Your Kindness When Flying Is Appreciated, Believe Me

by Chris Owen on

When we think of flying, thoughts often turn to pricing, legroom and luggage fees among other contemporary issues. Back in the good old days of air travel, it was more about the fun of flying, brand loyalty and what might be served for lunch. But guess what? We have the power to turn back the clock to a happier time in the air with some common courtesy.

On a recent international flight, I happened to be talking to the passenger sitting right behind me in coach before takeoff. Everyone was getting settled in, arranging their cramped space, putting books, iPads, headphones, snacks and other items within easy reach.

When I mentioned that I had work to do and would probably not sleep or recline, that passenger behind me joyously proclaimed, “Oh thank God!” He went on to say how much he appreciated the thought and noted, “That’s just common flight courtesy.” Others chimed in, agreeing with him.

I really did not think much about it at the time. But in reflection, that few inches the seat goes back really does not make all that much difference when I do try to sleep on a flight. It’s not like reclining turns the narrow coach seat into a Lazy Boy with heated massage capability anyway. But not reclining can mean so much to the person behind us that loses the space.We may not be able to bring back in-flight meals on domestic coach flights or bigger seats to go along with cut-rate fares. But looking at the business of flying in a slightly different way can make all the difference in the world.


[Photo- Chris Owen]

3 More Apps All Travelers Should Download

by Libby Zay on

Here at Gadling, we think technology and travel go hand-and-hand. We use apps when hiking, to find food, and to get to know the locals, among many other things (like, for example, simply passing the time). Of course, new apps are being developed every day and we’re also finding innovative ways to use apps that might not necessarily be branded for travelers. Here are three news apps that can help make technology work for you when traveling.

WooFound
Free
After struggling to find things to do and places to eat that matched his and his date’s tastes, Joshua Spears set off to create a web personalization app that could help. The process is simple: the WooFound app displays photos of restaurants, events, attractions and more that could possibly fit a user’s interest, and the user decides if the images are “Me” or “Not me.” The app learns your preferences along the way, and uses location-based technology to relay suggestions. With a promise that no two users will have an identical personality profile, this is a great tool for someone who is exploring a new city and doesn’t know where to go. Unless, of course, you’re traveling with others – that could present a problem!Matchbook
Free
With a name inspired by a time when visitors would take an artfully designed matchbook from a restaurant as a token of remembrance, the Matchbook app is a tool for helping you save location details and other information on important places. The app is helpful when a friend rattles off a laundry list of bars suggestions, or when you’re walking down the street and want to remember to return to a place you passed. Even better, Matchbook not only takes the best places from your list, but also the top places from everyone else who uses the app, and it maps them. So not only will you never forget the places you wanted to check out, but you won’t get lost along the way.

PressReader
Free to download, then $0.99 per publication or $29.95/month
Download the PressReader app and scroll through more than 2,000 magazines and newspapers with ease. That number includes local, national and international publications, meaning you can have access to what is happening in cities across the world before you even land. Page by page, the publications are presented exactly as you would find them in print, only on the convenience of your mobile device. Download publications before you set off on a trip and then get prepped for your trip on the plane.

More App Guides on Gadling
Travel Apps Help You Explore Like A Local
10 Best Photography Apps For Travelers
Use Your Mobile Apps Better
iPhone Travel Apps Ranked By Actual Usage
10 Best Travel Apps For Frequent Fliers
Where Are All The Travel Guide Apps for Android?

[Photo by saanjaybhatia, Flickr]

Supersonic Free Fall From Edge Of Space One Step Closer

by Chris Owen on

The exact date for Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic free fall from the edge of space is not yet scheduled. But this week, the Austrian daredevil jumped from 18 miles above the planet, coming one step closer to setting the record for the world’s highest skydive.

Baumgartner, an expert skydiver who started jumping at age 16, hopes to become the first human to break the sound barrier without a plane. To do that, he will have to set a world record 125,000-foot dive (that’s 23 miles) armed with gear that will slow him down and keep him alive during the nearly six minute free fall.

Part of a Red Bull-sponsored event, Baumgartner’s 60-pound parachute system includes a main chute, an emergency backup and an oxygen system. Should he go spinning out of control, a stabilizing drogue, also along for the ride, will be deployed.

Make no mistake, this is no weekend skydiver out for a joy ride.

“The pressure is huge, and we not only have to endure but excel,” Baumgartner told ABC News before his jump reports Space. “We’re excellently prepared, but it’s never going to be a fun day. I’m risking my life, after all.”

The previous record, jumping from nearly 103,000 feet, was set on August 16, 1960, by Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger who is serving as a consultant on this latest attempt that hopes to be a supersonic free fall.

Here is an animation from Red Bull Stratos that tells the story


[Image via Red Bull]

Photo Of The Day: Golden Kayakers

by Chris Owen on

This Photo of the Day comes from Gadling Flickr pool member James Wheeler who captured this image titled “Golden Kayakers” with a Nikon D-5000.

James captions the image: “Kayaking the Vancouver shoreline is a common activity for tourists and many can be seen enjoying the view in the summer. I took this photo from the shoreline below BC as the sun set on a long Vancouver summer day.”

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as Photos of the Day.

Tips for getting featured: in your Flickr account, check “Privacy and Permissions,” and check “yes” on “Allow others to share your stuff.” Adding information about your image does not hurt your chances either.

On Traveling Without The Big DSLR Camera

by Pam Mandel on


I own a Nikon D200 with some extra stuff, including a 28-300 telephoto lens that weighs a ton. I have a Panasonic Lumix (that’s what I used to shoot this picture of dusk in the Serengeti), and an iPhone. I have a video camera, too (the only thing on my list of gear that I did not pay for – I got the video camera in a promotional scheme two years ago). I’ve traveled with all of this stuff and used it all, though I’ll confess that I never did fall in love with the video camera.

I have some formal training in photography, some hardcore classroom time combined with some unofficial apprenticeship with an architectural photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am no stranger to the darkroom (oh, I just gave away my age). I used to shoot, develop and print my own work, though I don’t miss the darkroom. Digital photography has made me love the art even more, though I decried the clumsiness of my first 3-megapixel camera – the metering was bad, the battery life atrocious and the optics, second rate. Digital gear has eaten film now; the quality is just as good and the optics in my phone are 97 times better than that of my first digital camera.

And while I’m not sorry I hauled my full kit to Antarctica and the Serengeti, I am dead tired of carrying all that weight around. A day behind that heavy SLR with the telephoto, and my arm aches. I hate the hassle of carrying around a pack full of lenses, batteries, maybe a flash, a tripod, and whatever extras I’ve packed in preparation. Sometimes, a full pack of photo gear is what keeps me from traveling carryon only. And there’s the added concern about the value of all that gear – a need to keep it safe and under my watch.

I’ve been shooting with my iPhone 4s for about six months now, and with a Panasonic Lumix for maybe two years. When I headed overseas last month, I decided to make a leap of faith and leave behind the big guns and travel with gear that I could fit in my pockets or the little Swiss Army shoulder bag I like to carry when I travel.

%Gallery-160397%Did I miss having my DSLR? Not at all. I felt surprisingly light and taking pictures was easy – easier than on any trip I’ve ever taken. I split my use about 50/50 between my new Lumix and my iPhone, and the work I got was as good as on any trip that I took with my DSLR. Here are some of the reasons I loved shooting light:

  • Low light: I don’t own the lenses for my DSLR to shoot in low light without a tripod. Night shots – I could never get them right before. My phone and my pocket camera handle low light much better than my SLR.
  • Point-and-shoot: Good photography is about the eye, not about the gear, and my point-and-shoot lets me do just that, fast. Read a little Cartier-Bresson on the decisive moment, and you’ll see what I mean.
  • Super smart settings: Yes, you can tweak the settings like crazy, but you can also shoot in auto. Go ahead, call me lazy – whatever. I’m using the brain inside the camera to enable my eye. I like being able to do that.
  • Display over viewfinder: With my SLR, I was always stopping, steadying, framing – with a camera stuck to my face. It interrupts the conversation. Shooting from my solar plexus allows me to watch and listen and shoot at the same time.
  • Ease of access and use: My camera was always right there, not zipped away so it was padded and protected, so I simply shot more pictures. It fits in my back pocket; it’s about the same size as my wallet, so it’s easy to take anywhere.
  • Serious zoom: The 20x optical zoom on my Lumix is rated as equivalent to a 35-500 lens. That’s some range for optics that fit in a camera that’s the size of my wallet and weighs about the same.

The downside?

  • Bright light: It’s hard to see the viewfinder in brightly lit settings. At a few locations, I wished for a viewfinder and this camera does not have one.
  • The menus are insane: Sure, I’ll figure them out. But I know all the controls and what they do on my DSLR and I can tweak them fast. The navigation system viewfinder-based pocket cameras are basically a computer and you navigate through it as such. This is a learning curve issue that I’m sure I’ll master.

Lots of companies are making higher-end pocket cameras – my favorite is Lumix by Panasonic, but Olympus makes them, and Nikon and Canon too, as well as a number of other electronics brands. We’ve upgraded the Lumix three times at our house – not because it was broken, but because we wanted the improvements. I can’t speak to the other brands, I simply don’t know them, but I can say that yes, it is possible to get thoroughly satisfying shots with only a pocket camera. I loved traveling that much lighter, and what did I sacrifice? Not much. Not much at all.