Month: April 2024

Corporate Travel Buddies (Save Money & Protect Yourself)

These are sites & services that I use when traveling internationally (I am posting this here as people offline keep asking which companies I use).

  • Google Flights: locate inexpensive tickets (alternative is Skyscanner)
  • Airfordable: make layaway payments on airline tickets months in advance
  • Booking & Airbnb: secure a reasonable hotel or rental home at a reasonable price.
  • Trip Advisor & Airbnb Experiences: identify enjoyable activities in the area
  • Passport Health: identify needed vaccines or medicine against regional viruses or deadly bacteria
  • Global Rescue: can evacuate you if you become
    • sick or injured
    • trapped due to natural disasters
    • stuck in an unstable political environment
  • Satellite phone: checkout Iridium, but there are plenty of options available elsewhere
  • Wise International Debit Card: Convert money into local currency & avoid exchange fees. You can also establish a presence at a local bank without visiting the bank using their services
  • YouTube: watch videos of previous traveler to avoid breaking local laws & navigate around trouble spots
  • Google Translate app (iOS, iPad, Apple Watch, or Android): translate signs, letters on packaging (like grocery stores) or foreign letters on the go

That’s it! Enjoy!

Fediverse Chat: I messaged President Biden & Vice President Harris Phone Numbers…

Posted on by Darnell Clayton

…to see if they would consider adding more governmental accounts to the Fediverse.

Since the public campaign phone numbers of President Biden & Vice President Harris are displayed publicly on Threads, I messaged both & asked if they would activate ActivityPub on more government Threads accounts, & government websites powered by WordPress.

Me asking Joe Biden to activate ActivityPub on more government accounts on Threads & WordPress
Me asking Kamala Harris if she will activate ActivityPub on her Threads account

Currently, only two governmental accounts have activated ActivityPub & both are on Threads:

There are numerous United States 🇺🇸 government accounts using Threads (as well as leaders of the various agencies with personal accounts), & to my knowledge, only two have entered the Fediverse—which is disappointing.

Interestingly, there are also government websites that use WordPress (which also powers this blog), which means all they have to do is install the ActivityPub plugin by @pfefferle (who now works for Automattic, the company behind WordPress) for government sites to enter the Fediverse.

A few good men examples of what a WordPress blog’s handle looks like in the Fediverse are:

If government websites powered by WordPress were to install & activate the ActivityPub plugin, it would allow them to broadcast information to the Fediverse without relying on the good graces of a corporate social giant.

Several high-profile government WordPress websites who I want to see on the Fediverse include:

Even if campaign staffers will read my messages, there is a 99% chance that they will ignore & reject what I sent.

But there is a 1% chance they will consider my request. To quote someone famous:

Jim Carrey’s famous line from the movie Dumb & Dumber

Too Many Emails!!!

Posted on by Darnell Clayton
Gmail Icon

Due to my foolishness of accepting:

  • Email subscriptions from various news agencies
  • Promos from companies I did business with (just once)
  • Vacation deals I signed up for while seeking travel destinations
  • Random Substack emails from people who somehow add me as a subscriber

…I am now receiving hundreds of emails a day! As in every day! Those are the emails that make it to my various inboxes & are not rendered as spam.

This is what it feels like nowadays whenever I open my Email accounts:

Email 📧 in real life

To avoid attending to an inbox full of hundreds of messages from all over planet Earth, I will unsubscribe from most newsletters and all news alerts & mark all Substack emails as spam.

I can follow most news sites via Feedly, Flipboard, or the Fediverse (note: only those embracing the ActivityPub protocol, & not Nostr or the Authenticated Transfer Protocol), making it easier to sift through the noise.

This will help me avoid succumbing to Strong Bad mode when encountering emails that need my reply.

Strong Bad asked if he takes off his mask & gloves

Apple Beta Updates…

Posted on by Darnell Clayton

…are a geek highlight of mine. Yeah, sometimes certain apps will not work, but those are usually fixed within a few days as developers often are on the beta version as well.

When it comes to updating iDevices, I usually start with the iPad first…

iPadOS Update

…followed by iPhone…

iPhone OS update

…& finally finishing up with Apple Watch ⌚️.

Apple Watch OS update

I update my iDevices one at a time just in case there is an issue that bricks the device (that way I can contact Apple Support). It has never happened before, but I am just being paranoid & cautious. 😅

In Search Of Dragon 🐉 Fruit Juice…

Posted on by Darnell Clayton

I now understand why Dragon Fruit juice is hard to find, as the juice is very healthy and delicious.

Unfortunately, both Walmart & Amazon prioritize selling small bottles now, & I am having a hard time locating the large bottles online (as many are sold out!)

Front side of Dragon Fruit container
Backside of Dragon Fruit juice container

I thought I could order large containers directly from Sunberry, but even they are only selling smaller containers.

When I visit Japan 🇯🇵 or Singapore 🇸🇬 again, I am going to search the markets for some delicious dragon 🐉 fruit juice, as I believe they are more prevalent in those regions than in the United States 🇺🇸 (dragon fruit juice should also be more affordable too!).

Oh, I saw this video about the benefits of Dragon Fruit, which explains why this fruit is in high demand.

Dragon 🐉 Fruit Benefits