Travel

SMTP intercept

September 6, 2004

Just spent some time working on reconfiguration of one of the SMTP servers I run. The odd thing was that even the tests that should fail went through without a hitch. So I dug into the logs a bit further and found no record of any of the messages I was sending, either good or bad. So I looked at the headers and it appears the ISP for the hotel is doing NAT port redirection of all outbound connections on port 25. It's a practice that is convenient for guests but may pose both an opening for spammers to stop by and use the connection as well as annoyance for people who don't like third parties unwittingly intercepting their mail.

Traveling internet

September 4, 2004

Dave Winer has been writing recently about wanting hotels to show when they have wireless. I agree completely. It's amazing that "data port" is listed but free internet doesn't even make the long text description of hotels.

For the record the Quality Inn in Fort Collins, Colo. has a great free high-speed wireless connection.

Another good place to look for internet connections, either wired or wireless, is public libraries and university libraries. Colorado State University and University of Nevada, Las Vegas both have free public internet in their libraries.

Only by going alone in silence

July 5, 2004

Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter. – John Muir

Sunny San Francisco

June 27, 2004

Greetings from the Pickwick Hotel in downtown San Francisco. The city by the bay is as beautiful as I recalled it. In the past I've always stayed in the San Jose area and made day trips to the "city" which popular music accuses of collecting left-behind hearts.

We made a mistake on this trip. Staying in down town it is not necessary to rent a car. In fact it is better NOT to rent a car. A pass on the local mass-transit system will cost less than a day of parking. This does not include even the convenience factor of not having to locate scarce parking.

Las Vegas airport to implement RFID baggage-tag system

June 24, 2004

This really isn't a new article but it is interesting as the library at the law school is undertaking an RFID experiment at the same time. I didn't notice RFID tags when I left Las Vegas last week. We'll have to see this week if they are evident. What hyjinks could be played by taking an "old" tag and putting it inside a bag....

Alaska Airlines

June 17, 2004

My flight yesterday on Alaska Airlines prompted some comments. At the airport I noticed I'd forgotten my headphones so I picked up a small set of ear-buds. The purchase turned out to be a good choice since there is no in-air entertainment system on the 737-900 jet I was on. They advertise a DVD/CD/MP3 player for rent if arrangements are made in advance. The jet was clean, new and quite nice. The flight crew left something to be desired. The snippy flight attendant informed me that although she could see that the ear buds were off they had to be taken out of my ears and "stowed" for takeoff. I use my headphones as ear-plugs during takeoff and landing...

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