Silicon Valley's largest city is training AI to spot homeless vans, RVs and encampments

The Silicon Valley city of San Jose lashed cameras to city vehicles to record video of the streets, then they process that video through AI to identify potholes, illegally parked cars. Now, they've added a new element: The hunt for homeless vans, RVs and encampments. This proves yet again that California will do anything to the homeless except house them. (A resident would have to earn nearly $100,000 per year to afford a minimal one-bedroom apartment in San Jose.) 

The companies San Ho is partnering with include Ash Sensors, Sensen.AI, Xloop Digital, Blue Dome Technologies and CityRover. 

Phrase of the moment: “burglary tourism”

New trend: Chilean criminals are getting tourist visas to come to the United States for the purpose of burglarizing L.A.-area homes. The visas are easy to get and the homes are easy (and lucrative) burglarize — no bars on the windows, no fences, etc. Police are calling it “burglary tourism” and the perpetrators “crime tourists.”

If you love wine, you've gotta travel! (Here's why.)

In the Gastronomad Experience Journal newsletter and blog, I talk about why travel is a necessary. (Spoiler: Because most of the best and most interesting wines are never exported and because wineries, cellars and vineyards is where a real wine education happens.) Read the blog

When travel becomes time travel

We travel the world in search of the most incredible food, wine, human connection and other joys of the table. Along the way, we find ourselves transported — spiritually, emotionally and even transported in time.

Our Gastronomad Experiences always bring us to a thrilling state of mind, a feeling of being cast back into centuries past. Sometimes the modern world, with its technology and stress and industrialism is suddenly…. nowhere to be found. We can’t see it. And we can’t even feel it. And we ask ourselves: What century is this?

Enjoying an idyllic picnic at Tasmania's stunning Bay of Fires

Our friends Dylan and Jessica, plus Amira and I, had a great weekend in Tasmania's upper east side. The Bay of Fires has incredible beaches and famous orange rocks. We stopped off at a gourmet shop and picked up some cheese, bread, wine and other goodies. Jessica also found a really nice picnic basket. The friends, scenery, shade and food made this an absolutely perfect picnic. 

Why everyone is talking about smart rings

From Mike's List: "We know from its history of patent applications that Apple thinks different about smart rings. In addition to all the health tracking applications, Apple also sees smart rings as a gesture-controller for TVs, iPhones, iPads and Apple Vision Pro."