Iridium, a maker of satellite phones, has unveiled a new model for the holiday season. I almost bought the 9505A a year ago, but held off for a handful of reasons. Turns out, this may be the best reason of all; the new 9555 is that much better. In terms of coverage, Iridium is the only true global phone with 66 orbiting low-Earth satellites. They claim a 99% connection rate on first attempts, even from either of the poles.

Iridium Satellite has unveiled its latest satellite phone, the 9555, which offers smaller dimensions and a form factor that is closer to traditional cell phones than its predecessor, the 9505A. The antenna is mostly internally stowed, allowing full extension only when the phone is being used. A speakerphone function, brighter screen, and mini-USB data port have been added, along with improved SMS and E-mail functionality.

In line with other products designed for exploration in environments far away from civilization, the 9555 is water and shock resistant and offers only basic functionality. The company has been able drop the device weight by 27 percent from the 9505A, with a 30 percent reduction in volume, potentially attracting more mountaineering or wilderness adventurers that count every single ounce and cubic inch that can be carried.

(via Electronista)

The International Herald Tribune:

Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai missed talks in Swaziland on the crisis in his country on Monday because his rival and negotiating partner, President Robert Mugabe, refused to give him a passport.

This is horribly sad. Kottke can’t decide.

Jeffrey Goldberg took all sorts of crazy stuff through airport security – “al-Qaeda T-shirts, Islamic Jihad flags, Hezbollah videotapes, inflatable Yasir Arafat dolls (really), pocketknives, matches from hotels in Beirut and Peshawar, dust masks, lengths of rope, cigarette lighters, nail clippers, eight-ounce tubes of toothpaste (in my front pocket), bottles of Fiji Water (which is foreign), and, of course, box cutters” — and almost nothing was ever taken away from him or was a source of concern for airport security personnel.

From the November edition of The Atlantic:

We took our shoes off and placed our laptops in bins. Schneier took from his bag a 12-ounce container labeled “saline solution.”

“It’s allowed,” he said. Medical supplies, such as saline solution for contact-lens cleaning, don’t fall under the TSA’s three-ounce rule.

“What’s allowed?” I asked. “Saline solution, or bottles labeled saline solution?”

“Bottles labeled saline solution. They won’t check what’s in it, trust me.”

They did not check. As we gathered our belongings, Schneier held up the bottle and said to the nearest security officer, “This is okay, right?” “Yep,” the officer said. “Just have to put it in the tray.”

“Maybe if you lit it on fire, he’d pay attention,” I said, risking arrest for making a joke at airport security. (Later, Schneier would carry two bottles labeled saline solution-24 ounces in total-through security. An officer asked him why he needed two bottles. “Two eyes,” he said. He was allowed to keep the bottles.)

We’ve bought Travel Guard travel insurance from AIG on our most recent international trips. Fortunately, I’ve never had to use it, but I started to wonder with all this mess, is Travel Guard still reliable insurance to buy? It turns out, according to the Washington Post and an AIG spokesman, “you’re covered.”

Travel Guard spokesman Dan McGinnity told CoGo: “Travel Guard policyholders are not affected by the restructuring of our parent company. Travel Guard is strong, and the insurance company that underwrites our policies is strong, with ample resources to underwrite our policies and pay the claims of our policyholders.” (The underwriter is National Union Fire Insurance, a member company of AIG Commercial Insurance, which McGinnity says has a “statutory surplus of $26.7 billion and invested assets exceeding $70 billion.”)

Not convinced? Try this for McGinnity’s advice:

McGinnity also offered a few tips to people looking to buy travel insurance , especially in this era of airline bankruptcy: “Consider a third-party travel insurance policy . . . that includes coverage for financial default. To ensure that you get this coverage, the policy must be purchased within 15 days of when you book your trip.” Shop for insurance at http://www.squaremouth.com or http://www.insuremytrip.com.

Over a year and a half ago, I wrote about a small and relatively unknown feature on NYTimes.com. The feature allows you, while reading an article, to highlight/select any word and double click. A smaller new window would open with the results of a query automatically run for you. They’ve just recently updated this to show a small question mark icon instead of automatically popping up a window. It’s even less obtrusive than before! While I read, I — admittedly annoyingly — click and drag, click and drag, and click and drag. With this tick, I found myself firing up popup definitions all the time.

This is much better. See the screenshot below.