Three factors apparently factor into these ratings prominently:
Dorky: The New "Cool"
Happy Employees are the Best Marketing Tool
LONDON (Reuters) - The best tourists in the world are the Japanese, followed by Americans and the Swiss, a survey based on views from hoteliers across Europe said Wednesday.
Japanese tourists stood out for being polite and tidy, securing 35 percent more votes than the Americans who came second.
Swiss tourists were commended for being quiet and considerate, unlike the Britons who were judged to be the fifth worst tourists because of rude behavior, noise and a miserly attitude to tipping.
But despite their faults, hoteliers do look favorably upon British spending habits voting them the third biggest holiday spenders after Americans and Russians.
Based on responses from 15,000 European hoteliers, the survey carried out on behalf of travel Web site Expedia showed that the worst tourist nation was France, followed by India, China and Russia.
Britain was second in the worst-dressed tourist table which was headed by the Americans, and fifth in the least-generous table which was headed by the Germans.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Google has licensed technology that will enable Google to map out 3-D versions of cities world wide.
According to a Mercury News report, the technology was developed by a team of Stanford University students and was used to run a robotic car that won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge.
Although Google is the market leader in mapping, to date it has lagged behind Microsoft's Virtual Earth in terms of 3-D functionality.
The new technology will allow photo-realistic 3-D maps of cities creating the possibility that the 3-D data could be used as a basis to launch a virtual world, or licensed to existing online worlds such as Second Life.
The technology differs from the existing 3-D rendering in Google Earth; the licensed technology will allow Google to model 3-D cities using computer power alone and without the need for developer input.
An official announcement is expected at the Where 2.0 conference May 29-30.
News — Archaeology |
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Just when you'd thought you'd seen everything, along comes Angling Masters, a social networking site for recreational fisherman that also supports the creation of user generated online fishing tournaments.
Angling Masters has the standard features you would expect from a MySpace style social networking platform. Users are given their own page (called a cabin) and can add photos, buddies (friends), maintain a blog and list personal details such as location, memberships etc. The layout is slick. It has a nice, be it somewhat masculine feel to it, but unlike the many MySpace clones out there some one actually thought this one through.
The addition of user generated online fishing tournaments is claimed to be a first and I couldn't find any other site competing in the space.
The "Buddy Tournament feature" allows users to create and participate in online competitions with their fishing "buddies" located anywhere in North America. The vast differences in rivers, lakes and the many fish species inhabiting them is overcome with an interesting twist. Length conversion tables and a series of algorithms allow fish of one species to be compared to fish of another, no matter where they were caught so all participants compete on a level playing field. 12 species of fish are covered and the back end considers how large each species typically grows in each geographic region and scores fish caught accordingly.
Cheating is overcome with tournaments having options such as requiring a witness for the catch and/or the requirement of participating anglers to use the official Angling Masters Measuring Tape to provide accurate measurements of the fish.
If fishing is your thing there are some great features on this site. The idea of competing in fishing competitions online seems so simple I'm surprised it hasn't been done before.
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JERUSALEM (AP) -- An Israeli archaeologist on Tuesday said he has found remnants of the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem, on a flattened hilltop in the Judean Desert where the biblical monarch built a palace. Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer said the tomb was found at Herodium, a site where he has been exploring since the 1970s. Netzer said a team of researchers found pieces of a limestone sarcophagus believed to belong to the ancient king. Although there were no bones in the container, he said the sarcophagus' location and ornate appearance indicated it is Herod's. "It's a sarcophagus we don't just see anywhere," Netzer said at a news conference. "It is something very special." Netzer led the team, although he said he was not on the site when the sarcophagus was found. Stephen Pfann, an expert in the Second Temple period at the University of the Holy Land, called the find a "major discovery by all means," but cautioned further research is needed. He said all signs indicate the tomb belongs to Herod, but said ruins with an inscription on it were needed for full verification. "We're moving in the right direction. It will be clinched once we have an inscription that bears his name," said Pfann, a textual scholar who did not participate in Netzer's dig. The fragments of carved limestone found at the sandy site are decorated with floral motives, but do not include any inscriptions. Herod became the ruler of the Holy Land under the Romans around 40 B.C. The wall he built around the Old City of Jerusalem during the time of the Jewish Second Temple is the one that can be seen today. He also undertook massive construction projects in Caesaria, Jericho, the hilltop fortress of Massada and other locations. It has long been assumed that Herod was buried at Herodium, but decades of excavations failed to turn up the site until now. The first century historian Josephus Flavius described the tomb and Herod's funeral procession. Herodium was one of the last strong points held by Jewish rebels fighting against the Romans, and it was conquered and destroyed by Roman forces in A.D. 71, a year after they destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Hebrew University had hoped to keep the find a secret until Netzer's news conference on Tuesday. But the university announced the find in a brief statement late Monday after the Haaretz daily found out about the discovery and published an article on its Web site. © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy . |
Lastminute.com is set to launch talking phrase books for mobile phone users. The phrase books allow travellers to look up phrases on the screen of their mobile phone. The software then speaks the phrase in the local language, overcoming pronunciation problems.
Online travel service Lastminute.comis set to launch talking phrase books for mobile phone users.
The phrase books allow travellers to look up phrases on the screen of their mobile phone. The software then speaks the phrase in the local language, overcoming pronunciation problems.
"Instead of you having to flick through the pages of a phrase book to find what you want to say, you simply click your phone menu, select the phrase you need and voila!" said Mark McCulloch, Lastminute.com's head of brand development.
The software, which currently runs on Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets, costs £3 per language to download. Currently the developer - coolgorilla.com - offers six languages: French, German, Greek, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Each download contains between 250 and 300 phrases developed in conjunction with Lastminute.com's travel experts.
According to coolgorilla, developing translation software for mobile handsets makes sense, because the mobile phone is one item almost everyone takes on their travels, and because it is easy to play back an audio clip to a local person from a mobile phone.
The company started working with Lastminute.com by developing a series of phrasebooks for iPods. Although the iPod phrasebooks are free to download for Lastminute.com customers, and they include 800 phrases, the lack of a speaker in the iPod makes that software more of a learning tool than a practical option for travellers who need instant help.
Get the full story at IT Pro
An amazing 61.4% of 192 respondents to MiMegasite.com's latest poll said they would choose a meeting property based just on information, specs and photos found on the internet - without even conducting an in-person site inspection.
Are site inspections for meeting planners going the way of the buggy whip and the dodo?
An amazing 61.4% of 192 respondents to MiMegasite.com's latest poll said they would choose a meeting property based just on information, specs and photos found on the internet — without even conducting an in-person site inspection.
"As the sophistication of Web sites continues to advance, many properties now offer 360-degree views of guest rooms, meeting space, banquet space, and other areas, allowing planners to get a solid idea of a property's feasibility for their meetings," said MiMegasite. "And when it comes to judging the service staff at a property--which obviously cannot be done over the Web--many planners rely on word-of-mouth anecdotes and recommendations if they are not going to conduct an in-person site visit."
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Following extensive conceptual development, Hilton Hotels has launched home theatre-like Sight+Sound Rooms at two hotels, including 25 guest rooms at the Hilton Chicago O'Hare International Airport and 30 guest rooms at the Hilton San Francisco.
Following extensive conceptual development, Hilton Hotels has launched home theatre-like Sight+Sound Rooms at two hotels, including 25 guest rooms at the Hilton Chicago O'Hare International Airport and 30 guest rooms at the Hilton San Francisco.
"Travelers desire more digital entertainment options in the hotel guest room than ever before. The Hilton Sight+Sound Rooms are designed to provide a more enriching experience to business travelers and families, enhancing their journey by providing the ultimate in-room entertainment," said Tom Keltner, CEO – Americas and Global Brands, Hilton Hotels Corporation. "Representing a long-term vision for our hotels, the Sight+Sound Rooms underscore our overall strategy of providing a more personalized experience in-room – giving guests choice and control over their surroundings."
"Featuring a wide-screen, high definition, television, a digital surround-sound system, and an easy-to-use connectivity panel for music, videos, games and laptops, the Sight+Sound Rooms will enable guests to connect, watch, and experience their favorite entertainment," said Tim Harvey, chief information officer, Hilton Hotels Corporation.
This cutting-edge, fully enabled high definition system with a stunning selection of high definition movies, TV channels, and interactive menus, features home theatre-like qualities of surround sound from Yamaha, a 42-inch plasma screen, as well as sports packages and Monster Cables for easy connectivity.
Watch+Listen
The Sight+Sound Rooms will enable guests to catch up on compelling content, including recently aired popular primetime TV series and catch-up specials. The rooms also feature all-day sports packages on demand, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey and college sports. Programming from DirecTV will include 14 high-definition channels among 40 total network and cable channels and five or more XM Satellite Radio stations.
Explore
Hilton has paired with highly esteemed entertainment brands to provide state-of-the-art equipment: LG 42" flat-screen plasma televisions, a Yamaha YSP-800 digital sound projector, high-definition TV programming from DirecTV, and a user-friendly electronic programming guide and high definition menu system for easier navigability, from LodgeNet. LodgeNet also was integral to planning and installing the system.
Connect
Guests also can bring their own media content and plug portable devices such as MP3 players, laptops, digital cameras and video recorders into a specially designed easy-to-use connectivity panel, which LodgeNet developed and provided for the project. To support the connection, Monster Cable is providing a cable pack in the event guests leave their cables behind.
"The Sight+Sound Rooms represent an important extension of the strategic entertainment and technological solutions designed for our guests," said Jeffrey Diskin, senior vice president – brand management, Hilton Hotels. "At Hilton, we know that travel should take you places®, and our newly designed rooms are geared to ease, enlighten, entertain and refresh the mind, body and soul while you're traveling."
Guest feedback on the Hilton Sight+Sound rooms will help the company create a compelling offering for future guests of all the Hilton Family of Hotels.
Some things, prepared with delightful results in the exuberance of our youth, when made again 10, or 20 years later, don't quite live up to the blissful memory. This coffee, oreo cookie, Mount Gay ice cream is not one of those things. It is as good as my dear friend Heidi H remembers it, when she made it with friends in an old fashioned, hand cranked ice cream maker decades ago. Heidi and I made a batch of this ice cream together recently with the new ice cream maker
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
Pinch of Salt
4 teaspoons instant coffee (get decaf)
2/3 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
10 oreo cookies, crushed
2 ounces Mount Gay rum, or other golden rum
1 Heat 1 cup of the cream, 1 cup of milk, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan on medium heat until steaming, but not boiling. Stir in the instant coffee until it is dissolved.
2 Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set in an ice water bath in a larger bowl. Set a mesh seive on top of the bowls. Set aside.
3 In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk, cream, coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Pour the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
4 Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof, flat-bottomed spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. Be patient. This step can take 5 to 10 minutes.
5 Pour the custard through the seive and stir it into the chilled cream. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
6 When thoroughly chilled and ready to put into your ice cream maker, add the 2 ounces of rum and the crushed oreo cookies. Process the mixture into your ice cream maker according to the ice cream maker directions.
Links:
Learn how to make perfect ice cream with David Lebovitz' brilliant book, the Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments
