Coding Dojo doubled size of San Jose location

Coding Dojo launched its first San Jose location less than two years ago, running eight coding bootcamps a year with 15-20 students each (each bootcamp takes three months to complete). Today, more than 30 students a month are putting themselves through Coding Dojo's rigorous program.

In order to support all the extra demand, they doubled their footprint to 15,500 SQFT in a nearby building. The campus is now located at 1920 Zanker Road, Suite 20 and the program costs $13,495. For more info head to the Coding Dojo website.

Source: SVBJ

Sushirrito coming to Valley Fair

The original "sushi burrito" restaurant is opening their 7th location in San Jose, specifically the Valley Fair food court. They currently have four locations in San Francisco, one in Palo Alto, and one in Manhattan. The highly-rated fusion eatery should be open very soon, but I don't have an exact date. For more info, follow the Sushirrito Facebook page over here.

Thanks to Arnold Kwok for sending this in!

Bellpenny Brewing Company Releases Inaugural Beer

Congrats are in order for Bellpenny Brewing Company. They just released their inaugural beer, an ESB known for its balanced malt and hop flavors.

Their ESB can be found at downtown's ISO: Beers and Original Gravity Public House.

Before they open their own San Jose brewery, they'll be brewing their beers at local breweries, including at the brewery of their good friends at Santa Clara Valley Brewing.

The founders of Bellpenny Brewing are Char Boger and Jim Turturici, two well-known folks among the local beer community.

I've written more about Bellpenny Brewing at my local (mostly) San Jose beer site.

Cheers!

Vizio is now indirectly a San Jose company

America's largest TV company is now officially part of Silicon Valley. LeEco, which has their North America headquarters in San Jose, purchased Vizio for a cool $2 billion. It is unlikely that Vizio itself will move from Irvine to San Jose in the near term, but the purchase at least opens the door.

I have always had a lot of respect for Vizio. They started out as a budget brand focused solely on value and are now able to compete with the top manufacturers in the world. Vizio has always been among the first to drive cutting edge tech into products most people can afford (TV Apps, Ultra HD 4K, HDR, and now Smartcast). This is a company that belongs in San Jose, in North First, with all the other titans of the tech world.

Source: SVBJ

Deli Delicious now open in Evergreen

The best sandwich chain in the Fresno area now has its first Bay Area outpost. Deli Delicious opened less than a month ago on a quiet strip mall in Evergreen, just a few blocks away from the house I grew up in. Over the years, the generic eateries in the area have been giving way to more unique and higher-quality offerings that San Joseans thankfully have come to appreciate and expect. I can't imagine many people in the area choosing to go to Subway after trying out Deli Delicious.

I sampled (devoured) three different sandwiches and they were all excellent. The #44 Chipotle Chicken was my favorite, followed by the #42 Philly Cheese Steak, and #37 Hot Pastrami & Provolone. The meat is marinated and cooked in house, never frozen or microwaved like other chains. The breads are freshly baked. Oh, and instead of just having boring potato chips they have beer-battered fries, sweet potato fries, and curly fries for the sides. There are some healthy options like salads as well, but where is the fun in that?

Word is getting out, I highly recommend checking them out. It is definitely one of the better Sandwich places in Evergreen and if it's successful we'll likely see more of them (hopefully one in North San Jose or Downtown).

Deli Delicious is located at 2762 Aborn Road and is open Monday through Sunday from 10am to 9pm.

NextSpace partnering with SJSV Chamber to launch a second co-working space in Downtown San Jose

Coworking spaces are in high demand in Silicon Valley, and NextSpace is ready to capitalize on that with a new location. NextSpace was the first true coworking space in Downtown San Jose with a center at 2nd Street and San Fernando in 2011. Now they are partnering with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to utilize 7,000 SQFT of space at 101 W Santa Clara Street.

The partnership is quite unexpected yet makes perfect sense. The Chamber's goal is fostering economic prosperity and assisting local businesses and entrepreneurs, and those are exactly the type of people that utilize NextSpace offices.

The location will have offices for two-to-eight people, dedicated workstations, a kitchen, multiple conference rooms, and event center, and open cafe seating. For more info email siliconvalley@nextspace.us or read the full press release below.

NextSpace Partners with the SJSV Chamber, Launches Second Co-working Space in the Heart of Silicon Valley

Santa Cruz, Calif. – NextSpace, the pioneer in coworking and shared-space has partnered with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to support entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups in downtown San Jose.

Nextspace CEO Kurt Grutzmacher and SJSV Chamber President & CEO Matthew Mahood announced the availability of offices and open-configured workspaces in its newest space — NextSpace Silicon Valley at The SJSV Chamber — a 7,000 square-foot, full floor coworking space. Though the new space at the Chamber building — at the corner of Market and E Santa Clara Street — will formally begin taking applications October 1, founding members have already begun filling the space.

“We are excited to partner with NextSpace,” Mahood said. “As an organization that is focused on fostering economic prosperity as our primary mission, this partnership allows the Chamber to offer small businesses and local entrepreneurs a new platform for growth and greater success. As collaborative workspaces become more commonplace, the Chamber’s partnership with NextSpace is a natural opportunity for us to support and promote the innovation economy in our community, especially in downtown San Jose. ”

Originally opening their doors in 2008 in Santa Cruz, it took NextSpace less than six months to reach capacity. The Nextspace San Jose space, opened in 2011 at 2nd Street, reached capacity in the fall of 2011, warranting the need for a second location just up the street.

“We have one of the best communities I have found on the planet,” Grutzmacher said. “Our spaces are full of amazing people of diverse walks of life; entrepreneurs, website developers, programmers, engineers, graphic designers, life and business coaches, artists, legal services, architects, non-profits, and bookkeepers—all striving to be the best at their trade and enjoying life. Each location truly represents a cross-section of the local business community. We are excited about partnering with progressive leaders like Matt and the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber team.”

The NextSpace Silicon Valley at The SJSV Chamber joins the company’s eight other locations in California and Chicago and is the first to share space with a local chamber of commerce. The new space will offer offices that fit two-to-eight people, dedicated workstations and open café seating along with a kitchen, multiple conference rooms and a large event center.

“From our perspective, tech start-ups and small businesses are looking more now than ever for spaces that they can collaborate in,” said NextSpace COO Andrew Van Valer. “There are long waiting lists for incubators and accelerators in the region and we are a place for tech start-ups and small businesses to work, create, develop, evolve, collaborate, launch and grow in the region now. When non-profits, for profits, social enterprises, startups, youth, mentors, and their passion mix at Nextspace, magic happens.”

For a free day-pass, information regarding founding memberships, to explore the space and book or reserve workstations, meeting room and or event space, email siliconvalley@nextspace.us

There will be an official Open House coming in October, date to be determined.

About NextSpace

Established in 2008 in Santa Cruz as a co-working space, Nextspace is a hub of economic activity, bringing together entrepreneurs, freelancers, and people seeking to balance life and work on their own terms. The mingling of our founding members and new faces created a strong network, leading to many successful ventures and was eventually termed the NextSpace Effect.

About the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit business association representing nearly 1,400 employers and 275,000 employees throughout the greater Silicon Valley. Its mission is to create a strong local economy, provide premier business connections and visibility, represent the interests of business to government, promote the community and initiate political and community action.

Take 50% off Japantown Sake Walk Tickets through Labor Day

There's a flash discount of 50% off tickets good through the end of today for the upcoming Sake Walk in Japantown on Thursday, Sep. 15 from 6pm to 9pm.

The folks from The Beerwalk are helping to continue Sake San Jose and proceeds will benefit Yu-Ai Kai and the Japantown Business Association.

Tickets can be purchased until the end of the day today for 50% off the currently priced $35 tickets at www.sakewalk.com.

For some more information, please check out my recent post on my local beer site at www.gratefulhubby.com.

Cheers!

Opportunity Fund

Below is a guest post by Phillip Bergman. Opportunity Fund is a non-profit headquarterd in Downtown San Jose. Over the past 20 years they have loaned $173 million to 13,000 businesses and individuals. Last year alone they provided $60 million in loans. It is tough (and expensive) to run a business in San Jose, and this is a local resource that may be able to help.

San Jose is home to non-profit Opportunity Fund (www.opportunityfund.org), which believes that small amounts of money and financial advice can help people make permanent and lasting change in their own lives, driving economic mobility and building stronger communities. It says yes to small business owners, low-income students, and families because entrepreneurship, education, and sound financial habits are proven pathways to greater economic opportunity.

Even in the most favorable circumstances, creating small business success is a significant challenge. With traditional lenders tightening lending qualifications, small business owners are often left with a narrow set of problematic options – lending schemes with triple-digit interest rates that can cripple a business. Opportunity Fund helps small business owners avoid predatory lending, such as high rate ‘fast cash’ advances. About 90 percent of its loans are to minority owned businesses and Opportunity Fund provides no cost evaluation of loan needs and complimentary cash flow analysis to determine financing that businesses can afford to help promote long term success. The strategy combines microloans for small business owners and microsavings accounts to help students pay for college and families save for a rainy day. As California’s leading microfinance provider, Opportunity Fund has loaned more than $170 million and helped about 13,000 people since 1994.

Opportunity Fund's role is to help working families realize their dreams and move beyond worrying about how to live day to day. Visit www.opportunityfund.org for more information about the organization and San Jose office.

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the first metro in the country to break the million dollar mark for single-family homes

Ouch, the San Jose metro is officially the first metro in the United States where the average cost of a detached home is seven figures. The average cost of a come in our area (which includes all of Santa Clara County) is $1,085,000. This compares to $885,600 in the San Francisco Metro, $742,200 in Anaheim, and $742,000 in Honolulu.

The average cost of housing in the San Jose metro rose a whopping 10.7% last year. The San Francisco metro rose by 9.5%. Despite signs the housing market and economy are slowing down, home values are continuing to go up.

Hopefully we learned our lessen in 2008 and this won't get too out of hand. For those that don't understand what happened eight years ago, I highly recommend watching The Big Short (now on Netflix). Spoiler alert: one of the first people to identify the corruption and scandals happening in the mortgage market is from San Jose.

Source: SocketSite

San Pedro Square Market 5 Year Anniversary

I can't believe it has already been five years since the San Pedro Square Market opened up. It all started with just two vendors and a dream. Now the SPSM is one of the top destinations in Downtown San Jose--and a key contributor to the area's revitalization.

To celebrate, The San Pedro Square Market is holding an event on Thursday, September 8th with games, food & drink specials, live music, and tours of the historic Peralta Adobe. The entire city is invited to this free event, and it's open to all ages. Games will start at 5pm with music running from 7pm-11pm on two outdoor stages. Check out the schedule below for more details.

Event Schedule

• 5:00pm - The Barracuda mascot (Frenzy) opens our night with the inflatable puck challenge. Additional games include: a giant two person high striker game, two regulation corn hole sets, giant open air Photo booth, and a XXL corn hole set available for everyone’s enjoyment. Most tenants will be offering items for $5 or less and to commemorate our largest and longest running event at the Market, the bars will feature an Oktoberfest beer for only $5 while supplies last.
• 6:00pm - Mayor Liccardo's opening speech will be on the Sidewalk Cafe commemorating 5yrs at the Market
• 6:30pm - The Urban Outlaws Band will start the opening music performance on the Sidewalk Cafe and will perform until 9:30pm
• 7:30pm - Treatbot kicks off their Karaoke Night in the Market Hall building of SPSM
• 8:00pm - Our headlining music performance OTR Band (winner of The KFOX Last Band Standing competition) opens on the main stage in the plaza and will play until 11pm

CityDance San Jose starts tonight

CityDance San Jose is a series of free professional dance instruction at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. The first lesson is this evening and the party continues every Thursday for the next seven weeks. Music will be provided by local bands and there will be plenty of dancing and good times after the lessons. An added bonus is a beer garden and food trucks from 5:30pm to 9pm.

Each week features a different type of dance--from Salsa to Bollywood to the Argentine Tango. Check out the schedule below:

• Sept. 1 – Salsa, instruction by Eddie Valdez and music by Los Boleros.
• Sept. 8 – Country Two-Step, instruction by Michelle Crozier and music by Country Cougars.
• Sept. 15 – Hustle, instruction by Eddie Valdez and music by Alfie and XS.
• Sept. 22 – East Coast Swing, instruction by Lesley McIntosh, music by The Fabulous CruiseTones.
• Sept. 29 – Bollywood, instruction by Joti Singh, music by DJ Puran Singh of KGS Entertainment featuring Gagan Singh Dholi, Dhol Player.
• Oct. 6 – Argentine Tango, instruction by Conor McClure and music by Tangonero Trio with Claudio Ortega and DJ Steve.
• Oct. 13 – Foxtrot, instruction by Hans Schmidt and music by The Serenaders.
• Oct. 20 – Rumba/Merengue, instruction by Michelle Crozier and music by The Alison Sharino Band.

Oh, and while you are at Plaza de Cesar Chavez don't forget to try out The Swings.

Source: SVBJ

Time-lapse photo montage of Downtown high-rises

What happens when you piece together dozens of photos taken from City Heights between 2012 and 2016? You get a really neat 33 second montage showing the construction of One South, Centerra, and Silvery Towers. Check out the video below!

Big thanks to David Cheung for sending this in.

Starbird: super-premium fast food launches in Silicon Valley

Starbird is a restaurant with a very unique beginning as it was actually created by a restaurant consulting company. What better way to show your customers you know what you're talking about than to create your own restaurant from scratch and practice what you preach? They invited me to come and try out their food and I have been back there a couple times since.

I'm not a huge fan of fast food (Chick-Fil-A and The Habit are my two exceptions), but have to say that Starbird does an outstanding job. They use Petaluma Farms free-range chicken, organic eggs, fresh-baked bread, and they make all of their sauces in house. Despite the high-end ingredients, the prices are still reasonable and the food comes out quickly.

My favorite item so far is the Free Range Ranch sandwich--crispy chicken, slaw, bacon, pimento cheese, and Greek yogurt ranch. They also have chicken tenders (the maple aioli was my favorite dipping sauce), wraps with an international twist, salads, breakfast sandwiches, and a house made chocolate-dipped ice cream cone with crushed toffee or almonds.

The decor is impressive for fast food. Starbird really put in a high attention to detail inside and out. The interior was clean and modern with some nice features like the plants in the middle of a communal table. They have a nice patio with plenty of tables and creative lighting. I can't say the seating was super comfortable, but it's not supposed to be for fast food.

Starbird also baked in the latest tech available for restaurants. You can always see the status of your order by looking at a large flat-screen so theoretically they don't have to shout out names or numbers. There is even a smartphone app that allows you to order, park, and have the food delivered to your car (think drive-through 2.0). It really seems to embody everything you would expect from a new fast food restaurant launched in Silicon Valley--not just the tech but the quality of the food, atmosphere, and the desire to innovate as well as challenge people's perceptions of fast food.

The first Starbird is located at 1241 El Camino Real in Sunnyvale. The owners are planning to open 9 more locations in Silicon Valley. For more information, head over to the Starbird website.

A Recent Visit to Hermitage Brewing Company

Since their opening in 2009, Hermitage Brewing Company has grown five-fold in terms of their brewery and operations space at their 7th Street location. Their growth is a reflection of the growing demand for their beers and their brewing services.

Recent beer awards and accolades include the bronze medal for Maltopia Scotch Ale in the Scottish-Style Ale category at the prestigious World Beer Cup held earlier this year, 1st place in the Sour Ale category for Sour Cherry Sour at this year’s California State Fair Commercial Craft Brew Competition and inclusion in this year’s top 50 (out of 247) of Paste Magazine’s popular American IPA blind tasting for Citra Single Hop IPA, coming in at #35.

They also have a separate sour beer making facility to release more of their own sour beers, while maintaining their high quality standards.

I recently visited Hermitage and toured the facilities with brewmaster Peter Licht and head brewer and cellarmaster Greg Filippi. I also took a bunch of pictures. Click here for the post.

Cheers!

Silvery Towers at Sunset

This beautiful photo from C2K Architecture shows off the Bank of America building and both cranes from the Silvery Towers project in Downtown San Jose. It looks like both high-rise buildings are going to get a stunning sunset view when completed next year.

Source: Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Photo by Edward Nowak: www.edwardnowakphotography.com

The Hard Truth - live concert to benefit pediatric cancer and team Sofia

1993 Bellarmine Alumni, Matthew Largent (The Hard Truth) and Coach Mike Rodriguez, (father of Sofia Rodriguez currently battling Leukemia) are hosting a benefit concert to help raise awareness and funds for all children and families battling pediatric cancers.

The event will be on Saturday August 27, 2016 at 5:00pm at Bellarmine’s Sobrato Theatre with a short drink reception followed by an hour and a half set played by The Hard Truth. The evening will then conclude with speeches bringing awareness to struggles of pediatric cancer patients and families. The night will end roughly around 7:30pm.

All in attendance will have the opportunity to purchase music and apparel (#teamsofia) in which all proceeds will go directly to Team G foundation honoring Sofia Rodriguez. The money raised will help fund Pediatric Cancer Research at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital as well as programs to benefit the well-being and comfort of children battling cancer. We look forward to seeing you there!

REGISTER TODAY: CLICK HERE

For more information:  www.teamsofia.causevox.com, http://posthope.org/team-sofia,
Coach Mike Rodriguez: mrodriguez@bcp.org
Follow: @thehardtruthmusic , @lolasounds , @matthew_largent

Silicon Valley Pride festivities take place this weekend

Pride kicks off tomorrow in Downtown San Jose with an electronic dance music party on Almaden Boulevard from 6pm to 11pm. Then on Sunday, the parade starts at 10am on Market Street and is followed by a huge festival from 11am to 6pm. There will be food, drinks, cosplay, a family garden, games, and live performances. They are even advertising 7 hours of Pokemon Go lures (why not). For more information and for tickets, head over to svpride.com.

Strike Brewing Company Scores a Hit with its Bullpen Series

The Bullpen Series from Strike Brewing Company has been all about the chance to offer guests a wider variety of beer styles at the taproom. It's also provided an outlet for Strike to develop and try out new recipes.

Recent beers coming out of the Bullpen Series have included Berliner Weisse with blueberries and pomegranate, Rained Out Pale Ale with pineapple and toasted coconut, Bergamot Breakfast Pale Ale with local lemon zest and Earl Grey tea, Milk Stout and Big Wall Imperial Stout with Madagascar Vanilla Beans.

With such creative beers coming out every month or so and only available at the taproom, it's not a surprise that these Bullpen beers don't last long upon their release.

I was curious about how the Bullpen Series came about and was able to connect with its developer, Strike brewer Ryan Bridge, a South Bay native. My Q&A with him can be found here on my local beer site.

Strike is also celebrating the 2nd anniversary of their taproom opening on Oct. 8. Click here for more info. and tickets.

Cheers!

JINS is coming to Valley Fair on August 31st

JINS is a Japanese eyewear company with 350 retail locations in Asia. They opened their first US store last year in San Francisco. San Jose gets the honor of being their 2nd location in the US. The 2,300 SQFT Valley Fair store features 960 different styles (all designed in Tokyo) and customers can receive their glasses in only 30 minutes. Prices are reasonable, starting at $60 for frames. 15 minute eye exams will be available as well.

This marks yet another instance of San Jose grabbing an international brand that not widely available in the US. Others include Warby Parker, Kit & Ace, Bonobos, Scotch & Soda, Halston, MUJI, David Yurman, Miu Miu, and many more.

JINS will be located on the second floor between Nordstrom and Old Navy.

Tower of Power performs Aug. 25 at Music in the Park

Show opens with popular local band Super Soul Brothers

SAN JOSE – Tower of Power returns to Music in the Park on Aug. 25.

Acclaimed for its five-piece horn section, Tower of Power tours the world each year, playing hundreds of dates and pleasing their audiences with a parade of funk and soul classics including: “You’re Still a Young Man,” “Down to the Nightclub,” “So Very Hard to Go,” “Time Will Tell,” and “What is Hip?”

Tower of Power previously appeared at Music in the Park in 1994 and 1995.  Founding members Emilio Castillo (tenor sax and vocals), Stephen “Doc” Kupka (baritone sax), Francis Rocco Prestia (bass) and David Garibaldi (drummer), have never stopped recording or touring in 48 years.

Marcus Scott joined T.O.P. as its new lead singer in April.  “I have always been known as a ‘Soul Man’ but the T.O.P. has me singing Soul with a capital S,” he said.

The show begins at 5:30 p.m. with Super Soul Brothers, which combines funk and jazz with familiar melodies from classic video games, anime and TV and movie soundtracks.

All Music in the Park shows are at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, located in downtown San Jose along Market Street and surrounded by the Fairmont San Jose, Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose Museum of Art and other downtown landmarks.

The Tower of Power date is the last of four Music in the Park concerts scheduled for 2016:

June 24:  Los Lobos and Maxx Cabelllo, Jr.
July 14:  AC/DShe, The Killer Queens and The Drought
Aug. 4:  Ozomatli and Sonido Clash Session
Aug. 25: Tower of Power with Super Soul Brothers

For more about the Aug. 25 artists, visit http://www.towerofpower.com and http://www.supersoulbros.com.

Tickets --$10 per adult and free for 12-under when accompanied by an adult -- are now available at www.musicintheparksj.com. At the door, admission will be $15 per adult.

Music in the Park is presented by Metro Newspapers and produced by the San Jose Downtown Association.  The events are supported by a grant from the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs.

Visit www.sjdowntown.com for information about downtown San Jose and the San Jose Downtown Association.

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About San Jose Downtown Association:  SJDA, a non-profit membership-based organization founded in 1986, represents business and property owners and works to enhance downtown’s vitality and livability.

Samsung adding retail at San Jose HQ

Samsung opened their North American headquarters last year in North San Jose (at Tasman and First Street). One of the perks of the new campus is that is is publicly accessible unlike most tech offices in Silicon Valley (ex: Google, Facebook). However, while you can walk around the beautiful campus there really isn't much to do as a non-Samsung employee. That is about to change with two need retail options that will be a perk to employees and visitors alike. Samsung is adding a Honey Berry and Peet's on the ground floor.

As Nathan Donato-Weinstein alludes to in the source link, tech companies have become pretty notorious for discouraging outsiders to visit. Perhaps that is due to fears of intellectual property leaks or wanting to build camaraderie with internal employees. This mentality really does not feel like the right thing to do in an urban environment. It's great to see Samsung trying to do something different that will perhaps pay dividends by promoting their brand to the local community.

Honey Berry is a popular Asian ice cream/dessert shop that will be a welcome addition to the North San Jose community. They have a few other locations in Silicon Valley, but none in North San Jose. I highly recommend their ice cream sandwiches. Peet's I think requires no introduction.

Speaking of being open, Samsung's corporate cafeteria is also open to the public! I was not aware of that until reading Nathan's article.

Source: SVBJ

Chacho's Taco Festival is this Saturday

The second annual Chacho's Taco Festival is going to bring a ton of tacos, live music, and good times to St. James Park this weekend. Part of the festivities include the only MLE (Major League Eating) sanctioned taco eating contest in Northern California. In 2014 Matt Stoney won the inaugural competition by eating 101 tacos in 8 minutes (!!!).

The event runs from 11am to 8pm. Admission is $10 and parking is available at 64 N. Market St. and San Pedro Square. For more information head over to the Taco Festival website over here.

Uproar Brewing Company Hopes to Open by the End of the Year

I thought I'd pop in to provide a quick update on Uproar Brewing Company. I recently visited the brewery to check out the progress on their buildout and to find out when they might be looking to open.

Though there weren't any specific opening dates mentioned, they were all hopeful that they would be able to open by the end of the year.

It was evident inside the building that a lot of construction has taken place, and it was great to see that most of the brewery equipment had already arrived.

I wrote a quick post about the visit - with a bunch of pictures - over at my local beer site at gratefulhubby.com.

Prost! Gunbae! Cheers!

JetSuiteX launching twice daily service from SJC to Burbank

The week would not feel right without at least one post about a new SJC route. Currently JetSuiteX's only San Jose route is to Bozeman, Montana. If you have never heard of JetSuiteX before, there is good reason--the airline does not fly out of Terminal A or Terminal B. They fly out of the private aviation terminal on the other side of the airport. That means fewer security hassles and going from the door to the plane in as little time as possible.

They just announced that they will by flying from SJC to Burbank twice per day, typically once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Tickets range from $129 one way for a ticket bought more than a week in advance to $199-$249 less than a week. The plane is an Embraer 135s with just 30 seats (10 rows of 3 seats). It's as close as you can get to flying private without spending thousands of dollars each way.

Source: SVBJ

2nd Annual San Jose Mini Maker Faire takes place September 4th

The second Maker Faire festival is coming to San Jose's History Park on Sunday, September 4th from 10am to 6pm. This family-friendly event is being run by History San Jose and will showcase makers, inventors, tinkerers, artists, builders, and crafters. It should be a great event to celebrate the creativity in Silicon Valley!

Tickets start at $12 for adults if you purchase your ticket in advance over here. There are discounts for children and History San Jose members. Prices at the door are 25% more expensive.