Photo of the Day (12.23.08)

by Grant Martin on

Having nice weather this Christmas? Yeah, me neither. If you’ve ventured even close to an airport or a newscast in the last week you probably know that 3/4 of the country is buried under snow right now and that flights and passengers are in chaos.

In case you happen to be one of those poor souls stuck at the airport this Tuesday afternoon, I thought I would give you something to take your mind off the weather. This shot, taken by StrudelMonkey in Boracay, Philippines, depicts the exact polar opposite of where I am right now, and where I’m sure many of us want to be. Close your eyes, don’t think about that screaming child in the row across from you and pretend its 80 degrees outside. Isn’t that nice?

Have any cool photos you’d like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr, and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day.

Photo of the Day (10.21.08)

by Grant Martin on

With Continental‘s fall fares well underway, I’ve been toying around with the idea of going down to Honduras for a long weekend this November. Just off of the north coast of the Central American country are the Bay Islands, home to some magnificent beaches, crystal clear water, fantastic snorkeling and this sweet starfish. Yeah. Maybe it’s time to pull the trigger on that trip.

Flickr user romeoaban took this shot in Cayos Cochinos, Honduras.

Have any cool photos you’d like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr, and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day.

Experience the Sea without Going to the Sea

by Josh Lew on

The Great Lakes are among the most underrated tourist destinations in the US. Take Lake Superior, for example. Today I walked along the Lake in Duluth, Minnesota and watched gigantic ships come into the harbor. In certain ways, it felt more like the Pacific Northwest than the Midwest.

Of course, there are some aspects of this area that remind you of where you are:
1. Most of the conversations you overhear are about hockey, even though it’s not hockey season for another few months.
2. People here think that the best way to prepare freshly caught fish is to dip it in batter and deep fry it.
3. The guest services people at the hotels often refuse tips, responding to your gesture as if you have just offered them a bribe to help you remove a body from your room.

Other aspects of Duluth and Lake Superior are more sea-like and cosmopolitan. The lakefront area of downtown is filled with cool bars and live music venues. Students from UMD (University of Minnesota Duluth) give this strip a youthful vibe. And then there are the cruises, sea gulls, the port, the brick buildings, and all the other things that you might find in a mid-sized port town on either of the coasts. I’ll have more from this freshwater sea later in the week.

Photo of the Day (08.05.08)

by Grant Martin on

So this is what Cuban beaches look like. Today’s photo of the day comes from localsurfer, who very well captures the image of a place that I want to be right now — at a beach, playing in the surf, away from the humidity of the upper Midwest. Nice shot, localsurfer. Maybe some day I’ll be able to take one like this myself.

Have any cool photos you’d like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr, and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day.

Take your gadgets on your next diving trip

by Scott Carmichael on

Our friends over at Engadget have posted about a new product that could revolutionize the way we use, and travel with our gadgets. The product is called “Golden Shellback” and is a new way of coating any kind of device, and making it waterproof.

The product is a development of the Northeast Maritime Institute in Fairhaven, MA.

Applying Golden Shellback involves placing the item in a vacuum and coating it with what they call a “vacuum deposited film”.

In videos released by the institute, you can clearly see them pour water on a laptop, a Blackberry and even an iPod touch.

The coating even adds the ability to repel oils, hazardous materials, dirt, dust and sand from your prized possession.

Imagine a world where you can bring your MP3 player along on your next trip, and not worry about using it in the rain, or on the beach. Or, next time someone spills a can of soda on your laptop duing some heavy turbulance, simply rinse it off and get back to work.

The Northeast Maritime Institute has a site dedicated to Golden Shellback (and if you want to know where the name comes from, you can read this Wikipedia article).