Qantas' Australia and New Zealand sales feature flights to
Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland from both coasts and
cities in between. Also look to United and V Australia for
competing fares.
Kimpton Hotels offers discounts travelers arriving to the hotels
via train, plane, or hybrid car. Plus, get breakfast or a cocktail
for $1.
Sofitel Hotels has packages that include free nights, free
breakfast, and 50 percent off a second room, among other offers.
Book on the Sofitel website and you're guaranteed to find the best
rate or you'll receive 10 percent off.
Get up to $400 in credit when you stay at select Ritz-Carlton
locations.
Fly from Chicago and Northeast cities such as Boston, Philadelphia,
and Providence, to several Sunshine State destinations like Ft.
Lauderdale, Orlando, and West Palm Beach with Southwest's sale.
American, Delta, JetBlue, and others compete.
Fly to Ireland this October with American's latest sale featuring
flights from a handful of departure cities to Dublin. American's
prices are occasionally the lowest, with Delta and US Airways also
offering cheap flights.
Porter Airlines is offering 20 percent off any flight for travel
through March 2011, so if you'd like to take advantage, book
flights before this offer expires on September 1.
Virgin America's latest sale features discounted flights to Las
Vegas, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., among a
handful of other destinations. Look to similar unannounced rates
from American, Frontier, JetBlue, and United, among other carriers.
National is offering several deals, including upgrade bargains and
savings on weekend rates.
Weekend travel just got a whole lot cheaper. Alamo is offering $20
weekend car rentals, among other promotions. Plus, discover
discounts on rentals in Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and
Europe.
Hertz' promotions include reduced weekend and weekly rates, plus
monthly discounts, that could save you money this summer.
Choose from more than 75 destinations within the continental U.S.,
Hawaii, Alaska, and Mexico with Alaska's expansive fall sale. Other
airlines (American, Continental, Delta, and United) also have
matching unadvertised sale fares.
Head to Brasilia or Rio de Janeiro this fall with American's latest
sale, featuring departures from more than 130 cities. American's
prices are occasionally the lowest, with Delta and US Airways also
offering cheap flights.
Have Labor Day weekend plans? We'll be seeing more Labor Day sales
in the days to come, but in the meantime, rivals, including Delta,
Continental, and US Airways, have matching and even lower
unannounced fares.
With Hawaiian Airline's latest sale, select your destination from
some of Hawaii's major islands, including the Big Island, Kauai,
Maui, and Oahu. You can find savings of up to $30 compared to
rival's rates.
American has updated its Europe sale with lower fares and an
expanded travel window. Find several major cities, including
flights to Brussels, London, Zurich, and others. Continental,
Delta, and Kuwait Airways compete.
Delta's new international sale features discounted fares to Europe
and Africa. Visit countries across the two continents, such as
France, Ghana, Germany, South Africa, and Spain, to name just a
few. These are some of the cheapest nonstop flights.
If you missed out on Tuesday's one-day sale, JetBlue's newest
promotion is a good consolation prize. American, Delta, US Airways,
and other competitors are bringing their A-game, too, with similar
unannounced low fares.
This November, fly to Europe after the crowds and summer heat have
vanished with Aer Lingus' latest sale. Destinations include popular
cities such as Paris, Barcelona, London, and Rome. Several airlines
offer competitive pricing.
Visit Cuenca, Guayaquil, the Galapagos Islands, or Quito with LAN's
latest sale. Travel to Ecuador is valid this fall. These are some
of the cheapest flights around, though AeroGal also offers low
fares.
Fall Europe flights are available with Icelandair's newly announced
sale. Fly to London, Paris, and Stockholm, among other cities.
These are the absolute lowest fares—by as much as $144 off
the second lowest competitor.
Delta has launched the “Ticket Window,” an interface
for selling airline tickets via Facebook. It’s an interesting
but possibly controversial move. As mentioned explicitly in the
press release, the company is trying to position itself where the
internet traffic is, rather than steering web traffic to their own
site. It’s a smart move insofar as [...]
Reader David sends in this post from the Atlantic, which contains
an interesting chart (copied below), ranking dozens of airline
frequent flier programs in terms of award availability. I
appreciate what these kinds of rankings are trying to do, but this
is unfortunately not an exact science. Let’s look at the
methodology of the survey [...]
Last week, Hilton announced that they would give their gold and
diamond level HHonors program members a new perk: Free wi-fi. Umm,
whoo-hoo? Other major chains have similar policies in place, but
it’s only a nice elite perk because high-end hotels have such
absurdly-priced internet access to begin with. My wife recently
caved and paid [...]
American Airlines is adopting another fee, which they’re
calling “Express Seats.” If you’re willing to
pony up $19 to $39, depending on length of flight, you too can sit
in the front of the economy section, including bulkhead seats,
without being an elite level frequent flier. The option is
available only for U.S. domestic travel, [...]
What better way to make the hours literally fly by on a Lufthansa
flight from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt: Pillow fight!!!! Someone on
board LH687 captured this video of rowdy French passengers getting
frisky with the pillows. Even the flight attendant joins the fun!
(I couldn’t imagine this kind of raucous behavior being
tolerated on [...]
Upgraded: In-flight magazine verité How about this
headline for an inflight magazine: “Live Entertainment in
Kabul: Dog Fighting.” Seriously. This is onboard
Afghanistan’s Safi Airways, and as their recent WSJ profile
makes clear, this is an airline run by realists. “In the seat
pocket in front of you on Safi, you will find an article [...]
For a limited time, InterContinental Hotels Group properties will
reimburse some guests’ checked baggage fees. So a hotel chain
— including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo,
Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations,
Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites — is indirectly
subsidizing airlines. Interesting. Beginning Aug. 16, when
travellers book two consecutive weekend [...]
Reader Leslie writes in: Did you see the news about Google adding
free phone calls to Gmail chat? Will this mean we’ll be
listening to more conversations on flights with wifi? Google is
indeed expanding its Google Voice product to the instant messenger
built into Gmail. But will the rollout of voice chat mean that
[...]
Airfare forecasting has never been an exact science, but at least
economists are trying to make it more precise. From the Observer:
An economist, Makoto Watanabe, has calculated that the optimum time
to buy an airline ticket is eight weeks in advance of flying. His
yet-to-be-published findings also suggests that airline tickets are
cheaper when [...]
Southwest has agreed to lease 18 take-off/landing slot pairs at
Newark Airport from United and Continental. The deal is a function
of the CO-UA merger, which, if it were approved without conditions,
would solidify Continental’s grip on Newark. Bringing
Southwest into Newark is a big deal. Southwest hasn’t flown
to a New York airport yet [...]
Ford Philippines finally launched the Ford Fiesta in the country
yesterday and one of their PR reps asked me to check out the Voice
Control on the Sport model of the Fiesta. At first I thought this
was the Ford Sync they’ve already introduced in the US and
other countries but turns out it’s a [...] Related posts:Ford
Fiesta goes online: Grab one on Facebook Ford Philippines gave
members of the media a sneak preview... The Ford Focus 2010 Line-Up
The Ford Focus 2010 line-up received some upgrades this year... Why
can’t Voice and SMS be unlimited too? We’ve been doing
voice calls and sending SMS on our... Ford Sync by Microsoft Auto
We all know Microsoft enters into almost every market imaginable...
Nokia Own Voice for Ovi Maps If you’re using some sort of
GPS...
Our last shots of the HTC Wildfire weren’t taken nicely so
we’re doing another round of HD video and photos; and this
time, it’s with the red-hot model. I’ve gone used to
HTC handsets sporting bland, cold colors like brown and black so it
was a huge surprise to see a red-hot HTC Wildfire in [...] Related
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Distributor... Sony Ericsson presents Idou at 12.1MP Looks like an
8.1 megapixel camera phone isn’t enough —...
Sony-Ericsson Satio, Aino Launched and Priced Yesterday,
Sony-Ericsson Philippines officially launched their new flagship
phones —... Idou officially na...
Nokia just outed a new iteration of their candy-bar X3 handset and
it now comes with a touch screen on top of the alphanumeric keypad
(a rare combination). The original Nokia X3 was announced back in
September 2009, along with the Nokia X6. This newer Nokia X3
(X3-02) is dubbed the Touch & Type which [...] Related
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Touch... Nokia N900 gets official The Nokia N97 gets a big brother.
Nokia confirms the... HTC Touch Pro tops the Billboard Price Charts
Today, HTC announced the release of the HTC Touch Pro...
Last week, we shared that Samsung’s Galaxy 5 Android phone
were already selling in a number of local stores at Php11,400.
Samsung Philippines today officially made the announcement and puts
the suggested price at Php10,980. This makes the Samsung Galaxy 5
i5500 the cheapest Android smartphone in the local market today.
Samsung Galaxy 5 i5503: [...] Related posts:Neo B4103 takes
cheapest Core i3 crown! During a round-table discussion yesterday
with Neo executives and Intel... Samsung i5500 Galaxy 5 selling for
Php11,400 Looks like Samsung’s cheapest Android smartphone,
the Galaxy 5 i5500,... Globe’s Android: Samsung i5700 Galaxy
Spica Just found out that Globe is offering its own Android...
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We checked out the Polaroid Pogo and the Polaroid Photo Exhibit at
the MegaMall this afternoon which features photo manipulation of
the print-outs by Foto Baryo. Yes, the Polaroid is not dead. The
Polaroid Pogo is a digital camera with a built-in printer. You can
check your photos with the 3-inch LCD, edit and adjust [...]
Related posts:Shoot and Print in Real Time Found this interesting
photography group at the IMMAP Summit taking... How the dSLR
changed Photography? I earlier wrote a draft that looked into the
photography... Xiao TIP-521 Digicam comes with a Printer!
It’s like the Polaroid all over again. Japanese toy
company... Sony Ericsson c905 sports 8.1MP Camera The c905 wants to
be a digital camera than a... Shutterbox: Earn from your stock
photos. I have over 500 stock pho...
That’s according to a recent report of the FCC in the US
— broadband subscribers in the US only get around 50% of the
promised internet speeds by service providers. If the report were
for the Philippines, I would not be surprised. So, it’s not
only us here but also in first world countries like [...] Related
posts:How to Effectively Measure Broadband Speeds? There will
always be claims of product/service superiority among competing...
Bayan Broadband offers EVDO at Php699 Bayan Broadband is now
offering a new wireless internet plan... Sky Broadband now up to 12
Mbps Sky Broadband seems to be tipping the scale for broadband...
Globelines Broadband at 2Mbps Got home this evening to find
pamphlets at my doorstep... Philippine Broadband Normalization
Index Or something alon...
Dell Philippines showcased their new line of business laptops
earlier today. Of the lot, the Dell Vostro V13 took much of my
attention. This laptop surely reminded me of the
“almost-unreachable” Dell Adamo. This time though, Dell
brought down the starting price of the Vostro V13 to a more
affordable range at the 35k level. [...] Related posts:Dell Vostro
V13 is a cheaper Adamo If you think the Dell Adamo is not within
your... Dell Vostro A90 a repainted Mini 9 Dell’s global
online store has just revealed a new netbook... Dell Vostro Laptops
& Desktops unveiled In a live webcast this afternoon, Dell
Executives at Beijing,... Dell Vostro 320 All-in-One Desktop PC The
Dell Vostro AiO 320 series is the latest of... Adamo Thirteen by
Dell First seen at CES 2009 back in ...
News just came in that Intel is set to buy antivirus company McAfee
for an estimated $7.68 billion, all in cold hard cash. Now
that’s a bit of a surprise. Intel’s revenue last year
amounted to about $35 billion (with $4.4 billion profit) while
McAfee made $2 billion (and $173 million in profit) last year.
[...] Related posts:Apple tells Mac users to run Anti-Virus
Can’t believe when I first read this but it looks... Poll:
What anti-virus software you got running? Anybody here still
remembers that ThunderByte antivirus from late 90s?... Results: AVG
is Most Popular Anti-Virus According to our recent poll on
antivirus, AVG came on... Sophos powers Gmail Anti-virus
TheBillyGoatCurse posted a study on how he found out what...
McAfee: .HK, .CN and .INFO domains most dangerou...
Found this interesting photography group at the IMMAP Summit taking
photos of the delegates in the exhibit hall. They’re like a
walking photo-booth of sorts which looked funny because they also
lug their printers and computers around with them. I think this
idea has been around for some time but this is the first time [...]
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day and age where digital SLR are the... My first Photo
Contribution for Print This is my first photo contribution for a
magazine since... Ziff Davis to stop PCMag print-edition In
February last year, we was reported that PC Mag... Tips when your
Copyrighted Materials appear on Print or TV Been getting a lot of
reports about blogger’s copyrighted photos... Globe’s
15GB Bandwidth Cap in...
Heard about this yesterday but wasn’t able to verify it until
today when I visited their booth and asked for a demo. Yes, you
read it right — Sky Broadband is offering up to 112Mbps
residential cable internet. Then, I saw this banner/standee that
says it’s really 112Mbps and not the 12Mbps we already knew
[...] Related posts:Bayan Broadband offers EVDO at Php699 Bayan
Broadband is now offering a new wireless internet plan... Sky
Broadband now up to 12 Mbps Sky Broadband seems to be tipping the
scale for broadband... MSI Wind U90 sells for Php19,500 Apparently,
the 8.9-inch MSI Wind U90 is also available in... IPStar offers
Satelite Internet in the Philippines A new Thai-based satellite
broadband provider, IPStar, is now offering... Sun Cellular unveils
Wireless Broadban...
Nikon introduced a new entry-level dSLR, the Nikon D3100, which has
the capability of recording full HD 1080p videos. The Nikon D3100
is the successor to the popular D3000 line and brings in a set of
new features and upgrades. Nikon D3100 14.2 CMOS sensor ISO 100
– 3200 (expandable to 12800) up to 3fps [...] Related
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Nikon unveils its latest high-resultion... Nikon bags top dSLR
Award The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) recently
announced the 2008... Nikon D60 announced Just a couple of days
after the Canon 450D was... Nikon CoolPix S1000pj Camera with
Projector Nikon gets a new first in the digital camera segment...
Specs of Nikon D90 leaked The 2-year old Nikon D80 has a new big
brother,...
Samsung’s newest dual-SIM phone, codenamed Sorento B7722,
will come out this 2nd week of September and puts the suggested
retail price at Php12,800 according to a source. I earlier reported
about the Samsung B7722 back in June and estimated the retail price
to be Php23,600. Nice to know the actual price will be in the [...]
Related posts:Samsung B7722 ups the ante on Dual SIM Most of the
current offerings in the dual SIM market... Samsung B7610, B7330,
B7300 Omnia Family We got 3 mobile phones from Samsung today so
instead... Samsung S8500 Wave First Impressions I forgot to add
that yesterday, during our meeting with... Samsung i9000 Galaxy S
announced Samsung’s got its own 1GHz CPU plus Android combo
under... RIP: Palm Foleo, May 30 – September 4, 2007 Sad news
for Pal...
Recently bought this Sapido Mobile 3G Router so I can compare it
with the SmartBro Share-It WiFi router I use in my car and see
which one makes for a better mobile internet set-up. For about a
year now since I got the SmartBro Share-It, it has found its place
inside my car wherever I [...] Related posts:Smart Bro Share It
Wireless Router Smart Broadband, a subsidiary of Smart
Communications, today launched SMART... SmartBro Share It now
Unlimited at Php999 SmartBro Share It was first introduced last
March, a 3G... Going Mobile with SmartBro Share It Last Saturday, I
signed up for the unlimited Plan 999... 3G Mobile WiFi Router:
D-Link DIR-451 Those who were interested in the Smart Bro Share
It... D-Link Load-Balancing Router: 2-in-1 DSL Router Found this at
the PC Express website: “...
Watched the episode 5 of the Warehouse 13 TV series the other night
where they had characters from Eureka crossing over to the show. In
this episode, they had the computer running the Warehouse upgraded
to a newer machine. Got a glimpse of the upgrade and this is what I
saw: TTD Proto CPU 4500MHz [...] Related posts:MSI-ECS Christmas
Warehouse Sale Local IT distributor MSI-ECS is running a warehouse
sale this... Poll: How much digital storage do you have? When the
1-terabyte HDD broke the Php5,000-barrier ($100-barrier), I
thought... Digital Tour on Studio 23 is off the air Last night,
tech TV show Digital Tour on Studio 23... MSI-ECS Great IT Sale
Pricelist The Great IT Sale of MSI-ECS is one of the... Who will be
the Next Internet Millionaire? Anybody heard of this? This one is
definit...
There are two new portable speakers from X-Mini and they sent in
both of them from Singapore so we could check it out. I’ve
had the earlier models but the new ones add more features with much
a nicer design. The X-Mini Happy follows the same form factor as
the original X-Mini speakers but has [...] Related posts:Happy New
Year to all!!! Before everyone gets very busy tonight greeting
everybody else and... Nokia MD4 Mini Speakers When the Nokia N78
came in the mail two weeks... X-Mini Max Capsule Speakers Since I
first reviewed the X-Mini last year, I’ve been... X-Mini 2:
Bigger, Badder, Louder The X-Mini II has been out for a while
now... Happy Slip is in teh house! Yes, you heard it right.
It’s teh one and only...
Two more Samsung Wave smartphones will come out in the next couple
of months — the Samsung S5250 Wave 2 and Samsung S5330 Wave 2
Pro. Both handsets will also run the Bada OS and will be much
cheaper than its predecessor. Samsung S5250 Wave 2 240 x 400
pixels, 3.2 inches 100MB internal memory [...] Related
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yesterday, during our meeting with... Samsung Wave Price and Launch
Date So I shared my first impressions of the upcoming Samsung...
Much Ado about Google Wave We saw a preview of Google Wave a couple
months... Why Google Wave failed? About a year ago, I already saw
(somewhat) the demise... Will Google Wave change the way we E-Mail?
One of the upcoming services that was demo’ed on Google...
We always rejoice whenever something Filipino-related comes out on
the Top Twitter Trending Topics but I never realized it would take
a hostage taking situation like the one we have right now at the
Quirino Grandstand to bring in the all-time spotlight. Chrice
Pempenco, Jollibee on Glee, Christian Bautista, PNoy, the UAPP all
had their [...] Related posts:Twitter Stream on Google Search
Results It’s finally here — Twitter streams have now
been integrated... Did Twitter Popularize Mobile Blogging in the
Philippines? As we close in on the end of the year,... Twitter
wages war against Justin Bieber The “wisdom of the
crowd” is not always wise or... Philippines takes
World’s Best Spammers title? One of the greatest advantages
the Philippines have in the... Twitt...
Intel just announced a new Atom N550 processor with dual-core and
hyper-threading (4HT) that might just bring sexy back to netbooks.
While this is not the first dual-core Atom processor by Intel (Atom
N330 was used in an Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook), it could be the one
that will be widely used on upcoming [...] Related posts:Lenovo
IdeaPad S10-3s runs Atom N550 Turns out the IdeaPad S10-3s netbook
showed to us by... Is an Intel Atom Dual Core upgrade worth it?
Despite Intel’s suggestion that the new Atom N330 Dual
Core... Intel Atom 330 Dual Core for Nettops Intel announced
yesterday the 4th quarter release of the new... Asus U20A is sexy
and expensive Asus has come up with its very own ultra-low
voltage... Intel announces Atom N450 Pine Trail CPU In global
conference call today at ...
We’re back with Real Leaf and doing another contest. This
time, it’s gonna be like a treasure-hunt game running on a
Facebook App. Check out the details of the Word Master Challenge
below. The contest will run in conjunction with several other blogs
(FlairCandy, Pinoy Travel Blog, Starmometer, Kubiertos and
GMTristan). Each day, a new [...] Related posts:Contest: Spot a
Real Leaf, Win a Nano Thanks to our sponsor, Coca-Cola, we’re
giving away a brand... Winner of the Real Leaf iPod Nano Giveaway
Thanks to all the hundreds of participants to our iPod... YugaTech
Contest #1: Merry Tweetmas Note: Round #1 ends 5pm today, December
21, 2009. Starting... Malu Fernandez gunning for Master Link Baiter
of the Year I’m amused with people who speak their mind and
exercise......
Turns out the IdeaPad S10-3s netbook showed to us by Lenovo
Philippines was already running on the newer dual-core Intel Atom
N550 processor. The initial report given to us was that the S10-3s
were merely a refresh (as reported way back in May) and still
running the single-core Atom N450 and N470. Turns out they [...]
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launch IdeaPad S9 & S10 Netbooks Lenovo is entering the
“netbook†market with the IdeaPad
S9... Lenovo IdeaPad S10 in the flesh Just like most other netbooks
we’ve published here in the... Lenovo IdeaPad U450p Whenever
I see a new notebook that sports an Intel... Lenovo IdeaPad U110
spotted, priced Spotted on display at one of the ...
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 is the likely successor to the popular
Lumix LX3 and while it has not yet been officially released in the
Philippines, a few units have been spotted in the grey market. With
a 1/1.63″ sensor size, the Lumix LX5 was announced back in
July and brings some cosmetic and feature improvements [...]
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display at one of the store shelves at... HTC Shift Spotted and
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Gateway LT2003i & LT3102i spotted, priced Acer is positioning
the Gateway brand as its stylish counter-part... Panasonic
103″ Plasma HDTV {Live @ CEL} The centerpiece at the
Panasonic booth is... Acer Ferrari One 200 spotted and priced Saw
this ultraportable Ferrari-insp...
The Asus NX90 is a limited edition laptop designed in collaboration
with Daniel Lewis, the man behind the Bang and Olufsen look. Asus
has made the notebook available in the Philippines on a per-order
basis only. Asus NX90 specs 18.4″ display @ FUll HD 1080p
(1920×1080 pixels) Intel Core i7 740QM (6M cache, 1.73 GHz,
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Samsung will finally unveil its very own tablet next week, the
Galaxy Tab — a 7-inch tablet will be running the latest
Android 2.2 Froyo. The Samsung Galaxy Tab uses a 7-inch AMOLED
screen with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. It will run an
ARM11 Hummingbird processor at 1.0GHz, similar to that of the
Samsung [...] Related posts:Samsung Galaxy S i9000 price, 1st
impressions When the handset was shown to me by one of... Samsung
i5500 Galaxy 5 selling for Php11,400 Looks like Samsung’s
cheapest Android smartphone, the Galaxy 5 i5500,... Samsung i9000
Galaxy S announced Samsung’s got its own 1GHz CPU plus
Android combo under... Samsung launches Galaxy S i9000 This
afternoon, Samsung Philippines partnered with Globe Telecom to
launch... Soon: Samsung Halo i8520, Galax...
If you’re looking for that power 3G+WiFi solution like the
Globe MyFi, then the DIR-457U 3.75G MyPocket Router could be
something you might want to look into. According to local reps the
DIR-457U will be available in the Philippines next month (September
2010) but the price is yet to be determined (though I think it
[...] Related posts:3G Mobile WiFi Router: D-Link DIR-451 Those who
were interested in the Smart Bro Share It... D-Link Load-Balancing
Router: 2-in-1 DSL Router Found this at the PC Express website:
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Share It Wireless Router Smart Broadband, a subsidiary of Smart
Communications, today launched SMART... Edimax 3G Broadband Router
Here’s...
Google has finally rolled our free international voice calls via
GMail. The calls are free when made for Canada and the US while the
offering minimal fees to other countries. You will need to download
and install the voice and video chat software here. Rates for other
countries vary from 2 cents per minute to [...] Related posts:Free
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to his blog post... Why can’t Voice and SMS be unlimited too?
We’ve been doing voice calls and sending SMS on our... Smart
to PLDT Value Calls only Php4 per minute I was on my mobile phone
with another potential client... Voice Control on the Ford Fiesta
Ford Philippines finally launched the Ford Fiesta in the country...
Red Mobile expands unlimited calls to Smart Red Mobile today ...
Aside from the micro-SIM only postpaid Plan 999 for Smart Bro, I
also got access to a prepaid micro-SIM card for Smart Buddy. I am
told just today that these micro-SIM cards are now being
distributed to select Smart dealers nationwide and should be
available to the public by September or as early as next [...]
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last night confirming that Smart has come... The Smart Bro
Micro-SIM has arrived So the Smart Bro micro-SIM that I mentioned
last week... Smart Unlimited Blackberry Prepaid Plans Smart is
setting first in the Blackberry service in the... Smart Bro Mobile
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Canon has officially unveiled the new EOS 60D that’s capable
of recording Full HD 1080p video (following the feats of the 550D
and the 7D). The Canon EOS 60D is the successor to the Canon 50D
(announced in August 2008, which is exactly two years ago). Canon
EOS 60D specs: 18MP CMOS sensor Full HD [...] Related posts:Canon
EOS 7D First Impressions Been eyeing this dSLR for some time now
since it... Canon EOS Rebel T1i takes Full HD Videos Now this is
going to disappoint those who bought the... Canon Ixus 300HS gets
unboxed This latest point-and-shoot digital camera from Canon is a
looker.... Canon shows off EOS 5D, 50D & 1000D Canon organized
a whole-day affair to celebrate the Philippine release... Canon
Lens Sale Promo Canon has been having this sale for months now
and...
The 4th version of Digg has been rolled out with several major
changes in the design, front-page algorithm, and social components.
The social news site has somehow transform into some sort of
Twitter-like streaming of news and links. Since 2004, Digg has been
a major source of breaking news and stories for me — ranging
[...] Related posts:Digg banning Diggers for not reading stories?
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cultural? Now that Digg has expanded beyond the realms of
Technology,... Getting raw links from Digg If you’ve read the
entry before this one (Top 10... Digg chooses Sponsors over Users?
[ Digg this! ...
A tipper sent this in this afternoon telling us he’s spotted
a Chinese Android Tablet in one of the local malls (this is
probably the iPed). The tablet runs on an older version of Android
(probably v1.5) and looks like the screen dimension is around 7 to
9 inches across. Uses a stylus (resistive screen) [...] Related
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JooJoo and now YugaTech has an... ZTE Smooth: Android China Phones
are here! Last month, I wrote about the possible entry of China...
China Phone + Google Android Imagine one of the best and free
mobile OS installed... nVidia’s Android Tablet Prototype
nVidia showed off a prototype of an upcoming Android Tablet...
Cisco Cius is an Android Tablet for Business Not really a big
surprise that Cisco came ...
A former officemate told me earlier today that the UPS
(un-interruptible power supply) we used back in our MBS days
finally gave up this week. I was surprised to learn that the APC
power supply lasted for more than 8 years. I thought it was an
amazing feat that the device lasted that long. I’ve [...]
Related posts:Two Power Supplies in One PC? Was having some issues
with my current set of power... 10 Ways to Save on Electricity So
we just for our latest Meralco bill and the... Asus Vento Gaming
Case and a Dead PC I was at PC Express in Pasong Tamo late
afternoon... Power Saver Max, Wattage-Zapping Device I’m sure
a lot of you have seen this on... Power Saver Max on Power Usage
Over a year ago, I blogged about this little power-saving...
Soon 33 years young. I’ll be back on the playa in August for
Burning Man. 33. I’ll turn a glorious 33 this weekend.
It’s going to be a great natal year–I can already feel
it. Repeating numbers (born in ’77) are good luck. Perhaps it
will be good luck for you, too: in this post, [...]
Sumo stable in Tokyo, Japan: you don’t need to be a superstar
to use the Superstar Effect. The following is a guest post by Cal
Newport, MIT Ph.D and all-around whiz on competing against the
odds. His discussion — and suggested uses — of the
“superstar effect” and corollary are mirrored in what I
tell [...]
This long-overdue episode of Random, filmed at Samovar Tea,
includes: - Book updates and new book recommendations (including
Omnivore’s Dilemma and If This Is A Man : The Truce) -
Favorite sites, including design-focused sites - The new Kindle vs.
the iPad — pros and cons. - Book title hijinks and red
herrings - iFly [...]
Starting tomorrow, travel writer Rolf Potts will embark on a trip
that will take him around the world without using a single piece of
luggage. This post will explain how he’s going to do it, and
there’s a kick-ass giveaway at the end… For six weeks
he will explore 12 countries on five continents, crossing [...]
What do the economics of publishing look like… really?
(Photo: thinkpanama) (Special thanks to my agent, Steve Hanselman,
and my anonymous sources within the world’s biggest
publishing houses) Print is dead! This has become a popular
headline, and a great way to get quoted, as Nicholas Negroponte has
shown. Iconic author Seth Godin, after 12 [...]
If you're a business traveler, or are visiting a city and will be
staying for awhile, you might do yourself well to try to stay at a
Homewood Suites by Hilton. It's a national chain of hotels that
offers...
...more hotels around the world have learned that some patrons are
not only ready to skip their accommodations, no matter how lavish,
but are willing to pay a little bit more to bring a little bit of
furry love with them...
...there are more gay and lesbian trips planned so that those who
are gay or lesbian, which usually denotes men and women, can go on
a trip and know that they will be free from possible derision and
people generally getting into their business...
There's actually 7 main attractions, or as Disney likes to call
them, "whimsical lands", and each one contains dozens of things to
do and see. Some are only for kids, such as the "It's A Small
World" exhibit, while others can be...
Depending on the time of year you go, you could book a Las Vegas
discount vacation for literally less than $500 for 5 days and 4
nights, and that includes the flight. These days, Las Vegas
isn't...
The capital of Hungary, it's a city with a population just short of
2 million that generates more than 20 million visitors a year. It
sits on the banks of the Danube River, and though it doesn't offer
traditionally summer types of attractions such as...
Bangkok is the capital and largest city in Thailand. It's a prime
vacation spot these days for travelers looking to not only partake
in a lot of Asian history, but a fun spot for a great nightlife...
One of the more interesting things about an Alaskan cruise is that
you will probably always see land or ice of some sort. It brings a
lot of comfort to those people who might...
Hopefully, you had a skiing location where there's someone at the
top will help you get off, but that's not...
Cleveland is a city that’s been the butt of jokes for
decades, but the reality is that Cleveland is a thriving city with
a population that makes up the 33rd largest city in the United
States and contains some unique attractions including the Rock
‘n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Cleveland, which sits on
[...]
Any serious shopper knows that New York City is the ultimate
destination. There are even shopping tours in this town, both group
and private. Their outlet stores are so crowd pleasing that
companies have started bus tours. You can find designer showroom
tours, wholesale. If a full-fledged shopper could choose
anywhere…
One of the best parts of San Diego is the number and variety of
their parks. They offer scads of activities for those who really
want to get a great work out and then when its time to simply sit
back and relax San Diego has parks for that too. There…
cc: Flickr photo credit: ifmuth Whether you’re a die hard
shopper or just a window browser, Cleveland has just about
everything any shopper could ever want. Not only does the city
boast more than a handful of respectable shopping malls, its also
chock full of great antique stores, specialty shops and pretty
much…
Top Chef Season 4 knew what they were doing when they set the show
in Chicago. Not only have they had several contestants come from
the greater Chicago area over the last few years, but the city
itself has evolved into a culinary hotspot. Celebrity chefs come
and go in…
Whether you’re just visiting or you’re a local,
Montreal is a happening hot spot for nighttime party-goers. The
nighttime entertainment is incredibly varied and there is probably
something for just about every taste, flair, and even fetish out
there. If you’re looking to paint the town red, may I suggest
starting…
(cc:Â photo credit: Definitive HDR) Visitors to San
Antonio of sure to check out the top tourists spots and
they’ll obviously remember the Alamo, but the savvy golfing
tourist will remember the city for a lot more, they’ll come
back with a deep appreciation of the incredible golf courses that
literally litter…
cc:Â photo credit: flipkeat Niagara Falls, bordering
Canada on one side with Horseshoe Falls and the U.S. with American
Falls, is noted as a source of power to the practical of
mind. But to the romantic, it has always been the
ultimate honeymoon location. For the adventuresome
such as Sam…
cc: photo credit: surrealize It may always be raining, but
that’s just a better reason to head on inside and catch some
night vibes. Seattle is a happening city with a good number of
clubs and hot spots. Almost every taste in music is represented and
the level of excitement is adjustable to…
A family vacation in Detroit may not immediately seem like the
perfect thing. What does Motor City have to offer a family? Well,
you’d be surprised. Detroit is home to more than the
Automotive Hall of Fame. There’s Belle Isle, a 1000-acre
island park with a zoo, aquarium and conservatory. Your…
If you’re planning a trip to Hawaii you can expect long
languorous afternoons spent lying on the beach or poolside, or you
can bob the hours away on the surf. But when the nighttime rolls
around then you’d better be ready to kick it up a notch.
Hawaii has a long…
Washington State is simply loaded with incredible things to see and
do. Its breathtaking beauty is matched by its storied history and
incredible sense of fun. Where else do you have ocean beaches,
old-growth rainforests, two mountain ranges, a volcano, a secret
underground city, tours of famous crime scenes, professional…
The city of Los Angeles and the surrounding area conjures up images
of movie stars and rock and rollers up all night partying or
surfers bumming around on the beach all day, but the city can also
be a great place to take your family and let your kids have
an…
Taking the family to Orlando is so exciting for everyone, there
incredible amount of things to do and see. But every vacation
includes some necessities and one of them is where to eat. Not
every restaurant is accepting of families and not every family
wants to spend all of their meals…
For an entirely unique cultural experience, a trip to Berlin is jam
packed with fun and excitement and sites you’ll
never see anywhere else in the world. There is so much to see and
do there is no way to experience it all in just one visit, but by
selecting the…
Miami Florida is a large and populous city that has always drawn a
diverse crowd, whether its Cubans trying to escape Castro or the
wealthy looking to experience the good life in the mild tropical
climate. The most recent boom came to Miami from the South Beach
region as the Art Deco…
. . . whether a perfectly pink & gracefully gilded chair, a
gold & glamorous tray of be-ribboned silverware or a delicate
bouquet of the palest roses, unapologetically pretty details add
beautiful layers of luxurious elegance and refinement to any room,
and -- best of all -- a little romance to the everyday . . .{p.s.}
isn't that the most wonderful chair ever? quite obsessed with it
and tempted to paint all the walls that very shade of pink . .
.{also} more unapologetically pretty {pink} things:* petal pink
& french grey* glimpses of pink* ruffles & lace* bits of
gold & palest pink* endless possibilites* tea rose & roman
coffee* glamorous gold* monday, monday* the colour of cherry
blossoms* august sunrise & bits of gold* a london flat* floods
of sunlight* of cul...
. . . one of my very favourite shots is a detail of viviana
volpicella, {assistant fashion editor, vogue nippon}, wearing a
champagne-coloured silk blouse and holding a large leather clutch
by yves saint laurent, photographed by tommy ton of jak & jil
for style.com -- there is just something about it that draws you in
-- the play of light and shadow, and all the little details that
say so much . . . and now this soft and dusky image has become a
new favourite -- a swish of tulle, a feather clutch, and an utterly
romantic glimpse of an enchanting moment caught in time . . .{p.s.}
silver shoes & feathers and pretty, pretty things{photography
by marianne taylor for the cherry blossom girl via a glamorous
little side project & the inspiration board}{this is glamorous}
on facebook &...
. . . would never dream of being over summer until it has
undeniably passed, but early this late-august morning, there was a
nearly brisk and intoxicating freshness in the air, whirling and
tousling strands of hair sexily about, and for just a moment, was
falling for fall . . .{images: domino magazine, apartment therapy
via the city sage; anna dello russo's milan apartment photographed
by tommy ton for jak&jil via the neo-traditionalist; anouck
lepere by pablo delfos for elle belgium, september 2010 via oh
& kate arends}{this is glamorous} on facebook & follow on
twitter copyright © 2007-2010 {this is glamorous} all
rights reserved
. . . there is a beautifully serene, painterly quality to new
york-based photographer ellen silverman's work -- a perfectly
moody, atmospheric light that infuses each frame and inspires
thoughts of sultry august afternoons moments after a rainstorm . .
.{p.s.} an interview & more work{images: all photography by
ellen silverman, via my paradissi}{this is glamorous} on facebook
& follow on twitter copyright © 2007-2010 {this is
glamorous} all rights reserved
Very smart. An easy around-your-neck iPod Shuffle and headphone
solution. $27 Via Behance Pod à porter is the easiest
way to wear your music – even if you’re not wearing
much. No more headphones dangling by your knees; no more ripping
the buds from your ears when you take off your jacket.
Razorpit: Razor blade sharpening. I love this. I hate how wasteful
(and expensive) razorblades are– but it’s
the only way to go. Â Electronic razors don’t work
for me. Â And neither does a big beard. I hear this
thing works great. Via Coolhunting
Congrats to the team at Nooka for the newly launched website.
Looking very good! Check it out…
We’ve all chewed the cap of a Bic pen at least once in our
lives. If you haven’t, you’re totally lying (or missing
out). This necklace from Chewed By Tuesday is for you. All of you.
(And for Penlid chewing virgins, there is also an un-chewed
version). Both are made from solid sterling silver [...]
Gorgeous look at a bluetooth handset designed by David Turnpin
& Native Union. Check out their whole collection here. Via
Swissmiss
I think this British artist Phil Ashcroft is extremely talented.
Stunning work.
Sexy Paul Smith x Burton snowboard. But how does it ride? I guess
I’ll have to find out.
Wallets, card holders, and general handmade accessories. Made with
love by R&L Goods.
Over the course of the next three Fridays, Rapha will be screening
three exciting films created by Ridley Scott Associates to
highlight the Rapha Club Jersey’s from the Summer 2010 line.
The first movie (Throw of the Dice) focuses on professional bike
racer and three time Paris–Roubaix
winner Johan Museeuw. The second and third focus on
[...]
An ingenius cookie dipping mug designed by Entresuelo.1A. Reminds
me of the now infamous Dunk Mug I posted back in 2004 (wow that was
a long time ago). This design adds an ingenious touch to a mug with
a rim shaped in such a way that you can dunk in the whole cookie,
sideways. Now [...]
Nice sustainable furniture by a small outfit calling themselves
Studio Dunn. Check out more on their website. The studio works with
a network of local designers, artisans, and manufacturers in and
around Rhode Island to develop and refine designs. Focusing on the
use of classic materials including wood, metal, glass, and
ceramics, and through the [...]
It’s been four years since charity: water started with the
crazy idea that everybody on the planet should have clean water to
drink. Since then and thanks to everyone who has donated,
they’ve helped over 1 million people in 17 countries. Pretty
awesome right? This September though they’re going even
bigger, and they need [...]
This should be amusing: Target rented out the entire Standard Hotel
in NYC and are doing a huge light/music show with dancers in the
rooms. Daft Punk’s lighting guys are doing the light show,
Spike Jonze’s brother Sam Spiegel composed a 20 minute
original score and the choreography is supposedly amazing. Tonight
(Wednesday night) at [...]
Dowling Duncan wants to renovate America’s image abroad, by
redesigning our money. Check out the other entries in the Dollar
ReDe$ign Project. These particular bills are designed lengthwise:
Dowling Duncan say they conducted extensive research on how people
deal money and discovered that transactions are almost always
carried out vertically. It’s true: How often [...]
Congrats guys, these are gorgeous! Biomega renews its curatorial
commitment to cherry picking the world’s top
designers to design its bicycles. Ross Lovegrove (Bottom) displays
his organic essentialist sensibility through his fresh vision of an
integrated bicycle. His integrated solutions and groundbreaking
design makes the LDN bicycle a true urban tool. While Danish design
super [...]
I love this project. To what extent can we distort famous logos and
symbols that they remain easily recognizable? A personal
exploration.
Icebreaker, the eco-conscious performance wear company from New
Zealand have really outdone themselves for their FW10 line. Taking
some risks and focusing on their outerwear line, which I feel has
been neglected in the past, they are set to launch three new pieces
each for men and women. Blurring the lines between technical
clothing and [...]
Congrats to my friends at Cool Hunting on the launch of Cool
Hunting Local! If you’re visiting Chicago, Los Angeles,
Miami, New York or San Francisco, check out their recommendations.
My friends from Ontour are at it again. In their own words: This
year is our fifth anniversary and to celebrate this we’ve
chosen the magic number 5 as the underlying theme of our new
Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, named ‘The Magnificent
Five’ Ontour, that’s just been released. Inspired by
the typical English style of [...]
It doesn’t entirely make sense to me why Jeff Koons painted
over the already special unique black paint Aston Martin used on
this particular DBS, but I still like it. It’s sort of like
lollipop land meets James Bond. I’m sure we’ll see this
go at auction for an obscene amount (worth it, surely) in [...]
NPR’s Weekend Edition launched an ambitious series Saturday,
a three-weekend-long look at the most trafficked interstate in the
U.S. It’s not this trafficked, but it’s pretty busy.
And it plays a huge role in American life: All along the Eastern
Seaboard, Interstate 95 has helped shape the daily lives and
vacation dreams of the roughly 100 million people who reside
alongside it. They live in dense cities and rural counties in the
15 states through which I-95 passes on its nearly 2,000-mile,
north-south path. The Department of Transportation says that each
year I-95 gets more VMTs—that’s vehicle miles
traveled—than any other road. The traffic on I-95 peaks in
August as legions of vacationers and college students join
commuters, truckers, migrant farm w...
The occasional travel writer takes a fun shot at parachute
journalism: If you spend 72 hours in a place you’ve never
been, talking to people whose language you don’t speak about
social, political, and economic complexities you don’t
understand, and you come back as the world’s biggest
know-it-all, you’re a reporter. Ouch.
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
With bedbug infestations apparently on the rise across the country,
the Daily Beast has put together a list of the top ten buggiest
cities in America—and burgs in Ohio landed in the first,
second and eighth spots. If you’re headed to Cincinnati,
Columbus, Dayton, or any of the other cities on the list, you may
want to put this retro travel technique to use.
According to a recent Travelodge survey, at least some of you do.
The survey found that 25% of adult men bring stuffed animals with
them when they travel for business. “I travel enough that
it’s a nice reminder of home,” said one respondent.
I’d like to offer some snark here, but I’d be a
hypocrite if I did. My bear doesn’t come on short-haul trips,
but she has been on longer visits to Malaysia, the U.K., Barbados
and New York City. So there.
To mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we've collected
stories from our archives that explore the city's heartbreak,
passion and rebirth
Susan Orlean is on vacation in Cape Cod, where she’s been
keeping busy by snooping around the house she rented from a local,
trying to learn more about her host. Here’s what she’s
put together so far: I always start with the bookshelves, which
makes me worry about my future vacations, when all reading material
will have migrated to an electronic format and the bookshelves are
empty except for Hummel figurines. Then what? Where will I begin my
snooping—in the spice cabinet? Fortunately, the owner of this
house is obviously a dead-tree kind of reader, and I have deduced
that he is a physician. (I do think I’m a genius, but the
stacks of diagnostic manuals would have been a pretty big clue even
to lesser minds.) The Leo Rosten books are a religious
giveaway̵...
For starters, the television company hypes the country’s
“savage wildlife.” A crew has been filming the next
season of the hit TV show in the beach town of San Juan del
Sur—it will debut on CBS next month. Reports the Los Angeles
Times: Government officials apparently think “Survivor”
could be good for foreign business investment and tourism, even
though the CBS commercial for the show proclaims Nicaragua a land
of “impenetrable terrain, smoldering volcanoes and savage
wildlife.” (Savage wildlife? The mosquitoes?) Yes, tourism to
Nicaragua could skyrocket—and so could unfathomably horrific
mosquito bites.
Conor Friedersdorf digs up an old gem from the Atlantic’s
archives: a dispatch from a native New Yorker, returning to the
city after an extended stay in Paris. It’s a must-read for
NYC-philes. Here’s a taste: In a word, this returned New
Yorker finds few familiar landmarks; and the few he does find seem
to have lost most of their original meaning. He is as much dazed
and puzzled by his surroundings as Rip Van Winkle after his twenty
years’ sleep. Nobody resides, does business, dines, or drinks
in the same places as before. Nobody frequents the same pleasure
resorts. Nobody saunters along the same walks. It is not safe for
him to make a business or social call, or to set out for a
restaurant, a chop-house, a theatre, or a club, without consulting
the Directory in ad...
Giving directions is an art form, one we’re losing in the age
of GPS and Google Maps. Renée Loth makes the argument: In
this season of vacation travel, I would like to issue a plea for a
return to analog directions. This isn’t just a matter of
technophobia. Writing good directions is not unlike poetry: an
exercise in awareness, requiring an eye for detail and succinct but
evocative language. It’s a delight to read something like
“Travel over the old stone bridge—built in
1764!—until you see the brick library and Odd Fellows Hall on
your right. Turn right there and go down the hill to the
water.” Isn’t that so much better than “Head NW
on S Main St/MA 1A N .5 miles toward Market Street,” or some
similar digital version? If ...
This passage in a New York Times story about the downsides of
frequent exposure to information and entertainment on mobile
devices caught my eye: At the University of California, San
Francisco, scientists have found that when rats have a new
experience, like exploring an unfamiliar area, their brains show
new patterns of activity. But only when the rats take a break from
their exploration do they process those patterns in a way that
seems to create a persistent memory of the experience. The
researchers suspect that the findings also apply to how humans
learn. Sounds to me like the perfect day of travel away from the
rat race: exploring an unfamiliar place, followed by some good
downtime in the evening. As if you needed another reason to travel,
right?
Eva Holland “At Sea,” Jonathan Raban’s ode to the
simultaneous isolation and civility of the seagoing life.
It’s a 1996 magazine story that I came across in The Best of
Outside—here’s a favorite section: In the society of
the sea, it is the duty of every member to keep his distance from
all the others. To be alone is to be safe. It’s no
coincidence that those two most English of attitudes, being
“standoffish” and keeping aloof,” are nautical
terms that have long since passed into the general currency of the
language. Standing off is what a ship does to avoid the dangers of
the coast; aloof is a-luff, or luffing your sails, head to wind, to
stay clear of another vessel. The jargon of the sea is full of
nouns and verbs to describe ...
A while ago I joined a group of awesome women called the Double
Duty Divas. The name comes from the fact that as women we wear many
different hats and are constantly pulling “double
duty”. Don’t you agree? To help promote this great
group, the DDD’s are hosting a giveaway where one lucky
person will [...]
Wall Pops are easy to use decals for your home. They come in a
variety of styles, colors, and sizes, so you can create a look that
is all your own. Recently I got a roll of their Bali design. I was
happy to see that it came in a nice long roll, because that [...]
Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday.
In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look
forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take
[...]
About the Book Are you the innovative type, the cook who marches to
a different drummer—used to expressing your
creativity instead of just following recipes? Are you interested in
the science behind what happens to food while it’s cooking?
Then Cooking for Geeks (O’Reilly Media, $34.99 USD) is for
you. More than just a cookbook, [...]
Many families are looking to expand their brood turn to furry
friends, which often become as much a member of the family as
anyone else. So how do families decide if a pet is right for them,
and if so, what type is best for your family? Heidi Ganal, whose
life, career, and passion revolves around [...]
In our home, dressing up is not limited to Halloween. In fact,
dressing up usually happens on a daily basis around here.
That’s why when we look for costumes, we look for quality
because these garments have to be able to stand up to many wearings
and washings. Last year we had the opportunity to review [...]
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of Vegas trips and spending
most of my layovers blogging in my hotel and ordering room service.
Today I decided to put the laptop away and get outside. Our crew
hotel in only a block away from the strip and even though it was
hot as heck outside it [...]
Cartoon Network, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
(TBS, Inc.), announced today further details of its multi-platform
Bullying Prevention Campaign at the National Bullying Prevention
Summit in Washington , DC . Speaking to an audience
comprised of government officials, business leaders and leading
educators of bullying prevention, Cartoon
Network’s President and Chief Operations
Officer [...]
I’m a veritable sloth lately. Ever since
starting my blog, I’ve been whiling away my precious nap time
hours (the kids’, not mine) working on my blog or just
entering blog contests (hey, I’ve won some great
things!). But I really need to get moving, for just
the sake of moving around and not totally [...]
With money being tight for a lot of people these day, more and more
families are choosing to spend quality time together in a simpler
environment – in their own backyards. Now, I’m not much
of an outdoor gal and I feel bad every time my kids ask if we can
go camping. However, a [...]
Life is beautiful in Greece. We enjoy the sites the people and the
food.La vie est belle ici en Grece. Les sites les gens et la
nourriture sont superbes.
Hallo zusammenSo hier noch ein paar Eindruecke von La Paz. Die
moderne und traditionelle zu gleich. Die Stadt ist riesig und man
spaziert von lokalen Maerkten mit noch traditionell gekleideten
Leuten zu den Hexenmaerkten wo man alles Moegliche erhaelt wie z.
B. getrocknete Lamasembryode und sonstige Mittelchen bis quasi zur
modernen Metropole wo Leute in Anzuege herumrennen Eine puliseren
After a long drive from Venice to Lucerne we went straight to a
traditional Swiss village where we were picked up by horse and
carriage and served home made products at a local farmhouse owned
by Hans. We enjoyed Cheese wine pastries bread schnapps coffee. Who
would have thought that Switzerland would become one of our
favourite places on our holiday. The next day we visited the
monument of
Dnes to bol nas posledny den v Kaze. Nakoniec sme sa rano rozhodli
ze este vyjdeme k ruinam old monastery a do Ki pojdeme az zajtra.
Oproti vcerajsku to bol celkom v pohode vylet aj ked prevysenie
bolo asi rovnake. Len ta vzdialenost bola o kus mensia. Cesta bola
na jednom mieste zasypana a akurat sa ju snazili trosku
dobrodruznym sposobom zase sprejazdnit buldozerom. Nejak sme to ale
preliezli a
Thursday August 12thWe woke up in plenty of time to pack up and
check out of Hotel Don Julio. The hotel had a taxi come to pick us
up and take us to the bus terminal for our trip to Cusco on the
Inka Express. Although the terminal wasn't far it was still amazing
that the taxi took us and our baggage to the terminal at 630am for
3 Soles or 1.25 US When we arrived at the bus terminal we pa
Hallo zusammenAlso gestern 27.08. fuhr ich mit dem Bus von La Paz
nach Arequipa ich fuhr um 08.00 uhr am morgen los und kam um ca.
19.30 Uhr in Arequipa an puhh war eine lange Fahrt Aber von Anfang
an.In La Paz stieg ich in so einem Luxusbus.... wirklich noch cool
mit bequemen Sitzen und es hat auch einen Busbegleiter ha. ha...
wie eine Stewardess mit Hemd Krawatte und einer goldenen Krawatt
Verse of the Day I Corinthians 1613 Stand true to what you believe.
Be courageous be strong and everything you do must be done with
love. Journal Yesterday I was reminded of my purpose here to teach.
Autumn and I spent part of our morning at school looking over the
teaching materials grades and meeting students. It was so exciting
to think about teaching again I love students After see
Well we made it and Delhi is everything I expected and much much
more. We've had quite an entry to India. Mom and E have nicknamed
me 'pit bull' because I've spent much of our first three days
sorting out our hotels tours etc. Our first two hotels left
something to be desired but after many phone calls and some yelling
we are finally in a beautiful hotel in Delhi. Tomorrow we leave for
It's been almost one week since we returned and the most consistent
comment from anyone has been so then what happened Your blog left
us hanging Before I tie this incredible trip up let me recap the
last blissful days of our journey.I left off as we arrived in
Escalante Utah. Easily becoming one of our favorite places this
town is small and surrounded by the most amazing mountains and pe
We've arrived Our first few days are to be spent in a little
village Piskopiano high up on the hill. We breakfasted on yoghurt
and honey ham and cheese while taking in the fabulous views over
the towns below to the Sea of Crete. Our balcony is shrouded in
bourgainvilea and we hear the sounds of cicadas and locals riding
mopeds up the steep hills.Ok so this blog is not going to be bori
all the brave people I sailed with...click on view full entry to
see them all
82610I have made it to Teramo. I have now been to the international
studentrsquos office got a kit for foreigners at the post office
and found an apartment. I felt a wave of panic as Lucia was saying
goodbye and I had to remind myself that I will see her in a few
days and not to panic. This is about the first time I feel like I
am really in Italy. I canrsquot speak the language and I thin
Hey GuysMe is back in da London Town wicked Had such an amazing
journey 4 weeks of seeing some really great places and meeting some
great people but now am so glad to be back in my own place with my
own bed waiting for me upstairs typing this blog entry on my own
laptop and about to have an obscenely stinkingly hot bath very
shortly. BlissThought Irsquod write one final entry to round
After a month or so of lounging around in Thunder Bay punctuated by
several small trips up north to places like Webequie and Kasabonika
I was glad to hear that I'd been given the opportunity for another
weeklong adventure. This one however would be very different
instead of flying into the wilderness to work on a First Nation
reserve I would be traveling to the aptlynamed road sites so
So we left Limay and spent another full day on the river in the
sunshine heading ever closer to Paris. We passed Poissy and the
lovely Conflans St Honorine an old gorgeous town that is home to
more permanent barges than anywhere else in France. There is a real
barge community here even their church is on a barge We had
initially intended to moor here but found it to be full so carried
on th
We moored up on the pontoon at Rueils close to a gorgeous weeping
willow tree. Unfortunately it was raining by now so we took
advantage of the free WiFi and uploaded pics checked emails and
Skyped Mum and Dad jade Matt and Lillie and Jody and Kate. It was
lovely to talk to them all and to see them Lillie is growing so
fast During our conversation with Jody and Kate we heard they were
goin
After a lovely lockfree river trip in the sunshine and the company
of some of the most bizarre barges wersquove seen yet we arrived at
Port van Gogh in Asnieres. It is a huge marina with massive barges
motor cruisers and yachts moored and what looks like several
businesses aboard the barges. We paid for 2 nights at the
Capitaniere then took our bikes off in search of a new laptop
charger.
LSU football begins in one week. That is all.
August 26 2010 YorkYork is an absolutely beautiful place I walked
out of the train station and took one look and was amazed. There is
a wall that was built in the middle ages and it stretches around
most of the city. You can walk along the top of it but there are no
rails for a lot of it so passing people can be kind of dicey. There
is an Anglican Cathedral and one could say that it is the cent
I opened my computer this morning and to my surprise found out that
at least one person has been reading the blog. One out of 36. I
guess that's not too bad. Remember I asked if anyone could explain
the difference between cute and beautiful Well someone did. The
prize for the best answer and the only one goes to my cousin in law
Ms. Erica Hartman Horvitz Here's her answer. I think it's
August 27 2010 YorkToday was an interesting day for sure. My first
ever night in a hostel was not very restful to say the least. There
were 14 bunks in my room all of them full. Half of the people in
the room were with a group from China. One of them was in the bunk
next to mine and was texting well into the night. It wasnrsquot the
texting that bothered me no more than the other people read
August 28 2010Yesterday after The Fig I went home to check my email
and kill some time there was a man about my age sitting typing on
his laptop. When my pound worth of time was up I turned to him and
asked him where he was from. He replied by saying ldquoNapolirdquo
Naples in a thick Italian accent. He was an apprentice studying
plumbing here in the city or York. We chatted for a while and
Onsdag til fredag har vret vores frste dage p Canbancanlan National
High School som er den frste af de tre skoler vi skal undervise p
herovre. Det er en offentlig skole og som forventet er forholdene
da ogs noget anderledes end dem p San Carlos' skoler som tidligere
beskrevet er privatskoler med gode forhold. Lad mig komme med tre
eksempler 1. Hver gang det regner bliver skolen oversv
Witam po powrocie z W322och. W najbli380szym czasie relacja z
podr380y. Jest co opisywa263. Narazie polecam wszystkin nowy numer
Voyage. Na ok322adce Umbria w ktrej akurat by322em. Taki zbieg
okoliczno347ci Do zobaczenia wkrtce...
18th August 2010 Yekaterinburg city tourWe woke up in the Dacha in
the middle of the countryside just outside Yekaterinburg where
little wooden houses are all lined up with little gardens full of
fruit and veg. Constantine was supposed to have cooked us dinner
last night but since it was midnight by the time we got there we
told him there was no need so instead he served us our dinner for b
Hello allI've been pretty quiet on here since I arrived because
I've been getting settled and familiar with everything plus I
havent done any travelling or new sightseeing lately. Tonight I'm
going out on the town with some friends for the first time since
I've been here. I'm nervous but also excited to see what it will be
like. At the moment it's rather cold and rainy so finding a
goingout outf
After clocking up about 2 hours sleep I made the 110 mile trip
today from Dieppe to Falaise. Very undulating without any single
climbs to get too excited about but still very tough. I'm not sure
what suffered more today my legs my backside or the French language
as I tried to order a sandwich and a coke with about 30 miles to
go. I'll be spending the majority of the evening stretching while w
OpaHere we are in Chania Crete and where do we even begin to tell
you about what we've seen and experienced. Lots has changed also.
We decided to cut out Turkey as we're running out of time and we
also just couldn't bring ourselves to leave Crete today so c'est la
vie. To put it simply Crete holds the all of the ingredients to a
happy life.We have decided to break up the extreme highs and lows
I have just finsihed a meeting with Ruth a wonderful lady from the
region of Lake Eyasi. I met her by chance and Im glad I did. I went
there to vitis the Hazabe abd Datoga tribes with my sister Marta
and her friend Monica. I have to confessed I was shocked and amazed
by the Hazabe's nomad life. A few days agor Ruth sent me a proposal
and I was very touched with the fact that she thought about me
He left today. I was kinda hoping that i wouldnt have to watch him
leave but the bugger came and found me on the gangway. Grr shouldnt
be this depressed. I'll get over it.Anyway on a ligher note i did a
bit more photog training during the embarkation process i think i
did pretty well considering it was my first time. I can always do
better but practice make perfect i suppose. I've got the general
Full scale war is on the horizon for the citizens of New
Prentisstown. Will Todd and Viola be able to barter a lasting peace
for those already on the planet and those on the way?This last book
in a fantastic series exceeded even my highest expectations. I was
completely enthralled, and highly emotionally invested in the
outcome – not just for the fates of Todd and
Viola, but also, yes, for Todd’s horse
(#teamboycolt). For those of you who read the first book (and I
certainly hope you have if you are reading this review), you know
that Ness has no qualms about killing off our favorite animals. And
that’s why one of the thoughts that was
foremost on my mind while I was reading this was
“He better not kill Todd’s
horse!†Anyway, back to Todd and Viola.
They’ve both been through ...
“What validates fiction is plausibility, which
it creates for itself, most notably through accurate, honest
observation of the world it creates. This created world is of
course more or less directly related to and dependent on the
actual, factual world outside the book.†Ursula K.
LeGuinFor me to really get lost in a story, I have to believe
in the plausibility of the world the author presents.
That doesn't mean, of course, that everything has to work according
to the rules of our actual, non-fictional world. But if the story
is set in our world, then I need the author to convince me
that the implausible things happening in the story are happening
for a reason.Dystopian works often take a modern issue and magnify
it through the lense of fiction, and this is always most ...
15 year old Green didn’t go into the city that
day with her family, but instead saw from the ridge how the city
was destroyed. As conditions worsen around her, Green covers
herself in black ink and thorns to protect herself from a desperate
populace, and as a way to mourn all that she has lost.In a starred
review back when this was released in 2003,
Publisher’s Weekly described this as a
“post-apocalyptic fairy tale leavened with
hope.†I mention this because this does read far more
like a fairy tale than a typical dystopian, and that has a lot to
do with Hoffman’s use of language.
Here’s how it starts:"I once believed that life
was a gift. I thought whatever I wanted I would someday possess. Is
this greed, or only youth? Is it hope or stupidity? As far as I was
concerned the f...
Jaym , Reya, and D’Shay are all about to turn
17 in the year 2054, and because none of them have any of the right
connections, they are at the mercy of a government that can send
them anywhere for dangerous work service. When they are sent to
Africa to be blenders, at first they think
they’ve lucked out – at
least they aren’t getting sent to the canal
zone and almost certain death. But they are about to find out that
Africa doesn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat
for blenders…Right off the bat, I liked that I
was introduced to three very diverse characters. Jaym is white,
working class. Reya is a refugee from Mexico where sandstorms drove
out the population. D’Shay is Af-Am (the
book’s term, not mine) and has been in and out
of foster homes his whole life. We see how their...
Can you believe Dystopian August is nearly halfway over? Let's take
a quick look at what went down in week 2.6 book
reviewsMonsters of Men by Patrick Ness gets 5 Zombie
ChickensGone by Michael Grant gets 3 Zombie ChickensRestoring
Harmony by Joelle Anthony gets 3 Zombie ChickensGreen Angel by
Alice Hoffman gets 3 Zombie ChickensThe Blending Time by
Michael Kinch gets 3 Zombie ChickensThis World We Live In by
Susan Beth Pfeffer gets 1 Zombie Chicken1 author
interviewJoelle Anthony discusses Restoring Harmony1 preview
post Upcoming debut dystopias from the League of Extraordinary
Writers3 still open giveaways Win the first three books in
Michael Grant's Gone SeriesWin one of 3 copies of Ship BreakerWin a
6 pack of dystopian books from M...
15 year old Kid lives in a dystopian future where corporations run
schools, using kids for market research and taking ownership of all
of their creations. And if you don’t play by
the Game’s rules, it’s GAME
OVER for you and your future. Kid’s never
really thought about the implications of all this corporate power
over her life until one day she witnesses a prank by an
anticorporate group called The Unidentified. As her interest in the
group grows, she attracts the attention of the corporations, who
want to repackage Kid and The Unidentified to fit their own agenda.
This novel just feels really timely, what with our present
addiction to social media. Kid’s friend Ari
does everything she can to “get
branded†since a sponsorship by a corporation means
free stuff and education p...
Only one more week to wait! *squee*I do have to say, though, the
couple of book leaks I have seen make me nervous. Because I
do NOT want spoilers. I don't even want to hear vague
statements like "It ends badly" or "I love the way the
ended!". I may have to go into lockdown mode. No
twitter, no Facebook, no blog reading until I've read
Mockingjay for myself. Unless people keep their spoilers to
themselves. Let's revisit Suzanne Collins' statement shall
we?One of the most important things to me is that everyone in the
world is going to be able to experience the final book of The
Hunger Games all at the same time, and be able to discover what
happens in the book without hearing about it elsewhere first. Word
will certainly travel fast, but I urge you â...
At some point in the (near?) future, MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer
Online Role-Playing Games) run some of the
world’s biggest economies. There are millions
who play for fun, and then there are the millions of
“gold farmers†in poor countries
who play for prestige items for their bosses to sell to the highest
bidder. A diverse group of young people from all over the world get
caught up in a movement that dares to challenge the status quo,
trying to form a workers union across borders while staying at
least one step ahead of the muscle (and police) hired by the big
bosses and the gamerunners.Sounds complicated
doesn’t it? Aside from this being pitched to me
as dystopia (which, honestly, doesn’t actually
describe it very well) and being written by Cory Doctorow whose
last book LITT...
A lot of the dystopian lit coming out these days is in the form of
series books, usually trilogies, but sometimes even longer (6
books? Michael Grant? Really?).And it can be FUN to follow a
series, but it can also be frustrating to have to wait so long
between books.Which ones I am inpatiently waiting for?
Let’s start with the ones I gave 5 zombie
chickens to.I loved Maria V Snyder’s INSIDE OUT
(read my review) so I am ridiculously excited for OUTSIDE IN,
coming March 2011. And it even has a cover already. Looks like more
“fun†in the pipes for Trella and
Riley. I also gave the first book in Jasper
Fforde’s SHADES OF GREY trilogy the ultimate
rating (read my review), so was very saddened to hear that the
second book SHADES OF GREY 2: PAINTING BY NUMBERS,
won’t be out until 2014...
Vera lives with her family in the Republic of Illinowa
– what’s left of the
Midwestern US in a future where the politics of water determine
whether you have enough water to thrive…or
not. Vera’s family is just getting by. And then
she meets Kai, a boy who seems to have a limitless supply of water.
When Kai is kidnapped, Vera convinces her brother Will that they
need to rescue him, and the two set off on the adventure of their
lives.This one really works because of the atmosphere and world
building. I really believed in this dried out land and in these
dried out people, with their thick tongues, flaky skin and
willingness to do anything just to get a drink. And I am a fan of
anything that frames the complexities of geo-politics in an
exciting way. Stracher is able to weave a convinc...
Earlier, I reviewed THE WATER WARS, a book I really enjoyed reading
(my review). I am excited to welcome Author Cameron Stracher to
Dystopian August today!Reading THE WATER WARS made me constantly
want to drink water. What’s the thirstiest
you’ve ever been in your life?I run a lot, so
I'm often very thirsty. If I'm in the suburbs, I'll look for people
who are watering their lawns, and stop to drink from their
sprinklers. The last couple weeks, however, it's been incredibly
hot in New York, and there are water restrictions, and most people
don't water their lawn at the time I go running. I ran 8 miles the
other day when it was 103 degrees and humid. I don't know if it was
the thirstiest I've ever been, but it was close. I must have drunk
about two gallons of water when I finally got hom...
Cassia lives in a society that decides everything for its citizens
for the greatest good of them all – even who
you marry. When Cassia is matched with her best friend Xander, she
is thrilled. But when viewing her matching card, another face
flashes on the screen – that of mysterious
classmate Ky. This seeming glitch awakens an awareness of forbidden
desires within Cassia, and for the first time she begins to
question a society where the individual has no right to
choose.MATCHED is without a doubt a well constructed novel, hitting
all the expected beats of a YA dystopian novel. And while there may
be few surprises for avid readers of the genre, there are some
genuine discussion-worthy developments. The society is set up to
look to its citizens like a utopia. Strict regulations nearly gu...
Mason lives with his mother in the shadow of the successful
biomedical corporation TroDyn. One day, when Mason visits his
mother at her nursing home job, Mason inadvertently awakens a
comatose girl his age who insists she has to get away from
“The Gardener†and seems frightened
of TroDyn. Mason goes on the run with her and tries to help her
figure out her past, not suspecting her past has something to do
with his own.There, I just tried to write a summary that
doesn’t ruin the whole tension of the first
part of the novel, like the official summary text and even the
tagline on the freaking front of the book does. DO NOT read the
official summary people – you will enjoy this
book much more if you follow this advice.Moving
on…I really enjoyed the
Mason’s characterization. After be...
A question I often ask myself when reading a dystopian or post
apocalyptic novel is: would I survive? I always think it
would certainly help if I had some kick a$$ characters on my
side. Naturally, no single character has the universal skills
it takes to survive the wide range of world ending scenarios
authors have thought up over the years, so it is
essential to pick a good team.So here's who'd I pick:Peeta
from The Hunger Games just because I love himLena from Gone because
she's a healer and you can always use thatElspeth from Obernewtyn
because she can farspeak (telepathy), beastspeak, and has the power
of coercionTool from Shipbreaker as my muscleTopher from Dollhouse
as my computer geniusI asked my dystopian reader panel who'd they
want on their team (up to 5 cha...
Cole has been orphaned by a flu pandemic that has not only killed
his parents but also large numbers of people worldwide, creating
widespread panic and chaos. After he recovers from his own
infection, Cole is taken in by an evangelical couple in Salvation
City who have a starkly different worldview than what he grew up
with.I’ll come right out and say that this was
nearly a DNF for me. At about 100 pages in, I just really
wasn’t feeling it. The apocalyptic setting did
not seem integral to the story, and I felt I had been drawn in on
false pretences. It’s a like a regular novel
dressed up in apocalyptic clothing. At the start of the story, Cole
is already with his new family and we only see snatches of his life
before and what happened during the pandemic in flashbacks that do
way mor...
What an exciting third week of Dystopian August! Here's a
quick recap in case you missed any of it.6 book reviewsThe
Unidentified by Rae Mariz gets 4 Zombie ChickensFor the Win by Cory
Doctorow gets 4 Zombie ChickensThe Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
gets 3 Zombie ChickensMatched by Ally Condie gets 3 Zombie
ChickensThe Gardener by SA Bodeen gets 3 Zombie ChickensSalvation
City by Sigrid Nunez gets 1 Zombie Chicken1 author interviewCameron
Stracher discusses The Water Wars1 preview postUpcoming Dystopian
Sequels6 still open giveawaysWin one copy of Matched (open
internationally)Win one of two copies of The Water Wars (open
internationally)Win one copy of the The UnidentifiedWin the first
three books in Michael Grant's Gone SeriesWin one of 3 copies of
Ship BreakerWin a 6 pack of dysto...
Welcome to District 10! Even though Katniss didn't think much
of our tributes dressed up as cows with flaming belts (she called
them pathetic), we're still 100% behind Katniss, our symbol of
hope.Now if you know livestock farmers at all, you know that we all
really enjoy putting together playlists. We love the Hunger Games
Survival Mix Forever Young Adult put together for Katniss to
prepare for the games. Yep, Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
never fails to get us pumped up. It makes a nice change
to the cacophony of cowbells and rooster crowing.In any
case, I wanted to take it one step further and make individual
playlists for each of the Hunger Games triology main
characters. These are songs that I either thought of
when reading particular scenes featu...
13 year old Matt lives in a world where going over your family
credit limit can have serious consequences, but Matt's family is
not worried. Their father has a great job, and the family
spends and spends. One day, on a shopping spree, Matt's
mother is informed that she has gone over their limit, and soon the
government authorities come pick up Matt to make him work off the
family's debt.This fast-paced middle grade novel has such an
interesting premise, and addresses the problem of runaway spending
that many consumers engage in well. Matt's parents are
portrayed as very, very silly. They buy expensive items they
don't need and never check their account balances even though
they know that going over the limit could mean that their children
are taken away from th...
For my final author interview of Dystopian August, I have the very
lovely Lauren Oliver on deck. Even though DELIRIUM is
not out until next year, I was able to snag an early copy at BEA
and I loved it. Look for my review later today. I am also dying to
read book 2 of this series, and of course that one is not due until
2012. Now, let's welcome Lauren! (applause)What
is about the dystopian genre that drew you in and made you want to
write a whole series? Any favorites or influences
you’d like to share? Well, utopias are no fun,
are they? No, but seriously—I
didn’t exactly set out to write a dystopia, but
I have always liked to imagine alternate societies, and alternate
ways and patterns of living. That’s part of the
fun of being a writer! This concept—...
Lena can’t wait to get the surgery, that at 18,
will cure her of the disease that took her mother
– the highly contagious delirium nervosa (or in
layman’s terms: falling in love).
Lena’s main concern is passing the exam that
will determine her future status in society. But then she meets
Alex and soon becomes
“infectedâ€.Lauren Oliver skillfully
introduces us to a society where people are either afraid of love
or are numb to it. For the past 43 years, the government has
stamped out “messy†emotion in
favor of a more ordered existence. Most accept it, as having the
surgery makes you immune to heartache and pain. But of course,
there are those who resist. As an
“uncuredâ€, 17 year old Lena, needs
to be protected from those resisters, and there are strict measures
in place t...
A few months ago, I was watching a season one episode of the the TV
series DOLLHOUSE (very dystopian by the way - check it out) in
which we jump to a future date in a post-apocalyptic Los
Angeles. The characters happen upon the dollhouse (which was
designed as a self-contained building underground) and discover not
only does everything work, there are even hot showers.
This is too much for one of the characters to resist and she
indulges, with predictably dire consequences.That of course got me
thinking that if I were her, I probably would've done the same
thing. Because long, hot showers are something I'd miss very
much if I lived in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world (unless, of
course, I lived in one where you still could take hot showers, but
I digress...)I asked ...
Back in February, I reviewed Book 1 of this series, and though it
squarely aimed at teen boys and horror fans (of which I am
neither), I really liked the main character Alex (a bad boy and a
bully, but not deserving of the fate worse than death that is
furnace prison) and his quest to make an impossible prison
break.Book 2 starts up immediately where its predecessor left off -
and if you don't want to be spoiled, better stop reading now.Alex's
plan did get him and his buddy Zee out of the main population, but
the river they found leads down, and they are caught and thrown
into solitary. Much of the book addresses the madness that sets in
when you are stuck in small, claustrophic hole in the dark.
Since this is one of my worst nightmares, I really had to
disassociate myself from the b...
First half of 2011ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth
RevisSeventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo
aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new
planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have
known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too
soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a
spaceship that lives by its own rules.Amy quickly realizes that her
awakening was no mere computer malfunction.
Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of
the spaceship—tried to kill her. And if Amy
doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be
next.Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s
hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects,
there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future
leader of the shi...
Three months ago during BEA, I attended a panel about dystopian YA
literature. Four authors were on the panel, but only two of their
books are being marketed as YA: Lesley Hauge’s
NOMANSLAND (my review) and Ally Condie’s
MATCHED (my review). The other two have written very adult books
with young main characters: Sigrid’s
Nunez’s SALVATION CITY (my review) and
Adam Dunn’s RIVERS OF GOLD (not yet reviewed).I
took a few notes, which I will finally share with you now.When
asked why she writes dystopian lit for teens, Lesley Hauge answered
that YA should cover the whole range of the human experience,
including suffering. Her book should create a sense of unease and
get teens thinking.Ally Condie says she likes writing from the
point of view of teens because they are more vul...
When Peter’s father takes him and his mother to
Greenland on a scientific trip, Peter is excited to finally be a
part of the adventure he’s heard about all his
life. But this is not just Peter’s story
– it is also Thea’s, a girl
who lives in a dystopian society under the ice. And
it’s also the story of how they meet.This
novel, a middle grade that Newberry Honor winner Rebecca Stead
published in 2007, gets off to a slow start but really picks up
once Peter stumbles upon a hidden path to
Thea’s underground home. Of the threads,
Thea’s is more interesting, and the novel might
have benefited by sticking to one thread but fleshing it out. There
are so many elements of her society that were mentioned but never
explored in any depth – the matriarchy and the
fact that fatherhood...
What if your hotel room came with a little camcorder to record your
vacation? Liaison Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., not only has
rooms available over Labor Day weekend but a package deal that
includes that tech toy, all starting at $229 per night, plus tax.
The deal: This hotel, operated by Affinia Hotels, has [...]
Is it the rebounding economy or that bouncing black and white ball?
The experts are stilling sorting out the reasons, but several
travel companies say that since South Africa’s much-praised
staging of the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament June 11 to July 11,
they’re selling more South African vacations. Here’s a
report from the field: > At [...]
For most of us, remote areas of Yosemite National Park are places
to escape and unwind. But those same places can provide the perfect
cover for illegal pot farms. Park rangers and other law enforcement
officials raided an illegal marijuana farm (in photo above) inside
the California park and nearby forest land Tuesday and seized
thousands [...]
Bruckner Chase spent a jellyfish-free day Wednesday recovering from
a remarkable, nearly 14-hour swim from Santa Cruz to Monterey along
the California coast, where he said stinging jellyfish were as
thick as leaves on a tree. Chase is believed to be the second
person to have successfully completed the swim. (Click here to see
coverage [...]
Here’s a last-minute idea for a Labor Day
family getaway that requires air travel from Southern California
but zero organizing: Get a mountain cabin in Colorado, where meals,
lodging and activities — archery, canoeing,
hiking and more — are all part of the package.
The deal: YMCA of the Rockies runs an annual Family Camp at [...]
Paul Gauguin Cruises, which specializes in small-ship tours around
the islands of French Polynesia and other South Pacific
destinations, is cutting brochure rates in half for
seven-night cruises of Tahiti and the Society islands. With the
discount, the trips start at about $4,000 per person, including
airfare. The deal: The cruise starts in Papeete, Tahiti, and [...]
Would you attend a music fest that seems to be organized by Travis,
Dino, Martha, Azzy, Sally and a whole bunch of other folks who
apparently have no last names? If so, you’re in
luck. Early bird passes are on sale now for the fifth annual Joshua
Tree Roots Music Festival, which calls itself a [...]
Troubled Mexicana Airlines will suspend all flights as of Saturday
until it can restructure, according to media reports and the Mexico
airline’s website. Options for Mexicana
customers who hold tickets remained uncertain Friday. The precise
time that flights would halt was not entirely clear; Mexicana said
noon Saturday, which could mean noon in Mexico City, [...]
Question: My family and I bought a ticket for my sister, a nun from
the Philippines, on United from LAX to
Washington’s Dulles airport. The only problem
is that we booked the ticket under her religious name, Sarah. Her
given name — and the name on her passport
— is Teresita. She has all kinds [...]
DreamSacks’ full-length silk jacquard travel
robe ($110) feels soft and cool and light against your skin. The
robe, which can be hand- or machine-washed, has roomy patch pockets
and is available in a range of subtle patterns and colors. Meant to
be worn by women or men, it comes in unisex S/M or L/XL sizes and
[...]
The year 2010 represents a golden opportunity for South Africa as a
nation to win not just on the football field as host nation of the
2010 FIFA WORLD CUP, but on the global tourism stage. read more
TANZANIA (eTN) - Clad in their traditional attire, the Maasai women
are found selling beads and locally-made jewelry and bracelets to
the tourists camping and visiting in their location within the Lol
read more
Just over a year ago, I penned an article entitled
“Sri Lanka Tourism - Quo Vardisâ€
where I raised the issues and challenges Sri Lanka was facing in
developing its tourism Industry. read more
United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) and Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL)
today announced they have been notified by the Antitrust Division
of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) of the terminatio
read more
VICTORIA, Mahe - The Seychelles delegation at the 28th COMESA
Council of Ministers Meeting, in Swaziland this week, has
highlighted the need for regional economic communities such as
COMESA to strengt read more
Mexico's transportation secretary says debt-ridden carrier Mexicana
de Aviacion is halting all operations. read more
DUBAI - Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin
Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairman of the Mohammad Bin Rashid
Al Maktoum Foundation, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce
Mar read more
The Zimbabwe tourism sector has raked in over US$350 million in the
first half of the year and is projected to surpass the target of
three million tourist arrivals before year-end. read more
Frustrated by a lack of religiously sensitive travel services,
Fazal Bahardeen set up a company to rate hotels on their
friendliness to Muslim visitors read more
Starting November of this year, passengers traveling to Chennai,
India, will have the possibility of doing so in one non-stop
flight, with Air Seychelles. read more
CHICAGO and HOUSTON - In an agreement intended to address the
United States Department of Justice's concerns related to
Continental's proposed merger with United, both airlines have
agreed to lease 18 read more
EVERETT, WA - The Boeing Company made an announcement today saying
that it now expects delivery of the first 787 in the middle of the
first quarter 2011. read more
It all started with a passion and a curiosity for Italy. read more
According to owner Georgie Woods, the decision to ban boys
– from one floor at least –
of the Best Western Portal Hotel in Australia was based on demand
within the market. read more
The families of two pilots who died in a helicopter crash that
killed 17 people off Newfoundland and Labrador last year want
improved safety equipment - including mandatory helmet use - for
helicopte read more
Malaysian Graffiti artists THEY and Bibichun came to Shanghai to
paint streets and... apparently pavilions. The whole story is at
Shanghai Expo Insights, but here are two things I want to note: 1.
I had no idea the Malaysian Pavilion had been spray painted! That's
pretty rad! 2. If this video got you hankering for more Graffiti,
then you'll be delighted to know that The Shelter is hosting a
whole graffiti bonanza this weekend! Called “Wall
Lords,” it's billed to be Asia's biggest graffiti contest and
will not only have artists battling it out spray can-style, but
also some pretty sweet live music: FRIDAY: Start off at the Shelter
on Friday night for the Graffiti Warm Up Party. We don't know if
anyone will actually be painting anything, but you do...
Photo by le niners More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your
photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to
photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our
site (and here).
And not just because of the extensive and all-encompassing
corruption trials last year! Foreign Policy takes a look at the
Sichuan city's meteoric rise from just 2 million in the 1960s to a
whopping 32 million today, a pace so fast that "its maps are
already out of date by the time they are printed," following the
story of Yan Qi, a snails snacks seller who has turned her "river
delicacy" into a million dollar enterprise. Along the way:
Chongqing's history as an army stronghold, it's not quite yet
"nouveau" rich and - of course - Bo Xilai, China's political star.
We knew that drunk driving was becoming an ever more serious
offense here in Shanghai (perhaps to curb the national statistic
that 2x of us drive drunk compared to the rest of China), but did
you know that being caught could get you deported if you're a
foreigner? Long the punishment for overenthusiastic activism
(especially around sensitive time periods), it seems that now you
could be kicked out of China for imbibing way too much before your
commute home. A European named Peter, who had been working for
three years at an upscale hotel, was caught after he crashed his
motorcycle into a sidewalk. He is the first foreigner ever in China
to get deported for drunk driving. From Shanghai Daily: Traffic
police said he could hardly talk when he was questioned at the
scene. A blood alcohol t...
Congratulations Matt! Our good friend at Exploremetro has managed
to get a million people to download his iPhone app - and he's
decided to celebrate by giving it out for free! Just for the next
two days though. In case you own an iPhone and were on the fence
about picking this up, now's the time to give it a twirl. You would
have to empty your pockets of 99 cents otherwise!
Photo of breast feeding policewoman during the Sichuan Earthquake
from The Moderate Voice Here's heartening news for breast milk
advocates: In the wake of the recent milk powder scandals (most
recently, the possibility that one type of milk was causing babies
to grow breasts), mothers in Shanghai at least are turning to the
nip. A survey by the Shanghai Morning Post found that 85% of 452
Shanghai residents believed breast milk to be superior to other
dairy substitutes. Though the whole thing may just be a quality
issue rather than Shanghai mothers really thinking "breast is
better." After all: About 33 percent of the respondents said they
will no longer buy domestically manufactured milk powder because
they doubt the quality, while 41 percent said they usually buy
imported milk powde...
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