Archive for November, 2006

ATM network possibly compromised

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

ATM system called unsafe (from techmeme): “A U.S. Secret Service memo obtained by MSNBC.com indicates that organized criminals are systematically attempting to subvert the ATM system and unscramble encrypted PIN codes.” That can’t be good.

Ready for Maui

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

Flight home from SFO was delayed two hours, when I finally get to SEA the baggage claim is a madhouse and it took an hour and a half for my bag to come out. Then the taxi line is two hours long. So I’m at the Sea-tac Marriott tonight, which is probably a good thing because the roads are in bad shape. Seattle could learn something from Ithaca when it comes to dealing with bad weather.

Favorite shopping sites

Saturday, November 25th, 2006

Are B and I the only ones looking to do all of our Christmas Holiday shopping online?

What are your favorite sites? I’ll kick it off with Threadless. Cool t-shirts for $10. I like Vegetarians are eating the rainforests.

Yes I did get my luggage

Saturday, November 18th, 2006

Before last week… I found it difficult to imagine a location worse than Salt Lake City for conferences. Turns out that Disneyland Paris is exactly that – because unlike Disneyland, Salt Lake has a “thriving”, active downtown in the same area as the conference center and most hotels. Which means multiple (non Disney) choices for meals and other activities. I’ve come to terms with the incompetence with which Air France handled my lost luggage (I’m sure most airlines are equally incompetent). But twenty-three hours of travel time each way to stay at a Disney resort and eat Disney food (train to town takes > 40 minutes)? That makes SLC start to sound pretty good.

What’s real in Borat?

Sunday, November 12th, 2006

Salon asks “What’s Real in “Borat”?.

A bit of advice

Friday, November 10th, 2006

If you are flying somewhere cold, for example Paris, carry a jacket on your person or in your carry-on luggage, because the airline will lose your stuff.

Update: the story right now is that someone accidentally took my luggage off the baggage claim belt (while I was waiting 30 minutes for the second shuttle from the plane to terminal). Supposedly Air France will pick it up from her and deliver it to my hotel some time tomorrow. I can bill up to $50 but if you’ve ever tried to buy clothes at Disneyland (or shaving cream, for that matter), you’ll know that money is not the issue.

On the way to Paris

Thursday, November 9th, 2006

Boarding the flight from Detroit to Paris for our annual sales conf. Paris is cool but is Eurodisney really a step up from Salt Lake City? My guess is yes but I’m skeptical.

So long losers

Wednesday, November 8th, 2006

Chris must be happy with his dem buddies taking control. The real story is Rummy getting canned. For an administration that values loyalty as much as this one this is a big deal.

So do the dems have an agenda? Leadership? Do they stand for anything?

RNC dirty campaign tricks

Monday, November 6th, 2006

Does democracy work?. See the two links on dirty RNC tricks. You’ve gotta wonder just how systematic and organized the misinformation campaign is.

What could be more satisfying

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006

Than making a change to maps used by millions of people every day… I don’t see this change in any of the major online map sites yet but hopefully we will soon. You wouldn’t believe what a pain it is for online directions to your house to always be wrong.

Dear Sam Tingleff,

We are pleased to inform you that our investigation of your reported Map Feedback has been completed. Here is the detailed resolution from our database tracking system:

Following field verification, a new segment of NW 90th Pl has been added to the NAVTEQ database, connecting to 30th Ave NW. The segment of NW 90th Pl which connects to 28th Ave NW now contains the address range of 2800-2839, and the new segment connecting to 30th has the address range of 2840-2899.

NAVTEQ delivers regularly scheduled map updates to our business partners which include many database enhancements. The release dates for these products will vary depending on each individual business partner. If you are interested in an updated map for your navigation system, please contact your system provider. In some instances, updates may be available through NAVTEQ.com. Please reference the following link:
http://www.navteq.com/ProductFinder?language=en&action=location&path=mapupdate

Please let us know if you find any additional areas that we need to review. Once again, thank you for contacting us and for visiting our website.

Sincerely,
Barbara, Consumer Support Specialist
NAVTEQ