Woman gives birth over Atlantic on New Year’s Eve

by Tom Johansmeyer on

On a flight from Amsterdam to Boston, USA Today reports that a woman of unknown nationality (though probably American or Dutch) gave birth to a Canadian while in flight. The miracle of international airspace is responsible for the citizenship, though it did not cause the underlying birth.

There is no word on whether Northwest Airlines charged for the extra carry-on that materialized while Flight 59 was in the air, but it’s likely they showed a bit of goodwill.

A doctor and paramedic helped deliver the baby girl in Canadian airspace over the Atlantic Ocean, which accounts for the extra dose of citizenship the new kid receives. When the plane touched down at 10:30 AM yesterday, mother and child were rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Update available! Learn more here.

[Via USA Today]

Lonely Planet names top 10 “weird” cities

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Top 10 lists are the lifeblood of blogging. How else, dear reader, can we quickly inform you of all you need to know about a topic in a format that is quick to read and simultaneously entertaining? The end of the year is fertile ground for top 10 lists, providing an opportunity to take a look at the previous 365 days and gaze at the marvelous things that have come to pass.

With this in mind, travel publication extraordinaire Lonely Planet has published their 2008 list of the “world’s top 10 weirdest cities” as part of their book, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2009. Here’s a few of their picks:

  • Tokyo, Japan – I don’t think anyone is going to argue with this one
  • Las Vegas, Nevada – true only if you find $5 all-you-can-eat lobster tails to be eccentric
  • Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – a country with flaming holes and an eccentric dictator definitely qualifies in our book
  • Amsterdam, The Netherlands – whoa, cannabis and sex shows. So weird!
  • Guanajuato, Mexico – I had always thought of Guanajuato as a charming Mexican colonial city, but that’s wrong. Apparently they have mummies. Mummies!

Anyone interested in checking out the full list can find it here. You have to wonder who was in charge of compiling these cities, but considering that Gadling might some day want to publish their own book of top 10’s, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

What do you think of this list of top 10 weird cities? Think it’s a load of crap? Have any cities you think they left out? Leave us a comment below and tell us about your favorite weird city.

Be on the lookout for credit card skimmers in The Netherlands

by Scott Carmichael on

Dutch public transit user Paul Wiegmans noticed something strange when he tried to purchase a tram ticket from a machine in Amsterdam; the card slot looked a little out of the ordinary.

When he took a closer look, he discovered a so called “skimmer” had been placed over the original card reader. Skimmers are devices that read your credit card information at the same time the real reader does its work.

Skimmers have been used in restaurants and other locations for years, but this is one of the first I’ve ever seen where the unit was attached to a ticketing machine.

The skimmer reads the information stored on your card, and a small camera keeps an eye on the number pad, in order to capture your pin code.
Paul wrote a nice description of how the skimmer works (Dutch, translated version here). Even if you don’t understand what any of this means, the photos will give a pretty good indication just how smart and sleazy these thieves are.

The transit agencies are aware of the problem, and have asked their staff to keep an eye on the machines while they work on a long term solution.

If you use a credit card machine, always be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary, if in doubt, don’t swipe!

The only good news is that your credit card company will usually be quite accommodating if fraud is detected, especially since many of these stolen credit card numbers will be used abroad for “out of the ordinary” transactions.

10 tips for smarter flying


5 steps to smarter packing

Photo of the Day (12-3-08)

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s to hoping that this shot by Moody75 will bring me good luck. Actually, by the time you see this, dear Gadling readers, I may or may not have made it to Amsterdam in time to see canals such as this one. If it is not on time, I won’t be able to take my daughter to Anne Frank’s house or to the pancake place I want to return to. Instead, we will stay at the airport so we won’t miss our connection to Copenhagen.

When I was looking for my Photo of the Day choice, I zeroed in on Amsterdam since that is where I am hoping to be on this very day. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to be positive. Now, here is the oddest coincidence. Moody75 posted this exactly two years ago on December 3. Notice today’s date? December 3. This shot is exactly what I’m hoping we will see. Fingers crossed.

Send your photos to us at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool. Perhaps, one of your shots will bring us good luck.

Favorites from Gadling’s birthday giveaway

by Grant Martin on

As I’m sure you’re well aware at this point, we’ve been hosting a birthday giveaway for a free pair of tickets to Amsterdam. Nice tickets. And we’ve been asking commenters to tell us “what they would do” in Amsterdam as their form of entry.

Obviously we’ll be picking the winner out of a random number generator and can’t give any special preference to friends or witty comments. But sorting through some of the comments today in preparation for contest closure, I did find a few that gave me a tickle.

Excerpts:

” If I won these tickets I’ll spend all my time in the red-light district staying at a dingy hostle. I’ll stroll the streets, collar turned up against the cold, looking at the women of ill-repute and wondering what it is in me that would never let me even consider paying for sex? Is there some gene that didn’t get turned on? Is there some gene that did? I’m sure to be attracted to the red-light women, assuming I’m walking down a “good” street, but this won’t play into my decision to walk on by; it’s as if I was born with a sexual desire firewall in place that even I can’t hack. I guess this is a good thing though. Besides, this’ll only give me more time and money to spend in the coffee houses enjoying the different varieties of coffee. I’ll pass the chilly afternoons in a gray haze considering history and philosophy, as well as numerous deep questions: does God exist? Do we really have freewill? Who invented liquid soap and why? I’ll also focus on the 4 spectacular years of Gadlingosity that have led me to this place in time – tears will fill my eyes – and for one brief moment all will be right with the world. “
“Gadling I sent this email and never recieved confirmation. Please look for it thanks. Flying Gadling is always a happy experience, so I hope your 5th Birthday is as happy as you make all your passengers. I would love to use the tickets to take my husband to amsterdam, on our 45th wedding aniversary. This is the place of his anscestry, He always wanted to go. Life is about coming full circle, and what better of a way than to have life come full circle from California to Amsterdam than with Gadling. Thank you so much for making life worthwhile for so many. “
“If I won 2 first-class tickets on Open Skies, I would definitely ponder what “Gadling” actually means. Maybe it would be best to eat a slice of “space cake” at one of those Amsterdam bars again and plan how to best explore the new wonders of Europe. “

Gadling’s OpenSkies contest wraps up at 5PM today. If you haven’t entered yet, now’s your chance.