Chris Littlechild

St Albans

I'm a freelance gaming/entertainment writer, editor and writer trainer. My life revolves around my family, friends, work, video games and movies.

Articles

What Are Hospital Ships And What Makes Them So Special?

5 days ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

The land masses we call home only make up about one-third of the surface of the Earth. This leaves an enormous amount of water, on which we travel in small yachts for fun, vacation on cruise ships — as distinct from ocean liners – for pleasure, and use fishing boats for food. Then there are naval vessels, from the smallest patrol boats to the biggest aircraft carriers in the world.
Why Are Students Pushing Pencil Lead Into Chromebooks?

6 days ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

New smartphones, PCs, and laptops are some of the priciest everyday purchases many of us will make. Couple this with the fact that they just don't seem to be built like they used to be (the days of the nigh-indestructible Nokia 3310 and the like are far behind most of us now), and the logical conclusion is to treat such equipment with the greatest of care. Or so you might think.
What Happens To All The Poop On A Cruise Ship?

1 week ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

The largest cruise ship built to date, the Icon of the Seas, has 2,805 staterooms. Needless to say, there are important amenities like toilets in those rooms, with further restrooms also being strategically spread across the shared areas. As so many plumbers know, managing the contents of just a couple of toilets in the average home can be quite the challenging job at times, but managing thousands of toilets on a vast cruise ship, potentially larger than an aircraft carrier?
Why Is The American Flag Backward On Some Planes?

1 week ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

It's common for airlines to emblazon national flags on aircraft, but there's something you might have noticed about the U.S. flag in that context. On some aircraft, it appears to be displayed the wrong way, star-spangled on the right rather than the left. AdvertisementThis isn't defiance, but actually an example of deference to the not-technically-enforced U.S. Flag Code. A March 2018 post on X from AirbusInTheUS explains, "U.S. federal regulations state that when our flag is on a vehicle ...
Why The Lexus SC430 Is Considered One Of The Worst Cars In The World

1 week ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

In the movie world, many would probably echo Roger Ebert's opinion that Ed Wood is the worst director ever, but what of the worst car in the world? There are some fascinating candidates to consider, but one that has become quite notorious is the Lexus SC430. They say that there's no such thing as bad publicity, but in the case of this particular model, appearing on the "Top Gear" DVD special "Worst Cars In The History Of The World" wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.
How Many Ships Does The Royal Caribbean Cruise Company Own & Which Is The Largest? - SlashGear

1 week ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

Royal Caribbean is one of the most prominent, and certainly most regal, names in the cruise ship business. The corporate headquarters of Royal Caribbean Group is in Miami, but the company itself actually dates back to late 1960s Norway. A venture that began in 1970 with the Song of Norway cruise ship's inaugural journey has now grown to a brand with a total revenue of $16.5 billion in 2024. AdvertisementThis was not accomplished by the Song of Norway alone.
What Is The US Navy's Mothball Fleet And How Many Ships Does It Have?

1 week ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

Back in 1965, Lt. George R. Kolbenschlag and Harold E. Switzer wrote in the U.S. Naval Institutes' Proceedings, "The Navy's largest fleet is one which remains at dockside, tied up and unmanned, its guns and magazines empty. This is the Reserve Fleet — more popularly called the mothball fleet." The whole point of being kept in reserve, of course, isn't that they were meant to be tucked out of sight and forgotten, but that they may be needed someday.
No, Toyota Didn't Invent The QR Code, But It Is Connected - Here's How

1 week ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

The QR or Quick Response code is one of those curious little technological aspects of our lives that we've just become accustomed to. We don't often question these monochrome marvels, or where they came from. You might have heard it stated that Toyota invented the QR code. This is one of those often-repeated tidbits that has a kernel of truth to it, but gets the key facts rather wrong. The creator of the QR code, in actuality, was Masahiro Hara.
How Ships Navigated Before GPS Was Invented

2 weeks ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

If you're armed with a solid data connection and a recently-charged phone battery, it can be quite difficult to get lost these days. Whether you're looking for your hotel, a local restaurant, or a tourist spot of interest, a service like Google Maps or Apple Maps will usually quickly point you in the right direction. We're spoiled for choice when it comes to convenient ways to plan a trip or course-correct on the fly if things go awry, but it hasn't always been that way. Far from it, in fact.
Why Do Some Planes Make A Weird Barking Sound?

2 weeks ago | slashgear.com | Chris Littlechild

Though airplanes are considered among the safest ways to travel, many of us consider flying to be a challenging enough experience at the best of times. Even a short-haul trip can be harrowing, and one thing that's certainly not going to calm any anxious travelers' nerves is an unexpected sound coming from the great metal bird in question.