Crawl South Park...

Web 2.0 is coming next week, it is going to be super busy. Wendesday evening the organizers have put together a South Park Crawl where the restaurants and other places will be open to Web 2.0 revellers. I'll be shooting Silicon Valley Minutes on Thursday from noon onwards over at/by The Conversation Group's Blogger Lounge 3rd floor Room 3018.

Poland's Deputy Prim Minister...

Clay Bullwinkel writes: Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak is speaking at Stanford University April 30 4:30-6:00 pm. Attendance is open and without cost, but you need to RSVP in advance because there is a room capacity. I am part of a team which is assisting his visit. My responsibility is the arrangement of meetings and agendas with leading executives of some of Silicon Valley’s big companies, the purpose of attracting R & D investment to Poland.

Poland in an Integrated Europe: Perspectives for sustainable development, greater innovation and strategic partnership in the globalized economy

Please see:

Silicon Valley Skills Crisis: Poland Emerging As A Top Source of Engineers

One in Four Adults Blog!!! Better Educated But Lower Incomes...

The Center for Media Research reports:

BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:

• * 53.7% are male



• 44.7% are married



• 28.4% hold a professional or managerial position



• 10.4% are students.

Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the "general population"). Ethnically:

• 69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)



• 12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)



• 3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)



• 20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+

Political Views By Pictures...

Why ask people survey questions when you can show them pictures?

Take a 3 minute visual test to determine your "Election Fever" says Youniverse. Then compare your results to others. So far:

• 53% in favor of Obama



• 17% in favor of Hilary



• 23% feel that America should invest more in education



• 21% feel that the current President makes them want to literally put their head over the toilet bowl (!)



• 26% want America to invest in environmental issues (6% in healthcare)33% feel that the outside world sees America as war



• 29% want to change poverty (6% want illegal gun sales stopped)

Youth Fixes Planet...

Kevin Cheng drew my attention to The Tech Museum's 21st Tech Challenge which challenges students to solve a problem working in teams.

This year the challenge is Water Works:

• 1 in 5 people on the planet don't have regular access to safe drinking water.



• Create a device, powered by the river, to deliver water to the village's water tank.



• There is no electricity. Use the flow of the stream to generate power.

Kevin has been working with the teams, he writes:

This year's Challenge will really be something special and unique, not only is enrollment at an all time high, but participants are ranging from as far as India, Taiwan and all throughout the United States.

I've been fortunate to have met and spoken with a number of the contestants, and I was blown away by these kids. Along with the innovative and polished devices, what really stood out to me was each student teams' approach toward communicating and working together. Not only were some kids using technology gadgets like web cams, digital camera, and advanced computer programs but some even went as far as to use applications like blogspot, or facebook. It stunned me to learn about the how each student managed their time and energy between their academics, extracurricular activities, personal lives and their commitment to the Tech Challenge.

Every weekend leading up to the Tech Challenge ( Sat., May 3rd from 9AM to 6 PM ) the Museum opens it's doors and allows access for students to seek help, test their applications, mingle with other participants, or spectate the trial runs. These clinics have been great for the kids, and have had terrific turn out more than doubling expectations. It is also a great opportunity for these young engineers to have fun meeting and interacting with other young minds, as well as the community that supports them.

Out & About At Parties:

David Spark Flips Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3 at Kliptronic's roof party.

Owen Thomas and fellow Valleywaggers hold court on Kliptronic's roof.

Ouch Quote of the week:

Owen Thomas on Mike Arrington's refusal to correct an inaccurate story:

Now you know why Mike always insists that you not call him a journalist.

Coming soon to my couch:

Friday's With Foremski - a video chat show