Author: John Biggs

Don’t roam internationally on AT&T

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I’m not a vindictive man. I believe in sweetness and light. But I would encourage anyone with a brain who travels, especially in these trying economic times, to buy an unlocked GSM phone and purchase pay as you go SIM cards or a MaxRoam SIM and a Rebel SIMCard for the iPhone 3G. I also encourage you to use Boingo for Wi-Fi roaming in airports and, increasingly, cities. Why? Because I just paid the equivalent to a flight to Paris and back just because I wanted to use Google Maps on the iPhone 3G to find my way around gay Paree.

Note that I understood the costs involved in roaming, but I think it’s worth a post to warn business travellers of potential pitfalls and to call out a few good services I’ve used over the year (MaxRoam, Boingo) but, for various reasons, weren’t able to help me on this trip.

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Mumbai cleans up after the attacks

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My friend Rina in Mumbai wrote an article for Reuters about the clean-up after last week’s carnage. I was worried about her so I’m glad she’s safe and trying to help us make sense of this mess.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Mumbai on Sunday mopped up the streets where Islamist gunmen rampaged and killed nearly 200 people over three days, while Indian anger over the attack’s alleged Pakistani links threatened the nuclear rivals’ ties.

Anger at the intelligence failure and delayed response to the attacks on two of the best-known luxury hotels and other landmarks in India’s financial capital prompted Home Minister Shivraj Patil to submit his resignation.

Newspaper editorials and commentaries blasted politicians for failing to prevent the attacks and for taking advantage of its fallout before elections on Delhi on Saturday and national polls due by May.

The Anniversary of Jonestown

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For some reason I’m drawn to the story of Jonestown and after listening to and reading the stuff BB has been posting I’m starting to understand why. Jones was the embodiment of “charisma,” something that can poison opinions and destroy lives. He is the man in the middle who insinuates himself in places he doesn’t belong and, in a way, isn’t that what the devil always tries to be? A great line from LA Weekly sums him up:

Jones toyed with both medicine and the law but, after a brief phase as an itinerant salesman of pet monkeys, discovered his true vocation in God’s work.

Unable to handle monkeys, he turned to people.