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The software bar, revisited I remember coming to Silicon Valley for the first time in 1979, looking for the focal point of the computer industry and being dismayed that I couldn't find it. I've been here for 16 years now, and trust me - there's no special place where the computer industry congregates for small talk and deal making. There must be a social pulse to Silicon Valley, but it's hard to find. Eventually, the parties happened. Oddly, the number of conferences has grown to fill the entire calendar, except for brief periods at the end of summer and around the winter holidays.