Cyrus Farivar

Ask a Pilot said it first, and FP confirms: Why it’s so bad: Because it’s standing room only. As a regional hub, an ordeal at Senghor is often unavoidable for travelers to West Africa. Once you’re in the terminal, don’t plan on relaxing: There are no seats, and guards will advise you to stop loitering if you hang around in one spot too long. Immigration lines can take up to three hours. And in any event, it’s best to keep…

I just found this link to the SFPL online photo archive, courtesy of Telstar Logistics. After spending the better part of an hour perusing the collection, here are my six favorite pics: 1952 Dec. 8. Written on back: “The beach sand dunes at the foot of the Sunset District was the dumping ground for outmoded horse and cable cars at the turn of the century. They were much in demand by enterprising citizens who converted the old cars into both…

So in case you didn’t already hear, SoCal, from Santa Barbara to the border is basically aflame. Here’s the other fun bit — on Wednesday I’m scheduled to fly into Ontario Airport, and then drive up Highway 15 to Victorville for a story I’m working on. The Victorville Daily Press reports: Interstate 15 was completely closed again through the Cajon Pass by 5 p.m. Monday, after gusting winds and fires led to intermittent closures beginning Sunday. . . . At…

While Morning Edition starts airing at 3 am on the Left Coast, and will do so for another hour, pretty much anyone else will have to check out my 90-second segment on NPR at the link below. I did a piece about Google’s and Microsoft’s new online health care records. Competition Increases for Online Medical Records [1:30]

Boyk finds it amusing that I keep referring to my glasses as “specs,” so I think I’ll keep it that way. I’ve been wearing my new specs for a total of maybe a few hours thus far. First was yesterday, driving from Costco to home. Then, today, from home to T-Rex. Then from T-Rex to the PFA, where I watched Alfie with them on, and then just now, driving from the PFA to home. My first impressions are that they…

Hoo boy, maybe it’s time to get our earthquake kit in order. SJ Mercury News: Studying layers of soil in a trench they dug near the Fremont BART station, geologists recently made a startling discovery: The Hayward Fault has had a big earthquake roughly every 140 years, on average, since 1315. And this Sunday marks year 139. Calling the fault a “tectonic time bomb,” scientists Wednesday urged Bay Area residents to put together an earthquake plan, stockpile supplies and consider…

I made this squash soup on Sunday night, except with a few modifications: I replaced chorizo with whiskey fennel chicken sausage from Ver Brugge. I replaced cayenne sauce with Tapatio and tripled it, and added a few dashes of cayenne powder. I replaced oregano with basil and added kale. And, I didn’t bother with the croutons. It was probably the best soup I’ve ever made.

LAT: ASMARA, Eritrea — This struggling, low-profile nation is doing something virtually unheard of in Africa. It’s turning down foreign aid. With a president who vows not to lead another “spoon-fed” African country “enslaved” by international donors, Eritrea, a small, secretive nation on the Horn of Africa, has walked away from more than $200 million in aid in the last year alone, including food from the United Nations, development loans from the World Bank and grants from international charities to…

The French business magazine Challenges is reporting that Orange will be selling the world’s first legally unlocked iPhone for somewhere around €999 (that’s about $1,400) later this year. Or €399 with a subscription, of which Apple gets a 30 percent revenue share. The iPhone apparently is going for $680 in grey markets in Thailand and about $400 – $600 on Craigslist. I unlocked my own for free.

Caspian Sea countries say “no way.” But guv’ment spooks say “Please?” Uh oh. [Source: FP Passport]