Tips On Navigating Flight Control For the iPhone

So I’ve had a few requests for tips on how to get higher scores on the iPhone/iPod touch game Flight Control.  I’m not in the very top of the scores but I have managed to get into the 300’s.  With that in mind, here are my tips for improving your scores.

These tips refer to Flight Control and the original airfield.

-    Some games will give you better plane mixes than others.  You just need to keep playing to get that favorable mix.  If you make it past 100, you’re probably getting a good mix and can ride it for a while.  My high score is in the 300’s, but my average is in the 70’s.  I crash a lot.
-    Be sure that the jumbo jets get landed first.  Don’t delay them if you can help it.
-    When a plane or copter enters the game, get it attached to a runway, but be ready to change its path if you need to.
-    Keep looking around the whole field, especially those places where you think you are all set.  Often you aren’t and two planes that were far apart have now gotten too close.  You need to make adjustments in flight.  I forget to look back at the GA planes to be sure my paths and separations are good, and that’s where I get some crashes.  That and places where the choppers are crossing the field with other planes.  Oh and if the choppers arrive at the pad at the same time and are too close.
-    Don’t think you have to fly normal patterns.  You can do reverse 180’s.  Often when a jumbo is entering the screen on the right, I take it straight down the runway backwards to then turn on a dime and land.  Helps keep the airspace clear.
-    Keep the planes as close as you can.  You get better at judging this as you play more.  The jumbos can overtake the regular jets, but the regular ones can’t overtake the jumbos, so line them up knowing what might or might not happen.  Also, jumbos land quickly at the end of the runway and you can count on that.  The regular jets often float a little longer before landing, so leave room for them.
-    Again, make changes as often as necessary.  I often have regular jets in line to land, but then move them out of the way to get a jumbo arriving from the left onto the runway.

Africa by Toto As You’ve Never Heard It

Here is another wonderfully creative performance.  It’s six minutes long, but worth it, if you like acapella singing, the song Africa by Toto, rain, thunder etc.  Human voices are amazing.

Quite An Amazing WebCam Music Video – Sour’s “Hibi no Neiro”

This music video was shot for Sour’s ‘Hibi no Neiro’ (Tone of everyday) from their first mini album ‘Water Flavor EP’. The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam.  Do yourself a favor and watch this whole video.  Pretty sweet planning and execution.

Director: Masashi Kawamura + Hal Kirkland + Magico Nakamura + Masayoshi Nakamura

Love Is The Thing – Recorded by The 88 on an iPhone

Cool and Dramatic Environmental Advertising

These ads grab your attention for sure.  A nice review of creative work in support of the environment.

News When A Famous Person Dies

Is there any wonder that tradtional news sources are in trouble.

Latest iPod Announced – iPod Maple

This some great creativity.  An all wood encased iPod.  Pretty sweet, and clearly a very green product.  Check this out.

Hodgman Calls Obama A Nerd

This is the wonderful John Hodgman speaking at the 2009 Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington.  If you like John, you’ll love this.  If you don’t, you won’t.  Simple as that.

Steve Jobs’ Liver Transplant

Here is the full article from the Wall Street Journal.

Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave from Apple Inc. since January to treat an undisclosed medical condition, received a liver transplant in Tennessee about two months ago. The chief executive has been recovering well and is expected to return to work on schedule later this month, though he may work part-time initially.

Mr. Jobs didn’t respond to an email requesting comment. “Steve continues to look forward to returning at the end of June, and there’s nothing further to say,” said Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton.

When he does return, Mr. Jobs may be encouraged by his physicians to initially “work part-time for a month or two,” a person familiar with the thinking at Apple said. That may lead Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, to take “a more encompassing role,” this person said. The person added that Mr. Cook may be appointed to Apple’s board in the not-too-distant future.

High Altitude Wind Machines for New York City

In this article from WIRED, there is the revelation that plenty of wind lives in the almosphere up high.  Now all we have to do is harvest it.

The wind blowing through the streets of Manhattan couldn’t power the city, but wind machines placed thousands of feet above the city theoretically could.

The first rigorous, worldwide study of high-altitude wind power estimates that there is enough wind energy at altitudes of about 1,600 to 40,000 feet to meet global electricity demand a hundred times over.