Travel in Tenerife (August 12, 2010)
My new travel story on Tenerife, including photos, runs this week, rounding up:
- Loro Parque parrot and dolphin park (pictured)
- How do dine like a Spaniard
- Details on papas arrugadas and other addictive Canarian cuisine
- Tenerife's pyramids in the town of Güímar
- The best beaches
Or, for more Tenerife photos, see my travel photo gallery.
Wikileaks tests feasibility of government data security (July 28, 2010)
Bureaucracy, by its nature, generates records, and in the information age, arguably more records than ever before, together with the ability to disseminate many more at one time.
Put that all together, and with WikiLeaks, will government data ever be secret again? That's the question posed by my story in today's InformationWeek.
Some like it hot and pebbly (July 13, 2010)
Craving some affordable sand and sun? Think Croatia. Never mind that the beaches are mostly made of pebbles and rocks. Croatia’s islands, off the coast of Dalmatia, make for a singular beach getaway that won’t wreck your budget. No matter what you need as a traveler -- non-stop windsurfing, family-friendly outings, or topless sunbathing -- your biggest problem likely will be picking which beach you ought to visit first. (Story features my photography as well.)
For more Croatia photography, see my photo gallery.
Live like a Parisian (May 25, 2010)
What's the best part about living in Paris? Having lived in France for two years, I get that question a lot. So here's an answer: Try living like a Parisian, whether for 2 weeks or 2 years. In words and photos.
For more Paris photographs, see my photo gallery.
Back from vacation (May 24, 2010)
Just returned from holiday/vacation—two weeks State-side, visiting family in Pennsylvania. As well as the excellent Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit at MoMA in New York. Heading straight into a photography lighting seminar in Birmingham, then will be back at work. Ah, the wonders of jet lag.
On the security beat (May 4, 2010)
New freelance gig: Reporting information security news daily for InformationWeek. First story ran yesterday: China Missing From Top Spammers List.
Roman Holiday: 10 Highlights (March 18, 2010)
Just back from a needed getaway—and it happened to be Rome. Highlights:
- Gelato: Or as one consumer put it, "This ice cream is magic."
- Cult of espresso: Why is it just so much better in Italy than anywhere else?
- Rental apartments: Why go hotel when you can get 2 bed/2 bath for about the same cost from Romecityapartments.com?
- Madonna: Hearing "Papa Don't Preach" on the radio in Arlú, a restaurant on Borgo Pia, a five-minute walk from the Vatican.
- #16 bus: Minibus able to navigate even the tiniest of car-ready ancient Roman streets, which ferried us away from the zoo during a downpour.
- Grano Ristorante: Wonderful, funky restaurant find.
- Kid-friendly Romans: From every waiter and shop attendant encountered to even the largest, burliest, most imposing Italian airport security agent ("cootchy-coo!").
- Vino della casa: How to drink decent wine without spending a fortune on dinner. Or lunch.
- Hag: Decaf espresso brand with potential English-speaking-market crossover issues.
- Colline Emiliane: Airy, semi-opaque pumpkin ravioli the consistency of a poached egg. "Mom's" tiramisu, similarly light, with blueberries and raspberries in the cream (custard), over cake with just a suggestion of Frangelico. Also winner of the "Best Parmesan Pot" award.
- Rough Guide Rome: Nailed it. (See "Colline Emilliane.")
Check out my Rome photo gallery for more.
Now on my travel wish list? The rest of Italy.
New content? Just in time for St. Patrick's Day (March 17, 2010)
Finally getting up and running with links to new—that is, linkable—content. (Good times for consulting gigs. But slow times for journalism gigs.)
Next up: The Rise of Self-Encrypting Drives, a story about the new generation of hard drives for PCs and laptops that encrypt themselves when deactivated. Soon, we'll all have one. Just not yet.
Slight "snow event" (January 6, 2010)
Happy 2010. English weather is celebrating, if you will, by dumping lots and lots of hard, packing snow on the southeast (after already sweeping Scotland). Picturesque, it is.
In fact, reminds me of my childhood in Chicago. Or the record 37.9 inches of snow that fell on Buffalo in just 24 hours in early December 1995, when I lived there. With one crucial difference: both of those cities had snowplows.
