Tag: technology

Visiting NYC? Cool App To Learn About The Histories Of The Buildings You See While On The Go

New York City has a lot of cool, old buildings that go as far back as 1652, and I personally love to find pictures of what they looked like when they were being built (well, maybe not the one from 1652 LOL), or were still very new. I enjoy seeing how they may have changed over time, not to mention what the surrounding neighborhood looked like in the background. You know, stuff like this:

Flatiron
Phases of construction of Flatiron Building, circa 1900. PC: By Credited to the Library of Congress – From The Times online store, located here., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3504040

The problem was that if I was walking around NYC, I could rarely learn about the building as I was walking around. At least, not with stopping to look it up. And if I waited until I got back to the hotel or home, I’d forget what I was going to look up or I couldn’t appreciate seeing the old photos with the real thing right in front of me.

But it looks like someone has fixed that problem…

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The List Of Things I Forget To Do Before We Go On Trips

I’m a list writer (Note from Sharon: OMG, is he a note writer!). In fact, to this day I still use a hard copy packing list when getting ready for a trip.

Screen Shot 2019-06-18 at 5.16.28 PM
(Note from Sharon – posted with Joe’s permission. But still…he has to write down to bring underwear and toothpaste? Really? #rolleyes #giggle)

I’ve started to notice that besides the list of things I need to bring with me, I also need a list of the things I need to do before the trip. This is the stuff you don’t want to remember you haven’t done the night before or, even worse, the day of your vacation.

As our lives get busier, the list keeps getting longer because I keep forgetting to do more or more things.

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It Just Got A Whole Lot Easier To Travel To The U.K.

When Joe and I went to London a month or so ago, our first 90 minutes were spent standing on the queue to get through immigration at Heathrow. We realized it was a necessary evil, but it made us even more appreciative that we had Global Entry, so we wouldn’t have to stand on a similar line when we got home.

Flights Delayed at Heathrow due to snow

Thankfully, the U.K. government just changed that.

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U.S. Border Protection Is Ramping Up Facial Recognition Technology. Are They, And We, Ready For It?

If you read about travel a lot, you’ve most likely heard that in recent months, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) has been rolling out facial recognition technology at various airports. In fact, if you travel a lot, you may have already experienced it.

After an 18 month long “rolling out” period, facial recognition technology was officially implemented at its first airport, JFK, in November 2018. It’s now in use for international departures at multiple large airports such as those in Miami, San Jose, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Orlando, and the goal is for the technology to be in place to scan 97 percent of all outbound international travelers by 2021, despite questions about its legalities and bias.

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What’s The Real Reason Why Disney Parks Take Your Fingerprint? And What Do They Do With It?

Disneyland and Walt Disney World have been using biometrics as part of their entry system into the parks since 2013. Biometrics is defined as, “…the technical term for body measurements and calculations. It refers to metrics related to human characteristics. Biometrics authentication is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control.” (thank-you, Wikipedia). In Disney’s case, to enter a park, all guests from age 3+ are requested to scan their ticket media (or your Magic Band) and then place their finger onto a scanner to confirm your ID.

But why do they use this form of identification? Isn’t it a little, well, “invasion of privacy-esque” to have your fingerprint on file? And what do they do with the info?

Well, there’s someone who found out…

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