GearBits

Chernobyl On Two Wheels

Combine a pretty Ukrainian girl named Elena, a big ZX-11 Kawasaki, a Geiger counter and what's left of Chernobyl and you have a winning website in my book. Elena's probably ill-advised forays into the Chernobyl nuclear dead zone reap some really poignant photos and being the daughter of a nuclear physicist, her insight and commentary on the disaster is excellent. I had no idea the scope of the tragedy. Thanks to Elena, now I do.

Mobile Phones Legal On Some Flights

Travel news reports are noting that in some jurisdictions, mobile phones may now be operated in calendar, photo viewer or similar mode.

The British Civil Aviation Authority has begun allowing this in planes under its jurisdiction, because they've decided that - in this so-called "flight mode" with the radio disabled - phones do not interfere with pilot systems.

Furthermore, the BCAA suggests that all airlines should let travelers perform all other non-phone functions - read and write documents, play games - on smartphones, in the same vein as laptops, handheld games, or MP3 players.

Flight crews are saying it is not their responsibility to check for "flight mode", but the BCAA says it is. The BCAA does require that phones make it clear when their transmitter is off - for example, Sony Ericsson's P900 smartphone displays "FLIGHT MODE" on its display.

It is not clear whether the US Federal Aviation Administration will follow the BCAA's lead.

Passenger List to a Comet

On January 31, 2004, NASA closes their passenger list for a one-way trip to a comet.

On July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft will launch a 370-kg copper projectile into the surface of comet Tempel 1, forming a football-stadium-sized crater. In that projectile - which will be obliterated by the impact - will be a CD containing the names of spaceflight enthusiasts who signed on for this one-way trip to a comet.

As the projectile hits Tempel 1 at 37,000 kph, Deep Impact will collect pictures and data on the material ejected from the comet's new crater, the first-ever glimpse into the interior of a celestial snowball.

"This is an opportunity to become part of an extraordinary space mission," said Dr. Don Yeomans, member of the Deep Impact team. "When the craft is launched in December 2004, yours and the names of your loved-ones can hitch along for the ride and be part of what may be the best space fireworks show in history."

People can submit their names for the mission by visiting NASA's Deep Impact website.

China Shoots for the Moon

In my predictions for 2004, my number 8 headline was "China Announces Manned Moon Landing Program."

I made this prediction because over 2002-2003, China has been revving up their space program, culminating in the launch of the Shenzhou V spacecraft in October 2003, making them only the third nation to launch a man in space.

Well, my headline hasn't quite come to pass yet, but it's well on its way (and not bad for only 3 days into the New Year).

The China National Space Administration has just announced an ambitious three-stage Moon landing program. The target is to put a satellite into lunar orbit by 2007, followed by an unmanned landing by 2010, and finally to collect lunar soil samples by 2020.

Also known as the Chang'e Program (after a mythical goddess who travelled to the Moon), China's lunar program will depend on the Long March III-A launch vehicle and the Dongfanghong satellite platform.

Experts noted that the program does not mean that China now possesses manned landing capability. However, manned landings may be possible after completion of the three-stage program.

Flight: The Next 100 Years

The last 100 years of flight, ushered in by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903, saw man break the sound barrier, visit the moon, and even leave the solar system.

The next 100 years of flight, as envisaged by an article in the Economist, promise to be just as astounding.

If things come to pass as the reviewer expects, the skies of the future will be teeming with unmanned aerial verhicles, planes that morph into optimal flight shapes using memory materials, economically viable supersonic transport, planes powered by new sources of power, and - yes, people have been predicting this since forever - the personal air car.

New from Q: The Aquada

From the James Bond department, the Aquada is a convertible that transforms into a speedboat.

The high-speed amphibian (HSA) vehicle reaches speeds of up to 100 mph (160 kph) on land and 30 mph (48 kph) over water, taking seconds to make the change from sportscar to jet-powered speedboat.

The Aquada is powered by a 175-hp, V6 engine with a 4-speed auto tranny linked to a sealed jet propulsion system for marine operation. The car needs a slope or boat ramp to drive into the water, so unfortunately mid-air takeoffs and splashdowns are out.

However, the vehicle does meet all European road and marine safety standards and is fully-legal for both water and land use. Owners do need insurance for both uses.

Price tag? About £150,000... only about a week's wage if your agent code has a double-O prefix. Gibbs Technologies, makers of the Aquada, are not commenting on a rumored submarine version.

Travels...or Travails?

I just got back from 12 days of vacation. OK, it was Hawaii, if you must know (let the chorus of mock sympathies begin). While there, I found it difficult to maintain the high level of connectedness I've come to rely on in my daily life.

First, the hotel had no wireless access...anywhere. Not in the lobby and certainly not in the rooms. While this feature is common at better business hotels, I guess resorts don't feel that their guests are all that worried about it. Well, here's a note to all you resort owners: News Flash! We, your guests, want this feature even when we're on vacation. How do you expect us to be able to relax when we just know we'll be going back to face 1,000+ emails waiting for us?!

Second, the "business center" was a rather lame two-computer setup in a corner office. Internet access, like computer use in general, was an outrageous $5.00 plus $0.85 per minute! My one 17-minute use of the business center cost me nearly $20. While there were much cheaper Internet cafes around, they all required a drive to get there (not easily walkable).

Third, while I was able to rely heavily on my Kyocera 7135 Palm OS smartphone (pictured) for getting my email, downloading attachments and webpages was sloooow (I use Verizon's free dial-up Internet service). Also, composing longish emails using Graffiti is just painful. So, while I was able to keep up on my email, responding was much more limited. But, I have to say that Verizon's coverage on both Oahu and Maui was superb.

I know I'll look back on this trip with fond memories. But, had the hotel offered high-speed Wi-Fi access by the pool (or even [gasp!] down near the beach), I know I would have come away thinking this was perhaps one of the coolest hotels I'd stayed in. I mean, what would be better than a Mai Tai and Wi-Fi on Ka'uai?

Sodom and Gomorrah for the Common Man

I just returned from my first trip to Las Vegas and I am so blown away on so many levels that I just don't know where to start. OK, technology...

Vegas is just brimming with cutting edge tech on every front. You are assaulted by so much high dollar wizardy that you become jaded almost instantly. One hundred foot hi-def jumbotrons, four block long street covering light and music shows, life-like animatronic battles spewing flames and water and steam in the middle of a shopping mall. It's just surreal and it goes on 24/7 in a continuous alcohol besotted, chain smoking, smut infested, jiggling, titillating, cash wallowing, sinfest that will rip your head clean off it you let it.

Let's talk about the Bellagio fountain (inset picture). You've probably seen this thing on TV backdropping one of our latest scantilly clad pop princesses. Forget the no talent babe, this fountain is dynamite! It's a $40 million dollar, 900 foot long, computer controlled monster with 1200 nozzles and 4500 lights. I watched it six times and was gobsmacked every time as it blasted and swirled and cavorted to various tunes from every genre. When all 1200 nozzles turn into cannons and send their huge streams 240 feet in the air it's just a sensory overload.

How about old-tech? Have you been to the Hoover Dam? Don't miss it. The engineering scale of this dam is still mind boggling by today's standards. To think that we built this thing in 5 years during the great depression is hard to believe.

Money? I have seen very few places that exude so much wealth and power. I always thought Vegas was supposed to be trashy and brassy, but this new Vegas is pure class in every way. Sure, it's a nouveau riche kind of class, but there has been no expense spared in the new hotels, shows, shopping establishments, restaurants. Very impressive.

All in all, I liked Vegas a lot. I never thought I would, but I would love to go back and spend a lot more non-business related time. And win some more money!

China Launches Manned Spacecraft

China launched its first manned spacecraft today at 9 am, Beijing time. The Shenzhou-5 blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province atop a Long March II F rocket.

Yang Liwei, 38, a lieutenant colonel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), becomes the first taikonaut - Chinese astronaut - in space.

The Soviet Union launched the first man into space on April 12, 1961, with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Shortly after, on May 5, Alan Shepard became the first American in space.

Today's mission makes China the third nation to send a man into space.

Segways Recalled

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) and Segway LLC have announced the recall of the Segway human transporter (HT), after three people were injured in falls from the scooters. One person sustained a head injury, requiring stitches.

Resembling a souped-up reel lawn mower, the Segway HT can hit top speeds of 17 mph.

However, under certain conditions, primarily when the batteries are low, some Segways may not deliver enough power. In that instance, if the rider speeds up abruptly, encounters an obstacle, or continues to ride after receiving a low-battery alert - the Segway forgets its auto-balancing tricks, and the rider can fall.

The recall affects some 6,000 vehicles. Segway customers can receive a free software upgrade that will correct the problem.

Either that, or customers can turn to an alternate mode of transport, the Megway.

Back from the Wilderness

I survived 48 hours in the back-country. It turns out that my cell did have reception, but it was roaming, so no data service was available. For me, a voice-only cellphone is pretty much pointless.

Once on the highway (the wife was driving) heading back, however, data service was regained. I spent an hour wading through 180 emails sucked down to my Kyocera using the excellent Palm OS email client SnapperMail -- definitely recommended if you use your Palm OS device for industrial-strength email duty.

While out camping, however, my most useful piece of tech was my Swiss Army knife. Maybe somebody ought to start looking into how we can toss in some Wi-Fi or Bluetooth into these things. Why? Because we can...of course!

Into the Lo-Tek

Well, the wife and I are heading into the vast wilderness of Red River Gorge in South-Eastern Kentucky for a couple days of camping and hiking. While my trusty Kyocera 7135 will be with me, I seriously doubt there will be any cellular coverage anywhere in the vicinity. Kind of like having a Ferrari and no gasoline. At least I can get in some ebook reading if need be.

New Photos Posted

I've posted new photos in the Photography area of my website at http://craigfroehle.com/photography. Specifically, some select shots from our trips to Alaska and Hawaii (in 2002) were posted, and I added some sections about my camera equipment and some links related to digital photography. Enjoy.

Qantas -- the Gadgety Airline

Well, I just returned from 2 weeks in Australia. What a great country/continent! Thoroughly enjoyed just about every aspect of the trip. The worst part was the 16-hour flight between Melbourne and LAX on the way home, and that was mostly tolerable. Qantas is a pretty great airline, from my limited exposure to it. It really tried to make the trip enjoyable, but being surrounded by bawling 3-year olds (not mine, other peoples') for 16 hours will make anyone question his sanity, let alone not get much sleep.

The coolest thing about the Qantas flight was that it was on a pretty new Boeing 747 (2002, I believe). We were flying coach and every seat had its own 8" LCD display in the seatback ahead. Now, I immediately thought, "how cool...the tall guy in the seat ahead of me won't block my view of the movies." Well, that wasn't the half of it. Each seat had its own controller that you could use to select from about 12 channels of continuously running programming (movies, tv shows, news, etc.) as well as 10 different video games (simple stuff like trivia, backgammon, Tetris, and a Loderunner-esque game). How much did each of these features cost, you ask? Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Was I ever a happy camper to find that out. Just hit "On" on the controller and it's there just waiting for you.

All this gadgety goodness got me to thinking what other kinds of tech-related services they could (or should) offer to help us wary passengers pass the time. Here's a short list:

1) Multi-player head-to-head gaming. An obvious next step would be to let multiple players on the plane compete with each other. At the least, it'd be nice to play virtual backgammon with your pal in the next seat. But, it would be quite the treat to have a Quake/Warcraft server on board to let the more violent-minded of us get some frags in on the long journey.

2) Instant messaging. For large groups, like tours, it would make talking to each other a lot easier than shouting over the heads of sleeping passengers (who, if awakened, can be a bit surly). Granted, entering text would be limited to T9 or something akin to a phone-pad, but that's certainly better than nothing.

3) Video-on-demand. As it was, the 12 channels of programming looped every 2.5 hours, so if you wanted to see a second movie, you had to wait for the 45 minutes or whatever after the first one ended to start the second one. The other disadvantage to not having it VoD is if you make a bad choice (e.g., choosing to watch Matthew Perry's Serving Sara) and decide to abandon the movie after 20 minutes, you're screwed until the 2.5-hour mark rolls around again.

4) Memory card readers in the controller. Stick a CF-slot in there and make adapters available for the asking from the flight attendant. That way, you can sit there and share all those kewl vacation photos you took with your friends and neighbors.

5) Internet access. Sure, I can dream. Heck, if I'm dreaming, make it broadband access as well.

6) Access to an MP3 library. Hook up with a major record label and provide access to the entirety of the company's offerings. Since you're listening through their headphones on their system, it'd be somewhat secure. I think this would be pretty trivial to do if they really wanted to. Just add some "Buy this album now" buttons and you've got a built-in revenue stream from a captive audience.

Anyway, those are just a few ideas. I'm glad to see that some airlines are embracing the future, at least in some ways. It's still a bit ironic that this good-sized color LCD screen in the seatback was on throughout the flight (runway to runway) but my little low-res, low-power monochrome PDA had to be "switched off until 20 minutes into the flight." Oh, well...