Gadling

"Oh run run run so you don't fall in!" is what I'd be saying if I was watching this heron doing what it's doing above. Such a great shot of the bird (known to be a "wading bird") that looks like it's walking on water, and has to walk really fast to make it to the other side without falling in!

Taken by flickr user LadyExpat in Daejeon in South Korea, it's certainly a hard moment to catch so well.

Have any pictures capturing the beauty of animals in their natural habitat? Add them to our Gadling photo pool on Flickr and we might just pick it as our Photo of the Day.

All my life I have traveled Economy Class (only once did I get lucky and got an upgrade to Business Class). In my opinion, flights of up to 7 hours in Economy are tolerable, but more than that and the all the fidgeting and frustration starts getting to you.

Having lived in Australia for 3 years, I dreaded the 14 hour flights to and from Dubai (30 hours if you include transfers and waiting); that's when I realized how seemingly trivial things could drastically change the quality of your flight.

MSN just published an article listing some of these small yet significant tips, of which I think these are the most important:

Be comfortable: Wear loose, warm, long, comfortable clothes. Stick to flat shoes, preferably ones you can wear socks with. Being warm and comfortable in your clothes will change the nature of your flight. (It's such a basic point, I don't understand why so many people choose to make a fashion statement on board at the expense of being comfortable. Perhaps they should stop making movies that make people believe they will find "the one" mid air.)

Bring lip-balm: Even if you have never-cracking lips, on a long-haul flight darling, they will crack! I carry lip-balm everyday, everywhere I go, and always have it on a flight. Once I forgot it and my lips chapped like tree bark. (Yes, ouch). I kept going to the bathroom and putting that disgusting hand-lotion they keep in there on my lips. Didn't work, and yuck, never again.

Award winning producer and film director Mark Johnson, recorded a guy on his street singing "Stand By Me"; then he traveled around the world and recorded about 100 other local artists doing the same. He edited some of the snippets of their footage into a video, and this (video below) is the result. It's just too awesome. There is also a documentary film co-directed by Johnson, expanding on the same idea -- you can see the trailer here.



This initiative of course is part of a larger program called "Playing For Change" which aims to connect the world through music. The foundation provides musicians around the world facilities to play music and enhance their skills, therefore not only making their lives better but also demonstrating how music brings people together regardless of cultural and socio-economic differences. Current projects include building a music school in Gugulethu (South Africa) to provide the youth there an alternative to the daily violence and deprivation they face; rebuilding and enhancing Tibetan refugee centers in Dharamsala and Kathmandu; and building an arts center in Johannesburg.

Here's a recently recorded interview with Johnson by PBS's Bill Moyers, and a Q&A with him on ComingSoon.net.

This is one of those videos you are unlikely to look for yourself, but once you find it, it spurs curiosity and you watch with interest.

In around 4 minutes, this video shows how globes are made in a globe factory. With country borders and place names changing constantly, putting together an updated globe with precision is quite a challenge. The video is the making of a standard desk globe. A bit of Googling and I found that there are hundreds of types of globes these days.

I remember being gifted a beach-ball size desk globe on my 10th birthday. It had a bulb in it and every night before going to bed I would switch-off all the lights, turn on the bulb in my globe, and stare at it with amuse as I turned it slowly. I would then start plotting routes and making up my own adventure travel stories as I discovered new lands. I still have that globe and will never part with it.

I know it's just a globe. But being able to see the world, topography and all, on a scale (rough) of 1:40 million, is pretty incredible. That's exactly why it's worth watching how it's done. The video lacks details on how they do the technical drawings pre-globe-making, but I imagine you would need a lot more than 4 minutes to explain that.


[Via kottke.org]

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

The last time we posted about cheap rooms ($20 rooms at the Leading Hotels of the World), we were thanked for the information, but for nothing as the promotion failed.

Here's an excerpt from an email sent by LHW to fellow Gadling blogger Jerry Guo, apologizing for the situation: "...We are extremely sorry for the inconveniences we have caused and regret to advise you that the US$19.28 email promotion scheduled for tomorrow October 2nd shall be postponed. Although our original back-up plan provided a viable solution for the 150,000 people who were registered, it was met with some confusion over submission procedures and timing. In addition, we have become increasingly concerned that a large number of non-registered respondents plan to submit forms which would inundate the system and greatly diminish your chances of securing a US$19.28 rate."

However, one failed promotion of X company doesn't mean that a similar promotion by Y company will fail too. So for what it's worth, here's how you can *try* (again) to get £1 rooms at the Hoxton Hotel in London.

Starting October 31, at 12 noon (7am New York Time), 500 £1 and 500 £29 rooms at the Hoxton will be up for grabs on their website. The rooms are available between 1st November 2008 – 31st January 2009.

Last July when the hotel ran this promotion, the 1000 rooms were sold within 11 minutes, so other than being able to book quickly, you're going to need a large stroke of luck to get one. However, so that it's fair, you are only allowed to book 1 room for 1 night at £1.

Here's the link with all the information and a step-by-step guide as to how to avail of this promotion.

(Oh and don't forget that when local daylight time is about to reach Sunday, 2 November 2008, 02:00:00 clocks in NY are turned backward 1 hour).

Good luck!