Flyertalk user “jpatokal” says he was unhappy with FlightMemory.com, so he sat down and built his own version. If you are not familiar with either site; they allow frequent fliers to log the trips they took and display their trip history on a map. It isn’t necessarily useful, or very handy, but it’s great fun and a handy way to see just how much of the world you have visited.

In the past, I played with several of these sites and settled for a desktop version instead of an online application; Flightmap runs on XP and Vista and allows me to enter my flights without the need to be online. It can also generate massive map files which I use as my desktop background.

The author of OpenFlights is looking for some feedback, so head on over to his Flyertalk thread, and help him out! In that thread, you’ll also see a rebuttal from one of the developers behind FlightMemory.com who explains that they are not the faceless corporation they are described as (I’ve spoken to them in the past, and can confirm that!).

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Sorry for the flood of iPhone related posts. I’m not that big an iPhone fan, but there is so much happening with it, that I really can’t help reporting on the news…

Several weeks ago, I posted about a Sirius radio client for the iPhone. That obviously meant 50% of you satellite radio subscribers couldn’t use it. But fear not, because there is now an XM radio client (from the same company behind the Sirius client).

You’ll of course need a jailbroken iPhone and an XM Radio subscription.

One juicy tidbit from the source is that XM will be releasing their own client in the official Apple App store on the 11th!

Source: ismashphone

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If you consider yourself a fountain of useless knowledge, then this new pocket version of Wikipedia is just for you! It is great for starting totally useless and uninteresting discussions with your seatmate, or for proving a colleague wrong, as we all know just how reliable Wikipedia is.

There are three versions available to download for free: Pocket Wikipedia for Windows Mobile, Windows and Linux. Each version is around 180MB and contains over 2 million Wikipedia articles, with 25,000 images.

Of course, you can also use the online WAP version of Wikipedia, but unless you are on a flight with Internet access, you’ll need something stored locally on your device.

Pocket Wikipedia (via Lifehacker)

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Dear hotel owner,

Adding a nice HDTV to your rooms is just the first step in making me happy.

The next step is to purchase this contraption I found when I was trying to find a new alarm clock.

Sincerely,

Scott

P.S. Make sure you also supply the cables.

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OK, so it has zilch to do with travel, and isn’t even a gadget. But with Summer getting closer and closer, the chance of being stuck at the airport for a few hours surrounded by screaming kids also increases.

So, if you find yourself in that situation, and need a quick and easy way to relieve some stress, check out this awesome Flash based racing game where you have to drive the "reasonably priced car" around the Top Gear track! It’s a lot harder than you’d imagine. But I suspect that after a couple of hours, you’ll be clocking pretty decent lap times…

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By now you’ll know that I’m a sucker for gadgets, but there is one gadget in particular I almost never leave home without. And it’s not my mobile phone; it’s a universal remote control!

One of my earlier articles on TravelTechTalk described how you can use these as a better remote for the hotel TV, and how you can program them to enable the use of a line-in connector on that TV.

The top-of-the-line home remote from Logitech just dropped to $179! And of course, when you get home for the weekend, you’ll have an awesome universal remote for your home entertainment system.

The reason I love these so much? You hook them up to your PC and download even the most obscure of infra-red commands to it.

Purchase link: Amazon.com

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In the same week that United Airlines announced that they’d start charging $15 for every piece of checked luggage, they began rolling out their newest in-flight entertainment system.

United guests may now reach cruising altitude with a new, personalized in-flight entertainment system. United is the first U.S. carrier to offer iPod and iPhone connectivity to its in-flight entertainment system, enabling customers to enjoy their individual content on a 15.4-inch personal television, all while the iPod or iPhone charges.

The first aircraft with iPod and iPhone connectivity is scheduled to depart at 5:40 p.m. from Washington, D.C. to Zurich as United #936, and it will fly primarily on trans-Atlantic routes. United’s entire fleet of international, widebody aircraft are being reconfigured over the next two years with lie-flat seats, on-demand entertainment, and iPod and iPhone connectivity in first and business class.

“Our guests may now watch or listen to what they want, when they want with programming they choose,” says Graham Atkinson, United Airlines – executive vice president and Chief Customer Officer. “United will continue to provide services and technology that makes our customers’ travel experiences more relaxed and enjoyable."

I love the last part of the press release. I guess adding an iPod charging port makes up for all the other stuff they took away from us. Of course, knowing United, the chances of this new entertainment system making its way to domestic flights is next to nothing.

Source: United Airlines press release

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Bored at work/the airport/a hotel? Point your mobile browser to jagamaga.mobi and browse their collection of Creative Commons ringtones. Creative Commons is a rights method where the creator of the content releases it for free, non commercial use. Which means free ringtones for you and me.

There are some pretty decent ones in their lineup (and some horrid ones), but chances are that they’ll all be better than the standard ones you got on your phone, plus you won’t be charged $2 just to download them.

On most phones you should be able to either save the clip, or instantly assign it as a ringtone.

JagaMaga (via PocketPC Thoughts)

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If you are a current Sirius radio subscriber with an iPhone, then this application might be of interest to you.

uSirius is a radio streaming application for the jailbroken iPhone (you’ll need to be able to install applications on your device).

It even supports the higher quality Sirius streaming service, plus it can load all the channel logos, making browsing stations much easier.

You can learn more about this (free) application here.

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My deal of the day comes from "Giveawayoftheday". If you are looking for an easy way to "rip" your DVD’s then you have just 5 more hours to download this $40 software package for free.

It’ll rip your DVD’s into almost any format under the sun, including suitable formats for most portable devices.

Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate, powerful and easy-to-use DVD ripping software, can rip DVD to almost all video and audio formats, such as AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, MP4, H.264, RM, MOV, M4V, XviD, 3GP, MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, M4A, AAC, AC3, OGG, etc. Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate helps you to rip DVD to videos and audios for various portable media players as iPod, iPhone, PSP, Apple TV, Mobile Phone etc.

Of course, you are on your own when it comes to finding a program that’ll actually allow you to decrypt and bypass the DVD protection…

Source: Giveawayoftheday download link

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