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Trusted Customer

I’m on a Super 80, a standard issue domestic shuttle bus. There are five rows of Business Class, then the Coach section where I am seated in the first row. Normally a waitress closes a curtain between classes so as to hide the luxurious treatment that must obviously be going on beyond said visual obstruction. However, on this flight there is no curtain. And being fifteen feet from the lavatory with no curtain in sight, I opt to use the closer facilities midway through the flight instead of treking to the back of the plane. I expected to be stopped and scalded by a waitress for tainting the precious Business Class facilities with my lowly Coach presence, and indeed I was stopped, but that wasn’t the excuse I got. She said, “We have a new policy that forbids passengers from leaving their seating cabin.” Since I was a Coach passenger, I was not allowed to cross into Business Class. She tells me that it is a new security policy because tomorrow is September 11th.

I’m not sure what reaction she could have possibly been expecting of me, but mine was “So you don’t want Coach passengers coming this close to the cockpit?” She responded with something about it being airline policy and she had nothing to do with it. She would let me use the closer lavatory this time, but I was not allowed to come back.

It being Septermber 10th hadn’t crossed my mind when I left for the airport this morning. Nor did I think of it when waiting half an hour to get through the security checkpoint and having to show my ID and ticket four times. It didn’t even cross my mind. All I was thinking was how much it sucks being treated like a suspected criminal just because I need to travel. Apparently the eleven-hundred dollar ticket to California doesn’t come with a smile.

Any post of mine about airport security isn’t complete without at least mentioning the phrase “illusion of security”. There’s nothing about a minimum wage employee checking that the name on your drivers license matches your boarding pass that makes you any safer. Nor does a security policy that I’m allowed to break “just this once”. If a security policy is flexible, then it shouldn’t exist.

global roaming

As a nice follow-up to my post yesterday about packing for international flights, I came across a good post on
T-Mobile global roaming tips over at MobileWhack. The short summary is that you should contact T-Mobile customer service *before* you leave the country to active global roaming, and know how to put your phone in Manual Network selection mode. For Series 60 phones, the setting is in “Tools > Settings > Network > Operator selection”. Keep in mind though, that global roaming rates can be amazingly expensive.

If you like to keep track of multiple time-zones while traveling, you might check out Handy Clock by epocware.

While on the subject of mobile’s, k5 has a new post about T-Mobile voice mail security (or the lack thereof) to remind us all that T-Mobile voicemail accounts can be compromised by spoofing caller-id if the account preferences aren’t changed to require a PIN code when checking voice-mail.

Hotel net access rights

The hotel I’m staying in offers high-speed internet access. However, before signing in, I thought I’d actually read the Terms of Use document (an odd curiosity, I know.) Most of it was dedicated to forbidding sending spam and virii, but the following section caught my eye:

“Your name will be deleted from our server when you check out. We will only retain enough information to allow us to analyse aggregated anonymous data on guest use of the Service, which we may share with third parties.”

Interesting. What exactly is “enough information”? How do they “analyse” it? And who are the “third parties?”

Most hotels require quite a bit of information about you before they will rent a room. At a minimum, they have your Name, Mailing Address, Credit Card number, and the number of times you’ve stayed there. During your stay they can gather even more. This particular hotel requires a card (they recommend using your room key) to be inserted into a slot to turn the power on in the room. With that, they know what time of day you’re in the room. They also know what numbers you’ve called from the land-line, they know what Television channels you watched, and they know what time you watched them. Add the internet connection to the list, and they now know when you got online and what you did with that connection.

Unfortunately there’s no way to opt-out of any of this, other then not staying in hotels or not using the internet from your room. However, when traveling it’s hard to avoid those two basic needs. At least if the hotel used wi-fi it would be more difficult for them to link guest records with net usage, but this hotel has ethernet jacks. Bummer. For a brief moment I thought about whipping up a script to generate random web usage (think Google API + random words + fetching random search results), but instead, I opted to give their guest reporting service the finger and route all my traffic over an SSH connection to a remote server. Geek powers win again.

Another hop across the pond

When flying halfway around the globe, it goes without saying that you don’t want to be in coach. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but having a good seat (and good neighbors) can make the difference between a mildly uncomfortable thirteen hours and the most miserable day you’ve ever had. Before I was a airline regular, I used to think that Business and First class seats were for the wealthy. Now I know better. Modern day premium seat upgrades are a perk given to frequent flyers, often at no cost to the traveller. To get the upgrade, sometimes you just have to be nice to the ticket agent when checking-in. Other times, you’ll have to ask for it. If you spend more time on a plane then any human should, you already know this, but having a Business class ticket also grants you access to the airline’s Admiral/Executive lounge, which has clean bathrooms and complementary snacks and beverages.

For my flight today I made a quick checklist of what to bring on-board to maintain sanity:

- PowerBook, DVD’s, and the all-important air/auto power adapter. (I use one by Lind and have no complaints about it. I think I got it at an Apple Store.) Premium seats all have power outlets, but if you’re in coach you’ll need to ask about power when you check-in. Hopefully the ticket agent will be kind enough to move you to a seat with an outlet. For power on land, I also brought the relevant outlet adapters for the countries I’ll be in.

- A fully-charged iPod

- A charged N-Gage QD and a couple games. (I’m still playing The Sims.) The N-Gage has an “Offline mode” (it’s actually a “Profile”) that turns the radio hardware off. You must take the device offline to use it on a plane. FYI, the original N-Gage is tri-band GSM, so it will work on EU and US mobile networks; However, the QD is regional-only, so you’ll need a back-up device when traveling abroad. I packed a Nokia 6600 for voice/data.

- A neck pillow. These are annoying to carry around, but worth it.

- A physical book. You can’t run electronics all the time, so an actual printed book comes in handy. For this trip, I’m still working on “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson.)

- Additional reading in PDF’s in case you finish your book. I brought “We The Media“, which was released under a Creative Commons license.

- Bottled water. In Business class they hand out bottles of water, but just in case the dice don’t roll in your favor, having your own water on hand is important.

- Headphones. In addition to water, Business class travellers on international flights also get complementary Bose noise-cancelling headsets for the flight; However, I don’t care for them. Something about the sound-cancelling process makes my ears feel like I’ve been listening to really loud music without the sensation of hearing really loud music. Sounds odd, I know. Instead of cancelling sound, I use a set of Sony ear-buds that physically block sound, like having a speaker inside an ear-plug. The design has a soft rubber cone that seals in your ear, cutting out a tremendous amount of background noise, and functions equally well as comfortable ear-plugs. If you’re going to be ultra-hip you’ll have to order these from Japan so you can get them in white to match your iPod. Mine are black, purchased from one of the Apple Stores. The Sony Style store in the Metreon only carries them in black as well.

Beautiful cities inspire creativity

I’m home now, back from another trip to lovely San Francisco. I was there mostly on business, but somehow managed to have very little network access. Since I wasn’t able to post more frequently, this summary will have to suffice.

For the first few days of my trip I stayed outside the city and needed a rental car. I’m not all that familiar with the roads there, so I got a car with the Everlost GPS navigation system on-board. I know it’s not really called Everlost, but they should think about changing the name. The system does a decent job telling you stay on the freeway when you know you need to; And it does alright at getting you pointed in the general direction when downtown. But was consistently confused by bridges and over-passes, sometimes to the point of suggesting directions that were not even possible. It doesn’t learn from it’s mistakes either. There was one intersection near my hotel that it simply could not figure out; yet I still managed to arrive at my final destination. The whole system is obviously built on existing map and way-finding databases, but it’s unfortunate that it’s a one-way tool. They have a whole fleet of vehicles armed with GPS devices — why not re-code the maps based on actual vehicle paths and movement? It sounds complicated, but would probably be more cost efficient then constant surveying. And it would definitely help provide better directions.

Navigation system aside, the vehicle they gave me was a Mitsubishi Outlander. If you’re thinking of getting one of these, please make sure you drive it before getting your heart set. I know I’m a bit of an automotive enthusiast (alright, that might be putting it lightly), but this thing instilled an utter disconnection with the road — and that’s not a good thing! Sure, it coasted along comfortably, generally went in the direction you pointed it, and the AWD system kept the cheap tires from squealing. But at freeway speeds it was obvious that this vehicle could easily get out of control in an emergency situation. All driver inputs (gas, brakes, and steering) felt like suggestions rather then commands. I don’t know if this vehicle is all drive-by-wire, but it certainly felt like it, and I don’t like it when a car treats me like an idiot. When I say “speed up” or “turn now”, the car should give it everything it’s got to obey. (Oh, and the hand-brake isn’t strong enough to lock up the rear tires in a turn ;-)

Back to the city, I was more of a tourist this trip then any previous visits. I went to Fisherman’s Warf, drove down the “curviest street”, went to Coit Tower, and had tea in the Tea Gardens at Golden Gate Park (which was $3.50/person to get in, and $3/person for tea.)

For the weekend, I ditched the car but still needed to get downtown. I’ve taken a taxi from SFO Airport to downtown before and it cost a whopping $40. This time I thought I’d save some money, so I took the BART to Civic Center ($5), and a taxi to my hotel ($7). To get back to the airport when leaving, the hotel offered a shuttle service for $11.

Lodging:
Metro Hotel, 319 Divisadero (one block from Haight). Nice staff, great location, and a decent room, all for $90/night. I knew I was in the right place when greeted at the check-in counter by a guy with piercings and full sleeves; and I was pleasantly surprised with the clean building and rooms. Sure the beds could be more comfortable and the room isn’t much bigger then the full-size bed, but you weren’t planning on spending your whole day in a hotel room, were you? If you’ve ever stayed in a hostel or a $200 hotel in Manhattan, this should be a step up.

Food:
Buon Gusto Restorante, 224 Grand Ave, South San Francisco. This Italian restaurant near the airport was a little pricey ($20/person for lunch) but fantastic. The general mood was of a mafia tax shelter, but at least it felt authentic.

Indian Oven, 233 Fillmore St. $20 each for way more food then we should have ordered. It wasn’t London quality, but far better then any Indian food back home.

Thai House, 151 Noe St. $15 each for dinner plus Thai iced coffee. I should have ordered my curry more spicy, but the food was generally good. This particular location (they have one more) is also nice, as it’s off the path a bit, and tucked into what looks like a former residential building.

Warakubune Restaurant, 307 Church St, wasn’t the best sushi, but they have a floating sushi bar and cheap prices. As a bonus, the parking meters around the block only charge until 6:00pm.

Magnolia Pub & Brewery, 1398 Haight St. $10 for challah french toast and water. This was the first place we came to when walking up Haight from the hotel, and we were starving. If you’re not dying of hunger, walk a little further up Haight, as there are plenty more places to dine.

The Crab House on Pier 39 reminded me of a recent WIRED article on over-fishing the seas, but I still had seafood in the form of crab enchiladas. Being raised on Tex-Mex, I find Cali-Mex a bit odd, and these enchiladas definitely take the cake as the most bizarre mexican-inspired dish I’ve ever had. Pier 39 itself is a tourist haven, but the end of the pier makes a great place to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the waiter at Crab House didn’t actually stamp my parking ticket like he said he did, so parking cost me $12.

Shopping:
Make sure to check out KidRobot and Giant Robot in the upper Haight area.

Day four at JavaOne, San Francisco.. Heading home

JavaOne is over, and frankly, that was one of the lowest-energy conferences I’ve been to in a long time. Attendance felt sparse, and there just didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm. Perhaps it’s that the technology isn’t fresh anymore, or maybe it’s the natural reflection of a programming language that’s gone corporate.

The Dashboard vs. Konfabulator debate has become more interesting now that people have had time to post. I watched sections of the Keynote again, and while the two tools for developing accessory applications do look almost identical, I think Apple has greatly improved on the concept by choosing WebKit as the display technology. Konfabulator was a pain to develop for — much more difficult then it needed to be. Developing widgets for Dashboard should be extremely simple — they’re just small web pages. And they are web pages with full rendering support for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Heck, if it is just WebKit, you would think the full range of plug-in’s would be supported, which should make Flash designers drool. Plus, as a WebKit view, the CPU hit should be almost nothing (unlike Konfabulator.) Dave Hyatt posted a couple nice technical explanations of Dashboard on his blog.

For lunch today I had Dim Sum at Yank Sing and it was fantastic. I don’t remember the street name, but it was an alley near 2nd and Market. I definitely recommend this place, although it was pricey ($30+ per person.)

Day three at JavaOne, San Francisco

Finally got some bandwidth this morning to catch up on email and news. I was glad to find quite a few posts concerning the Dashboard vs. Konfabulator issue that was bound to come up after the keynote yesterday. When I first saw Dashboard I was hoping to hear that Apple had aqcuired Konfabulator and was building upon their software. Apparently this is not the case. I was never a fan of the Konfabulator business model (I think the runtime should be free for users, ala Flash) and I’m not a big fan of JavaScript, but that’s no reason to run them out of business. I’m not sure what precendent this sets for other developers, but I bet we’ll hear a lot more about it in the up coming weeks.

For lunch, time was tight so it was back to the Metreon (come on, it’s across the street) to the Firewood Cafe for what turned out to be a really good thin crust pizza. Dinner was Blowfish Sushi on Bryant Street. Blowfish was definitely the least traditional of the three Sushi places I hit this week. The space was much larger, decorated in framed Anime and erotic cartoons, all set to a dance music soundtrack (mostly House while we were there.) The prices were decent (it ended up around $30/each with tip.) The vibe was hip, but the food was slightly better at Grandeho’s Kamekyo.

Day two at JavaOne, San Francisco

My first real day at JavaOne started at WWDC… A friend was kind enough to get me in so I could drool over the new 30 inch monitor in person. I was a little surprised that WWDC didn’t have a strong vendor precense — there were a small number of small booths, but I kept thinking that the “real” showfloor must be somewhere else. Who knows, maybe I just missed it. Regardless, I did meet a few energetic developers and the vibe was much better then across the street.

Back across the street, I talked with some folks from Macromedia about Flex which looks like a promising advancement in server powered, rich UI applications; I met some nice folks at O’Reilly and flipped through the new Eclipse book; and in general, roamed the floor looking for new tools of interest.

For lunch, it was Dim Sum at Canton Restaurant on Folsom Street; Dinner was Sushi at Grandeho’s Kamekyo on Hyde Street and North Point, which was quite good.