A Welsh View

26 Eye Catching Long Exposure Photographs

Some stunning examples of long exposure photography including this one of the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan.

Tired of London, Tired of Life

Tired of London, Tired of life presents one thing a day to do in London such as visiting London's last remaining streetlamp powered by a sewer.

Video: Tilt-shift video - a day at the Magic Kingdom

[via]

Video: In-Flight Disco

Video: Take A Ride On The London Underground

Having visited London quite frequently, I found it interesting to see what the tube driver sees.

4yo Boy Memorises 700 Bus Routes In London

The BBC has an interview with a four-year-old boy who has memorised 700 bus routes in London.

The Hottest Lines on the London Underground

TfL (Transport for London) has released a map that shows the hottest part of the network between 4-7pm. The appropriately coloured Central Line is one of the hottest at around 32°.

São Paulo Installs 'Fat Seats' On Underground

Sao Paulo underground bosses have installed larger seats at underground stations to allow people of a larger stature to sit whilst waiting for a train. The seats are twice the size of a regular seat and can accommodate people weighing up to 500lbs. [via]

Gingerbread Man On London Underground

If you've never been to London then you've missed the numerous Gingerbread Men that travel the many underground trains. Here's a photo of one riding the Central Line after a hard day's work. Link

London Vista Map

A complex, but useful map showing where you can get panoramic views in central London.

Reduce Your Odds Of Dying In A Plane Crash

An inforgraphic highlighting the best planes to use, where to sit, and the best time to fly.

Video: A Cabbie's Guide To Eating In London

Cab driver 'Mudzi' Mehmet goes on a culinary taxi tour around London and shows some of the best places in London for coffee, bacon rolls and deserts.

London Pub Tube Map

My London Pub Tube Map project is still ongoing and I've just added another 10 or so pubs. The centre of London is complete as is most of the south. There is still a lot to complete around the outskirts of London. I'm slowly working my way through them but I can only guess if a pub is good. If you have any recommendation, let me know in the comments.

View the complete map here.

Satellites Uncover North Korea

The BBC has posted some satellite images of North Korea showing such things as an ostrich farm, the Juche Tower and the Taedongang brewery (above) which the North Koreans bought off the Ushers Brewery in 2002.

Video: Rush Hour London

Rush Hour London from Chris Searson on Vimeo.

London Underground Pub Map

Update (11/08/09): I've just added another 10 or so stations. Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can view the latest map here.

Being a huge fan of London and pubs, I thought I would take a copy of the London Tube map and replace the stations with the best pubs in the vicinity of each station (ideally within walking distance).

Download the full version (1.7MB)

Unless you know the Underground well, you will need to refer to a real map to work out where everything is.

I've visited many of the pubs on the circle line and within and are ones which I think are some of the better ones. Some stations have more than one good pub nearby, especially in the centre of London so it's hard to pick just one.

As much as I'd like to visit a pub at each station so that I can add it to the map, I don't that's going to happen any time soon. Therefore, I'm looking for all the help I can get in populating the map. If you think you can help by associating some pubs with stations, drop me an e-mail or let me know in the comments.

And if you think some of my choices are poor, let me know. It'll be good to try and work out the best pubs in each area.

Note: whilst working through this project I realised that the map I used is not up-to-date and is missing part of the National Rail line. Rather than transfer all of the changes now, I thought I'd wait until I've populated as many of the stations as possible.

Video: Pilot's Eye View of a Three-Day Trip

Video: 3 Planes Fly Close To Another (Cockpit View)

Is this normal? (Particularly the first one)

Video: World's Shortest Scheduled Flight

What is probably the world's shortest scheduled flight is operated by Loganair and takes just two minutes (view map).

Welsh View US Tour 2009

Last year I visited California, this year I'm driving around five different states - Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and New York.

I'm going to be having a 'tweetup' with some people in Rochester, NY and if you want meet up along the way let me know. It's always interesting meeting local people who can share some information about the area. And if you know about local beer even better!

Here's my current itinerary which shouldn't change too much.

• Sept 18th - Atlanta, GA
• Sept 19th - 22nd - Rochester, NY
• Sept 23rd - Helen, GA
• Sept 24th - 25th - Townsend, TN
• Sept 26th - 27th - Chattanooga, TN
• Sept 28th - Huntsville, AL
• Sept 29th - Birmingham, AL
• Sept 30th - Montgomery, AL

I've got a good idea of things I want to see in the various towns but if there's something you think is worth taking a look at, let me know.

Video: Airplane Toilet Paper Trick

Video: Pilot Performs Textbook Emergency Landing

$157,000 Luggage Set

For those that prefer not to fly with riff raff and use a private jet, there isn't an issue of losing your luggage or having it damaged by disgruntled baggage handlers.

Bottega Veneta has produced a ultra posh luggage set that will set you back $157,000 if you buy all six pieces.

The six luxe pieces include a large hard-sided suitcase, $47,500; a medium suitcase, $42,000; a small suitcase, $38,000; a briefcase, $23,500; a Torta duffle, $30,000; and a beauty case, $23,500. All feature burnished metal hardware with reinforced corners and locking mechanisms. The entire set comes to $157,000. [via]

Video: London Calling

london calling from rauf on Vimeo.

It's a pity more tourist videos couldn't be like this.

Way Out Tube Map

A new guide I've started using when visiting London is the excellent Way Out Tube Map which tells you which carriage to get on if you wanted to be nearest the exit or interchange. The map looks a little daunting at first but once you've figured out how to use it, it can save you quite a bit of time.

For those that prefer not to carry around a map, a similar guide is now available for the iPhone/iPod Touch. The Going Underground blog has videos of the app in action.

Inside The World's Biggest Private Jet

The Daily Mail has a diagram of what will be the world's most expensive private jet.

The Airbus A380 will be converted into a 'flying palace' and will include a Turkish bath, ground-to-air holographic projector and concert hall.

It's not known exactly who the buyer of the £300m jet is but Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, owner of the Savoy Hotel, has been linked to it.

PhD Student Uses Google Maps To Uncover North Korea's Secrets

If, like me, you are fascinated by North Korea, one of the most secretive, authoritarian, repressive countries in the world, you'll love this Google Earth file containing previously unknown sites such as secret prison camps, vast burial mounds, and missile storage facilities.

There's a video interview with the creator of the map here. [via]

Get Paid $25,000 To Ride The Rides In Orlando

The Orlando Convention and Visitor's Bureau is running a competition in which 2 lucky people will get paid $25,000 to spend 67 Days living all the adventures Orlando has to offer.

The lucky winners will live in a 2 bedroom condo in Orlando and can visit all attractions in the area free of charge. $25,000 USD will be provided to cover living expenses back home. In return, the winners must share their experiences with the world.

The competition is open to anybody who can travel to the US and you can enter here. [via]

Video: How Not Land a Plane

How not to land at St Barth's airport.

London Flickr Set

I love this collection of London photos.

Holiday Scams

The Daily Telegraph outlines 12 holiday scams to be aware of. Some of them are common but you'd be surprised how many people think it wouldn't happen to them (myself included!).

18 Things You Don’t Need on Your Packing List

Tips on how to travel lighter. Although I'm getting better, I always pack way too much.

Video: Google Street View Trike

How Google Street View solves the problem of pedestrianised streets. [via]

Replacing World Landmarks With Cheap Souvenirs

56-year-old freelance photographer Michael Hughes likes to take photos of world famous landmarks - perfectly blended with cheap souvenirs.

You can view more of these cleverly made photos here and here.

The Superyacht Top Ten

10 ridiculously big yachts.

Video: Why You Shouldn't Leave Objects Close To A Jet Engine

Video: Lukla Airport, Nepal

Would you be brave enough to fly into this airport?

Video: Timelapse Video of a Ship Sailing Through Houston at Night

A time lapse video of a ship sailing out of the Houston Shipping Channel.

Incredible Aerial Virtual Tour of New York City

An amazing aerial virtual tour of New York City. I'm hoping the creators decide to do other cities.

KFC Japan

London Knowledge

If you are interested in learning more about London, you may want to check out @londonknowledge. It's my new Twitter account where I will be sharing interesting tidbits about London (my favourite place on Earth). As I've only got 140 characters to play with, I won't be able to go into detail and there's a good chance that some entries may not be completely accurate.

Pilot Walks Away After Crashing Into Portaloos

The pilot of a small airplane was able to walk away after its crash landing was cushioned by a bunch of portable toilets near Tacoma, Washington.

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said the pilot tried to turn around to land but didn't quite make it.

The plane hit a fence, flipped over and landed upside down on top of the portable toilets standing in a storage yard.

The pilot, whose identity has not been released, was able to walk away apparently unharmed. Link

Human Landscapes From Above

The Big Picture has a stunningcollection of aerial photographs from around the world taken by Jason Hawkes. He takes the photos by hanging out of the doorway of a helicopter.

Related: Jason Hawkes aerial photos of London.

Video: Emergency Landing Caught On Tape (Cockpit View)

Amazing footage of a pilot landing a small plane on a road. Amazingly the usually busy road was empty at the time.

North Korea - The Land of No Smiles

Renowned documentary photographer Tomas van Houtryve entered North Korea by posing as a businessman looking to open a chocolate factory. As well as the usual wide empty streets found across North Korea, he also observed that people tend not to smile. View the photos here.

Related: North Korean traffic cops

Composite NYC Street Scenes

Photographer Peter Funch New York City and then pastes them together into single photographs. Lots more here. [via]

Video: Hotel Safe Cracked In 60 Seconds...

...with a paperclip.

[via]

Man Lands Plane After Pilot Dies

A passenger has landed a twin-engine King Air plane in Florida after its pilot died during the flight. 56-year-old Doug White had a pilot's license but had only recently resumed flying in a Cessna 172 and had no experience flying the larger and faster King Air. He was guided by air traffic controllers and landed the plane which was carrying his family some 30 minutes after the pilot lost consciousness. Link

Video: Fly The Goodyear Blimp

Marty Chandler, chief pilot at Goodyear's Pompano Beach, FL, blimp port describes airship operations and a day in the life of a lighter-than-air pilot.[Thanks Tom]

Video: Low Level Flight Over The Swiss Alps