Manik Surtani's personal blog

CreditCardNanny for Firefox

2010-04-13T23:47:00.000+01:00

As a follow-up to my previous post on SSL and a false sense of security, I've revisited the Firefox plugin I originally wrote. For ease of writing the plugin, I originally made use of Firefox's Jetpack framework. It was easy to build and made my life as an extension author simple. But that was not to last - Firefox has discontinued the Jetpack extension and is in the process of repackaging Jetpack as a fully fledged SDK which would then spit out a more traditional Firefox XPI add-on. A grand vision indeed, complete with support on addons.mozilla.org to be able to take Jetpack extensions and generate the XPI for you. But alas, this is still a ways away, with the new Jetpack SDK still being in version 0.2, missing a lot of features, and addons.mozilla.org still not having support for XPI generation from a Jetpack extension.

So this has left me with just one choice: write a traditional, Firefox XPI add-on. This did take a while - XPI add-ons can be very powerful, but is complete and utter overkill for what I need. But anyway, the plugin is now complete, and Firefox users can now make use of this add-on.

At the time of this writing, Mozilla editors have yet to review the add-on, and hence the "experimental" status on addons.mozilla.org. Rest assured the plugin is on their queue and will be reviewed and promoted to full, public status in due course. Click here to install this plugin.

Cheers
Manik

SSL and a false sense of security

2010-03-29T00:22:00.000+01:00

I was speaking to a colleague recently about an issue he had, booking a hotel online using his credit card. The website seemed secure enough, with a properly formed SSL certificate, which would lead you to believe that your credit card details are safe enough, the booking form being submitted through an encrypted channel.

To his horror, a day later my colleague received an email from the hotel confirming his reservation - and this email contained all of the details on his booking form, including his credit card details, security codes, etc., in perfectly clear text. In his own words, after he calmed down, he called his bank and cancelled his credit cards.

I took a look at the website in question (which shall remain anonymous). The fault was very simple: the site was secure and encrypted, but instead of actually processing the credit card, the site simply bunged the form contents into a plain-text email and emailed it to the hotel administrators to process offline! This completely defeats the purpose of a secure site - the site may receive this data from your browser in a secure and encrypted fashion, but what the site does next - emailing this stuff in plain text - renders your sensitive data vulnerable to theft.

This had me thinking that this really can't be all that special a case. Lots of mom-and-pop sites that take credit cards, whether to process a payment or maybe just hold a reservation, probably do just this. Grab a free form mailer script (there are a great many of these around) and you are on your way. I would guess that hundreds, if not thousands of websites out there, not intending to be fraudulent in any way, end up leaking credit card details in this manner.

To cut a long story short, I decided to do something about it. I've written a browser plugin that detects such forms and warns users of the fact that their sensitive data may be publicly visible. Currently, this plugin is only available for Google Chrome and Firefox browsers. If you happen to use one of these, you're in luck. If not, the plugin is open source, I recommend you try your hand at writing a plugin for your favourite browser based on what I have done.

Want to get the plugin? Browse to the plugin's project page and try it out.

Want to see what it looks like? Here is a screenshot of a test site I created, being "caught out" by the plugin.

Want to try it for yourself? Browse to https://cc-nanny.appspot.com/test-secure-page.

Enjoy!
Manik

Marrakech

2009-09-23T09:44:00.004+01:00

We had three days in Marrakech, up from the original plan of two days and to be honest it was one day too many. There is only so much of souks, souvenirs and kasbahs one can take in. The riad which housed us was excellent - a blissful retreat from the chaos outside; quiet, cool, comfortable; the hostess friendly and helpful. Hot showers and tea were the first things on our minds after the long overnight bus ride from Merzouga.

After getting recharged such, we hit the streets. The riad was in the old, walled city - the medina - a 16 sq. km collection of filthy alleyways coated in fresh horse dung, mostly unmarked with plenty of dead-ends and unintuitive twists. Yes, you got it, the world's smelliest maze. Then you throw in the crowds. The streets were barely four persons wide if you stood shoulder to shoulder, and there must have been at least a bazillion people walking down any given street at any moment, pushing and shoving. Then you throw in the frequent bicycle, moped or scooter travelling at a fair pelt (expecting people to jump out of the way), the occasional horse carriage or donkey cart, and even the occasional car (wing mirrors scraping either side of the street) and you get the idea of the brand of chaos I'm talking about.

The picture above does it no justice - this was taken early in the day in the main square, before the real crowds kicked in. And again, with insane and aggressive touting, you can see how this quickly became tiresome. The place really felt medieval, not just for the small streets and chaos, but also for the peoples' attitudes and the 'wild west' feel. I can understand now why many folks choose to spend a large part of their time in Marrakech in the safe confines of their riad - or in the new, modern and rather anonymous and dull New Town (think large boulevards and malls).

Anyway, we were adventurous, rubbed shoulders (literally) with the locals, got in (and out of) some scrapes, tried to out-tout the touts, saw the sights and usual tourist attractions of the city, etc. (the museum, menara Islamic college, palaces, main mosque, are all breathtakingly beautiful pieces of architecture). All in though, by the last day, we were pretty happy to be leaving. :)

Camels across the Sahara

2009-09-18T22:37:00.002+01:00

Given that we had made a decision not to trek back through Todra, we found ourselves with two extra days going spare. We were always going to do a camel trek across the Sahara an spend a night in the desert, we decided to make it two nights.

The Sahara was fun. The dunes are spectacularly other-worldly. And the camels really sucked! The smelly beasts stank to high heaven and the worst part is, we could have easily done all of it on foot. Keep in mind that we are seasoned hikers, perfectly comfortable with travelling on foot over difficult terrain for many hours, even when hauling luggage. We just climbed Toubkal, for example! Walking through the Sahara would have been easy in comparison, and much faster than the camels. To prove this, I chose to walk on day two, granted I left my luggage on the camel.

Anyway, the dunes we were on - Erg Chebbi, alongside the tiny village of Merzouga - is on the western edge of the Sahara and the eastern edge of Morocco, the Algerian border not far off.

My recommendation for future hikers - don't waste your time with camels. Don't even waste your time with an organised trek or guides. As long as you have a compass and know how to use it, you can make your way into the desert on your own easily enough from Merzouga. Heading due east in a straight line from Merzouga, you will cross the entire width of Erg Chebbi in about 3 hours. 1 ~ 2 hours in would be a great place to set up camp, ideally in a trough between the dunes to be shielded from the winds. Take a warm sleeping bag, a tent if there is risk of rain, and lots of water. About 3 litres per person per day. And enjoy the beautiful and starry night! And remember that the best time for walking in the desert is between 5am and 10am, when there is plenty of light and the temperatures not too high. Sunrises and sunsets are both spectacular when viewed from a high dune.

Anyway, back to our story - we spent one night in the dunes and the second night in the wastelands just east of Erg Chebbi with a bunch of nomadic Touareg. Yeah quaint, but ultimately very boring. We had many hours to kill since we crossed the dunes in record time.

Eventually we crossed Erg Chebbi again to Merzouga, and got the long overnight bus to Marrakech. Stay tuned for the next - and possibly final - leg!

The Sahara

2009-09-17T15:29:00.002+01:00

Getting out of Todra was tough, particularly after the floods. Or maybe that was just an excuse. Either way, we couldn't leave the evening of the floods, as I would have liked, so we stayed another
night. No taxi would go for any reasonable sum of money and we had missed the only bus of the day. We even missed the bus the next morning due to delays getting out of the gorge and to the bus terminal
in Tinerhir, but managed to find an alternate, indirect bus that involved changing buses halfway. The main thing is that we were on our way!

The bus journey was visually spectacular. All sorts of changing terrain, from high mountain passes to lonely desert landscapes. Shame about the smells - these local buses stank! - and the touting. More about the touting in another post, as I promised before. But yes, horrible smells, crowded and sweaty, a bus driver that drove part of the way with the door open to ventilate the bus, and a kid that threw up on Ted. And the kid's mom who stole Ted's water to wash the kid.

The bus got us to the desert village of Rissani, where we had to haggle our way through a small gang of taxi drivers to get a ride to Merzouga, where we had booked accomodation. This much fabled Chez Isabelle was what we had to look forward to - our oasis of normalcy in this desert of crazy heat, aggressive touting and bad odours. Perhaps it didn't live up to it's reputation, but in relation to all else, it was just what we needed.

We spent a night in Merzouga, a little village alongside bright orange sand dunes. We decided to head to the dunes soon after we put our bags down and got some lunch in us. Amazing stuff! Sand so fine that you
can clearly see the tracks of even the smallest insects. And then the storm hit. Probably a continuation of the same storm that brought on the flash floods the day before; this storm whipped up sand and blasted us with hot, heavy rain and high winds. Great fun!

We walked back an hour or so later, soaked to the bone. As darkness fell the storm worsened and lightning lit up the sky above the dunes. After getting dry, we whiled the evening away over good dates, a tagine and a drumming session with our hosts. A combination of a djembe, a tom tom and a small Moroccan goatskin drum, called something I can not remember.

Todra

2009-09-15T10:28:00.002+01:00

After the crazy-long coach ride, we arrive at Tinerhir close to 11pm. We call our hosts at the hotel in the gorge and they come out to get us. Too dark to see much, but in the morning we wake up to breathtaking views of the gorge, right outside our window!
Very excited about three dedicated days of climbing here!

So after sleeping in a bit and a big breakfast, we walk through the gorge. Huge 300m walls, beautiful rock, perfect temperatures. Most routes are 4 - 5 pitches, and on average the grades are around F6a. We did find several good routes between the F4 ~ F5+ range too though, good warm-ups. I find that routes here tend to be overgraded, in that an F5 has been given too high a grade and it really ought to be an F4.

Anyway, here's the tragedy: with all this beautiful climbing around us, we only managed a lone, single-pitch 20m F4 (warmup) before the rains began. And wow did it rain. A while after the rains stopped, a flash flood raged through the gorge, filling it up and partially breaking the paved road passing through. I will post a video of the flood when I get to a real computer.

So that killed our climbing, and with forecasts of more rain for the coming days, we decided to short-circuit the climbing and head to the desert first. The excessive touting and ghastly hotel helped our decision too, but that's subject for another post!

En route to Tinerhir

2009-09-15T10:17:00.001+01:00

This and the next few posts are in retrospect, due to poor connectivity. We left Marrakech in an
unexpectedly high standard coach. Passed through some breathtaking scenery, complete with desert vistas
and high mountain passes. A wild and beautiful country.

The bus stopped to break fast (we're in the middle of Ramadan, and the faithful pray and eat at dusk). This picture is of dusk over the vast and flat expanses.

The long bus ride to Tinehir

2009-09-12T14:18:00.001+01:00

So this morning was easy. Slept in, had a big breakfast and headed out of the Atlas mountains to Marrakech. Here is a pic of the streets, while waiting for our bus to Tinehir. The 8 hour busride should be fun ...

Summiting Toubkal

2009-09-12T12:31:00.001+01:00

(posted a day late due to poor Internet connectivity)

What a day. Really early start at 4am for a quick breakfast, and a planned departure at 4.30am to try and summit Toubkal and get all the way back down into the valley for the night, 2200m below the summit. We ended up leaving an hour late, waiting out a raging storm, all huddled in the mountain refuge. The climb started well, with all three of us moving strong and fast, in the dark using flashlights. About 3500m, the ground was covered in snow and frost, and the terrain slowed us a little. Ted and I both felt some of the effects of the altitude, oddly Nushi was fine.

From about 3900m though the going got really hard for me, feeling mild Acute Mountain Sickness symptoms including dizzyness, nausea and mild headaches. I decided to press on slowly all the same, given how close we were to the summit. Nushi was having a hard time too, dealing with the fatigue of a steep, strenuous and unabated climb. Ted was doing great and after pacing himself, got over any altitude effects he originally felt and raced up to the top with Nushi and I following about half an hour later.

4187m, we've arrived! :) We then proceeded to make great time descending, and almost met overall guidebook times despite the setbacks. Literally running down scree slopes.

Stopped at the refuge on the way back for a short break of hot tea, soup and bread before we started the long descent back to the valley. Utterly exhausted at the end of the day, but strangely not as tired as yesterday. Nobody's 'broken' as such, and we're all feeling superhuman after conquering the highest mountain in North Africa!

On the shoulder of Toubkal

2009-09-10T16:50:00.006+01:00

Here is our mountain hut and the peaks behind it, and a view of the valley we climbed up. We climbed about 1100m today over 8.5 km, took us 5 hours and we got to the mountain hut in time for some much needed food. The climb's broken Nushiand Ted, they're both asleep now and it's just 3pm! Tomorrow will be an even harder day. A 5.30am start to climb a further 1100m in just 3km (steep!) to the summit of Toubkal - the biggest thing in North Africa and big enough to challenge most of what the Alps has to offer. After summitting, we need to trek all the way back to where we started today - about 11.5km downhill.

Folks have reported a hailstorm on the summit and we're expecting some pretty snow-clad views! Now off on a reconnaisance walk up tomorrow's route to get a feel of how steep things are and how my lungs deal with such exertion at altitude.

Day one in Morocco

2009-09-09T13:25:00.002+01:00

After an insanely early start from London with almost no sleep, we arrive in Marrakech at 8.30 in the morning, local time. A few minutes doing battle with a local ATM and some insane haggling with a taxi driver, we get to the mountain village of Imlil by 10.30.

And then start a steep 300m ascent to the Berber village of Aroumd with most of our climbing gear on a mule. Managed to do the 3km hike in 45min, impressive given the lack of sleep and hangovers we all sported!

We got to our accommodation for the night, at 2000m above sea level. A very pleasant little Berber mud brick building, with kitchy rooms and great views all around. Despite this being Ramadan, our hosts are nice enough to offer us lunch. Starving and exhausted, waiting for food! :)

After that we hope to prepare for tomorrow's big hike, and get an early night and lots of sleep.

Part 4: Mobile phones

2008-03-20T23:55:00.002Z

Before I left I was even contemplating leaving my mobile phone behind, after having read how poor coverage is in Cuba. Quite the contrary! CubaCel, the local mobile phone carrier, had amazingly good coverage in pretty much every city I visited - Havana, Viñales, Cienfuegos and Trinidad. And pretty much all the while in between these cities, too. Amazing.

So I'm on a GSM network here in the UK, I'm not sure how others on CDMA networks from the US will fare, and again, my handset being tri-band, I'm not sure which radio frequency spectrums of GSM are supported as my handset supports all of the major frequencies.

But, what was unexpected was the COST!! Yes, mobile phone networks love to rape your phone bill with completely unreasonable charges regardless of where you're roaming, but they've really gone the extra mile with Cuba. Actually, from what I understand, CubaCel does get a large chunk of it, so I guess it's not that bad then. :-)

I ended up paying £0.50 to receive an SMS, and £0.80 to send one. And about £2 a minute to make phonecalls. Insane!!

But at least the convenience was there and if you are travelling in a group, having SMS messages to keep in sync can be invaluable.

Part 3: Accommodation

2008-03-20T23:31:00.004Z

Cuba has this really weird system where, IMO, you can either choose to stay at a fancy hotel and spend upwards of US$ 100 a night, an all-inclusive beach resort where you are isolated from the real Cuba in just about every aspect, or stay in a casa particulare, a private room in a home for about $25 - 35 a night. Quite a contrast, and I felt that the lack of something "in-between" was sorely missing. You know, a 2 or 3 star hotel, perhaps by the beach where I could stay if I couldn't afford the 4 and 5 star jobbies and really didn't want to slum it out in a casa particulare the entire time - not that I'm bashing casas in any way though.

Casas Particulares

I ended up in casas most of my stay in Cuba and they are lovely. Yes, they can be small, smelly, dirty and at times uncomfortable, but the ambience is just amazing. It will be your one big chance to really interface with day to day Cubans, and given that most casa owners are just ordinary families running of a European Bed-and-Breakfast and more often than not being very open, friendly and on occasion even speaking English, you really end up having a lot of fun.

But, as much fun as I had in casas, I understand they are just not for everyone. Imagine travelling with a young family, for example, and suddenly you are relegated to the realms of expensive hotels. Sadly, until Cuban tourism matures a bit more and mid-range hotels catering to a large portion of the holidaygoing population of the world spring up, choices are limited.

Official, licensed casas are identified by the sign on the left. Cuban houses are allowed to rent out up to 2 rooms to guests, and pay the government for this privilege. Meals, typically, cost extra (usually 3 convertibles for breakfast, 7 - 10 for dinner depending on what you pick). An urban legend, but from what I've understood, casas may only offer guests meals of chicken or pork. Unofficially, I have been offered everything else under the sun: excellent grilled fish, lobster, etc., for a couple of convertible pesos extra.

While it is a good idea to book casas before your arrival (and have the owners meet you at your bus station or airport to save you from the crowds of hotel touts!) it is not critical, if you are along the main "tourist path" of towns: Havana, Viñales, Piñar del Rio, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, etc. The streets are just full of houses with the sign above, and even if they are full, they usually have a friend who will have space. Ask them and they will always arrange this.

In fact, even when travelling from city to city, it is an excellent idea to ask your casa host who he or she would know in your destination city. Again, more often than not, they would know other casa owners and would call and arrange accommodation for you.

The only thing to beware of here is the condition of the room, and the cost of meals. Make sure you ask to see the room and ask about meal costs before agreeing on the room price, and negotiate accordingly.

The Hotel Nacional

So I also got a chance to stay for a week at the Hotel Nacional in Havana - the famous, swanky colonial building in the middle of Havana so famous for revolutions. While very nice and opulent (at least by Cuban standards), anyone used to 4 and 5 star hotels anywhere else will be disappointed. Again, not that I'm saying the Nacional was bad in any way - just that half-notch below par.

To sum things up, as far as accommodation is concerned, be prepared to rough it out a little. Yes it's a dusty old place and you'll feel like you need three showers a day, but once you get over that you'll be fine.

Keep in mind that the usual safety precautions must be taken - use hotel safes where possible, always have your money belt on you, never keep all your money in one place, and always sleep with your cash and phone under your pillow. Standard things, really, but often all too easily forgotten - especially after a few excellent cocktails - and then things just start to get inconvenient.

Part 2: Planning your Money

2008-03-12T23:26:00.008Z

Most would-be travellers to Cuba ought to have heard of Cuba's dual economy by now. If not, I suggest reading up on it - there is a lot of interesting literature on the subject. And in a future post I will publish my two cents' worth on why I think it ultimately will destroy the equality that Cuba strives for. :-)

This article focuses on practicalities, so practicalities are what I will talk about for now. The Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) is the currency that tourists use. This is approximately one US dollar, although it is in no way pegged to the dollar. Convertibles (as they are commonly called) cannot be purchased outside Cuba. This means you need to bring in foreign currency and buy your Convertibles when you get to Cuba.

As with most countries, you should carry your travel money in a mix of cash and credit cards/travellers cheques.

Cash
Most international currency is readily accepted at change booths (Casas de Cambio, or CADECAs), including Sterling Pounds, Euros, Canadian Dollars and Yen. American Dollars, while also readily accepted, are penalised by a further 10% "tax" when converting. So, given a choice, don't take US dollars. Regarding rates, all CADECAs and official establishments that change money such as hotels have the same fixed rate since this is state controlled. You can save yourself a lot of hassle with this knowledge - there is no bargain hunting to be done looking for the best conversion rates.

Also, make sure you ask for your change in small notes when you convert money. Most people don't have much money, and as a result not that much change (the number of times I've heard No hay cambio! ... ). They aren't used to dealing in big bills either. If at all possible, try not to hang on to anything larger than a 20 Convertible bill. Stick with the 3, 5 and 10 Convertible ones.

Credit Cards
US credit cards will not work in Cuba. This includes all American Express cards, as well as Visa and MasterCards issued by US banks (e.g., a CitiBank Visa). Visa and MasterCard issued by non-US banks work fine, however (I used an HSBC Visa card).

Most establishments in Cuba don't accept credit cards, with the exception of a few major hotels in Havana, and those that do will charge an 11% commission. Credit cards are still handy for cash advances though. CADECAs will give you a cash advance on your credit card (still charging the 11% commission) and ATMs, or cajeros automáticos, as they are called there (yes, even the ATMs will slap on the 11% charge) accept these, and it is often safer than carrying cash.

In terms of exchange rates, I found that, despite typical Visa cash advance fees and the 11% commission, I got (slightly) better rates using an ATM rather than changing Sterling bills - the ATMs did some wacky conversions to US Dollars first and then back to Pounds. Not sure how this would work with other currencies.

Anyway, carrying one or two Visa cards were very reliable as a backup and it means you don't have to carry all of your holiday money in cash. Keep in mind that not all towns have ATMs. Viñales, for example, doesn't, despite being a popular tourist destination. Havana, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad all do though.

Debit Cards
Just don't bother. Establishments don't know what to do with these, and neither do ATMs.

Travellers Cheques
I didn't use any, but I've heard that American Express travellers cheques are worthless in Cuba. If you do take travellers cheques, make sure you take Thomas Cook, Visa or MasterCard travellers cheques. I found it very hard to get my hands on these in the UK though as most places that sold travellers cheques only had American Express. Make sure you check before you buy any.

As for Cuba's other currency, the Cuban Peso (CUP), also called monedas nacionales and abbreviated to MN, is pegged at a rate of 25 CUP to 1 CUC. You can get your hands on these easily enough at most CADECAs, although their use is limited to getting street food, ice creams and fruit at markets. For most other things - restaurants and cafés, transport and accommodation, beer and rum - you need the real money: Convertibles.

Be careful of the currency though, they can look similar (especially the coins) and it is not uncommon for unscrupulous bar staff, taking you to be too drunk, naíve or both, to give you your change in CUP instead of CUC. Make sure you check your change.

WebHavana.com has pictures of notes and coins of both currencies, so you can differentiate.

Travel in Cuba - the bare essentials, part 1.

2008-03-12T00:13:00.008Z

So while planning a trip to Cuba recently, I scoured the web for up-to-date information on simple practicalities such as money and booking individual elements of the trip as well as tips on best practices and came up with sweet FA.

After gleaning what I could from various websites - many of them incorrect or out of date - I ended up learning things the hard way. And thought I'd share my learnings with any future travellers to Cuba.

Keep in mind that a lot of this is being written from the perspective of a British national - based on your nationality, specifically if you are American, things could be significantly different. :-)

The style of this series of articles is purposely direct and to the point, aiming to be easy to read as a quick reference and a starting point for further research.

Part 1: Getting there

If you are travelling from Europe, you have a number of options - direct flights to Havana from London (Virgin Atlantic), Madrid (Iberia), Paris (Air France), Amsterdam (Martin Air) or Moscow (Aeroflot) make life easy. Cuba's national carrier, Cubana, also offer direct flights from most of these destinations, as well as Montreal and Rome. A particular gimmick - Cubana and Aeroflot offer a codeshare from Moscow, but booking the flight from Cubana is (supposedly) half the price of the Aeroflot ticket - even though you end up on the same physical aircraft.

Air Canada and Mexicana have direct flights from Toronto and Cancún, respectively, and several other Central and South American airlines have direct flights to Havana from their respective hubs.

If you are a non-US citizen, but travelling from the United States to Cuba, your choices are pretty limited - as was mine. I ended up flying from Orlando to Cancún on Delta, and then Cancún to Havana on Mexicana. Your choices would be similar - the airports in the region you have to choose from are Cancún, Nassau, Montego Bay in Jamaica, and Toronto. Nassau and Montego Bay don't fly daily flights and staying over in either of these places is expensive and just a waste of time compared to what you will experience in Cuba. I found Cancún to a pretty reliable and (relatively) cost-effective route, with plenty of flights from most US cities, and 3 flights a day (between Mexicana and Cubana) to Havana.

Also, American Airways and US Airways offer 3 or 4 direct flights a week to Havana, from Miami and New York. These cannot be booked online though, and will require at least a phone call to the airline and proof that you are not a US citizen, or have the appropriate paperwork and permissions from the US government.

I'm not going to talk about US citizens travelling to Cuba as there seems to be a lot of literature on this already, and I am hardly the expert on the subject.

Also, do check what tour operators have to offer using chartered flights; often, all-inclusive packages can prove significantly cheaper than just the flight, even if you don't use the accommodation provided - particularly true of operators in Canada.

Also, don't forget visas. Unless you're Russian (Russians, purportedly, don't need visas to enter Cuba), you will need a Tourist Card obtainable from any Cuban embassy, consulate or travel agent (if you are from the US and don't have access to a Cuban embassy or consulate!). In the UK this costs £15 and is available over the counter. Cuban immigration, aware of how US officials frown upon Cuban immigration stamps in a passport, won't stamp your passport - which means future travel to the US won't be jeopardised.

So that's part one done. Stay tuned for Part 2: Planning your Money!

Manik && Blogging

2008-03-12T00:00:00.005Z

So why did I start doing this? I hate blogging. I don't have the time to blog. I can't write. I blog enough about work-related stuff as it is.

So okay, I'm halfway there with the work-related blogging, but thought that I actually did have a few interesting thoughts and opinions to share - stuff I pompously think that you, Joe Schmoe, would actually be interested in reading. What would I blog about? Well, I'd leave most of the technology that interests me to my most excellent and well esteemed JBoss Cache blog, and instead focus on travel, politics, rubbish, my opinions on all of the above, and the bits of technology that interests me and doesn't fit in any of the above categories.

Ok, so the real reason is that I was pissed off that no one had any definitive advice on travel in Cuba and I learned a lot the hard way, and wanted to share. OK??? There you go. :)

So, read on - I dare you!