My Focus on California After a Brief Visit

All of a sudden, it happened to be that I descended upon California. I planned two days earlier and went ahead with making a trip to California. Let me tell a bit of background here – I never visited this state or any western state ever since I came to U.S. first in 2015. I maintained this distance and it never occurred that I visited this all-important state. While this state is the hotbed of the happenings of this century, I missed the bus to it all through the past 9 years. Needless to say, this distance keep on increasing between me and this state whenever I came to U.S. I fear if I will never touch upon this state ever. But finally, the move happened to this place almost instantly to end the 9 year wait. This unchecked box is ticked and there is hardly anything left aside. This has more or less fulfilled my stay in U.S. after touching both the coasts in the past two years. 

Leaving this little reason aside, there are a few more profound reasons which kicked in to make a decision to travel and attend a tech conference in California. 1. To continue my onward journey in the year 2024 and beyond 2. To get a fillip to my career prospects by attending a conference in tech area. 3. To play my part in invigorating the west as a land of opportunity and revenue generation for humanity 4. To re-awaken the Silicon Valley and play my little part to energize it for next century – reach Y3K after Y2K. These are the four thoughts or intentions with which I went on with the journey or adventure and I hope everyone is with me and shares this mission in complete. I travelled and returned as well, with these personal and public objectives. To tell a little note about the greatness of this land from my nation’s perspective, the entire south of India banks on this west side of U.S. for the tech wonders and it is only natural to see the master and the top hierarchy in good shape. I don't need to give elaborative explanation.

After all these years of waiting, the reason for travel happens to be a tech conference which is a striking relevance to the land. The entire reason and the credit go to the tech conference and its organizing company. I still need to pay my bills for travel and admission which are reasonable. I landed in San Francisco, visited important places for a day and traveled through the Silicon Valley to San Jose where the conference was held. I participated for two days in a four-day conference.  

The highlight and the striking feature is the keynote address given by the Tech CEO for two straight hours. I had never seen a better impeccable presentation than this. From using the technology, graphics, sound and props to good effect in an indoor stadium packed with people, not a word was misplaced than what is necessary. The presentation led by one person has the viewers glued for two hours with cinematic effects and scintillating climax. The gist is there will be bigger and better processors for every industry relying on A.I. or artificial intelligence. The next generation of computing or processing has arrived to take the world along the AI wave. I remembered I am doing as much processing as a supercomputer these folks develop. My challenge to them will be to outsource human brain processing to machines. I immediately need that and can no longer be at war within. This is timely and high time for the internal war to end and there is peace within. I never listened to a keynote earlier and it is akin watching RRR movie or basketball match in U.S. in an indoor stadium with impeccable presentation. The conference was built with keynote, trainings, workshops, sessions or talks by business leaders, exhibits, posters, group meetings, dinner with strangers etc. for five packed days. This is happening for the first time in-person after the pandemic. I was immersed for two days among a sea of tech people which is a different experience in U.S. after two years of remote work. The striking feature is I came across people from different countries attending the conference from Europe, Asia etc. I hope my presence didn't bring down the level of this forum in any way. I highly recommend and encourage folks to organize and attend these forums which can be lively places for good conversations, actions blossoming and taking shape. My heartfelt thanks to everyone behind for hosting a great conference and becoming a reason for my travel to a new state. 

I will go back and illustrate the reasons for my travel a bit. The first one is to give me confidence that I will be good for a year or more. Travelling is one of the reasons which adds a lot of fuel to the engine and keeps me going. It works for me that if I visit a new place, my priorities of life will somehow seem to fall in place. This travel to a new territory will hopefully add fuel to my vehicle for a safe passage ahead. The second reason is to improve my personal career prospects which is understandable for tech people attending a tech conference. On top of it, this is on A.I., which is an area of interest to me. The third one is to play a little part in invigorating the west and California in particular, as a powerhouse of opportunity and revenue generation for humanity. Everyone knows that coming to the west gives them an opportunity to earn well. I already had this wish fulfilled for a while. If it is west of west, this should be much better. The west of west should already build on this great status-quo of revenue generation for people, industries, country and the world. The impressive list of companies lined up in Silicon Valley and operating around the world, building the tech which people of the globe use every minute is extremely mind blowing. This focal point of tech of the world should be extremely lively, active, up-to-date and should ever evolve to serve mankind. Take the example of AI and chatGPT in particular which has taken the world by storm since November’2022. In two years it has become a big revelation across the world, and I happen to attend a forum on AI as well. The AI wave has taken shape and every industry is bracing for the new kid on the block. These are the kind of meaningful innovations which should progressively crop up to maintain the label of the land as a technology hub of the world. The last reason is for the tech to make a meaningful imprint for the next century and take us to Y3K. Any new wave which has become an important tool for humanity at scale needs to be blessed for sustenance. This wonderful land and the tech it breeds needs to operate well for the next 100 years. 

Let me tell you a similar story on the travel underwent 3 decades ago from Illinois to California by Marc Andreessen which brought us the first internet browser – a small tool through which we browsed internet back then. “While working on his computer science degree and as a programmer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in University of Illinois in the early 1990s, Andreessen collaborated with Eric J. Bina to co-author the web browser Mosaic. Mosaic presented a graphical user interface that allowed pictures to be viewed directly with pages and included several other innovations still seen on browsers today. Mosaic is often credited with popularizing the internet. Andreessen moved to California to follow up on Mosaic development and eventually co-founded Netscape Communications Corporation. In 1994, the company released netscape, which became the browser of choice for a majority of the internet community for few years.” This is how a movement from Illinois to California brought internet to the world in mid 1990’s. The similar travel which some person underwent in mid 2020s should also augur extremely well for popularizing AI across the world. 

Tech is one of the many booming industries in the great state of California. In fact, there is no state as productive as California across the world. Just look at the brief report card and you will be amazed by its resourcefulness -  

Technology: Silicon Valley is the heart of the global tech industry, home to many of the world’s largest high-tech corporations and thousands of startup companies.  

Entertainment: Hollywood is synonymous with the film and television industry, making California a leader in global media and entertainment.

Agriculture: The state is the largest producer of food in the U.S., with more than 400 commodities. It leads in the production of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and dairy products. 

Tourism: With its numerous attractions like Disneyland, Yosemite National Park, and beautiful beaches, tourism is a significant part of the state’s economy. 

These industries, among others, contribute to California’s status as an economic powerhouse, not just within the United States but on a global scale. 

The state with its contribution to the world populace can be truly called ‘Golden State’ which came as a nick name. Infact, there are majestic reasons behind calling it a golden state - The Gold Rush: The discovery of gold in 1848 led to the massive influx of people seeking fortune, which is the most popular reason for the nickname. Golden Poppies: The state flower is the golden poppy, which blankets the state in a golden hue every spring. Golden Sunsets: The state is also famous for its picturesque golden sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. Golden Gate Bridge: The iconic bridge is another reason for the state’s golden moniker. It happened to be that I visited this bridge. The booming tech is a little feather in its cap of impressive contributions to U.S. and world. The state deserves a rich spotlight and all assistance for being extremely relevant to modern day humanity. Leave about all others – take Hollywood and the Tech which has real cascading effect throughout the world. I don't truly know the reason behind this explosive reach of anything originating from this land and we will figure it out in another post. I will leave it at that, and it is for the rest of all to emulate a California to serve the world. The land, which is an epitome of this nation, symbolizing the essence of U.S. needs to be truly blessed for all its golden properties.