Travel
-
Everwhen
Of course they do 404 Media: Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit. Here it is. Look at it this way: personal privacy is a vacuum in the digital world, and will remain so as long as we're naked there. Surveillance will fill that vacuum. Inevitably. Constantly. Continue reading
-
Everday
Time/Place capsule My shots of Delhi in 2018. CSAT journalism! Karl Bode, via Gary Marcus: “CEO said a thing!” Karl: “‘CEO said a thing!’ journalism involves parroting the claims of a business leader or executive with absolutely no context, correction, or challenge whatsoever, no matter how elaborate the delusion.” His examples—from Altman, Musk, Zuckerberg—are spot-on. Reminds me of Continue reading
-
Deep Fry Day
Misappointment I hoped to get into the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) today here on Kauai, because (unlike the last time I was here), they now allow visitors to pay $25 admission after a background check (which I was willing to risk). Alas, the guy next to the guy with the AR-15 said they are Continue reading
-
Heading Out Day
Life in the vast lane The thunderstorms have passed by, and we’re finishing packing for Santa Barbara and Hawaii. In a related matter, people often ask me why I endure the hassles of travel. The answers: 1) Because it’s not a hassle for me; 2) I love flying and driving; and 3) I like being Continue reading
-
Endweek
Make America Grate Again Yesterday's depressing news was Trump's latest attempted slaying of the Hudson Tunnel Project, which may be more expensive to shut own than to complete. But that's just my off-the-wall take. The real story is far more complicated. Today's depressing news is the end of the CIA World Factbook, one of the Continue reading
-
Shutter Day
Without losing its charm I am in Harbour Island, where all the old houses have shutters. The house where we’re staying is a small cottage built in 1832. It has survived countless hurricanes. Remember Her? Moltbook is a Reddit for AI chatbots. NBC: Humans welcome to observe: This social network is for AI agents only. Wikipedia. Continue reading
-
Flying Fckery
Go now to FlightAware’s MiseryMap. Cick on the blue Play button and watch The Great Storm of January 25-26 move across the land and cause massive delays at airports in its path. I have a 1.59 GB movie (.mov) of what you just saw. What should I do with it? Bonus image: Continue reading
-
A Wrong Road
An English Ford Consul, such as the one above, was the worst car I’ve ever owned. I got it after rolling my parents’ ’63 VW bug in the summer of ’66. I did that on a backroad outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, when I was about to turn nineteen and trying to get my grades Continue reading
-
Life after SeatGuru
As a devout window-sitter on planes, SeatGuru was a must-have for avoiding misaligned or absent windows on booked flights. But now it’s gone, because its owner, Tripadvisor, failed to keep it fresh. I didn’t know SeatGuru was gone until I read this story about a class-action suit against United for the airline’s failure to let passengers know when a Continue reading
-
This is a Test. Or a Taste. Or both.
What see ye? I shot the photo above last night on approach to SFO. My window seat was on the left side of the plane. Tell me where this is, what the two most standout features are, and what was happening in the brigher one at the time. Just for fun. No rewards. I’ll say Continue reading
-
Friday, June 27, 2025
Modest ambitions. I’ll be on the Immergence podcast (above) this coming Tuesday, July 1, at Noon Eastern time, talking with Nico Fara about The Intention Economy, ProjectVRM, Customer Commons, Personal AI, and using MyTerms to completely flip the script on agreements with websites and services, obsolescing all those annoying cookie notices—and blowing up surveillance-based adtech Continue reading
-
Flyings
Neither here nor there, yet. At BWI, about to board an SWA flight to IND. There are thunderstorms between the airports and more on the way, but no delay so far. Meanwhile, this gives me chance to talk weather apps. My current fave is Windy, which visualizes winds at all altitudes, real time lightning (with visuals Continue reading
-
Sunny Vinny Afternoon
I’m here (a short drive south of San Jose) for the afternoon, if any local friends feel like stopping by. Tomorrow it’s VRM Day. Tuesday to Thursday, it’s IIW. See you theres. Continue reading
-
Hear in Near L.A.
Just loving the hang time we got yesterday with Tony after two long flights and one short drive from LAX. Continue reading
-
Los Angeles Fires and Aftermath
Nineteenth in the News Commons series Third on the #LAfires 6:50am Friday, January 10, 2025—I will now shift my blogging about the #LAFires from the kind of continuous coverage I’ve done for the last three days to what we might call coverage of coverage. Or something beyond that: shifting to a new kind of news Continue reading
-
The Biggest Wow in Indiana
In the summer of ’22 we were still new to Indiana and in an exploring mood. Out of nowhere one afternoon my wife said, “Let’s go check out French Lick.” She just liked the name of the town, plus the idea of taking a half-day road trip under a sweet blue sky and big puffy Continue reading
-
A Santa Barbara itinerary from ChatGPT
I asked ChatGPT for a three-day itinerary to give visitors to Santa Barbara. Here ya go: Day 1: Start the day with breakfast at the Shoreline Beach Cafe, which has a beautiful view of the ocean. After breakfast, head to Knapp’s Castle for a scenic hike and exploration of the ruins of a 20th century Continue reading
-
From Hollywood Park Racetrack to SoFi Stadium
Hollywood Park Racetrack is gone. In its place is SoFi Stadium, the 77,000-seat home of Los Angeles’ two pro football teams and much else, including the 6,000-seat YouTube Theater. There’s also more to come in the surrounding vastness of Hollywood Park, named after the racetrack. Wikipedia says the park— consists of over 8.5 million square feet (790,000 m2) Continue reading
-
Sucky car design trends
On Quora, here’s my answer to What are the worst design trends in modern cars?—updated by our family’s experience with a new Toyota that features even more indicators than the bunch above. Based on that, plus driving lots of late-model rental cars, here’s a list of what sucks about most (and in some cases all) Continue reading