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Scott Carmichael

- http://www.gadling.com

Scott spends most of his time playing with the latest and greatest travel gadgets. No trip is complete without at least 10 pounds of gadgets and 3 mobile phones. Got a great gadget you'd like to share with the Gadling readers? Send an email to scott AT gadling.com.

Hijack scare blamed on TSA screwup at Florida airport

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 8th, 2009 at 12:30PM

It may appear that we tend to pick on the TSA a lot here on Gadling, but the agency is just a never ending source of stuff for us to write about. The latest incident involving the people that run airport security comes from Northwest Florida Regional Airport.

Several minutes after a Delta Airlines jet departed from the airport, TSA officials made a call to have the plane turn around and head back.

Unfortunately, they failed to notify the local Air Force base. When the base noticed the plane taking a different course than they had filed, a call went out to local law enforcement. The call history showed that the security staff at Eglin Air Force Base advised of a possible hijack attempt. The request asked for "anyone available, including a SWAT team".

It took 20 minutes for dispatchers to confirm that there was no hijack attempt, and that the plane had been asked to return so they could screen a TSA staff member. According to TSA officials, there had been "some discrepancies" in the way they screened their own employee.

As is often the case, the TSA is "reviewing the incident" and will take "appropriate action if necessary". I'm sure that makes us all feel much safer.

Daily gear deals - 74 cent iPod FM Transmitter, $90 HD Camcorder and more

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 8th, 2009 at 10:30AM

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Sunday November 8th 2009. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is for a Griffin iTrip nano FM Transmitter. It is designed for the Apple iPod Nano and is on sale for just 74 cents. Shipping is $4.49. Click here for this deal.

Next up is the Creative Vado HD pocket digital camcorder. This HD camera records on its internal 8GB memory and comes with an HDMI Cable and built in USB connector. On sale for just $89.99, with free shipping. Click here for this deal.

If you regularly find yourself with a dead iPod or iPhone, then check out this $6.99 backup battery pack. It plugs into the dock connector of your player and can be recharged using your current iPod charger. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, if you are interested in dumping your books and going digital, then check out the refurbished Amazon Kindle. It'll save a bit off the price of a new unit, and still comes with the same warranty as a brand new one. On sale for $219.99. Click here for this deal.

Why the TSA insists on screening wheelchairs

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 1:00PM

Screening airline passengers in a wheelchair has often been a bit of a hot topic. For some reason, people get wound up when they see the TSA searching every corner of a wheelchair, as if disabled people should automatically be trusted and allowed to pass through without a search of their chair.

The TSA understood this criticism, and decided to do a little research. As it turns out, people in a wheelchair are just as much of a threat as the rest of us, and screeners regularly find items hidden in a wheelchair.

Earlier this year, a passenger in wheelchair was arrested when agents found packages of cocaine. And just a month ago, agents found not one, but two loaded guns under the cushion of a wheelchair in Milwaukee. In this case, the gentleman had simply "forgotten" he still had them there, but this does show how easy it is to hide items like guns in a wheelchair.

So, next time you see the TSA give a disabled passenger in a wheelchair an enhanced search, just remember that anyone can attempt to bring unwelcome items on a plane, disabled or not.

Gadling app review - Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear (iPhone/iPod Touch)

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 11:30AM

Several days ago, Katie mentioned a new application from Virgin Atlantic called "Flying Without Fear". I'm always on the lookout for new and innovative travel apps, so I took this one for a spin.

The first thing you notice in the application is how well it is designed - the colors are all in the familiar Virgin tints (red and purple) and navigation is a breeze. The best place to start is with the introduction video.

Richard Branson himself welcomes you to the application, and lets you know he'd love to meet you "up there" some day. Part two of the course is an explanation of the in-flight experience. This 11 minute video clip walks you though the various stages of flight.

Slacker Personal Radio comes to Android

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 10:00AM

This has been a pretty big week for Android fans. Verizon Wireless became the third US operator to hop on board the Android bandwagon, and did so with not one, but two different Android devices.

The Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris are bother very impressive phones. Of course, a good smartphone becomes a great smartphone when developers create high quality applications for the platform.

One of those apps to be released this week is the Slacker Personal Radio player. It appeared in the Android market on Thursday, and is free of charge.

Using the app is free as well - though if you want to remove ads and add the ability to skip more than 6 tracks an hour, you'll want to consider upgrading to Slacker Radio Plus (starting at just $3.99/month).

The app mimics the Slacker browser interface nicely, and you get the same favorite/block controls that give you full control over your music preferences.

I found the time to load tracks a bit on the long side, even when on 3G, and unlike on the Blackberry Slacker version, no tracks are cached to the memory card, so you will always need to be in range of WiFi or a cell signal to use Slacker. And, unlike on the iPhone, Slacker runs nicely in the background, and even shows your current track in the Android dropdown notification bar.

Daily gear deals - $30 noise canceling headphones, pocket hard drive and more

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 9:30AM

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Saturday November 7th 2009. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is for a 500GB pocket external hard drive. This Toshiba drive is great for holding backups of your files on the road, or for filling with music and movies. On sale for just $89.88. Click here for this deal.

Next up is the Garmin 260W widescreen GPS unit. This popular device has maps of the USA and Canada and features text to speech for spoken street name directions. On sale for $139.99. Click here for this deal.

If you are looking for a good quality pair of noise canceling headphone, then check out the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3's over at buydig.com. These normally retail for about $60, but if you don't mind them refurbished, you'll only pay $29! Shipping is free, and the package includes a carrying pouch and plug adapter. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, head on over to Yugster.com for a two pack of keychain digital displays. These little things show the temperature, humidity, compass and moon phase. They also include a flashlight, a calendar and an alarm with snooze. The two pack is on sale for just $15.97, and while you may not immediately know what to do with them, they'd probably make a fun gift for someone who enjoys being outdoors. Click here for this deal.

Eight months in a Swedish prison for drunk Ryanair passenger

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 1:30PM

Back in June, a drunk Ryanair passenger started to freak out, and attempted to open the aircraft door in the middle of a flight from Riga to London.

The man had finished an entire liter of vodka and a couple of beers, and it took two professional boxers to get him away from the door and pin him to the ground.

The plane ended up making an emergency landing in Sweden to dispose of their drunk cargo, which means it was up to a Swedish judge to sentence the drunkard. The judge handed him an 8 month sentence, and a substantial fine, payable to Ryanair.

The man claims he can't remember any of the incident, and blames it all on his fear of flying. The Swedish prosecutor didn't buy it, and is actually appealing the sentence as he feels it is too light. Similar cases ended up with about 18 month sentences.

The good news is that aircraft doors are virtually impossible to open midflight due to the pressure difference between the outside air and cabin.

Want to ignore airport security rules? Become a celebrity!

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 12:00PM

Airport security took a bit of blow this week when Britney Spears passed through LAX security carrying... a Big Gulp! I'm not a big fan of paparazzi (or Britney Spears for that matter), but the underlying story is interesting enough to deserve a closer look.

When Britney passed through the checkpoint, she was carrying her Big Gulp, something you and I would be told to throw away. Apparently being a famous singer gets you a special waiver, because none of the TSA staff told her to dump it.

Initially, there was some outrage from TSA opponents, as a drink like that is not permitted. TSA blogger "Bob" was quick to defend the TSA agents by pointing out that there were only ice chips in the cup, and that as long as the cup is put through the x-ray, ice chips are permitted.

As far as the TSA was concerned, that was end of the story. This is where the paparazzi come in handy, because they filmed Britney clearly carrying the cup through the checkpoint, without it ever passing through the x-ray equipment.

So, next time you don't want to spend $6 on an airport drink, just put on a Britney Spears mask or find yourself a career in entertainment, it'll make your trips to the airport so much easier.

Daily gear deals - $25 PDA, $70 Kodak digital camera and more

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 11:00AM

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Friday November 6th 2009. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Feeling nostalgic? Or just in need of a low-frills PDA that can sync with your desktop computer? Expansys is selling the good old m500 Palm PDA for just $24.95. They add a pretty insane $10.95 for shipping, but that still makes the final price pretty cheap for this device. The unit is refurbished and comes with a docking cradle. Click here for this deal.

Walmart is selling a fairly basic 8 megapixel Kodak digital camera kit for just $69. The kit includes 2 rechargeable batteries, a charger and a camera pouch. The camera itself features a 3x optical zoom and a 2.4" LCD display.

Next up is a green SwissGear laptop backpack. It has all the kind of stuff you'd expect from a decent computer backpack, including a built in organizer and an audio pocket with headphone opening. On sale for just $29.03. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, Newegg is selling a Plantronics Explorer Bluetooth headset for just $11.99 with free shipping. It is a fairly basic little headset, but the brand is good and it comes with a MicroUSB AC charger. Click here for this deal.

Expedia drops telephone booking fees

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 5th, 2009 at 3:30PM

There is a bit of a war going on between the various large online travel sites. They are battling each other to see who can provide the best service, with the lowest fees. Of course, this war really only has one winner - consumers.

This morning, Expedia announced the removal of all telephone booking fees for trips booked through their service. This may not sound like a very important change, but when you consider that the airlines charge as much as $25 per person, per telephone booking, you'll quickly realize that being able to book that same ticket through Expedia without any fees could come in quite handy.

The company eliminated online air booking fees and change fees and cancel fees on all hotel and car rental reservations in May 2009. Cruise change and cancel fees were also eliminated in May 2009 and cruise booking fees were eliminated in October 2009.

It is an odd world when big travel firms like Expedia are able to provide a better service than the airlines themselves, but as I said - we consumers are the real winners here.

Being able to book a flight over the phone is perfect for people who hate making online reservations, or if you need an last minute flight reservation and don't want to deal with the hassle of finding a computer with Internet access.