iPods Save Lives

by Iva Skoch on

There is some usefulness to iPods, outside of playin’ tunes.

Here’s a wild photo of an iPod which took a bullet for a soldier in Iraq.

According to the post, the soldier (Kevin Garrad, we’re told) faced off against an insurgent with an AK-47. Both fired, just a few feet from each other, and a bullet hit the soldier’s chest pocket, holding his iPod. The iPod helped slow the bullet so that it didn’t penetrate his body armor, and probably saved his life. The insurgent had no iPod protection and didn’t fare as well.

source: tikigod

Volaris to Rent iPods for $5? Ay Caramba!

by Willy Volk on

Volaris, Mexico’s low-cost airline, began loaning passengers 30 GB iPods for free on February 8. Currently, the MP3 players come pre-loaded with Mexican TV shows and popular music. Soon, the airline plans to load the iPods with U.S. sitcoms and other music genres.

Though the salty snacks and fizzy drinks will remain complimentary, the iPod rental’ll cost passengers about $5 per flight — just as soon as they can collect all the units they distributed on that last leg to Tijuana…

[Via Jaunted]

In-flight iPod Seat Connections: Watch Your Movies On The Plane

by Jonathon Morgan on

Looks like United, Delta and Continental “hope to install iPod seat connections in their plans by mid-2007.” But so what, right? Isn’t that why you have an iPod — because you don’t need to plug it in to use it?

But according to Apple, this means that travelers can “power and charge their iPods during flight and allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on the seat back displays.”

Finally! An alternative to in-flight movies for overseas trips. I’ve been on maybe two flights in my life where the movie selection wasn’t awful, and even when there is something decent, they’ve inevitably edited it so thoroughly for “offensive content” that it’s barely worth watching.

Beyond the domestic carriers, it looks like Air France, Emirates and KLM will also be installing the iPod connections.

I think I’ll wait to plan my next European trip until after these get installed — just so I can try it out!

Senator Luger Proposes Ban on Cell Phones and iPods In Crosswalks

by Willy Volk on

After a pedestrian using an MP3 player was struck and killed in a crosswalk in New York, Senator Carl Kruger announced plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones while crossing the street comparable to jaywalking, which as we all know, is a highly enforced law. According to Kruger, “While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they’re tuning out the world around them.”

Next up: Kruger plans to ban pedestrians from chatting with their friends, looking at birds, reading street signs, and daydreaming.

Greenland Kayak Rolls

by Erik Olsen on

As cold as it is outside here in New York City (and it is cold, damn cold), this video gave me the chills. But it is also a wonderful little educational vid about how to pull off the perfect eskimo roll in your kayak.

The video features one Andrew Elizaga as he performs a range of traditional Greenland kayak rolls in his skin-on-frame East Greenland replica qajaq. A BEAUTIFUL, nay gorgeous boat. Elizaga is all gussied up in a complete wet suit, which, once you take a gander at the environs in which he performs said rolls, you will know why. I’d love to take a pano here.

I imagine in a way that this would be a fairly educational bit of video, but I doubt you’d want to carry along your computer when you try out some of these rolls. Maybe bring your video ipod in your handy H2O waterproof case.