Best Airline-Inspired Products For Home And Travel

Most souvenirs remind us of travel to a specific place, but how about products to remind us of the journey? Some crafty designers have made home and travel products inspired by (or even made of) airplane designs.

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Baggage tag: You can use your initials or your favorite airport code on the baggage tag design of this messenger bag ($129).

Beverage cart: Ever thought those narrow beverage carts would look cool in your home? Bordbar has vintage and new customized beverage carts from 329 euro for a small galley box, 979 euro for the full size trolley.

Boarding pass: With mobile phone check-in, paper boarding passes might soon be a thing of the past. Take your laptop out for security in this snazzy sleeve, which you can customize with your name and flight info ($28.95-32.95).

Flotation device: The same designer as the belt below has taken flotation devices and fashioned them into sleeves for the iPad and iPhone, but we still wouldn’t recommend getting them wet (49-69 euro).

Remove before flight tag: Rather than wear one of those funny-looking neck pillows, use one made with an aircraft tag, complete with a loop for carrying. Don’t feel you have to follow the “remove before flight” instructions though, it works perfectly on a plane or at home ($25).

Safety card: You shouldn’t actually take the safety card from the seat pocket, but you shouldn’t leave your passport there either. Keep it safe with this $20 passport holder (slim wallet also available, $18).

Seat belt: Stay buckled in for safety with a white belt made with a real airplane belt (79 euro). Keep in mind you’ll likely still have remove it for TSA security.

Great Language Game Tests Your Ear For Foreign Languages

Any seasoned world traveler can tell the difference between Italian and Russian, but how about Tamil and Punjabi? Estonian vs. Slovenian? Do you even know where they speak Hausa?

Test your ear for foreign languages with the Great Language Game, compiled from audio samples of 80 languages (just a drop in the bucket compared to the six or seven thousand spoken in the world!) and presented as a multiple-choice quiz. Each correct answer gets you 50 points, the highest so far is 8600 points. The samples were collected from SBS Australia and Voices of America by Australian data scientist Lars Yencken. The easiest language is French, while the hardest to guess is Shona, a Bantu language native to Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Test your language skills at GreatLanguageGame.com

Instagram Dog Shows Off Queensland, Australia

Lest you think that cat pictures dominate the internet, this week the Queensland, Australia Instagram account is being managed by a dog. Jester is a six-month old Weimaraner from Hamilton island (close to the Great Barrier Reef), and he is kicking off a new campaign to show Queensland from a local’s perspective. Jester will be snapping photos until September 15, but you can also follow him @jestergull after his week is up. Each week the photo stream will be managed by a local in a different region, look out for photographer Nathan White on the Capricorn coast, and Moreton Island park ranger Keiran Lusk in the coming weeks.

Follow Jester and other Queenslanders on Instagram @Queensland.

This isn’t Queensland’s first creative way of reaching potential visitors — they held the famous Best Job in the World contest in 2009, now spun off into multiple jobs around Australia.

Groupon Will Now Make Last Minute and Spontaneous Europe Trips Super Cheap

You know the adrenaline rush that comes from snagging a last-minute travel deal.

The internal dialogue goes a little something like this:

“A 3-day weekend in [insert awesome place] for only [insert low price]? Leave tomorrow? I would have to cut out of work early to get to the airport in time? I’m in!”

And while Palm Springs, Vegas and Miami are fun and all, thanks to a recent acquisition by Groupon you might just be adding last-minute European adventures to your travel list. The daily deals company, which expanded to Europe in 2010, just acquired last-minute hotel booking app Blink, which offers deals at more than 2,000 hotels in Europe.

While Groupon isn’t new to the European market, it hasn’t necessarily done well, but adding European travel to Groupon Getaways might be the boost the company needs. The app will be rebranded as “Blink by Groupon,” adding same-day booking to the array of travel deals that Groupon already offers.

While booking a hotel in Europe for the same day when you’re currently in New York might make getting to your night’s stay a little difficult, it could be a great opportunity for travelers in Europe looking to live a little more spontaneously and see where they end up instead of planning far in advance. A night in Paris anyone?

This 10-Foot-Tall Robocop Sculpture Belongs To Detroit Now

RoboCop from PishPosh.tv on Vimeo.

Kickstarter campaigns can bring a lot of ideas to life these days. In the case of some determined Robocop fans in Detroit, Kickstarter has brought a 10-foot tall bronze Robocop sculpture to the city. Though the exact final location of the statue has yet to be determined, this will soon be a permanent Detroit fixture. And once it has found its forever home in Detroit, Robocop fans will undoubtedly begin making plans to visit it. The construction of this project is still underway. The above video shows the current status of the Detroit Robocop.