Google Helps Plan Your Flights

Google's Inside Search blog has revealed a new search feature that can help make your travel plans a whole lot easier. With Google's new flight schedule feature you need only enter your query into Google search and, if your airport is covered, will be rewarded with the available flights covering your departure and arrival locations. For example, enter "flights from Halifax to Boston" in the Google search field and you'll be presented with the following:

Expand the results and you'll see:

It works very well for major regional airports but less so for smaller local centers where there are fewer direct flights. I think the key here is that it is selecting nonstop flights and not considering connecting flights, at least at the moment. Even so, a quick search can provide you with a lot of visibility into what is available and a few queries strung together will likely give you what you need for planning purposes. Of course seat availability and pricing information is not provided but I'd suggest googling before you hit your favorite travel site so you'll at least know your options of times and carriers.

Awesome Space Walk Photo

Here is a great photo taken at the end of the extra-vehicular activity spacewalk on Sunday. The photo is of  Endeavour's lead spacewalker Andrew Feustel entering the International Space Station (ISS) being outside for 8 hours and 7 minutes, the 6th longest spacewalk in history.

Credit: NASA (photo) | Discover Channel (story)

Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness

In the event of the impending doom that some are calling the rapture, but I'd to call the Zombie Apocalypse, there are a few things that you should know. As a public service the Center for Disease Control has published a helpful guide for dealing with my scenario and, as they claim, other natural disaster situations.

They suggest the following survival kit:

• Water (1 gallon per person per day)
• Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)
• Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)
• Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)
• Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)
• Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)
• Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)
• First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)

This is all well and good in the event of your typical natural disaster but I think there are a few things missing and would like to consult Max Brooks Bestseller "The Zombie Survival Guide" for his top 10 lessons for surviving a zombie attack:

1. Organize before they rise! (CDC's approach works well)
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use you head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don't need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the treat lives on.

Good luck. My job here is done.

How Do You Stop 1,000,000 Pounds At 200 mph?

Check out Boeings tests of the 747-8 emergency abort takeoff flight testing via Wired.com:



Here are some impressive stats:

• They tested the 747-8 with a take off mass of 443,181 kg.
• The 747 had a speed of 200 mph (320 kph) before using just the brakes to stop.
• The brakes were 100% worn to simulate worst case scenario. 
• The plane took about 200 meters to stop.
• The brakes heated up to about 1400 degrees C.

Scary fun!

Google I/O Day 1 Keynote

In case you missed the keynote speech from Google I/O yesterday here is it's entirety. For those who are unsure what Google I/O is... in it's 4th year now, Google I/O is a conference held by Google to introduce to developers what the company has been focusing on and how these developers might take advantage of these products and services. Last year it was all about Android and this year Android will make it into more than phones and tablets, the cloud is more important than ever, plus near field technology, and more...

Slingshot Of Mass Destruction aka Slingshot Of Awesomeness

I'm not particularly a fan of weaponry, however I am a fan of DIY genious and I think that this fits into that category.

Google Brings Voice Recognition To Your Browser

If you are willing to give Google Chrome 11 beta release or the current version of Google Chrome Canary build a try you'll find an interesting little piece of functionality supported. Using either of these browsers, a microphone, and some html 5 code embedded in Google's translations page you can dictate the word(s) or phrase that you wish to be translated. No joke... it works well too!

Simply look for the microphone icon in the lower right side of the input text box and click on it, you must have your mic on of course and you are only afforded a few seconds to input your command. If you want to play around a bit you can also go to the sandbox app created by Google. A headset mic might work best but my testing with a desktop mic has produced good results.

Coca-Cola Goes To New Heights To Promote Friendship

I really like this campaign from a creative standpoint, but I'm a little concerned about what might have happened should someone have gotten hurt. Coca~Cola has always had great marketing but this one strikes me as an interesting one from a viral standpoint.

I'm all for anything that encourages team work, and the incentive here certainly seemed to do just that!

Is The Threat Of "Cyber War" Real Or Are We Being Scared Into Thinking So?

Ask anyone who knows me well and they'll tell you that I'm a sucker for a good conspiracy theory. No! That does not mean that I believe every crackpot idea that thrown out there, it just means that I find some of the arguments compelling enough to review the supposed evidence and form my own opinions. Call me crazy if you will but I don't take everything that is fed to us through the mainstream media as gospel, there are nearly always agendas at play, and we usually get a slightly biased side of the story, intensional or otherwise. It's just good practice in my opinion to raise a few good questions.

ars technica writer Mathew Lasar has published an interesting article which brings light to a new working paper that suggest there is a real problem of "threat inflation" when it comes to the possibilities "Cyber War", according to the papers authors from the George Mason University Mercatus Center, researchers Jerry Brito and Tate Wakins. While there is always the chance that a dooms day plot exists where our vital infrastructure is at risk, how real is it? and in who's best interest is it for us to prepare for, or be worried about, one?

Love to hear your thoughts.

Open Comes At A Price For Google And Android In China

Here is an interesting little article that I came across this morning. It seems that 80% of all Android based smart phones in China will be shipped with Baidu, and not Google, as their default search engine. Fact is that being an open platform allows manufacturers to make changes and in China that means no Google for you!

China is a huge market as we all know but it is also one that Google has had it's challenges with as government censorship and heavy handed policies have not been kind to the search giant. In fact, in March of 2010 Google.cn (China) started to redirect all of it's search queries to Google.com.hk (Hong Kong) after much debate over the blockage of YouTube and allegations of Chinese hacking. See Wikipedia's Google China page.

I wonder just how much business Apple does in China and what that represents when comparing authentic Apple product to counterfeits or knock-offs?