Speaking of business trips, another reason I wish I was going next week is to try out the new PairUp business travel system.  Ever find yourself going someplace on a plane surrounded by other travelers who are going to the same location? It's only after you arrive that you suddenly discover that somebody on the plane was an old colleague of yours, and you wish you could have sat next to him instead of some random windbag?  Registered Pairup users can find out in advance who else will be traveling to a conference so they can maybe coordinate their schedules beforehand. 

Another way this is nice is, say you're in a city by yourself and you're looking for something to eat.  Well if you had registered with Pairup, you may find that an old colleague is in town right now and he's by himself and would love to try out a new restaurant with you.  No more boring room service! 

Yeah, I know sometimes it's annoying to register for yet another site, because you're not sure what they'll do with your registration info.  But you can trust this one, because it's built by Esteban Sardera, an old friend of mine.  Esteban used to work with me at WebTV years ago, back in Palo Alto, and later helped me a lot when we were doing business in Amsterdam.  He is one of these handy guys who always seems to have a new idea for a better way to do things, and Pairup definitely fits the bill. I'm going to register my next business trip this way, and if you do too, who knows: maybe we can meet?