Gadling

Today's Photo of the Day comes from Damiel who captured this picture in front of Notre Dame, in Paris. Damiel has a great collection of pictures from his trip there last week. He really did capture much of the city in perfect clarity. Nice job!

I'm always a sucker for a narrow depth of field, which brings out the subject in the photo in detail. This picture is a good example of this technique.

Are you a Flickr user who'd like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling's Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

Cruise lines make a big deal about not allowing women past a certain month of pregnancy to take their cruises. Airlines make no such prohibitions.

Which is why you read from time to time about women giving birth at 40,000 feet.

The latest example of this came on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Adelaide, Australia, today.

An Indian woman gave birth to a 6-bound baby boy during a flight that had to be re-routed to Darwin, a city in Australia's Northern Territory. There were six doctors on board to help with the delivery, which went well, according to media reports.

The woman was on her way to reunite with her husband, an Indian with Australian citizenship, who drives taxis in Adelaide.

Her husband flew from Adelaide to Darwin today to see his newborn son.

The flight landed safely in Darwin two hours after she delivered.

The Onion has just joined the long lineup of online city guides with their newest publication; Decider. Decider launched in beta mode with a guide for Chicago and covers everything from movie reviews to restaurant guides. If you visit the site expecting the usual amount of Onion humor, you'll be disappointed. The Decider is actually a serious site, with real reviews.

Of course, starting in Chicago is quite a challenge as they will be up against established sites like Metromix, Yelp and Citysearch. The advantage for the Onion is that they already have a large pool of journalists to use, and thousands of fans of their other work who might be interested in seeing how interesting an Onion publication is without satire.

The site currently lists over 5700 restaurants, but the vast majority have not yet been rated by readers, and I doubt that many people will be willing to sit down and post their reviews on this site if they already feel comfortable posting to Yelp or Metromix.

The site is also missing mobile access which is something they'll need to get up and running as soon as they can. Yelp already has a GPS enabled version of their site for the iPhone. Then again, the only mobile version on Citysearch is for Mobile,AL. The ability to search for a restaurant or store on the go is something that can make or break a site.

I'm sure that the guide will improve over time, but I can't help feel that it's all just a little more of the same. There is nothing really new on the site and it'll take a lot of user submitted reviews to become a truly useful resource.

In this product review, I'm going to introduce you to the Chargepod multi device charger. The Chargepod is a product from Callpod, and it has 7 connectors; one for powering the device itself, and 6 for charging your electronics. Each connector holds an small removable adapter with the appropriate plug for your gadget.

In the version I am reviewing, the package comes with an AC (wall) charger and a car charger cord. There are some people (like myself) who will usually find themselves on the road with far too many gadgets. The hassle of carrying multiple chargers as well as extension cords and power splitters gets greater with each new gadget. It is however not unthinkable that even the most novice gadgeteer will have at least a mobile phone, a Bluetooth headset and and iPod in their luggage.

With the Chargepod, you simply carry the power adapter, the Chargepod itself, and the power adapters you need for your devices. Then, to charge them, you simply connect the Chargepod to an outlet, insert the power adapters and plug your gadgets in. The Chargepod then charges up to 6 devices at the same time.

Callpod, who make the Chargepod, have 48 different power adapters, and since some of these can be used for multiple devices, the product covers close to 500 different phones, PDA's, smartphones, gaming consoles and more. If you can't find the correct power adapter for your device, but you do have a USB cable, then you can purchase a female USB plug power adapter and plug the cable into that.

In my personal travel bag, I carry the Chargepod with tips for a Nintendo DS, Garmin GPS unit, Plantronics headset, a Blackberry, Nokia phones, 2 HTC smartphones, an iPod and a female USB tip for recharging my backup battery pack. The Chargepod replaces 7 different chargers, plus I can use it to charge all my devices at the same time, instead of having to play a boring game of outlet bingo.

To tide you over until Amazing Race 13 begins on September 28, tune into The Travel Channel. Starting September 3 at 8 p.m. EST, season 12 will be shown.

Although the winners from season 12 are known-- Rachel and T.K., the couple who had smart ideas about how to use the dough (although with the abysmal showing of the current market and housing crisis, I wonder how that went?) there are travel tidbits about each of the countries the contestants visited and host Phil Keoghan's commentaries.

My favorite episode was the Burkina Faso leg, particularly when most teams didn't know how to say the capital Ouagadougou when they found out where they were heading. The camel milking made for the best TV. Plus, of all the locations, this was probably the one that was the most obscure to many of the folks who tuned in to watch.

Here's a review of that episode on TV Squad to refresh your memory or to catch you up to the crazy antics that can happen as teams of two people race around the world on a chase for a million dollars.

Jason Hughes, at TV Squad wonders if The Travel Channel's airing of the show may mean that CBS is thinking about pulling the plug since it is only picked up season by season. In that case, The Travel Channel could take it over. I hope it will stay on CBS so people can see it without cable.

Yes, there is a sundae that costs $2,500 in New York City--maybe. I think that's what Kathie Lee Gifford said this morning on the Today Show. I was half-listening, but when she said Serendipity 3, I perked up.

I'm almost sure that's the dollar amount she quoted. If your wallet is fat enough, you can order one of these whopping treats at the restaurant located on East 60th Street in Manhattan.

Serendipity's menu says that the Golden Opulence Sundae costs $1,000. At $1,000 it's still touted as the Guinness World Record holder as the most expensive. Maybe Gifford was eating a version of this and it's an unpublished secret? Maybe she said it was $25,000. She did say it's never been ordered. I have searched and searched for this story to no avail. I've become obsessed.

I've been to Serendipity 3 for ice-cream. No Golden Opulence for us, but I do remember that my husband ordered the Forbidden Broadway Sunday for $13.50.

It was an enormous dessert of chocolate cake, whipped cream, and ice-cream, big enough for a few of us to chow down. For other sundae choices cheaper than that, check out the menu.

My recommendation is to not try going here on a hot summer day on a Sunday. We tried that once and couldn't wait that long. We were hungry enough to start chewing on furniture. Our sundae success came on a week night after dark--also in the summer--perhaps on a Wednesday.

As Kathie Lee Gifford was eating bites of opulence, letting the flecks of gold slide down her throat, she did mention that it seems frivolous to show off a sundae of such a cost when many folks are having problems putting gas in their cars. Even the $13.50 sundae can buy 3 gallons or more.

The photo, from an article review I came across, is of the $1,000 version. It does not look like the dish Kathie Lee was eating. Oh, well.

Has the eating of strange foods gone too far?

Sure, Andrew Zimmern might be brave, but does he really know what he's putting in his mouth?

While the Bizarre Foods guru (or his producer) usually provides a bit of background on what he's eating, you have to wonder, is it considered a normal food in whatever "exotic locale" the show is currently being filmed in?

Phil Lees of The Last Appetite points out that you can't always believe what people tell you.

A journalist named Sean Thomas found himself in Cambodia. He penned an "eating weird food" article for a U.K. newspaper. Aside from the fact that his article is rife with the gross over-generalizations typical of a parachute journalist, Lees, an old hand in Cambodia, points out that Thomas ate some things that were not meant to be eaten. The poor guy chowed down on a dried frog and compared it to a eating a dead mermaid. The problem: in Cambodia dried frogs are not meant to be eaten as a snack. According to Lees, "Dried frog is for medicinal purposes and occasionally, a rice wine additive. Complaining about the way it tastes is a little like eating a few spoonfuls of straight cloves, then writing them off as useless as a foodstuff."

One has to wonder if this is just an isolated incident or if more of the "I'm eating strange food" shticks are also ill-informed.

My daily deal for today is a great product for travelers who'd like to bring their music on the road. The JBL Onstage II is a portable stereo speaker dock with inserts for most iPod models (the iPod Touch and iPhone are not compatible).

With your iPod inserted in the Onstage II, you can even use the included remote control to change the volume and skip tracks.

The JBL Onstage II can only be powered off AC, so it is not the best option for taking on a camping trip. Included in the box is the speaker itself, an AC adapter with international power compatibility and the RF remote control. If you are looking for a battery operated speaker, check out my review of the Altec Lansing Orbit speaker.

This speaker dock usually retails for around $70, but you can pick one up today for just $29.99. Shipping is through UPS ground and is just $6. Stootsi is another "one deal a day" site, so please do keep in mind that this item will be gone soon.

Over at one of our sister blogs, Wallet Pop, Plano, Texas is being touted the most affluent city in the United States.

That Texas! Texas has two of the cities where people have a fighting chance of making the best living.

Plano may have turned into a suburb of Dallas over the years, but there are distinctive Plano-type things to do, even for folks with a more modest income. The city's official Web site does give reference to spouses which alludes to trips taken by people who head to Plano for business meetings and bring their spouses in tow.

Here are three places I'd go if ever I was in Plano.

1. The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary- Technically, this attraction is not in Plano, but in McKinney. It is, however, close enough that I'll included it, otherwise I would not have ended up with three things. Here is where you can learn about Texas's natural environment through walking trails and indoor exhibits. One permanent exhibit is on Texas's venomous snakes. Currently, there is a butterfly exhibit that will run through September.
2. The Heritage Farmstead Museum - An historic Blackland prairie farm that was turned into a museum to highlight life on the Texas prairie back in 1891.
3. Interurban Railroad Museum- This restored train station is where you can learn about the history of Plano and about the train that used to go between Dennison and Dallas. It's free, so, what's the harm in checking it out?

From the extensive attractions list you can surmise that Plano is close to Ft. Worth and Dallas. If you expand the distance you're willing to travel, you'll find loads of things to do. I'd go to the Ft. Worth Stockyards National Historic District.

I checked on the Frito-Lay Web site to see if there is a tasting show room or some such thing since Plano is the company's home. Nope. Didn't see one.

For more Plano facts, check out Wallet Pop's post.

One of the newest entries in the global car-sharing market has a sweet offer on right now for those in Toronto.

Starting Sept. 1, CityFlitz is offering cars in the greater Toronto area for $1 a day.

Yes, that is really too good to be true. There are actually some additional charges: $30 to sign up with CityFlitz (a one time fee), a $7 monthly usage fee, and a $350 security deposit which you get back.

Admittedly, even with those fees (essentially $37 for your first time with CityFlitz), that's still a good deal.

The company is able to offer cars so cheaply for sharing because each carries a lot of advertising. The company charges advertisers upwards of $400 a day.

There are other restrictions: You must be at least 23-years-old and agree to drive at least 19 miles a day.

CityFlitz will give this cheap offer a test run in Toronto before extending it to other cities in Canada.