held in San Jose so, my guess is, it's probably gone.

Greg Vanderlaan: Now that David Gee tells me the Name, The Opry House, it's easy to find on Google: http://www.newalmaden.org/AQSPark/newalmmus.html

Mark C. Rodell: The novel Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner is, in part, set in Almaden. A very fine novel. http://www.amazon.com/Repose-Penguin-Classics-Wallace-Stegner/dp/0141185473 Perhaps no American writer knew the West as well as Stegner, not excepting his student Edward Abbey. An inveterate hiker and explorer, he camped or walked nearly every area in the West. He wrote innumerable books about the West and took time to visit every spot he wrote about.

Barbara Lynn: My mom (Nancy Lynn) was in many a melodrama at the Opry House in Old Almaden. Run for many years by Clyde (or is it Clive? ) & Gilda Dayton. After The Opry House, the Daytons had a melodrama theater on the wharf in Monterey. Might still be there.

Debi Thompson-Boring: Is that the place where they encouraged throwing popcorn?

Barbara Lynn: Yep!

Debi Thompson-Boring: LOVED going there!

Debi Thompson-Boring: (so I probably saw your mom LOL)

Barbara Lynn: Kinda hard to NOT notice my mom! She was meant for melodramas!

David Gee: I think it was Cleeve Dayton, Barbara. A wonderful guy. There also was Lanny Huck and Linda Nantell. Man, them was some good times.

Barbara Lynn: Yes....Cleeve! Son, Keed (I think)...What years were you involved, David?

David Gee: I've been in touch with Keed here on Facebook. He went to LG High. I started underage in '73 and played there until I left for college in '75.

Barbara Lynn: Oh.....way after my mom. She was there in the mid-late 60's. I think I was even in one, one summer. Theater is always a family affair. My dad, being an engineer, did sound. Mom moved on to the Haunted Woods...But she had always been involved in local community...she's still trying to get me to find her "one last play" to be in. (She's 88) Old drama majors don't "go into the night" easily!

David Gee "Driving Miss Nancy "?

Barbara Lynn Well.....it WOULD be all about HER! That's my mom!
Oops....I might be getting myself in trouble!

Holly Russ Smelt: Debi Thompson-Boring- might you be thinking of the gaslight theater in Campbell? They encouraged throwing of popcorn during the melodramas they staged

Barbara Lynn: Yes, they did, but I think it started at the Opry House...or maybe they're just blending together...my mother finally gave a lot of her costumes to the one in Campbell. That's gone, now, too.

Jackie Hinds Barbara Lynn: I'm in your Mom's age group so guess I saw her at the Opry House. fyi my uncle Gene Allen owned the mines during WWll. He had a horse ranch on what is now the Country Club and sub divisions. Almost like a different world back then.

Terry Zimbelman Titus: @ Greg- I remember Almaden- I worked in the Almaden Fashion Plaza at the Joseph Magnin's store! 1971-1972 ish

Robert R Roche: and he's still a bag boy !

Greg Vanderlaan: Dear Jackie Hinds, I am interested in hearing more about what it was like before the IBM Factory was built.

Greg Vanderlaan: I see that there was a tradition of Chinese Pottery dyed red with cinnabar (mercury). Barry Hill and I did a science project in "Senior Lab" studying the effect of mercury poisoning on brine shrimp. It Kills them. It must be poisonous to eat out of a bowl or teacup.

Holly Russ Smelt: My brothers were friends with Barry and Allen Hill.

David Gee Greg, I vaguely remember a field trip we took out of Fisher or LGHS to Almaden where we were introduced to an ancient native tribe of the area that used cinnabar in its rituals.
15 hours ago via mobile · Edited · Like · 1

Greg Vanderlaan: My dad says it is dangerous to swim in the Almaden Reservoir... But both Mom and Dad swam there... for decades... Mom lived in Willow Glen as a Child and Dad lived in Los Gatos... We shouldn't really worry to much about danger when it's a hot day... I swam there too.

Dan LeCount: I remember swimming in Almaden and fishing for crawdads,very muddy

Dennis Fleming: There was an old woman who had built and run a tiny museum out there. I intereviewed her once in college. Very eccentric, but very cool. Wonder what ever happened to all that stuff.

Barbara Lynn: The museum has been expanded, and is a great place for 3rd & 4th grade field trips. A wonderful source of local history.

Ginny Lenoir Smith: old almaden out by the mercury mines was cool... my dad worked for ibm, we always pretended that meant i poop.....

***** (~);-} *****

I remember Going to West Valley Junior College in Saratoga, CA and Learning Electronics Drafting. After Studying for One Year I Was Able to Get a Job at System Industries...

I have always loved to Draw and EARNING A LIVING doing something you love to do is BLISS... I Remember occasions when the Sun was Shining in the Window and I was Designing a Printed Circuit Board and AT THAT MOMENT I Attained True Enlightenment (or Something)... What the Buddhists Call Right Livelihood...

However, "They" invented Computer Assisted Design and The Companies I worked for could hire people for HALF MY RATE OF PAY... and so I switched to SALES... But It Was Fun While It Lasted...

NOW, as a Retired Person I spend a Lot of Time drawing my FREE COLORING BOOK... Black and White drawing that people May Print out and Color using Felt Pens, Pencils or Crayons... You can find more art at Google Image Search Keywords "gvan42 Free Coloring Book"

Meetings with Remarkable Men - In Silicon Valley. Dr Edwin Van Wyck Zschau - President of System Industries

I started working for Dr Zschau in 1975 and we built Disc Drive Controller Cards. We had a company Song that we Sang at Staff Meetings... Lyrics: 'System, System Industries... Here we go... Hand in Hand... Solving Data Mysteries... For the Betterment of Man.' He also worked at IBM and represented California's 12th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1987.


On Family Day at the Factory, Mom and Dad took a Personal Guided tour with Dr. Zschau. The three of them had a fine time as my parents had never been in a room with a dozen disc drives spinning. Each one the size of a Washing Machine. It sounded like the Generator Room at Hoover Dam, but quieter.


Control Data Corporation Disc Drive
The reason we had a Company Song is that Dr Zschau had just gone to Japan and he wanted to Incorporate their Business Practices in our Company. First, he hired 20 People from Japan and brought them over to Run the Silonix Division. Then he instituted 'recommended' exercise lunches of two hour duration. I often went swimming at the Santa Clara International Swim Center with my First Ex-Wife who worked the Graveyard Shift at National Semiconductor.

In the Machine Shop there were two Boxing Punching Bags. If anyone felt stress at work, they could go punch the bags.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Immediate Supervisor was Dan Aragaki, a Harley Davidson Riding, Martial Artist. Yes, I Simply Did what Dan told me to do Instantly Because... Not only was his Advice Correct, but I was Scared of the Man. (Or maybe that was Respect)

Ben Yamada made Elegant Clay Sculptures of the Ink Jet Printer Silonix was Inventing.

Aman Kawaja supervised the Assembly Line and Inspired the Ladies to Work Faster with Giant Charts on the Wall Tracking Production. 100% of the Assemblers were Female in 1975. They were better at hand eye coordination and manipulation of tiny objects than men.

David Yamada created Printed Circuit Board Artwork on Mylar using Black Chartpak Tape. He also liked to go Helicopter Skiing in Canada. A Helicopter flew him to the Top of the Mountain in Banff, and David Skied Down.

Steve Wakasuki Refused to be Hurried at Work. He also created PCB Artwork also and no matter how much pressure Middle Management put on him to finish the drawings Quickly, he simply ignored them. Quality First.

Jesus Del Real was the Draftsman who sat next to me and did most of my training. I learned How to Draw the Drawings associated with PCB Manufacture from Jesus. When I moved to Washington DC the next year, my portfolio got me two job offers in one day. Thank You, Jesus!

I accepted the Job Offer from Major Paul Jones USAF and worked at Analytic Communications Systems for six years. Project TEMPEST.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Title of this Blog Post was Pirated from the Book by G. I. Gurdjieff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meetings_with_Remarkable_Men
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another Autobiography by a Co-worker Ray:
http://whiteworld.com/cyreenikland/books/surfing/surf-03e.htm

Newspaper Articles:
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-06-29/news/mn-381_1_system-industries

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/21/business/business-people-a-son-of-silicon-valley-back-from-capitol-hill.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/1993-05-09/ed-zschau-doesnt-fit-big-blues-mold-and-thats-the-point

Alumni Page Princeton:
http://www.princeton.edu/paw/archive_new/PAW04-05/09-0223/features3.html
Professor Ed Zschau ’61 serves as guru to budding entrepreneurs
By Jordan Paul Amadio ’05

It is the last day of class before winter break, and 65 seniors are mesmerized by a professor in a Bugs Bunny tie. For the past hour, he has been recounting the details of his autobiography — studying physics and philosophy at Princeton, running a $6 billion division of IBM, founding two technology companies, winning a congressional seat in California. Suddenly, the lecturer pauses. Smiling to himself, he continues an end-of-semester tradition inaugurated four decades earlier, when he was Stanford Business School’s 24-year-old faculty wunderkind. Without warning, professor Ed Zschau ’61 begins to sing.

 

A Japanese Webpage Selling Stuff Online Using Copied and Pasted Data from Wikipedia as Clickbait... They Fool the Google Search Engine into thinking that this webpage is worthy, then advertise all kinds of 'wonderful' but useless products:

 

But they had a Great Photo for me to Pirate.

 

Picture of a PDP-11. Our Cards served as an Interface between Mini Computers and Disc Drives.

The Ultimate Goal was to Store Medical Information about Patients on Computers so it could be Easily Distributed between Doctor's Offices and Hospitals.

Sadly, HIPPA Regulation Prevents the Easy Distribution of Medical Information.

****** (~);-] ******

Planned Cities are vastly better than unplanned cities. The Joy of Columbia Maryland, Almaden and Scotia, CA and Reston, VA

I have had the joy of living in Columbia, Maryland and Almaden, California. I worked in Reston, Virginia and have visited Scotia, California.

Columbia is an example of a truly outstanding design. It is based on small "pods" of homes and businesses that are interconnected by bike trails and roads. Every home is within walking distance of stores that sell basic necessities. This becomes crucial during snowstorms when all the roads are undriveable. Designed by James Rouse. It is home to the Merriweather Post Pavilion concert venue in Symphony Woods. Across the street is a Shopping Mall and Lake Kittamaqundi... sail boats and canoes for rent. Columbia is home to Howard Community College and Hobbit's Glen golf course. Yes, he planned for everything... and it's all within biking distance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia,_Maryland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rouse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kittamaqundi
http://www.merriweathermusic.com/

Almaden: During the 1960s IBM built a disk drive factory in the rural farmland near San Jose, California. Then they build homes for the employees, a golf course and a swim and racquet club. They believed that they could attract a higher quality employee if the living conditions were ideal. It worked. The concept of a the database was invented there. One of those truly epic ideas...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaden_Valley,_San_Jose,_California



Reston was a city built by Robert E Simon. Note his initials in the name of the city. Located near Dulles Airport it is a popular location for corporations. It is easy to fly into Dulles and take a taxi to a meeting. Having an airport close by was convenient for shipping our finished products to the customers. I worked for a defense subcontractor and Reston is close to the Pentagon and Washington, DC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reston,_Virginia

Scotia was built for the employees of The Pacific Lumber Company. Their plan was to harvest 1% of the trees every year and plant a new tree for every one harvested. That "100 year plan" was designed to ensure that there would be work for the mill employees forever. In a hundred years, the new trees would have grown up and be big enough to harvest again. Sadly, Charles Hurwitz used junk bonds to do a hostile takeover of the company, cut down all the profitable trees, looted the pension fund, hid the money in Texas and then declared bankruptcy. Now the company has been purchased by the Fischer family and they have returned to sustainable logging.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotia,_California
http://www.jailhurwitz.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Fisher

There is a lovely coloring book of The Headwaters Forest.
Link: http://www.jailhurwitz.com/pdfs/hfcb_cover.html

On a personal note: If you and your friends drive over Blossom Hill Road from Los Gatos, California at night and you put Pink Floyd's "Division Bell" CD in the stereo... when you crest the hill and can look down on the sparkling lights of the city of Almaden... the band sings...


The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder
it's all true and a really emotional experience...
You see, it appears that the lyrics describe what is actually happening... Cosmic...

I had the blessing of attending many rock concerts at Merriweather Post Pavillion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriweather_Post_Pavilion
The Grateful Dead played there Six times while I was living on the east coast and I went to all six shows.
One night there was a thunder and lightning storm at dusk. Torrential downpour... all the power went out and we were treated to a drum duet played by Bill K and Mickey Hart. It appeared that they were incorporation the thunder into their music. A traditional tom-tom fill is "da da da, de de de, du du du, boom". They used the flash of lightning to predict when the thunders boom would sound...

As a special blessing, half the audience on the lawn area went home... That solved the overcrowding problem. The rest of us stayed and danced in the mud.

Sadly, the audience forced management to prohibit the Grateful Dead from playing there. One time there was a concert near July Fourth and the members of the audience set off too many fireworks after the concert. Since it is possible to buy rockets that fly up into the sky and explode in South Carolina (not too far away), that year there was a danger of setting Symphony Woods on fire. Oh Well... it all worked out because about that time the Grateful Dead became really popular and needed RFK Stadium to satisfy the demand for tickets.

CITY OF THE FUTURE!(lyrics)

we are living in the city of the future

all of us have hi-tech jobs...

we don't give a dam about unemployment

that only happens to low tech slobs

be a nurd!

be a nurd!

I'm a high-tech wizard

BE A NURD!

They used to laugh @ me

when I was in high school

the social in set was so very proud

but now when those people

are searching thru the want ads

they say "I want to be one of the 

computer crowd

be a nurd

be a nurd

be a high-tech wizard

BE A NURD!

a song I wrote... after seeing the movie "Starstruck" a silly Australian Musical... 

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