If it’s September, it means fun new products from Apple!
If you are in the market for a new toy (and in this economy, who really is?) then check out Apple’s website for new fun things like a touch screen iPod Nano, new iPod Touch with FaceTime, upgraded iTunes, and a new, $100 Apple TV.
Enjoy!
I was browsing Dave Ramsey’s website and came across AnnualCreditReport.com. I’ve seen so many gimmicky ads on television promising access to a free credit report, but the fine print reveals that they all have strings attached, like “Offer involves enrollment in . . . ” so the report is free but the attached strings are not.
Luckily, we all get access to our credit report for free as stipulated by government regulation. You are entitled to one report each year and the big three credit bureaus will allow you access to yours annually. Enter Annual Credit Report. It is recommended by Ramsey because it truly is free, with no strings attached, and works with the credit bureaus directly. TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian are the three credit reporting agencies that hold the keys, as the gatekeepers, to what your credit report is made up of, and thus the determination of your FICO or credit score. You’ll still have to pay (about 8 bucks) for your actual score, but if your report is good and clear, then your score will be good, no matter what the actual number is.
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5:45 in the morning and this is our view of the sunrise over the South China Sea as we climb out of Hong Kong bound for Xiamen, China. After doing so many long flights, this one was a hurried and cramped hour that left both me and the captain feeling a bit rushed. At least the view was great. We delivered aircraft parts to Xiamen, as there are lots of aircraft maintenance facilities there and our own passenger-to-freighter conversions of the 747 are done there as well.
Continue reading Xiamen and Shanghai
Laura and I have been saving up for awhile so we can afford some new toys from Apple. We’ve sacrificed without for so long, we decided that now is the time to jump on the technology band wagon and enter the 21st century. I’m talking about the new iPhone 4 and the iPad.
For over four years, I’ve had the same free phone from T-Mobile that I got when I signed up with them. Because it was free, it had no camera, no web, no mp3 player, no radio, no extras, no nothing. I could text on it, but it was a huge pain to even do that. The phone has served me well enough for what I use a phone for (to make calls — imagine that) and I had even bought a second battery to replace the original that failed two years ago. It was a four and a half year run, but with the dawn of the new iPhone 4, the ship had finally sailed on my old phone.
Continue reading iPhones and iPads
Observation:
I’m sitting here at 31,000 feet on a Delta flight to JFK to start my 8-day trip for work. The friendly flight attendant (stewardess, air hostie, trolly dolly) stopped by and offered me peanuts and a Coke Zero. I was stunned to see my packages of peanuts. No longer does the little red package say something to the likes of “Salted nuts” or “Snack”. Printed on the package was an advertisement for the Hilton Garden Inn, and their airy soft beds with “Snooze Control.” Ads on the snacks? Hah! What will they think of next?
If there is a way to eek out a little profit anywhere on the aircraft, leave it to the cash strapped airlines to come up with an idea to capitalize on it. Delta’s latest profit announcement was pretty good, considering, and I’m glad to see them and others doing well. I do wonder what Hilton paid to put an ad on the peanut packages. I can see this in a few years: Behind the tray table in front of you will be a computer screen with rolling ads on it, all customized to you the way Google Adwords works — and they’ll know it’s you because you paid for your seat with a credit card or because the TSA did a ten year background check on you (and then sold that information to the airlines so the TSA can pay for some of it’s budget). It’s coming . . .
This is a great YouTube video of a camera strapped to the back of the nosewheel of a 747 as they make a takeoff and landing. About halfway through the show, the pilots bring the nosewheel down and fly around a bit before lowering the rest of the gear. It makes for great cinema, but leaves me wondering how they brought just the nosewheel down by itself (normally it comes down along with all the other main gear). Enjoy.
I just got back from my electrifyingly long 11 day trip — the one that started the day I got back from vacation. It was long because I was able to do a local trip from Hong Kong to Taipei and back. It was scheduled as some recurrent training and I did well. From Hong Kong, Taipei is only about an hour flight and we left in the evening, stayed briefly overnight and then made the first flight back to Hong Kong in the morning. I had an awesome landing in TPE, but hey, even a broken watch is right twice a day. We were floating, floating, then rolling, rolling. When the sound of the speedbrake lever moving back under its auto function is the signal the main wheels are on the ground, it’s a good one.
Continue reading Taipei and Frisco