Day 3: Richmond, Treasure Island, Palo Alto

When you can’t take Caltrain and where a bike path isn’t completed yet, the only option is to cross that bridge by car. Today’s adventure included the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, the Rosie the Riveter Historical Park in Richmond, and the Silicon Valley New Tech meetup in Palo Alto.

Having only opened late last night, the temptation to drive across the new eastern span was too much.

It was fun, but is still just another bridge. While it is a beautiful bridge, the view of the East Bay that the bridge now offers is nothing to write home about. The light poles clutter the “skyline” and make it yet another beautiful view with something in the way.

As I heard on the news reporting, the old bridge does look archaic and worn out. It is amazing how when we have something to compare it to, in this case, a beautiful white bridge, we are more than willing to toss the old one away. We have come to an amazing place in our technical achievements and appreciation for eye-pleasing designs. But there is a lot of history in the old stuff. How many rivets are on the old bridge? How did they build the bridge from both sides? There are stories to be told.

Since I was already on the east side of the bay, I drove up to Richmond where the National Park Service has a historical park dedicated to Rosie the Rivetor. Next to a former Ford Assembly Plant, the park is dedicated to sharing the story of the lives of the men and women who sacrificed, gave everything they had, and made do with rations during World War II.

What I did not expect or plan for was the ranger who spoke to the half dozen visitors in the small theatre about her life. At the age of 93, yes, 93 years old, Betty Reid Soskin shared a jaw dropping and amazing story of how the world has changed and how she was part of it. Betty is very misleading in appearance, looking much, much younger than she really is. But the story she shared spanned many years and several generations and gave an eye-opening view very few can say they have experienced.

She shared the story of how a young colored woman who only had two options as a young adult, working in agriculture or being a domestic servant, has today become a critical part in making the park what it is and sharing the story of how a country lived through a war and gave whatever was needed to support those on the frontline of war. The story of being an invited guest at the inauguration of President Obama in 2009. And how conflicting stories of history can co-exist and paint history as it happened from multiple points of view.

This is another example of stories that need to be recorded and shared so future generations, especially this generation, can appreciate and learn how life has evolved and how the many negative actions against specific races can change lives for both good and bad. You can’t learn this in a school textbook.

Heading west on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge gave a familiar view, but one that is now less obscured by the old cantilever section.

A number of news stations were on Treasure Island reporting on the first day and how the morning and afternoon commutes were handling the new bridge. Traffic was going much slower, but hovered just under the speed limit at times.

In the evening I attended the Silicon Valley New Tech meetup, a popular monthly gathering where speakers talk about their new tech products. Four companies demoed: Motrr, RadioReplay, JuicyCanvas, and MangoReader.

Galileo by Motrr connects your iPhone to the rotating device using a thirty-pin connection. You can then control it remotely as a webcam or to take a easy to use panorama consisting of up to 40 frames. The newer version will use Bluetooth instead of Apple’s lightning connector and will be able to support Android as well. They are working on an Android version, but with several devices of different sizes, they have more logistics to work out.

RadioReplay is “Shazam meets TiVo”. If you are listening to talk radio and want to keep listening but have to do something else, you can use RadioReplay to find the program and later play it. Right now, they only index NPR programming and make those recordings available within 24 hours.

JuicyCanvas puts custom back into customer. They offer a platform to create customized swag, from t-shirts to mobile phone cases, using custom artwork. A gallery of artwork can be sorted by styles or what’s popular. The platform encourages remixes, reusing existing designs from other users and making another design. Their tool lets you rotate and scale the artwork and text on the product. Their goal is to make this a more social experience that can lead to friends buying stuff that has more meaning because they know the artist who made the product.

Lastly, MangoReader offers a platform for digital story books. Because it is digital, the same story can be offered in different languages. Their tool helps to translate text, record narration and engage children with stories through coloring activities and other games.

Today’s adventure gave me an eye-opening comparison of how we have slowly advanced from limiting others from opportunities to giving our generation tools to make whatever they dream of. That if we understand and appreciate what has been done before, we can improve upon those experiences and make easier to use and more beautiful things in our lives. But we still have a long way to go in giving everyone an equal opportunity.