Gadling

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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.

Refusal to tip for lousy restaurant service results in arrest

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 4:00PM

Tipping is a really complicated issue in the US. What was once introduced as a way to reward good service, has now turned into a way for patrons to actually pay the salary of restaurant workers. One of my biggest pet peeves with tipping is the mandatory tip on groups. This used to be added to groups of 12 or more, then it dropped to 8 or more, and nowadays most places consider a group of 6 people to be large enough to warrant a mandatory 18% tip - no matter how lousy the service.

Leslie Pope and John Wagner encountered this stupid rule at the Lehigh pub in Bethlemen, PA. Their group was served by a pretty useless waitress who made them wait over an hour for their order, forced them to refill their own drinks and even navigate the restaurant to get their own napkins and silverware.

When it came time to pay, they were presented with a $73 check, plus a $16 tip. When they refused to pay the tip, the pub called the police and had them arrested. They were actually handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

Where to go for fast food - the flowchart edition

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 3:30PM

American food blog "eating the road" has come up with one of the best uses for a flowchart I have ever seen. By answering some simple questions, you'll be told where to go for your daily dose of crappy fast food. The chart points west coasters to the stores the rest of the country dreams of getting, and sends all Canadians to Tim Hortons.

The chart covers 16 of the most popular US fast food chains, and even takes your sobriety into account (only drunk people will survive sliders).

Click here for the full version of the chart

Cruise ship technology - staying in touch with the mainland

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 1:30PM

There is no denying that we live in a connected world - and cruise ships are no exception. What used to be an opportunity to get away from everything and just sit back and relax, has changed into yet another place where you can keep up with the latest in your Facebook account or Twitter page.

This past weekend, I took a 3 day trip on the Carnival Dream, and spent a little time going over its various technologies designed to keep you connected with the mainland.

Six ways to keep a long distance relationship alive

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 1:00PM

So, you met the love of your life when you were on the road? He or she is the one, and you are already thinking about the color you'll be painting the baby room? This is obviously pretty damn awesome if you can just drive to see him or her, but what do you do if you met when your homes are thousands of miles apart?

Here are six ways you can keep the fire burning, and get a chance at making a long distance relationship survive.

Daily gear deals - $7 webcam, $25 noise canceling headphones and more

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 12:00PM

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Friday November 20th 2009. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is a real hot one - a Logitech webcam for just $6.99, with free shipping. The specifications are a tad basic,
but you really can't complain at this price. Click here for this deal.

Do you ever wish you had some spare iPod chargers? Now is your chance! Thingfling is selling a six pack of iPod chargers for just $6. They'll add $6 shipping, but that is still just $2 each. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a really great deal on a pair of noise canceling headphones. The Skullcandy SC-NC active noise canceling headphones are on sale for just $24.95, which is about $75 off their normal price. Shipping is also free. Click here for this deal.

Why wait in line on Black Friday for a good GPS deal when you can get a refurbished widescreen TomTom for just $89.99? The 330S features text to speech, the TomTom Easyport mount and online map corrections. Click here for this deal.

Four pieces of great inflight WiFi news from Gogo

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 9:30AM

Inflight Internet provider Aircell released not one, but four different pieces of good news yesterday afternoon. We've translated all the PR-speak into the stuff you need to know if you want to stay up to date on the latest developments of Internet in the skies.

American Airlines widget

American Airlines is taking its rollout of the Aircell Gogo inflight service pretty serious - taking a page from the early days of WiFi on Virgin America, American Airlines developed a simple WiFi tracking widget.

The tool allows you to check whether your flight will come equipped with the Gogo inflight Internet service. Of course, the target we all want is that these tools won't be necessary, and that every flight you get on will have the service, but until then, lets be grateful for this handy widget.

REI Snow Report brings detailed ski reports to your iPhone

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 19th, 2009 at 1:30PM

REI has teamed up with mobile application developer Zumobi to design a snow report app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The application delivers reports from the US, Canada, Europe, Argentina, Australia, Chile and New Zealand. In total, over 200 resorts are available, and users can pick their 12 favorite to be added to the cool rotating menu.

Resort information is very impressive - you'll get the latest snowfall, current snow depth, temperatures, conditions, the status of lifts and trails, and even the latest Tweets made by the resort.

In addition to this, you can also access maps, a five day forecast, webcams and contact information.

Of course, since REI commissioned the app, you can also find your nearest REI store, follow REI Tweets and go shopping for new gear, right inside the app.

The best part is the price - free. You'll find the application in the app store by searching REI or by clicking this link (iTunes URL)

Gallery: REI snow report app for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Sneak preview of the girls of the 2010 VivaAerobus calendar!

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 19th, 2009 at 12:00PM

Hard to believe that another year is almost over, but this also means it is time for the 2010 calendars to start showing up at your local mall. Mexican airline VivaAerobus also designs a yearly calendar, and Gadling regulars will remember the gorgeous girls of the 2009 calendar. We even managed to give a bunch of them away to some lucky readers (calendars, not girls)

For 2010, the Mexican low cost carrier once again rounded up their hottest staff members, and took them out on the tarmac for a photo shoot. The calendar will be available soon (to passengers on VivaAerobus), but in the meantime - enjoy this 54 second sneak preview!

Daily gear deals - $20 leather laptop bag, $29 noise canceling headphones and more

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 19th, 2009 at 11:30AM

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Thursday November 19th 2009. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal comes from "deal a day" site dealaday.org. For $19.95 (plus $5 shipping), they'll send you an Italian designed genuine leather laptop bag. Click here for this deal.

Amazon is selling the Polaroid Pogo "Zink" powered pocket photo printer for just $47. This tiny device features integrated Bluetooth, and allows you to print photos directly from a compatible device. It'll also print photos from a camera connected over USB. Prints are really small, but it does make a neat little gizmo to play with. Click here for this deal.

Buydig.com is once again selling the fantastic Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 noise canceling headphones for just $29. They are refurbished, but come complete with a carrying case, adapter plugs, extension cable and various (new) ear gels. Ships for free. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, head on over to Amazon for another cheap SwissGear laptop backpack. This time it is for a the green SA9751 with a computer sleeve, water bottle pocket, audio pocket and more. On sale for just $29.41. Click here for this deal.

Gadling gear review - HP Mini 5101 netbook

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 19th, 2009 at 10:00AM

In this review I'm going to introduce you to one of the newest netbook computers from HP. The Mini 5101 is a very compact machine designed with the business traveler in mind. When building a computer for business use, HP obviously put a lot of time into making the machine able to stand up to the rough environment.

Because of this, the entire machine is built around a magnesium frame, it also features an aluminum screen lid, near full size keyboard, hard drive drop protection, a special keyboard coating and an easy to upgrade memory bay.