Hackers swarm 'Super Happy Block Party'
Hackers, artists, entrepreneurs and self-proclaimed geeks of all stripes staged their own Occupy movement on a downtown block of Palo Alto Saturday afternoon -- though in this case, city officials were in on the game.
Crowds of techno-savvy residents braved the fickle weather and descended on High Street for the "Super Happy Block Party," a mash-up of block party, Hackathon, networking gala and food festival. The event featured a fleet of food trucks, "silent disco" DJ's whose music can only be heard through headphones, hundreds of hackers and dozens of informational kiosks set up by businesses and nonprofits on the three bottom tiers of the High Street garage.
The event was co-hosted by Innovation Endeavors, a venture firm founded by Google board Chair Eric Schmidt, and Talenthouse, a social-network platform for artists and programmers. Both are headquartered on the High Street block between University and Hamilton avenues -- a block that was shut down for the 12-hour event (which is scheduled to end at 1 a.m. Sunday).
