Flight Tracking

When not for me it is for someone I am expecting, but I am quite familiar with any flight tracking system. They all are different though. My favourite actually is the one from the Melbourne airport that tracks all the flights in real time on a map. As a result you know exactly where the planes are. But this morning I had to track flight SQ231 landing in Sydney at 1105 and Kingsford Smith Airport is unfortunately not offering this service. Anyway, being Singapore Airlines and being Australia the plane landed exactly on time (OK, I admit, it is not always the case but sometimes… which remind me by the way that on a flight between Cairns and Darwin I arrived 50 minutes early a couple of weeks ago! That had to be my personal record for a commercial short haul).
http://www.melbourneairport.com.au/flight_radar/

The Old Berry

I must have been getting this one for over 4 years now. They were not that common by then but the old beast now is completely outdated but still very reliable so I am in no mood for a change! It is amazing that it has been keeping me company all those years on an absolutely daily basis. From my very start of the day (waking me up to the sound of its vibration) to the moment I close my eyes (the last thing I am doing – come to think of it – must be checking if there are any important messages before I go to bed). Modern technologies are addictive and we are lost without them. It is only recently – while in PNG – that this personal friend refused to connect to any local gprs signal. It was the first time ever and it really made me feel the isolation! I was suddenly no longer connected to the rest of the world.

Internet Access

The same as for the cars, the telephones and all the rest, it is difficult to imagine how we would live without internet nowadays. For someone like me, often on the move, it is a great tool to keep in touch with the rest of the world, exchange messages with my friends, purchase my weekly fix of vinyl records, etc. Nevertheless, we are not all equal when it comes to the connections. In France, I must admit that I am very happy about the speed everything is going. Singapore remains a nightmare, even with the best plan. If you do not live in the right location, downloading / uploading speed is a nightmare. But there is an advantage though, you can find free hotspots pretty much anywhere in the city. I have never seen a country with so many free accesses. But I use the word ‘free’ as in ‘gratis’. If not, many websites and blogsites are still restricted and that is a big frustration. The sensation of being controlled is terrible (and I am not talking about China). Another ground where we are not equal is the access from hotels. So far, the only country where I have experienced free access from all the hotels I visited is the U.S.A.

Here, in Australia, I have this 3G thingie that enables me to surf from pretty much anywhere as long as there is coverage. It is great but the down point is that it is often quite slow, not so reliable and pretty expensive (well, I am not paying for it but still!).