Cover: Northern Exposure
Why Milpitas, a series of off-ramps on the fringe of Silicon Valley, may be the city of the future.

News: Virtual Proletariat
Adlai Stevenson once wrote: "Eggheads of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your yolks." And that was before cyberspace.

One Cafe, To Go: (To best essay writer, current owner hopes).

Public Eye: Bill Chew disrobes to show he's fit for office.

Polis Report: A teenybopper magazine for parents.

Holy Cash Cow, Robin!: Richard von Busack swoops down on the new Batman and Robin mega-marketing extravaganza.

Easy Beekeeper: It's a bumpy trip from Easy Rider to Ulee's Gold for Peter Fonda.

Fate's Foil: Gong Li suffers further indignities in Temptress Moon melodrama.

'Pop' Tarts: Todd S. Inoue delivers the real deal on U2's Oakland Coliseum show.

Full-Color Rock: Scarlet Theory amuses the masses with Circus-Sized Peanuts.

Ezra's Redeeming Qualities: Better Than Ezra live is better than the Better Than Ezra on the radio.

Faith the Music: Faith No More stays the course on Album of the Year.

Classical Volunteers: The Palo Alto Philharmonic keeps community music alive.

Audiofile: Reviews of the latest CDs by Tha Truth, Pike and Dmitri Matheny.

Beat Street: The 'd' stands for 'diversity' at Live 105's BFD.

Stretching the Tube: In the wake of Steve Park's 'Manifesto,' Asian American actors talk about TV's constricted ethnic vision.

Filling the Basin: The new television documentary 'Cadillac Desert' traces the damming of the West.

Charles Dickens Superstar: Victorian audiences created the first demand for high-profile novelists.

Chic Grilled Thrill: The Santa Barbara Grill updates the scorched-meat stylings of grill cuisine in favor of veggie-friendly creations.

Bargain Bites: Filipino-Hawaiian grill offers a perfect setting for pure overindulgence.