Road Trip 2007

The Altec Lansing iM600 is an attractive, high-quality, affordable iPod speaker system.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

FARMINGTON, N.M.--One of the many gadgets I've been carting around with me on Road Trip 2007 is Altec Lansing's iM600 iPod speaker system.

I personally own a much earlier iPod speaker from Altec Lansing, and I've enjoyed it for a long time, though I've often wished it had a little more oomph.

Well, the iM600 has answered that desire, and for a remarkably affordable price: only $150 gets you this sweet compact little device.

Here's what it has: an easy-to-fit iPod dock (with plug-ins for iPod Nanos and older models), as well as an antenna for the built-in AM/FM radio.

The iM600 has wonderful, rich sound. I hesitate to turn it up all the way since I'm in a motel and it's kind of late, and I know that I would have no trouble waking up the neighbors with this little machine. Yet, at high volume, the sound doesn't lose any of its richness, something that wasn't true with my earlier model.

It also has a little remote control that lets you change songs, the input source (iPod, radio or auxiliary device) and more.

Even better, the iM600 has a rechargeable battery instead of using AAs. And while I haven't put this thing through endless testing, my sense is that it lasts a good long while. So far, at least, I've not really had to worry about it going dead. And, of course, when it's plugged in, it charges the docked iPod. Which is nice when you're on the road.

I suppose my only complaint is that it's difficult to search for songs on the iPod while it's docked, because it's hard to spin your fingers around the click wheel. Over time, I think that would be a significant annoyance, but so far, it hasn't bothered me too much.

All in all, though, I am pretty happy with the iM600, and I would think that most others would be, as well. There are, of course, many options to choose from, some cheaper, some more expensive. But when I learned that the iM600 was only $150, I was shocked. It's worth that much and far more.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M.--For more than two weeks now, I've been traveling throughout the Southwest on Road Trip 2007, producing stories and photo galleries on the most interesting science- and technology-related subjects I can find.

In that time, I've covered more than 2,700 miles and stayed in an absurd number of motels.

And since I often haven't finished writing and processing photos until 9 or 10 at night, I've definitely needed downtime, and a good way to entertain myself.

That's where HBO's much-heralded series, The Wire, a drama about crime in Baltimore, has come in.

HBO's 'The Wire' is one of the best television shows to come along in years.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

Just before leaving on the trip, I called HBO Video and asked if they might consider providing me with a season or two of the show to watch on the road. The very next day, an express package hit my desk containing the first three seasons (four have been produced, but only the first three are available on DVD).

I had taken a bunch of movies out of my local library to bring with me on the road trip, but I have to be honest: I haven't touched them. I've been too wrapped up in The Wire.

To say the show is about crime in Baltimore, as I did above, is to be overly simplistic. I'm not a TV reviewer, so I'll probably muddle through this, but I have to say that the level of character development, writing, acting and directing is among the best I've ever seen.

Now, I'm not sure I'll ever see anything top shows like Hill Street Blues, Northern Exposure or The West Wing, but The Wire comes close.

The story revolves around two sides: the Baltimore police, and the city's drug dealers. And where the magic comes in is in how the two sides, and their stories, constantly weave in and out of each other.

You come away feeling wrapped up in the characters, and somehow even feeling for them all, despite their myriad personality defects--on both sides of the law.

The second season, in my opinion, is the show's weakness. The first season was stellar; the third--which I'm currently in the middle of--is a touch below the first's level and season four, which I watched on HBO, is the best yet.

So, the next time you're perusing Netflix or looking for a DVD to buy or rent, I suggest skipping the Hollywood blockbuster that you know in your heart will disappoint you and try this gem from HBO. I bet you won't regret it.

This alien autopsy scene was created for the film 'Roswell.'

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

ROSWELL, N.M.--If you're coming to this town for anything other than UFO madness, you're probably heading to the wrong place.

I came as part of Road Trip 2007, my driving tour of the Southwest in search of the most interesting technology- and science-related stories.

Roswell is the self-proclaimed UFO capital of the world, and it is still reaping the tourist-dollar benefits of an event that happened 60 years ago, when a local may have found the remains of a crashed UFO in a field that's actually quite some distance from here.

The event made world headlines and the U.S. military clamped down, denying that it was anything other than a crashed weather balloon. The rest is X-Files history.

Yet, here we are, all these years later, and Roswell's UFO industry is still going strong. It's true that it's relegated to a small area of downtown, centered around the International UFO Museum and Research Center, but in that area, hoo boy, nearly every shop has a window full of alien swag for sale.

It's interesting stuff, if you believe. If you don't believe, it's probably just annoying. But then, what would you be doing visiting here?

Around downtown Roswell, there are endless shops catering to alien-crazy tourists. They sell all manner of alien/UFO souvenirs.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

An SR-71 at the PIMA Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Ariz.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

TUCSON, Ariz.--I've just finished my tours of the PIMA Air and Space Museum and the Arizona Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility here, and boy have I seen a lot of airplanes.

I'm visiting the two facilities as part of my Road Trip 2007 around the Southwest. They are basically side by side, and house approximately 300 and 4,300 planes, respectively.

At the Air and Space museum, it's a mix of military, NASA and civilian planes, including an SR-71, the plane that brought the hostages home from Iran in 1981, plus many others.

At AMARG, it's almost entirely military, with row after row of fighter jets, cargo planes and many, many, many others.

I've seen a lot of planes in my time, but nothing like this. I mean, that was nearly 5,000 planes in a couple of hours. I feel like I should be somewhere in mid-air.

I'll post a full story and gallery on these facilities later, but I wanted to give you a taste now.

An F-14 Tomcat at the Arizona Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.--If you ever happen to be in need of a room for the night, and happen to come across a Saga motel with "vacancy" illuminated, don't get your hopes up.

I was in this Route 66 town Saturday night on my Road Trip around the Southwest, desperate for a bed, and discovered that I had been dumb enough to think that I could easily find one, despite this being a July Saturday in the closest city to the Grand Canyon. Oops.

But at last, after checking several other motels, I wandered up to the Flagstaff Saga, whose neon sign offered salvation.

Alas, I was foiled. They were full, the clerk told me, and when I helpfully suggested that they turn off the "vacancy" sign, he told me he couldn't, and that company policy forbids them from ever turning it off, regardless of whether rooms were available.

Now, this may be standard operating procedure in the motel industry, and if it is, then I guess I'm naive. Or, perhaps the gentleman was lying to me and Saga doesn't make any such demands.

But if it's true, then I'm appalled.

LAS VEGAS--I've been here for three days, and boy, it's been intense.

As the first real stop on my Road Trip around the Southwest, I've had two behind the scenes tours of the Cirque du Soleil, and one tour underground through the tunnels underneath Sin City.

And now, I bid the city, and my great view from the 19th floor of the Mirage, overlooking the Strip, adieu.

The view I'm leaving, from the 19th floor of the Mirage, looking out over the Strip.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

It's on to the next stops: Hoover Dam this morning, and then onto the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

There will, of course, be more blogs, more Twitters, more photo galleries and more stories. Also, video will be coming as soon as I can get my camcorder pulled out its box and turned on and figured out.

So. Stay tuned!

LAS VEGAS--I just got back from a backstage tour of Cirque du Soleil's Ka theater, and I'm still a little dumbstruck by the technology that's built into the show and the infrastructure that runs it.

The servers that control the lighting systems at Cirque du Soleil's Ka show in Las Vegas.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

I'll write much more about this--as well as some of the tech behind the Cirque's Love, as part of my Road Trip 2007 coverage--but one of the things that came out of my tour that I thought warranted a quick blog was when Keith Wright, the operations production manager for Ka, mentioned to me in an aside that he's in need of some new network-savvy technicians.

Ka is a pretty advanced show--and it should be, given that the theater alone cost $165 million to create. Behind it all are lots of different systems, many of which work together in some way.

But in particular, Wright said he needs folks who can come in and understand and work with the network systems that run the show's lighting. After all, this is a huge theater--the second-largest of all the Cirque theaters, I was told--and it has 3,400 stationary lights and 47 moving lights. All to make it so the 1,951 guests can see exactly what they're supposed to see.

And running it all is an advanced computer system that controls everything and ensures that--usually--everything goes off exactly as it's supposed to.

A lighting console that is used to control the lighting effects during Ka.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

Now, I'm not saying Wright suggested I tell you, my dear readers, to send in their resumes. But he sounded pretty sincere about needing more help. So, if you're in Vegas or interested in being here, and you're a network guru, I would think a discreet inquiry into what jobs are open with Ka might well be worthwhile. Just don't tell them I sent you.