Tech Sightings
Self-driving Cars
Don't be surprised if a self-driving car passes you on the street. The Google self-driving cars are prevalent around Mountain View and Uber's vehicles can be found around San Francisco. They typically have prominent labeling and devices fixed on the top of the roof.
Drones
Drones are remote-control airplanes. You may occasionally see these flying around.
Baylands Park in Sunnyvale is a popular location for flying drones. There is also a weekly drone Flying Drones for Fun Meetup there.
Robots
Security Robots - Knightscope K5 robots are security guard robots. They have been sighted at the Stanford Shopping Center and company headquarters (e.g., Oracle, Microsoft).
Hotel Robots - The Cupertino Aloft hotel has a robot buttler, Botlr, that can deliver drinks and other small items to guests.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are used in some areas of the Bay Area. Various business accept it and there are Bitcoin ATMs for exchanging dollars for bitcoin.
CoinMap has a comprehensive list of ATMs and businesses that accept Bitcoin.
Interesting Street Names
The area's geekiness permeates everywhere, even to the street names. Here are some examples: