gdgt live did a great live feed at: http://live.gdgt.com/2010/01/27/live-apple-come-see-our-latest-creation-tablet-event-coverage/

You can watch the event in its entirety at http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/1001q3f8hhr/event/index.html

You can find details from the Apple Web site at http://www.apple.com/ipad.
If you want to get notified when the WiFi version is available (in 60 days) go here and sign up: http://www.apple.com/ipad/notify-me.
There are a ton of photos on Apple’s site at http://www.apple.com/ipad/gallery/

Specifications:

• 1.5″ thick
• 9.56″ high
• 1.5lbs

Now the fun begins to make the first delivery by the end of 2010 to ANA of Japan.

You can find some pictures I took at the roll our ceremony in July of 2007

Boeing 787-8 Rollout pictures

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 Pictures from the rollout ceremony in July 2007.

I had just spent about twenty minutes in line and hated it.  This leaflet promised expedition through Immigration which I’m all about and I’m sure you as well.  I had already signed up for the IRIS program in the U.K. which gets me through the process in no time, so I was ready.

Amsterdam, Netherlands has a similar program, but I’m not eligible (only Dutch citizens allowed), so I have not signed up sadly.  Also, the U.S. had a test program a few years ago, but it went belly up.  Yes, I did sign up for that too and it worked well, while it worked.

I’ve just found out though while writing this article that I can now apply for Privium due to an agreement between the two governments.  Details at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/global_entry/global_entry_flux.xml.  This is a huge deal as the lines in Amsterdam can be very long when departing the airport.  Privium is a bit pricey though, so I will have to consider if it is worth it.

Once I got home, I went online to the URL listed in the brochure, http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/global_entry, no the government is not marketing savvy, so they don’t have http://www.cbp.gov/globalentry set up .  I was eager to sign and paid the required $100.  If I save nineteen minutes out of my life not waiting in line, I win.

The process is not easy as you have to enter all the places you’ve visited ever.  Well, I’ve visited 85 countries , so you get the picture.  I kept focussed though and looking at those long lines at Immigration.  Once this was done, I then had to get an appointment at any airport that had Global Entry.  That presented a challenge as the hours were only 9-5.  Despite that I made it work and made an appointment at Houston-Intercontinental.

I took my passport and other identification, did the interview and now I’m in.

So, although the process is a bit lengthy, it is worth it.  On my trip in this weeekend from London, the lines for U.S. citizens and visitors were maxed out.  I walked straight to the special Global Entry line, placed my passport on the reader, then four of my right fingers as requried, answered a few questions, then I’m done in under 30 seconds.  Meanwhile the line got longer.

Downstairs in Customs, there is a special line for us too.  I was through that in no time as well.  I felt very special as a I walked past all those non-Global Entry travellers.

So, now you know what is Global Entry and why you need it.  So go get one at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/global_entry.

If you are currently a Global Entry user, please share your experiences with us and tell us why you decided to spend that $100?  If you are not, tell us what is holding you back?

I was the last person to board this Boeing 737-900ER flight; at the door, there was a sticker with the DIRECTV logo, just in case you were not sure.  As I boarded, the flight attendant pointed me to a box on the right in the closet.  It said “Take a free headset,” so I did.  The flight attendant then advised me that there was a charge for DIRECTV and the directions were on the screen at my seat.

As I made my way to my seat, I noticed that everyone had headsets in and were all quiet and watching TV.  I remembered this same experience on jetBlue when I flew them for a month back in September/October 2009.  It was the quietest I’ve ever seen a boarded airplane.

I eventually got the attention of the passenger at the aisle as I had the middle seat.  He was really into the TV in front of him.  I moved into my seat and settled in then started sampling the offerings myself.  You can view the offerings at http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/entertainment/directv/default.aspx on the Continental Airlines Web site.

On the tip of the armrest to my left, the system has a GUIDE button which tells you what is available onscreen.  This is in addition to the normal channel and volume buttons plus a SELECT button and brightness controls.  There was a message on screen that advised that the charge was 6.00 USD and that you can use a credit/debit card to swipe on the right.  The same message also advised that you were receiving a free preview so you should go ahead and swipe your credit/debit card now so you don’t get interrupted later.

I played around with it for a bit checking out the channels.  There were lots of sports stuff going on as well as movies.  I did take note that Harry Potter was starting in ten minutes which would have been 3:00a on the East coast of the U.S.  I don’t have DIRECTV at home so this was all new to me.

I did notice that there is a power plug just under my seat to the right; yea.  I had run down both the computer and my phone batteries in the airport, so this would be very useful during the flight.  I had to wait to get above 10,000′ to plug in though.

The door soon closed, then the flight attendants gave the safety demo manually as there is not a recorded one on the system.  We then headed out to the runway and as it was so late, we departed fairly quickly into the cold night skies.

My free time had run out just before we left the ground, so I swiped my card when we got airborne and followed the instructions to activate the system.  There is no charge in First class by the way.  I was not really watching anything, just surfing channels.  It was late and not much to see on TV anyways.  I looked around and the folks I could see were not watching TV as they had the “your free time is up” screen up; I guess they were asleep. I was trying to find some audio channels, but could not, so I nodded off, just as the beverage service started.  I did have some cranapple juice, but not the pretzels before going to sleep.

I was awoken a few hours later as we were preparing for landing in Houston.  I put my stuff (computer, cell phone and electrical plugs) away and went back to sleep awaking when I got to the gate and heard the ding from the seatbelt sign going off.

All in all, it was a good experience; I have to plan a long flight during the daytime so I can experience it all without falling asleep.

Have you flown an airplane with DIRECTV?  If so, how was your experience?

To make it even more fun, there is a photo contest which starts on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009.  Just take a picture of you using the free WiFi in an airport and voila.  Umm…I wonder how they can prove that you are using their WiFi?

Personally, I think that WiFi should be free everywhere and never understood why some airports charge and others do not, just seems strange to me.  I have an airline airport Club card so I get free WiFi in the Club anyways, but at airports where such a Club is not present, I’m hosed as I refuse to pay for WiFi in an airport unless it is absolutely necessary.  I wonder where my airport tax goes?

You can find additional details at http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/.

Please lease a comment and let us know what you think of all this?  What’s in it for Google?  More  Gmail accounts?  The Global domination continues…

As it turned out, his bag was stolen while he was on an inbound train for Amsterdam from Paris.  He asked me not to use his image, hence the focus on the hotel’s door/signage in the video below.  Listen to his story below.  Have you had a similar experience?:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Transcript

Me: Tell me your story, what is your name first?

Sugarto: My name is Sugarto (in a low tone).

Me: Say it again?

Sugarto: Sugarto.  So the problem is that I was coming from Paris to Schipol and maybe in Brussels or any other place so somebody stole my luggage [trails off].

Me: Wow!

Sugarto: and that is the hand luggage.

Me: And this was on the train or on the plane?

Sugarto: It was on the train, the Thalys.

Me: O.K.

Sugarto: I informed the train manager, but he said that I had to inform the Schipol Police but eventually I got my eTicket from the KLM counter and they were very helpful to me [his tickets and not his passport were in the bag as well].

Me: Good.

Sugarto: The problem is that if something goes stolen in the train which I know is the responsibility of the passenger who is traveling, but there should be some responsibility on the part of the train manager, basically it sucks!

Me: Absolutely.  So where is your next journey?

Sugarto: I’m going back to my country, that’s India.

Me: Oh, O.K., so this was just a stop, an interim stop from Paris.

Sugarto: Yes, it was an interim stop from Paris.

Me: Which part of India are you from?

Sugarto: I’m from New Delhi.

Me: Ah, O.K. Excellent, how long have you been gone?

Sugarto: I’ve been in this country,

Me: In Europe

Surgato: In Europe for say around 6 weeks.

Me: O.K. was that business or pleasure?

Sugarto: Business, business.

Me: So here is a quick question, does your cell phone works? [sound of helicopter in the background]

Sugarto: Ah, No, because I’m not on roaming, so probably the cell phone won’t work for me.  What you have to do is you taht you reall have to setup roaming and then you have to use it.

Me: Ah O.K. and it will perhaps cost a fortune if you do roaming.

Sugarto: Yea, it is too costly, especially for travelers.  I’m on a business purpose so it means my expenditure is more or less paid by the company  but people who travel on their own money so its very costly.  Unluckily my cell phone was also in my hand luggage. So let me check when I get back to Delhi how can I get it.  I need to contact my parents and I don’t know how to do it.  So let’s see.

Me: So most of your trip was O.K. until this I take it?

Sugarto: Ah, I think so, yes.

Me: Wow, I’m very sorry to hear that but I think usually if something gets stolen on the train, I think when you buy the ticket, there is like a limit of liability on the ticket.

Sugarto: Yes, I think so, it should be a part on the train as well because  you are spending around 100 EUR for a train ticket and you don’t get any services except for the traveling.  Yes, that should be there, at least you should have the flexibility to log a complaint while traveling with the train, but I don’t know.

Me: So you only noticed this when you got off the train or when you arrived?

Sugarto: When Schipol was arriving and I was ready to back off.  So, however, my main luggage was still there as it was kept in the main part of the train.

Me: Alright, great, thank you.

Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS) 31 Oct. 2009.  This my second time staying at this hotel and like the first time (on a trip from Hannover to Amsterdam), I was not disappointed.

I was having difficulty finding a place to stay in the heart of Amsterdam and decided on just trying to find a place once I got there.  One deciding factor was the schedule of the train from the airport to the city.  As I found out it runs 24 hours with hourly service between midnight and 5:00a.  Outside of that it is 6 times per hour at a cost of 7.20 EUR round trip (http://www.amsterdam.info/airport/train).  Once I cleared that up, I walked over to the hotel which is located just about 5 minutes walk from the airport terminal.  Basically exit the terminal and turn right on the arrivals level.

Once there, I was greeted by a guy who asked me if I wanted to check-in.  I told him I had no reservation and asked what was the cost for one night.  99.00 EUR he replied.  A bit more than I had expected so I asked a few more questions and then he mentioned that if I booked online it would be cheaper.  And so it was, it was 69.00 EUR plus taxes which brought it to 72.91 EUR, so in the end, I paid 72.91 EUR plus 20.00 EUR early check-in fee plus there was a 2.25 EUR fee for not using a PIN card (which I think is so wrong); a total of 95.16 EUR, quite a savings from the 99.00 EUR walk in fee plust the early check-in fee.

With that I checked in using the kiosks and taking a key card, holding it next to the reader/writer so that my room information could be written to it.  I wanted a higher floor facing the airport so the agent took care of that for me.  As a matter of fact, I think I got the same room I had the first time I stayed there.

So what is so special about this hotel?  Well, it has free WiFi, which you cannot beat, and if you don’t have your own computer, there are four MacIntoshes in the main lobby for your use.  There is even a printer so you can print your boarding passes for your flight.  The lobby also has a bar and about four or five elegantly decorated lounge areas with TVs, chairs and couches.

The rooms are cool as well, with a bed that spans the length of the room with a fantastic quiet airport view.  There are many preset settings for the window shades, the lights, etc. in the room.  There is also mood lighting above the toilet and shower which are surrounded by circular glass doors.   Here is a video for you to enjoy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here is a review by a traveler from India, Sugarto:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Enjoy the pictures of the room and hotel below:

Please leave your comments below.

“The Wait Time Calculator is currently under construction. We apologize for the inconvenience while we are working to make the tool more user friendly.”

Other Web sites linking to it says:

 ”We are sorry but our security wait times application is unavailable at this time. The TSA is currently not publishing this information. Once this information becomes available again, we will re-introduce this feature”

I wonder how long it’s been down?  Anyone knows? If you are looking for this information you can check with your airline’s Web site for details.

Remember to give yourself enough time to get to the airport.  As a general rule, I’ll try to arrive at the airport 1.5 hours before the scheduled departure of my domestic flight.   If you are checking bags and going international, give yourself more time.  As usually you have a one hour cut off time to have your bags checked in.  At worst, I can hang out in the airport/airline lounge .