The Top 10 Reasons I Loved Working At Gadling

by Grant Martin on

We used to joke over the years about how lists in the media were increasingly trivializing the way in which content is consumed. Top 10 nude beaches. Top 10 Disney rides. Top 10 top 10s. I’ll admit, they can be ungratifying to write, but the platform in which we live now thrives on short form content, and the list has a significant role in that ecosystem. Ask Conde Nast how their slideshows with 2827 different slides are going.

It makes sense to leave Gadling with a top 10 list. I owe much of our success to our slideshows and lists, and though publishing our narrative work was always a point of pride, there was also a balance. Besides, you guys don’t need a long essay on blogging and my state of the travel media. We will always travel, we will always write, or at least I will. That’s most important.This is my last post at Gadling and a farewell, so to speak. It’s been a great six years, and I’ll miss some of this stuff the most.

Connectivity: I often compare Gadling to a house that’s on fire that will completely burn down unless I keep dumping water on it. Strangely, a part of me – a large part of me – will miss waking up at 3 a.m. confused and worried, making sure that Kraig Becker’s posts are scheduled for 8 a.m. the next day. I’ll miss stratifying features throughout every morning and wrestling with the frontpage of AOL.com for article placement. Being that connected with the news world is incredibly stimulating, and it’s something that I may never see again in my life.

Travel Conferences and Meetings: Vanity is a trait that runs too deep in writers, but if you look at conferences from the community rather than the career development perspective, they change a lot. Some of the best moments of my last six years have been sitting in bars after a Restless Legs reading (thanks Farley!) or at brunches in Vancouver. It’s a great time to catch up with old friends, Media 6.0 panel be damned.

Don George: In addition to being a legendary travel writer and Gadling’s features editor, Don has been an exceptional mentor to me and he’s turned into an incredible friend. Though I’m sure we’ll work together in the future, I’ll look back on this chapter of our working relationship with fondness.

The AOL community: Working at a media giant has been an eye opening experience for me (free Redbull?!) and I’ve been exposed to a great deal of really outstanding people on my journey through the system. Thanks to Willy Volk (now at The Huffington Post) and Justin Glow (now at Vox) for bringing me into the fold, to Kaylee King and Neil Katz (now at Weather), Patrick Batu (now at Time Warner), Beth Caulfield (now at Hilton) and Jared Smith for making me part of AOL, to Adam Rose and Adam Goldberg for dragging me through The Huffington Post and to Arianna Huffington, Fara Warner and Michael Yessis for letting the show go on.

I would be remiss to not mention some of the best support staff in the world at AOL as well. Cheers to Greg Roman (the developer), Dori Solomon (the lawyer) and Ken Shadford (the video producer) for helping us along the way. Gadling would have never been successful without you guys.

Access: Though I never used my press credentials for free rooms at the Ritz Carlton or upgrades on Singapore Air, working with Gadling gave me great access to the inside of the travel industry. I met the head pilot at V Australia, got to see the insides of numerous airports and had phone calls returned when I needed a quote for a story. That sort of access is precious.

The Nice PR People: I’m still convinced that several of my friends in public relations are paid to be nice to me, but I don’t care anymore. You know who you are. Thanks.

The Ridiculous Email Avalanche: About eight months after starting as editor at Gadling I got put onto the hit list for PR contacts. Now I get hundreds of emails a day pitching everything from iPhone cases (why?) to hotel packages in Vanuatu (nope) to misdirected emails for random team members.

My favorite email came after Chris Elliott wrote a joke post on April Fools this year claiming that he was the new editor of the site followed by an obviously fake post. The nice folks from Cision almost had a heart attack.

Funny thing: I actually enjoy getting a deluge of email every day. There’s something about an inbox that’s constantly churning that makes me feel needed. Vanity, I guess.

The Ping-Pong Table at 770 Broadway: Yes, I came in on several Saturdays and played a few games over beers. Sorry TA.

The peanut gallery of travel writers: Twitter has done wonders for keeping the travel writing community connected, and I’ve made many friendships there and across other media. Standout journeys include tracking down CBC Radio’s Jonathan Goldstein to eventually put together the wonderful series “In Bali with Baggage,” working with puzzlemaster Will Shortz on the “Four Down Two Across” Vines, numerous secret brunches with Jason Clampet and hundreds of nights out with the Nomading Film Fest founders or the Farley brigade.

My team, the Gadling bloggers: At this point on the job I think I hired every single person on our blogging team at Gadling, and I’m pleased to say that they’re the most respectable and intelligent group in the community. They were gracious when working with sponsors, not demanding when applying their credentials and smart about working with AOL. And they put up with me, a constantly stressed out and always-traveling editor. Keep up the good work guys. I love you all.

That’s it. Six long years ends with the June payroll and me locking myself out of the CMS. It’s been a great trip everyone. See you out on the road.

– Grant Martin

These Are A Few Of Canada’s Favorite Things

by Jess Moss on

In honor (or should we say ‘honour’) of Canada Day today, we’re taking a look at the top 10 things that make Canada Canada. Hint: it’s not just hockey and maple syrup – though those are on the list. Watch this video roundup of the country’s most iconic symbols and raise a Molson to the Great White North, eh?

New York City Installs Pedestrian Maps (Finally)

by Libby Zay on

New York is introducing wayfinding map kiosks throughout the city, a godsend for anyone who has ever emerged from a subway exit disoriented (don’t be ashamed, that’s pretty much everyone who has set foot in the city). The maps are not only helpful, but also match the graphic language established in the 1960s for the subway system, as Michael Bierut from design team Pentagram explains to Wired:

“All of this was deliberately echoing the way the subways look… We wanted people to be able to ride the subway, come out and orient themselves.”

The new monolith-style kiosks display two maps, a zoomed-in glimpse of what’s within a five-minute radius, and an overview of the location in relation to a larger patch of the city. The first kiosk was installed last week in Chinatown, with more to follow soon. In a city where an estimated 30 percent of all trips are made by foot, we can’t be the only ones excited this subway improvement is here. With the recent addition of free solar-powered cellphone charging stations, the city seems to be getting more tourist-friendly every day.

Sydney Monorail Closes, Will Either Be Sorely Missed Or Soon Forgotten

by Jess Moss on

Sydney’s monorail shut down on Sunday after 25 years of operation. The largely overlooked transit system ran between Darling Harbour and the Central Business District and drew some of its largest crowds on its last day.

Sydneysiders’ love-hate relationship with the retro monorail was evident on Twitter as the system shut down, with advocates mourning the loss of the landmark and opponents saying good riddance to the outdated train. The slideshow below highlights some of the best, the worst and the most absurd things people are saying about the monorail.

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Gadling Gear Review: Justin Case Rechargeable iPad Battery Case

by Kraig Becker on

A few weeks back we reviewed the Props Power case for the iPad, which features a built-in battery that can greatly extend the life of your tablet while on the road. At the time, I thought that it was a unique product that delivered on its promise with the trade-off of also adding a considerable amount of thickness and weight. It turns out that case wasn’t quite as unique as I had originally thought, as there is another option available that offers similar performance in a slightly less bulky package and at a considerable savings. Two things that are difficult to argue against.

The Justin Case Rechargeable Power Case from Innovative Technology is designed to fit the iPad 2 and the iPad with Retina Display. It holds the tablet snugly while providing very good protection from accidental drops or the usual wear and tear that comes along with travel. Made from soft faux leather, the case has a nice feel to it, although no one is likely to ever mistake it for real leather. As you would expect, when seated properly inside the case, the iPad’s various buttons and cameras are unobstructed, allowing full access to all of the tablet’s features. A durable flap covers the screen and is cleverly held in place by a pair of strategically placed magnets. This is a nice touch that provides a little extra protection to the fragile display. A fold out stand on the back of the case also allows you to prop up your device, which comes in very handy when watching videos or making a Facetime call.

One of my main knocks against the Props Power case was that it added a lot of thickness to the otherwise thin and sleek iPad. That is somewhat unavoidable for any case that has a bulky battery built into its form factor and this model is no different. I will say, however, that the Justin Case is thinner than the competition; this makes it a bit easier to compromise portability for extended battery life. This isn’t a product that would ever be described as thin and light, but considering the fact that its target audience is likely to know this ahead of time, I’d say it does a fine job of balancing expectations on all fronts.At the heart of this case is an 11,600-mAh battery, which is slightly smaller than the one found in the Props Power case, but still manages to perform on a similar level. The battery includes a micro-USB port for recharging and a standard USB port for passing that charge on to other devices. Innovative Technologies says that the battery is capable of providing a full recharge to a third generation iPad, the model that I was testing it on. I didn’t find that it was quite capable of putting out that much juice, however, delivering something closer to a 75-percent recharge level. Still, that’s not bad at all and should add an additional seven hours to the life of your tablet.

Since the battery has a standard USB port it can be used to recharge just about any modern device. That means while you’re traveling you can use the case to juice up your smartphone, a camera, iPod or a variety of other gadgets. Most will charge about as quickly as they will when plugged into a wall outlet, but higher capacity devices such as the 3rd and 4th generation iPad or similar tablets charge at a much slower rate, which can be disappointing when you really want your iPad fully charged and ready to hit the road.

The Justin Case has its competition beat in a couple of other areas as well. For instance, the Props Power case comes with a charging cable but no power adapter. That means you have to provide your own AC adapter or charge directly from your computer. This case comes with a nice USB wall plug that looks strikingly like Apple’s own iPhone charger only in black. I appreciate the fact that Innovative Technologies saw fit to include it in the box, eliminating the hurdle of finding a way to keep their product charged at all times.

The other area in which the Justin Case has a hands-down advantage is price. While it performs at a very similar level with its competition, it costs $50 less. Innovative Technology has priced their product at $70, which feels like a very fair price for a case that offers the ability to not only charge the tablet that it protects but just about any other device as well. That is a nice convenience to have when you own a smartphone whose battery doesn’t quite make it completely through the day when there isn’t a free outlet anywhere in sight.

While the Justin Case does come with a micro-USB cable that is capable of charging not only its batteries, but also other devices that use that format, if you’re an Apple-fan you’ll need to supply your own 30-pin or lightning cable. That is a small quibble for an otherwise solid product but one that buyers should be aware of before they plunk down their hard-earned cash.

If you’re a frequent traveler who spends a lot of time searching for a power outlet at the airport, the Justin Case may be the answer to your prayers. While it is just an average case on its own, the inclusion of the built-in battery gives it a unique quality that few other products can match. The fact that it does so at an affordable price truly sets it out from the crowd. An iPad equipped with this case could survive a full flight across the Pacific with power to spare, which is a pretty impressive feat really. This case will let you load up your device with all of the movies, music and games you’d like without worrying about running out of power at an inopportune time.