Raoul’s travel adventures: The world through a pug’s eyes

by Jamie Rhein on

Raoul, the traveling pug may have a future as a dog travel consultant. “I love to travel, enjoy napping on anything wool or with down feathers, and I adore brussel sprouts!” he writes in his profile that also highlights his interests and favorite books.

This dog’s blog “Raoul’s Travels” is utterly charming and a breezy read, chock full of pictures with captions that highlight Raoul’s world travels. Just this week, he visited Zurich where the pig’s ears were every dog’s dreams. Raoul has lived in Geneva for the past three years.

Travel from Raoul’s life is the pace we might all enjoy. Visits with friends in parks, taking delight in the simple things–like a hole, or that great nap in a seat to ourselves. Then there are those dogs (or people) that make our heart skip a beat with a casual chat on a sidewalk. Raoul’s heart pitapat came from meeting up with a poodle who he describes as “foxy.”

As for the people Raoul travels with, I’d say they’ve discovered an excellent way to reduce stress during their own adventures, much better than taking a fake baby around. [Thanks to Darren Cronian who posted a link to Raoul’s blog on Twitter.]

Southwest Airlines Halloween update – looks like someone is having fun!

by Scott Carmichael on

The messages on the Gadling Twitter feed sound like they are all in a secret code, but the only thing I can tell is that someone is having a great time celebrating Halloween with Southwest Airlines!

Apparently the celebration involves golf carts on the tarmac, an airline CEO dressed up as ZZ Top and a Gadling blogger with a yet to be photographed orange pilot suit (I’ve demanded photographic evidence of that!).

Stay tuned to our Twitter feed for updates as the day progresses, and perhaps we’ll catch a glimpse of even more wacky costumes.

Second China allows for virtual culture training

by Mike Barish on

A team of University of Florida computer engineers have used the online world Second Life to create a virtual Chinese city that users can “visit” to simulate Chinese cultural experiences. The goal of Second China, as it is called, is to allow diplomats to gain experience interacting with Chinese nationals in typical settings such as business meetings.

Second China seeks to enhance the Chinese culture training that Americans receive before embarking to China so that they can hit the ground running once they arrive. Unlike other areas of Second Life in which all of the avatars are controlled by an actual human being, Second China has computer controlled avatars with whom you can interact. This ensures that all visitors to Second China will have similar experiences which allows for a more reliable training environment.

The project was supported by a $1.25 million dollar federal grant, so your tax dollars are truly at work here. My company offers culture training for employees who will be working overseas and I have both attended and facilitated some of those sessions. I think they more than adequately prepare people for local customs and social mores. I can’t imagine myself sitting at my computer, logging into Second China and attending a virtual meeting. That just seems foreign to me. Get it? Yeah, well, this idea seems about as good as that joke.

Rather than interact with some creepy avatar in a virtual meeting (aren’t real business meetings torturous enough?), I’d rather speak with peers who have been to China and seek their advice before traveling over there. Or I could read a book about conducting business there. Those just seem like more appealing uses of my time.

Can a virtual world help simulate cultural experiences? Maybe. But I’ll just grab some dim sum in Chinatown and call it a day. Thanks anyways.

Source: Science Daily

Expedia’s Profits Don’t Live up to Expectations

by Josh Lew on

Expedia, a giant among giants in the online travel booking game, is struggling. Sort of. The Washington-based company was riding high at this time last year. Their profits for the third quarter of ’07 were just shy of $100 million ($99.6 million to be exact). This year’s third quarter brought $94.8 million. Still respectable considering the hits the travel industry has taken during the summer and fall. And more than enough “walking around” cash for the company’s execs and shareholders. But the announcement that profits did not meet expectations was enough to drive Expedia’s stock down more than 15%. Though the number of overall bookings on the site increased by nearly 7%, the revenue from airline tickets, Expedia’s bread-and-butter, was down nearly 7%.

So it appears that even the muscular travel agencies of the internet are not immune from these poor economic times. If the “big boys” are suffering, imaging what it is like for the brick-and-mortar travel agents who have to compete with fewer people traveling and those who are turning to the internet for better deals.

[Via Seattle Times]

Shaping the world: The making of globes (video)

by Abha Malpani on

This is one of those videos you are unlikely to look for yourself, but once you find it, it spurs curiosity and you watch with interest.

In around 4 minutes, this video shows how globes are made in a globe factory. With country borders and place names changing constantly, putting together an updated globe with precision is quite a challenge. The video is the making of a standard desk globe. A bit of Googling and I found that there are hundreds of types of globes these days.

I remember being gifted a beach-ball size desk globe on my 10th birthday. It had a bulb in it and every night before going to bed I would switch-off all the lights, turn on the bulb in my globe, and stare at it with amuse as I turned it slowly. I would then start plotting routes and making up my own adventure travel stories as I discovered new lands. I still have that globe and will never part with it.

I know it’s just a globe. But being able to see the world, topography and all, on a scale (rough) of 1:40 million, is pretty incredible. That’s exactly why it’s worth watching how it’s done. The video lacks details on how they do the technical drawings pre-globe-making, but I imagine you would need a lot more than 4 minutes to explain that.

[Via kottke.org]

Oh, and Happy Halloween!