New travel-writing robot shakes up industry

by Jeremy Kressmann on

For travel writers, it’s getting increasingly hard to turn a phrase these days. Pay is down. Magazines and newspapers are closing left and right. In other words, it’s tougher than ever for aspiring writers to make a living. Now it seems there’s a new threat to the travel writing industry: the introduction of the Travelbot 5000, the world’s first robotic travel writer.

Unlike past attempts at writer replacement, the Travelbot 5000 offers cost-cutting publishers the most advanced travel “story delivery system” on earth. Enterprising editors need only program their desired GPS coordinates into the Travelbot’s computer, adjust the “Content Research and Production” (CRaP) dial to the desired output (off-the-beaten path, top ten list, human interest, hotel review) and the Travelbot 5000 uses its rocket-propulsion system to jet off to its destination, returning within a week with photos, videos, audio clips and a fully formed story, ready for publication.

Best of all, the Travelbot’s output is anything but mechanical. The bot is equipped with a pre-programmed database of travel-writing catchphrases, like “jaw-dropping views” and “best-kept secret” as well as a range of suitably highbrow metaphors to ensure each piece of work shines with unique style and attention grabbing quotes. Though the Travelbot’s hefty price tag of $50,000 seems steep, many travel publications see the cost as a long-term investment. According to Seymour Hitz, President of Travel Publishers Inc., “The Travelbot helps our member publications save money while still ensuring readers can enjoy the mix of cute animal photos and sexy flight attendant travel content they’ve come to expect.”

No reaction yet on the Travelbot from travel writers. Ike Anturnafraiz, head of the Travel Writers Union of America, was at the bar and could not be reached for comment.

Virgin America and American Apparel to merge, passengers required to wear leotards

by Grant Martin on

Breaking news! This morning, Virgin America announced that it will be joining forces with long time rival American Apparel in what will be the world’s largest hipster conglomerate. Aptly named “Virgin Apparel,” the new company is slated to control 84% of the skintight-jean wearing market, far ahead of the next biggest player in the industry, Jaunted, which controls 7%. Corporate financing firm Moody’s also predicts that fixie bike riders will now dedicate at least 74% of their travel to the new powerhouse, nearly twice the current level.

With such a stranglehold over the market, Virgin Apparel will soon find themselves in the position to start selectively taking reservations. One strategy to “sift out the phonies” recently suggested by Virgin America director of public relations Nick Carey was to “require all passengers to wear leotards and aviator sunglasses,” a move that will surely create deep rifts within passengers’ ranks.

Set for completion in the third quarter of 2010, the merger has not had any impact on Virgin America’s refusal to add Chicago to their route map.

Shares of Virgin America stock soared in response to the announcement, surging up 14% in opening trading while American Apparel’s stock wedged up a solid 3% in kind.

Crop circles are back!

by Sean McLachlan on

Remember crop circles, those strange shapes that started appearing in the Nineties in fields all across England? We haven’t heard much about them lately, but according to an article in the Guardian’s G2 magazine, this year hikers in England’s beautiful countryside should see a bumper crop. May was a banner month, and new circles are already showing up in June. The article has an interesting gallery of some of this year’s best and gives a step-by-step guide to making your own, although there are more detailed instructions at How Stuff Works.

Nobody is sure when the crop circle phenomenon actually began, but simple designs caught the attention of UFO researchers in the Seventies. Soon simple circles weren’t enough and designs became more and more elaborate. Paranormal investigators argued whether they were made by aliens, earth spirits, or dozens of other possible sources. They tried to ignore the TV interviews with artists who showed how you could flatten wheat into designs with simple tools such as a board and rope. The craze eventually spread to mainland Europe, Japan, and North America.

Some artists have even created an organization called Circlemakers and boast of their work on their website. Not only have these guys done the typical circles and designs, they’ve also done ads for Shredded Wheat, Nike, and Hello Kitty.

This hasn’t stopped organizations such as the Wiltshire Crop Circle Study Group from studying what they say is an unexplained phenomenon. They claim that while evidence such as post holes or confessions by artists prove most crop circles are man made, a minority of circles defy explanation, an argument that is tantamount to saying that while we have documentation for the construction of most medieval cathedrals, there are no blueprints or payrolls for other cathedrals and therefore they must have been made by aliens.

But that is neither here nor there. The truth is not as mundane as the skeptics insist or the believers fear–in fact the truth is even more amazing than UFOs or Earth Powers or whatever. Dedicated groups of artists have, usually for no fame or money, imprinted complex works of art onto the landscape under the cover of night. England has always been a culture deeply tied to its landscape and hiking is one of the most popular activities here. Most of its ancient monuments such as Stonehenge or Silbury Hill are in fact modifications of their natural surroundings. As England becomes more urban, the English are losing touch with the landscape. The artists who make crop circles are bringing their country back to its roots. It’s an amazing cultural movement that is giving the country beautiful works of art rooted in tradition yet with a futuristic twist. They should be applauded.

I once got to examine a crop circle near West Kennet Long Barrow. Circle makers like to make their designs near ancient sites, which is pretty easy considering the countryside is full of them. This circle was a simple pattern, a big circle with some radial designs. Being on the hill leading up to one of England’s most impressive megalithic ruins added to the atmosphere and made the visit more memorable. As the hiking season gets going, I’m starting a new series called English Country Walks. If I come across more crop circles, I’ll be sure to take photos and share them here!

Photo of the Day (4-1-09)

by Jamie Rhein on

This may very well look like the Kecak dance at Ulu Watu in Bali, Indonesia, but Antonym Travel is offering its own version of extreme adventure. For example, in Fire and Ice, people experience fire-walking, ice dancing, fire-breathing and ice fishing. In High and Low people sky dive, mountain climb, scuba dive and go spelunking. “You think of an antonym and we’ll think of an adventure,” says Mr. Gram Mer, the comany owner.

Today’s Photo of the Day is by StrudelMonkey. If you have a photo you’d like to share send it our way at Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool.

People with passports are better looking

by Annie Scott on

Is it the chicken or the egg? Is it the passport or the experience of the harrowing passport photo that makes holders of international passports more attractive than the average American?

It’s long been on the books that a shamefully low percentage of Americans have passports — while we don’t have an exact number for today; it’s safe to assume the percentage is still hovering safely under a third or even a quarter.

A recent study has shown that in a blind sampling of Americans rated on a scale from one to ten in attractiveness, those who held international passports were, on average, 37% more attractive than those who had never left the States.

How can this be? Does a trip abroad make one better looking?

Perhaps it’s that people who have seen their passport photos strive to make amends. Perhaps, as some assert, people with passports are more likely to have money, and are thus more likely to be “well-groomed.”

In any case, while those with passports were indeed shown to be more attractive than others, there was no difference in “tendency to be a totally ignorant jerk when in a foreign country.”