"Breaking News" Posts on ValleyZen

“It’s not brain surgery—It’s economics,” Meg Whitman recalled the take of her brain surgeon husband, Dr. Griffith Harsh, on California’s budget crisis. With a wry sense of humor, and authentic personal stories, Meg shared her impressive vision for a new California at the MEGa Women Bay Area Launch. Pumping up the audience was Statewide Chairwoman Jillian Manus: “there’s so much estrogen in this room, it could blow off the roof.” A diverse audience of female Silicon Valley influencers cheered when Jillian challenged them to go out and make MEGa Women a million strong…

Who are the most influential women in technology for 2009? You had to be with ValleyZen in the Fairmont San Jose last Thursday to be able not only to see but to experience the answer.

Women have gone a long way in tech, and the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology’s Women of Vision’s Award celebration and dinner presented ample evidence of the distances women have traveled. The event was beautifully emceed by CBS News Anchor, Sydnie Kohara with inspirational opening remarks by Telle Whitney, President & CEO of the Institute. The 2009 Women of Vision Awards honored three women who have made significant contributions to technology through outstanding innovation, leadership, and social Impact.

ValleyZen got full access to these inspirational women and the ambitious event. We interviewed the keynote speaker and the award recipients and spoke to numerous other accomplished women in technology, from…

You already know it all about the fabled “Über Entrepreneur” (as he was billed by the Churchill Club yesterday) Elon Musk. How he dropped out of the graduate program in Physics at Stanford after only two days, how he co-founded PayPal and was the largest shareholder when it sold to EBAY in 2002 for 1.5 billion, and all about his latest accomplishments and adventures with Tesla and SpaceX.

At ValleyZen we like to report on what we don’t know about yet, what’s new, what is in the imaginative space. In a Sumi-e painting that’s like the negative space, the space between brush strokes where all possibilities lie. People in Silicon Valley are comfortable with things that haven’t been defined yet and with what is uncertain. That’s exciting.

Yesterday we met with Elon and…

After his presentation today, Tom Siebel fielded audience questions.
A voice began speaking…

“What are you?” Siebel asked.
“A freshman,” the voice said.
“What are you studying?”
“Still figuring that out.”
“Me too,” said Siebel.

Silicon Valley gets Zen.

In the 80s and 90s, Siebel’s expertise in relational database theory helped him make Siebel Systems a global leader in software. Now he is becoming a Zen beginner—moving away from his domain, IT (Information Technology) into a totally new arena (Energy Technology). Even though Siebel has spent the last three years doing research on energy issues, this is uncharted territory for him. He’s taking a radical departure from his “comfort zones” in order to tackle pressing ecological problems. Siebel gave us a sneak preview of…

It is only February but already Queen Jillian Manus and King Alan Salzman have set the bar high for the best parties of 2009 in Silicon Valley. Wait— make that best parties anywhere in the world. Last night guests descended upon a fairytale Happily Never After Valentine’s Ball to raise money and awareness for the Stanford Cancer Center. Digerati, glitterati and literati valet-parked outside the drawbridge and walked the Manus-Salzman castle’s giant lollipop-lined red carpet to trumpeted fanfare. VCs dodged arrows from Robin Hood. Knights in shining armor cleared the way for power women like eBay’s Meg Whitman and SkinnySongs CEO Heidi Roizen. Real and fairytale celebrities intermingled. Flashbulbs for Women’s Wear Daily shot Rapunzel in one frame and Asim Abdullah, owner of haute couture design house Emanual Ungaro and his wife Isha in the next…

Logitech Co-Founder Daniel Borel is celebrating the creation of ONE BILLION mice. “That’s enough (end on end) to stretch to the moon and back,” he told a packed Stanford Memorial Auditorium gathered to honor the 40th anniversary of Douglas Engelbart’s landmark 1968 “DEMO” at SRI that signaled the dawn of interactive computing.

Don’t Miss ValleyZen’s exclusive VIDEO interview with Daniel Borel:

ValleyZen was invited to attend the National Women’s Leadership Initiative National Issues Conference. Billed as “the pinnacle event of the general election to highlight the importance of women’s leadership,” it drew women from all 50 states. Mega donors as well as high-level policy makers and senior campaign advisors converged on the Chicago Sheraton Towers to focus on “issues…

On Sunday, famed video game developer Richard Garriott launched into space aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. For more than $30 million, he has become the sixth private citizen to travel into orbit.

The Russian rocket lifted off on schedule at 1:01 p.m. (3:01 a.m. EDT), carrying precious cargo including a revolutionary experiment in art —the first in-space art exhibition. Highlighting the importance of private space travel to future generations, Garriott is hosting this zero-gravity art exhibition. Included is an original brush painting by Drue Kataoka, created for this historic
mission…

The world premiere of the largest, most comprehensive exhibit of the art, science & engineering works of Leonardo da Vinci is at The Tech Museum for just 100 days.
Wait — make that 99 days!

Last night the red carpet rolled for a lavish celebration hosted by Frank and Denise Quattrone, Tech President Peter Friess and The Tech Board. Friess told ValleyZen, “There are so many engineers in Silicon Valley, and inside the soul of every engineer is a little bit of Leonardo. He’s not a person — He’s a phenomenon.”

Donors and Valley celebs walked the red carpet —-flanked by a 24 foot tall model of the Sforza Horse with its mighty hooves crushing hundreds of fresh rose petals. This bronze sculpture was originally designed as a gift for Ludovico il Moro, the Duke of Milan as a monument to Francesco Sforza, his predecessor. Shipping it from Florence, Italy to San Jose, required two ocean containers…

“What has happened by chance is often difficult to repeat when it is sought deliberately. Chance is a genius.”
-Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training.

This past Saturday, September 6th, marked the second edition of Barcamp Hong Kong. Barcamp began as an un-conference in Palo Alto in 2005. Some bright, enthusiastic, cosmopolitan people have brought the concept to Hong Kong. Yet, I wouldn’t even know of the event, let alone be a participant were it not for Chance…