Category Archives: Travel

A dark review for United’s Boeing 787

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Doc Searls

I have been wanting to fly on the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” ever since I missed a chance to go on an inaugural junket aboard one before Boeing began delivery to the airlines. And I finally got my chance, three days ago, aboard … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Technology, Travel | 5 Comments

Some new ways to look at infrastructure

Posted on August 30, 2017 by Doc Searls

Nothing challenges our understanding of infrastructure better than a crisis, and we have a big one now in Houston. We do with every giant storm, of course. New York is still recovering from Sandy and New Orleans from Katrina. Reforms and … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, infrastructure, Internet, News, Technology, Travel | Leave a comment

Heavy (but brief) weather

Posted on July 1, 2017 by Doc Searls

Here’s what flying in and out of Newark looks like right now: That storm is very heavy, but narrow. It’s going to wash over New York like a big wave. Hat tip to Flightaware.

Posted in Aviation, Travel, weather | Leave a comment

Great Coffee vs. Awful Marketing

Posted on June 23, 2017 by Doc Searls

My loyalty to Peet’s Coffee is absolute. I have loved Peet’s since it was a single store in Berkeley. I told my wife in 2001 that I wouldn’t move anywhere outside the Bay Area unless there was a Peet’s nearby. That pre-qualified Santa … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, Boston, Business, marketing, new york, Personal, Santa Barbara, Technology, Travel, VRM | Tagged coffee, e-commerce, loyalty, marketing, Peets, retailing | 2 Comments

Desert warfare training in live ghost towns, seen from the sky

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Doc Searls

I’ve been fascinated for years by what comes and goes at the Fort Irwin National Training Center— —in the Mojave Desert, amidst the dark and colorful Calico Mountains of California, situated in the forbidding nowhere that stretches between Barstow and … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Geography, Geology, history, Military, Science, Strange stuff, Travel, war | 4 Comments

BYSMD

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Doc Searls

Once, in the early ’80s, on a trip from Durham to some beach in North Carolina, we stopped to use the toilets at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. In the stall where I sat was a long conversation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Family, Friends, Fun, Geography, North Carolina, Personal, Places, Strange stuff, Travel | Leave a comment

Speeding on the Subway

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Doc Searls

At the uptown end of the 59th Street/Columbus Circle subway platform there hangs from the ceiling a box with three disks on fat stalks, connected by thick black cables that run to something unseen in the downtown direction. Knowing a … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Geography, infrastructure, Internet, Personal, Photography, Places, Technology, Travel, VRM | Tagged @Ookla, @TMobile, infrastructure, internet, mobile, new york, research, RF, speedtest, subway, telephony | 2 Comments

A fine suburban #sunrise and a vexing #CS6 issue

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Doc Searls

Made a dawn run to the nearby Peets for some dry cappuccinos, and was bathed in glow on my return by one of the most spectacular sunrises I have ever seen. It was post-peak when I got back (to the place … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, Photography, problems, Technology, Travel | 4 Comments

What are the the balls on Prague’s spires called??

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Doc Searls

One of the things that fascinates me about Prague are the skewers atop the spires of its many iconic buildings, each of which pierces a shiny ball. It’s a great look. I am sure there’s a reason for those things, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Geography, history, Travel | 7 Comments