SkyNet's Helicopter

As reported by Wired, next year should see the deployment of Boeing's A160 "Hummingbird" drone helicopter to Afghanistan.  The A160 will fly up to 12-hour missions carrying the 1.8 gigapixel ARGUS-IS camera system that can track dozens of ground targets (as small as individuals) simultaneously and peek downrange as far as 25 miles.

While the military sees this as an especially effective platform for finding insurgents in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, the Hummingbird looks like the best friend the Border Patrol could ever have.  Forget fences, start training people to use THIS thing.

Epic Fail

Okay, we've all had bad days in customer service.  We've all probably said something that later on we thought "Hm, wish I'd handled that differently."

But few can claim the level of epic, public, Internet-wide customer service meltdown now claimed by Paul Christoforo of Ocean Marketing.  Mr. Christoforo wasn't content with rude, semi-literate responses to customer inquiries about the shipping date for a game controller his company was marketing, he had to get into a war of words with the guy behind popular net-based comic Penny Arcade to dig the hole even deeper!  Followed by rude tweets exchanged with the editors of IGN after they asked him to quit saying he was a friend of theirs in his rude e-mails to other people.

It's chronicled by the Penny Arcade folks starting here and has gathered momentum with gaming industry journalists worldwide.  Mr. Christoforo has had to change his Twitter handle just to try to get out from under the deluge of negative reaction, he lost the client he was "representing" here, and is now persona non grata at half the gaming trade shows on the planet.  Nice day's work there, buddy!

"Please place all liquids and venemous snakes in clear plastic containers ..."

wtf buddy?

A Czech man has been nabbed in Argentina for trying to board a transatlantic flight with 247 live animals including poisonous snakes and endangered reptiles packed in a bulging suitcase.

The man identified as Karel Abelovsky, 51, was caught while trying to board a flight for Madrid when shocked baggage X-ray technicians and staff at the Iberia Airlines desk at Ezeiza Airport in greater Buenos Aires noticed "organic substances moving inside", local media reported.

When they opened the bag, they found more than 200 reptiles and molluscs, among them nine species of poisonous snakes including South American pitvipers, packed in clear plastic containers.

There were also 15 venomous vipers, including two yararas - which can measure up to 1.5 metres - and several young boas.

The Big Gallery of Prague Pics

It's in the galleries section of the blog and online here!

That's Why I Love Schiphol

Flew home from Prague this morning.  From wheels down at the airport to my door via train and tram in 50 minutes.

You're lucky to be off the plane at Sea-Tac in that long.

Christmas Day Shopping

Very busy in the central square of Prague, plenty of tourist-oriented businesses still open ... really would have done some last-minute shopping at the blacksmith's but you know how the airlines are these days about letting you carry on your sword!

Merry Christmas

From the 'Lennon Wall' of Prague:

Wenceslas Square

Moving memorial for former President Vaclav Havel in Prague:

Casablanca?

I've received an inquiry about my availability to run a class in Morocco in the near future.  Hope that works out!  I will attempt to not be rounded up with the usual suspects.

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

Prague for Xmas

I'm not going back to America for the holidays, but I'm getting out of Amsterdam for a few days and checking out Prague, which everyone says is one of those places you have to check out.

4 free nights on Marriott points, plus $350 for a KLM/Czech Air nonstop (1 hour 20 minute hop) ... cheap Xmas getaway!

Hope the weather doesn't suck, I'm taking public transport (bus + Metro) to get to the hotel.

Kind of Blue

Marine biologists made a rare sighting this week of blue whales off the Washington coast, an event only recorded a few times in the last half century. Rare chance to see the world's largest creature.

Space Truckin'

Paul Allen is the money behind Stratolaunch, a private aerospace company that will drop the orbital vehicles from a massive 6-engine jetliner with wings 70% longer than a 747's.  First test flight targeted for 2015.

Sloterdijk

Commuter train station I had to use because the direct train to the airport was out on Sunday ... one hop to Sloterdijk, then change tracks for a train to Schiphol ... still made the bullet train to Brussels with time to spare.

El Classico Tonight

Spain's superpowers collide yet again tonight, Real Madrid v. Barcelona, Ronaldo v. Messi.

Shepherds really will go anywhere for you

Double-amputee (both feet) goes skydiving with his military dog:

World's Oldest Dog

The world's oldest dog according to Guinness World Records has died at the age of 26 years and eight months.

Pusuke, a fluffy tan Shiba mix, died after suddenly falling ill and refusing to eat, owner Yumiko Shinohara told reporters at her home in Sakura, a city outside Tokyo.

"I would just like to thank him for staying alive so long," Shinohara told TV network FNN.

Meppel, Netherlands

Nice little canal town, larger than expected entertainment district with restaurants and bars around the central square and its old church.

Sunday Driving

Taking a cab to the airport to pick up my rental car tonight at 7:30, then a 90-minute drive to Meppel for work this week.  Supposed to be a scenic little town, but it's where our customer that I'm training is located.

Amsterdam, Saturday

Holiday decorations are going up in the neighborhood, these are all within a 10 minute walk of my apartment:

Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth Harbor

Everybody wants their own Space Needle.

Dam Square Holiday Lights

Street musician music, clear cold night downtown:

England Commute

Here's my daily commute in England, from Portsmouth to Woking and back (in Martin's Passat wagon diesel).  One hour each way, beautiful countryside.