Brace for Apple iDrone

I think many would have thought that after unveiling the much awaited smartwatch, Apple has been dried of the ideas. But to surprise of many, there is yet many things the Apple has up its sleeve to ks and gadget enthusiasts.

Here comes Apple's Drone!! Surprised? Well some may be as drone may not have been on the wish list of gadgets geeks as far Apple is concerned.

The drone or should we say 'iDrone' has surfaced - though in a conceptual stage. But the photos leaked show something sleek and curvy that may one day be darling of the gadget lovers or those who love to fly remotely controlled planes.

As can be seen from the leaked photos, the iDrone is likely to be equipped with four cameras that may provide a panoramic aerial view live.

The iDrone is likely to be be seen in the sky around you a year from now in 2016.

Source: quadrocopter.org

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The 'Real Bird Eye View' of Dubai

Hobbyists are amazing people. They always find something novel to dream, adopt and finally give it a real practical life. Ever thought of flying in the air and seeing the world below? Well at one time or even more in our lives, everyone does dream of flying in the air and seeing the world below.

When the aircraft was being invented, or should I see when the man was trying to imitate the birds and fly like them, many enthusiasts made structures and gadgets that looked like a bird and by means of mechanical actions they tried to fly. However, the could not, till the aircraft was invented.  

But how about a bird eye - the real one? Well I just saw a video and straightaway got on to writing this post to share something that really gives us a bird eye of Dubai. The enthusiasts wrapped a camera over an eagle and flew him from he top of the Dubai's Burj Khalifa, as can be seen from the photo above. The bird flew magnificently, hovering over Dubai and giving us a live coverage of the Dubai or the bird eye of Dubai. The 'Eagle then lands' dead on ground landing site on its trainer's hand amid a huge applause from the onlookers.

Watch this magnificent video below:

Post by Dubai Calendar.

Amazing - isn't it?

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The hobby of Aircraft Spotting

This photograph was taken by me with my Sony DSC H2 camera on 28 March 2013 and shared on Flickr as 'Bird Watching' on my page Jalalspages

Airplanes have always fascinated children - and many adults too. And it is just an intrinsic instinct to look up and see which aircraft it is as soon as someone listens to the sound of an aircraft in the sky. Like a huge number of hobbyists, aircraft spotting has been one of my favourites hobbies since my childhood.

The hobby of aircraft spotting is not only restricted to spotting and watching the aircraft, but it also includes photographing the aircraft both parked on the airports or flying in the air. Hobbyists even go to the extent of compiling logs of aircraft tail numbers or commonly known as the registration numbers.

Aircraft spotting is not restricted to aircraft only, it includes all sorts of flying objects like the helicopters, balloons, airships, drones and gliders.

The aircraft spotters are so expert that some of them can recognize the aircraft even without looking up and  can tell the type of aircraft by listening to their sound or even the vapour trail left behind by their engines.

This photograph was taken by me from the car before entering The Hague I visited last September - can you tell which aircraft is this?

Some of the key features that assist an onlooker about the make and type of the aircraft include the following:

• Type of the aircraft wings (Polyhedral, Diehedral, Anhedral or Gull Wings)
• The placing of the aircraft wings (on top of the fuselage, centre or bottom of the fuselage)
• Shape of the wings (swept forward or swept back)
• The number of wings that indicate whether the aircraft is a monoplane, biplane or tail-plane)
• The position of the tail-plane relative to the fin(s) and the shape of the fin are other attributes. 
• The shape of the fuselage is also a major indicator of the type of the aircraft (Boeing 747 being a typical fuselage that differentiates it from the rest of the aircraft)
• The placing of the engine and the number of engines on the wing or even on the tail (remember DC-10 with its one engine mounted on its tail-plane?)

Well this is some 'food for thought' for the emerging and novices in the field of aircraft spotting. I shall write more about it in my future posts.

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Listening my teenage songs

Teenage is the best age one lives in one's life - it is carefree, memorable and full of 'first' experiences of every kind. Listening to music is one of the hallmark of teenage and the songs and singers heard and listened to in the teenage become one's lifelong memories.

Even at 60 today, the songs I listened to in my teenage are still my all time favourite - although much to the disgust of my teenage children who think these quite outdated and out of tune compared to their standards and likes. I do not blame them as I also did not like to listen to songs that my father listened to - though I cherish the memories of him playing his 78-RPM vinyl records on his HMS' Gramophone. 

Coming back to my teenage songs, here are some of the best songs of my 'life' when I was young and which I still frequently listen to:

• Not a second time (The Beatles)
• You've gotta friend (James Last)
• Play me (Neil Diamond)
• You're my world (Tom Jones)
• Yesterday (The Beatles)
• Yesterday once more (The Carpenters)
• Annie's Song (John Denver)
• Have you ever been mellow (Olivia Newton John) 
• There's kind of hush (The Carpenters)
• Faster Than the Speed of Night (Bonnie Tyler)
• When I'm 64 (The Beatles) - just four more years to go for me!!

As for the instrumentals, I loved and liked The Ventures, Herb Alpert, James Last and of course Paul Mauriat. Some of the my favourite instrumentals are:

• Love is Blue (Paul Mauriat) - perhaps the best instrumental ever
• It was a very good year (Herb Alpert)
• Walk don't run (The Ventures)

Quite old you would say - well yes as old as my youth and teenage. But I treasure these for I grew up listening such songs and many more by these singers. Who do you listen too of your teenage life?

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'Concorde' back in the sky

It has been a while that people last saw a Concorde in the air after its tragic incident and shelving of the project as a whole. But the Concorde lovers have not forgotten this mighty aircraft which due to its speed and unique design was once the darling of the skies over Europe.

The ill fated Air France Flight 4590 that was the last Concorde flight which ended in a disaster killing 113 people on board

While looking for a remote control aircraft, I came across a video on YouTube about this mighty aircraft which by any standards of the remote controlled aircraft seems really big and reminded me of this mighty airplane.

This remotely controlled aircraft replica of the actual Concorde is  powered by two turbines and is really huge.

Watch the video below - you will be awe stricken to see its size and majestic flight. And will also remind us of this finest aircraft and how tragically it came to an end.

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Top Three most read posts of HobbyShobbys

I started my blog HobbyShobbys on 12th December 2010. And since then it has drawn much interest by people around the world who love to have hobbies of any kind. Keeping interest of almost all hobbyists, I have shared information on almost all major hobbies people adopt around the world.

One of the many creative and useful kitchen gadgets from my most read post

As for me, my first hobby was philately, or in easier terms collecting stamps. I started collecting stamps in 1966 and continued till 1975 when I had to take on a tough profession which kept me away from my stamp albums that contain some 10,000 stamps, some as old as 1920s.

Coming back to readers' interest, my most read post so far is Creative And Useful Kitchen Gadgets which I posted on June 29, 2011. It has drawn some 221,950 views so far.

One of the ways you may be secretly watched shared in my second most viewed post

This is followed by Beware!! You are being watched with 104680 views that I shared on 25 February 2011. The third most viewed post is Ice Trays of a different type written on June 7, 2011 with 49,264 views.

One of the different ice trays

It really has been fun all along sharing wide array of hobbies and something new that people do around the world to keep their free time productive, enjoying and relaxing.  What is your most favoured hobby - ever shared?

All photos contained in the above three posts were shared from TechZug which graciously allowed use of their photos in my blog for the spread of information. 

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1965 Ford Mustang is Reborn

While driving is a hobby, whether new , old or vintage vehicles, putting cars on road back from junk yard is equally a passionate hobby for some. And this is exactly Mr Shakeel, a 47 years old mechanic in Karachi, Pakistan does - putting vintage cars back on road in perfect running condition - in fact as good as a new car.

I just came across the news at Pakistan Today about the passion of this man who has given a new life to all time favourite Ford Mustang model 1965.

Mr Shakeel runs an auto workshop in Karachi boats: “Anyone can go and buy a 2015 model, But can anyone make a 1965 classic as good as new? Any person with a passion and love for cars would go to lengths to buy a scrapped Ford Mustang.”

Shakeel Autos has dominantly worked on restoring Japanese-made cars but the American-built 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback was brought to them as a challenge in 2014. “This car is manufactured worldwide but I don’t remember it being manufactured or restored ever before in Pakistan,” Shakeel says.

Source: Pakistan Today

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I am the Walrus

'I am the Walrus' was one of my favourite Beatles song that was once on hit charts in the 60s. And when I visited the Dolfinarium in the city of Harderwijk, Netherlands last September, seeing the huge walrus reminded me once again of the song and while I watch the show, I also slowly sang the song along. It was as if I was sitting and watching the show in the late 60s.

Before I share the photos of the walrus show, let me share a few photos of my family - I wish I could be seen singing the song!!

Here in under are some of the photos I shot watch the walrus show and singing the song: I am the Walrus:

Here are some more:

The mention of the walrus show would be incomplete unless I also share a video that made while watching the show and singing the song: I am the Walrus:-

I have also shared these photos and written a detailed post in my blog JahoJalal

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Shooting GIF format photos

Although I am not a professional photographer, but my hobby of shooting difficult things is always on my mind and am looking forward to trying out new things. Awhile ago, while analyzing various mode of the camera of my Galaxy S4 smartphone, I came across a feature of Animated Photos. And hence started my taking photos in Gif format.

The gif photo above was taken by me from withing my car while I waited for my wife to shop in a nearby shopping centre. The falling droplets of rain prompted me to shoot an animated photo and it came out to be as can be seen above.

And just today while it was still raining, I captured rain falling on the leaves of the bamboo plant , as can be seen above, right next to my main entrance of the house. 

This is the third gif photo taken by me. My first attempt was sometime back when I was drinking tea and the lights went out. In the light of an LED torch, I could see steam oozing out of the hot tea cup and I made shot the moment in animated format. It came out something like this:

Do you try out different things with your camera? Well I am sure everyone does. Do share your experiences for others to learn.

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White Swedish Shepherd

Recently, while strolling and window shopping in the log bazaar of Kiel, Germany, I came across a pet lover who was walking with a majestic White Shepherd dog. I thought it was a white German Shepherd and requested the owner for a photo of the white fur dog.

However, to my amazement, she told me that it was not a German Shepherd but was a Swedish Shepherd.  That was an addition to my knowledge about the shepherd dogs as I always thought that these were a German species.

However, upon searching more about the white shepherd, I cam to know that Swedish species also comes from the same species of the white German Shepherds.

The white shepherds, unlike their black and brown 'traditional' German Shepherds are very peaceful in nature and are not considered to be good watchdogs as they are not very aggressive to 'combat' aliens and thieves. In fact, White Shepherds need a great deal of early socialization to build a confident attitude toward strangers and strange situations.

While trying to know more about these white fur shepherds, I came to know that there are also Swiss and American White Shepherds too. Do you own a White Shepherd? If so please share with us its characteristics and behaviour that made you to have a White German/Swedish Shepherd.

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