An App For Apps Makes Travel Easier, Maybe Too Easy

by Chris Owen on

In the world of travel apps, we’ve seen geo-based, crowd-sourced and sharing technology that has opened up a lot of possibilities for travelers. We can automatically create a travel log with one, find a hotel on the fly with another and map our way through unknown lands with ease. The result? A home screen full of apps that demand to be sorted, modified and updated to be useful. But now, in a new generation that leverages a bit of artificial intelligence, app developers have a plan to make that easier. Gaining a mind of its own, your smartphone can do much more than we ask of it.

Tempo is a calendar app that uses learning algorithms to figure out what information you’re looking for, if not anticipate your needs. It’s a first generation of artificial intelligence applied to smartphones that considers all information sources available to present relevant information.

“After you grant Tempo access to your email and calendars, the app searches for all the tidbits of schedule-related information you have stored in your accounts, gathering it together and presenting it cleanly inside individual calendar events,” notes a Wired article.Going to a meeting across town? Given authorization, Tempo will take that calendar note to “meet client for lunch” and add access to recent email, relevant documents for the meeting, provide parking information at the location, information about the restaurant and check you in on Facebook or Foursquare, automatically.

Right now, we would need to open multiple apps to make that happen. In the future, we may just be along for the ride.

Carnival Splendor Fire Explained By Coast Guard Report

by Chris Owen on

It was November 2010 when fire broke out on Carnival Splendor, disabling the 3,300-passenger ship. At the time, the reason for the fire was unknown. Now, the U.S. Coast Guard has completed its investigation into the cruise ship fire and has a report.

Identifying mostly human factors in what could have been an easily-extinguished fire, the Coast Guard report places the source as an engine failure.

“While the fire was eventually self-extinguished, the failure of the installed CO2 system and the poor execution of the firefighting plan contributed to the ineffectiveness of the crew’s firefighting effort,” the report said, as noted by a Miami Herald article.

Initially thought to be out of service for a short time, Carnival Splendor finally returned to service three months later after being thoroughly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard and Lloyds Registry, a ship classification society, which monitored the progress of repairs during the ship’s dry-dock period.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/15/3501875/coast-guard-highlights-crew-errors.html#storylink=cpy

As a result of the Carnival Splendor incident, Carnival Cruise Lines began a renewed focus on cruise safety that was further energized by the grounding of Costa Concordia and other safety-related events in recent years.

In April, after February’s Carnival Triumph incident, when an engine room fire knocked out the ship’s propulsion, Carnival Cruise Lines announced the beginning of a comprehensive fleetwide technical enhancement program.

Part of that program was the formation of a Safety & Reliability Review Board, third-party experts to provide perspective and input for continuous improvement across the line’s fleet. Just this week, Carnival announced new members of that board including a two U.S. Navy Rear Admirals and two airline safety experts.

Hotel Fulfills Guest’s Ridiculous Request Involving Bacon

by Libby Zay on

A man staying with his girlfriend at the Woodlands Resort in Houston may have forgotten about the silly request he made when booking, but the hotel didn’t. In the “Comments or Special Request” field, Dustin Wray asked for three single M&Ms (“One for me, one for my girlfriend, and one to split if we get hungry late at night”) and a picture of bacon set on the bed.

He added: “I love pictures of bacon.”

A month went by. The couple forgot about the request.

“I was quite confused when I walked in and saw three single red M&Ms,” wrote Wray, whose girlfriend started laughing at a framed picture of bacon on the bed. Things clicked, and Wray soon found himself posting to Imgur.com (below) and Reddit.

More people have stepped forward on Reddit to share tales of hotels going above and beyond, including one person who asked for (and received) a picture of a dinosaur on a pizza box. Last year, we posted about the Fairmont Winnipeg fulfilling a request for “a pre-made pillow fort and Vanilla Coke.”

According to Wray’s Facebook page, Woodlands Resort contacted him to thank him for the post and offer him a free stay at the hotel for all the positive publicity.

More proof that bacon and chocolate make everything better.

See the full slideshow of the bacon and the M&Ms below.

Arthur Frommer To Publish New Guidebooks This Fall

by Meg Nesterov on

While much of the world is on royal baby watch, there’s a new arrival in the travel world to get excited about. Arthur Frommer has just announced via the New York TImes that he will again publish guidebooks under a new name, FrommerMedia. The guides will be distributed and marketed through Publishers Group West of Perseus Books Group starting in October. He will also launch a new series called “Easy Guides,” in response to the too-lengthy printed tomes that can’t compete with quick (and free) apps and online content. Mr. Frommer and his daughter Pauline will head up the new company and expect to have 80 titles by 2014.

The Frommer’s brand was sold to Google last year and the print books were to be discontinued, causing many fans to mourn the loss of an iconic brand. Mr. Frommer bought back his name in April and announced he would publish books again, while the old content remains with Google.

8 Hotels Where Famous People Have Died

by Libby Zay on

Thirty-one-year-old heartthrob Cory Monteith of “Glee” was found dead at the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver, Canada over the weekend. Sadly, this isn’t the first time a celebrity spent his or her final hours in a hotel. Here’s a look at some other hotels made famous by celebrity deaths.

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida
Anna Nicole Smith was found dead at the age of 39 in room 607. Coroners ruled her death resulted from “combined drug intoxication,” but no illegal drugs were found in her system.

Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, California
John Belushi was found dead at the age of 33 in Bungalow 3 of this Sunset Boulevard hotel, shortly after being visited separately by friends Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. The comedian, actor and musician’s death was ruled a drug overdose.

Stamford Plaza Hotel in Sydney, Hotel
INXS singer Michael Hutchence was 37 when he was found dead in room 524 of this Australian hotel, which was then a Ritz-Carlton. Despite the fact that a coroner ruled his death a suicide by erotic asphyxiation, fans and relatives consider his death accidental.

Hotel Chelsea in New York, New York
Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of the Sex Pistols’ front man Sid Vicious, was found stabbed to death under the sink in the bathroom of the couple’s hotel room at Hotel Chelsea. Four months after her death, Vicious, who was out on bail, was found dead of an overdose.

Ritz Hôtel in Paris, France
Style icon Coco Chanel died peacefully in her sleep at this Paris hotel at the age of 87. Chanel is credited with inventing the “little black dress,” as well as Chanel No. 5 perfume, the most famous fragrance ever made.

Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California
Singer Whitney Houston was found submerged in a bathtub at the age of 48 in Suite 434. Her death was ruled an accident due to “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.”

Highland Gardens Hotel in Los Angeles, California
After failing to show up to a recording session, musician Janis Joplin was found dead at age 27 in room 105 of this property, which at the time was called the Landmark Hotel. Her death was ruled a heroin overdose.

Swissôtel Nai Lert Park Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand
In 2009, David Carradine — a martial artist and actor most known for his role as Bill in “Kill Bill” — was found strangled to death in the closet in this luxury hotel. Carradine, who was making a film in Bangkok, was found with a rope around his neck and another around his genitals. It’s believed his death was an accident.