15/08: Yelp! from Palo Alto
I never grow tired of Silicon Valley. Everywhere you turn, people are trying to dream up the next Google. In most other regions, people are defined by their successes and shamed by their failures. Not here. People brag about the failed start-ups they participated in, or how deep under water their stock options are from the pre-dot bust days. But that wasn’t why I was here.
I was invited to Palo Alto at the request of my friend, the Honorable Anna Eshoo. Anna is one of California’s member of the House of Representatives. We met years ago at a San Mateo County General Hospital fundraiser. We were going back and forth in the live auction for a fantastic painting that a local art collector donated. The bidding got so high that we were each hoping the other would make the final bid! After a few tense moments, we agreed to each pay half of the winning bid and donate it to the Hospital. The painting is still there in the lobby!
Anna asked me out to join her at the press conference for an EPA study that she initiated regarding data centers and energy consumption. It was a real eye opener to me to see how much it takes to operate these data centers. The report highlighted the growing issue and outlined some ideas to reduce the impact. I was able to provide a view from someone who could reinforce the need for these data centers, but a desire to reduce the overall impact.
Afterwards, we went out for dinner and drinks. I have been on a Tapas (Spanish for small plate) kick lately and wanted to find one in Palo Alto. So I turned to my new favorite site, Yelp.com.
Yelp offers a great interface to read user reviews of local restaurants, shops and everything else. This concept may not be new, but Yelp does the best job of categorizing things and regions that I have ever seen. Pick your city and start searching. Then you can filter the list further by region in that city, walkable locations, etc. A live map on the side points out where they are.
With help from Yelp, we ended up at Cascal’s on Castro street and had some great Sangrias with our dinner. Thanks Yelp!
I was invited to Palo Alto at the request of my friend, the Honorable Anna Eshoo. Anna is one of California’s member of the House of Representatives. We met years ago at a San Mateo County General Hospital fundraiser. We were going back and forth in the live auction for a fantastic painting that a local art collector donated. The bidding got so high that we were each hoping the other would make the final bid! After a few tense moments, we agreed to each pay half of the winning bid and donate it to the Hospital. The painting is still there in the lobby!
Anna asked me out to join her at the press conference for an EPA study that she initiated regarding data centers and energy consumption. It was a real eye opener to me to see how much it takes to operate these data centers. The report highlighted the growing issue and outlined some ideas to reduce the impact. I was able to provide a view from someone who could reinforce the need for these data centers, but a desire to reduce the overall impact.
Afterwards, we went out for dinner and drinks. I have been on a Tapas (Spanish for small plate) kick lately and wanted to find one in Palo Alto. So I turned to my new favorite site, Yelp.com.
With help from Yelp, we ended up at Cascal’s on Castro street and had some great Sangrias with our dinner. Thanks Yelp!
