Since magazines began publishing on tablets, “virtually all” publishers have chosen to export their digital editions as PNG (.png) files, Koch said. “The primary reason they did that is because the fidelity is perfect. What you see on the desktop when you’re designing is exactly what you see on the iPad when you’re finished. Images are the fastest thing to load, and if you’re trying to create a quick, effortless browsing experience, images are the way to do that,” he explained.

“That was okay when there was only one screen size — when you were just working with the iPad 1 and 2,” he added. “When the iPad 3 came out, you were now dealing with a device with four times as many pixels.” The iPad 3 applies an anti-aliasing filter to all low-resolution content, which blurs images ever so slightly. As a result, photographs still look about the same on the iPad 3, but the text looks a lot worse — i.e., visibly blurry, or pixelated.

Fort Polk, LA*
Seattle, WA
DeRidder, LA*
El Paso, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Tucson, AZ
Jonestown, PA
Singapore, Singapore
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles, CA

Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times.

The Morning News has an interview with the author and picture gallery featuring other water throwing art. (via kottke.org)

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A Google autocomplete map of the United States. (via very small array).

Slater was struck in the head with luggage that a passenger was trying to unload from an overhead compartment, according to an airport official with knowledge of the incident.

Slater demanded an apology from the passenger but the passenger refused. The two argued before the passenger told Slater to “f— off”. Slater then got on the plane’s PA system and directed that same obscenity at all the passengers and added that he especially meant it for the man who refused to apologize.

Slater is alleged to have then activated the plane’s inflatable emergency slide, grabbed two beers from the galley, then slid down the chute.

(via WSJ)

I have absolutely no grudges against the high flyers in the organisation but what I find it disturbing is the lack of human touch towards the people, not to mention how the commoners tries very hard to leave a good impression for fear of repercussion. I’m sure there are guidelines as to how one should behave and the do’s and don’ts in order to maintain a certain status but this should not hinder the trust one should establish with the commoners.

Let me share an account from a colleague of mine whom had to deal with an unbelievable behavior of a senior commander while performing duties during one of the flight.

I was giving a safety brief to the passengers as part of the pre-boarding procedure, of which, there were two senior commanders. Throughout the brief, one of the colonel kept interrupting and attempted to challenge my professionalism and ability to control the passengers in the event of an emergency. The flight was carried out and during de-planning, the colonel tried to walk out of the aircraft when he was not suppose to. I grabbed his arms and he was startled at my determination before grinning.

On the contrary, here was what I recently witnessed while supporting a foreign unit operation:

A one-star general decided to board the aircraft with troops that were preparing to be deployed. He wanted to show his support and appreciation by observing their training. Throughout the flight, he refused to wear a headset connected to the aircraft communication system and sat near the rear of the aircraft where water was leaking onto him from a heavy downpour earlier, observing the troops parachuting out of the aircraft.

When the aircraft eventually landed, the general walked over and grabbed 3 bags of harnesses before walking out of the aircraft, leaving the jump-master chasing behind him.

Granted that the sight of this could be random, but such a small gesture from a one-star general would have easily gained the trust and respect of his men, as opposed to one whom is expected to be treated like a king.

Sometimes they’ll bury the phone number deep within the website to discourage you from calling.

I got the crackpot idea to apply as a co-pilot at a real airline so I made myself a Swedish flying permit with a logo out of regular white paper. It wasn’t laminated, and looked like something I’d made at home. It was surprisingly easy. The documents look different everywhere in Europe. An Italian airline doesn’t know what a Swedish licence looks like. And you can forge all the IDs you need. I’d train there for two or three hours at a time—at least 15 to 20 times over one and a half years.

via (kottke.org)

First off, ladies, I get it. It’s your Star Wars. The opening credits make your tummy tickle the same way the Star Wars theme, to this day, gives me a boner. I understand. A pair of expensive shoes worn by Carrie is just like a metallic bikini worn by Princess Leia.

Tim SiedellWriter certainly said it well.

• The exterior must be very crisp, but not tough.
• The interior must be intact, fluffy, and have a strong potato flavor.
• The fry must be an even, light golden blond.
• The fry must stay crisp and tasty for at least as long as it takes to eat a full serving.

After over 43 batches of fries in the last three days, and I’m happy to report that I’ve finally found a way to consistently reach crisp, golden Nirvana.

Here’s the full recipe for those who can’t wait to try it!

A brilliant concept of reducing train traveling time. Could this be the future? (via kottke.org)

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Baggage handlers in the cold.

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Beautiful day at Seattle’s Space Needle.