Silicon Valley Impressions, Fall 2016

FAL L 2016

Silicon Valley

Impressions

&

Celebrating Diversity, and Promoting Community Awareness, Understanding and Inclusiveness

SMART L I F E S T Y L E

CITY

Interview with Carl Guardino and Ted Lieu Live, Work, and Play in Smart City

Electric Vehicle in a Smart City Government in a Smart City Cell Phone Detox A Connectivity Conversation Study Abroad and more ...

ISBN 978-0-692-40495-9

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

CONTENTS 4 Interview with Carl Guardino

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SVI SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS

8 APAPA Silicon Valley Chapter Hosts Candidate Debate for City Council Election 10 The Digital City of the Future

Our Magazine can be found at the following locations. For a complete list of distributors please visit www.siliconvalleyimpressions.com

14 The Kid from Silicon Valley Ted Lieu 16 Art on the Wall Graffiti from Berlin 18 Electric Vehicles in the Smart City 21 A Connectivity Conversation...

23 Government in Smart City: Cupertino 26 Cell Phone Detox 28 My Summer in Paris: Study Abroad Cover page photo courtesy : Filoli Gardens by Ling Ling Kulla Carl Guardino by James Gong

Subscription To receive a copy of our magazine at your house please subscribe online at: www.siliconvalleyimpressions.com Silicon Valley Impressions,20111 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite #280, Cupertino, CA 95014. info@OpenSocietyMedia.com Don Sun | Publisher Beverly Lenihan | Editorial Advisor Ling Ling Kulla | Editor James Gong | Chief Photographer Ragini Sangameswara | Graphic Designer Elizabeth Softky | Copy Editor and Proof-reader

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the writers and interviewees. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

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Policies Without Politics Interview with Carl Guardino, CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group, on Measure B and building our future Silicon Valley Communities S ilicon Valley Impressions (SVI): What is the Smart City concept in your opinion? What are the important elements in building smart cities and policies that you consider important?

Carl: Smart City makes sure that we are not just building developments, but instead, are building communities and neighborhoods in which people interact with each other, and have access to multiple forms of transportation to strengthen the economy.

When we look at young professionals today, they want to raise their families here. The young urban professionals, as well as seasoned professionals, are attracted to a richer urban experience.

They desire to live in a vibrant environment - a home town feel with urban amenities.

SVI: Which place in Silicon Valley has the kind of space you’re talking about?

Carl: In Santa Clara County’s fifteen cities and towns, there are fifteen opportunities to build that place. For example, the proposed “The Hills at Vallco” in Cupertino is how private and public leaders envision a vibrant city place should be.

In the city of Campbell, the community has transformed their downtown, making it walkable, and bike-able, along with outdoor dining, and a 24/7 nightlife. Los Gatos, my own town, is viewed that way as well. San Jose, the 10th largest city in the United States, is

Carl Guardino slowly building this type of urban setting.

The truth is that people actually want to know their neighbors.

The way we have built our cities in the past five decades has discouraged that. People drive out of their garages and drive back into them.

They may occasionally wave to the strangers living in the house next door or down the block, but they never feel the sense of community. Today’s young professionals especially yearn for that kind of interaction.

When we think of cities where we want to go and take our spouse, and brag about afterwards, we think of London, Paris, Tokyo, and other great metropolitan cities that all have inviting open spaces amongst a beautiful, thriving city life that

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feels safe because there are always people out on the street. They also have advanced forms of public transit - rapid, clean, accessible, and convenient. We need this in Silicon Valley, and Measure B on the November ballot, would help create that type of safe and secure environment here.

SVI: Many of the West Valley cities felt left out of public transit plans in the past. How does Measure B amend that?

Carl: What’s remarkable about Measure B is that for the past three-and-a-half years, thousands of private citizens county wide have come together with our public sector partners to create a plan that provides meaningful congestion relief, transit options and road repairs for the existing system.

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Almost everyone in this county is excited about the possibility of BART extending to San Jose and then onto Santa Clara; however, they also want to make sure that the needs of other portions of the county are met. So we insisted in the ballot measure that the funds for the final section of BART be kept to no more than 25%, ensuring that 75% of the funded improvements meet other priorities.

Station in Downtown San Jose, and at the Santa Clara University Station.

Our transportation solution is like a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces needing to snap together to build meaningful congestion relief. The first piece of the puzzle is extending BART to downtown San Jose, then onto Santa Clara University by 2025. The second piece will be an electrified Caltrain system by 2020 with platform-to-platform transfers connecting to BART at the proposed SAP Center Diridon,

Measure B provides a strong local share of funds for that future form of transit, or the money to completely fund whatever the alternative analysis (a study that will determine what will be the future form of transit for the 85 corridor) decides at the West Valley I-85 corridor.

I live in the West Valley, in the tiny little town of Monte Sereno between Los Gatos and Saratoga.

We have yearned for decades for the promised transit option in the center median of Highway 85 that was intentionally left open for public transit.

When building any type of transit system, the law requires us to

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provide an alternative analysis to prevent us having a biased opinion.

If Measure B passes, the Valley Transit Authority will use existing funds to conduct an alternative analysis to find the most cost effective solution.

The third piece of the puzzle is basic lifeline service for the 300,000 citizens in this area who don’t own cars. Among them are senior citizens, students, the disabled, and the working poor. We will not leave them behind.

The fourth piece of our Measure B puzzle is that we need to help our residents to become less car dependent. Currently, twenty of every one hundred car trips today in Silicon Valley is less than two miles long, and the average car trip is five miles long. If we can build connected bike and pedestrian

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paths, we can encourage people to walk or bike to nearby places.

In my own town of Los Gatos, twenty percent of congestion on Los Gatos roads in the morning is overwhelmingly caused by kids who are not riding bikes or walking a quarter mile or half mile to school but being driven by their parents instead. If we built facilities to have safe pedestrian and bike access near our schools, our children would be healthier, and our roads less congested.

The next piece of the jigsaw puzzle is our county’s expressways. One of every two people in Santa Clara County uses a county expressway every day. On Lawrence Expressway, 253,000 car trips are made every day. San Thomas Expressway has 211,000 daily car trips. They are operating, in congestion terms, at a level of service “grade F.” Our Measure B plan will enable us to move from a grade F to a grade A, with A meaning free flowing traffic even during rush hour.

To achieve this, Lawrence Expressway would be rebuilt by incorporating grade separations.

Instead of being at the same level with cross streets and traffic lights, Lawrence Expressway would go

under or over those streets, providing a continuous flow of traffic.

There would also be dedicated bike and pedestrian paths along Lawrence.

The final portion of Measure B addresses our highway system.

Most traffic on our highways is due to congestion at the interchanges, where people exit and enter.

The interchanges at 280 and Winchester, 101 and Brokaw, 280 and Page Mill are all well-known congested interchanges. We will take twenty of the worst highway interchanges in Santa Clara County and fix them.

Measure B will allocate one-inevery-five dollars for local street maintenance and pothole repair.

This will trigger “complete street” guidelines, making sure those streets become bicycle and pedestrian friendly as well. Many of our bike lanes are often cluttered with debris because we ran out of funds for cleaning them, as well as road shoulders’ upkeep. For seasoned bike riders, we make the best of it, but to entice children and get drivers out of their cars, these conditions aren’t safe enough.

SVI: Tell us what is driving your organization to want to shape so many different aspects of the

Silicon Valley experience?

Carl: In a democracy, big improvements like this usually require initiative campaigns. We should have ideas that are thoroughly vetted and determined, because this is a community that we all love and we all want to make better.

We think after three and a half years of work, in which more than 2000 citizens engaged in over 48 public hearings, we’ve produced a non-political plan, driven by traffic engineers, public works directors and transportation professionals that will build something to truly benefit everyone.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, formed by David Packard, carries forward his lifelong vision that CEOs and private citizens have a responsibility to engage in productive and proactive ways in the community. I have the honor of trying to live up to the high standards that he has set for our group.

We strive to convene diverse viewpoints to build something worthy of the innovation economy for which we are globally recognized. Whether it’s our work in transportation, affordable continued on page 22

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APAPA Silicon Valley Chapter Hosts Candidate Debate for Cupertino City Council Election

First row from left: Parth Bharwad, David Fung, Jerry Liu, Steven Scharf, Rod Sinks, Kris Wang, Second Row from left: Chris Zhang, Don Sun, Anjali Kausar, Aileen Kao, Barry Chang

O n September 11th, The Silicon

Valley Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association(APAPA) held a City Council Candidate debate.

Candidates Kris Wang, Rod Sinks, Steven Scharf, Jerry Liu, David Fung and Parth Bharwad participated. Chapter President Don Sun opened the debate, with board member Chris Zhang moderating, and Anjali Kausar doing the wrap-up.

The debate focused on two measures on the ballot this year - Measure C, Cupertino Citizens’ Sensible Growth Initiative, and Measure D, Vallco Town Center Specific Plan Initiative.

Both measures concern the Revitalization of Vallco Project.

Here’s how the candidates fall on these measures: David Fung opposes both measures; Jerry Liu opposes Measure C and supports Measure D; Steven Scharf supports Measure C and opposes Measure D; Current City Council Rod Sinks “is not a fan of doing land use

planning at the ballot box”.

For a large scale project such as Vallco, Rod believes that the City Council and the community should have worked together with the developer to build the project.

Candidate Kris Wang supports measure C and opposes Measure D. Parth Bharwad, representing the millennial generation, will vote against measure C and supports Measure D. Ever since early 2015, when developer Sandhill Property Company revealed its new redevelopment plan - The Hills at Vallco, Cupertino residents have been skeptical about the project. The community is divided in its approval of the plan. As it is difficult to please everyone, the project has been in many heated discussions around the community, and has brought dissatisfaction and accusations towards city council members.

So what are our choices? We can request that the developer change

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the project to what most of us like, which will require years of discussion and rework; or the developer, exhausted from trying to make everyone happy, could just cancel the project all together and leave a large dysfunctional space in our city for future generation to figure out. Wisdom is precious, and this year we need a lot of it. To make your voices heard, carefully read the ballot measures and vote.

Among the candidates, five out of eight have served in the City’s government at length: Kris Wang served on the City Council in Cupertino for two terms. She was the mayor of Cupertino in 2007 and 2010. Rod Sinks is currently a City Council Member running for his second term. He served as Mayor in 2015. Jerry Liu, Robert McCoy and David Fung have all served in the City in various capacities.

David Fung served six years in the Parks and Recreation Department, and Jerry Liu is currently serving his second term as chair of the continued on page 12

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The Digital City of the Future How technology is continuing to reshape how we live, work and play

By William Riggs, PhD, AICP, LEED AP

Source: Flikr Creative Commons, https://goo.gl/ID38Ko

I n the early 1990s technology

pioneer Bill Gates wrote about the future of the connected city in his book, The Road Ahead. He talked about how the human relationship with the home and the city would change dramatically. He expanded on visions originally proposed

by Arthur C. Clarke in the 1950s foreseeing a future where the computer changes the way we live and work. Gates believed that such changes were five-to-ten years away at that point but, due to a number of circumstances, we are only now being able to see some of the first iterations of how our cities are evolving based on increased

digital information.

So what are these areas that will evolve and change the way that we know and respond to the urban environment? I would break them into three simple categories related to (1) how we live or house ourselves in a civil society, (2) how we work and travel to places of employment and (3) how we play and recreate.

Changes in How We Live First with regard to how we live, we have entered an age when digital information can literarlly

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inform the buildings that we live in. Across the globe smarter homes and offices are able to meter power consumption, and better optimize use of electricity and natural resources. Furthermore, now complete neighborhoods are being designed is closed systems where they can in-large-part operate independently to optimize resource consumption and be more resilient in the face of disasters.

Examples, include BeddingtonZed in the United Kingdom or Dongtan, Eco-city in China, both of which are off-the-grid, and yet, highly connectivity.

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Source: Flikr, https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1239/1008213420_7efcd7e950_b.jpg

This connectivity, will continue to expand, as smart grid and smart meter technology become more pervasive. It may eventually allow us to tap into community-based behavior and reward programs. This would allow users to self-regulate their consumption of resources, and even compete against neighbors for things like cheaper rates, rewards and prizes.

We already see the origins of this kind of “gamification” already in place through the many “water” and “energy” hog programs stemming from our public utility companies and their emerging use variable and off-peak rate structures to incentivize savings.

And yet more connected energy use is only the tip of the iceberg.

We are already seeing the wider adoption of smart and connected thermostats, water meters, showerheads, lights and appliances. There are tests of drone package delivery by Amazon and others in the United Kingdom and Australia, and greater levels of automation

in food production and delivery— including experimentation with buildings that can grow their own plants and produce. And, just like the fledgling efforts of tools like the Amazon Echo / Alexa to control lighting and appliances via voice command we soon will see the ability to talk to our homes and offices, offer instructions to receive information—something that will allow us to both better understand and react to the world around us.

Changes in How We Work Our ability to better know and respond to our own environment will likely be most acute in the arena of work—and particularly how we get there. As I have published in a number of online articles on Planetizen.com smart transportation and autonomous vehicles maybe one of the most significant technological advances over the last 50 years, with the power to complete reshape what the city looks like over the next 50.

Within the coming ten years, you will likely be able to speak with your house to get travel information and suggestions on the best way to travel. Some days there may be suggestions to walk or bike but others you may be getting in a car by yourself or with others. You will likely not own your car, but without a doubt, you will probably not drive it. It will drive itself, arriving and departing from your house taking you on command in the most optimized route.

While this may not sound like anything new to Bay Area residents given the high visibility of Google self-driving test vehicles, much of the relationship of this new technology with the design of cities has not been discussed. Given that these vehicles will be able to know and respond to the environment around them while driving, with less space in between them and in algorithm-optimized patterns the traditional notions of street design will no longer be applicable.

Streets will no longer need to be so

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wide. Traffic signals and intersections may not require visible signal heads or signs. Parking spaces in front of businesses or homes may no longer be needed. These are provocative ideas because they offer a new vision for the visual landscape of the streets and cities. And think of how the real estate currently dedicated to car travel that is freed might be used; perhaps for bike lanes, pocket parks, spillover café seating, or urban gardens. Perhaps that real estate along the roadway frontages could even be giving back to citizens; deeded back to be used for certain public good purposes. What value might that have for citizens, particularly in terms of their own

property value?

Changes in How We Play Finally, in considering these public spaces that are created as a result of technological innovation (from parks to bike lanes), it is important to reinforce that technology will continue impact our cities socially.

This includes how we play, socialize and interact with our fellow man in a civilized way. We are already beginning to see far more social connectivity that extends far beyond geography, and there is power in the shared experience. It can allow us to increase dialogue and acceptance of the many social cultural differences we have in

our society. Many communities are beginning to use open data platforms and e-government tools to allow individuals to talk-about and weigh-in on urban planning processes and the design of the future of their cities.

These dialogues include things as simple as being able to get a building permit for your house by simply going online, to more complex transactions like interactively and dynamically modeling what future growth scenarios for city. We now have the capacity to have more dynamic and fast-paced exchanges—to asks citizens for immediate feedback on options and alternatives. Local community continued from page 8

Cupertino Library Foundation. Robert McCoy has served as the Public Safety Commissioner since 2012 for the City of Cupertino.

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Newcomer Parth Bharwad is a twenty-yearold resident. Claiming to represent the millennial generation,he is ready to be the fresh blood that will take over our city, hoping to correct all that has gone wrong. It’s great to see young people involved in politics. Other candidates such as Val Vitols and Steven Scharf are also fresh faces from the community. We hope that this year’s election will bring a well-balanced City Council - in views, backgrounds, as well as energy. The 2016 General Municipal Election date is Tuesday, November 8th. Cupertino residents will have the opportunity to elect two Council members to a four-year term. Any Cupertino resident who is 18 years of age and a registered voter in the City of Cupertino may run for City Council. For candidate biographies and statements, please visit the Cupertino.org Election Information page.

About APAPA Silicon Valley Chapter: The Silicon Valley Chapter was established in February 2016 in Cupertino by Don Sun. Board members are: Jerry Chen, Teresa Lai, Chris Zhang, Rita Shang, Cady Yu, Anjali Kausar, Aileen Kao, and Vicky Zhang.

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development department will likely need to begin using virtual reality and simulation platforms like Oculus community or residential engagement—allowing citizens to articulate how they want to see the places they live, work and play.

There is already an emergence of community-based tools likes Nextdoor and other applications such as Neighorly and Streetplan.

These allow for social connectivity, community based visioning and policing, and strengthen the bonds between people and place—bonds that go beyond the boundaries of gender, race, education or income.

Summary and Lessons In sum, as our cities become smarter, opportunity exists not only to become more efficient and productive but to educate and

heal; yet technological innovation is not a panacea. It does not happen without people questioning the status quo, but also resisting the desire to change for a need of change. In that context we should keep in mind three questions for dialogue with our friends, neighbors and elected officials: 1) Should we envision a city that is free of scarcity? Improvements in technology will bring about efficiency and productivity, but also possible greater levels of inequity. How can we ensure a lens of equity and inclusivity in the future?

2) Should we have open verses closed systems? Should civic technology and systems that influences things like traffic, homes and energy grids be open systems or inherently closed and tightly

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integrated? There are likely good arguments on both sides but ample dialogue is needed, as historically homogeneity has stifled innovation.

3) How can technology move beyond productivity to reshape and recreate a vital sense of place in our communities that will aid in healing emotional wounds?

If we can ultimately answer these questions, while the technological tools of the future city may not end up as utopia, they may help point the way to a future city without scarcity or bigotry. They may help shape cities where everyone can achieve their full potential, and apply themselves in a way that make a meaningful contribution to society—armed with a greater ability to know and respond to the world around them.

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The Kid from Silicon Valley Ted Lieu Member of United States House of Representatives, District 33 S ilicon Valley Impressions (SVI): You are involved in many committees; which one do you find most enjoyable?

Ted: I am honored to be on the Budget Committee, as well as the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. While being on the Budget Committee, I’ve learned a lot about the federal government because the budget has such a huge effect on how we function at the federal level.

I am very excited to be on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. My predecessor, Henry Waxman, was on the Oversight Committee for many years, and also served as chair. We have many interesting investigations and hearings. One of the issues we focus on is cyber security.

I also sat on the Information Technology Committee, that is a part of oversight security. We held hearings on cyber security breaches, both at the federal level as well as the private sector level.

We found out how other countries and terrorists use social media to advance their causes, and we explored ways on how the United States can better counter-act these efforts.

SVI: From the Silicon Valley point

of view, are there any particular roles our tech companies should take in terms of cyber security?

Ted: Cyber security is a problem for all sectors - federal, state and private. You see massive cyber security breaches all over the place, including the Department of Homeland Security, The Department of Justice, and the Office of Personnel Management.

In the private sector, Anthem Blue Cross, Target, and Home Depot have been attacked. Around the world, banks lose a lot of money in cyber security breaches. We need to work on cyber security on all levels, and Silicon Valley can assist us in these efforts. There is a large gap at the federal level in terms of expertise in cyber security and technology in general, and we hope that the tech sector will provide expertise to policy makers on Capitol Hill, as well as think tanks and federal agencies.

Currently, the CEO of Google (now Alphabet), Eric Schmit, is on an advisory board to the Pentagon.

There are also firms which specialize in cyber security that are working with federal agencies to help the government manage online threats.

We have a lack of technological expertise in government. I happen

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to be one of only four members of Congress who has a Computer Science degree. We simply need more experienced staff. We also need to improve the technological competence on Capitol Hill.

We need to improve our equipment and software. We had one breach where millions of Social Security numbers and sensitive information on federal employees were stolen.

And that was followed by another breach of twenty million security clearance records.

Now a foreign government has access to then. What we discovered in this case is that a director failed to put into her action plan steps to address deficiencies. Her equipment was old and she didn’t make it a priority to upgrade them.

I am the co-author of legislation to increase cyber security funding by three billion dollars to help agencies upgrade their equipment.

It is also important to change Internet culture. Many people don’t realize how easy it is to get hacked, and not just with technology. Social engineering is one way hackers get information. Last year our CIA director had his email account hacked. A hacker, posing as a Verizon employee, got a legitimate Verizon employee to give him enough information to hack the

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director’s personal AOL email.

In the military, a decade and half ago, the military realized cyber security was a problem and implemented a 2-factor identification process. A second physical i.d. is needed to log in. This process makes it much harder for a hacker to breach the system. It’s annoying at the beginning, if you lose it or forget to bring it, but I eventually got used to it.

Most parts of the private sector don’t use 2-step verification to log in, as well as many civilian federal government agencies. We need to educate people about not giving out personal information through email or over the phone. It only takes one employee giving away information for an entire system to be hacked.

SVI: How do you know when your system is breached? How do

Congressman Ted Lieu (front center) with APAPA members and Silicon Valley high school students

you know who did it and when it happened?

Ted: Two types of hacking happen at the governmental level: the first is governments hacking into each others systems - that’s spying, which has been going on since the dawn of countries. My view is we need to increase our cyber security “fences” since all countries spy.

The second type happens when countries hack into private sector

systems, which is new. I think we need to explore ways to push back against that. I am very pleased that our government and China have reached an agreement saying that we will not hack into each other’s private sector systems to steal intellectual property and trade secrets. This agreement was made in 2015 when the U.S. planned to sanction China for their security breaches that were getting out of hand.

Lasts up to 50,000 hours - Non-toxic, no lead or mercury - 5 year warranty

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ART ON THE WALL- GRA

In 2008 street artists Blu and Lutz Henke painted Berlin’s most iconic giant mural in Kreuzberg which depicts a man adjusting his n direction of the artists out of sorrow and as ‘a wake-up call to the city and its dwellers, a reminder of the necessity to preserve affor

Capitalism Causes Starvation

The Cosmonaut looks over the residents of Kreuzberg. Painted in 2007 by Victor Ash, it is considered to be the largest stencil drawing in the world.

Like much of Ash’s work, the Cosmonaut explores contrasts between the subject matter and the environment that it inhabits.

The unexpected sight of an unmissable, massive, weightless astronaut immediately leaves a lasting impression on pedestrians, a gift to the passers by, fulfilling the artist’s ambition to contribute to the democratization of art.

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AFFITI FROM BERLIN

By Eeli Ram

necktie, wearing two gold watches connected by a chain, like handcuffs. At the end of 2014 it was “black washed” under the rdable and lively spaces of possibility.’

In the lower left corner of the cosmonaut wall is an addition using art by Taosuz (a collaboration between the two artists Tao and Suz) who use photostrips to enhance awareness about a specific subject or event, highlighting the absurd nature of modern society. The photo-automats are a super popular form of entertainment and this piece uses the photo-automat strips with message, “Information control reduces your privacy.”

Mark Zuckerberg is juxtaposed with Edward Snowden.

Artists often add to or completely cover existing graffiti. Recently, several sightings of a green L with message serve to highlight and also obscure the rigid, less spontaneous style found in some graffiti.

Notice the green L on this anti “carefully planned and executed” graffiti as seen in Chicken Alley, Berlin 2016.

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Electric Vehicles in the Smart City By

Richard Lowenthal

E lectric Vehicles need to be

refueled just as much as gasoline cars do. However, there are some differences between charging with electricity and filling a tank with gas. Most of them have to do with how long it takes.

A Simplified Explanation of Electric Vehicle Charging Charging stations vary in their rate of “fill�. A standard 110 volt home outlet gives you a range of about four miles for every hour you plug it in. A 240 volt charger will give you about 20 miles, and a 400 volt charger can give you 200 miles, if your car has a big enough battery.

These three types of chargers are called Level 1, Level 2, and DC chargers.

Where People Charge Almost everyone charges their electric vehicle at home while they are sleeping. Every morning they wake up with a fully charged battery, just like you do with your

cell phone. A lot of people also charge at work, using the Level 2 chargers provided by their employers. Cars that have the ability to charge at a DC charger might have to plug in on their way at a highway stop - cars like the Tesla model S will take you 250 miles before you need to stop and recharge. And sometimes people charge at Level 2 stations in their city or at stores like Target.

places. It is important to note that charging locations in a city are not chosen by the charging companies themselves, or by state or local governments. Instead, it is the property owner who determines where you will find chargers.

Sometimes the property owner is also the vehicle owner, but it might be an employer, retailer, or city.

Vehicle Charging and the Smart City Part of the Smart City concept is taking care of the environment so people living in your city are healthy. These days, a component of living healthy is enabling residents to do what they can to reduce pollution, which drives climate change. Enabling electric vehicle use is one way a city can support people who want to do their part.

To encourage charging at home, a Smart City will adopt regulations that require wiring for chargers be installed whenever homes are built. This is especially important for apartments and condominium developments. It costs about $1000 more per charger to retrofit a home with an EV as compared to the cost of prewiring homes while they are under construction. For the case where wiring needs to be retrofitted, make sure that your city streamlines the permit process.

Every electric vehicle needs to be charged, so that means there must be chargers in convenient

Multi-family housing, like apartments and condominiums, have the additional challenge that

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Charging at Home

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Municipal Charging

only some of the residents need charging and the others don’t want to pay for it. Often the owner or property manager is unaware of the needs of the EV driver or, since EV’s are relatively new, hasn’t seen many EV’s and assume that providing for them is “too early”.

In this case, the solution is to use a “smart charger”. Smart chargers are connected to a network and a server. The network allows the property owner to set a price for and collect revenue for charging.

That way, the vehicle owner pays for the cost of electricity and chargers themselves. The person who doesn’t own an EV sees that as fair, and the property owner sees it as a revenue opportunity.

A challenge for workplace charging is that the business who wants to provide charging often doesn’t own the property. As with home charging, it is a lot cheaper to put in EV wiring during the construction of parking lots rather than retrofit. Roughly two-thirds of the cost of putting in EV charging in a retrofit has to do with trenching through an existing parking lot.

In a Smart City, building codes will require developers who include parking lots in a project to pre-wire for electric vehicles. Another important policy is to ensure that the property owner allows a tenant to put in a charging station if they want to. In California, this is a little-known state law.

Progressive cities like Cupertino place chargers in favorite spots for longer term parking in their city.

That means the library, City Hall, and Quinlan Community Center.

Adding charging to your city takes political courage because undoubtedly, parking is congested and EV charging spaces cannot be used for gasoline cars. Clearly folks with gasoline cars may resent restrictions on those oh-so-few parking spaces.

If a city does care about the environment and wishes its residents to be part of the solution by buying an electric vehicle, they will show that political courage by setting aside some EV parking. In addition, it encourages people to buy these clean cars if the parking place is convenient.

Usually a city will use a Smart Charging network so they can require drivers to pay for charging.

That’s fair to the people that aren’t charging, and it is another source of revenue for the city.

Workplace Charging Charging electric vehicles takes a long time - several hours in some case. This makes the workplace a perfect spot for electric vehicle chargers. Progressive companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook all have thousands of chargers for their employees. After all, you might as well fill up your car while you’re working. Employers install charging stations because their employees want it, and because the employer wants to do what they can for our environment, too.

Richard Lowenthal is the founder and former CEO of ChargePoint, the world’s largest network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the US, Europe, and Australia.

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What's Your Choice of Investment Property?

Part II

continued from Summer 2016

Your Realtor for Life!

M ore objective price evalua-

tions. The value of an investment property is mostly determined by its income, rather than “price per square foot”. It’s very “number based” and objective. If the seller is using a knowledgeable broker, the asking price should be set at a price where an investor can earn the area’s prevailing cap rate for the commercial property type they are looking at (retail, office, industrial, etc.). Residential properties are often subject to more emotional pricing.

Triple net leases. If you ask me recently what has been the most popular commercial property in demand, I can tell you without hesitation--NNN leased retail buildings, fully leased, long leases, and even better, single tenant. There are many passive investors in the market now who want minimal management effort with a stable return. Triple net leases, where you as the property owner do not have to pay any expenses on the property, and the lessee handles all property expenses directly, including maintenance expenses and even properties taxes, are very attractive to investors. The only expense you’ll have to pay is your mortgage. Companies like Walgreens, CVS, and Starbucks typically sign these types of leases, as they want to maintain a look and

Marian Chaney

DRE # 01937247 (408)805-6680 (650)383-7388 agentmchaney@gmail.com www.MarianChaney.com feel in keeping with their brand, so they manage those costs, and you as an investor get to have one of the lowest maintenance income producers for your money. Strip malls have a variety of net leases and triple nets are not usually done with smaller businesses, but these lease types are optimal and you can’t get them with residential properties.

While there are many positive reasons to invest in commercial real estate over residential, there are also negative issues to consider. First, your time. If you own a multi-tenant commercial building, you have more to manage than you do with a residential investment. You are likely dealing with multiple leases, annual CAM adjustments (Common Area Maintenance costs that tenants are responsible for), more maintenance issues, and public safety concerns.

In a nutshell, you need to be more knowledgeable, hire professionals to help with your management, or even be licensed if you want to handle it by yourself.

Second, you typically need more money to play the game. In the Bay Area, residential houses in prime locations cost no less than a commercial building elsewhere in the country (like those multi-million mansions, or

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even a tear-down in Palo Alto); but commercial buildings in the Bay Area are still generally even more costly. But, it’s not always true – remember the value of the commercial building is largely defined by its income. It’s actually much easier to find a property with upside potential in commercial buildings than single family homes in Silicon Valley. Another piece of good news is that commercial building loans are also generally based on assets and income, not buyers’ credit score; so often an individual who can’t get a loan to buy another investment house, can still leverage a loan to buy a commercial building.

Lastly, the risk of holding a commercial property lies most in its vacancy and potential liabilities.

In good economy, rents are on the upswing and all offices are leased.

When encountering economic downturn, commercial buildings can suffer much more.

All in all, California is by far the most popular region for private commercial real estate offerings, accounting for 40 percent of the total for the whole country. Are you interested in getting involved?

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

A Connectivity Conversation…

By

Eeli Ram

R ecently, my dentist suggest-

ed that I upgrade to an electric toothbrush with Bluetooth connectivity to get real-time feedback on my brushing habits, and also to compare brushing performance with friends. I am a smartphone-toting, laptop supported, cyber-linked worker bee, yet the Bluetooth connected electric toothbrush was where I instinctively “drew the line in the silicon”.

This experience got me to thinking about the question, “When do individuals and cultures know that it is time to “just say no” to connectivity technology?

For some, the technology divide is just beyond their beloved flip-phone. These people refuse to upgrade to a smartphone which represents 24/7 connectivity, yet they comfortably work at high-tech firms, bank online and watch Mr. Robot on Netflix. For some, technology stays at the workplace and their households remain a tech-free space. These individuals choose to limit connectivity at home and “shield” their children from technology. Some individuals create geographic barriers between themselves and technology due to health, environmental or religious beliefs.

These individuals are convinced that certain technologies will corrupt their way of life. Due to the unknown effects that they might inspire, all of these groups creatively use lifestyle choices in order to enforce the precautionary principle for new technologies.

“We limit how much technology our kids use at home”, is the

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often read quote by certain Silicon Valley executives when referring to their own children’s technology consumption. These super powerful, super-smart individuals might also be labeled as “low-tech” parents. These families choose to educate their children at the local Waldorf school where Waldorf philosophy encourages students to interact with one another and their teachers, and work with real materials rather than to interface with electronic media or technology. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.

Some people restrict their use of technology because they believe that the constant connection to mobile phones, laptops, and tablets may cause both shortterm and long-term physical and mental health problems.

Research scientists have stated that being overly connected can cause psychological issues such as distraction, narcissism, the expectation of instant gratification, and even depression. Their belief is that, as well as affecting users’ mental health, the use of technology may have negative repercussions on physical health causing vision problems, hearing loss, and neck strain.

Others hold the belief that technology may harm the environment with pollution, consuming non-renewable resources, disrupting ecology and production of toxic materials. This group see themselves as advocates for the natural order and resist

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Communication Happens

environmental degradation by technology. While they don’t shun all technology, this group will limit their consumption of technology with the expressed purpose of saving the environment.

As technological innovations make it easier to track, collect and process personal information, technology users recognize that it may be a near-impossible goal to share data and at the same time be confident that all data is private and being used properly. A reluctance to use connectivity technology is based on the possibility that users will suffer data breaches which irrevocably compromise privacy.

Some groups, wary of the culturally corrupting side effects of technology, evaluate technology by weighing the pros and cons before integrating it into their lives. In some cases, these communities choose to separate from mainstream society to guard against the indiscriminate adoption of the “new ways of doing things”.

For example, the Amish live within the boundaries of private communities where they don’t automatically embrace what’s new; they test it and decide if it’s a good fit for the lives they want to lead.

Long-standing socioeconomic barriers may hinder connectivity. For example, Fiji Islanders have been slow to adopt recent technology. Dissolving economic barriers are evident with the explosion of

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cell phone use by this community that previously only communicated face-to-face. The rugged, remote terrain is now dotted with high power cell towers installed on the island’s highest points. Many Fiji Islanders use phone cards to access the island’s excellent cell coverage.

For the time being, the people of Fiji are accepting affordable new technology.

As technologies become increasingly complex and difficult to understand, people will continue to continued from page 6

housing, quality environment, smart and strong local schools, that’s what Mr. Packard wanted us to focus on. Today we are proud to be guided by 405 of the Valley’s most respected CEO’s, from the world’s most iconic brands to the scrappiest startups.

SVI: How do you incorporate the diverse backgrounds and cultures of the Valley into your work?

Carl: So much of our work is driven by celebrating, not just tolerating, diversity. We make sure that our decisions are inclusive of all points of view - age, ethnicity, gender, faith, public sector, employers, neighborhoods, labor and others.

Much of our efforts involve bringing people together. Our 405 diverse member companies are often fierce competitors in the economic market place, but our role together is to act as a bridge to other aspects of our community, making sure the Valley is not just good, but great.

When we started Measure B, we started with a blank white board.

With traffic engineers, public works directors, and transportation planners from all fifteen

make lifestyle decisions to alleviate anxieties about its use. As society wrestles with adopting technology, it’s interesting how the media creates fictionalized characters in literature and film, exposing the technophobe.

Frankenstein, Dune, E-Wall and Avatar all come to mind as influential human created harbingers of the dangerous world; walking that fine line between advancement and total annihilation. On a broader scale, society may actually benefit from applied connectivity

technology. For example, to create “smart cities” which may help us reduce waste and improve efficiency for things such as energy use, and improve how we work and live. Connectivity happens.

Connectivity is the basis of the human experience. Whether that happens face-to-face or by other means is your choice. For now, the best thing that we can do is educate ourselves about connectivity technology, gauge the potential impacts, and remain a part of the conversation.

cities and towns in the county, including Valley Transportation Authority, Caltrans, Caltrain, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and Altamont Commuter Express, we asked them to help us build a better transportation system from scratch. It’s a wonderful model of community engagement and coalition building.

Thanksgiving. We raise nearly one million dollars every year to help people in the Valley who are so vulnerable, in terms of food, shelter, health care, and housing.

The slogan for the Turkey Trot is Health (healthcare), Hope (food and nourishment) and a Home.

It’s rewarding to see nearly 28,000 people come together to build a better community, to help the needy, and start the holiday in such a healthy way.

SVI: You have done so many different things in your career path and in your personal life; which have been the most fulfilling experiences for you?

On the personal side, my biggest accomplishment to date was that, after seven years of asking, my wife Leslee finally agreed to go out on a date with me in downtown Palo Alto. The birth of our two daughters, one born to us and the other adopted at one-dayold, have also been very fulfilling.

On the community side, it’s been founding and directing the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, which for four years has been the largest Thanksgiving Day community run in the world.

It is not only the biggest, but the most charitable event on

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Professionally, it’s efforts like Measure B, that bring meaningful transportation solutions, as well as our award-winning Housing Trust fund that has helped over 20,000 individuals and families who call high cost Silicon Valley home.

SVI: As we close our interview, what is the next vision and challenge for your organization?

Carl: First, to be successful on November 8 in gaining voter approval of Measure B. If we are, our next two years will be dedicated to regional traffic concerns. We need to assess Bay Area transportation improvements that are truly regional in nature.

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Smart Cities in Silicon Valley: Cupertino Ariel Maria Lattanzi and Aarti Srivastava City of Cupertino By

C upertino’s Chief Technology

Officer, Bill Mitchell, describes the Smart City movement as a strategy to “make life easier for citizens and city staff through the effective use of information and resources.” Innovative solutions using big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and information communication technology (ICT), will improve governance, sustainability and quality of life in Silicon Valley.

Informed and engaged citizens are a crucial ingredient for a successful democracy, and Cupertino has already taken the first steps to provide residents with data and receive their feedback, using tools such as:

Mobile 95014 is a clearinghouse for City information, including announcements, community services, Council and City contacts, environmental services, events, news, parks, public safety, recreation, schools, and social media.

Ready 95014 helps users prepare for earthquakes, fires, floods, and pandemics with step by step instructions, and also has checklists to provide guidance during and after emergencies.

Trees 95014 lets users look up trees by address and find care details, request service, or sign up to take care of a tree.

OpenGov is a website where curious visitors can delve into Cupertino’s budget and compare spending and revenue across years, departments and programs.

Eats 95014 lets users filter Cupertino restaurants by type of food, distance and other traits, like free wifi, accessibility, or Green Business certification.

The Open Data website hosts machine-readable datasets for public use, such as interactive maps, spreadsheets with business data, and information on city operations, with more datasets to come.

In January 2017, Mitchell also plans to launch the new Cupertino. org website, which he envisions as a virtual city hall where residents can access city services and information without having to come in person. The current website already lets users renew business licenses and residential parking permits, find information on open bids and RFPs, read Council agendas and watch Council meetings. However, it can be difficult to navigate and find the right webpage. The new website will be geocentric, or map based,

Cupertino has also launched five mobile apps: Access Cupertino lets residents submit requests directly to the city, whether for information, service and repair, or to draw attention to issues of concern.

so users can find the services and information most relevant to their location. User-friendly interfaces, streamlined services, and new capabilities are on the way!

Cupertino’s GIS Program Manager Teri Gerhardt, is in the first year of a five year strategic plan to improve geographic information services (GIS), that will help coordinate internal city operations and data sharing, track historical information, access scanned documents, and improve public outreach. The city hopes to create a geocentric one-stop shop application where all relevant information can be tied to specific locations.

For example, the city plans to launch an application that will let anyone see a live map of all permits in the City and read details, review plans and drawings, and find public hearing dates with one click.

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Sustainability Manager Misty Mersich and Cupertino’s sustainability team are also making use of data to make city operations more efficient. Utility and Energy Coordinator Katy Nomura is working with the data management company Lucid, to track energy and water use in city-owned buildings, parks, streetlights and other public lighting. This data will help the city optimize energy and water systems, conserve natural resources, and reduce utility bills.

According to Cupertino’s Climate Action Plan, electricity use accounted for 28% of Cupertino’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2010.

The City of Cupertino has been working in partnership to help establish the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority which will provide electricity from renewable and carbon free sources to eleven municipalities and unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. This data-driven action will help the city achieve its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2020.

Cupertino’s Environmental Programs Manager, Cheri Donnelly, uses data to track progress toward waste reduction targets. Cupertino has achieved its goal of diverting 75% of waste from landfill, normalized by employment, and is working to increase diversion by population from the current 65% rate

up to 75%. Data from Recology, Cupertino’s waste management service, shows that 45% of commercial and multifamily waste is diverted from landfill, short of the goal of 60% diversion of commercial waste. Cheri is working with Recology to get better data on specific waste streams and collection areas in order to target education for increased diversion and waste reduction.

However, in order to maximize the true potential of Smart City solutions, Cupertino cannot be smart on its own. For example, Cupertino is partnering with Waze to use real-time traffic and road information in order to improve road repairs, adjust traffic signal timing, and respond to emergencies. Now, if Cupertino solves its own traffic issues but doesn’t coordinate with neighboring cities, the resulting backup will undermine Cupertino’s efforts.

Also, new IoT and ICT systems require significant bandwidth and robust networks. Cupertino does not have the necessary wireless infrastructure to support the exponential growth in data collection and sharing. Cupertino could try to fix this on its own, but if each city took their own method to develop networks, the result would be a mess of incompatible systems.

Instead, Cupertino is actively working with other local governments, businesses, and residents through Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Bill Mitchell is a member of the Wireless Communications Initiative, which “mounts a highly strategic campaign to transform Silicon Valley’s wireless network infrastructure into a world-class showcase of speed, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.”

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Cupertino is laying the groundwork for data-driven government, informed citizens, sustainable operations and regional wireless infrastructure. This is a good start, but Cupertino could go further by setting goals and identifying issues to address with innovative solutions.

For example, San Jose developed a Smart City Vision to first, leverage technology to make San José the safest big city in America; second, ensure that all residents, businesses and organizations can participate in and benefit from the prosperity and culture of innovation in Silicon Valley; third, create digital platforms to improve transparency, empower residents to actively engage in the governance of their city, and make the City more responsive to the complex and growing demand of our community; fourth, utilize technology to address energy, water and climate challenges to enable sustainable growth, and fifth, reimagine the City as a laboratory and platform for the most impactful, transformative technologies that will shape how we live and work in the future.

What is your vision for a Smart Cupertino?

Tell us at @CityofCupertino or submit a request/idea via the Access Cupertino App!

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Cell Phone Detox By

T here is little argument over the

benefits of technology as it relates to medicine, science, transportation, and some aspects of health.

However, the negative effects of technology on society can be seen once we look up from our cell phone to realize that we no longer interact with each other as much as before at a face-to-face level, and experience our surroundings completely.

Our lives go by with us missing so many of the sensory pleasures and intimate conversations that we used to strive for in life. Many would say that, as a population, we are missing out on life because of overuse of our phones.

Webster’s defines addiction as a strong and harmful need to regularly have something or do something.

Without a doubt, members of our society, from young children to senior citizens, seem to have the need to hold their phone, check it regularly, and most importantly stare at it instead of focusing on their surroundings. Bringing up the topic of device overload in a group

will get you looks as if you are an old timer or a rebel of some sort. Getting on board with the new generation is a must. Any deviation from device dependence is a step backwards. But is it really? Aren’t we missing out on so many sensory pleasures? How can we get back in touch with our surroundings?

Some disagree with the staunch attitude towards device dependence and how it depreciates life. Take a look at the young generation who is gifted with the ultimate gadget – a smart phone.

Middle school students huddle around their devices before and after school when they are permitted. They rarely look at each other. They stare at their own phones, or they congregate around another friend’s phone to watch, as something exciting appears on the screen. No need for discussion starters. No need for follow up questions. No need to have the ability to hold a conversation, let alone start one.

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Marc Kulla

As children grow to young adults, we frequently hear how difficult it is to find that special someone.

Of course the new dating apps are amazing: there are apps that allow you to find a date for the night, apps to have a conversation with the world, and apps that connect you to social activities, but isn’t Tinder the equivalent of skipping the actual work on a crossword puzzle and only getting to see the answer? When we look for social engagement from our apps, we forego the opportunity to meet someone who can be just in front of us, unexpected, unplanned. Isn’t it the process of doing the puzzle that is supposed to be the joyous part? Isn’t the part of meeting someone, nurturing a relationship, and ultimately connecting with that special person supposed to be the joyous part?

Sitting at a restaurant is entertaining if you are interested in watching the way society has changed. Couples, young, and presumably in love, staring at their phones while waiting for

their meal. Once the meal arrives, the need to photograph their food so they can share it with others not present at the table is more important than taking a taste and sharing their experience with the one they chose to eat with. The restaurants and cafes that are successful today have a direct correlation with how photographable their food and drinks are.

If it’s Instagram, Facebook, and Yelp-worthy, there will be crowds coming to snap their own photo.

According to Mental Health Daily, our society has created a new health syndrome termed Phantom Vibration Syndrome. They note, “the syndrome known as ‘phantom vibration’ is characterized by an individual falsely perceiving that their cell phone is either vibrating or ringing at a time when it clearly isn’t. Ask enough of your friends if they have ever experienced this, and you will find a resounding number of them that have. Some of you may have also felt the same.

The time has clearly come for us to detox from our devices and start to enjoy our surroundings and devote our full attention to those that are with us. Some websites are starting to capitalize on this market. There’s the NoPhone, a black plastic piece the shape and size of an iPhone that sells for only $10.00. The NoPhone SELFIE model, which has a mirror on one side, will set you back $15.00. Clearly a gimmick, but there is something to be said for a panacea to help reduce the stress we start to face when we do not have our phone in our hand or feel it in our pocket.

One minor, but critically important step in reducing our dependence on our phone is to not have it with us at all times. “Oh, the teenagers will frown” you say. Trust me, even they can survive without

their phones at times. Start by taking baby steps. Take the trash out without your phone. Take a walk around the neighborhood once without your phone. Drive to the market without your phone.

Leave your phone in your office at lunch when you go to eat. Stop convincing yourself that you are as important as the President of the United States, and that people getting a hold of you immediately is essential.More importantly, leave your phone at home when you are out with your significant other, a friend, or in business settings socializing with real people. People will respect you more knowing that you are devoting your attention to them.

You will start to enjoy those sensations that you have been missing. You will notice the way the host smiles at you, the way your dinner partner reacts when eating a certain meal, the joy of the people near you as they talk about an upcoming vacation, the enthusiasm of the people behind you as they debate the presidential candidates. It will amaze you what you can learn from conversing and observing when you are not staring at your phone.

Taking the next leap of independence will require more effort. How would it feel to be

disconnected for a week? No e-mail, no Facebook updates, no SnapChat, no Instagram, no text messages. Is this even possible?

Fortunately, it is possible to go on vacation and not be connected to the grid if you choose the right location and the right vacation. The Miraval Spa in Tucson, Arizona will help enhance your overall mindfulness with a stay in their resort. Or go as far as Chaa Creek, a 365 acre nature reserve in Belize, where you will find that life really does go on without your phone.

At virtually any destination, it’s possible to unplug from the grid.

As a society, we have grown in so many areas over the past twenty years. Technology has enhanced every aspect of our life.

Unfortunately we seem to have given up on many of the parts of our life that were, and still should be, important to us. Conversing with others, looking at our surroundings, smelling the scents from the restaurants we walk by, observing people interacting, and embracing life. Take the dive and try to ditch your device for as long as you can manage it. You will be amazed at the world that is out there. And you will feel a sense of liberation when you are not tethered an object, or even worse, an app.

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My Summer in ParisS Study Abroad By Juliet Sussman S tepping off the plane at Charles

De Gaul Airport this summer was one of the scariest and most liberating moments of my life. My eight week immersion French course in Paris was about to begin, with one hundred other University of California students. I was in a country that I had never visited before, and getting there was no small feat.

Convincing my parents that it would be safe for me to spend eight weeks in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attacks at the beginning of 2015, and the coordinated Paris Brussels attacks at the end of the year, took some doing.

As I went to collect my luggage I noticed that every sign and every word in the airport was in French. People tell you that many Parisians speak English, but I quickly learned that many really meant only a few, and it was only beginners’ phrases.

Luckily at the airport, I was able to find two other girls in my program

who were just as lost as I was. I later discovered that one of these girls would be my roommate in a beautiful apartment in the twelfth arrondissement area near the infamous Bastille.

Classes began right away. The fast-paced courses took place during the weekdays, leaving only weekends to explore. I found myself traveling alone in a foreign country where I only knew the basic tongue, but I loved getting out of the apartment by myself, walking along the canals and streets of Paris, and people watching while sitting in a cafe.

I visited the famous museums, parks, and monuments that I had only ever seen in movies. It seemed more like a vacation than a study-abroad trip. I was also lucky enough to experience France during the Euro Cup, which was the 2016 host.

My roommates and I found ourselves constantly traveling by Metro to the “fan zone” located in

Giant’s Causeway, Ireland

Love Lock Bridge Near Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

front of the Eiffel Tower, to congregate with thousands of Parisians to watch the football (soccer) matches on a big screen. We quickly made friends with other teenagers from Europe who were also traveling.

I was six weeks into this amazing fairytale of a program when friends from home came to visit me for Bastille Day. Again, we went to the Eiffel Tower, this time to watch the most magnificent and impressive fire-work display I had ever seen in my life, while an orchestra, which performed mostly American songs, played below.

It was a night filled with magic and laughter, a holiday celebrating both a revolt from tyranny and a march toward democracy, but the magic quickly dissipated when we started receiving text messages from our loved ones back home asking if we were okay.

The tragedy in Nice had just occurred. Since Paris was still in a state of emergency from the events that had taken place the year before, seeing armed guards and police personnel everywhere was not out of place in our day-to-day

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Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Ireland

routines. They were not scary or overbearing, but instead comforting and approachable.

After the Nice attack, it was shocking to see that nothing in Paris was altered. The Parisians were not on high alert, the security did not double, and my professors were more concerned with our personal safety than that of the nation.

It was odd to me that such a travesty did not put them in a state of disarray, which I am sure would have been the case if this had happened in America. My concern, though, was for my parents. I quickly let them know I was fine, and reminded them that I’d be leaving Paris soon.

With the eight week program coming to a close, I would now start traveling to other cities in Europe. I spent my remaining week visiting Amsterdam and Dublin.

The people were so nice, the streets were beautiful, and the cultures rich.

As I boarded the flight that would take me from Dublin to Los Angeles, I thought about what my French professor said the first day I arrived in Paris. He told us that when we returned to America, our friends and family may sense that we might “present” ourselves differently.

He explained that to them, we may appear to be acting posh, like Europeans. However, if we behaved differently, it would be because we had learned more about ourselves abroad than we could have ever learned back home.

It was thrilling, unnerving, beautiful, exasperating, unbelievably magical experience, and yet that doesn’t begin say it all. There’s really only one way to describe my trip to Paris this summer: It had a certain “Je ne sais quoi”, as the French would say, something too special to adequately put into words and, maybe I’m also a little more posh.

Juliet Sussman is a third-

year student at the University of California, Irvine, working towards an undergraduate degree in Criminology, Law, and Society, while also being a part of the Delta Gamma Sorority.

She plans on attending law school after her undergraduate studies. Juliet grew up in Palm Springs, California and is the youngest of three children.

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Fall in Filoli Garden By

Grace Siu , Ling Ling Kulla

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