Bringing It Home
Now on the way home from Ole Miss, via Memphis and Houston. It was a great trip from the work perspective, giving me a chance to talk to Ole Miss business and computer science students about directions in software, privacy, security and trust, and how their work will shape user experiences in the next decade. [...]
Hey Mom, I’m Going To Oxford
Oxford, Mississippi, that is. Home of Ole Miss, and the location of the ACM Southeast Conference, the longest-running regional ACM conference. Should be a fun trip, kicking off with a meeting with the Ole Miss supercomputer center team. In planning our logistics, one theme kept popping up: where were we going to get BBQ? I [...]
Bengaluru and Tiger Tech
Back into something resembling a chronological sequence: blogging from the front row of the ITC Window hotel meeting room, where we’ll host the Bengaluru employee Town Hall later this morning. I arrived in Bengaluru after a semi-redeye that left Johannesburg and deposited me into Mumbai airport a few minutes after midnight. After a transfer and [...]
Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg
It’s so rare for me to have an “off day” while traveling on business that I’m remarkably lazy about preparing an itinerary. My usual plan includes: find some entertainment in a local casino and/or Hard Rock Cafe, if they exist (I’m a creature of habit); look for local Jewish historical culture (I’ve been to the [...]
No Natural Barriers
Despite my luggage trailing me by twelve hours, the Johannesburg leg of the trip got off to a good start. My hotel was adjacent to a casino, and where there’s a casino there’s usually a men’s clothing store amidst other shopping adventures. Sure enough, I arrived at the door of a popular South African menswear [...]
Headlines and Hockey
Logistics for the 2nd leg of this trip required that I leave Mexico City about half a day after arriving, although that was enough time for me to exhaust my (primarily food oriented) Spanish vocabulary. I believe I ordered fish tacos and hot peppers for lunch; sadly I can’t phrase the gradations of caliente or [...]
Changing Traffic Patterns
For the past 15 years, I’ve driven into New York City the same way: up the New Jersey Turnpike, off at Exit 16E, a stop and go skip-hop from the Turnpike tolls through the Route 3, US 1 & 9 and southbound ramp merge, and then through the Lincoln Tunnel. I park in the same [...]
Not So Wild Blue Yonder
Five thoroughly marginal tips for flying cross-country on a regular basis: 1. Pack an extra t-shirt in your carry-on. Several times, I’ve been thankful that I had a clean, dry shirt to swap out for one that was covered in coffee, soda, or something worse (only once, but it was really vile). If you don’t [...]
Raising the Roof: Sustainability Through Two Centuries
Spent a vacation weekend in Montreal (and honestly, truly did no any work for four days, including blogging, reading email, or even texting friends from work). A work de-emphasis didn’t stop me from thinking about architecture and sustainability, however, and those thoughts were front and center as I toured the Basilica de Notre Dame and [...]
Random Thoughts En Route to Berlin
There’s very little glamorous about business travel. Continental has managed to maintain a perfect batting average in the past three weeks: five out of five flights have been an hour or more late. I’m going to spend about 24 hours in Berlin, and while it’s the second time I’m visiting the city on business, I’ve [...]