Author: Newley

Hi. I'm Newley Purnell. I cover technology and business for The Wall Street Journal, based in Hong Kong. I use this site to share my stories and often blog about the books I'm reading, tech trends, sports, travel, and our dog Ginger. For updates, get my weekly email newsletter.

Categories
Misc.

Passengers Suffer Meta-Media-Meltdown on Stricken Plane

CNN:

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — The airliner circled Southern California for hours, crippled by a faulty landing gear, while inside its cabin 140 passengers watched their own life-and-death drama unfolding on live television.

While satellite TV sets aboard JetBlue Flight 292 were tuned to news broadcasts, some passengers cried. Others tried to telephone relatives and one woman sent a text message to her mother in Florida attempting to comfort her in the event she died.

“It was very weird. It would’ve been so much calmer without” the televisions, Pia Varma of Los Angeles said after the plane skidded to a safe landing Wednesday evening in a stream of sparks and burning tires. No one was hurt.

Funny: I thought TV sets in airplanes had “off” buttons.

Categories
Misc.

Lucio to Colombia: “Lemme In!”

BBC:

Ecuador’s ousted President, Lucio Gutierrez, who faces charges of damaging his country’s security, has requested asylum in Colombia.

The Colombian authorities have granted him a 90-day safe conduct, to give him time to make a formal request.

Mr Gutierrez, who arrived from Peru, was reportedly told at Bogota airport that there was an international warrant for his arrest.

Mr Gutierrez was ousted by congress in April following mass protests.

He previously stayed in Brazil and the United States, before travelling to Peru.

Categories
Misc.

Speech Bubble Stickers

Man places empty speech bubble stickers on ads in New York City. Hilarity ensues.

Mayday! Mayday!

AP:

LIMA, Peru — A chartered jet carrying 289 Gambian soccer fans pretended it needed to make an emergency landing so they could watch their team compete in the FIFA Under 17 World Championships, officials said Wednesday.

The plane, claiming to be low on fuel, landed Tuesday near the stadium in Peru’s northern coast city of Piura.

“It truly was a scam,” said Betty Maldonado, a spokeswoman for Peru’s aviation authority, CORPAC. “They tricked the control tower, saying they were low on fuel.”

Emergency crews were scrambled ahead of the unscheduled landing by the Lockhead L1011 Tri-Star, owned by Air Rum Ltd., Maldonado said.

The Air Rum plane, which she said was chartered by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, should have made its approach to the capital, Lima, but instead flew directly to Piura, entering Peruvian air space “without permission.”

I’d like to point out that this was only the under-17 national team — not even the full national squad — that was playing.

Peru, Gambia, soccer

Johnny Cash: The Movie

Bring it on.

Men of the Internet

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Tokyo: Affordable?

CS Monitor:

Japan is stereotyped as the land of the $80 watermelon and the $90 mushroom. Many expats think it easier to rearrange the rings of Saturn than use the word “affordable” and “Tokyo” in the same sentence.

Yet as urban real estate values rise globally, and as prices for Japanese basics like food and clothing drop, Japan is being seen as less prohibitively expensive. Apart from three uniquely Japanese money guzzlers – buying property, elite dining, and taxis – costs seem less extreme these days, say expats and Japanese interviewed.

Tokyo

Categories
Misc.

India’s “Marathon Boy”

BBC: “He runs seven hours at a stretch, sometimes as much as 48km (30 miles). On a daily basis. And Budhia Singh is just three and a half years old.”

And You You Laughed at my Chork Prototype

Pizza Fork and Cutter:

Slice and eat with the same utensil! This time-saver cuts through pizza crust, forking up bites and delivering them right to your mouth! Great for other pancakes and waffles too. Stainless steel; dishwasher safe. 8 1/2″L x 2″W.

If there’s a market for this thing, then surely the world needs my chorks.

Dogs in Bee Costumes

“Beedogs.com is the premier online repository for pictures of dogs in bee costumes.”

“The premier online repository,” mind you — not your just typical Web site featuring ridiculous photos of pooches dressed up like bees.