Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Belkin’s latest power-strip adds a very smart feature for travelers: USB ports. The strip has a couple of charge-only sockets along with the three-way mains AC extenders and even comes with a mini-USB cable, obviating the need to carry chargers for most gadgets.

Belkin USB Charger

The $25 box also squeezes in a surge-protector for those untrustworthy hotel power outlets. Taken from the product page:

Hotel rooms and airport terminals never seem to have enough power outlets to charge all the devices today’s traveler brings along. Now you can add outlets and peace of mind on business trips and vacations with the Belkin Mini Surge Protector.

This new design features three AC outlets and two powered USB outlets - perfect for MP3 players and mobile phones.

Something to note, the USB outlets cannot be used as a USB hub and does not transmit data. The powered USB outlets on this unit are intended solely for charging devices that can be charged via a USB interface.

Check out the product page for more information. I’ve already ordered two :)


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
3/7/07 10:21 am

Categories //
Food
Geekery
Travel

No Comments

Ever since that trip to England, things just haven’t been the same. I mean you just can’t get any decent fish and chips around here.

No problem. Get your own inflatable Port-a-Pub. It’s constructed to an “Olde Worlde” English pub design with “superb attention to detail.”

Portable Pub

The inflatable boasts a pan tiled roof effect, chimney pots on the exterior, an Inglenook fireplace and a stone-wall effect in the interior.

Billed as “the world’s first inflatable pub”, this pub in a box holds up to 50 guests (or 200 college students), fits in the back of a van and assembles in under an hour:

People with Portable Pub

Why add an extension to your house when you can buy a portable pub that travels with you?

All pub-like features are painted directly onto the anti-fungal and flame retardant PVC walls so there’s no need to worry about unruly guests breaking paintings or windows.

You might want to watch out for guests trying to carve their names on the “wood” beams:

Wood Beams inside Portable Pub

I’ll have a pint of Guinness and an order of fish and chips please:

Inside the Portable Pub

All you need now is a bouncy castle attached.

Your kids birthday parties would suddenly draw quite the crowd… bouncy castle for the kids, portable pub for the adults.

If you’d like to find out more, check out the Portable Pub website.


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
2/16/07 9:55 pm

Categories //
Google
Photography
Travel

1 Comment

In the building where Guy Tozzoli hatched plans in the early 1960’s for an urban renewal project called the World Trade Center, young Google engineers now build software for the ultimate answer machine.

Welcome to Google: the reception area of Google’s NYC offices.

Google's NYC reception area

Work spaces in the New York offices of Google.

New York offices of Google

One of Google NYC’s office spaces.

Google NYC's office spaces

Razor scooters, a preferred mode of inter-office transport.

Razor scooters

Snac-tion: The New York offices of Google have micro kitchens and snack stations throughout.

Lots of Almonds, Yogert Covered Raisins, Sunridge Farms Jelly Beans, Peanut M&M’s, Cheerios and Sunridge Farms Trail Mix.

Google snack stations

Google NYC’s gaming area features a pool table, air hockey and Guitar Hero.

Google NYC's gaming area

Google’s tribute to Albert Einstein “Google=mc2″ with Einsign:

Google=mc2


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
8/17/06 10:52 pm

Categories //
Photography
Travel

1 Comment

First off, sorry for not updating for a couple of days. We’ve been super busy checking out the sites like the Japanese Garden and the Seattle, Washington Space Needle, resting from all the walking, taking lots of pictures and trying to stay off the computer but I figured that it was time for an update with some of the latest pictures from Oregon.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, some amazing waterfalls from the beautiful State of Oregon that we visited on August 15, 2006. I won’t go into a long description as the photos speak for themselves but I will put the name of each waterfall:

Latourell Falls:

Latourell Falls

Wahkeena Falls:

Wahkeena Falls

Multnomah Falls:

Multnomah Falls

Horsetail Falls:

Horsetail Falls

As you can see, these waterfalls were just amazing and the lo-resolution versions I posted don’t due them justice. I took multiple shots of each waterfall as well, I just don’t want to post them all until I get a nice gallery plugin or stand alone gallery script for my site.

Keep in mind that I did take very high resolution pictures, so I’ll be able to get some nice prints done to frame for around the house, turn into screen savers, computer wallpaper or even into nice greeting cards for family or friends.

I hope you enjoy the photos. Comments always welcome.


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
8/16/06 4:08 pm

Categories //
Photography
Travel

2 Comments

I’ve been looking through my digital pictures that I’ve been taking while on vacation in Oregon and wanted to share some of the random geek type pictures I took while driving around and getting lost on small two lane roads.

Here is a photo of an interesting door lock at a local Portland, Oregon bank. That’s right, if you need to get into the bank or use the ATM machine after hours, you’ll need to use your ATM card to unlock the door:

ATM Door Lock

Driving down some random street in Aloha, Oregon, I notice a familiar technology logo for a processor company. Yep, Intel’s Aloha Campus:

Intel Aloha Campus

While in Oregon, I noticed that gas stations don’t want you pumping your own gas which seemed weird to me because I’ve always pumped my own gas. When I asked the gas station attendant about this, he said it was because of safety issues. Interesting indeed. I did snap the photo of the sign below on the gas pump at the Arco gas station while filling up, so maybe this is the safety issue he was talking about?

Gas Pump Warning Sign

Most of my friends know that I love classic video games and I even own a few full sized classics myself, so after getting gas at the Arco, we went to a total ghetto arcade called Wunderland. What was really cool was every game took nickels, so basically 5 cents per game. A few did require 3-7 nickels but it was still really cheap to play games.

Wunderland Arcade

Next up is a picture of a space age looking pay phone. I’ve never seen one shaped like an egg or green in color for that matter but now everyone can see one because of the photo I took below:

Green Space Age Pay phone

Last but not least is a photo of me next to a yellow road sign which reads “ROCKS”.

Yellow Rocks Sign


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
8/12/06 7:56 pm

Categories //
Photography
Travel

No Comments

This morning I decided that a trip over the bridge and up the Interstate 5 Freeway was in order for a road trip to Seattle, Washington. Enterprise rent-a-car was nice enough to give me unlimited mileage in Oregon and Washington, so why not a road trip right?

As I’ve been doing pretty much this entire trip, I took a bunch of pictures today while in Seattle. Since it took almost 3 hours one way to get into Seattle and I need to be back in Portland tonight, there was only enough time for one stop which was the Space Needle.

The first picture is the view looking up at the Space Needle. This beauty stands at 605 feet high and has an elevation of 730.25 feet above sea level.

Built in 1962, the Space Needle served as the symbol of that year’s World’s Fair. It has since become the symbol of Seattle and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The privately owned Space Needle is managed by the Space Needle Corporation.

Outside Space Needle

Once inside at the observation deck, you have some amazing views. To get a really nice view, there is a sign giving specific directions on what to do:

Sign Your Head Here

Once you line your head up against the sign per the instructions (yes I did it), here is the amazing city view:

Amazing Seattle View

Amazing Water View

On the food front, we decided on the Saturday Brunch special which takes place from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. What’s really cool about having any meal at the Space Needle is the Sky City Restaurant rotates 360 degrees, so while you eat, the world actually does revolve around you:

View From The Table

Another Table View

Both the food an view from the table was just amazing. If you ever come to Seattle, Washington, I recommend coming to the Space Needle. It’s worth every penny.

I did pick up a couple of really cool shot glasses for my collection. Yes I know, I have so many collections of “stuff”. It happens.

Tomorrow I’m checking into white water rafting. That should be an adventure for sure.