Icelandic ash stranded you in the US? Beware of a visa overstay!

by Scott Carmichael on

The Iceland volcano disruption is causing unprecedented disruptions in air travel all around the world – but your problems could become even worse if you are here in the United States on any kind of Visa or Visa Waiver that is about to expire.

The Visa Waiver program allows you to be here for 90 days – and overstaying that period will result in all kinds of hassles if you ever plan to return. I have personally witnessed someone being sent back to Europe because they had overstayed by 3 days several years ago.

There is no blanket exception for travelers impacted by the flight cancellations, so you are on your own to apply for an extension. Do not assume everything will be alright – even one day past your 90 days can result in a future deportation or entry refusal.

To apply for the extension, you will need to contact a local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility. A guide on how to extend your visa status can be found here. Even though the normal procedures do not permit Visa Waiver status to be changed, exceptions are being made for people stranded due to the volcano. If you are not able to contact a local office, make sure you have a copy of your I-94 arrival-departure form, as you’ll probably have to put together a letter once you get back home.

The official statement sent to foreign embassies in the U.S. can be found here. I recommend printing this information for future reference.

The W Hollywood recants and allows guests to jump the line for its pool

by Jason Cochran on


There’s been a resolution of sorts for the recent kerfluffle at the W Hollywood hotel, which I wrote about two weeks ago. I found out first-hand that guests are not always permitted to use its gorgeous and enviably situated rooftop pool, despite the high room rates they pay.

The scandal made news around the Web, including at The Economist, which proclaimed itself “horrified” about the revelations here on Gadling. (It was indeed a proud day for me: I also got The Economist to repeat my coinage, “douche-tastic.”)

The newly opened hotel hasn’t broken things off with the Las Vegas promoter, Drai’s, which runs its nightspot and organizes the Sunday “pool party” that guests have been told they’re not cool enough for. But as a mea culpa for the unwanted attention, the W Hollywood is bending the rules.The hotel’s general manager, Jim McPartlin, personally wrote me a note apologizing for the policy. “It is inexcusable, and I can assure you that I have taken measures to ensure it does not happen again,” he told me. “Opening a hotel can be a challenge, but developing a strong service culture is something I practice with my team each day.”

His new measures supersede the statement he issued for my first report on the original doucheitude. McPartlin said:

“Recognizing that most people check out by noon on Sunday and check in after 3 pm, we altered the start time of the pool party to 2:00 as opposed to 10 am. Further, hotel guests have front of line status. These two actions seemed to have cleared up our issues, and I will continue to monitor this very carefully.”

Well, maybe it clears things up. It’s not truly a pure resolution if guests are still required to queue up for space at their own pool, particularly if the available space is being taken up by hordes of off-the-street scenesters wearing fedoras with board shorts and jiggling their bikinis as they dance on the sun chairs.

However, the new front-of-the-line policy is now consistent with a number of other hip L.A. hotels’ clubby pool areas, where hotel guests are permitted to join the doucheteria as space permits.

Last summer, I wrote about a similar situation at the newish SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, where hotel guests may still be treated like beggars at the feast, but at least they’re allowed in.

The guest entry situation at L.A. hotels’ pools may not be ideal, but at least now you can’t argue that the W’s policy isn’t consistent with its equally misguided competition. Guests may now use the pool, provided they get there really early and don’t mind cigarette ash floating past them.

I also contacted Drai’s, the promoter that populates the W pool for the Sunday parties, for its policy. It sent me a copy of McPartlin’s original response, now obsolete, but never issued me one of its own.

I also wrote about what you can do as a consumer if your hotel denies you the amenities you were promised. That post went up at our sister site about your money, WalletPop.com.

Would I go back to the W Hollywood? My Speedos aren’t in a permanent twist, and between the lines, I’m getting the picture that the service goals of the hotel’s management are at direct odds with the too-cool-for-the-pool objectives of its contracted partner, Drai’s. I’d give the place the benefit of the doubt, chalk the disaster up to opening turbulence, and risk it again. But I’d steer clear of the pool on Sundays.

90% of UK travelers “happy” to use airport full body scanners

by Scott Carmichael on

Global IT firm Unisys surveyed 10,000 people about their thoughts on the full body scanners being introduced at airports around the world.

Of the countries involved in the survey, the British had the least objections – with 9 out 10 respondents claiming they were actually happy to see the machines put in place. At the bottom of the list were Mexicans with just 24% of respondents having a positive opinion.

In the US, only 67% of passengers are willing to subject themselves to the full body scanner, and only 57% said they would trust airport security officers to perform checks using biometric information, compared to 91% of British travelers.

I’m not entirely sure where there are such large differences in opinions. One possible factor could be that the UK (and other European countries) have been involved in airport terror events in recent years and that their governments have done a good job at convincing people that the scanners are the only way to stay safe.

The entire survey can be found here.

(Photo from Getty Images)

Is a zero-rupee note the key to stopping bribery in India?

by Aaron Hotfelder on

If you’ve ever traveled to Southeast Asia or the Middle East, you’re probably accustomed to having to “grease the wheels” a little bit if you expect help from local officials. Known as “baksheesh” in the Middle East, these small tips (okay, bribes) are common throughout much of the world for anyone looking to park a car, avoid a traffic ticket, move to the head of a line, or awaken a sleeping bureaucrat.

Although for many travelers baksheesh is more a novelty than a nuisance– probably because of their limited exposure to it– for many locals baksheesh is a frustrating and costly part of daily life. So how to stop the bribery and corruption? An Indian physics professor thinks he has the answer: Shame.

Professor Satindar Mohan Bhagat, now a professor of physics at the University of Maryland, came up with the idea of a “zero-rupee note” after growing tired of the endless demands for bribes on trips back to his native India.

According to one article, “The notes, printed and distributed by a good-government organization called 5th Pillar, include the phrase that the bearer ‘promises to neither accept nor give a bribe.'” Citizens who are solicited for a “tip” are supposed to give the zero-rupee notes to bribe-seeking officials in the hope of shaming them into withdrawing their request.

Perhaps surprisingly, this technique has been already successful in hundreds of cases:

In one instance, a corrupt bureaucrat apologized and returned money he had previously extorted from a village to connect it to the electrical grid. In another, an official who had just asked for “tea money” from an elderly woman stood up, offered his seat to her, brought her a real cup of tea, and then approved the loan she needed for her granddaughter to go to college.

Whole thing here.

Mobile phone safety tips – protect your data and your phone bill

by Scott Carmichael on

As the mobile phone becomes more mobile computer than phone, the amount (and type) of information we carry with is has expanded. Pick up your phone right now and take a look at all the stuff you have stored on it – then picture what kind of hell you’ll go through if you lose it.

A lost phone will often contain access to your email, account information, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking accounts and of course a variety of music and video clips.

So – what can you do to protect your mobile life? We’ve collected ten tips that can help keep you safe, and safeguard your data if disaster strikes.
Password protection is not just another feature

Ever seen the “enable password protection” option on your phone? It is there for a reason – at least, a reason beyond being really annoying. Yes – having to enter your PIN every time you turn your phone on sucks. But don’t turn it off just because it annoys you! The pin or password protection is the first level of defense against thieves.

Alternatively, pick a SIM pin change feature, which will require a pin code when the sim card in your phone is changed (only for GSM phones).

Restrict international calls

Often, one of the first things a thief will do when they find a phone, is hand it over to a calling store – where people can make international calls using your phone. Thieves work fast – if you have lost your phone for two hours, you may have two hours of international calls on your next bill.

With some international calls costing as much as $5/minute, you’ll understand that your next phone bill may drain your bank account.

Always notify the operator as soon as your phone is stolen or lost

Even if your phone doesn’t contain anything really sensitive, always notify your mobile operator as soon as you can. The sooner you call them, the sooner they can disable your account and make a note of the loss/theft. This can help reduce your liability. This is especially important when you are abroad, as the international charges could run in the thousands if your phone is misused.

Also, be sure to call your local police department to ask whether it makes sense to file a report – especially in the case of theft, it may be wise to have a record of the theft. This can help return your phone should the thief get caught.

Be careful what you store on your phone

When you log into a web site on your phone, you’ll often be promoted whether you want to save the password you entered.

Think very carefully about this – if this is for Ebay, Paypal or something else of vital importance, you’ll always want to decline saving the password. The same applies to social networking sites, or anything else that can use your name to order products or leave comments.

Yes – having to log in each time is a hassle, but so is dealing with thousands of dollars in stuff you didn’t order if someone starts screwing around in your Ebay account.

And finally, if you are a little kinky, you may have some photos on your phone of your husband or wife that you may not want to share. Don’t become the next Paris Hilton – if you really have the need to store kinky photos or videos, be sure to protect them with some form of password safety. If you lose your phone, nothing is stopping people from uploading that stuff to the Internet. Good luck explaining that one to your neighbors or parents.

Add a mobile protection application – iPhone

The Apple MobileMe service extends your iPhone onto your desktop – it offers push email, file and media sharing and a host of security features. In the MobileMe control panel, you can track, wipe and lock your iPhone. There are several real life stories out there of how MobileMe helped track down an iPhone thief.

The service costs $99/year, but that obviously includes all the other cool features of MobileMe.

Product page: MobileMe

Add a mobile protection application – Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile users can install Sprite Terminator – this $14.95 application does remote wipe, remote lock and GPS tracking of your device. Once installed, you can remotely monitor your phone using the Web or another mobile device.

Sprite Terminator even lets you pull the most recent call records, which can be great if you need some more evidence to help track down a thief. In GSM phones, Sprite Terminator will even alert you to SIM card changes.

Product page: Sprite Terminator

Add a mobile protection application – Android

On Android devices, WaveSecure is the leading protection application – like most others, it supports remote lock and wipe, as well as SIM card change alerts (on GSM devices). WaveSecure uses SMS messages to trigger its alerts, which means a thief won’t even need a data plan to get caught.

WaveSecure adds more than most programs by offering remote backup of your media, contacts and other vital information. The application costs $19.95 per year.

As of this week, WaveSecure even added a product removal watchdog, which makes it almost impossible to remove the application without the alarm being triggered.

Product page: WaveSecure

Add a mobile protection application – Blackberry

SmrtGuard is the best data protection suite for Blackberry users – not only will this app lock your Blackberry, it can even be set to uninstall all key applications like password keeper and messaging – which adds an even greater level of protection.

Inside SmrtGuard, you can even listen in on the surroundings (how very James Bond). Better still – SmrtGuard can trigger an audio ping if you have lost your phone and need help locating it.

SmartGuard in its basic form is free, but a more advanced version with remote data backup is available starting at $2.99/month. The firm behind SmrtGuard also sells a similar version for Android users.

Product page: SmrtGuard

On Android – when your phone is lost, change your Google password immediately

Google Android phones rely on your Google account for everything they do – email, contacts, application downloads and more. If you lose your phone, find a computer and immediately change your Google password – this will lock the phone and require the finder to use your new Google password to restore it. No password = no risk of them breaking into your data.

Never store private information on your device (without encrypting it)

That note called “important stuff” that holds your social security number and the code for your garage may be really handy, but can you imagine the trouble you’ll be in if someone gets their hands on it?

Thankfully, there are ways to store this kind of stuff on your device, without having to worry about the bad guys.

Keeper, by Callpod is a good example of how to do this. The Keeper application is a two-part package – a free app for Android, Blackberry or iPhone, and a $29.95 desktop application for PC, Mac and Linux.

With the package, you can enter all your important stuff on your computer, then sync it with your phone – where it will be stored in a heavy encryption format.

Best of all, if someone tries to break into it, all the data can self destruct.

Product page: Callpod Keeper