Surefire's G2 LED Flashlight

Well, here it is. I'm not just finally able to accomplish my walk arounds, but I'm equipped with one of the best flashlights I have ever used. I leveled up a notch but definitely haven't maxed out. For a low price, and I say low only because it is one of the cheapest that Surefire has to offer (A2 Aviator sells for $195.00), it's truly the best out there. The Surefire G2 sells for $65.00 and it is worth every penny as long as I can keep on my person and not misplace it.

I had a Mag-lite mini that I modded with a Luxeon LED which was great but that was taken from me in the beginning of my career here at ASA and never returned. I replaced it shortly with a what I thought would be a good flashlight, the Coast 3-LED, but that was a big let down. Not much to say there, but I'll give the G2 my personal recommendation until I test out the G3 or the A2. This flashlight is almost overkill really, but it's just nice to carry a light saber in the cold dark mornings.

More pictures after the jump alongside the Coast 3-LED Flashlight with night and day pictures.

The Surefire G2 LED Flashlight is touted as one of the most compact, high-intensity LED flashlights that are great for tactical, outdoor and general use. I chose to use it for aviation specifically but that's just me. The beam is advertised to put out 4x the light of a larger two-D-cell flashlight attacking Maglite directly as they are still the leader in this business. I haven't tried it out yet, but Surefire also says that it is bright enough to temporarily blind and disorient a person by impairing his night-adapted vision. It's detailed specifications include a max output of 80 lumens, a runtime of 12 hours, measures 5.14" and weighs in at 4.10 ounces. "Constructed of lightweight, corrosion-proof Nitrolon® polymer and rugged aerospace-grade aluminum," this flashlight should last the test of my lifetime. The batteries are the only draw to the flashlight as they use two 123A lithium batteries would could add up in cost. ($1.75 each x 2 = $3.50 per 12 hours) My walk arounds don't take that long, but I'll post the first time I have to replace the battery.

Taking a look at these pictures, you cannot even see the beam that the Coast 3-LED light is shinning! I'm telling you that it's on as you can see on my fingertips. The Surefire G2 is a little larger but the spot light is brighter than the sun in the darkness.

There two pictures only differ in exposure, but in the normal shot to the left, you can see the faint light that the Coast 3-LED is shinning. Now, I'm not going to jump all over and say that Coast's Flashlight are inadequate, especially if one of my good friends uses them. They are cheaper, and I'm sure that his might shine a lot brighter than the one that I own because of his 1-LED fixture, but this comparison is over! Surefire wins outright. I'll update this post with another comparison between the Coast 1-LED and the Surefire G2 at a later date when I cross roads with that aforementioned flashlight.

Update: Apparently, I was naive in posting that the brand that I had compared.  Instead of Coastal, the proper name should be Coast Flashlights.  More specifically, the Coast LED Lenser V2 (3-LED) Flashlight is the one that I compare to the Surefire G2.   Thanks for the correction =)

Joey Roth's Sorapot Unboxing

It's finally here; The Simple, Modern Sorapot by Joey Roth.   Mr. Roth sold out the first 300 and with the 2nd batch, he included a pack of some of his favorite tea from The Simple Leaf; a sample 1 oz pack of Honeybee Nepal Oolong.  That to me was more than worth the wait.  He had the kindness to notify me and ask if I could wait, and I agreed.  What else could you do as a customer but accept his reward for not minding to wait?  That's customer service right from the top.  Now, for the details.  I arrived home after a long 4 day trip not expecting anything except my Surefire G2 LED Replacement Flashlight and low and behold, something else was awaiting my unwrapping! 

The first picture is of the Mr. Roth Seal on top of the outer packaging.  Not much to say here except that the package weighed in at 5 lbs.  Next, compensation for the long wait was a 1 oz. bag of tea and a coupon for my next order at The Simple Leaf which was perfect because I haven't found a great place in Atlanta to buy some fresh leaves just yet.  I faintly remember that there was a place in the Lenox Square Mall, but it's just too far to go check out.   Here's are two more pictures before you have to click on more to keep on reading.  Check out the string and the innards! 

 

Intricate but simple.  I know that's an oxymoron, but that word alone sums up the amount of detail that I believe had to of transpired in the overall package design.  Untying the box was such a joy but opening the egg crate box to reveal what was inside was that much better.  The directions wrapped around the glass pot, that was awesome.  Forget about the little small pamphlets that no one looks at!  Unrolling this paper was just too good.  Creative!

The lighted picture is the best that I could offer being that I'm still stuck using my measly 4.0 MP Sony DSC-P9.  The first picture shows the final product sitting on top of the box ready to get dismantled and injected with some tea leaves!  The final product couldn't have looked any better.  The construction is flawless, but I have to say that the spout is a little harsh in that it isn't smooth like the rest of the steel.  Doesn't seem like the finish was thorough, but either than that, nothing else was short of perfect.  More than a conversational piece, it's just an awesome pot.  The second picture shows the steel casing unscrewed and the glass taken out.  Conveniently coupled with my Zojirushi Water Boiler, I just have to put some leaves in, reassemble the device and then pour the hot water in and wait.  It was meant to be! 

There next two pictures show the Sorapot before the water ready to go with leaves inside, and the next with the tea brewing away!  The tea was a little dry and I have yet to perfect the master brew, but being my first try, I was more than happy to get going and drink away. 

This piece will definitely stay with me throughout the my travels and will always sit alongside my favorite items.  It's not just art...it's simple but wonderful at the same time.  Fulfilling if you want to call it.  I just think that everyone should get one already and help out Joey Roth because he is the man. 

If you want high quality, detailed pictures, as mine do not give the Sorapot it's well deserved recognition, head over to the official site: Sorapot - a Simple, Modern Teapot

Now if he every produces his teacups, count me in to complete my coffee table set. 

Qumana - Free Offline Blog Editor for Mac OSX or Windows

I've been using Windows Live Writer for quite a while now and have been completely satisfied.  I'm able to write when I'm traveling back and forth from San Diego but I wasn't really into bringing along my Powerbook until now.  Of course, that posed one problem. Being only available for Windows, I had to find a Free Offline Blog Editor for Mac and stumbled onto Qumana.  It's quite basic, and offers all the necessities for WYSIWYG editing.  It's GUI is simple and its just as easy as using Windows Live Writer.  The only draw back that I've found annoying is how slow the spell check runs, but so far, with writing 2 simply posts, I haven't had an issue.  Check it out!!!

It also has an "Insert Ad" button which I'm going to play around with.  Seems fun.  There it is down below.  It's cool, but I don't think that I'm going to really use it that much.

Powered by Qumana

edit: renamed qumana.com link to reflect the .htm to .php // thanks Mr. Christian Biggins

Opera Mini and IBM WebSphere Link

Well, as you now, I recently just inherited my sister's not so new hand me down Sprint Treo 755p and tried to find a link for IBMs WebSphere Everyplace Micro Environment v5.7.1.  To my surprise, the direct distribution link that was provided by Palm Inc. was disabled on January 12, 2008 as Palm is not allowed to distribute the package for some unknown reason. I need this application to run Opera's Mini Web Browser for Moblie Phones and all other Java enabled applications for the Palm OS. I used it before on the Treo 650 and and wanted to see how much better it would be with the new EVDO data speeds. So, I tracked down a place where you can d/l the Java Environment Program and thought that you might need it. Here it is! Also, the only file that you need in the entire package to sync with your Palm device is located in the WEME571JVM/JVM/ARM4T folder named J9JavaVMMidp20.prc. You could read the enclosed PDF for more details.

Download v5.7.1 at Softonic

After you download it, then click the banner below to download Opera Mini! It's awesome because you can actually view webpages in all their glory and best of all, it's free! Check out all the features.

Flying...Payday....Treo 755p....DVDs...USS Midway

Like I posted previously, I'm flying 10 out of 11 days.  Today is day 5 and I've been bogged down without having the pleasure of being connected to the outside world.  It's definitely boring with the Internet these days, but I guess that I should be reading and studying for my recurrent training scheduled in the next few weeks.  It's definitely not by choice either believe me.  The Internet at the Hilton charges $9.95 for 24 hours of connectivity pleasure and that's just not really in the budget.  Not sure if you caught wind either but my loan payments are in full swing at $1100.00 a month for the next 20 years.  Really...it's that much.  It's more than my 2nd paycheck here at ASA's 2nd year rate too.  I'll try not to let it depress me, but hey, like I've always flown by, I've got the best office view there is.  Maybe not the FL410, but it doesn't matter because I'm not comparing myself to the other pilots out there.  It's isn't the largest cabin either, but that doesn't matter, because like I've said, it's all about fun and doing what you love. 

Am I going to work out today?  I just might, but I'm forced to run indoors again because of the forecasted 6-9 inches of snow falling in Peoria, Illinois.  We have a 6:15AM duty in too but I'm a little weary on the fact that we might not be leaving that early.  Who will be cleaning the runways? 

I've upgraded to my sister's hand me down Palm Treo 755p.   Do I like it?  It's definitely got more pep to it and the Internet is quicker using EVDO rev. 0, but it's still not the BlackBerry 8830.  It does have a camera, but I'm not too sure if that's a concern anymore.  Maybe I'll just bring my camera with me everywhere instead.  What do you think? 

I'm going to post all my DVDs online on Amazon so that I could begin converting them to Blu-ray editions.  Of course, I'll be a little smarter in my purchases limiting them to not every new Tuesday release, but to the ones that I think I'm going to watch more than just once.  Shoot, maybe I just won't buy any more movies.  I'm talking like I could afford them!  :-) 

Here's a picture to enjoy of Adelle and I touring the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.  We went spur of the moment right after she picked me up so I was pretty beat but it's always fun hanging out with buddy!  You have to check it out but be sure to have 3-5 hours for the entire trip.  We had but 1 hour to roam around and we only got through 20% of it and we rushed too.  When we going again babe?

Watching Videos on the UMPC

On my way back to San Diego,I busted out my new UMPC and started watching a movie. I have to admit that this device is pretty useful not only for videos, but for typing as well. It's a little hard to type that fast and I think that a regular keyboard would be a lot quicker, but like I might have mentioned before, it's all about portability. I'll be posting a little more about the full experience in a couple of days but for now, here are my initial reactions:

1. Handwriting - It's is simply amazing how easy it can read cursive. If there was an easier or faster technique, then it could be faster than typing. I'm not sure how much this feature will make me want to keep it, but it's just fun. The pen & touchscreen makes for a desirable tablet like device.
2. Speed - Using Windows Vista is definitely a big letdown only because the processor it too slow. Maybe if the device had 2 GB of RAM, it might make the user experience that much more enjoyable.
3. Programs -I happen to stumble upon the Microsoft Reader program that is bundled w/ the device, & if it works out, then this would be the solution to me buying an e-book reader. It wouldn't be that efficient but it would be able to do that much more than Sony's Reader. It also comes with Navigator but the Bluetooth chipset isn't loaded. I'll have to find out if any receiver will work particularly the one that comes with Microsoft Streets and Trips.
4. Origami - This is what Microsoft bundled w/ the Samsung UMPC as the solution to making it a worthy Media Player. I honestly thought that it ceased to exist after all the hoopla died a few years back.

Do I Really Need This?

Because I'm compulsive in nature, if I find a good buy, there's a good chance that I'll end up buying it. Now, it's just a matter ill really need it. We all know that I don't need more toys, but this Samsung Q1 Ultra that happened to be 70% off at Best Buy today was just a little too tempting. The handwriting recognition software is just too awesome but the only issue that I have right now is that the model doesn't have a built-in camera. It's also running Windows Vista which makes it all a title too sluggish taking away all the fun. The biggest plus is the fact that I won't need to bring my laptop on overnights because this is so small, light and ultra portable that it would fit in my flightbag. This whole article I wrote with the hand recognition software in Windows Vista. It was fun but the actual keyboard is pretty awesome once you start getting quick at it.

IBM T43 Conking Out

Well, over the last 24 hours, I haven't been able to constantly watch out for good phone news (even though I really wanted to write about the new Samsung that was released on T-Mobile's Network last night) due to the fact that my IBM T43 has been in and out of conscienceness.  I've been wanting, keyword wanting, a new laptop or desktop and its just been rather crazy dealing with something that isn't working for me.  Mind you I might have dropped it a few more times than usual because my Purdy Neat Luggage is out of commission as well.  So, I'm left with a Travel Pro bag that isn't at all nearly as awesome.  It's almost embarrassing being a pilot and using a cheapy bag.  

So, anyways, I called IBM and the will be sending me out a box where I can overnight my laptop to them and have them take care of the rest.  I really just didn't feel like dealing with anything, but I'm hoping that it just means that I need a new one and that they'll cover it all.  I know that once they open it up, they won't be able to diagnose anything or duplicate my issues, but hey, at least they'll be the ones tinkering with it.  I'm going to revert back to my trust Apple Titanium Powerbook 667, which by the way, was left out from being able to be upgraded to Leopard.  

AppleInsider's In-depth review: Amazon's Kindle

I have to say that I spend some good time reading this review and was left with no questions after 5 pages of relentless comparisons, short comings and history.  Almost 1 month after its initial debut, the Amazon Kindle goes through some hurdles in trying to become the king of eBook readers.  Myself being on the fence between the Sony Reader and the Kindle am still forced to wait another generation.  I had a chance to play with Sony's version but was frustrated at its slow response time and refresh rate.  Being that the Kindle has the identical screen and technology, I can assume that it already will be a disappointment to my petty but unforgiving needs. 

I've been reading books on PDF on my Palm Treo 650 via Adobe's Reader Palm Program and really haven't found too many short comings besides having to click next quite a few times due to the screen's size.  I've been happy.  I would have never seen the Kindle being compared to Apple's iPhone or iPod Touch in the task of reading books or webpages, but Mr. Dilger brings up some good facts of 3G vs. AT&T 2.5G.  The fact that viewing web pages on either device is something that I might want to do, it seems like Apple's Embedded Safari Web Browser has the upper hand in the ability to resize the page and view it in all its glory.  The Kindle was rather limited in a way that would definitely bother me due to the fact that it was horizontally inhibited forcing you to scroll through each page one at a time vertically.  The review almost convinced me to buy an iPod Touch rather than a reader! 

The path to saving trees is going to be quite difficult with having to convince people that they can highlight and take notes electronically, but hey, its just might work out!

AppleInsider | In-depth review: can Amazon's Kindle light a fire under eBooks?

Next-Gen DVDs: Advantage, Sony

I'm not at all bias because I own a PS3, but I've always thought of Blu-ray to be a little more triumphant even after all its short comings.  I just hope that the latest news of Warner Brothers choosing sides in the beginning of next year will make Michael Bay and Paramount cry because of their support of the latter.  It's just ridiculous how much the HD-DVD camp paid to have the exclusive rights.  Now, its Warner Bros. who are playing hooky and are trying to lure as much money as they can from either format.  In the end, its definitely the consumers who lose out buying into one format and just hoping that it'll prevail.  Wasn't it nice when we just had DVDs on the shelves and nothing else? 

Until the Blu-ray camp can put out a low cost device, it'll be a while before more people end up picking up a player.  Thanks to the price drop of the PS3, more and more people have been bought into the idea of a 2 in 1 where the Xbox 360 requires an add-on which by the way is now only $129. 

BusinessWeek released an article yesterday late afternoon concerning the latest in the format wars.  Next-Gen DVDs: Advantage, Sony

image provided by Gizmodo

Gmail + AIM = Chat Heaven

Gmail just released seem-less integration with AIM directly right in your mail account.  It's awesome and you have to do it!  Highlight your buddy window and then up in the menu comes the option to log on to your AIM account.  Input your username and password, and *BOOM* just like that your contacts are imported right into your buddy list!!!  I think I'm the first to blog this bad boy!

Gmail Blog = Crazy Delicious!

Check it out!

I made it...at least temporarily.  So far, I'm learning quite a bit on writing styles but its a start.  I should have jumped on the bandwagon a couple of years back, but its going to be a fun ride with this new venture.  Thanks to my honey for some proof reading!  Oh, and for you guys who didn't know what I've been posting about on my blog, it was for a writer's position on phonenews.com. 

Google's Android SDK

The battle has official begun with the scheduled release of Google's Android Mobile OS SDK. Developers all over the world are being enticed by a $10 million competition, courtesy of Sergey Brin and company, to use the Android SDK and develop innovative software sets to be released in the near future.  Not only did they demo a seamless package, but the 3D graphics that are enabled on the platform easily render Quake as one of the many gaming options.  As impressive as the demo video looks, 2008 is gearing up to be a showcase of mobile phone operating systems. For a full feature listing, click here.