Gadling gear review- EatSmart Digital Luggage Scale

by Chris Owen on

As airlines continue to focus on extra fees for baggage over a certain weight limit, luggage scales have gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have travel accessory. In this Gadling gear review, we take a look at a digital luggage scale from EatSmart is today’s tool for the job.EatSmart’s Precision Voyager Luggage Scale is a lightweight travel accessory designed for anyone from the casual vacationer (cruise passenger) to the road warrior (Gadling reader). After easily clipping onto the handle of your suitcase or bag, EatSmart’s proprietary (I guess it’s a big deal others wish to emulate) two handed SmartGrip design allows for easier lifting of even the heaviest bags. The manufacturer tells us:

“When your scale registers the weight, the scale will beep and your luggage weight will appear on the screen instantly.”

Sounds simple enough.

This is a big improvement over my old-school hand-held luggage scale that required gymnastic skills and the arm of a weight-lifter (or so I thought), neither of which I have, to get a reading.

To use that one, I had to mount the bag on a hook attached to the scale then, with one hand, hold the bag up off the ground while simultaneously bending over sideways to see the reading, rendering my other hand/arm useless in helping hold the bag up high enough to see. Later I learned (I read the directions) that I could attach that old scale to some stationary object, mount the bag, stand back and read.

Using the Precision Voyager Luggage Scale is much easier even without reading the directions. A durable strap and easy-clip buckle fit around the bag handle for taking a reading, making that cool clicking sound those things make. A quick lift off the floor gets a beep, signaling the user to look down at the device which has lit up with a pretty blue digital display. Who doesn’t like more pretty blue digital displays?

This new one from EatSmart, features a compact, lightweight design that allows travelers to bring it along and not have to worry about paying unexpected baggage fees. I envision bringing this device along when traveling to allow others to marvel (be jealous of me) at it’s easy-to-use yet cutting-edge-technology level cool look.

At a maximum weight load of 110 pounds, this new scale should handle just about any bag you want to weigh and a whole lot of other things as well. My foot, for example, weights 16.3 pounds. My coffee cup did not register. I wonder if I just forgot the luggage and packed everything in coffee cups if that would be a problem with the airlines. TSA should be OK with it.

You can find the EatSmart Precision Voyager Luggage Scale on their web site for $19.95.

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Pulse Art Fair in New York: Flatline

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Armory week is always an exciting time for New York City’s art community. In addition to the main show that occurs on the city’s west side, there are seemingly countless smaller shows that have popped up all over Manhattan and in Brooklyn. If you’re looking for options … you’ve got ’em. Of course, serious collectors are drawn to the Armory, where you’ll find five- and six-figure pieces from established investment-grade artists who are represented by major galleries – household names for this world. If you’re looking for the next big name, however, the sort of artist whose work has yet to really soar, you need to check out the satellite shows.

Traditionally, Pulse has been among the must-see art fairs in Armory week, and for good reason. This time around, unfortunately, it didn’t measure up. Quite simply, Pulse lacked what its name asserts.

I walked into the pavilion on W 26th Street expecting to see edgy, interesting and engaging artwork, the sort of pieces that stop you, make you think and leave you with a broader perspective. I left the show a tad disappointed.

The greatest problem with Pulse was that few artists seemed to be taking any risks. Much of the fare was conventional, and it felt as though the artists (or, rather, the show’s decision-makers) were trying to play it safe. The exhibition appeared to be catering to a different audience, one that wasn’t willing to put its assumptions on the line. To those inviting a challenge, Pulse fell short.


Much of the work was devoid of expression. Artists either tried too hard to find the abstract – such as a video piece of feet and ankles walking through heavy mud – or they relied too much on shocking color. I haven’t seen so much pink and other bright colors since similarly hued ski jackets were in vogue in the early 1990s. And, the display of an empty wine bottle with “MUTE” printed on the label simply defines uninspired.

There were a few bright spots, though, particularly the exquisite layered video created by David Ellis. Nestled in the “Impulse” section of the fair, upstairs, the previous Pulse standout offered a time-lapse video that encompassed the creation of several pieces, all intricately and seamlessly linked together to create an ongoing narrative nearly 20 minutes long. Called “The Animals,” it provided an array of morphing geographic designs that occasionally stopped to show a (what I took to be) a walrus before continuing on to show further creations. The action didn’t stop, and the work reflected the vision necessary to be a true thought leader as an emerging artist.
Aside from Ellis, Pulse was on life support this year, and my fingers are crossed for something more engaging in 2012. If we learned anything from the art market bust of 2008 and 2009, it’s that we need fresh, original and interesting talent to engage collectors and the public.

Otherwise, art investment dollars will be funneled into the known quantities (a la Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol), driving up the price and creating a new bubble. We also learned that betting on the vapid creations of emerging artists who have “made it” – such as Damien Hirst – isn’t enough. The purpose of Pulse is to give the next wave of artistic geniuses a platform.

Now, we just need the next wave of artistic geniuses …

South Beach Spring Break 2011 is on fire- part one

by Chris Owen on

This year in Florida, South Beach Spring Break is on fire as thousands of students take time off from school and descend on one of America’s most popular beaches. I was there this week and lived to tell about it. Follow along on this first part of the tale.

Flickr photo by Mumbojumbo22

Actually I was in town for a grown-up convention, Cruise Shipping Miami, one of the premiere events each year in the travel business which just happened to fall during spring break. More on that later.

The first two weeks of March traditionally bring the most action to Miami Beach in Florida, host to one of the biggest spring break celebrations in the world. This year was no exception and while crowds will dwindle as the month moves on, party people of all sizes, shapes and colors own the the streets, hotels, beaches and even parking garages.

I say spring-breakers “own the streets” but actually they own the sidewalks. The police own the streets and there are plenty of them on duty after a crazy spring break last year brought undercover cops this year.

“Tourists don’t come back after they see us taken over by brats from the mainland,” Frank Del Vecchio, an activist from the South Beach area told the Miami Herald. Locals who will be there long after spring-breakers have gone. They want the beach protected, trash controlled and behavior, specifically extreme cases of spring-break fever, addressed.

While an increased law enforcement presence seemed to eliminate most activities that would have resulted in a crime scene, pretty much everything else was allowed. Had I wished to buy any number of drugs, that would have been no problem. Drug-dealers on the streets of South Beach were operating at Jamaica-quality pestering level hawking everything from marijuana to Screaming Yellow Zombies, whatever those are.

Police searched coolers, some many times, coming up empty as beach party people learned to bury booze in the sand under a beach blanket or put it in their backpacks. Yes, just like on a cruise ship, there’s always a way to smuggle booze. I was proud of those kids, brought a little tear to my eye I must say.

Locals want it all under control but they also want money. In a struggle between “let’s keep the streets clean” and “we want money”, guess who came out on top?

Miami is set up to handle large crowds of people, this week was no exception and it was good to see a vibrant system operate at it’s peak of efficiency. Miami for spring break is near or at the top of everyone’s top-10 spring break list including StudentUniverse.com where Miami Beach comes in at #2. Miami offers a lot of attractions including a world-class zoo, seaport, museum, convention center and more. Number one on most To-do-in-Miami lists is South Beach which is not far from that convention center and Lincoln Road mall, a dining and entertainment complex frequented by tourists and spring-breakers.

Flickr photo by prakash_UT

Over at the grown-up convention, suited travel professionals (well, except for this one guy from Gadling in cargo shorts being all quirky and irreverent as those Gadling people are) from all over the world also descended on Miami’s convention center for a week of what is promoted as “the world’s most important and largest annual meeting for the cruise industry”.

This was an entirely different group of people.

Top executives from major cruise lines told of a unified cruise industry promoting a safe vacation experience on one of their safe ships in safe waters that lead to safe destinations. About halfway through the first day the theme was clear: Our ships do not believe in and stay clear of pirates, earthquakes, tsunamis and the Frito Bandito.

But far from all about business, attendees seemed to make time for fun too as seen in this video of the typically-Miami party hosted by Porthole Cruise Magazine and held in a converted parking garage.


Tourism here is down too like the rest of the world. Local people I talked to were glad to have the business and happy to put up with the mess it brings. Emilio Rodriguez, a Miami cab driver, told me “In a couple weeks it will be like somebody turned off the faucet and it will be slow again…but right now? Life is good.”

Indeed, hotel rooms can be as hard to find as parking spaces. But for those that stayed at a South Beach hotel, walking was the order of the day anyway leaving stumbling to be the order of the night.

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How airplanes deal with radiation clouds (and why shouldn’t be worried)

by Grant Martin on

The nuclear crisis in Japan has a lot of travelers worried, with fears of radiation wafting into heavily populated areas, across the Pacific and up into the atmosphere plaguing the news wire every day.

Nuclear events of this magnitude bring a lot of variables — the type of reactor, fuel source and wind patterns can all play a role in the spread of radiation — and there are still a lot of unknowns when predicting how widely it will

Airplanes, in particular, are a particular concern because they can travel through potentially affected radiation clouds and expose their passengers to higher levels of in turn. But to what effect? The aluminum skins on most aircraft provide nearly an increased degree of protection against ambient air (not as good as lead), but radiation can still eventually seep through, and one also must consider the glass and acryllic in the windows.

There’s also the issue of circulated air throughout the cabin. This air comes from air processed through the engines, and if any radiation particles are present then it can potentially be filtered into the cabin.

In short, there are a variety of ways that a radiation cloud can potentially impact an airliner — and that’s why airlines fly around them. At present, a no-fly zone is in effect above any problematic reactors in Japan, and as the radiation cloud moves that zone will be adjusted in kind. As a result, any passenger traveling through the earthquake and tsunami ravaged country has little to fear about collecting radiation from their aircraft.

Being exposed to radiation from other passengers and their belongings, on the other hand, nobody can guarantee. Two passengers inbound from Japan into the United States were recently flagged with high radiation levels, and there are now concerns about whether or not that could have spread to other passengers and baggage.

Either way, if you have deep concerns about radiation it’s probably best to steer clear of the area. Just don’t expect your airline to cause any extended radiation exposure.

[Photo: Flickr/Joelk75]

Photo of the Day – 51 Irish coffees for St. Patrick’s Day

by Meg Nesterov on


Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you’re celebrating today in America, you’re probably planning to drink green beer or a nice pint of Guinness, but why not warm up with an Irish coffee, spiked with whiskey (Irish, of course)? In today’s Photo of the Day, Flickr user jrodmanjr snapped these 51 coffees in action at San Francisco‘s Buena Vista Cafe, which claims to have brought the drink to the United States from Ireland’s Shannon Airport and holds the Guinness World Record for most Irish coffees served. A fun photo bonus: another Flickr user caught the same coffees (and jrodmanjr) at the Buena Vista.

Take any pics of your favorite beverages while traveling? Upload them to the Gadling Flickr pool and we may use it as a future Photo of the Day.