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![Lou Schmidt co-owner of Hoodman enjoys the magic of an Osmo + Gimble, his company's Hoodman Hood and the fabulous "Lume Cube" [Photo by Barry Markowitz]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Lumecube_2174.jpg?itok=-627PG-7 "Lou Schmidt co-owner of Hoodman enjoys the magic of an Osmo + Gimble, his company's Hoodman Hood and the fabulous \"Lume Cube\" [Photo by Barry Markowitz]")
What commands 90% of our professional media travel decisions is what equipment do we need, what equipment do we want, what is our back up plan for a failure.... and sadly most important... how much does it weigh?
In the golden age of travel, we used to be able to check in two bags at 70 lbs or less...
![Evalani and Mae Sapolu [photo: Barry Markowitz]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Evalani%20n%20Mae.jpg?itok=C_ru4LOA "Evalani and Mae Sapolu [photo: Barry Markowitz]")
Evalani's has always been a special place for me. I have always been able to get my taco & enchilada fix for my Southern California Mexican Food addiction. Hawaiian Airlines flight crews used to join me for Karaoke Nights… remember the Hawaiian classic "He Aloha Mele?" And of course, if not...
![Ellen Elliott, of family owned/partnership Drone Services Hawaii, shares the DJI Osmo Mobile, a great family holiday gift, offering amazing professional results. [Photo: Barry Markowitz]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Elliot.jpg?itok=O1NqIrSd "Ellen Elliott, of family owned/partnership Drone Services Hawaii, shares the DJI Osmo Mobile, a great family holiday gift, offering amazing professional results. [Photo: Barry Markowitz]")
Imagine magic in the palm of your hand that will provide an incredible forever-family video and still memories and can be operated by your 6-year old, your 84-year old grandma and all the other interesting kin folk in between.
DJI, famous for the Inspire, Phantom & Mavic drones, has smartly...
![Jan Pascual, an IT professional and aspiring drone professional, enjoyed a private chat with one of InterDrone 2016 "Women in Drones" luncheon speakers, Natalie Cheung, UAV Product Manager, Perceptual Computing Group Intel Corporation at the events conclusion. [Photo: Barry Markowitz]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/drone%20conference.jpg?itok=Ywg7vhIN "Jan Pascual, an IT professional and aspiring drone professional, enjoyed a private chat with one of InterDrone 2016 \"Women in Drones\" luncheon speakers, Natalie Cheung, UAV Product Manager, Perceptual Computing Group Intel Corporation at the events conclusion. [Photo: Barry Markowitz]")
[Cool Stuff was not allowed to attend a significant event at InterDrone 2016 due to the circumstance of his being born a boring male. However, rather than just cry in his Vailima for being excluded, this author was asked by Cool Stuff to attend the event on his behalf, to take notes and write a...
![Yuneec's "Breeze" is the perfect family gift this holiday. It does family selfies, tracks your kids in action, allows immediate social media posting... all at a family friendly price. [Photo by Barry Markowitz 9/8/16, InterDrone 2016, Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Yuneec%20Breeze.jpg?itok=aY429BZN "Yuneec's \"Breeze\" is the perfect family gift this holiday. It does family selfies, tracks your kids in action, allows immediate social media posting... all at a family friendly price. [Photo by Barry Markowitz 9/8/16, InterDrone 2016, Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.]")
A Sony Handicam, a Canon Rebel, and a big screen TV have been excellent family gifts the past decade. Yuneec is blowing away those classics with their just debuted "Breeze" user-friendly drone, their CEO calls a "Flying Camera".
The "Breeze" will go everywhere with you indoor and outdoors... so as...
![Laksa is loved by Malaysians, Singaporean, Indonesians in the region. What is Laksa? [Photo by Barry Markowitz]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Cool%20Stuff%20IMG_7793.jpg?itok=d1lrJMr3 "Laksa is loved by Malaysians, Singaporean, Indonesians in the region. What is Laksa? [Photo by Barry Markowitz]")
With all the heaps of Samoa News per diem, food & travel tala showered on me... I am required to spend it. Little did the big bosses know we would be squandering that siliva on Coolio treats. Laksa is the soup base made up of coconut milk, chili, dried shrimp and herbs in which seafood like...
![Japadog — a famous hot dog in Vancouver, Canada. [Photo by Barry Markowitz, 3/11/16]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/JapaDogWEB.jpg?itok=qqO22C4E "Japadog — a famous hot dog in Vancouver, Canada. [Photo by Barry Markowitz, 3/11/16]")
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is almost an opposite hemisphere clone of Auckland, New Zealand... pub culture, pub food, and a 30% greater US dollar value. What sets Vancouver apart from Auckland... is an addiction to Ice Hockey, Curling (I'll explain later) and tasty Japadogs.
Japadogs are...
![epartures and arrivals at airports, trains, rails and buses may never be the same after the recent attacks in Brussels, Belgium. This scene is the arrival hall at Vancouver International Airport, British Columbia, Canada taken earlier this month. [photo by Barry Markowitz]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Brussels%20n%20Us.jpg?itok=gyValZ5M "epartures and arrivals at airports, trains, rails and buses may never be the same after the recent attacks in Brussels, Belgium. This scene is the arrival hall at Vancouver International Airport, British Columbia, Canada taken earlier this month. [photo by Barry Markowitz]")
The Samoa News' owners have just increased Cool Stuff's generous pay package to “combat pay”. Covering the next phase of Manu Samoa's comeback, Cool Stuff will be traveling through Hawai’i, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, with a possible day trip to Muslim Malaysia (Cool Stuff's plan to further an...
![Everyone has a relative, a friend, or son or even employee that is one of the crew of a fautasi — highlighting the community spirit during Flag Day festivities. For Samoa News, (center) one of the rowers for the Fono — Logo Solomona, our Master Printer — was one of its crew. [photo: TG]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/final%20heats_5498_0.jpg?itok=QoKWsHue "Everyone has a relative, a friend, or son or even employee that is one of the crew of a fautasi — highlighting the community spirit during Flag Day festivities. For Samoa News, (center) one of the rowers for the Fono — Logo Solomona, our Master Printer — was one of its crew. [photo: TG]")
After being postponed for four days straight due to nearly a week of terrible weather, including a run on Friday that was deemed “not a race”, this year’s 2016 Flag Day Fautasi qualifying heats finally went down Saturday morning. While, not perfect, one of the heats was ‘re-raced’, the decisions by...
![Kenya 7s rugby team celebrates their 30-7 victory over Fiji for the inaugural HSBC 2016 Singapore 7s Championship Cup, day 2 finals, Singapore National Stadium. [photo: Barry Markowitz]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Kenya%20celebrates.jpg?itok=pVPF9pEC "Kenya 7s rugby team celebrates their 30-7 victory over Fiji for the inaugural HSBC 2016 Singapore 7s Championship Cup, day 2 finals, Singapore National Stadium. [photo: Barry Markowitz]")
Collins Injera, named player of the final, scored twice in the final as his side blew the series leaders Fiji away with 20 unanswered first half points.
It was a fitting end to a sensational weekend of rugby sevens, with more than 45,000 people turning out at the National Stadium with Singapore...