Spark Saturday DC

Attended one-day conference "Spark Saturday DC" at Capital One headquarter to learn more about the spark open source big data platform. As usual, capital one generously sponsored the venue and decent food. I think I was the only patent attorney attended the conference. — checked in to Capital One Corporate Headquarters.

Future Directions in US Foreign Policy: Free vs. Fair Trade?

Attended a penal discussion on "Future Directions in US Foreign Policy: Free vs. Fair Trade?" Organized by Young Trade Professionals. The museum is right next to the Verizon center and I leaf early to avoid after game ice hockey crowd/traffic I saw via the Windows. — checked in to German-American Heritage Museum.

Salesforce World Tour in DC

Attended the Salesforce World Tour in DC convention center to check out live demos, networking, breakout sessions, and most interesting, a Chat between co-founder Harris and General Colin Powell, who was very witty and humorous. I tried boat racing virtual reality, onsite ice cream made from hydrogen, and headshots. Salesforce is an American cloud computing company focusing on customer relationship management (CRM) product, with a market capitalization of $45 billion. — checked in to Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

2016 World IP Day & ACU Annual Congressional Ratings Receptions

Attended 2016 World IP Day -- Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined reception at the congressional building. The remarks by the US officials and industrial representatives were nothing new, but the promotional cards by the Patent & Trademark office are interesting. Do you know that Abraham Lincoln was the only US president received a patent (about buoying vessels) and Nikola Tesla invented the induction motor?! — checked in to Rayburn House Office Building.         Swing by ACU Annual Congressional Ratings Reception to check out the main capital hill building which I never toured. I only toured the White House and the Washington Monument many years ago. I walked around a small section to check out the ceiling paintings and statutes, as well as asked a congressman to take photos for me. I just reserved online a 1-hr tour to go back for a full tour, which does not require any congressmen's letter. — checked in to United States Capital Building.

Wags and Wine Spring Festival 2016

Stopped by the Wags and Wine Spring Festival 2016 (charity wine tasting event) in Mclean. I tasted about 20 kinds of Spanish and French wines, and then played with adorable dogs available for adoption from Homeless Animals Rescue Team (HART) and Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation. My travel lifestyle is not suitable for pets. — attending Wags and Wine Spring Festival 2016 at The Vineyard of McLean Virginia.

ISKCON DC Sunday Open house

After hearing about ISKCON for many years, I finally visits its DC temple for Sunday service. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Hindu religious worldwide confederation of more than 550 centres, including 60 farm communities. ISKCON has inspired, and sometimes sponsored, a project called Food for Life, to "liberally distribute pure vegetarian meals (prasadam) throughout the world." I started from Arati & Kirtan, spiritual Talk, and then the delicious vegetarian lunch with another 1st time visitor/photography professor on a picnic table in this gorgeous sunny day. — checked in to ISKCON of DC.

Smithsonian magazine's 2016 The Future is Here Festival

The speakers of Smithsonian magazine's 2016 The Future is Here Festival were intriguing, especially the director of the Search for ET (super entertaining and informative) and a cyber illusionist, combining pork cards and argumented reality to produce astonishing magic illusions. I ran into a hiking friend and we both got 12000 mah mobile charger and a 3-in-1 charging cord from Prius Demo. — attending Smithsonian Magazine: The Future Is Here Festival at Sidney Harman Hall.

MAHG’s Urban DC One Day Challenge: 31 miles

Participated in MAHG’s Urban DC One Day Challenge by starting and ending at the new Martin Luther King Memorial to finish ~ 31 miles. It was overcast then rained right when we finished the steep section of the Heritage Trail, and then turned sunny in the afternoon. A tiring day led the powerful Jolie to bail out at 35 miles, and only the Invincible five hikers continued walking towards Alexandria to finish 51 m by 11 pm. Special thanks to MAJGs preparation of pizza lunch and snacks, and the two hike leaders kept cheering 33 of us to drag our feet forward! Honorable mention: 80 yr old Besty finished 20 mile strong. BTW, Mike forgot his GPS and he ran two extra miles to retrieve it, and we ran into hiker Paul on the toll path. — checked in to Potomac Heritage Trail .

Hungarian ambassador's reception organized by Georgetown Univ European Club

Attended a reception organized by Georgetown Univ European Club at the Hungarian ambassador's residence. We were not encouraged to photo during the tour of the residence which is occupied by Ambassador Dr. Réka Szermerkényi, her husband, and four kids. There was a discussion about Hungary with ambassadorial representatives, followed by a reception with traditional food and refreshments. The Ambassador was very personable and we chatted about my visit to Budapest last year. I would love to visit Hungary again. — checked in to Hungarian Embassy.

REI Talk: Frank Lee Ruggles: Former NPS Eminent Photographer

Attended the best lecture I ever had at REI: Frank Lee Ruggles: Former NPS Eminent Photographer, engaging, lively, informative and full of passion and conviction for protecting the nature. Frank invited us to join the effort of National Park Trust to preserve the nature. A TED level speaker and content. Best wish for his coming summer hike through hike on AT with his new 4-lb camera system doing the job of a 15-lb system, as well as getting the full-time photographer job with the national park services as he is currently on the 4th place of the 16 finalists (out of 55,000 applicants)! You can read his 10 easy tips for photography at http://outdoors.visittheusa.com/10-tips-taking-photos-us-outdoors   By the way, happy National Park week16-24, 2016! — checked in to REI Tysons.

2016 PTO Design Day

Attended 2016 PTO Design Day on issues around design patents. It was interesting to hear the stories of an outdoor equipment business man (giving away some of the carabiners he designed) and the case of Apple v. Samsung at the Supreme Court. — checked in to United States Patent and Trademark Office.

meeting: U.S.-China Relations: From Strategic Domains to the International System

Attended a meeting: U.S.-China Relations: From Strategic Domains to the International System, on Space, Cyber, and Nuclear. I was set on the same table with the most popular speaker of the day: Maj. Gen. Yao Yunzhu, director of the Center on China-American Defense Relations in the Department of World Studies, at the People’s Liberation Army’s Academy of Military Science in China. She was elected into CCP Congress and one of the Top Ten Outstanding Women in China. We chichated a little about lunch. A very personable scholar who totally changed my stereotype of Chinese bureaucrats. — checked in to National Bureau-Asian Research.