Tag Archives: california

Retirement in California and Retire USA blog

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What?  Not another shameless plug on my personal blog for our great Retire USA project?       Well, not shameless or even shameful because RETIRE USA is a great blog with over a dozen excellent writers and a post almost every day featuring topics of interest to retirees all over the nation.

Marty, one of the partners in the project, has been blogging about retirement in each state – Retirement in California is the latest series.    In those posts you’ll find a lot of links and information about retirement in general as well as Retirement in California.

Here are some excerpts from several of our latest retirement blog posts:

  • RETIRE IN CALIFORNIA – Part 5 of 5 PLACES TO RETIRE – CALIFORNIA RETIREMENT – Part 5 of 5: Costa Mesa, San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, Palm Springs. COSTA MESA RETIREMENT Costa Mesa, with a population of 109,960 as of the 2010 census, is located 37 miles southeast of Los Angeles …
  • RETIRE IN CALIFORNIA – Part 4 of 5 PLACES TO RETIRE – CALIFORNIA RETIREMENT – Part 4 of 5: San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Lake Tahoe, El Centro, Newport Beach. SAN LUIS OBISPO RETIREMENT San Luis Obispo, with a population of 43,685 as of 2011, is located inland a bit from the California…
  • WHAT’S IN A PICTURE? TRAVEL AND PHOTOGRAPY – BILL FERRY- At first glance, this is a nondescript photo. Maybe it isn’t even apparent that it is a drydock. Walk closer and details begin to emerge that stand on their own. I’m guessing that you might see even more pieces that sta…
  • RETIRE IN CALIFORNIA – Part 3 of 5 PLACES TO RETIRE – CALIFORNIA RETIREMENT – Part 3 of 5: Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Santa Maria. SACRAMENTO RETIREMENT Sacramento, with a population of 466,488 residents as of the 2010 census, is the oldest incorporated …
  • FOLLOWING THE THREAD TO ELDER   ACTIVE RETIREMENT LIVING – MADELINE HILL & FRIENDS–by Madeline- Recently some neighbors here at Mountain Meadows (MM) hosted a screening in our Clubhouse of Dot: An Ordinary Life, an Extraordinary Person, a fine short documentary film about…

Chelsea King Tragedy

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24

A tragic update.  She was murdered:  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/TheLaw/chelsea-king-murder-police-combing-grave-clues/story?id=9995419

Chelsea King was last seen out running in San Diego and this appears it may be a stranger abduction.  Help the family find her:   www.FindChelsea.com

There’s a lot of activity on Twitter and Facebook about this case so it may be a good test of whether those tools can be used effectively to spread the word fast on missing persons and bring them to safety in that critical short time frame immediately after abduction.

Vikingsholm on Emerald Bay. Lake Tahoe, California

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Vikingsholm

Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay, California

Vikingsholm, Lake Tahoe
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay is one of the most scenic areas in California – some would say this is the prettiest place in the whole state. Vikingsholm is a nordic mansion built on the lake almost 100 years ago, now managed by the state park system. Inside the mansion is fully furnished with mostly original furniture and other historic artifacts, including a Steinway Rosewood Piano commissioned especially for Vikingsholm.

Mark Twain visited Lake Tahoe long before Vikingsholm – in fact I wonder if his writing may have influenced the choice to build there.  Here is Twain on Tahoe in second of two chapters in “Roughing It” that talk about his trip from Nevada to the Lake.
(thanks to Horatiox for the tip!)

SES San Jose – Lee Siegel Keynote

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Lee Siegel is about to speak here at SES San Jose. He’s the author of “Against the Machine” and a senior editor at The New Republic, and a noted critic of the new media, primarily because he feels anonymity is a threat to intelligent, enlightened conversation.

Although I’m sympathetic to Lee’s points about how abusive the online world can be, and how foolish it is to consider as sacred the hate speech and the junk banter that passes as conversation, he’s missing two key features of the new conversational media that effectively sweep away much of the significance of his legitimate concerns.

First, the high tolerance for abusive and threatening language has become something of a new standard, especially for younger commenters. I don’t like it either, but for many writers this does not reflect the type of threat it would under other circumstances. It is not appropriate to apply old interpretations of this language to the modern usage.

Second is that focusing on the defects of blogging and new media distracts us from the profound and positive changes in communication – changes that represent the early stages of truly democratic and massively participatory conversations.

I don’t think Siegel is so much *wrong* as he is making fairly insignificant points about the new media. I’d certainly agree that there is a danger whenever people are stifled. For me the outrageous online treatment of Kathy Sierra, a noted blogger,is the exception that proves the rule. These cases are very few, and in a broad sense are eclipsed by the thousands of new voices coming online *every day*.

So, is there value in paying attention to these problems? Sure. Should this drive our understanding and appreciation of the most profound transformation in human communication history?

Nope.

SES San Jose – Sessions and Google Party

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Greg over at Search Engine Watch (which is SES’s blog and forum), has a  tidy summary of sessions at the conference here. Although he’s tagged sessions with ‘advanced’ or novice content in my experience at conferences like SES you never really know if the content is “advanced” or not.  Generally I find the speaker is more important than the topic, and top SEO folks like Dave Naylor, Aaron Wall, Greg Boser, and several others – regardless of the session and preferably at the bar – are going to give you better insights into search algorithm mechanics than official company representatives are allowed to do.

Here’s a great SES clickable conference map to help plan things, and don’t forget to pre-register for the Google Dance here

Israel Web Tour coming to Silicon Valley

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Following is a Press Release – this looks like a very interesting event for Silicon Valley:

IsraelWebTour Returns to Silicon Valley with 15 Hot Web Startups

California Israel Chamber of Commerce Announces 15 Israel-based Companies to Tour Silicon Valley

SAN FRANCISCO January 16, 2008 The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) has announced the selection of 15 startups that will be touring Silicon Valley as part of its popular road show. 
 
The Tour will kick off on February 4th, 2008 when CEOs from Israel’s most exciting startups arrive in Silicon Valley for a week of activities.  The companies will meet with investors, strategic partners, customers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders in a mix of private one-on-one meetings, roundtable discussions and ad-hoc networking events. The highlight of the week will be a public showcase on Wednesday, February 6h hosted at Microsoft where each start-up will present to the industry and press. The tour will end with a closing night party in San Francisco on February 7th.
 
Over 90 companies applied to take part in this year s tour.  The IsraelWebTour Committee selected the following 15 startups:
 
5min – www.5min.com
PLYmedia – www.plymedia.com
AllofMe – www.allofme.com
NuConomy – www.nuconomy.com
ClickTale – www.clicktale.com
blogTV.com – www.blogtv.com
Sportingo – www.sportingo.com
PicScout  – www.picscout.com
Qoof – www.qoof.com
8hands – www.8hands.com
Velingo  – www.velingo.com
Erayo – www.erayo.com
Semingo – www.semingo.com
PageOnce – www.pageonce.com
Journeys – www.codename-journeys.com
 
The IsraelWebTour is an initiative spearheaded by the CICC (The California Israel Chamber of Commerce) – a non-governmental, industry supported organization.  The 2008 Tour is sponsored by: Google, Yahoo, Adobe, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Lehman Brothers, USVP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosatti, Elron and Gemini Israel Funds and the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco.
 
The IsraelWebTour is proven to be an excellent platform to present and accelerate emerging internet start-ups from Israel — offering hands-on tools, strategies and fast- track access to Silicon Valley s leading VCs, companies and industry influencers, said Shuly Galili, Executive Director, CICC.
 
About California Israel Chamber of Commerce
The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental membership supported organization dedicated to strengthening business and economic relations between California and Israel. With its wide and dynamic network of over 5,000 companies, business executives and investors, CICC is positioned to serve as a facilitator and active supporter for joint ventures between the two communities. Through its programs and activities CICC supports hundreds of Israeli entrepreneurs through their journey to grow, fund and advance their startup companies.  www.ca-israelchamber.org

Most Dangerous Cities in America along with the safest

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CNN reports results from a recent study of crime in American cities, noting these as the most dangerous and safest ten USA Cities in each category:

Ranked Most Dangerous

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. St. Louis, Missouri
3. Flint, Michigan
4. Oakland, California
5. Camden, New Jersey
6. Birmingham, Alabama
7. North Charleston, South Carolina
8. Memphis, Tennessee
9. Richmond, California
10. Cleveland, Ohio

Ranked Safest
1. Mission Viejo, California
2. Clarkstown, New York
3. Brick Township, New Jersey
4. Amherst, New York
5. Sugar Land, Texas
6. Colonie, New York
7. Thousand Oaks, California
8. Newton, Massachusetts
9. Toms River Township, N.J.
10. Lake Forest, California

Since the results are the result of weighted crime stats it’s true you might come to different conclusions about safe and dangerous, and of course safety and danger are not just a function of crime.   I think I’d take a slight crime boost if it meant a big reduction in dirtiness and pollution, though usually most of the bad stuff goes together.    I was amazed at how Philadelphia was so much nastier in terms of downtown cleanliness than the Amish country around Lancaster, PA and I’m always surprised in San Jose and Silicon Valley how much dirtier and harsher the cityscape is compared to the nearby suburbs, which are generally “too tidy” for me.    Here in rural Oregon you kind of feel cozy when you see dozens of dirty lawn flamingos in the yard and 14 used cars in somebody’s driveway.

CNN Reports