iPhone 'App' Of The Week : Lightsaber

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9/10/2008 – iPhone 'App' Of The Week : Lightsaber

This week's iPhone 'App' Of The Week comes from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away………and it has absolutely nothing to do with photography or travel. In fact if I was pressed to come up with a useful application for this 'App' I could only say that it will bring a little joy to your life and that it might quench some boredom during long layovers.

Lightsaber is just what you think it is. This iPhone 'App' turns your iPhone into a Star Wars lightsaber. Five of the six Star Wars films have kept me company through countless flights (I am not a fan of one of the movies). I have watched Star Wars DVDs during long layovers on three continents, one sub-continent.

At one point in my office at my former magazine, where I served as the Director of Photography, I had six senior editors and my daughter crammed in my office (that at best should only accommodate two people) watching the original Star Wars film in its entirety.

.............maybe there is a tie between travel, photography and Star Wars for me!

What can Lightsaber do for you? You can pick your Star Wars character (this 'App' only primarily has unknown characters), flip on some 'App' supplied Star Wars theme music, fire up your lightsaber and have a lightsaber dual with a fellow iPhone user (or if you are really tired and delirious from jet lagged you can battle with no one..... who am I kidding I battle with no one all the time). As you move your lightsaber your iPhone gives off the familiar humming sound of a Star Wars light saber, when you strike something your iPhone emits the familiar clashing sound of a lightsaber.

My lightsaber never comes off of Darth Vader. Let's face it; there are few characters in the history of cinema that are nearly as cool of Darth Vader.

I think everyone should download Lightsaber. Even if you're not a Star Wars fanatic this is just a fun ‘App.’ Have two iPhones in your house? Friends have iPhones? Have them download Lightsaber as well and enjoy a friendly dual.

Below are five photos of the Lightsaber 'App' on my iPhone.

Happy Flying (in a galaxy far far away.........)!
--Click Images To Enlarge Them--

Cathay Pacific Lets You Experience Landing At Some Of The World's Greatest Airports

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1/09/2008 – Cathay Pacific Lets You Experience Landing At Some Of The World's Greatest Airports

Have you ever wondered what it looked like to peer out of the cockpit of a Boeing 777-300 as it approached New York's JFK airport? Have you ever wanted to look out the cockpit window of a Boeing 747-400 as it approached one of the steepest and most dangerous airports in the world (Hong Kong's old Kai Tak airport)? Well now you can.........sort of.

Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) has recently added an interesting online experience for visitors to its interactive web site. This feature allows you to go into a flight simulator with CX's Captains and First Officers as they train for landings in the Boeing 747-400 and 777-300 simulators.

While it is fun to watch to the arrivals through the simulator cockpit window at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport (HKG), New York's JFK (JFK), Sydney's Kingsford Smith International (SYD), London Heathrow (LHR) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the real thrill is to be able to watch both day time and night time approaches into the now abandoned Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport.

Why is watching the approach from a pilots point of view into the old Kai Tak International Airport so thrilling? Because the approach into this airport was amazing, world famous and appeared to be a controlled "suicide dive” towards the airport.

The end of Runway 13 (the end most aircraft landed from) had a slight problem with direct approaches, the heavily populated area of Western Kowloon, the crowded Victoria Harbour and the minor inconvenience of a Mountain Range (who builds a runway in the middle of a busy international harbour and facing a mountain range? I have no idea).

Pilots would need to fly fairly low looking for a red-and-white 'checker-board' sign facing up at them from the ground then make a very steep right turn less than 2 miles from the runway, followed by a final right turn at an altitude of less than 700 feet.

Sounds challenging, right? Now add in the normal inconsistent cross-winds coming down off a mountain range into a large busy shipping harbour and you might get the idea of why watching landings at the old Kai Tak Airport were SPECTACULAR!

So want to experience landing at Kai Tak for yourself from the front seat of a Boeing 747-400 on a steep downward approach?

Check out the Cathay Pacific Experience here: www.cathaypacific.aero/index_en.html

When watching the video watch the incredible steep turn in the approach guidance lights on the ground!

Happy Flying!

--Click Below To View An Actual Approach into Kai Tak Airport--

Long Haul Flight Sanity Revisited : 'Pimp Your PSP'

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21/07/2008 - Long Haul Flight Sanity Revisited : 'Pimp Your PSP'

Having traveled extensively with my Sony Play Station Portable (PSP) over the last few months I have become very fond of this pocket sized source of entertainment.

I have discussed the Sony PSP in previous posts, such as this post 15/04/2008 - Long Haul Flight Sanity : Hand Held Movies. As I have integrated my Sony PSP into my 'travel sanity' it has become my entertainment device of choice. Compared to using my laptop or portable DVD player the Sony PSP offers far more advantages than disadvantages. Obviously the PSP's screen is far smaller than that of a laptop or portable DVD, but it's ability to keep someone entertained for hours and hours and hours while in-transit more than makes up for screen size.

On a recent 70-hour journey that took me from New York to Beijing to Hong Kong to Beijing to New York I was able to use my PSP to watch movies for an astonishing 13 hours on two batteries. Once I arrived in Hong Kong I charged both batteries and watched movies on the entire return leg as well, try that with a laptop or portable DVD player.

How did I get such incredible battery life? Simple, I moved away from the 'UMD' disk movies and ripped movies from DVD directly to Memory-Stick Duo flash media. A single 4gb Memory Stick Duo can hold 8 movies! By using a Memory Stick Duo rather than a UMD disk the PSP draws no power for spinning the disk or reading the disk. Playing a movie on the PSP with these memory devices draws almost no power from the PSP when compared to other options. Solid-state memory increases battery life while also cutting down on significant space taken up by UMD disks. It is a win-win way to store your movies.

Since handling the PSP in you hands to watch a movie can be tiresome I travel with PSP Swing-Grip from Naki. For US$15 I can place my PSP in the Swing-Case, which doubles as a stand. The case can be used for transporting your PSP, or keeping it clan while playing games on your PSP. I personally transport my PSP in another case, but use the Swing-Grip to prop up the PSP to watch movies on the tray table to while away the hours.

So what now travels in my ultra-compact PSP-Kit?
- Newswear Small Press Pouch (everythink fits in the Newswear Pouch)
- Naki Swing-Case
- Skull Candy 'Low Rider' headsets
- Sony PSP (Limited Edition Star Wars model)
- Two 2gb Memory-Stick Duos / Two 4gb Memory-Stick Duos
- Spare PSP extended life 2200mah battery
- Sony PSP power supply
- Manhattan Portage 1004 Accessory Case (sleeve for PSP)

This kit fits neatly in even the tightest of packing situations (for ultra-tight packing situations I don't pack the Skull Candy headsets). The space taken up by this set up is far smaller than that of the most compact portable DVD player.


Elsewhere in my gear I pack an addition external PSP battery charger and second 'spare' 2200mah battery for the PSP. I also pack a set of Sony MDR-NC22 noise canceling headsets.

Below is a photo of my 'PSP Sanity Kit' on the bumper of my 1990 Volvo 245. Why is it on the bumper of my Volvo wagon at the beach? No idea, I just felt like playing around (a similar style shoot may show up again later this week :0))

Happy Flying!
--Click Image To Enlarge--