Tag Archives: Work

Tips for Travelers. To Make MY Travels easier

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 3 Comments

This isn’t a ‘help others’ post, so much as it’s a ‘help me’ post. By that I mean if I can get your in and out of the airport faster and more efficiently, well that helps me!  Travel season is rapidly approaching, and in fact I’m traveling soon. I thought I’d share some tips for making travel out of DIA easier. For you, and not very indirectly and more importantly, for me. You see, your not knowing what to do  and how to do it, messes with me and my travels.

Travel sucks, it really does. The TSA has made it absolutely miserable to go between two places in our country. BUT you can try to make it as painless as possible.

So here we go, a few helpful tidbits to help you (and me) get through security and on your way.

  • Nothing has changed in the last few years with regards to shoes. Take your shoes off. Flip flops, sneakers, sexy boots, they all gotta come off and go on the belt, just do it. I actually have travel shoes i wear sometimes. They’re slip on deals, not really pretty and when not traveling their house shoes. Not slippers, they’ve functional shoes, I’m just not a slip on guy. BUT at the airport, shoes that go on and off fast are a big deal. I can’t say how often i’ve seen someone in fancy shoes (LADIES!) struggling to balance and take them off, then put them back on.
  • If you don’t know if your laptop needs to be out of your laptop, it does. Err on the side of not slowing down the process. There’s like 2 bags that laptops can stay inside of and maybe 3 laptops that don’t need to be removed. Unless you know for sure you’ve got one of those, take it out. It always makes me wonder who those people are that in 2011 that don’t know laptops have to come out of bags.
  • Is your phone in your pocket? OMG really? Pockets EMPTY! 
  • Got kids, maybe do some drills at home? Nothing messes up the line more than the freaking out mom, annoyed dad, and kid with toys in his pockets, shoes on, who’s picking up on mom and dad’s mood and starting to freak out too.
  • Prep your kid, we all benefit! I’ve seen pro families, and I’ve seen families I’ve wanted to murder. Preperation is key and you can tell the families that travel a lot or prepped ahead of time. It makes a ton of difference. I don’t have kids, so I can’t offer prep tips, but I’m pretty sure candy and rehearsals would be perfect! Or worse case, robitussin. But seriously, beready to go through security with your kid
  • Don’t be a dick in line. Here’s a true story. I suck at time zones, and one trip I showed up at the airport and the gal at the counter remarks, “oh you’re in luck, they’re just boarding now” I was like, don’t I have an hour. No I didn’t. My phone was still in denver time, or the appt reminder was, something, I was an hour late. But my plane was late. She checks me in, walks me to security and cuts the line apologizing but letting folks know I was late and my plane was boarding (honestly i coulda waited the line was 10 people long and the plane still didn’t board for 15 minutes) The guy who was next that I cut starts causing a scene “who’s he? Why does he get to cut? we’re all in a hurry.” I politely tell him, it’s my fault, she’s helping me make the last flight, and the one I shoulda been on time for but messed up my reminder calendar entry. I apologize profusely. As I’m waiting to go through the metal detector, TSA guy leans over and says “I really hate assholes” and then shouts “Bag check” on the bag behind mine. The rude guy’s bag.
    • Airports tend to bring out the worst in us, but keep in check. Karma is a bitch. I thanked the gal from the front desk, apologized again to the line behind me, and dashed off to my gate.

    OK that’s all I’ve got for ya, it should at least help you get through security and out of my way as efficiently as possible. I hope ;)

    See you at DIA.

     

    This blog post has been sponsored by CLEAR, the service that speeds you through airport security. CLEAR members save so much time at the airport, it’s like having Daylight Savings every time you travel! CLEAR, the (self-proclaimed) Official Sponsor of Daylight Saving Time, is celebrating the extra hour we get on Nov 6th with a series of travel and time-savings posts on their blog - and here, on my blog too.

    To help you see what CLEAR is all about, they are offering my readers a special 3-month FREE trial! Don’t settle for just one extra hour this Daylight Savings. No need to deal with unpredictable security lines, the stress of rushing to your gate, or the time you waste getting to DEN extra early. Click here to get your pass and try CLEAR’s enhanced travel experience for yourself. Just enter my code (CMNDST12) in the promo code field on the payment page.

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    Posted in Random, Social Media, Travel, Work

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    Denver’s Initiative 300. Good idea, bad implementation

    Posted on October 17, 2011 | 5 Comments

    I just had a twitter chat (twchat? twat? Chitter? I dunno) with my friend LeVar about Initiative 300 on the Denver ballot.

    I’m voting no, he’s voting yes.

    The right answer, there isn’t one, at least not in the current initiative.

    Here’s my understanding of 300. It forces small businesses to provide paid sick time for employees. This is great, and it bums me out we need a law for what should be a no brainer. Employees shouldn’t have to choose health vs. income. If you’re sick don’t go to work (obviously that can be gamed to no end, and happens all the time).

    However many small businesses (Mine included) exist on the knife’s edge. Thankfully we don’t have any employees beyond Nicole and myself right now, because if we did, something like 300 would likely force us to lay off those employees and/or close our doors. No one wins in that scenario.

    I’m an altruist. I admit it, and am not ashamed of it. My conferences are cheap because I think thats the right thing to do. I could probably charge more now, and make a lot more money. But that’s not what I believe is the right course of action. In my perfect world businesses do the right thing for all concerned NOT just shareholders. When they can they offer benefits, 401k, etc to their employees, they do it. When they can’t, they don’t. The obvious goal being to provide for your employees because they’re hugely valuable.

    Things like 300 make the assumption that small business owners are slime bags, who choose to work their people to the bone and treat them like disposable resources. Some do, some don’t. 300 doesn’t care which you fall into. 300 forces a single course of action no matter what.

     

    My solution? It just now occurred to me while thinking “I wish I had a better answer”. Now I do. I’m very anti laws to enforce behavior. They never work out like expected, and tend to do more bad than good. So how’s about this.

    Instead of forcing small businesses to provide something they may not be able to provide therefore forcing them to close their doors (hello, bad for the economy). Give a tax credit to those who can/do provide paid time off? Those small businesses that can’t do it lest they go under, don’t suffer and can try to become a business that can provide for it’s people. Those businesses that can provide paid time off, get a break. Maybe it’s 50% of the total paid time off they offered over the year, i don’t know.

    I don’t like adding laws, but if we have to add them, let’s make them rewards for doing the right thing, not barriers and limiters. Heck, you could even make the reward something that comes out of quarterly taxes, so that employers see a more immediate return on their trying to provide a good work environment?

    What do you think? I’m still voting no on 300 because it’s a bad idea as it stands. I’d vet yes in a heartbeat for something like what I’ve proposed.

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    Posted in 360Conferences, Business, community, Denver, I am a Creator, Random, Work

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    Blackberry playbook, so close, so very very far

    Posted on May 19, 2011 | 2 Comments

    Click for Larger

    No Hulu, no netflix, no Kindle, no Email/calendar, no twitter client… just to name a few glaring shortcomings.

    Awesome screen, great size, interesting and capable OS just to name a few of it’s strongest points.

    I got my playbook (finally) about 2 weeks ago, and was holding off on my review to give it a little while to stabilize. It hasn’t yet, so this review may see a part two but I thought I’d get my thoughts down on on the playbook at the time of it’s launch.

    In short, it’s not there. If you own a crack berry phone, it might be just what you need/want, since you’d have the missing apps on your phone, and email/PIM stuff via the bridge.

    I love the size, I know Apple thinks a small tablet is stupid (though they seem to think shrinking laptops is ok) but I love the idea of something I can throw in my bag or my shorts pocket and be productive. Since getting useful tablets, my iPhone is basically a twitter/checkin device, and I suppose a phone. Everything else is done on the tablets. So a nice usable small device to supplement my main laptop or even another tablet is nice.

    Click for larger

    The screen is truly awesome. I’m very impressed with it, when watching video. I don’t need a dedicated video device, when I have a Xoom, an iPad and an iPhone, but if I did, the Playbook would be it.

    The OS is interesting, for sure, the interactive bezel is great, though it takes some getting used to, and to remember what swiping this way and that do. BUT it’s nice that those bezels are more than just space wasters. Kudos to RIM.

    The gestures are great for getting around. It doesn’t capture well in a screen shot, but things are active when switching, Up kept playing until I picked a new app, Need For Speed was rotating my car until I selected a different app. It’s nice that things don’t immediately stop.

    The AppWorld.

    Click for larger

    What a nightmare. I’m honestly surprised by the app world. I know RIM was giving away devices to anyone who submitted an app, yet there’s no twitter app? really? No one built a twitter app? Apparently someone built an Email app (the same devs who built the VNC app I bought) but it’s still in review (sounds like there’s some suspicion it’s intentional)

    The thing that makes the Playbook useless, is it’s lack of apps. It’s a serious bummer, given how hard RIM was pushing to get developers on board. I honestly can’t imagine someone didn’t build the missing apps. Either all the devs assumed someone else was building the twitter app and the gouge reader interface app, or RIM for some reason is not approving those apps. I don’t know which, but it doesn’t really matter. The apps that are most important are missing from the Playbook.

    Stuff like hulu, and netflix I can understand, tho I hope they at least tried to get a deal with netflix and failed vs. didn’t even try.

    Stuff that right now requires the bridge I can understand (tho it’s a collossal fuck up) and my understanding is it will be fixed come a ‘future update’. But things like twitter, google reader (there is one, but it doesn’t work), alternate browsers, google docs! and more are missing and basically leave the playbook dead in the water.

    I have hopes (not high ones) that RIM will be very quick with OS updates (by the time my device arrived, one was already out) that fill in some of these really glaring gaps in usability. I also hope that some of the developers who had apps approved, were holding them

    Click for larger

    back to test on a device, and the app world will see moderate flooding of good apps in the very near term.

    I did pick up a VNC App (aVNC) which sorta works, but has a ways to go. But in a pinch I could make do with it.

     

     

     

    Desktop integration

    There isn’t any (for the mac). Ok that’s not 100% true but here’s my experience. I plugged my playbook in and it was detected (as an IP address oddly enough) in my finder. I could browse the file system, move files to and from, etc. On the PB screen it said, go get the desktop app. I did, it installed just fine, even found the previous data file from when I had my torch. It never saw the playbook. I told it to look for new devices, nothing. I cleared out the torch, nothing. I unplugged and re-plugged in the PB while the app was running, nada. I closed the app, then plugged in the device since it has a helper that runs, still nothing. I don’t know if the desktop mac app just hasn’t been updated or if it was my machine, but in either case, no joy.

     

    Verdict.

    I like the Playbook for what it can be. I like my Xoom and iPad for what they are. They have huge potential too, and I’m not worried they’ll live up to it. The Playbook is more of an uncertainty. I’ve decided that RIM has two months to get their house in order. They pushed one OS update out very fast, in two months, I expect at least 1 if not 2 more. I think that’s fair, you can’t compete today if you take 6 mos. to a year for every update. If in two months, there’s no native Email, twitter, news reader apps… well I’ll see what the Ebay market is like, probably not good, maybe it’ll be a gift to someone who doesn’t need better tech.

    Of course it’s almost summer and there’s always HP and WebOS to hope for.

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    Posted in Adobe Flex, Google Android, I am a Consumer, I am a Creator, iPhone, reviews, Technology, Work

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    The Demise of Travel by Rail makes me sad

    Posted on May 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

    I have very fond memories of traveling from LA to Seattle by train with my mom and sister as a kid. It was part of our summer vacation, visiting friends and family. It was great. Watching the landscape fly by from the glass walled observation car. Grabbing snacks at the snack bar. Being able to get up and walk the length of the train whenever I wanted. And, watching some crappy 4 year old movie at night in the obs. car with everyone else (well a small subset of ‘everyone’).

    It was great. It was slow yes, but that wasn’t the point.

    It’s less the point now. With 3/4G networks and Mifi devices, time on a train can be (if you want) time spent working.

    Rail travel’s worst enemy is amtrak.

    I saw this article last night and it made me think of the few times in the last few years I’ve said, “Screw it, I’m taking the train, the TSA and airlines have gone too far!” Then I look up the price of traveling by train, and buy my ticket on Frontier. :(

    Amtrak clearly doesn’t get their place in 2011. They’re slow. Sometimes slower than walking if you count the multi-hour delays that are all too common. When you’re the slowest option, you can’t be the most expensive. Unless of course trains are gold plated, and staffed by super-models and VC’s with money to burn, but they’re not.

    Want power on your ride? you’re looking at far more money. It’s a shame. Realistically, even with it taking hours or even days longer than air travel, so long as you can work and be productive, it’s not time lost. I can’t use my laptop on airlines. I’m not short, and I almost always have that dick head who needs to be as close to horizontal as possible, no matter what time of day the flight is, right in front of me. Air travel is reading and watching videos time. I’d work on a train, even if just some of the time.

    The article i linked to also points out lack of high speed rail, and I agree completely. Having traveled Italy by train when we went, it was amazing. Every stop was in the city center, near the local metro or taxis. Each train was fast or high speed. Even the rickety kinda scary train we had on one leg, zipped along and we were there in no time. It’s a shame our society can’t see past “immediate profits” and “instant gratification” to be more supportive of rail. More over though, it’s a shame Amtrak makes us not like them, and encourages us to not support them. I’m as guilty as the next person, I’d train it, but factoring in delays, and 2-3x the price of an airline ticket… it’s hard to take a stand and support something so broken.

    During President Obama’s state of the union, he talked about high speed rail. I hope that becomes a reality. I really think fast reliable rail service would ease the burden on airlines and possibly help them be more profitable, and would make travel more enjoyable.

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    Posted in 360Conferences, I am a Consumer, Technology, Travel, Work

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