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Thursday, 20 October 2011

When customer service is a Twitter response

I READ this piece in Hotels magazine with interest. It?s an imagining of how a guest of the future might interact with his hotel during an overnight stay. Specifically it looks at how a modern hotel might utilise social media to improve the service it offers customers.

For example:

7 AM PST: You hop on a flight from LA to New York. Before take-off, you tweet, ?Headed to NYC. Looking 4ward to drink poolside @ThompsonLES.? When you land and turn your mobile on, you have a Twitter response from @ThompsonLES, which reads, ?We look forward to having you. Shall we reserve you a lounge chair??

And later on:

6 PM: When you arrive back in your room, you notice you have a message on your hotel iPad. You open it, and it takes you directly to the hotel's Facebook videos, and in particular, a video illustrating the hotel spa's offerings. Beneath the video is a ?click to reserve spa treatment? button. You do. And before setting the iPad down, you use the hotel's custom app to select and reserve a table at a recommended restaurant.

It?s all very clever technically, and doubtless responds to some guest needs, but I find this vision leaves me a bit cold. It?s a future where the acme of customer service comes in the shape of rapid response to guest tweets, and where as many interactions as possible between guest and hotel happen seamlessly in cyberspace. Heaven forfend that you should actually go and speak to the concierge, when you can see his recommendations on an iPad app.

If these digital offerings?which often amount to the hotel guessing your desires from the content of your tweets?are just extras provided on top of a regular, real-world suite of friendly customer services, then it's hard to object. But my fear is that a hotel that speaks to its guests by iPad, and encourages them to spend ever less time interacting in old-fashioned human ways, is a hotel that will lose its charm quite quickly. There's something of the love hotel about an establishment that works on the premise that guests want to avoid contact with staff wherever possible. And for stays of more than two hours, that's not right.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/10/hotels-future?fsrc=rss

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Sunday, 16 October 2011

Budget Business Class ? A Journey to a New World

Source: http://the-airline-blog.blogspot.com/2011/07/budget-business-class-journey-to-new.html

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Friday, 14 October 2011

Should metro maps be touchscreens?

A FEW days ago, Popular Science's Dan Nosowitz got a chance to try out the first of New York's new interactive, touchscreen subway information screens. (It's in the Bowling Green station, near the southern tip of Manhattan.) He came away "pretty impressed" [emphasis added]:

I was actually pretty impressed with the Travel Station. It's very cleanly and clearly organized, with big buttons for Service Status, Elevators, MTA Maps, Key Destinations (the Canadians could have used this to go to Times Square), a Trip Planner, and Planned Work listed all along the bottom of the usable portion of the screen. The screen itself is pretty sharp, though the touchscreen is not incredibly sensitive. It's not a capacitive screen, like the iPad or a smartphone--that type of screen, which relies on the electricity given off by a human finger, is extremely expensive at that size.
I believe Cisco [which made the screens] went with a camera setup, in which cameras in the sides of the device bounce infrared light off anything that comes in contact with the screen (this is how Microsoft's Surface works). You can see in the video that I sometimes had to tap two or three times to get it to work, and that panning (as with the subway map) is a bit laggy. But overall it works pretty well, and as there's no cellphone service down in the MTA tunnels, it's a pretty good way to figure out what's going on in the subway system and how to get around.

More of the new subway information kiosks, which New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is calling "On The Go Travel Stations," are rolling out over the next few weeks. One problem, of course, is that these are expensive devices (although the costs are supposedly going to be covered by advertising) and seem like they would be fairly vulnerable to vandalism and other mischief. With their web connections and 47-inch screens in high-traffic areas, they're going to be very attractive to hackers, for example. New York has a massive subway system. Will the MTA really be able to provide these touchscreens in all of the high-traffic stations? And even if the MTA can pull that off, are the new devices worth the initial investment and maintenance costs? Non-interactive displays might be lower-risk and more accessible for older folks.

Another issue is competition from cell phones. New York is rolling out cellular phone service throughout its subway system over the next few years. Given that most New Yorkers have a mobile device of some kind, it's hard to see what the audience for these touchscreens is going to be once cell phone service is available in all the stations. Many good subway apps are already available. The only obstacle to mass adoption in New York was the lack of service in the stations. Now that's changing.

That said, the cell phone service deployment is already several years behind schedule, and users of CDMA-based phones (e.g., Sprint and Verizon customers) won't be able to get a signal?at least not during the initial roll-out. It could be years before every MTA station has any sort of cell service. In the meantime, these touchscreen maps?if deployed in large enough numbers?could provide some help to stranded or confused riders.

If you want to see the "On The Go Travel Station" in action, click through to Mr Nosowitz's post for a video demonstration.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/09/interactive-subway-maps?fsrc=rss

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Wednesday, 12 October 2011

To Japan on the very cheap

ANY "highly influential" bloggers out there who fancy free flights to Japan? The local tourism agency has announced plans to give away 10,000 return tickets in an effort to boost the number of foreign visitors. Japan's tourism industry has been badly hit by the strong yen and, particularly, the reaction to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in March. In the three months after the disaster the number of visitors dropped to half what they were in the same period in 2010.

"We are hoping to get highly influential blogger-types, and others who can spread the word that Japan is a safe place to visit,? said Kazuyoshi Sato of the tourism board, which intends to spend some 10% of its annual budget on the promotion. It will not find out till March 2012, though, whether the plan has been approved, and will only start taking applications in April. But this early naming of the proposal delivers a nice dollop of PR.

To apply for one of the free tickets you'll have to explain your travel plans and what you expect to get out of the visit.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/10/japanese-tourism?fsrc=rss

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Monday, 10 October 2011

Airlines face tough times

Source: http://the-airline-blog.blogspot.com/2011/07/airlines-face-tough-times.html

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Saturday, 8 October 2011

Plan a Trip to Silicon Valley and Capture The Excellent Fares on Flights

Source: http://catitravel.blogspot.com/2011/08/plan-trip-to-silicon-valley-and-capture.html

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Thursday, 6 October 2011

A sunset before a sunrise

FOR 26 years before the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was fired up in 2009 at CERN, Europe's main particle-physics laboratory, near Geneva, the discipline was dominated by the Tevatron, the pride and joy of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, on the outskirts of Chicago (and, amusingly, next door to Geneva, Illinois). The machine was the first to smash particles at energies in excess of one trillion electron-volts?or 1TeV, whence its name. It nabbed plenty of subatomic exotica, including the top quark, a heavier cousin of the up quarks found in atomic nuclei, and made precise measurements of assorted fundamental physical parameters.

On September 30th, around 2pm central time, the venerable particle smasher will be put to rest (see article in this week's print edition). Some scientists get philosophical about its demise. ?Experiments are like lifeforms,? muses James Gates, a noted physicist and one of Barack Obama?s scientific advisers. ?They have lifetimes.? They are also rendered obsolete by newer, niftier kit; for all its might, the Tevatron pales in comparison to the LHC. And keeping it alive would have meant $30m-60m less for other promising projects at Fermilab. Pier Oddone, Fermilab?s Peruvian-born director general, wouldn't have it.

There will be no shortage of mourners. Roger Dixon, who heads Fermilab?s accelerator division, is planning a small wake after the last beam is aborted. Yet many of Fermilab?s boffins are not overcome with grief. For a start, the Tevatron detectors may not be recording any new collisions, but there are enough data to keep researchers at CDF and D-Zero busy for up to two years. They will be poring over petabytes of information for hints of, among other things, the elusive Higgs boson which is thought to be responsible for giving other particles their mass.

More importantly, a slew of new projects is in the offing. The laboratory?and, by the same token, the United States?may be throwing in the towel in the high-energy ring, admits Dr Oddone. But he believes it will soon be pushing what he dubs the "high-intensity frontier", focusing on what is emerging as the hottest thing in physics: mysterious particles called neutrinos. These tiny beasts continue to baffle physicists, most recently by appearing to travel faster than light.

Dr Oddone has spent the past few years planning for life after the Tevatron. This has allowed Fermilab to avoid major upheaval. There will be few lay-offs: a handful of veteran researchers have agreed to early retirement and a bunch of younger ones are moving to industry, which is only too keen to snap them up. One accelerator physicist who worked on the Tevatron has accepted a position operating tabletop accelerators used in cancer therapy at a hospital in California. For specialists like this, securing a well-paid job in the private sector is not hard. Companies are eager to tap their experience and know-how. Every time a budgetary squeeze is announced firms flood Fermilab with requests (unheeded) to place job offers in its internal communications channels.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/09/future-fermilab?fsrc=rss

Source: http://seenewcaledonia.com/2011/excess-weight-loss-myth-is-meratol-the-greatest-bodyweight-reduction-product-in-2011/

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Excess weight Loss Myth Is Meratol The Greatest Bodyweight Reduction Product In 2011?

There are a lot of diet regime programs that inform you to restrict your meals to go through a fat reduction. This is not going to keep you healthful. A wholesome diet regime is one thing associated to the internal …

Source: http://the-airline-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-find-dirt-cheap-airline-tickets.html

Sunday, 2 October 2011

How to Find Dirt Cheap Airline Tickets from the Major Airlines

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Friday, 30 September 2011

Not stopping "Checkpoint of the Future

Source: http://catitravel.blogspot.com/2011/06/not-stopping-checkpoint-of-future.html

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Europe's Easternmost City Looking To Become Cultural Capital

Perm

The city of Perm, located in the Urals foothills, is, geographically speaking, the most easterly city in Europe. Yekaterinburg, which is situated further to the east, beyond the Urals ridge, is located in Asia. Yet, while the whole world thinks that Europe ends at Perm, its citizens are convinced that it begins there.

Click here to explore Perm in photos >

Perm owes its birth to the mountains that separate Europe from Asia. One of the first copper-smelting works in the Urals was built there in the early 18^th century. As production developed, the settlement grew and Empress Catherine II (the great) soon signed a decree creating the city of Perm around the plant. For centuries, the city developed as an industrial center, so it is not surprising that the working people in Perm welcomed the October Revolution of 1917. In 1940, the city was renamed Molotov, but not for long, as its former name was restored in the late 1950s. Today Perm is a leader of Russian heavy industry.

In recent years, however, the city has been striving to rid itself of its image as Russia’s industrial capital and be recognized as a cultural capital. Can a mighty industrial city, studded with factories, turn overnight into a capital of fashion shows, music and modern arts? The local people are confident that they can do it; the local museum features ancient local artifacts such as wooden idols and bronze animal medallions alongside modern art. Artists and musicians come to Perm to lecture and give master classes and, once every two years, the city hosts the Diaghilev Seasons, a classical festival in memory of the famous ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev. This is not accidental – the guiding spirit of the famous Russian Seasons in Paris lived in Perm with his family for a long time and graduated from the local school. This year, the city had its first ever White Nights multicultural festival, which lasted a whole month. The authorities hoped the festival would attract hundreds of thousands of tourists but in reality there were fewer. This was partly due to poor promotion of the festival events and partly to the lack of a convenient tourist infrastructure, including information centers, cheap hotels, bicycle rentals and even toilets.

Click here to explore Perm in photos >

Even so, Perm is persevering. Like other major Russian cities, last June Perm opened a pedestrian street, its answer to Moscow’s Arbat. At present, it looks somewhat wild and provincial: a patchy asphalt surface, street vendors with nothing to do, a couple of artisans and a children’s playground. Yet the pedestrian street is already included in the standard sightseeing tour that winds around the center. The tour, called The Green Line, links key historical sights of old Perm such as merchants’ houses, churches and monuments. Not surprisingly, it also includes museums, such as the Perm Museum of Local Lore housed in a sumptuous villa that used to belong to the arts patron Nikolai Meshkov. This imposing building, with its columns and stucco moldings, overlooks the Kama River. Its storerooms and exhibition halls contain all the treasures of the city’s many centuries of history. A little back from the riverbank, the Museum of Perm Antiquities features a vast paleontology collection: skeletons of the ancient lizards that gave their name to one of the Palaeozoic periods and the legendary Perm mammoth. An alternative tourist route, called The Red Line, was inaugurated more recently. The places of the greatest romantic dramas played out in the city are marked in red on the city map.

Works of art and stone monuments are not the city’s only attractions. Because of its unusual history and geographical position, Perm has produced many remarkable personalities, some of whom became legends in their own lifetime.

Take Alexei Bessonov, a well-known local communist, an active blogger and an irrepressible public campaigner. He jogs in the morning and, thanks to his robust health, is ever ready to fight for the ideals of the Communist Party. He has come up with some startling initiatives. For example, he proposed turning the city hall into a pretrial detention centre and he tried to organize guerilla units to oppose the cultural reforms. Bessonov’s activities are hailed by the local media, and he has long been a living legend in the city. You can see him all over the place: In the morning he often jogs through the city’s main streets and, at noon, he can be seen leading a demonstration and carrying a banner in front of government buildings. Another local celebrity is Alexander Zhunev, a street artist who holds degrees in economics and geology. When he painted his first graffiti in 2008, he realized this was what he had been born to do. Now people come from afar to look at his works. If you see a portrait of the poet Sergei Yesenin that is as tall as 10-story building, or Spongebob Squarepants atop an electrical transformer box, or public phones in the shape of a fish or a cat’s head, you can be sure Alexander Zhunev has been here with his spray paint. And it is a good idea to visit the places that he has visited.

In contrast, Mikhail Shmakov has disliked Perm from the time he was a child. He thought the city was drab and gloomy. To escape the drabness, Shmakov and his wife set out on a voyage around the world. They have already crossed Africa and South America. Having seen half the world, Shmakov now admits that he does not want to leave his home city for good.

“Paradoxically, after visiting thousands of cities, it was brought home to me that I was lucky to have been born in Perm,” Shmakov said. “I have hated Perm all my life but have recently come to like its cozy provincial style and atmosphere of a wilderness.”

The “wilderness” surrounds the city in the shape of thick forests and the deep, dark waters of the Kama, a major river that slashes right through the middle of Perm. Today, though, the city is divided not only by water. One part dreams of turning it into a cultural capital and the other part wants it to be an industrial city, as of old. How to keep both camps happy? Perm is in the midst of stormy processes that will certainly be interesting to watch.

Click here to explore Perm in photos >

This post originally appeared on Russia Beyond The Headlines.

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Source: http://www.yuyangblog.com/2011/07/sql-to-reproduce-a-set-of-magento-cms_page-and-cms_block/

Monday, 26 September 2011

sql to reproduce a set of magento cms_page and cms_block

update core_store set name='United States' where code='en'; update core_store set name='United Kingdom' where code='uk'; insert into core_store values (4,'uk',1,1,'United Kingdom',0,1); insert into cms_page (title,root_template,meta_keywords,meta_description ,identifier ,content_heading,content,creation_time,update_time,is_active,sort_order ,layout_update_xml,custom_theme ,custom_root_template ,custom_layout_update_xml ,custom_theme_from,custom_theme_to) (select title,root_template,meta_keywords,meta_description ,identifier ,content_heading,content,creation_time,update_time,is_active,sort_order ,layout_update_xml,custom_theme ,custom_root_template ,custom_layout_update_xml ,custom_theme_from,custom_theme_to from cms_page where page_id in (select page_id from cms_page_store where store_id=1)); insert into cms_page_store (page_id,store_id) (select page_id,'4' [...]

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Saturday, 24 September 2011

Hindi Cinema, in Poster Form, at a Mumbai Shop

In Mumbai, Haji Abu's Poster Shop is filled with classic Hindi movie posters.

Source: http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/hindi-cinema-in-poster-form-at-a-mumbai-shop/

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Friday, 23 September 2011

Flying above the clouds

MANY industries have good reason for caution at the moment, given the fears of a "double dip" in the world economy. But the mood in aviation, especially among the aircraftmakers, remains optimistic. This week Airbus produced new long-range forecasts, predicting that a combination of vigorous emerging-market growth and the need to replace ageing and inefficient planes in the rich countries will mean a demand, between now and 2030, for almost 28,000 large aircraft (passenger planes with over 100 seats, plus freighters) worth $3.5 trillion. Airbus's archrival, Boeing, is even more boosterish: it predicted earlier this month that there would be demand for around 31,000 planes, worth $4 trillion, by 2030. Both planemakers are already seeing signs of this in their bulging order books.

The aircraftmakers' confidence about the emerging world is based on what appears to be an iron law of aviation: rising numbers of urban middle-class people will mean rising demand for air travel, whatever short-term blips the economy suffers. Since the 1970s, through oil shocks, Middle East wars, terrorist attacks and disease outbreaks, the number of passenger-miles flown seems always to have snapped back to its long-term growth trend (see chart 1). At the moment Airbus reckons there are 39 "megacities" worldwide whose airports handle more than 10,000 long-haul passengers a day. In 20 years it expects there to be almost 90 such cities, many of them in Asia. In terms of the numbers of very large aircraft (like the A380) that they handle, the world's busiest hubs by then will be Dubai, Beijing Capital and Hong Kong, with Heathrow and JFK in fourth and fifth place.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/09/aviation-industry?fsrc=rss

Source: http://the-airline-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/aeroflot-decides-to-kick-its-bad-habit.html

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Aeroflot Decides to Kick Its Bad Habit

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Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Approval for all the commercial flights to use the biofuels

Source: http://the-airline-blog.blogspot.com/2011/07/finally-airlines-have-got-approval-to.html

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Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Spirit Airlines strike update: Bad news ? and more bad news

Source: http://the-airline-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/spirit-airlines-strike-update-bad-news.html

Source: http://congresoplaguicidasbolivia.org/keeping-a-healthy-perspective-on-vacation-travel-by-car

Monday, 19 September 2011

Keeping a Healthy Perspective on Vacation Travel by Car

Every year, millions of motorists hit the road to reach their vacation destinations. From short weekend trips to the beach to longer, more extended getaways, traveling by car is one of the best ways to get to where you are spending your time off. Although vacation travel may seem straightforward, after all, you pack your [...]

Keeping a Healthy Perspective on Vacation Travel by Car is a post from: TRAVEL

Source: http://feeds.bootsnall.com/~r/bna/businesstravellogue/~3/B1pj5jaMVy8/business-traveler-interview-rachael-king.html

Sunday, 18 September 2011

Business Traveler Interview: Rachael King

This is part of a new series here at WhyGo Business Travel featuring brief interviews with people who travel for work, asking them about what they do and some of their favorite travel tips. This way, if you’re looking for a career that will require travel, you’ll get to read about people doing some of [...]

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Wash Away Your Worries Slurping On These Signature Caribbean Drinks

Tropical drinks

Not all Caribbean islands are created equal, certainly when it comes to their beverages. While most bars worth their salt will eagerly give you the requested Mojito or Hummingbird, it certainly pays to drink like the locals the next time you visit a Caribbean island (or else, you could have visited your local liquor store). Here are the top killer signature drinks in the islands you'll want to investigate.

Jamaican Bluebird: This drink, made with rum (obviously) is fruity and creamy. It features crème de cacao, bananas and ice cream, so it’s a great choice if you’re into something sweet and dessert-like. The alcoholic element is the Blue Curacao. Where to drink this? Try BiBiBips, a typical Caribbean Oceanside bar in Ocho Rios (93 Main Road, Ocho Rios; 001 876 974 8759).

Jamaican Sour Sop Drink: A well-kept secret (well, not anymore!), this drink features a local treasure – the sour sop fruit (the name comes from the Dutch Zuurzak meaning “acid sac;” this sour fruit is a member of the pawpaw family and is also popular in Southeast Asia). This drink also features condensed milk, nutmeg, vanilla and the spiked version also features rum. You’d do well to try a sour sop drink just about anywhere, even in vendor stalls and carts, during your next Caribbean vacation

Aruba Arriva: The well-known and fruity cocktail features Blue Curacao, coconut cream, banana, pineapple juices and rum. You can find this at just about any bar in Aruba, especially the hot spots that the guys who drive the Banana Bus pick.

Banana Daiquiri: Before you pooh-pooh the idea that the banana daiquiri is a signature caribbean island drink, let’s start with a bit of folklore. Legend has it that the famous British restauranteur, Conrad Graves, sailed from his native island of Tortola to find the best Caribbean drink, and he found it on the highest mountain on top of the island of St. Thomas, at St. Thomas Mountaintop Bar in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The place burned down in 2009, but has recently been resurrected. The drink features dark rum, sugar, lime, banana liqueur, water and ripe peeled bananas.

Old Fashioned Rum Punch: This signature cocktail is a concoction of the Jumby Bay Resort in Antigua and features fresh-squeezed lime juice, Cavalier Rum (which is a dark Antigua Rum), sugar, Angostura Bitters and a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy this poolside or on the beach; always drink it iced.

Bahama Mama: A very popular drink on both cruise ships and the islands of the Bahamas themselves, the iconic Bahama Mama always comes with a pretty patterned umbrella. It features regular rum, coconut-flavored rum, grenadine syrup, orange juice, pineapple juice and crushed ice. One way to really party like a local is to take the Bahama Mama Booze Cruise on Grand Bahama Island.

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Friday, 16 September 2011

Hey, Who Wants To Go To Space In A Giant Hot Air Balloon?

Hot Air Balloon

As part of our ongoing effort to track space tourism competition—because how else is the price ever going to drop enough so we can afford it—please turn your attention to the bloon.

Designed by Spanish entrepreneur Jose Lopez-Urdiales, the bloon is a sub-orbital device (kind of) that takes people to space (in a manner of speaking) and is scheduled to start flying in 2013 (theoretically). We're hedging on this description because the bloon isn't so much a spaceship like we've all become used to, as much as it is a really big hot air balloon.

The project webpage is reasonably slick, though the branding is kind of gratingly New Agey. There's lots of hand waving about going to "a place where borders do not really exist" and "where creation becomes real," with a promise to "help awaken consciousness of the unique, fragile beauty of our planet" so that you can become "one with your home planet." If we didn't know better we'd think it was kind of a parody, but other parts of the site seem reasonably straightforward.

On the site you'll find a a newsroom, a press release section, and even a page where you can make a deposit for a future flight (€ 110k to lock in a seat now, from what we can tell; there are actually three "deposit" tiers). There's even a section where you can read about the capital that the venture has raised, which is reassuring inasmuch as it indicates that people with money had enough faith to hand over some of it.

That said, we're still kind of nervous about this "balloons going really high" thing. In theory you should be able to make a balloon go to the tip-top of the atmosphere, although it would take some creativity to get all the pressure right and then get it back down. But we're kind of running into a psychological barrier when it comes to leaving the planet in something that looks like it came out of Up. Also—and you can check us here—doesn't it kind of look like the balloon is coming out of the volcano lair of a Bond villain? That's not confidence-inspiring, is it?

This post originally appeared on Juanted.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boardingarea/roadwarriorette/~3/e2mX9xm6b_c/

Thursday, 15 September 2011

Wildfires in Central Texas

As I sat down to write my post this morning, all I could think about are the fires currently raging around Austin. Many fires surround Austin, including the huge Bastrop fire. Thousands of acres are burned, hundreds of homes are destroyed. Yesterday, family driving through town said they could see smoke in literally every direction. [...]

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Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Budget Airfare ? Eight Secrets to Scoring a Good Deal on Flights

When you need to travel by plane but want to save a few bucks, you need to know the ins and outs to scoring a cheap flight. The good news is that you don’t have to sacrifice the quality of your flight just to save some money.Here are eight tricks to scoring a great deal [...]

Budget Airfare – Eight Secrets to Scoring a Good Deal on Flights is a post from: TRAVEL

Source: http://congresoplaguicidasbolivia.org/budget-airfare-eight-secrets-to-scoring-a-good-deal-on-flights

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/09/costs-hurricane-irene?fsrc=rss

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Hurricane Irene was worse than you thought

THERE was a lot of fuss from Washington- and New York-based media figures last week when Hurricane Irene failed to do massive damage to either city. Had the press overreacted to the storm? Last weekend, I cautioned against saying Irene was "overhyped":

It's good news that Irene was not as devastating as some feared. Extensive media coverage meant people were more aware of the oncoming storm and better prepared to deal with it when it hit. That's a good thing, too. Remember: 19 people are dead, millions of people are without power, and there is widespread flooding and property damage across over a dozen states. People complaining about the "hype" are missing the point. Americans should be thankful the storm wasn't a lot worse.

I am glad I wasn't arguing that the storm was overhyped, but I'm afraid I may have missed the point, too. Although Irene did not cause massive damage in New York or Washington, other places exist, too, and the storm hit many of them hard. In fact, Irene may end up proving to be one of the ten costliest disasters in American history. The New York Times has the story:

Industry estimates put the cost of the storm at $7 billion to $10 billion, largely because the hurricane pummeled an unusually wide area of the East Coast. Beyond deadly flooding that caused havoc in upstate New York and Vermont, the hurricane flooded cotton and tobacco crops in North Carolina, temporarily halted shellfish harvesting in Chesapeake Bay, sapped power and kept commuters from their jobs in the New York metropolitan area and pushed tourists off Atlantic beaches in the peak of summer.

The flooding in Vermont, in particular, is one of the under-covered stories of the past week. Amtrak was forced to suspend train service in the state because four crucial railroad bridges were unusable in the wake of the storm. Nearly three dozen other bridges were "swept away" entirely, according to the Times. If Irene does turn out to be as costly as the early estimates suggest, the people who implied it was overhyped or not as bad as expected will have to eat crow. I'll start: $7 billion-$10 billion is a lot of damage, and at least as bad as I expected. Sorry.

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Monday, 12 September 2011

In Post-9/11 World, Travel Is Drastically Different - PC Magazine

New York Post

In Post-9/11 World, Travel Is Drastically DifferentPC MagazinePistole said 10 years post-9/11, travel is safer, but there ?are no guarantees.? ?We'd love to have a kind of screening portal that you just step in and, boom, it's got everything and you go through and it's painless and very, very quick,? Homeland …Air travel's [...]

Source: http://www.vacation-rentals.tv/vacationblog/2011/09/12/in-post-911-world-travel-is-drastically-different-pc-magazine/

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Sunday, 11 September 2011

Pilots say air travel much safer than in 2011 - Springfield News-Leader

Pilots say air travel much safer than in 2011Springfield News-LeaderTen years later, Simmons said he believes air travel is safe because people like him do not drop their guard. "I think about it every single day," Simmons said, of the 9/11 attacks. "When I'm at the airport, I watch people coming in. …
and more »

Source: http://www.vacation-rentals.tv/vacationblog/2011/09/11/pilots-say-air-travel-much-safer-than-in-2011-springfield-news-leader/

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Saturday, 10 September 2011

The Five Most Romantic Spots In Barcelona

New York is the city that never sleeps, Milan is the fashion capital of the world and Paris is called the city of love. But, before love comes romance and anyone who finds themselves booking a flight to Barcelona can witness why love is in the air. With diverse landscapes, passionate Spaniards and succulent food, you will easily fall in love with the city. You don’t have to have a Latin lover to enjoy these romantic spots in Barcelona; the romance will easily take over.

The Magic Fountains of Montjuic: You don't have to believe in magic to enjoy the fountain of Montjuic. Bring your lover to the magic fountain show to enjoy lights, colors and music. Spraying water in all directions to a variety of music with an array of colors makes this attraction a sight to see. Locals say the best view is just as the sun sets; a gorgeous back drop to a spectacular show will make anyone happy to have a lover to share the moment with.

Parc Guell: Couples that love to interact and explore will enjoy the excitement of Park Guell. Not only is it a large park to navigate, but it is a work of art in itself. Designed by Antoni Gaudi; a Catalan architect; the complex is filled with artistic designs, gardens and a terrace with a large overview of the city underneath. You have to be there to experience how beautiful the city looks and how unique this structure truly is. It is the best way to enjoy a sunny and romantic day in Barcelona.

Plaza de Espana: Ever wanted to stand in the middle of a city and profess your love to the world? If you are in Barcelona, do this in Plaza de Espana. It is one of the most important squares in the Spanish city. You'll find yourself gazing at the Cituadella fortress structure, the center fountain and the beautiful Venetian towers. Make the moment extra special during a holiday where fireworks are held over the square.

A stroll on the beach: If you don't find a beach a romantic spot to enjoy, you might not consider Barcelona a place for lovers then. Strolling along the sparkling Turqouise Mediterranean waters will make anyone fall in love. The coastline is convenient to the city center; making it easy for a stroll after lunch or dinner. Have a drink on the waterfront bars, spend the day soaking up the sun or reminisce about what a fantastic place Barcelona is with your wonderful lover.

Enjoy a drink at Mirablau: With such a diverse landscape, it is almost a crime to not enjoy the evening skyline of Barcelona. For the best panoramic view of the city, visit Mirablau; known as the panoramic bar in Barcelona. If the view isn't enough of a reason to visit, the love for tapas and cocktails can easily be your getaway. Share an order of traditional Spanish tapas, sangria and fall under the Spaniard spell while overlooking the city from atop.

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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-five-most-romantic-spots-in-barcelona-2011-8

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Friday, 9 September 2011

Venice turns green

VENICE is renowned for its canals, gondolas, and its glamorous film festival. It is less well known for its green credentials. Yet the work of a team of scientists sifting through micro-algae on the neighbouring island of Pellestrina may change that. Researchers on this tiny, thin strip of land aim to power the city's entire port by harnessing the bio-energy potential of algal life. They are busy identifying which of the lagoon's native species of unicellular micro-algae can be bred in new bioreactors to provide efficient biomass for electricity and motor fuel production.

Set to be operational by the end of the year, the experimental tanks will generate 500KW of peak capacity with oil derived from algal pulp. If successful, the project can be rapidly scaled up to 50MW. The entire port currently consumes 7MW. It is one of a growing number of projects across Europe extracting bio-fuel from algae. These simple organisms offer a slew of advantages. They can be harvested as often as once every three days, have higher oil content than alternative biological sources, and, since they can grown in tanks, they reduce the risk of ecosystem damage and do not pinch increasingly scarce arable land as other biomass crops do.

Then there is the technology's apparent carbon neutrality. So far no full life-cycle energy assessment has been undertaken. But, goes the argument, since algae can absorb carbon dioxide, the process is probably sustainable.

Predictably, algal energy is enjoying plenty of political support. "The European Union believes in the algae project," says Gabriella Chiellino, president of Enave, a public-private partnership which runs the Venice operation with cash from the EU. The British government, too, has earmarked biomass heat and electricity as key cost-effective renewable technologies for the next decade in its Renewables Roadmap.

Yet despite this, scientists do not agree on whether the process can actually generate any useful energy. To achieve the abundant algal growth necessary, a substantial amount of water, carbon dioxide and fertiliser are required. The cost of these, combined with the energy used in harvesting and drying the biomass, means that any net energy gain may be nugatory.

"At the moment it is not economically or environmentally viable," says Dr Blanca Antizar-Ladislao, of the University of Edinburgh. Another problem is the space needed to produce energy on a mass scale, she says. To generate enough bio-fuel for all European transport, for example, an area the size of Portugal would be required. A sandbank off the coast of Venice is unlikely to suffice.

In the future, proponents hope, technological advances will make algal biomass more viable. Dr Antizar-Ladislao's team admits that algal growth can be sustainably spurred by utilising waste from sewage treatment and factory chimneys to provide the nutrients and carbon dioxide required. The British government's former chief scientist, Sir David King, recently declared that algal bio-diesel is a "real solution" to fossil-fuel dependence if only energy requirements of the production process can be renewably sourced. However, work by his team at Oxford University found that with today's technology the fuel needs 2.5 times more energy to produce than conventional diesel. Like the surrounding lagoon, the future of Venice's energy generation may be green, but it remains a distinctly murky shade.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/09/algal-energy?fsrc=rss

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Thursday, 8 September 2011

A Reason (if You Needed One) to Celebrate Deliciousness in France

On Sept. 23, the inaugural F�te de la Gastronomie will celebrate French food across the country, from a culinary team treasure hunt in Paris to public picnics in Burgundy.

Source: http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/a-reason-if-you-needed-one-to-celebrate-deliciousness-in-france/

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/08/worlds-best-taxis?fsrc=rss

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Hail the London cabbie

LONDON may be struggling to recover its poise in the aftermath of the worst riots in 30 years, but hey at least it's got nice taxis. The city's famous black cabs have been resoundingly voted the best in the world for the fourth year in a row in a poll conducted by Hotels.com. Of the 4,821 respondents, from 23 countries, 28% chose London, 9% New York and 7% Hong Kong.

The poll also solicited opinions on seven component aspects of the taxi experience, and London took the laurels in five of them: safety, friendliness, cleanliness, quality of driving and knowledge. But these qualities don't appear to come cheap as the city's cabs were considered the most expensive. The poll concluded that New York's yellow cabs were the most available, while Bangkok's tuk-tuks represented the best value. But these last also scored the most poorly for cleanliness, safety and driving quality.

The world's best taxis: 1 London 28% 2 New York 9% 3 Hong Kong 7% 4 Tokyo 7% 5 Singapore 6% 6 Bangkok 6% 7 Berlin 4% 8 Helsinki 4% 9 Dublin 4% 10 Madrid 4%

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boardingarea/roadwarriorette/~3/bhANud2n6e8/

Tuesday, 6 September 2011

Forget a toiletry item? GroomingZone to the rescue!!

Have you ever gotten to the airport and realized, “Dangit! I forgot my toothpaste/deodorant/razor?” I know I have. Well, that won’t be a problem anymore. If you forget some critical toiletry item, you can now purchase a replacement at GroomingZone. You all know I love a good vending machine (Sephora anyone?), and The New York [...]

Monday, 5 September 2011

Ski Resort Vacation Travel

In a cold in January my family and decided to take a vacation to a local ski resort for a weekend of skiing and family fun. That was the goal anyway. First, not all ski resorts are especially suitable destinations for beginning skiers or children have a hard time of standing up on roller blades [...]

Ski Resort Vacation Travel is a post from: TRAVEL

Source: http://congresoplaguicidasbolivia.org/ski-resort-vacation-travel

Source: http://travelagent.globaltraveling.net/1421/how-to-choose-the-best-travel-agency-2/

Sunday, 4 September 2011

How to choose the best travel agency?

Travel agency is a big help to an individual for planning out the vacation. The best travel agency can offer a complete and broader range of services. But, the travel agency can be best only if the agency has a … Continue reading →

Source: http://the-airline-blog.blogspot.com/2011/04/air-carrier-association-of-america.html

Saturday, 3 September 2011

Air Carrier Association of America

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China Guangdong Travel and Tour

Guangdong Province is located in the southeast of China’s mainland where it occupies an area of 178,000 square kilometres. Its many islands add a further 1,600 square kilometres. To the south it meets the warm waters of the South China Sea along a coastline of 3,368 km. The Tropic of Cancer runs through the center [...]

China Guangdong Travel and Tour is a post from: TRAVEL

Source: http://congresoplaguicidasbolivia.org/china-guangdong-travel-and-tour

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Friday, 2 September 2011

Senior Travel Packages

Article by Barbara Cipak Senior Travel Packages – What to Look For With a baby boomer turning 50 approximately every 8.4 seconds, senior travel packages are molding themselves to the needs of seniors as well as recognizing their influence and … Continue reading →

Source: http://travelagent.globaltraveling.net/1409/senior-travel-packages/

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SENIOR CITIZENS VISIT EVERGLADES

Everglades National Park Attracts Many Seniors You don’t hike through Florida’s word-famous “River of Grass,” you canoe. �The 99-mile Wilderness Waterway Trail leads through mangrove swamps populated with dolphins, manatees, alligators and recently huge pet pythons. Although the park is open year-round, the best time for seniors to visit is November through March. �It’s huge [...]

Source: http://www.seniorcitizenjournal.com/travel-articles/senior-citizens-visit-everglades/

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Thursday, 1 September 2011

A Memorable Wine Adventure: Inside A Prestigious Napa Valley Wine Tasting

Napa valley

I receive a ton of email every day; offers for this, suggestions for that, questions on all sorts of topics.

So it’s not uncommon for me to face off with my computer each morning fortified with a triple latté and a blueberry muffin wondering what the Internet has in store for me.

A few weeks ago, somewhat bleary eyed from a week-long fam trip and an all-nighter writing up an article for a new editor I received an invitation to attend The Rutherford Dust Society’s media and trade annual tasting taking place on July 13, 2011 at Rubicon Estate in Napa Valley, CA. I now know what can wake me up faster than a triple shot of caffeine.

This is a prestigious tasting. Not a lot of invitations are sent out. Not many wine writers will ever get the call.

But there I was, invitation in hand, computer screen glaring at me, waiting to see if I could clear my schedule to attend. Well, gee, let me think about this for a Nano second…yes, yes, yes!

I was curious how the committee would arrange the day. I arrived on time at 10 am at Rubicon Estate Winery. Thankfully the evening before I did a test run from my B & B lodging in Sonoma.

Good thing I did as my GPS had me stopping in a patch of weeds waaaay down the road from the Rubicon entrance. A less determined person might have been deterred. But I was determined to get to this tasting. After driving up and down St. Helena Highway several times, pounding on the GPS repeatedly, and finally stopping at the Rutherford Grill for instructions (turns out it was right across the street), victory was mine.

Back to the tasting. About 10:20 AM the group was escorted into Rubicon Estate’s historic barrel room for the seated media tasting. There were 22, 2008 Cabernet’s poured in two flights of eleven. We were asked to taste 11 wines in 20 minutes in silence. We had a 10 minute break between flights. We had the choice of tasting blind (without pre-prepared notes) or tasting with collateral materials.

After the 2-hour tasting, lunch was served upstairs—with even more wines. To our great delight, Frances Ford Coppola joined us. It was a convivial hour and a half of great food, premium wines, some networking opportunities, and some short talks by Dust Society members. After the lunch we were escorted to the afternoon trade and media tasting. More wines, more wineries, more networking.

So let’s see, by my count I tasted over 30 premium distinctive Cabs in just a little over 4 hours! Between the morning tasting, the luncheon, and the afternoon trade tasting, I think I now have a very good idea of what the Rutherford Cabernet taste profile is all about: Smooth, aromatic, complex and elegant. I am impressed that most of the 2008 Rutherford Cabernet blends I tasted are drinkable now. I was expecting more tannic wines.

I was wrong. There are plenty of cherry, berry, currant and vanilla notes, standing competitively alongside attention-grabbing waves of spice, mineral, cocoa and plum. My guess is that even with the smooth nature of these wines, most of them can age nicely for ten years or more.

It’s interesting to note what gave these 2008 wines their voice, as 2008 was anything but a model year for grape growing. Growers experienced a cold winter, frost in March and April, below average rainfall, early bud break, excessive heat during bloom, a heat wave in August and September, high sugars and early ripening… and wild fires.

That’s enough to make any one want to turn and throw in the shovel. But crazy as it sounds, what happened was growers ended up with a small crop of quality grapes that were nicely balanced leading to some really great wine. The harvest might have been 23%-35% off, but the wines turned out subtle, elegant and slightly better than the acclaimed 2007 vintage.

Out of the 22 wines I tasted in the morning a couple of things to note. The alcohol levels ranged from 13.7% (Frog’s Leap) up to 15.3% (Beaulieu Vineyard) and the prices swung wildly from $26 (Pedemonte Cellars) to Rubicon Estate ($200). Some of the wines we tasted are already released, some we’ll have to wait for until Spring 2012.

There wasn’t a dud in the bunch. The wines were chosen carefully by a team of Sommeliers who started with 39 wines to choose from, narrowing the choices down to 22. Two thumbs up for their choices!

As with any informal tasting, some wines are bound to have better voices than others. I’ve listed all the wines I tasted, in the order I tasted them, but have given special attention to the ones I particularly enjoyed or thought you should try.

Flight One

Peju Rutherford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, $105, 900 cases, release date 9/1/14. A winner right out of the gate with its aromatic nose, lovely scents of vanilla, currant, spice and black cherry. Recommend!
Monticello Cellars Tietjen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, $65, 224 cases, release date 10/1/11.
Flora Springs Rutherford Hillside Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon,$100, 347 cases, release date 10/1/11.
Sullivan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Reserve, $100, 200 cases, release date 4/1/11.
Round Pond Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, $50, 3210 cases, release date 1/1/11. Nice plum, coffee, cocoa in the mouth. Tasty raspberry and cherry on the nose. Recommend!
Pedemonte Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, $26, 360 cases, release date TBD. More earthy than some of the others with hints of cedar and mint on the nose and ripe boysenberry and cherry in the mouth. Great buy for the price.
Frog’s Leap Winery Rutherford, $75, 1,865 (6/pk) (means that they produced the wine in 6 bottle cases, rather than 12 bottle cases, so there were 1,865 cases of 6 bottles each), release date 10/1/11.
Honig Cabernet Sauvignon Campbell Vineyard Rutherford, $75, 250 cases, release date 6/1/12
Quintessa Rutherford, $145, 7,820 cases, release date 9/1/11.
Conn Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Hozhoni Vineyard Rutherford, $45, 200 cases, release date spring 2012. A very interesting wine with layers of dark berries, vanilla and spice. Velvety tannins. Worth the wait. Recommend!
Piña Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Firehouse Vineyard Rutherford, $85, 237 cases, release date11/1/10. A stylish wine showcasing a full bodied experience of blackberry, minerals, and sweet spice. Recommend!

Flight Two

Sawyer Cellars Cabernet Reserve Rutherford, $49, 850 cases, release date 6/1/12. Loved the concentrated fruit flavors on the nose of this wine. On the palate expect opulent blackberry, black cherry, a touch of fig and toasty oak. Great Cab for the money proving the point that Cab does not need to be expensive to be good. Recommend!
Meander Cabernet Sauvignon Morisoli Vineyard Rutherford, $125, 40 cases, release date 3/1/11. Nice burst of smooth espresso, plum, and cocoa on the nose and palate. Enjoy the black fruit, spice, and vanilla overtones. Recommend.
Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, $115, 8200 cases, release date 8/1/11.
Rubicon Estate Rubicon, $200, 6,675 (6/pk) cases (means that they produced the wine in 6 bottle cases, rather than 12 bottle cases so there were 1,865 cases of 6 bottles each), release date 3/1/12. The most expensive of the group it’s showing great promise now and I expect next year when it is released it will be exceptional. Recommend.
St. Clement Vineyards Star Vineyard Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, $80, 225 cases, release date 11/1/11.
Staglin Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, $185, 2600 cases, release date fall 2011. Smooth with intense notes of blackberry , spice and black cherry. Recommend.
12C Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard Rutherford, $70, 120 cases, release 8/1/2010.
HUNNICUTT Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, $75, 125 cases, release date Fall 2011. Elegant nose of blackberry, cherry, and vanilla. Spicy and rich on the palate, one could get lost in this gorgeous wine quite easily. Recommend.
Soujourn Cellars Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III Cabernet Sauvignon, $95, 140 cases, release date 2/1/11.
Frank Family Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, $85, 1780 cases, release date 1/1/12. One to watch for when it’s released. It is a blend of 93% Cab, 4% Cab Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. I like it now, but think in a few months it could really sing. Recommend.
2008 Hall Wines Exzellenz Sacrasche Vineyard Rutherford Red Wine, $165, 219 cases, release date 11/1/11. Nicely integrated nose of dried black cherry, mild spice, blackberry and toasty oak.

Story and photos by Linda Kissam.

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Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/touch-screen-keyboards?fsrc=rss

Tablets reverting to type

THE keyboards that appear on tablet computers using a touch screen, such as the Apple iPad, can be a touch fiddly to use. They can be particularly frustrating for those who have mastered the art of touch typing: resting your fingers on any part of the virtual keyboard, as you would on a mechanical one, results in activating an unwanted key. And since the keypad is flat, there are no tactile hints as to where the keys are located. As a result, typing can be slow and error prone. Now, though, Christian Sax and Hannes Lau of the University of Technology in Sydney think they have come up with an alternative. They call it the LiquidKeyboard and they unveiled its prototype on August 23rd at the Tech23 conference in Sydney.

When the user puts his fingers on the surface of the screen a group of keys morphs around each individual finger. The system senses the positions of the fingers and, by calculating the surface area of a finger touching the screen, its relative pressure. The positions of the surrounding keys are set in relation to each finger. The position of the groups of keys can be varied according to finger positions and a user's preferences. (See the video for a demonstration of how it works.) The system allows a typist to find keys and to touch type without tactile feedback, say the researchers, who are looking for partnerships to develop the technology. It might take a bit of getting used to, but for frustrated touch typists that might be worth the effort.