BONWAG

Wired is reporting one of the stranger linkages of the WTC conflicts; Osama Bin Laden and Bert from Sesame Street. What the?
It looks like the Taliban have Internet, too. There’s a website out there (it’s been around for years) which tracks the less-than-Sesame lifestyle of Bert, friend of Ernie. The parody site Bert Is Evil puts up faked pictures of Bert in various situations like nightclubs and bars, and – now famously – alongside Osama Bin Laden. It seems the Taliban, whether for a joke or out of ignorance, have put the photo on some of their protest placards with a few other photos gathered from the net. This is too weird to be a hoax.

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Rumors of War is a great rundown of all the crap which has hit the net since September 11, and *why* most of the ‘really amazing stuff’ being funnelled through email is wrong. Includes the famous ‘Wingdings/Q33NY’ hoax, and that faked photo of the dork on top of the WTC. Don’t people have better things to do?

Although this will expose me as a techno-geek, I think it’s pretty significant that Gartner – one of the world’s most respected consultancy groups – has issued a recommendation that people give Microsoft the flick for their web server platform, given the trouble that’s been seen across the world with virus alerts. They say people should look at other alternatives, which is a BIG kick in the teeth for Bill Gates, because their web server is so important to their future plans for other technologies. Stay tuned for more of this. :-)

The National Public Toilet Map is now online, and its usefulness is obvious to all of us. Of greater import, is the fact it’s apparently a project of the National Continence Management Strategy. I wasn’t aware a government organisation had existed for this sort of thing. Brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘whitepaper’.

I’m finally back home, and it’s the only place in the world I’d like to be at the moment.

I did successfully get on the first flight out of the U.S. since the events of September 11, after negotiating the security at JFK airport. It flew via Los Angeles and then on to Sydney where there was a large contingent of Sydney media to interview people about the situation over there. I was running madly late for a connecting flight to Perth, so I managed to run the gauntlet of the cameras and grab a few minutes with Mum while she ferried me across to the domestic terminal. Granted, most of that time was spent trying to contact Qantas and say ‘hold the plane!’ because there’s one thing I didn’t want, and that’s to delay my return home by anything more than a few minutes.

The Ansett terminals at Sydney and Perth were eerily inactive as we passed through (Ansett, one of australia’s two domestic airlines, went broke while I was away). Normally, it’s a hive of activity, but every jet was sitting there unattended. It was a little sad to see the Big Birds sleeping so soundly.

I hadn’t expected to meet Ainslie at the airport, but she sucessfully managed to delay a lecture to meet me off the plane. It was such a great surprise (I had been expecting another hour lining up for a taxi and riding it home) that I felt like jumping around the airport and shouting “I’m *Really Home*!” but there’s only so much your legs can achieve after more than 34 hours travel time.
Now that I’ve had a chance to hug everyone, have a good shower and take a breath, the U.S. does seem like half a world away. Now that the situation is starting to get confusing and nasty, I appreciate whatever distance I can get from it, and the less air travel that is involved, the better. And you can’t get further away from stuff than Perth :-)

I’ve reviewed the videos I took of the trip, most notably the view of the twin towers from atop the Empire State Buiding which are stamped with ‘9/9/01’; somewhat of a collectors item nowadays. I took special note of the paraphernalia in the tourist stores in JFK, and more than half the trinkets have the WTC in them. Even a Visa ad at Sydney Airport has the WTC featuring prominently. What happens now? Can you produce a New York souvenir – especially with the New York skyline – and have it easily identified s New York any more? Is the ‘trademark’ dead?

So, here endeth this chapter. I now get the privilege of watching from a distance.

I hope.

Microsoft will be releasing Flight Simulator without the World Trade Center in its latest version, according to CNN.com. Although I agree that it migh be distressing to people who lost friends and family in the latest disaster, isn’t this going a little over the top? They’re even going to release a patch for current versions so the WTC can be removed. So what happens to structures like the Berlin Wall, eh? Aparrently you can alter the scenery according to date in the game, so why not just remove the WTC from any game played after September 11, 2001? With respect to those who have been directly affected by the tragedy, this is getting a little silly. I think it’s more damaging to start acting like the WTC never existed – why diminish the tragedy by erasing the memory of the structure, eh?

“How Airport Security Works” is a great article worth reading these days, from the brilliant ‘HowStuffWorks’ site.

CNET.com has built a good collection of links which have information about the events in the U.S.

I ‘m sitting in JFK Airport with a boarding pass, but from what I’ve heard, that’s not a guarantee of a flight.

I was a little disappointed to see that the taxi service hadn’t given me a stretch limo, like on the way in, but it was a nice, black four-seater which weaved in and out of traffic nicely.

An hour’s wait in line for check-in, and another half-hour for the trainee to figure out the computer systems (!). There were big guards around, and for the second time (Orlando being my previous) my carry-on luggage was tested with a swab for signs of drugs. Do I *look* like I do drugs? Maybe *after* this trip, but not after I’ve just done my hair!

As I expected, Ainslie’s C-Pen in the luggage attracted a little attention. I think after I showed and explained what it was, I was in more danger of it being confiscated just because it was a cool toy.

In the end, I’m happily clutching enough boarding passes to get me all the way home to Perth. Next report, Perth, hopefully.

UPDATE: The flight has just been put off by half an hour. That can’t be good.