News and notes from around the interweb:
- How do banks decide where to put branches? And what strange role does parking play, that’s different from nearly every other business? Good read.
- Hotels are building properties in the metaverse and they won’t offer daily housekeeping there, either.
- Is TSA planning to eliminate the ability to go through screening if you lose your ID?
- Elizabeth Warren wants DOT to block the JetBlue acquisition of Spirit Airlines Warren is irrelevant. Anti-trust enforcement may be a chit to play in settlement negotiations with JetBlue over the American Airlines partnership, which goes to trial later this month. And it may pick up steam if there’s no settlement and American-JetBlue win their case.
If the Biden administration blocks that partnership (which had just been approved in a settlement with the government!) in the courts or with a deal, there’s far less of an anti-trust case against JetBlue/Spirit. (HT: @crucker)
- Imagine if internet on Amtrak was as good as it is on the train in Ukraine.
.@ericschmidt is just back from Ukraine, speaking at Global Emerging Technology Summit:
“Elon is a real hero there.
On the train we got 200 megabits via Starlink.
Imagine if we could something like that on Amtrak.” pic.twitter.com/DbyGMBRBxf
— Erik Brynjolfsson (@erikbryn) September 16, 2022
- Beto O’Rourke supporter confronts Texas Senator Ted Cruz on flight after landing in Houston. The passenger here is going to be sorely disappointed in November. Betting markets currently give Greg Abbott better odds than Republicans in governors races in Alaska, Georgia, Kansas or Arizona.
Senator Cruz was on my flight, and I asked him to name any of the Uvalde victims.
He couldn’t. Texas deserves better than spineless hacks like this. Right the wrongs of 2018, and make @betoorourke our next Governor. #betoforgovernor #cancuncrus #uvaldestrong pic.twitter.com/AW34oxuUNv
— Beto For Everyone (@Nathan_VBB) September 15, 2022
- Usually only Southwest does this.
Thank you sweet lady @united gate B15 in Denver for the birthday wishes! You made my weekend extra special. Thank you!!! #united #thefriendlyskies @SavasJim pic.twitter.com/kSbsgYpp2W
— Amy Guills (@MsWVPriss) September 16, 2022
Leave public figures alone when they’re traveling. It’s really bad etiquette. Plus. No politician has ever said oh gee I better flip flop on my position because some random nuisance got all up in my face.
Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.
We need to confront them in the streets and stand out side their homes. don’t let them have any type of peace. Restaurant parks airports. Let them know we want to make America like California
@Jojo – A noble sentiment about California but perhaps impractical. Sure, having a higher level of empathy for people, forward looking environmental laws, and a huge and varied economy would be amazing but most states – for differing reasons – just aren’t there right now. Besides, even California has its problems.
On the haranguing elected officials because they happen to be at your mercy thing, I disagree. That’s how bullies act and I don’t condone it on either end of the political spectrum.
Seems O’Rourke supporters are all immature crying babies.
Harassing is a undereducated behavior. Grow up, you low life.
Term limits would help knowing they would be out in 8 or 12 years instead of dying in office surrounded by all the corruption they received.
I disagree that “How banks site branches.” is a good read. While the author, Patrick McKenzie, is obviously knowledgeable and intelligent he is not a good writer. He is not a good explainer. He could explain the same idea with one third or one fourth as many words if his writing was not so cluttered with insignificant information. I would hope he can begin to express his ideas in a more focused and easy to understand manner.
The article about bank branches was fascinating to a point because I’ve never read an article that was so poorly edited. However, It’s writing style is so obtuse I can see why Gary loved it…..
Dalo + 1!!!!!
What do bank branches have to do with airline travel? Are we going to have articles about sewer technology next on this “travel” blog (we all use sewers when traveling)?
Hey.Jake: because banks issue airline credit cards and some historical information about the physical locations of the places you may need to visit in conjunction with those cards may be relevant?
That’s the best I can conjure….
Fascinating article on bank locations- I thought it was technical but comprehensible. But would echo Jake’s comment on it having little to do with travel blogs, particularly since it makes the claim, “they have developed an important novel insight into human behavior: people cannot fly”!