Gadling

As I've pointed out before (see here and here), I love weird maps. The one above was created by a designer named Ben Fry, and shows all the streets in the lower 48 states (click image to enlarge). That's right-- according to Ben's website, this map features 26 million individual road segments. Ben also notes that "[n]o other features (such as outlines or geographic features) have been added to this image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas convey low population."

Head on over to his site to see interesting close-ups of the Appalachian Mountains, the Great Lakes, and the San Francisco Bay area.

It's the holiday season, which means lots of traveling and sleeping at the homes of friends and family. Inevitably, many of you will end up sleeping on couches, air mattresses, beds made for children or floors. Well, for you weary houseguests who end up sleeping in uncomfortable and contorted positions, SkyMall Monday is pleased to profile the Slumber Sleeve pillow.

Some products address such small, niche issues that you wonder why anyone would purchase them. But the Slumber Sleeve works for a much broader audience. Because if you're a person who has a complete dearth of pillows and likes to wedge your bicep underneath your head then the Slumber Sleeve is perfect for you. It's so effective that you'll be able to sleep with your eyes wide open like the totally-not-creepy model featured above. And that will allow you to keep an eye on your surroundings while staying at your uncle's house. Just because you're crashing on his couch doesn't mean he gets to sneak into the guestroom and brush your hair while you're sleeping.

The product description describes several of the myriad uses of the Slumber Sleeve. Here are a few of the most logical:

• The Slumber Sleeve is popular with college students or office workers taking a quick nap on a desk between classes or during a break
• As an ankle pillow, worn on the lower leg when the upper leg is crossed over on top - like when watching TV
• As a sunbathing aid, worn high on an arm and under your head, allowing for a comfortable side tanning orientation
  

I know that my boss has no problem with me taking a nap at my desk so long as my arm doesn't fall asleep. That's her only concern. The appearance of professionalism and maturity are secondary to me not getting pins and needles in my hand while drooling on the Johnson report.

And I never would have considered using the Slumber Sleeve at the beach. But what a fantastic idea! I mean, I love awkward tan lines and having something clinging to my skin in the hot summer sun!

I know that I'm ordering one right away. Now my arm won't fall asleep when I finally hire an artist to paint me in the nude while in a state of repose.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

China's very first fully homegrown aircraft has hit the skies at last, bringing China's aviation industry another step closer to competition in the global market. The ARJ-21, a regional aircraft built at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, flew its maiden flight last Friday, after delays from suppliers held up the jet for about eight months.

With its new jets, the Aviation Industry Corp of China, or AVIC, expects to compete with Canada's Bombadier Inc and Embraer SA of Brazil. AVIC officials expect the ARJ-21 to be certified airworthy by early 2009, and the company will start delivering planes to customers by the second half of next year if all goes according to plan.

According to the Chinese government, airlines have ordered 206 of the jets so far, and demand is expected to increase. Experts estimate that China's growing domestic airline industry will require about 900 new mid-sized regional jets over the next twenty years, and the ARJ-21 should control most of that market.

The jets are designed to carry 70-110 passengers and have a flight range of 3,680 kilometers, or 2,286 miles.

Following the lead of Etihad Airways, more than a dozen international carriers have sought out secondary airports to get passengers out of Thailand. Tiny U-Tapao Airport in coastal Rayong (a few hours south of Bangkok) has seen 50 flights per day. Passengers have been squeezing into the one terminal, but tents and portable toilets have been sent up outside to help with overflow.

Don Muang, the old international airport in Bangkok, has also been receiving some international flights, though the chaos in Bangkok makes U-Tapao a better choice in the eyes of most carriers.

Meanwhile, anti-government forces are still controlling Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok's international airport. Protesters are in the terminals and armed guards loyal to the protesters have set up checkpoints at various points around the airport. Small bomb blasts are occasionally heard throughout the airport grounds and a news truck was recently riddled with bullets after it was stopped at a PAD checkpoint. No one in the truck was injured.

Police have surrounded the airport and are organizing themselves. An end to the stand-off is most likely immenant. The question is, will it be a peaceful or violent end.

[full coverage: The Nation and BKK Post]

In this product review I'll be giving you a brief look at the new 3M mobile privacy film.

3M has been making privacy filters for laptops for several years and the recent surge in popularity of smartphones has increased the need for privacy when you use your device in public.

The 3M mobile privacy film attaches to your screen, and is held in place with a special removable adhesive. Like the laptop version of the privacy film, you can only view what is on your screen when you look straight at it. Anyone looking at your device from an angle, won't see a thing.

In a classic scene from the film A League of their Own, coach Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) screams at his female players: 'There's no crying in baseball!'

Of course, while there may have been a Hollywood ending for Madonna and Geena Davis, there is still very much a prominent glass ceiling in real-life baseball.

However, there is a chance that the sport as we know it may one day change, especially following the recent draft pick of a female Japanese high school student by the minor league team Kobe 9 Cruise.

On that note, allow me to introduce you to the cutest pitcher you've ever seen, namely 16-year old Eri Yoshida (吉田えり). Weighing in at a mere 114 pounds, and standing just over give feet tall, Eri is now the first woman ever to play in Japan's all-male professional baseball league.

How did she do it you ask? Simple.

Eri has mastered the knuckleball, an infamous baseball pitch characterized by its wild and unpredictable motion.

Keep reading as the story goes on..

With Thanksgiving over and the Tryptophan feeling from eating turkey waning, these are the days to turn towards one of the next holiday opportunities---Christmas. Each year I look for somewhere new to head. With my son still thoroughly engaged and enthralled by any tinsel and glitter, festivals and events that offer something the rest of my family would enjoy capture my attention most.

Here's one.

The It's a Wonderful Life Festival (Dec. 12-14) in Seneca Falls, New York offers a true nostalgia boost. Seneca Falls is the town that Bedford Falls-- the name of the town in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," was patterned after.

Not to let an opportunity for some holiday cash pass them by, the people of Seneca Falls began the festival 62 years ago to pay tribute to their ties to the movie and warm fuzzy, hopeful feelings.

If you go, you can attend a screening of the film narrated by Karolyn Grimes. She's the actress who played ZuZu in the movie. There are the other trimmings and trappings of a Santa-train, horse drawn wagon rides, and I imagine plenty of opportunities to buy "It's a Wonderful Life" themed gifts. If you buy a snow globe, remember that you can't take it on a plane in your carry-on. Check it in your luggage.

This year with the economic forecast not looking particularly sunny, a festival called It's a Wonderful Life that turns on a movie about a guy who almost lost everything during the Depression somehow seems apropos.

Here is the event's website that examines the similarities between Bedford Falls and Seneca Falls along with providing festival details. Also, here's an article by Joan McDonald that was published in The Buffalo News . McDonald has been to Seneca Falls and experienced the It's a Wonderful Life experience.

There are lots of valid excuses for being late to work. Your power was out so your alarm clock failed to go off. Your kid was sick and you had to take him to the doctor. You passed out at the brothel and didn't have money for a cab. The problem with all of those excuses is that you have no way to prove to your boss that you're telling the truth. But validating your tardiness just got simpler if you take the subway in New York City.

According to the New York Post, the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is going to start emailing commuters notes to provide to their bosses to verify subway delays that may have caused late arrivals. The New York City Transit division has long provided notes to commuters but required individuals to call a customer service number and then wait upwards of two weeks to receive a letter in the mail. These notes detail what lines the commuter claimed to have been using and any reported delays during the specified times.

In an effort to modernize, the MTA will soon allow commuters who were inconvenienced by subway delays to submit an online form and then receive an expedited email response. They hope to have the online system up and running by mid-2009. Currently, 34,000 people per year contact the MTA for notes to prove that they didn't simply oversleep due to the heavy drinking that they rely on to help them cope with their mind-numbingly droll lives.

As a NYC resident who relies on the oft-delayed subway system, I'm looking forward to the ease of use of this new online system. Granted, my habitual tardiness can only been blamed on pathological use of the snooze button and a penchant for long morning showers that involve a good cathartic cry. But all my boss needs to know is that the F train got held up because of sick passenger. Everyone's just more comfortable with that story.

The European Union as a whole may not be too keen on so-called "all body scanners" at their airports -- the bloc voted them down earlier this month -- but Germany is still going ahead and testing out the technology.

Germany's interior ministry announced yesterday that in the coming weeks it was going to begin "laboratory tests" of these scanners -- known in Europe as 'naked scanners' -- in an effort to see if it's possible to produce images with these devises that do not show passengers naked.

The technology is controversial, of course, because in the devises that have been tested at airports in the US, the images do show passengers naked, for all intents and purposes. This enables security to more easily detect concealed weapons and other contraband.

The devises have been tested at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, but have not appeared elsewhere in Europe.

Flickr user jrodmanjr titled this image of San Francisco's famous prison "Escape from Alcatraz." I happen to like the play on words, almost as much as I like the perspective of this shot. Any time you're taking a photo of a famous landmark, it's fun to try framing it with some nearby objects to add some additional depth and personality. In this case, the chain link fence adds a playful, geometric aspect to the shot, forcing you to give it a second look. Well done!

Do you have any panoramic photos from San Francisco? Or maybe some candid shots from Sweden? Why not share them with our readers at Gadling by adding them to our pool on Flickr? We might just choose one as our Photo of the Day.