silico
INNOVn valley’S & CRE ATIVE CmaULT ATIVE de in
CONTENT Issue 6.2 DEVICE June/July 2014
Display until August 15th
Erin Rapacki Engineer & Roboticist
GOOD+ROBOTS featuring:
The 1906 Ultras_SJ Earthquake FAns Made in Space_3d printing in space Cordell Ratzlaff_UX Designer Al Preciado_Artist/teacher First Article_menswear Picture Atlanitc_Music
content magazine, san jose
DEVICE 6.2 $9.95
URE
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CONTENT Issue 6.2 “Device” June/July 2014 The Makers: Cultivator Daniel Garcia Marketeer Sarah Garcia Managing Editor Flora Moreno de Thompson Writers/Editors Leah Ammon, Nathan Zanon, Lynn Peithman Stock Managing Photo Editor Gregory Cortez Content Media Lab Jen Myronuk Distribution Sarah Hale
Writers Mark Haney, Natalia Sanchez, Brandon Roos, Lam Nguyen, Victoria Felicity, Chad Hall, Derek Haugen, Jennifer Elias Designers Brian Gomez, Sean Lopez, Kevin Zittle Photographers Scott MacDonald, Lam Nguyen, Victoria Felicity, Gregory Cortez, Stan Olszewski, Ana Villafane Interns Samantha Mendoza, Jeff Gonzalez Sarah Baylis, Jonathan Keshishoglou Community Relations Natalia Sanchez
We live in an area that produces ideas, products, and people that affect the world. We are so used to the “innovation culture” that surrounds us that it has become cliché to mention words like “entrepreneur,” “start-up,” or “disruptive.” Yet, we are very blessed to be in place that supplies much of the globe’s cutting edge technology. In this issue, 6.2, we take a look at a few of the people and items that demonstrate a small portion of the emerging devices that can be found in the garages and industrial parks of the South Bay today. Enjoy. Daniel Garcia The Cultivator
IN THIS ISSUE The 1906 Ultras / Transmedia SV / San Jose Jazz Tips / Cordell Ratzlaff / Hangar One To participate in Content Magazine: editor@content-magazine.com Subscription & Advertising information available by contacting sarahg@content-magazine.com
@TheDieHardsCo
#SPORTYOURCOLORS
Content Device 6.2
June/July 2014 San Jose, California
Non-stop 8
SJC to BOS
History
10 NASA: Hangar One 16 Printers’ Guild, Jim Gard & Mat Kelsey 20 Computer History Museum, Christopher Garcia
Makers 22 28 32 36 40 44 48 52
Urban Sketcher, Suhita Shirodkar Artist/Teacher, Al Preciado CookStop, Mike Chase & Dan Haugen TransMedia SV, Beth Rogozinski & Maya Zuckerman The 1906 Ultras, Dan Margarit Made In Space, Michael Snyder, Mike Chen, Jason Dunn, & Aaron Kemmer UX Designer, Cordell Ratzlaff Suitable Technologies, Beam
NASA Hangar One, pg. 10
Fashion
58 First Article
Music
64 Picture Atlantic 66 SJ Jazz Summer Fest Tips, Massimo Chisessi
Computer History Museum, pg. 20
67 Contributors 68 Local’s Choice, Kalen Gallagher
Content Magazine is a bimonthly publication about the innovative and creative culture of San Jose. To participate in the production or distribution contact: editor@content-magazine.com
The 1906 Ultras pg. 40
UX Design, Cordell Ratzlaff, pg. 48
MACLA’s Community Supported Art (CSA) program supports regional Latino artists & provides first-time & experienced art collectors the opportunity to own limited-edition art.
ReseRve YouR Box
ARtists
FoR moRe inFoRmAtion MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana 510 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113 (408) 998-2783 | info@maclaarte.org www.maclaarte.org/csa-program
Melanie Cervantes
Favianna Rodriguez
Jamil Hellu
Cristina Velásquez
Juan Luna-Avin
Rio Yañez
Reserve a $350 CSA art box on Eventbrite @ http://bit.ly/1lff31w
ARt Box pick-up pARtY August 1, 2014 @ 7:00pm
BOS TON Massachusetts
Take a trip to Boston, Massachusetts and prepare to be instantly captivated by the beautiful brick architecture of one of America’s oldest cities. Rich with economic and social history, Boston was first incorporated as a town in 1630 and as a city in 1822.
Written by Samantha Mendoza
History A great place to start exploring what Boston has to offer is the Freedom Trail. The trail is a 2.5-mile walking tour of 16 historic Boston sites. It begins at Boston Commons. The Trail takes walkers through Downtown Boston, the North End, and Charlestown with the end being the USS Constitution. While guided tours are available to schedule, a self-guided tour is accompanied with information about each historic site along the way. One of the first stops along the Trail is the Granary Burial Ground. While around 5,000 people are buried here, there are only about 2,500 headstones. Some of these notable headstones include three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin’s parents (Benjamin Franklin is buried in Philadelphia). Established in 1660, the cemetery was named for the 12,000-bushel grain storage that was next door.
One of the most popular tourist locations in the United States, Boston is filled with enriching museums, historic sites, and live performances.
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flight time Six-hour nonstop flights to Boston’s Logan International Airport depart daily from SJC.
Another noteworthy stop along the Trail is the Paul Revere House, a historic landmark built around 1680 that was once home to Revere and his family. Revere is most famous for alerting the Colonial militia of the approaching British forces just before the battles of Lexington and Concord. Many remember his famous warning, “The British are coming!” The end of the trail leads walkers to the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. It was used during the War of 1812. The ship is now permanently berthed in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Food The Union Oyster House is Boston’s oldest restaurant, offering visitors the best in seafood and New England specialties. Located on the Freedom Trail, some of the restaurant’s savory menu options include pan-seared lump crab cakes, the cold seafood sampler, and union grilled oysters. Another must-see restaurant in Boston is Bull & Finch Pub in Beacon Hill. The inspiration for the hit series Cheers, Bull & Finch Pub is a vital part of the Boston tourist experience. Drinks Boston has a large Irish and IrishAmerican population; they have a number of great Irish pubs. In the Financial District, be sure to check out Mr. Dooley’s, The Black Rose, and Barney Fanning’s for some delicious grub and beer. Back Bay District has some noteworthy bars including Solas and Crossroads Irish Pub. What’s a trip to Boston without visiting the breweries? Boston is home to the Samuel Adams Brewery in Jamaica Plain and Harpoon Brewery in South Boston, both of which offer tours and tastings.
The Black Rose 160 State St. Boston, MA 02109 617.742.2286 blackroseboston.com
USS Constitution Bldg. 5 Charlestown Navy Yard Charlestown, MA 02129 617.426.1812 ussconstitutionmuseum.org
Paul Revere House 19 N Square Boston, MA 02113 617.523.2338 paulreverehouse.org
Barney Fanning’s 99 Broad St. Boston, MA 02110 617.357.8287 barneyfannings.com
Union Oyster House 41 Union St. Boston, MA 02108 617.227.2750 unionoysterhouse.com
Solas 710 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116 617.933.4803 solasboston.com
Bull & Finch Pub 84 Beacon St. Boston, MA 02108 617.227.9605 cheersboston.com
Crossroads Irish Pub 495 Beacon St. Boston, MA 02215 857.233.5943 crossroads-irishpub.com
Mr. Dooley’s 77 Broad St. Boston, MA 02109 617.338.5656 mrdooleys.com
Union Oyster House 41 Union St. Boston, MA 02108 617.227.2750 unionoysterhouse.com
Harpoon Brewery 306 Northern Ave. Boston, MA 02210 617.456.2322 harpoonbrewery.com
Samuel Adams Brewery 30 Germania St. Boston, MA 02130 617.368.5213 samueladams.com
Granary Burial Ground Tremont St. Boston, MA 02108 freedomtrail.org
Boston Commons 131 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02111 cityofboston.gov
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NASA HANGAR ONE
A New Beginning for an Iconic Structure
2014 MARKS THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER Written by Jen Myronuk Photography by Gregory Cortez & Daniel Garcia
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colossal monument to the golden era of 20th century aviation architecture, Hangar One at Moffett Field was commissioned by the Navy in 1932 for the USS Macon airship as the West Coast base for the U.S. lighter-than-air reconnaissance program. With its distinctive 1930s Streamline Moderne form and clam-shell doors with exterior corrugated steel skin, Hangar One’s eight acres comprised the largest clear space for an enclosed structure in the United States.
As the “crown jewel” of Silicon Valley, Hangar One awaits its next assignment on lease to Google’s Planetary Ventures, LLC. Plans include full rehabilitation and maintenance of the property as part of a larger initiative to preserve the 64 acre Shenandoah Plaza Historic District, including Hangars Two and Three, Moffett Federal Airfield and an adjacent golf course.
Post World War II, Hangar One witnessed the dawn of the super sonic jet age as the quest for faster, more technologically advanced aircraft was fueled by the Cold War. In 1994, NASA assumed control of Moffett Field, changing its name to Moffett Federal Airfield. As part of an environmental cleanup response in 2011, NASA and the Navy led the efforts to preserve this iconic structure by removing the exterior façade, revealing its majestic geometric steelbeamed structure.
LOCATION: Hangar One at Moffett Field is 12 miles north of San Jose, between Mountain View and Sunnyvale. ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Mid-Century Modern BUILT: 1933 ARCHITECT: Dr. Karl Arnstein of Wilbur Watson Engineering Company
For information on the center’s history and announcements of anniversary events:
nasa.gov/ames
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Preserving the History of the Printing Press
The San Jose Printers’ Guild Written by Natalia Sanchez Photography by Gregory Cortez
For twenty-two years, volunteers at the San Jose Printers’ Guild have kept the art of printing alive.
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n a world where books can be downloaded in digital format and sending messages is as easy as tapping on a phone screen, Jim Gard, chairman of the Printers’ Guild, and guild member Matt Kelsey, shed light on how the printing press serves as a reminder of the days when communication required a concentrated effort and skilled craftsmanship.
Liberty press, circa 1884. This heavy floor model press gives visitors a close-up look at the workings of a treadlepowered “jobber". What are demonstrations at the Print Shop like?
Matt: Members of the San Jose Printers' Guild continue to practice the skills mastered by printers of old, using some Jim, you have been with the Printers Guild since the beginning. 200 cases of metal and wood type, including many rare could you share a little history on how the Printers Guild and antique designs. The best experience, though, is when we put the Pilot press right up to the railing and let visitors came about? operate it themselves. Jim: The Print Shop exhibit opened in the 70s, and although the San Jose Historical Museum had some volunteers, they Matt, you are the lead organizer for this year’s Bay Area worked independently and lacked organization. In 1992, Printers' Fair, an event that celebrates letterpress printing the museum staff, as well as some of the printers met and and related arts. Does this event bring us back to the roots formed the Printers' Guild to provide consistent printing of graphic design? demonstrations to the visiting public. From then on the group has met monthly, maintaining a shop volunteer Matt: Yes, the Printers' Fair takes us back to the time when schedule, creating printing exhibits, and repairing and the printer was the graphic designer. The printer knew what sizes and styles of type were available in the shop, acquiring equipment. and knew how to combine them to create the right look for the customer. A lot of graphic designers today really What types of equipment are used in the Print Shop? enjoy getting away from the computer and getting back Jim: Letterpress. We have small table-top Kelsey presses, to the roots of handling handset type, and impressing ink a Chandler & Price Pilot press, and some cylinder proof into paper instead of manipulating pixels on a screen. presses. But our main attraction is the F.M. Weiler
“It is a reminder that, back then, printing was an act of freedom…” Matt Kelsey, San Jose Printers’ Guild member 17
Matt Kelsey, Printers’ Guild Member
Jim Gard, Chairman of the Printers’ Guild
For visitors and Guild members alike, I am sure there is a bit of nostalgia that one feels when observing and participating in the printing process. What do Guild members and visitors take away from this shared historical experience? Jim: The Guild brings together these enthusiasts with a purpose which they can share with each other and the public. Matt: Guild members enjoy keeping alive the "black art" using the same basic technology pioneered by Gutenberg over 500 years ago. I have taught a number of workshops at the Print Shop, and I am always energized by the enthusiasm and creativity of the students. In one day they learn to handset type, and arrange a short poem or quotation into an attractive layout. Everyone goes home with a feeling of creativity and accomplishment.
ago, a "printer" was a skilled craftsman who consulted with the customer about their printing needs, found the right sizes and styles of type to design and composed the text from handset metal type, print a proof for the customer's approval, and then carefully prepared the job for press. Jim: The art of printing serves as a reminder of the labor that was once involved in communication. With all this hand-set type, there used to be a lot more people involved: specialists in typesetting, press operation, proofreading. Matt: It is a reminder that, back then, printing was an act of freedom. In the words of journalist A. J. Liebling, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.�
With technology constantly advancing, what does the art of printing serve as a reminder of? Matt: The museum print shop replicates a typical print shop of the early 1900s, where local businesses would go when they needed flyers, stationery, business cards, labels, and myriad other forms of ink on paper. Now we think of a "printer" as a machine connected to the computer, that quickly produces copies on command; a hundred years printersguild.wordpress.com historysanjose.org/wp/print-shop
Computer Memories Curator Christopher J. Garcia Written by Derek Haugen Photography by Gregory Cortez
The cutting edge of the digital age hacks through Silicon Valley so swiftly that to see an institution dedicated to the obsolete is curious. For 15 years, Computer History Museum curator Christopher J. Garcia has been reveling in the technological backstory people often take for granted.
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The Babbage Difference Engine #2, the Pixar Image Computer, an original Google server, Pong. The amount of material is breathtaking and can be a little overwhelming. However, Garcia easily navigates through them by using personal connections and the museum’s icons. “I give massive, massive, massive, props to the actual physical exhibit designers because the icons of each area…you get the entire story of the history of computing from just those icons. The very first icon…is an abacus and it’s from Later on, Garcia moved west for the weather and the a restaurant in Boston [Hong Far Low Restaurant] that I museum’s Moffett Field branch, which later relocated to used to go to. They were still using it when I was going the current site on Shoreline Boulevard. Drawing on his there.” personal passions, Garcia’s curatorial focus encompasses computer graphics, music, art, video games, and personal On his tours, Garcia invokes the spirit of the artifacts computers. He binds the categories with the thread of with a sense of humor. “I focus on the machines, not only those I had a connection with, but that I knew also had a popular culture. connection with someone who wasn’t necessarily involved He brings his vision to Revolution, the museum’s current in tech during that time. Things that have great stories like exhibition, which unravels two millennia of computing ENIAC, which theoretically caused a brownout in south history. “When we’re building an exhibit, we do these Philadelphia every time they turned it on and off. The big outlines and you have to come up with the ways stories joke I make about the Apollo guidance computer is that will flow one from another. Usually, what will happen is it’s the only machine that’s been both on the moon and that you will write a prose piece that explains your whole in my car.” concept, and then an exhibit content designer will break that into pieces. The big job of the curator after the pieces Given the museum’s location, Garcia tends to find himself have been broken out is to figure out how to relate them to around local pioneers and luminaries like the creator of one another, but keep them separate enough so that they the Apple-1, Steve Wozniak. “I love Woz,” Garcia glows. “He came and we did a wonderful tour of Revolution right can be taken as just a chunk on their own.” aised in Mountain View, Garcia went on to study creative writing at Emerson College. In 1999, he found a position at Boston’s Computer Museum, which began as a showroom for Digital Equipment Corporation. “I like to call it ‘a lobby piece that happened to be really big’…I loved being able to give tours. It was my first dive into computer history in a non-spectator way.”
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“The big joke I make about the Apollo guidance computer is that it’s the only machine that’s been both on the moon and in my car.”
Though the Computer History Museum is filled with devices, it’s the narratives that breathe life into the wires, housings, and processors. They’re what bring people in from all over, particularly the revolutionaries themselves.
“The museum has become the meeting place for Silicon Valley. It is the only place in the Bay Area that I can think of that brings people from San Francisco, from San Jose, from the East Bay. They know the museum and they when it opened. I did a lot of the heavy lifting and he gave love the museum. We’re telling their stories and they’re recognizing that we’re telling their stories…particularly the stories, and he was wonderful.” from the local area, we’re seeing how what we’re doing Despite its heavy technical emphasis, the museum draws is impacting a broader world, a bigger world, a more crowds as diverse as its collection. Artists, musicians, interesting world, frankly.” and writers come through on a regular basis. Writers in particular, Garcia notes, have fought over new technologies. “There were battles between writers in the 70s over who would have the newest and hippest word processor. They thought that having a machine that was on the cutting edge would make them better able to write about the technology.” One of author Douglas Adams’s last public appearances was at the museum, making a notable contribution to the video game collection. “He pulls out his copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and hands it to me,” Garcia recounts. “That piece had a lot of emotional resonance for me, and having that resonance meant: one, I was going to sure as hell put it in the thing; and two, it helped to build a story…and everything sort of flowed around it.”
computerhistory.org 401 N Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043 650.810.1010 twitter: @ComputerHistory facebook: computerhistory
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drawing fromLife Written by Lam Nguyen Photography by Daniel Garcia
Urban Sketcher Suhita Shirodkar fills the pages of her journals with watercolor sketches capturing snippets of everyday life.
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uhita Shirodkar, a local artist involved in the Urban Sketchers Movement, mentions that she might be doing some reference sketches. What I expect to see are rough pencil-drawn outlines. Instead, as I arrive, she is already putting the finishing touches on a complete and intricate watercolor. On this day, she is painting the façade of the historical California Theater in downtown San Jose.
How do you choose your locations? Sometimes I choose locations based on an idea or a current obsession. Right now, I am on a hunt to find the fast disappearing artifacts of a time before Silicon Valley was as it is today: vintage signs, old-fashioned diners, old buildings...things that harken back to an earlier time, a different aesthetic, and just a very different place than what Silicon Valley is now.
What is the Urban Sketchers Movement? Urban sketching is about drawing on location, drawing the world around you, and creating visual storytelling and reportage. It is different from other forms of drawing on location, like plein air painting, in that it is not JUST about color, line, tone, and painting, but also about being a part of the world around you, and sharing it through your sketches.
Often, I don’t pick my locations, it is just where I am: I draw on family vacations. Mexico, Hawaii, India, all of it makes its way into my sketchbook. I draw at home. I enjoy it all, it helps me look at the world around me with the fresh and inquisitive eye of a traveler.
And then there is just my everyday life: I sketch in parking lots, when I have 20 minutes before a meeting, I sketch my How did you become a part of the Urban Sketchers Movement? kids as they play, as they eat dinner. Everything is fodder I always drew in a sketchbook, and while some of my work for my sketchbook. It’s a visual diary I look back at over is purely from my imagination, a lot of it is just capturing time. snippets of life around me. One question I constantly got when I drew was “What will you do with these? Will What is it about vintage signs and landmarks that attract you make paintings of them?”—which really confused you? me: I see what I create in my sketchbooks as my art, it As a first generation immigrant that has only seen Silicon records how I see something or react to my environment Valley in its present incarnation [Shirodkar moved here in the moment. To refine, gloss over, or recreate a more from India in 2000], it is fascinating to look at these “finished” form would be to lose that first, immediate, and landmarks and buildings that speak of a different time. fresh vision. It is also sad to see how quickly they are disappearing and being replaced by homogenous malls, parking lots, and I found the work of urban sketchers on Flickr, and found chain stores. I feel a need to draw them all before they that there was a growing community of people worldwide are gone. who did just what I did, so I started sharing my work online through their Flickr group and found this treasure I have only been drawing and blogging these vintage signs trove of a community! for a couple of months now, but I already have people writing in to me to tell me about signs in the area I haven’t drawn, things that are going to be torn down, sold,
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“WATERCOLOR SEEMS TO HAVE ITS OWN MIND.” closed...I love that connection with people, that sharing of knowledge. I love that people actually want to see me go out and sketch something they remember from a long time ago. It speaks to the power of a sketch, that someone might want to see this place captured as I see it.
can paint as soon as something catches my eye. Watercolor also reacts beautifully to the environment. For example, on a muggy day, it sits wet on the page, refusing to dry, and I’m forced to work wet-in-wet, resulting in a piece that reflects the day.
How long have you been painting? I have drawn and painted most of my life, but this current form of working on location in watercolors? I’ve been doing it for almost five years.
Watercolor seems to have its own mind. You never control it completely, but it often surprises you with beautiful mixing and textures. The accidents and mistakes, the stuff you cannot correct and cover up in this transparent medium, I love those. They say so much.
Why watercolor? Watercolor is, perhaps deceptively, simple, and versatile: I carry around a compact little kit with me everywhere, so I
flickr.com/photos/sketchaway Urban Sketchers Movement.
urbansketchers.org
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S. First St.
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Diridon Station
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S. Montgomery St.
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The Alameda
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Still Learning
Al Preciado Written by Chad Hall Photography by ana villafane
Local artist and art teacher Al Preciado finds inspiration for his work everywhere, including the students he teaches at Bellarmine College Preparatory. On Influences
Degas was highly influential. So was, as odd as it sounds, Giacometti and his accented forms. I love Rothko. I love Francis Bacon. Matisse. Picasso’s energy has always blown me away. Then there are some contemporary artists like Kiki Smith, whose figurative forms are absolutely beautiful. Robert Graham. The list is pretty huge. I get influenced by a lot. I get influenced by younger artists, like the ones in my classes.
On Art In San Jose
I think there’s a huge underground art scene with galleries popping up like the Arsenal, Empire Seven Studios, The Citadel, and Seeing Things Gallery. There’s a huge amount of artists just based on those galleries and the coffee shops and Phantom Galleries. San Francisco has hundreds. If we have 20, I’d be surprised. That just takes investment and knowledge. It takes corporate interest, not just for putting art on their walls but for actually supporting the infrastructure. I think that’s gonna happen. I think there are already movements towards it. There’s an organization called Silicon Valley Artist Collaborative that’s pooling artists together and teaching them to be savvy.
On Teaching
Students have always instigated, inspired, and set me on fire. They are fresh. They are without the baggage or the agenda that adults carry. Some artists ask, “How I can teach and make art?” They think that one takes from the other, but I don’t believe that. I believe the students are teaching me. I look at it as a collision; a collaborative effort. How could that not help me? It’s like therapy, when the therapist points out the back of your head because you can’t see it. That’s really what students do for me. I can’t see the back of my head so they help me with the entire vision rather than just part of it. To me, it’s an honor to teach kids. I feel like it empowers me and makes me a better human being, not just a better artist. Sometimes you go to a dark, depressed place, but then you walk into the classroom and your students are looking at you and all of their eyes are beaming. There’s a love there. They corral me into doing art, because I want to help them. Through that, I help myself. I feel like this is the job I was meant to do.
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“STUDENTS HAVE ALWAYS INSTIGATED,.INSPIRED, AND SET ME ON FIRE.” On Resistance
My good friend Tony Bustamante once told me that if I was ever stranded on a desert island, I would just attack without thinking. That’s how I feel I am. I’m instinctual. The blocks I get are not creative, but actually physical or psychological blocks, or more of an emotional resistance. In my art, I’ve drawn from the reservoir of childhood pain and relationship pain and came up with pieces that expressed it. A lot of my art in the past was centered around women. Then it started to go into ballerinas, separating myself from looking at women as objects of beauty and desire; trying to look at them not just for beauty but for strength. Now I’m moving into landscapes because I see landscapes as women. They are as interesting as the beauty of women. Another resistance is time. How much time can you spend on one piece with everything else requiring time as well? The artists I really admire are the artists with children. How do they go to a job, take care of their child, and then go to a studio? I admire them. Parent artists take on the biggest load. But in the end, even resistance itself helps artists. It’s like the pearl in an oyster. You need resistance for something to grow.
On Art & Pain
Someone asked Lenny Bruce what influenced him and he said: everything. That’s perfect. My art came from pain but it didn’t come from pain alone. Pain can be part of it. It’s definitely where I started from, but the beauty of the world is more overwhelming than the pain. And this is not just a traditional beauty, but a beauty of the things that you don’t see the first time, that when caught make your heart stop. My old teacher Harry Powers once told me that he was driving on the freeway and saw stacks of wood on the back of a truck. The red squares on the back of the boards were all at different angles which created the most beautiful modulations of the color red. It was just a truck driving with a pile of wood—and yet I could see what he was talking about. Beauty is everywhere. With age comes gratitude. At 82, Goya drew a picture of an old man walking with two canes and just above it he wrote, “I’m still learning.” facebook: PreciadoArtist
CookStop In the Kitchen, Even When You’re not Written by Natalia Sanchez Photography by Gregory Cortez
“WHILE EVERYONE IS ENTHRALLED WITH NEW APPLICATIONS AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS OF GADGETS, ESPECIALLY FOR PURPOSES OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT, A DEVICE LIKE OURS ACTUALLY SAVES LIVES.”
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ears ago, when Mike Chase went to visit his grandmother, he entered her apartment to find her sitting in the living room, facing the front door with a smile on her face. As he approached her for a hug, he caught sight of what was taking place in the kitchen behind her.
developing CookStop, they brought in a third partner, Tom Luzner, and the three of them used their 75 years of combined high tech expertise to get the company up and running.
The idea behind CookStop is simple: create a device “I could see over her head, flames in the kitchen that were that improves safety in the home by preventing fires in two feet high,” Chase says. “Luckily, I was able to turn the the kitchen. Chase’s grandmother escaped a devastating stove off. Everything was all right, but it stuck with me; I scenario, but others in similar situations have not been so never forgot that.” The experience eventually became the lucky. “The number one cause of home fires in the United inspiration behind CookStop, a device designed to put States is unattended cooking, from people leaving the stove an end to situations like the one Chase experienced in his on,” Chase says. “They get busy doing something else and forget that the stove is on. Sometimes it is just a burned grandmother’s kitchen. pot, but other times, it results in a terrible house fire where Back in 2006, Chase and his colleague Dan Haugen were people are injured.” traveling together a lot on business. They worked at the same tech company, and had begun kicking around ideas for To help reduce the risk of fire, CookStop monitors movement in the kitchen when the stove is on, and can new devices and possible business endeavors. turn it off automatically when a dangerous situation arises. “Mike and I were on a business trip to Hong Kong, and “The sensor can be programmed to a specific time limit set while killing time in the back of the 747, Mike mentioned by the owner,” Haugen explains. “If someone leaves the the story of the fire at his grandmother’s house,” Haugen kitchen with the burners on, they have a specific time frame explains. “He expressed that there should be a way to turn to return to the kitchen before the CookStop powers down off the stove if someone wasn’t there; it was then and there the stove. If it senses motion within that time frame, the device then resets itself, but if they come back after the time that I sketched the preliminary schematic of the device.” has expired, the CookStop turns the stove off.” Just like that, CookStop was born. “Both Dan and I thought that it was really, really relevant, and that was the germ that The first CookStop was installed in 2008, and since then created the beast,” Chase says. When they got serious about the device has been used in homes and also integrated into
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“MIKE AND I WERE ON A BUSINESS TRIP TO HONG KONG, AND WHILE KILLING TIME IN THE BACK OF THE 747...HE EXPRESSED THAT THERE SHOULD BE A WAY TO TURN OFF THE STOVE IF SOMEONE WASN’T THERE— IT WAS THEN AND THERE THAT I SKETCHED THE PRELIMINARY SCHEMATIC OF THE DEVICE.” community living environments. While the founders of the CookStop thought that senior housing would be their main market, “some of the people that use our product include student housing in Chicago, apartment projects for displaced individuals in the Bronx, and single family homes throughout the US,” Chase says. It has been a rewarding endeavor for the founders of the company to see CookStop not only grow into an established business within the Bay Area, but also make a real difference in people’s lives. For CookStop, the proof of their success is in the pudding: “The device has been installed in various locations throughout the country,” Chase states, “and in five years there has not been a single fire.” “While everyone is enthralled with new applications and the technological advancements of gadgets, especially for purposes of social media and entertainment, a device like ours actually saves lives. With CookStop, we have people call us from all over the country and tell us ‘I’m so thankful that we found your product, I don’t worry about my mom anymore.’” For CookStop, this is just the beginning of the journey. The forward-thinking founders have set up the device so that it can be consistently updated in order to keep up with ongoing technological advancements. Now integrated with Tunstall, a home medical system, CookStop is evolving for use in smart-homes, and will continue to play an integral part in providing a safer living environment for others.
cookstop.com
twitter: @CookStop facebook: cookstop
SILICON VALLEY’S
TRANSMEDIA FUTURE Interview by Jen Myronuk Photography by daniel garcia
Beth Rogozinski and Maya Zuckerman Founders of Transmedia SF and the soon-the-launch Transmedia SV are determined to cultivate the next generation of creative industries. Dr. Evelyn Malik is a time traveler. Her short twitter bio @FutureStatesTV declares: I’m from the future. And I’ve got a message. But telling you won’t change anything. I’ll have to show you. She is also a fictional character from PBS’s groundbreaking digital series FutureStates.tv, inviting viewers to explore scenarios from the not-to-distant-future through tweets, links, and short videos inside an immersive storyworld and integrated show-to-device platform. Welcome to the era of transmedia entertainment.
BR: With the rise of smart devices and connected consumers, traditional media businesses have taken an economic hit. Television viewership is down. Movie theater attendance is down. Big box bookstores like Borders have closed with Barnes & Noble not far behind. What’s going on? It’s the increase for on-demand entertainment made available through mobile media, games and apps. The audience wants to engage directly with the content. Where multimedia allowed users to experience entertainment by combining different media formats, transmedia invites What is transmedia? the audience to share in the creation of the content through various devices, platforms, games, books, and Beth Rogozinski: Transmedia is the art of producing content apps. Transmedia is the next generation of entertainment, for multiple users and multiple devices across multiple largely being driven by the audience’s own desire to be part platforms. Instead of designing content to be passively of the action. watched, transmedia encourages active user engagement through devices and platforms audiences are already using How was TransmediaSF started? and accessing. Given that trend, the need for transmedia strategy and multi-screen campaigns in business is MZ: Beth and I originally met through Robert Pratten, growing. Where audiences go, advertising follows. Smart the founder and CEO of Transmedia Storyteller who communications professionals in both consumer products had organized smaller meetups in SF before relocating and services, and business-to-business marketing, realize to London. Towards the end of 2011, as the transmedia the need to engage and delight their audiences with a movement was growing globally, many people asked why compelling story, across all of their devices. there wasn’t a larger transmedia presence in the Bay Area. We looked at each other and said, “Well, let’s create it.” Why is there a growing interest in Transmedia entertainment? At our first TransmediaSF meeting in January 2012, Maya Zuckerman: Over the past five years, many of us have we had over 130 people in attendance. Given the large become active “content creators” as we tweet, instagram, interest, we decided to pursue an ASIS Model: Agency, pinterest, and vine our daily lives. The fact I can use each Studio, Incubator and Salon. Our strategy was to bring of those technology platforms as a recognizable verb shows the creatives and technologists together in the same room, the tectonic shift in in how we expect to interact with each stir the pot and see what happens. other and how quickly our communications have evolved into being multi-platform.
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MAYA ZUCKERMAN, Founder, TransmediaSF
A transmedia producer and emerging technology aficionado with a background in visual effects, film, production, gaming, startups, product management and brand narratives. She has worked with big feature films and on game cinematics for Prince of Persia, Ghostbusters and Star-Trek online and for companies including Ubisoft, EA, Vivendi, Sega, Activision, Chopra Center, Harpo Productions and Salesforce.com. Zuckerman co-produces Transmedia SF meetups and special events, including Startup Weekend Transmedia. She is a graduate of the Vancouver Film School and was honored as one of the PBS/POV’s featured “Women in Transmedia.” Her current projects include Mythaphi, a media production and distribution platform, and the interactive documentary Madame Mars: Women and the Quest for Worlds Beyond. @maya_z00 @mythaphi @transmediasf maya@transmediasf.org
BETH ROGOZINSKI, Founder, Transmedia SF
A serial entrepreneur, author, instructor and transmedia producer. She was on the founding team of the worldrenowned Multimedia Studies Program at SFSU and was the Executive Director of the DigiQuest Learning Center. Rogozinski previously worked with Silicon Graphics (SGI), 3Ware and Macromedia. She was a founder of Systrum Media Consultants, Signal 2 Productions and D2S Games. She’s published more than 30 casual games and apps, serving as an advisor to Grimm Bros Games, Ponga, Digify, Major League Wizardry and the Mobile Monday Momentum Accelerator. Rogozinski is currently the Chief Content Officer for e-Health company Pear Therapeutics. Her current original transmedia projects include The Future of Entertainment and Madame Mars: Women and the Quest for Worlds Beyond. @brogoz @madamemarsfilm @transmediasf beth@transmediasf.org
Our meetings have covered a wide range of topics from interactive books and toys to wearables, gaming and robotics. Over the past two years, we have grown exponentially in interest and are now looking to expand to Silicon Valley with the first meeting of TransmediaSV being planned for September 2014 in downtown San Jose.
Additionally, for Silicon Valley, it’s turning STEM into STEAM—adding the arts to science, technology, engineering and math. Embracing transmedia will yield the types of jobs that are high paying for artists, writers, filmmakers, digital creatives and designers to sustain themselves here in Silicon Valley. Creative industries can actually support an entire ecosystem.
Why should Silicon Valley pay attention to transmedia as an MZ: We have to be willing to take risks with media the emerging industry? way Silicon Valley takes risks with technology. Through MZ: Last year Beth and I participated as speakers and our efforts, we want to help encourage the ecosystem of panelists at the first C2SV – Creative Convergence SV to value the creative community alongside the talents Silicon Valley (produced by the Metro Newspapers). of engineers, coders, and technologists. The panel I moderated was Hollywood-Silicon Valley: New Media Digital Content Production. The Bay BR: There’s no place, at this time, other than Silicon Valley Area is a convergence point between three eco-systems: and the Bay Area, where the confluence of creativity and Silicon Valley, Hollywood and Madison Avenue. We see technology has produced the kind of inventiveness and SV’s role as vital in defining the multi-modal world of originality as has occurred here in the last 60+ years. The entertainment and want to encourage investors to expand companies that are enabling transmedia are some of the their definition of standard ROI (return on investment) to most valuable companies in the world today. YouTube, ROC – a return on culture, especially given how integral Facebook and Twitter are all driving the platforms of transmedia and are 100% native to this region. San Jose technology platforms are to transmedia entertainment. is uniquely positioned to take advantage of technology BR: San Jose and Silicon Valley are the birthplace of grown in its own backyard. Transmedia is Silicon Valley’s digital games and apps. For example, in 1988, Chris answer to Hollywood. Crawford organized the first Computer Game Developers Conference in his living room in San Jose. From that gathering of local programmers and game designers, a TransmediaSV.com whole new industry was born. Once again, we have all twitter: @TransmediaSV of the elements needed to make Silicon Valley a fertile economy for transmedia to thrive.
The San Jose Earthquakes’
Biggest Fans Interview by Flora Moreno de Thompson Photography by Gregory Cortez
The 1906 Ultras are the most hated supporter group in the MLS. For founder Dan Margarit, that just means they’re doing it right.
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f you’ve been to a San Jose Earthquakes game, you’ve more than likely witnessed the 1906 Ultras in action. The group of diehard soccer fans supports the home team from section 109 of Buck Shaw Stadium. Ultras sing chants for the entire duration of the game while dressed in black and blue. The group was founded in 2003 by Dan Margarit, who wanted to replicate the intense fandom for football clubs he was used to in Europe (he was born and raised there). There were 15-20 members when it started, but the Ultras now boast a membership of almost 400. “Eleven years later we are still here,” he says. How much of your time each week is spent on the Ultras? I live the Ultras life 24/7, 365 days a year. For people in this country it is hard to understand the beauty of this lifestyle, because it’s a new phenomenon. Soccer itself is far from being the most popular sport, and the Ultra life goes way beyond soccer. Before the big games, big tifos, or road trips, I probably spend 50-60 hours a week doing actual work: buying the tickets for the group, putting the tifo ideas together, buying all the materials we need, responding to members’ questions, helping the members in need have access to games or travel, dealing with the Front Offices and the security companies, etc.
If you choose the Ultra lifestyle, especially as a leader, you understand that all your sacrifices, all your work, time, and dedication are for the cause, for the principles that your group believes in. If you get into this lifestyle and expect the players, the front office, the league or even fellow fans who benefit of your work to appreciate you, you are in for mostly regrets and disappointments, because you rarely see any appreciation. For the uninitiated, can you explain what it takes to be a part of the 1906 Ultras? We value unity, respect, discipline, loyalty, commitment, honesty, friendship. We expect all our members to value those qualities, and to respect the basic rules of the group. All our rules are based on common sense and respect. We want them to attend games, to travel with us, to put in work for the group whenever they can, and to be loyal to the team and to the group. Our motto is: “Win or lose, we’ll always be there for you.” It applies to the team, it applies to fellow members. All we want from the boys is to play hard, give their best for the crest and for the colors. If that doesn’t result in a win, it’s OK. We are still proud of them and their effort.
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“THE BEST ONES ARE ALWAYS THE MOST HATED.” How many members are there currently? Is everyone in Section 109 a member? We have about 350-400 members. Not everybody in 109 is a member. Some people enjoy the atmosphere we bring, they like to contribute to it during games, but can’t or choose not to be committed to more. There are also people in our section who are probably shy or hesitant to come and introduce themselves. Some people are under the wrong impression that we are an exclusivist group. We are welcoming of everybody, we just have higher standards and more expectations than other MLS groups. Who comes up with your songs? We have a process in place: I present a list of tunes to the group. Then the guys in the group pick their favorite tunes from that list, and I come up with lyrics that fit those tunes. Then as a group, we review those, and if most people like how it sounds, we add them to our repertoire. There are other members who have brought in tunes and have written lyrics for some of our songs. Every member is welcome to propose chants or write lyrics, and if the majority of the group likes them, we sing them at the games. It’s an organic process; songs can’t be forced on people. They will only sing them if they like them.
What do you think sets you apart from other soccer supporter groups? Our mentality, our attitude, our character, and originality. Our tifo and our songs. We are blunt and honest. Also, unlike most groups in MLS, we are always trying to be fair and put our principles before the rivalries. We hate LA, but we left the stadium in solidarity with them when they were brutally beaten by SJPD back in the day. We hate ECS from Seattle, but we made a banner for one of their members when he passed. I read that you guys are the most hated supporter group in the MLS. Do you think this is still the case? Is it something you want to change or does it just come with the territory? Absolutely, it’s still the case and it will always be. It’s a sign that we are doing our job right. The best ones are always the most hated.
1906ultras.com
twitter: @1906ultras facebook: 1906ultras
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Michael Snyder__Lead Engineer & Director of R&D
(left to right) Mike Chen__CSO
Jason Dunn__CTO
Aaron Kemmer__CEO
Written by Jennifer Elias Photography by Stan Olszewski
Unlike many other startups in the valley, when the Made in Space guys say they “are going to change the world,” they actually mean it—pursuing things that are traditionally not supposed to change, let alone exist. Aaron Kemmer, Jason Dunn, Mike Chen, and Mike Snyder are four guys who are used to being called crazy. Not in the way successful, eccentric Silicon Valley CEOs are called crazy—in the were-hit-in-the-head-as-a-child kind of crazy.
“There are a lot of other people our age that come here to do startups—they’re making the next app or whatever,” Dunn says. “We have something driving the four of us to do something really impactful, to really help humanity as a whole.”
But these four founders don’t care what you think of them or their thoughts about living in space. And why should they? Their startup Made in Space has just created the first 3D printer in space, set to launch this August that will open a new paradigm for space manufacturing and completely change space exploration as we know it.
Within just 100 feet in every direction of the company’s offices at Singularity University Labs (SU Labs) at NASA Research Park, there are innovative startups developing new and exponential technologies across multiple industries.
“There’s a large group of people now that three decades ago were the crazy ones, and now are still paving this path forward,” Dunn says. “Everybody here is here because The startup of now two dozen was started in 2010, after they believe in the vision that the four of us share, why we co-founder Jason Dunn met three entrepreneurs and an started the company. It’s that vision that we can help build astronaut. the stepping stones to let humanity colonize space.” The Crazy Ones
Two of the co-founders, Mike Snyder and Aaron Kemmer, And for the first time in a long time, this group is met at a space conference where Snyder was speaking—a challenging NASA’s famous “Failure is not an option” memorable presentation and foreshadowing of what was motto in favor of Silicon Valley’s fail fast anthem. to come. “Companies have to be willing to help NASA toward their Sitting in the second row was former astronaut Buzz goals, but also work on our own,” Kemmer says. “NASA Aldrin. Sitting in the first was Kemmer. has to be willing to take risks—the right ones I can see paying off. Once you start to give new solutions a try “I was doing a presentation on lunar mineral rights,” and take those risks, you can see examples start to yield Snyder says. “When you get to the moon, how do you impressive results.” go about claiming [it]? Because currently through the treaty signed, no government can claim stuff and there’s The Bottleneck of Space Challenges nothing about systems acting outside of the reach of the In 2010, as part of Singularity University’s Graduate government. There’s this huge hole.” Studies Program, the founders began Made In Space after After the presentation, Snyder and Kemmer—the youngest spending ten weeks researching what their first actionable guys at the conference—struck up a conversation around step should be toward getting into space. the fact that they both wanted to go to space. “Maybe it’s because we were young, but we wanted to In their mid-twenties, little was taken seriously of them make real things happen, so we started looking for that in the tech or space community, often making them first step,” Dunn says. That’s when founding partner and outsiders, despite the “one hundred years of experience” experienced astronaut Daniel Barry said 3D printers in Snyder says they have. space would be very useful.
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“For the first time in the history of manned space flight, we’re taking mass up, transforming it into something completely different, even making multiple versions or multiple things out of the same spool, and there’s no bag,” Snyder says. “It’s been a fun exercise in logistics.”
“It came down to, ‘Hey if we could put one of these 3D printers up on the space station we can provide some immediate impact and really show the world that manufacturing was useful in space,’” Snyder says. With a $10k price tag, the cost of preparing a shuttle and everything in it for a single launch is expensive. In order to survive several times the force of gravity in the launch environment, it takes a lot of time, perfection, and rigorous tests—none of which guarantees that all parts will make it to their destination in one piece.
A Shuttle for Space Innovation Besides working on a second-generation 3D printer, the team has many innovative plans such as validating the next generation of crazy ones. After all, they were just there not too long ago.
“We over-engineered all over our space projects today just so they can get into space,” co-founder Jason Dunn says. “If you can cut down that time frame from years and months to literally minutes because we need to send the digital file and then print it, then we’ve dramatically dropped the cost of space exploration.
“There’s this kid who won a contest in terms of designing a park for a fictional space civilization and we’re going to try to get his park printed up on the space station,” Dunn says. “It shows kids that, ‘Hey, everyone is getting actual access to space.’ We should believe in things that are very inspired.”
Removing Earth Dependency
Even though the printer currently only prints plastic, Every man-made thing ever in space started here on the Dunn says the team hopes Made in Space will open surface of this planet and because of that, Dunn says commercial doors for the guys and girls tinkering in their garages who believe anything’s possible. there’s a time and energy problem. “If you’re the school teacher or the weekend warrior in the garage building cool stuff and have ideas for space, let’s talk and figure out how we can get that up there and get it printing, because it’s going to be a group effort to prove that there is a new way to do things in space,” Dunn says excitedly.
“It takes a lot of time to get things there. There’s a gravity well and it takes a lot of energy to get things off the surface. Earth dependency is really key. That’s why we started to put a printer on the space station as our first step. If we can prove that the only people living off the surface of Earth today can use manufacturing as a tool, then we’ve started to open that new paradigm.”
Without hesitation, Snyder and Dunn make early The printer also opens possibilities with manufacturing in predictions of what the future—year 2035—will look like. a place that limits time, space, and size, says Kemmer. “I think the moon will become what an Antarctic research “With reprinting, you change that prep completely, where station is like for us here,” Dunn says. “You might know you don’t have to actually test the rocket anymore, you somebody who’s been there.” just instantly beam the hardware in space and get it there, build it there in minutes to hours rather than years. If “And in every place that a human being travels in space, you want to build hundreds of meters or kilometers, you there will be a Made in Space printer. When you’re at can actually do some very game-changing stuff for people Mars, you’ll be able call home and say, ‘Hey, I need a new screwdriver.’ down here who are really interested.” They also had to pass NASA’s rigorous specifications and “What kind of makes me smile is that I think the coolest several rounds of prototyping resulting in a microwave-like thing that our printer will print hasn’t been thought of structure made of an assortment of impenetrable metals. yet,” Snyder says. “It kind of shows that it doesn’t need to be, because it’s so easily uploadable and printable. In “It took a lot of modification to do that and it comes down 2035, we need to be well on the path to having all this to modifying the mechanisms so that they work in zero technology figured out in order for us to settle and start gravity,” Snyder says. “In zero gravity, things start floating having outposts and places where we’re not supposed to and you need to be able to control your printing within live.” fractions of a millimeter. You can’t really have the system Unlike many other startups in the valley, when the Made in floating around, because it throws off the print.” Space guys say they “are going to change the world,” they “When we started this, we would get these questions, actually mean it—pursuing things that are traditionally especially from NASA, like, ‘What does the printer build?’ not supposed to change, let alone exist. Dunn says. “We were like, ‘It’s a 3D printer. It can build “We have been passionate about space our whole lives anything, that’s the point.’” because we want to go,” Dunn says. “I’m doing it so that Eager to test Made in Space’s 3D printing technology my great, great grandchildren can go to space. Now we’re aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA has finally at that point where if we actually we work hard and scheduled the first 3D printer to be delivered by SpaceX-5 do the right things, maybe we get to go.” in the fall of 2014.
MADEINSPACE.US
facebook: WeAreMadeInSpace twitter: @_MadeInSpace
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“I BELIEVE WE ARE ENTERING INTO WHAT I CALL THE ‘POST-DEVICE ERA.’”
CORDELL RATZLAFF Designing for a Post-Device World Written by Paul Bradshaw Photography by Daniel Garcia
If you have used a Mac, bought an airline ticket online, or Googled something lately, you have been touched by the work of Cordell Ratzlaff.
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here is a brightness and depth to Cordell Ratzlaff’s eyes—an eager curiosity that comes from a man who has seen and done a lot in his day. His traditional western shirt, in a subtle off-white, with a small, contrasting print is a lot like Cordell: effortlessly cool and confidently creative. His track record speaks for itself.
How did you get into this career? It was a great way to try and combine my interest in human behavior with my interest in technology and trying to find ways to optimize that. Because there are things that humans are very good at. There are things that machines and computers are very good at. I guess I was always drawn to “what’s the intersection of that?” How Ratzlaff and his teams have been responsible for some do you give things to people that they do best, give things seriously heavy-hitting projects. From stints at NASA, to computers that they do best, and together they can do Apple, Cisco, and frog design, Ratzlaff is now bringing things that neither one could do by themselves. his brand of creativity to the hotbed of innovation that is Google. I think that’s an area that Google is doing a lot of work in. You’ve been at Google for almost two years now. Tell me a bit about what you do here—at least what you can tell me. I head up the UX team for Google advertising and commerce products. On the advertising side, my team is responsible for researching and designing products like AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick, Google Analytics. On the commerce side, my team designs products like Google Shopping, Google Shopping Express, which is something we just launched last year, in January, and now that’s expanding now to other parts of the US. And Google Travel is another one, Offers, and then Google Wallet.
You have a resume that is filled with marquee employers. What do you look for in a company, as a creative person? I didn’t realize until about halfway through my career that, if I wanted to be a really good designer, I needed to experience design in a lot of different contexts. One of the other things that I’ve learned over the years—probably too late in my career—was, it’s just very important for the culture of the company you’re working at to really align with your values and your interests.
I found that at Google. A lot of things about the company—their emphasis on innovation, their emphasis We are really aiming to make commerce on the internet on having an open, democratic environment where risks much easier to use, much more relevant to what people are not just tolerated, they’re encouraged. And, that has want. We’re about helping people find the things that they been great. So that was one of the things I look at in the desire, whether that’s a piece of information or a product. arc of my career. I think the companies where I’ve had
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“I THINK THE COMPANIES WHERE I’VE HAD THE MOST FUN AND DONE THE BEST HAVE BEEN THOSE THAT WERE MOST ALIGNED WITH WHAT MY VALUES ARE.”
the most fun and done the best have been those that were I’m thinking about “how do I get right for ONE person.” You really need to know who you are designing for. You most aligned with what my values are. need to know their expectations. What are they trying Do you think creativity is defined differently in Silicon to accomplish? What skills or talents do they bring to whatever they’re trying to do? What the context is. It’s Valley than in other parts of the world? I don’t think Silicon Valley has the market cornered on more about solving that problem and coming up with a creativity. But, I think there are a lot of things about this solution for that. area in particular that help foster that more than other areas. I think there is a tolerance for failure here—there’s You know, when I was at NASA we designed things for just a lot more freedom to try things. If they fail, that’s astronauts. That’s a very small population, but it was just as important—probably more so—to get everything right okay. That’s a learning experience and you can move on. for them as it is to get it right for millions of people. You can find creativity anywhere. But I think there’s probably more focus on it, just in the Bay Area. There’s This is our Device Issue. Any insights into what’s next? this idea of the 1.0 product, which has a certain cachet. I I believe we are entering into what I call the “post-device know most people want to do that more than working on era.” the 2.3 product. I don’t mean they’re going away, I mean that they are becoming so abundant that we are becoming indifferent What about innovation? I’ve been thinking about what the difference is between to them. If you go back a few years, people were just really creativity and innovation. What I would say is, I think obsessed about the product details, the corner radius on creativity is really about coming up with, imagining new your smartphone or the brushed metal finish on your things, or connecting the dots on existing things. I think laptop. People kind of fetishize the devices themselves. innovation comes in when you add a value component But if you think about what you can do with them, the services that they offer, it’s so incredible. You can control to it. much larger systems, you can connect with people. Press a How do you get people to pay more for your service or button and an Uber car shows up. So you can have these product? You establish this emotional connection with tremendous effects in the real world through these things. them. If they fall in love with your product they’re willing to give you more for that—they’re willing to tell all their It’s really just a vessel for interesting and powerful things friends about that product, so being able to establish that you can do. With the abundance of information now, your emotional connection through design is an incredibly attention becomes a currency. powerful business tool that you can use to make your product and your company more successful. You led the design of the Mac OS from 8-X. What does it feel like to know that something you designed is in daily use by millions of people? I never think about how many people are using the product or how do you get it right for a million people.
twitter: cordellratzlaff
Beaming with Possibility Written by Nathan Zanon Photography by Gregory Cortez & Daniel Garcia
One of the least plausible pieces of technology in the Star Trek universe is the transporter, which “beams” people to and from planets by disintegrating the particles in their bodies somehow and then re-forming them in a new location. It’s a wonderful fantasy, but as science, it’s pretty far out. Or is it?
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n the real world, Palo Alto-based Suitable Technologies is making the same concept—”beaming”—a reality. There’s no disintegration, but someone using their device, which is aptly called a Beam, can essentially be transported to another location in the world, not just via a stationary computer screen, but with a physical presence. In order to understand more, I am given a remote login to connect with Suitable Tech headquarters via Beam. When I do, I’m greeted on my screen by Brianna Lempesis, one of the enterprise sales associates for the company. She says hello and asks me who I’m there to see. I tell her I have an appointment with Erin Rapacki, the company’s Director of Marketing. While we wait for Erin, Brianna waves for me to follow her, pointing out some controls on my screen and teaching me how to use the device I’m inhabiting in the waiting room.
After Brianna gives me the tour and I take a selfie in the mirror, Erin arrives to tell me more about what makes Beam so special. The technology itself isn’t new (remote-controlled cars and video conferencing have been around for years), but devices bringing the two together are relatively new, and it represents a different way of thinking about communication It stands about 5’2” and occupies the and interaction. They refer to it as approximate amount of space as a “telepresence,” and it can cut down small person. Two cameras give views on time, hassle, and expense. directly ahead and the on ground in front of you, making it easy to avoid “There’s a lot of routine business colliding with objects and door frames, travel that goes on,” Erin explains. while multiple wireless receivers allow “Relational business trips where the internet connection to seamlessly presence is important but people switch to whatever is strongest as the don’t need to physically manipulate device moves around. The controls are anything.” People can schedule phone simple: arrows on the keyboard, zoom or video conferences or cram a lot in with a mouse click. You can share of business (and costs) into a weekwindows from your computer screen, long cross-country trip. Or they can much like other video conferencing just beam to wherever they need to software. An early incarnation go. “With Beam, there’s a physical appeared as “Shelbot” on a popular presence, so it’s different. I could go live anywhere on the planet, and with episode of The Big Bang Theory. The Beam is basically a monitor mounted atop two posts and driven around by a small remote-controlled carriage. The user “beams” in and operates it from their home computer, giving them the ability to roll around rooms and hallways and interact with anybody they encounter along the way.
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Battery Life: 8hrs Driving Speed: 2mph Size: 62H” x 15”W x 25”D Display & Camera: 17” LCD monitor with two wide-angle video cameras enable a field view of 105 degrees with 3X digital zoom and 480P video quality.
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“WHEN YOU HAVE ACCESS, YOU CAN JUST BEAM IN. AND YOU CAN GO WHERE YOU WANT AS IF YOU WERE THERE.”
--Scott Hassan, Founder and CEO, Suitable Technologies
an internet connection I could beam While Scott and I are talking, he suddenly becomes distracted and back here and work.” calls out to someone in the room. Scott Hassan, founder and CEO “Dallas, come over here!” An engineer of the company, expands on this. named Dallas Goecker appears on my “Every other technology out there is video screen a moment later, but not point-to-point: you have to initiate a in the flesh: he’s on another Beam. call and that person has to accept it. He’s connected remotely from the Beam is very different: when you have Midwest, and he rolls in to join the access, you can just beam in. And you conversation. can go where you want as if you were Dallas was basically the originator of there.” the Beam. He had been an engineer Imagine there’s a conference you’d like at Willow Garage, Scott’s previous to attend, but it’s on the East Coast. company which was focused on If your boss won’t pay for travel and various innovations in robotics. lodging, you’re out of luck. But if He was a remote employee, mostly you could beam in, it would be the working from his home in Indiana. same as attending—right down to But he always felt disconnected, so participating in breakout sessions he rigged up a rudimentary version and networking during lunch hour. of a Beam using Skype, ROS (the Personally, I would love to visit the robot operating system the lab had Louvre in Paris. If they had a fleet of developed), and some simple parts. Beams available to rent, I could spend When he started beaming into the office as this new persona, the change a day checking out masterpieces. was profound: he was able to interact
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with his coworkers in more normal ways, have conversations in the hallways, and actually get to know members of the team personally. “I went from being the least-known employee at Willow Garage to the most known,” he says. When Scott saw this transformation, he quickly understood the potential, and Suitable Technologies was formed soon after, in 2009. Personal interactions are highlighted whenever I talk to someone at the company. Scott cringes when the device is referred to as a robot. “It’s not a robot,” he declares. “It’s a remotecontrolled device.” The distinction is important: instead of a device that is replicating and taking over a human activity, Beam is enhancing human capability, giving people a chance to be in a space and interact with others in a location anywhere in the world almost instantly. This human element is key to the company’s mission.
“THIS IS THE CLOSEST I’VE COME TO WALKING IN THE TEN YEARS SINCE MY STROKE.” –Henry Evans, a former Silicon Valley CFO
One of the most visible spokespeople for Beam has been Henry Evans, a former Silicon Valley CFO who suffered a stroke in 2002 and became a mute quadriplegic. He has been essentially immobile ever since, but he uses technology which allows him to control a Beam with facial movements and speak through a computer in a similar manner as Stephen Hawking. In this way, he can be with his family, visit friends, and travel. He even appeared via Beam in a TED Talk last October, where he shared the ways in which this technology allows him a life that is more normal than anything someone in his situation could have ever had before. (In a moving moment, he points out that a few generations ago, he would have been declared a vegetable, “or I would have been dead.”)
features on this thing, we don’t want Within minutes, I’m connected to a to add features that will take away dark room in Suitable Technologies’s Missouri office with Erin and from the reliability.” Brianna, now both disembodied Instead, they’re rolling out a slimmed- heads on Beam screens. This office is down, low-cost version (about primarily staffed by a single person, $2,000, available later this year) and he has gone home for the day, intended for residential use. I ask but Beams can roam the halls while Scott if he envisions a day when he’s away. I follow the ladies into a there’s a Beam in every home, like room with a large window, high in Microsoft’s old motto for personal a building overlooking downtown computers. “Multiple Beams in every Kansas City. The sun is low in the sky and is reflecting beautifully off of home!” he exclaims. a nearby high rise. They explain that It’s fun to imagine the possibilities: sometimes they beam here just to visit with family in another city, tour watch the sunset. a house you’re thinking of buying, check in with the babysitter during an “I’ve never been to Kansas City,” I say, evening out. Doctors could beam to marveling at the view. clinics and homes in order to check up on patients; students could attend “Well, now you have!” classes remotely while still interacting with the classroom.
As for the future, Scott’s vision is more about expanding access than going I ask Erin and Brianna what else they crazy adding new technology such can show me. “Let’s go to Kansas as arms or other tools. “Reliability is City,” they suggest. the most important thing,” he insists. “You won’t see a lot of whiz-bang
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suitabletech.com
Erin Rapacki, erin@suitabletech.com twitter: @suitabletech
Taylor Workman Jacket $180
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Written by Brandon Roos Photography by Daniel Garcia Styled by Kristen Pfund
First Article’s Artisan Collection is the culmination of a years-long journey by local creative collective PLSTK. Built atop a foundation focused on experience, quality, and tradition, their inaugural line offers top-notch takes on men’s basics and accessories that reveal a serious attention to detail and a passion for thoughtful design. First Article is a labor of love conceived by Kristina Alvarez, Ben Daniels, Jaymer Delapena, Mark Gamab, Barry Lai and Danny Le. Each piece is the triumphant result of the group’s audacity to pursue fashion independently, which first led a few members to China to witness manufacturing first-hand before they discovered they could earnestly pursue clothing manufacture in the Bay Area. It’s also evidence of the pack’s insatiable creative desire, and their resilience – they were told by more than one manufacturer initially that their vision was a pipe dream. As Barry Lai notes, “to know quality is to experience quality,” and every item from their curated collection displays their yearning to craft goods that will stand the test of time. firstarticlegoods.com
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Turk Trucker $289
Picture Atlantic Story and Photography by VICTORIA FELICITY
Santa Clara indie alternative band Picture Atlantic pauses before a show to talk a little bit about the past, present, and future of their music.
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“I HOPE THAT PEOPLE WALK AWAY FEELING THAT THEY HEARD A REALLY GREAT SONG AND THAT THEY WERE SURPRISED BY WHAT THEY HEARD.” NICK BARTUNEK -
because anyone can sound good in the studio, but if people respond well to our live performances, that feels Nick: The band started when we were exiting high school really good. in 2005. Ryan is really the founding member of the band. We are all from the South Bay. We had a friend who Ryan: To go off that, we are as normal as you can get and if someone comes up to us after a show and people respond introduced us to Daniel way later. to the musicianship...people recognize that we are trying Ryan: I knew Nick from the 8th grade and I just wanted to do something different. If that happens, it just means to work with him. We met Daniel about three years later that we are doing a good job. I don’t want anyone to leave one of our shows feeling disappointed by something that through a friend. is under our control. How did you pick the name? Daniel: Yeah, the musicality aspect. When people can hear Ryan: We were going through some songs on iTunes and the nuances we are trying to put in there. I like when there is a song by Thrice called “Atlantic” and we thought people hear us live and respond well to us. “Why not do something with that word?” Our drummer Being a Bay Area band, how has that shaped the way you have suggested Picture Atlantic and it just kind of stuck. approached music? Nick: In my mind, it reminds me of like high school emo music, but other people say that they think of classy rock Nick: Well, when we started there was a very myopic music scene in San Jose. You don’t have the variety you music. would have being in a bigger city. But that gave us the opportunity to do something different. What is one of your best tour stories? How did Picture Atlantic come together?
Ryan: Well, Nick and I have both ripped our pants at the same venue—months apart. It happened to me mid-set and I didn’t realize that it happened. When we were getting off the stage, these two people that we met came up to me and were like “That’s awesome that you just kept playing when you ripped your pants!” and I was like, “What are you talking about?” I totally had a rip in the back of my pants. It’s okay, they came for a show, right?
Any final thoughts?
Nick: Oh yeah! It was at this place called Amplified down in LA. I remember it happening during the very last song; I think I was bending over to get something and I just heard a rrriiiiippp. And my pants totally ripped, I remember rocking the 90s jacket tied around the waist, and then snuck outside before people came up to talk to us and changed my pants.
Nick: Invest in quality music.
Ryan: We are working on a new album. We want to make our live shows as good as the record and the record as good as our live show, to be in sync. I think we play some of our older songs better live now. I also want to say this to younger bands: don’t copy what is popular and trendy, make good music that you enjoy playing.
Daniel: Go to a show, support your local music scene. What is your desert island disc? Daniel: A New Order compilation album. I would just dance my sorrows away.
Daniel: Yeah, the pants were in the van for a long time and Ryan: Parachutes by Coldplay, I think if I was on a desert now they are in my floor drum right now. island listening to anything heavier than that I wouldn’t What do you hope people take away when they listen to your be able to handle myself. Or the soundtrack to Cast Away. music? Nick: I would want one of those CDs that you listen to Nick: I hope that people walk away feeling that they heard a when you sleep to learn things. really great song and that they were surprised by what they heard. We want to put on a really good live performance, pictureatlantic.com pictureatlantic.bandcamp.com facebook: PictureAtlantic twitter: @pictureatlantic
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SAN JOSE JAZZ
SUMMER FEST TIPS
MASSIMO CHISESSI, SAN JOSE JAZZ MARKETING DIRECTOR
T
his August San Jose Jazz will be celebrating 25th year of the organization’s Summer Fest. With over 80 acts, it can be difficulty to manage your time and take it all it. We asked Massimo Chisessi, SJ Jazz Director of Marketing, to narrow down this year’s Fest schedule to five acts he’s especially looking forward to. “Kris Bowers is one of the best performers I heard at the Winter Jazz Fest in New York last January. He’s an amazing young keyboardist who plays with many of the ‘Jazz Beyond’ artists we’ve presented recently, like José James and Casey Benjamin (of Robert Glasper Experiment). He’s definitely a star in the making.” He’s also keen on Catherine Russell, whom he heard give an “amazing” in-studio concert on NPR’s Fresh Air. Russell grew up absolutely steeped in jazz and blues—both her mother and father were prominent musicians. “She sings in a really beautiful, simple and unaffected style that is deeply moving,” Chisessi says.
He’s also looking forwarding to Viento de Agua, arguably the word’s best exponent of plena, a folkloric genre from Puerto Rico. It’s based on tambourine-like drums called panderetas that create a mesmerizing groove supporting tight male harmonies, keyboards, brass and a lead vocalist. He also urges us to catch Snarky Puppy, one of the hottest young acts in jazz. They burst on the scene in 2013 with a series of electrifying performances and started off 2014 by winning a Grammy® Award for “Best R&B Performance.” “They’ve definitely got the jazz chops, but they express them in a totally unique way.” From a field including Ledesi, Poncho Sanchez, 2014 Grammy® winner Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Monty Alexander, a collaboration between San Jose Taiko and The Bangerz, Bootsy Collins and about 70 others, Massimo has trouble coming up with just one more. “I think it has to be the San Jose Jazz High School All Stars,” he says with a grin. “When I hear this amazing music come from such young people, and see the pride and excitement on their faces, it reminds me why we do what we do.”
San Jose Jazz Summer Fest is August 8-10. Tickets at: sanjosejazz.org
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Contributors
PAUL BRADSHAW Paul Bradshaw is a Silicon Valley-based freelance writer. He has contributed to Content, Bay Woof, HOW, Brilliant and The Society Diaries. His first novel, A Way Out of the Woods, will be published next year.
JEN MYRONUK Jen, a transmedia producer and oral historian, recently returned to her hometown of San Jose to launch Content Media Lab. An advocate of STEAM, she’s currently in production on a broadcast version of the “time-travel” theatrical play Manya: The Living History of Marie Curie. @jenmyronuk
The production of Content Magazine would not be possible without the talented writers, editors, graphic artists, and photographers who contribute to each issue. We thank you and are proud to provide a publication to display your work. We are also thankful for the sponsors and readers who have supported this magazine through advertisements and subscriptions. Want to be a part of the Content community? Contact us at: editor@content-magazine.com
JENNIFER ELIAS Jennifer is a freelance journalist who covers arts and innovation in the Silicon Valley. She loves telling the stories of people behind inventions and is constantly curious about how tech intersects with arts, business and health. jennelias.com @jennelias6
CHAD HALL Chad is a San Jose based writer. His first book, Erectile Dysfunction, was released earlier this year by Orchard City Books & Noise. When he’s not adding to his impossibly increasing “To Read” list, he’s working on several film projects and attempting the frightening task of writing a novel. therealchadhall.com
NATALIA SANCHEZ Natalia graduated from UCSD with a BA in Political Science. She has spent much of her time since college teaching and working abroad as a volunteer. Having returned home, Natalia has invested herself in writing and projects that are focused on bringing people together.
SEAN LOPEZ Sean is a part-time fisherman, home brewer, and bread maker. Full-time design grinder, beer drinker, and husband. Sean juggles between the many interests, hobbies, and professions which keeps his curiosity intrigued. Named after the infamous “Sir Connery,” he has no resemblance (height or otherwise) to the original double-oh-seven. lopezfarms.com
ANA VILLAFANE Born in Argentina, raised in Patagonia, and living in California since 2003, Ana has turned an adolescent curiosity with photography into a life-long passion. For her, the goal is to catch the world at its most natural, to see its essence and candid truth. anavillafanephotography.com
NATHAN ZANON Nathan is a social media geek, a frequent doodler, and a pretty good juggler. He has called San Jose home for more than a decade, and has ingrained himself in the arts and cultural scene through his work with the Montalvo Arts Center, the Camera Cinemas, Cinequest, and the San Jose Downtown Association.
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Picks by Local Mohammad Gorjestani PicksPicks by Kalen Gallagher by Local Mohammad Gorjestani
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With a city as big as San Jose, even the most savvy insiders need a local’s advice every now and then. With a city as big as San Jose, even the most savvy insiders need a local’s advice every now and then.
Local Kalen Gallagher
Day Job
A. Caltrain
G. NextSpace San Jose
I’m an entrepreneur at ClassDojo—an education technology company that helps teachers, parents, and students build the character strengths and skills necessary for lifelong success. Our software is used by over two million teachers and 30 million students in 180+ countries and our investors include Paul Graham, Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Shasta Ventures, and General Catalyst. classdojo.com
I love my car, but Caltrain is the best way to hop up and down the Peninsula and avoid insane traffic. caltrain.com
Not just an amazing co-working space, but a great community as well. Check them out! nextspace.us/nextspace-san-jose
B. Nexus 5
h. Our public schools
Night Job I’m involved in our community in three main ways: 1) Since 2009 I’ve been the Co-Director of the Silicon Valley chapter of New Leaders Council, a nonprofit that trains and supports social and political entrepreneurs in our community. 2) In 2012 I was elected to the school board in West San Jose and Campbell (which is extra fun because it’s the district I grew up in). As a Trustee, I’m working tirelessly to raise our test scores that rank our schools among the lowest in the state when compared to similar schools, ensure equity, eliminate our high dropout rate, and empower our teachers with the latest tools, training, and technology. 3) This year I co-founded Code for San Jose—our aim is help San Jose become the world leader in civic technology and innovation.
Hometown I grew up in San Jose and absolutely love it here—I cannot imagine living anywhere else.
I’ll admit—I’m an Android fanboy. The Nexus 5 is a beautiful device and keeps me on the latest version of Android. I use my phone as my mobile hotspot as well, so I’m never far from being connected. google.com/nexus/5/
As a former middle school teacher and current School Board Member, I had to fit this in somewhere. While our schools in San Jose have many challenges, there’s a lot of magical things happening there everyday. sjusd.org
c. Github
I. New Leaders Council—Silicon Valley
Github is a platform that makes collaborative software development incredibly simple. github.com
d. Macbook Air
While city politicians seem solely focused on dividing into two camps and fighting, it’s refreshing to have a place where civic minded entrepreneurs can focus on solutions to our biggest problems. newleaderscouncil.org/
My computer is basically the center of my life. The Macbook Air is incredibly light and powerful, so I can take it everywhere I go. apple.com/macbook-air E. Spotify Music is a big part of my life—and Spotify allows me to have instant access to almost any song I’d ever want to listen to (but they need to step up their mixtape game). spotify.com F. Code for San Jose Simply put, Code for San Jose’s mission is to help San Jose become the world leader in civic technology, innovation, and open government. Have an idea? Stop by during our bi-weekly hack nights and let’s get it done. codeforsanjose.com
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