The Onion launches Decider cityguides

by Scott Carmichael on

The Onion has just joined the long lineup of online city guides with their newest publication; Decider. Decider launched in beta mode with a guide for Chicago and covers everything from movie reviews to restaurant guides. If you visit the site expecting the usual amount of Onion humor, you’ll be disappointed. The Decider is actually a serious site, with real reviews.

Of course, starting in Chicago is quite a challenge as they will be up against established sites like Metromix, Yelp and Citysearch. The advantage for the Onion is that they already have a large pool of journalists to use, and thousands of fans of their other work who might be interested in seeing how interesting an Onion publication is without satire.

The site currently lists over 5700 restaurants, but the vast majority have not yet been rated by readers, and I doubt that many people will be willing to sit down and post their reviews on this site if they already feel comfortable posting to Yelp or Metromix.

The site is also missing mobile access which is something they’ll need to get up and running as soon as they can. Yelp already has a GPS enabled version of their site for the iPhone. Then again, the only mobile version on Citysearch is for Mobile,AL. The ability to search for a restaurant or store on the go is something that can make or break a site.

I’m sure that the guide will improve over time, but I can’t help feel that it’s all just a little more of the same. There is nothing really new on the site and it’ll take a lot of user submitted reviews to become a truly useful resource.

One for the Road: Our Dumb World – Onion’s Atlas

by Kelly Amabile on

I just finished listening to some short clips from the audio book version of the Onion’s new atlas of planet earth, aptly titled Our Dumb World. After a short introduction, it begins: “Here are audio clips from some of the countries that matter – France: One nation above God.” It goes on to share important facts about France that you really ought to know. For example, that the leading cause of death is turtle neck asphyxiation. It doesn’t get any nicer. While rattling off the facts about Bolivia, the narrator stops to blow a line of cocaine.

In true Onion style, the book prides itself on offering up incorrect statistics on all of the Earth’s independent nations. (They’re just not sure how many there are.) And they guarantee that once you finish listening to the audio book or reading the hardcover, you will, of course, be the smartest person in your dorm room, carpool or cell block. This is anything but your average atlas.

Sleeping Girl Cam and Big Sheepdogs on Planes

by Neil Woodburn on

Budget airlines are notorious for the things that they don’t offer. Their stripped-down version of air travel is one that provides a seat and little else. And that’s why it’s so frickin’ cheap!

But even budget airlines have to find ways to differentiate themselves from other budget airlines to win your business. Midwest Airlines, for example, is now offering a service in which a camera is trained on the hottest girl on the plane. The moment she falls asleep, her image is broadcast across the plane’s closed circuit television so that everyone can watch her snooze.

Not to be outdone, Spirit Airlines is now putting a “big, friendly sheep dog” on every plane so that passengers can have a bit of fun playing fetch as they’re flying over the Midwest.

Okay, ya got me. These aren’t real amenities. But they are two examples from a rather funny Onion article, Budget Airline Perks. Pop on over for a good read.

(Thanks, Marilyn!)