Rob Beschizza

Watering Mount Wilson

Photo: Martin Mars

Steven Leckart

Review: 16 Months w/Belkin's 300W DC/AC Inverter

Why ALL automobiles don't come equipped with at least one, built-in 3-prong outlet is beyond me. And why more drivers don't keep an inverter like this one from Belkin in their cars is also a mystery.

Emergencies alone make a simple inverter a super worthwhile item (we also keep a tub filled with spare clothes, shoes, MRIEs, water, etc. in the trunk, you know, "just in case."). But apart from the once-in-a-blue-moon, doom-and-gloom scenarios where we'll be stranded in our car and need to tap the battery to charge a phone or radio, having an inverter available for daily use is a true no-brainer.

Since last April, I've stashed this 300-watt DC-AC inverter in one of the rear seat pockets. I've used it to charge my cell phone and replenish my GoBe battery overnight while car camping. In addition, I've charged up a range of devices en route on car trips — long and short — way too many times to count. Here's the short of it:

Easy to Use: Just pull out the thing, plug the business end into the cigarette lighter, flip the switch on the device, and plug in up to two devices. (Dr. Obvious says: There's no need to have the car turned on.)

Easy to Carry: The whole thing weighs just 2 lbs.; it's not as if you'll ever need to take the device backpacking, but my point is that it's never a hassle to pull out, put back, ad nauseam.

No Outside Juice Required: Requires no batteries, no charging, no sunlight because, you know, it runs off the car battery (Dr. Obvious says: Triple duh).

One Caveat: The inverter's internal fan hums rather loudly when in use. Not enough to disturb phone calls or music too much, but it's noticeably audible.

Verdict: Get one. If not this particular device, then be sure to pick one up that's got at least two 3-prong outlets... and, perhaps, even a USB. You'll rely on your inverter more than you'd expect.

~$40 from Amazon.

Lisa Katayama

Why so many plane crashes in 2009?

It's been a pretty bad year for airplane accidents &mdash 36 and (hopefully not) counting, including a cargo plane crash in the Congo just yesterday that resulted in seven fatalities. Is it just a series of freak accidents or a glitch in the airplane industry? To find out, I interviewed R John Hansman, aeronautics professor at MIT and director of ICAT.

BBG: Is there a bigger reason for the onslaught of plane crashes in 2009 or is it just bad luck?

RJH: There have been times in the past where a series of accidents had exactly the same cause and there was a clear problem to fix. In the early 70s, we didn't understand the meteorology of windsheer, and sudden changes in wind direction were causing control problems. 15-20 years ago, the leading cause of fatal crashes was controlled flight into terrain &mdash that's when a pilot takes a perfectly good airplane and flies it into the ground. This was solved by enhanced ground proximity warning systems, which give the crew warning if they're about to fly a plane into the ground.

That's not the case here. It's been a bad year, but there don't seem to be any systematic problems. The accidents have all been quite different. Commercial aviation is incredibly safe &mdash only about one in every 10 million departures result in accidents in the developed world. It's possible, though, to have a cluster of rare events like this. This year looks bad, but the last couple of years have looked incredibly good. What you're seeing is an effect of statistics in small numbers.

BBG: Human error is involved in more than half of all airplane accidents. Why can't we fix this?

RJH: It's easy but not very useful to identify human failure as the cause of an accidents. More importantly, what caused the human to make the error? Was there a problem in the design of the aircraft, in the procedure, or in terms of fatigue of the crew? It's generally a fair assumption that pilots don't want to be put at risk. The rate of human error has gone down &mdash as a percentage base, it's still high, but that's because the number of overall accidents has declined significantly.

BBG: What about the Air France crash? Is that still a mystery?

RJH: Parts of it will always be a mystery. We have a pretty clear indication that what started the problem was icing on the air speed probes. It was known that the probes on this aircraft needed to be changed, but it wasn't seen to be that urgent. It may have been that the combination of the faulty probes and thunderstorm conditions may have been too hard to manage. The plane had also gone into a simpler flight control system, or alternate mode, which limits what the pilot can do to minimize the possibility of human error. We have a message from the airplane that they went into alternate mode, but we don't have the flight data recorder so we'll never know how that manifested.

*Statistics and image courtesy of Planecrashinfo.com

Rob Beschizza

A perfect leather case for big laptops

Perfectly-sized for 17" laptops (there's also a 15" cut), Saddleback's $245 bag is made of waterproof, oil-tanned full grain boot leather, padded with neoprene, and comes with a 100 year warranty. There are no breakable parts, either, such as snaps or zippers. The shoulder strap is removable, too, for use as a briefcase.

The outstanding quality here shines off the page (screen?), even without a close look. And there are so many variations: backpacks, messenger bags, pouches. There's even the lasts-forever suitcase I always wanted, but am too cheap to buy. That said, I can already sense that my better half is going to be complaining soon about this site.

One problem: needs a 13" edition!

Update: Reader Icey writes: "It's honestly the best bag I've ever owned. I buy laptops based on whether or not they'll fit in the bag."

Laptop Case Chestnut with pouch [Saddleback]

Steven Leckart

Review: Chrome Warsaw [Verdict: GINORMOUS]

Chrome's Warsaw bag is made from 1000-denier Cordura, lined with a weather-resistant PVC liner and features a super-padded back panel, making it one of the toughest and most comfortable packs I've slung on my back. Also, the most enormous non-touring backpack I've ever traveled with.

When opened up and fully-loaded, the Warsaw is an awe-some 5400 cu. in. The inside pockets, smaller compartments for clothes, laptop, etc., and the comfy straps/backing are helpful, sure. But really, the big sell here is the massive main compartment.

I once carried a 16-quart cooler in the Warsaw for a picnic at the park. All this week, I've been loading up the bag with product boxes to drop off at the Post Office and Wired. It's fair to say I've pushed it fairly close to the limits...

...and yet, riding with that sucker on my back never got uncomfortable.

I've also flown with the Warsaw to Portland, OR, Denver, CO, and Los Angeles, CA on two different airlines and had zero trouble carrying it on. Best of all, it crammed into the overhead compartments without much elbow grease.

I realize messenger bags are "hipper." People complain that backpacks make you sweatier. This HUGE backpack has the tendency to make me look tiny.

1) Hip is showing up to the picnic with cold beer, in a cooler, you pulled out of your backpack, Mary Poppins-style.

2) Yes, you get sweatier. Still, I prefer the weight distribution of a backpack when cycling. Messengers have the tendency to pull on one shoulder or slide around.

3) As big as the bag is, it's not nearly as ludicrous as this TITAN.

Rob Beschizza

Airline passengers tweet woes

Ubiquitous cellphones, wedded to Twitter, make every gripe a loud and echoing public announcement. Airlines don't like this, because it reveals the abuses they subject customers in real time, without being mellowed out by the stultifying prose of an after-the-fact news story. Reuters:

"Screw american airlines. Every plane has Been broken. Gah. So done," read one post from Twitter user sheissilenttoo.

"Shame on you Continental Airlines," read another post from user DiscoverU.

"United airlines, you are the bane of my existence," user elnodonle wrote.

Steven Leckart

"Home... is where I want to be, But I guess I'm already there"*

Constructed by artist Kevin Cyr, this tiny trailer is a "functioning sculptural piece." Translation: heavy and impractical (I'm guessing).

Of course, if you hooked up a GreenWheel, it might actually be plausible... until you hit any big hills.

[via Designboom via Trackosaurus Rex]

*"This Must Be The Place"

Rob Beschizza

Heathrow gets driverless car of tomorrow, today

Screw Fast Company for calling Heathrow Airport's new driverless taxis "creepy." They are in fact awesome: fast, immune to accidents and traffic jams, and using much thinner roads. And driverless, so you don't have to spend 15 minutes agreeing with the cabbie's opinions regarding immigration.

The four-passenger personal rapid transport (PRT) vehicles, unveiled this week at the Science Museum in London, take airport-goers on a special narrow road from Heathrow's Terminal 5 to various parking lots. Passengers use a touch screen to type in their destination, press a start button, and the battery-powered vehicle zips along at 25 mph to their destination. There's a reason the pods look so futuristic--they were designed by Mark Lowson, who worked on the Saturn Rocket that launched Apollo missions.

Now, how about some Total Recall quotes, people?

Heathrow Unveils Creepy Driverless Taxi System [FC]

Rob Beschizza

Shock PSA warns against texting at wheel

Text-messaging teen causes car accident, kills many. From the BBC:

Gwent Police hope a shocking film about the consequences of texting while driving will help prevent crashes. The film, which was made by Peter Watkins-Hughes, stars young local actors and is expected to be shown in schools.

And there'a a very short Part 2 on the account of YouTube uploader richardjonm. Anyone know where the rest of the story may we found?

Here's some earlier coverage, pointing out that YouTube has determined that the video is inappropriate for minors to watch and hidden it behind a verified login.

P.S. Yes, it's a Sony Ericsson.

Steven Leckart

As If Keeping Time Weren't Difficult Enough...

Everyone knows being a drummer kind of sucks. You sit in the back and watch the singer take all the credit. The guitar player's always stealing your lady (unless you're Mick Fleetwood). Your gear is HEAVY and, most importantly, no one ever wants to help you schlep it around.

Created by a Russian percussionist who was — I'm guessing — tired of setting up and taking down his kit at every gig, the "Moto Drum" is pure genius.

More photos at English Russia.

Steven Leckart

Kinetic, Solar-Charing Suitcase

Pluggage is a prototype for a carry-on suitcase featuring a built-in battery/inverter and solar panel. Thus, it charges both as it rolls and picks up direct sunlight.

The bag was created by ITP student Ohad Folman, who spent 3 months tricking out a Burton Wheelie Flight Deck rolling suitcase with a Duracell PowerSource Mobile 100 external battery pack, a stepper motor, multimeter to display battery life, and a Burton SolarRolls panel capable of generating 4.5 watts.

The battery, says, Ohad, will charge within ~2 hours of walk time assuming an average walking speed between 2-5 kilometers/hour. A full charge should power a laptop for about 1.5 hours, depending on the make/model.

Unfortunately, Ohad has had a heck of a time getting manufacturers like Samsonite to even check out his invention. Hence, he's hoping to license the tech to a smaller luggage/travel company:

I would envision this piece to retail for $400 to $550 depending on the model (with flexible solar capability or without). The kids model would probably be cheaper (around $250) and the bare-bones (for those who already have a carry-on case) and are interested in the kinetic capabilities would be around $300.

I'm working on making the kinetic mechanism removable (like a tape cassette) so it can go through air port security easily (the kinetic mechanism can be scanned separately). I'm also working on hand release switch that will enable the user to remove the friction between the motor and the wheels in situations where the user needs to rush somewhere and does not want to have to deal with any level of friction.

I'd buy one.

Rob Beschizza

Mosquito clock

Of the "Animal sound" alarm clocks offered by Danna Bananas, the mosquito one would seem to be the most unsettling. [via Nerd Approved]

Joel Johnson

Review: Six months with the Tom Bihn "Western Flyer" travel bag

For years, my friend Matt Bruggmann has been answering my complaints about travel bags with a single recommendation: "Get a Tom Bihn. Matt would know, too: He's a photographer whose work often takes him around the world to places where he has to bring all his gear with him.

Matt's a fan of the Aeronaut, which manages to be just the maximum size a carry-on bag can be, but it seemed just a tad too large for my needs. At worst, I tend to bring along a 15-inch MacBook Pro, a couple of cameras, and a few changes of clothes. (For trips shorter than a week, I just bring clean underwear and socks and a couple of shirts, washing them out to wear with a single pair of pants.) The Aeronaut could probably hold me for over a week, but I rarely make trips for longer than three or four days anymore that aren't road trips.

So six months ago I asked Tom Bihn if they'd loan me a Western Flyer, a smaller version of the Aeronaut that shares its bigger brother's most nifty trick: converting from an over-the-shoulder bag to a backpack using integrated straps.

It's a hell of a bag.

Because it's soft-sided, it lets me overstuff it to its absolute maximum capacity, while the plastic zippers are strong enough to let me close it all up, even when it's about to burst. The ballistic nylon has enough give to allow for a little expansion, but never so much that it can't be closed again. And the nylon is tough—I've skidded it on concrete a couple of times and while the fabric has been gummed up, it's never actually opened up a hole. (I consider battle scars a feature, besides.)

The backpack straps fit in a pocket on the backside of the bag. They're thick enough that they take up a little of the room inside the back, laptop-sized pocket of the Western Flyer, but not so much that it's really a factor unless you've got the thing crammed full. You can even fold up a magazine or newspaper and slip it in the backpack pocket if you must, although the open, swooped pocket in the front is actually design for just such a purpose.

Handles on the top and the side (or the top and the side if you're wearing it as a backpack) are sewn in as sturdily as you'd expect a company that makes each bag by hand.

Surprisingly, with the addition of the $30 "Absolute Shoulder Strap", I rarely have used the bag as a backpack at all—it's plenty comfortable for hauling around airports. But it's been nice to know I have the option if a short stroll turns into a walk. (And while I may not be a war photographer, I tend to take all my stuff with me wherever I go when I'm traveling, too.)

It's about as fine of a bag as I've ever used, and I understand now why Matt recommended Tom Bihn unflinchingly.

But I've got at least one little flinch: the bag costs $200.

Now, I'm happy to say that the Western Flyer feels like a bag that cost two bills, but if you kit the whole thing out with accessories—say the shoulder strap, a detachable "Brain Cell" laptop caddy, and some packing cubes—you're easily looking at a upwards of three hundred dollars for a bag. For some of you that will seem like a reasonable price for a smartly designed American-made bag that I suspect will last you for years; but you can also pick up extremely nice backpacks from the likes of Swissgear and Gravis for just $50 or less. Even if they're not as well crafted, that's a big difference in price.

When I moved into the house I'm renting here in Eugene, it felt small. Not too small for me—I just moved from Brooklyn—but definitely not a typical spacious McMansion sort of thing, but a quirky unique floor plan designed by the man as the last house he wanted to live in. (It was too bad I had to murder him to get it, but I like to think we all ended up with what we wanted, in a way.)

It wasn't until I lived in the house for a few weeks that I realized that the house wasn't small so much as it was built just big enough to be lived in. The bathroom was pretty big, but there was no bathtub. But next to the shower, below the stairs leading to the tiny bedroom, were hooks for robes. It took me a while, but once I started emulating the way the designer thought I should use the house, I was able to appreciate and even anticipate all the choices he'd made.

The Western Flyer is a lot like that. There's not a single part of the bag that feels superfluous once you start using it, no little pockets for the sake of having them, but something that feels like it was designed to be used the way Tom Bihn thinks a bag should be used.

(You might also consider the new "Checkpoint Flyer" bag instead of the Western Flyer if you carry a laptop with you through airports often. It has a TSA-approved flap that will let them screen your bag without actually taking the laptop all the way out. It's $20 more.)

Steven Leckart

Buy Me A Shuttle-Bike Kit, Please

I don't speak Italian, so I don't know what these folks are saying. But I'm not certain that really matters. These kits, which fit in backpack, can be used to create a pedal-powered boat out of a bicycle. It comes with a rudder and two inflatable floaties you pump up &mdash get this &mdash via pedaling. The Shuttle-Bike technology dates back to 1992 and has been available for purchase since at least 2003, and yet I've never seen one in person, even in San Francisco.

I want one.

Steven Leckart

O Beautiful For Spacious Bag, For Amber Waves of Beer

Timbuk2's Dolores Cooler messenger sack can hold a 12-pack of canned PBR*. The lining is insulated. One of the straps features a red pop top. All you need now is a designated cyclist.

*Person who comes up w/the best addendum, wins.**

**The prize: respect and admiration from your peers.

Joel Johnson

Video: Air NZ "Bare Essentials" Air Safety Video

Has there ever been a kiwi that has sounded mean or ominous? They're the most adorable English speakers in the world.

Oh, there's ever-so-slight nudity in this video, but it is not sexual in any way. [via @jonnodotcom]

Joel Johnson

"Tourist Remover" cleans up your vacation photos

"Tourist Removed" is a web app that will remove other tourists from the photos you took of landmarks while on vacation as a tourist. All you have to do is take multiple shots of the same location, and Tourist Remover will only keep the bits that stay the same. It's like diff for photos! [via Halogen Life]

Xeni Jardin

(BB Video) Mile-High Gaming with Virgin + Google

(Download / YouTube)

In today's Boing Boing Video episode: our mini-documentary of "Day in the Cloud," a mile-high frag-a-thon aboard two dueling Virgin America planes both eqipped with in-flight WiFi.

During the one-hour flights, bloggers and game dorks played games that required internet connections, to compete for netbooks and pure ultimate leetness over their foes.

Competing on the plane from Los Angeles to San Francisco (named "YouTube Air"): me (Xeni), Rob Beschizza from Boing Boing Gadgets, legendary internet hilarity farmer Ze Frank, web personality Shira Lazar, and Wei-Hwa Huang, former Googler and world puzzle champion.

On the plane from San Francisco to Los Angeles (named "Superfly"): Kid Beyond, singer, beatboxer, and game nerd.

Lessons learned: Google makes it easier to cheat. Absinthe makes it harder to win. WiFi makes flying less boring. Kid Beyond and Ze Frank are very funny. Wei-Hwa Huang is the guy you want on your team in a puzzle competition. And finally, Rob and I should stick to blogging/vlogging, and forget about competitive puzzle-solving.

READ THE REST

Rob Beschizza

An hour with Virgin's in-flight WiFi

I've just flown from LA to San Francisco on one of Virgin's WiFi-equipped planes. It was for Google's "Day in the Cloud" event, which we'll have more of at Boing Boing Video presently: passengers on our flight competed with those on the concurrent SF to LA flight in a Pub Quiz game of such difficulty that one is obliged -- haha! -- to use Google calendar, search, maps and so on to find the answers.

We defeated the fools on the other airplane. Or, rather, the best player on ours scored marginally higher than the best player on theirs. My personal score is irrelevant.

Virgin let us on free of charge. Unnecesary travel in coach, bookended by the leering of latex-gloved TSA personnel, has doubtless corrupted my judgment. That said, the following conclusions can be made concerning Virgin's high-tech cabins.

- Having the web in-flight is an escape, and a connection to reality. Zoning out on the web is a spiritual refuge from the boredom of air travel, just as it is from the boredom of work.

- Before you get online, you have to get pass a third-party authentication proxy thing. Once past it, all is well, but it is the sort of thing that IT people call "a single point of failure."

- Virgin passenger cabins' lighting and fixture design is modeled on the interior of a Cylon basestar. This is a superior atmospheric to Southwest's fixed-grin comedy routines, but you have to like neon pink.

- You can play Doom and chat with other passengers on the back-of-chair display, but the keyboard on the handset is extremely hard to type on.

- Google apps run just as well in a plane as they do anywhere else: there's nothing to say about it beyond acknowledging that they work. It'll be a boon to those who already organize work around them.

- A cartoon Sir Richard Branson welcomes one to one's flight. He couldn't be with us today as he is jet-skiiing to Mars.

Update: From the organizers on the login woes: "the WiFi delays you might have experienced were related to on the ground issues with the web login for Gogo on the Aircell server in Illinois. Right now Aircell is working on the issue and the delays were not related to bandwidth constraints on the airplane (we have had up to 65 guests logged on at a time, and we did not have near this number on flights today). These delays were not Virgin America-specific - they occurred across Gogo's in-flight network."

As commenter TechDeviant notes below, it's $10 -- would it be better if Virgin simply billed it into the fare for everyone, added web access to the built-in chair units, and had an open WiFi network for those with laptops? Gogo's broken and pointless turnpike system was a real pain.

Steven Leckart

Tick Removers: Which Do You Use?

"Uh, I think I snapped it..."

I got my first tick on the BBG camping trip. I was lucky. I didn't even know it was there until it was gone. I brushed it off in the shower somehow without leaving any of the tick in my body *knock wood*. My completely uneducated guess is the hot water must have shocked the little bugger, and when I inadvertently passed my hand over him, he backed out and/or fell out because he had yet to burrow? (if you're a tick expert, feel free to weigh in).

Next time, I won't be so lucky, which is why I'm going to: a) use bug spray, and b) pick up a legit tick remover just in case. Cause there's no way I'm going to try the above method.

Here's a series of tick removers, including one that uses cryotherapy. I'm tempted to buy the one with a mini-lasso and just call it a day. Before I do, though, please feel free to chime in with any suggestions, experiences or links to videos of yourself removing ticks.

Steven Leckart

Review: Therm-A-Rest Sleeping System

Kevin Kelly pointed me to the idea of ditching a sleeping bag for a tech blanket. He learned the tip from Ray Jardine, who extols the virtues of lightweight backpacking and camping in a series of books, including the recent Trail Life.

The basic premise is that the flattened bottom of a sleeping bag is wasted material, since you're compressing the insulation. A blanket can provide more warmth because it contours to your body rather than maintaining a bag or mummy shape. Plus, it's much easier to overheat if you're crashed out in a bag, as opposed to a blanket you can drape and quickly adjust throughout the night.

Ray sells his own quilt kits, which I'd love to try. For the recent BBG camp trip, I used Therm-A-Rest's $50 Tech Blanket (pictured). It is light to carry (1 lbs, 5 oz.), warm (quilted nylon exterior, polyester fill), and packs quick, easy and small (mine packed up smaller than the no-frills sleeping bag I have).

What's particularly smart about Therm-A-Rest's set up is that their Fitted Sheet ($21) and blanket have snaps positioned periodically lengthwise, allowing you to quickly attach and remove the blanket. Not a pain to set up, take down.

Better yet, it was far more comfortable than any sleeping back I've ever used. We were camping in mid-50sF, and I was never cold and never too warm. What's more, unlike a sleeping back you might unzip and find completely open by the morning, the Tech Blanket provided enough room on either side for me to turn over without disrupting the whole tent. If you were camping in warmer weather, I'd imagine un-snapping one button on either side in the middle of the night wouldn't be too difficult either.

Note: I used the blanket and sheet with Therm-A-Rest's $100 LuxuryCamp self-Inflating mattress and $28 Compressible Pillow. You don't have to go all-out and get either of these. My favorite makeshift pillow is a small fleece case a friend made and gave to me. You just fill it with your clothes, towel, etc.

The only thing you want to be sure of, is that you use a pad that's size/shape is comparable to the fitted sheet. Otherwise, you won't feel as snug.

The sheets come in medium, regular and large which are 20x66 in., 20x72 in. and 25x77 in., respectively. If you already have a sleep pad that size, you should go for it. Again, we're talking $21 for the sheet and $50 for a blanket that could also serve double duty at home. I'm in.

Steven Leckart

Review: MSR Hubba Hubba HP 2-Person Tent [ultralight]

The Hubba Hubba HP is a $450 3-season tent that weighs a scant 4 lbs when fully-packed (at just 20 x 7 inches), making it ideal for longer-term packing or anyone looking to lighten the load. When assembled, the HP provides 29 sq. ft. Not exactly the Taj Mahal of tents, but my wife and I slept comfortably inside (disclaimer: we're both under 5' 8"). Plus, it's dual-doored, meaning no one has to crawl out over anyone.

The real beauty is in the details: there is only ONE tent pole with various offshoots that make up the frame of the structure. It made for a ridiculously-easy set up: The very first time I assembled the tent, the whole process took less than 8 minutes, including stopping every once in a while to say, "Man, this is really easy."

The first time I packed it up, too, the whole experience took less than 5 minutes.

The HP version includes a body that's primarily made of fabric (as opposed to the mostly-mesh Hubba Hubba), which lightens the load by a few oz. and makes it preferable for colder conditions or where there's wind and sand. We used our tent in very mild conditions (mid-50Fs at night). No rain, no snow, and virtually no wind. So I can't really say how it will handle in more extreme environments, but considering it's twice as expensive as some of the other 2-person tents we tested, it better be able to withstand a nuclear blast.

Steven Leckart

8 iPhone Apps For Camping

I picked up my first iPhone last Friday. I've yet to take it camping, but I'll be heading out into the wilderness this coming weekend. Nothing hardcore, but some light hiking, stove-top cooking and tent living.

Here are the apps I'm most curious to try, even though there's some mixed feedback on iTunes. If you have any experience with these or can recommend additional apps worth paying for (or free ones worth the time), please leave your suggestions in the comments.

I'll be posting any truly useful favorite(s) after I return.

1) TrailBehind ($.99): User-generated maps with info about specific trail heads, summits, streams, state park landmarks, and more.

2) Park Maps ($.99): GPS maps of 250+ national parks and recreational spots in the U.S. The reviews are mixed.

3) Knot Guide ($3.99): Version 1.7 got pretty high marks from iPhone App Reviews.net. Version 3.3 offers instructions on 68 knots. For $4, it better be exceedingly better than...

4) Knot Time ($.99): Only 28 knots, but instructional videos sound clutch. However, some 3G S users are said to be experiencing issues with playback. As soon as an update's in place, I'm game.

5) Flashlight ($.99), Flashlight. (FREE), Torch (FREE) and Super Torch ($1.99): I use a headlamp, but the idea of having a less direct mood light for reading in the tent seems appealing. Since some of these let you tweak the color (i.e. red), too, you can preserve your night vision.

6) Motion-X GPS Lite (FREE): I've read it's one of the most accurate mapping apps. Bonus: you can plot your pace and set specific locations to help you make your way back to camp, for instance.

7) Anti Mosquito ($.99), Repel Mosquito ($.99), Mosquito Repeller($1.99) are just a few of the apps which emit high frequencies that supposedly keep away pests. I'm skeptical. I used Bug Spray (FREE) last Saturday at a wedding in a wooded area in Sonoma County. I got one small mosquito bite on my neck, but that's fewer than some of the other people I was with. Needless to say, I can't really say for sure whether this app helped or not.

8) AccuWeather (FREE): If you're spending any prolonged period of time camped outdoors, you'll want to know more than the chance of rain and current or predicted temp. 411 for humidity, pressure, winds = good. A long-term forecast of 5 to 15 days = good-er.

After the jump, see why it's not such a bad thing to be paranoid about taking your iPhone into the wilderness...

photo by proviatoes

READ THE REST

Steven Leckart

Review: GoBe Solar Briefcase & Power-Hub

As soon as I stumbled on the Provo Craft's GoBe system at Maker Faire, I was dying to get my hands on one. I'm an optimist, but one who's been disheartened by the dearth of consumer-ready chargers that can handle the output necessary to power any device larger than a cell phone &mdash and even the ones that claim to charge phones don't always work so well.

The GoBe is a terrific device for luxury car campers or, perhaps, touring cyclists willing to trade off-the-grid power for extra weight. There are two components: a 12-lb. solar panel and 9-lb. power hub with AC, DC and USB outputs. Not especially lightweight, but comfortable to manhandle since both parts feature integrated handles. The GoBe is advertised as taking about 10 hours to fully charge, which was roughly my experience when I recharged my battery at home after camping with it (note: you must charge the power hub via wall socket before using outdoors for the first time).

While camping, we used our GoBe to handle one basic task: power a travel-size iPod dock. Which it did mightily. Normally the device would run on AAs, which aren't exactly a hassle to carry (plus, there are obviously packable solar chargers for reusable AAs). However, there was something extremely satisfying about powering our tunes via solar charger. Plus, after 4 hours of charging the meager device, there was plenty of juice left &mdash I think about half. And that's kind of my main complaint: think.

I haven't played with a solar charger that is 100% perfect. And this one isn't either.

The power hub's three indicator lights are helpful, but not nearly enough. Green = a full charge (or close to it). Red = little or no juice. Yellow = ??? ...I realize including an LED displaying watts and volts consumed wouldn't be practical power-wise. On the other hand, having to mentally calculate your power usage isn't so fun, especially if you're using the power hub while it's simultaneously charging.

I'm told the GoBe can expand the life of an average laptop battery anywhere from 3 to 6 hours, which is potentially great, but also a great reminder of the disappoints that continue to plague all things solar. There can be so many variables, least of all whether you're getting solid sunlight, so that range could be a bit disconcerting if you were really relying on this thing for power on a regular or semi-regular basis. i.e. this is clearly not something I'd exclusively count on to write my novel in the bush.

For car camping, though, it works well, since you don't have to carry batteries or pull any power from your car's battery. Should you have to power up your cell phone, GPS, camera, etc., you've got more than enough for charge-triage. And, provided you're camping somewhere with unobstructed sunlight (we did not), you won't have to reposition it throughout the day (we did).

Two more caveats: You get AC, DC and a USB port, however, if you neglect to bring a standard USB, for instance, you'll only be able to use a two-prong plug. Not a deal breaker, but I sure would have loved a typical U.S. Type B three-prong outlet. Yes, an adapter costs $5 at Radio Shack, but that's one more thing for me to carry, keep track of, and, let's be honest, lose.

Lastly, the thing is WHITE, which looks nice and modern, but will get dirty faster than a broke, drunk sorority girl at a $10,000-prize mud wrestling contest.

Now some bad news: The GoBe costs $350 (plus $45 for shipping). Not cheap, but not all that terrible considering a car inverter built just for a MacBook costs $150, only charges one device, and will drain your parked car's battery.

Steven Leckart

Review: Platypus CleanStream Gravity Filter

"Oh man, you just turned our campsite into an ER!"

The CleanStream is a gravity filtration system that resembles an IV bag. Consisting of two Platypus bladders, two hoses, and one 0.2-micron-thick hollow fiber filter (w/a cartridge that's good for ~1500L), this $90 system can handle bacteria, protozoa, viruses and particulate &mdash i.e. the gunky yellow stuff that came out of the spigot at our campsite (see below).

The CleanStream is straightforward to use. After attaching the hoses to either end of the filter, you fill the "dirty" bag from your stream, spigot or other source (avoid shallow, still puddles!), and hang up the dirty bag, leaving the "clean" bag on the ground or somewhere below the dirty one. Instantly, gravity pulls the H2O down through the filter and into the "clean" bag. There's also a clip on the hose that lets you pause the filtering if, say, you need only a smaller quantity of water in one minute vs. three.

I will admit the spigot where we were camped was unlikely to have any contaminants, bacteria, etc. However, there's something about drinking yellow water that doesn't sit too well with me. Thus, we double-filtered our water, which dramatically reduced the yellow:

[Note: to avoid mixing up the bags during use, write "dirty" or "X" on the dirty bag with a Sharpie.]

Gravity filters aren't new, but this was my first time trying one out*. Reason being the $90 price tag makes it somewhat of a luxury item, imho. When I backpacked Hawaii for 2 months in college all I used were $7 for iodine tablets. I drank from streams and waterfalls and never got sick, but the taste wasn't terrific and using tablets required way too much time: drop in tablets, wait 30 minutes, and then another 30 minutes if you also use the taste-neutralizing tablets (which I did not).

At the time, though, the tablets were way more preferable to filtering with a hand-pump. After hiking 12 miles of rocky coastline, the last thing you want to do is expend energy just for a sip of fresh water. If you're car camping (which I was recently), you're likely partial to gear that will make the experience as cush and convenient as possible.

So for $90, you can have potable water in less than 3 minutes, literally, by doing nothing. Or you could spend $7 to have potable water in 30 minutes. Or you can spend somewhere in between on a hand-pump filter and get some added exercise. Your call.

*It's worth noting there are other systems some packers have been using in conjunction with Platypus bladders, including the Sawyer and Aquamira Frontier Pro. I have no personal experience with either.

Xeni Jardin

BB Video: Day in the Cloud - Google + Virgin America + Boing Boing + netbooks + mile-high networked fragging

(Download MP4 / YouTube)

Google Apps and Virgin America are teaming up for a day of cloud computing in the clouds: "Day in the Cloud," Wednesday, June 24.

Boing Boing will be on board -- me (Xeni), Rob Beschizza from Boing Boing Gadgets, and our friend Jane McGonigal, of Avantgame and Institute for the Future.

In this Boing Boing Video episode, I speak with Porter Gale of Virgin America, and Jen Mazzon, a "digital mom" from Google, about the in-flight game smackdown planned (one plane competes against the other to win a litter of brand-new netbooks), and about how always-connected data experience could change our lives.

Folks at home are also invited to play:

All you'll need is a net connection, a Google Account, and the warm, comforting glow of your computer screen. Become one of the top scorers and we'll set you up with your own personal "Year in the Cloud," complete with a brand-new HP netbook and 1 terabyte of Google Account storage for your photos and mail--all of which will come in handy when you fly free for a year on Virgin America with complimentary WiFi.

Virgin produced a short, funny promotional video for Day in the Cloud which is also worth a watch, below.

Sponsor shout-out

Steven Leckart

BBG on... Camping

Bad things can happen when city slickers head out into the great outdoors and play with new and unfamiliar gear, gadgets and &mdash in John Candy's case &mdash speedboats.

Today on BBG, we'll be reviewing sleeping bags, technical blankets, headlamps, gravity-based water filters, a number of 2-person tents optimized for ultralight packing, car camping and other conditions. We'll also look at potentially-cool outdoor apps for the iPhone, a portable solar charger, fasty-dry pack towels, camping gear for dogs, a big-ass tarp tent you attach to your car, and more. Don't worry, none of us tested any outdoor vehicles.

Rob Beschizza

Leather laptop bag folds 8 ways

Hard Graft's 2UNFOLD laptop bag is, well, my kind of laptop bag: leather, lots of pockets and compartments, and unnecessarily complicated. Designed to transform into 8 different styles--briefcase, shoulder bag, rucksack, reversible courier (leather or canvas) and reversible clutch--it can fit a 17" or 13" laptop depending on which config you fold it into, and is made in Italy.

Xeni Jardin

BB Video: This Week in Space And Aviation, with Miles O'Brien

(Download / YouTube)

Boing Boing Video guest correspondent Miles O'Brien checks in with us for an update on the scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle, and on new information about what may have led to the recent Air France crash, and finally, on the confirmation that geese -- yes, geese -- were responsible for the emergency conditions that led to the "miracle on the Hudson" emergency landing.

Follow Miles' coverage of Endeavor's scheduled launch at spaceflightnow.com, or follow him on Twitter: @milesobrien.

Update, 11:15pm PT: From Miles' live-tweeting at the launch site: the space shuttle Endeavour launch has just been postponed because of another leak in the gaseous hydrogen venting system between the launch pad and external fuel tank.

Sponsor shout-out

Steven Leckart

How Much Junk Is In My Trunk?

By trunk, I mean this lightweight nylon jacket from Scottevest, maker of gadget-minded, pocket-rich clothing. Frankly, a lot of technical gear &mdash much of Scottevest's stuff included &mdash doesn't suit my everyday aesthetic and/or looks huge on my frame*.

Hence why I was initially pretty pumped to slip into the new, $75 Pack Windbreaker, which features a whopping 17 pockets and fit just right, without making me look like Bear Grylls.

After the jump, see how much stuff I packed into this jacket, and hear about the good, the bad, and the fugly...

*Boxy, long t-shirts/jackets look like miniskirts on me: I'm 5'7".

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

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