How long before we’re able to travel in isolation?

by Abha Malpani on

It depends on my mood whether I want to chat to the person next to me when I travel. I’m quite happy reading my book, listening to music, gazing outside the window, or taking a nap on a train/bus/plane. Although not often have I had the misfortune of being stuck with an annoying chatterbox in the next seat, I have had many mental episodes of I-just-want-to-break-his-jaw-so-he-will-keep-quiet.

That’s when I wonder: how long before transport systems with private, one-person seats become a norm?

Australian designer Hamit Kanuni Kuralkan probably had his share of bad next-seat passengers in order to come up with this design(see image): a train with personal booths or capsules to sit in by yourself.

Although not a bad thought, I look at the design and the words that override everything possibly positive about the idea are “claustrophobia” and “depressing”. What if I pass out? And what happens if I want to travel with a friend?

I rather have some open space and an annoying neighbor.

[Via: Boing Boing]

Is Clear Security secure?

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve passed through airport security at more than a few airports in the past year, you’ve probably noticed Clear security lanes. The Cliff Notes version of their service is that they take a retina scan, store some info and let you get through screening faster — for a fee, of course.

I have to admit, I don’t know anyone that uses it. Most business travelers I know fly either in First Class (so don’t have to go through the long security line) or plan well enough in advance to anticipate long security lines (so don’t worry about it). And I think that some people are concerned about giving biometric and personal data to a third party to store in a database — you know, that whole privacy thing.

But surely a security company would keep tight control over and even encrypt that private data, right? Not necessarily. According to cbs5tv, a Clear laptop at San Francisco International airport was boosted the other day, along with the personal data of over 30,000 members in the system. New applications are on hold while the company that operates the checkpoint, Verified Identity Pass Inc., tracks down the notebook.

I’m glad I didn’t apply for a Clear Pass last year.

Boston country’s best city for singles

by Jeffrey White on

As someone who lived in Boston for nearly 10 years (a run that closed at the beginning of 2005), I’m happy to report that it is hands down the best city in the United States if you’re single.

Don’t trust me? Fine. Money magazine says the same thing.

In its 2008 rankings of U.S. cities with the most singles, by percentage, the top five includes three communities that are essentially greater Boston. Cambridge, Mass., ranks as the country’s second best city for singles, Somerville next door ranks as the third and Boston proper is at No. 5.

In all three singles make up more than half the population.

Obviously Boston is helped by the sheer number of colleges and universities present, pouring all manners of late teens and twenty-somethings into the city for nine months every year (they’ll be starting to arrive in, oh, a hair under three weeks from now).

The country’s best city for singles, according to Money? Brace yourselves: Hoboken, N.J. There are many young Manhattanites that have taken the plunge and moved there, and others — my brother, included — who just can’t make such a leap yet.

Here’s Money‘s Top 20 cities for the unattached, based on the percentage of each city’s total population that are single.

  1. Hoboken, N.J. (57.7 percent)
  2. Cambridge, Mass. (52.4 percent)
  3. Somerville, Mass. (51.4 percent)
  4. Berkeley, Calif. (51.2 percent)
  5. Boston, Mass. (50.3 percent)
  6. Burlington, Vermont (50 percent)
  7. Washington, D.C. (48.5 percent)
  8. Boulder, Colo. (48.2 percent)
  9. North Druid Hills, Georgia (47.6 percent)
  10. Hermosa Beach, Calif. (47.2 percent)
  11. Minneapolis, Minn. (46.3 percent)
  12. Hempstead, N.Y. (45.8 percent)
  13. Atlanta, Georgia (45.7 percent)
  14. Syracuse, N.Y. (45.6 percent)
  15. Albany, N.Y. (45.4 percent)
  16. Hartford, Conn. (45.3 percent)
  17. Santa Cruz, Calf. (45.3 percent)
  18. New Haven, Conn. (44.9 percent)
  19. San Francisco, Calif. (44.7 percent)
  20. Newark, N.J. (44.1 percent)

East Orange, N.J., St. Andrews, S.C., Marquette, Mich., Tempe, Ariz. and Madison, Wis. round out the top 25.

Seats on a United Airlines flight come loose, roll and injure a passenger

by Jeffrey White on

You don’t hear about this everyday: A United Airlines flight taking off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and bound for San Francisco this past Sunday had to turn back suddenly after a row of seats became loose, slid backwards and slammed into a full row of passengers.

Maintenance workers confirmed that there was a loose bolt on three occupied seats in the third row of that flight. At takeoff, the seats simply came undone.

One woman sitting in the fourth row suffered a knee injury and was transported to the hospital after the pilot made an emergency landing.

Maintenance workers fixed the problem (though the flight was delayed more than three hours).

United says it will compensate passengers for that delay.

The injured woman flew to San Francisco this morning on a free first class ticket.

Photo of the Day (08.05.08)

by Grant Martin on

So this is what Cuban beaches look like. Today’s photo of the day comes from localsurfer, who very well captures the image of a place that I want to be right now — at a beach, playing in the surf, away from the humidity of the upper Midwest. Nice shot, localsurfer. Maybe some day I’ll be able to take one like this myself.

Have any cool photos you’d like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr, and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day.