A guidebook to New York Hip-Hop (Remixed)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Though New York has given birth to any number of musical movements, it’s only the last 30 years that have given rise to Hip-Hop, arguably one of the more defining cultural movements of the late 20th and early 21st Century. Though Hip-Hop is alive and well in New York City, it’s not necessarily something that’s easy to pinpoint on a map for out-of-town visitors, especially not like the Empire State Building or Central Park.

Yet a new interactive online database, called Bronx Rhymes, promises to challenge this assumption. The new project takes a closer look at the Bronx, the Borough best known for jumpstarting the movement, categorizing some of the most famous places and people on an interactive map. A corresponding poster has been placed at the physical location of each map point in the Bronx, offering details of what happened there. Visitors can respond to the poster with their mobile phone by SMS, offering a comment on what they’ve read or providing a hip-hop “rhyme” of their own for inclusion in a database.

Anyone interested in learning more about hip-hop luminaries like Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc or KRS-One can find the artists’ entries listed on the website, along with the text message comments of anyone who’s contributed. For instance, an entry for DJ Kool Herc reads, “he was kool like a king threw one two punches in the hip hop ring.” It’s an interesting and participatory approach to creating a tour guide, one that is just as dependent on the input of the visitors as it is on the project’s original designers. It works especially well for Hip-Hop, a movement that is highly dependent on the remixing and blending of sounds and voices for inspiration. And with high-powered mobile phones and Google Maps becoming ever-more pervasive, we can expect to see more of these type of tourist mash-ups coming soon to a vacation hotspot near you.

[Via PSFK]

North Korea border disorder and other trivia

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s surprising; I know. There are competing accounts of how open North Korea is to outside tourists right now. Koryo Tours, as usual, is cutting through the rumor and gossip to give travelers as real a sense of possible of how, where and when you can go to North Korea.

Border Closings?
Stories have circulated that at least parts of the borders that North Korea shares with China and South Korea have been closed. According to Koryo Tours, the “facts that appear to be established now include [I hate caveats but understand why they need to do it]” Hyundai Asan’s day trips from South to North have been suspended, and the Mount Kumgang resort is still closed. Movement to and from the Kaesong industrial park is limited-hardly surprising since the daily train was canceled.

No Trains for China
On the North Korea/China border, travel by Chinese tour groups into North Korea by train has been restricted. Koryo Tours reports, “this is an easier one for us to clear up.” Apparently, this happens every year in mid-November. The authorities don’t give a reason for this annual decision. The only implication is that tourists from China need to travel by air. For non-Chinese tourists traveling by train … business as usual.

Egyptian to Finish North Korean Pyramid
The Ryugyong Hotel, which was left in disarray 16 years ago, is back under construction. Construction efforts resumed back in May, with Orascom (an Egypt-based company) engaged to finish the 105-storey structure. The property is expected to open on April 15, 2012-the day on which the current (and not exactly alive) president, Kim Il Sung, will not be around to celebrate his 100th birthday.

Hotels and Cell Phones?
Cellular News reports that, in addition to finishing the never-ending hotel, Orascom is developing a 3G network for North Korea-a country famous for limiting communication both within its borders and with outsiders. The network is expected to be finished sometime before the end of the year (if it isn’t already) with an initial cost of US$200 million.

Scatch your itch for North Korea

Sign up with T-Mobile, get free companion airfare

by Grant Martin on

Up for a contract renewal for your mobile phone? Desperate for a cheap plane ticket? T-mobile might have your answer.

If you sign up for a two-year contract with the wireless provider, they’ll give you a free companion ticket to any seat that you buy. The offer is fairly flexible too: there are no blackout dates, tickets are good through 2010, you can earn frequent flyer miles and you can fly on any airline.

But there are also restrictions. The biggest one that I can discern is that you have to book your original ticket through a T-Mobile partner’s proprietary search engine — through which I hear you can’t get the “best” prices on all flights. As an example, one member at Flyertalk pointed out that a transcontinental flight was quoted between $600-$700, nearly twice that of which you could pay during a good fare sale.

Still, if you do your homework and find out that it’s economical to book the companion ticket, it may be worth looking into. You can check out T-Mobile’s promo page here while the Frequently Asked Questions page is here.


Malaysia Airlines First in Asia to Offer In-Flight Mobile Phone Service

by Josh Lew on

Malaysia Airlines has received and installed an in-flight mobile phone system designed by AeroMobile on one of its Boeing 777s. Passengers will be able to safely use their cell phones and PDAs during the cruise portion of the flight without interfering with the aircraft’s navigational controls and communication.

The system has been tested extensively over the past few weeks. Cabin crews will be given the green light to “advise” especially chatty passengers to be mindful of others during long haul or overnight flights. The service will be available on regional and international flights to Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

Passengers who choose to use the service will be billed by their own cell phone providers. Roaming, international and out-of-network charges will be applied. Currently, AeroMobile is working with Malaysian cell phone service providers to ensure that users won’t hit any snags if the try to make in-flight calls while in international airspace.

[Via My Sinchew]

Do you suffer from nomophobia?

by Scott Carmichael on

Hot off the heels of my article yesterday in which I reported that 35% of those interviewed would pick their phone over their spouse, I was listening to the BBC this morning and heard about a new phobia called “nomophobia”.

Nomophoiba is the fear of being without your mobile phone. (No Mobile Phobia). Apparently some of us are now so scared to be anywhere without our phone that it can give us jitters that are “on par with going to the dentist”.

According to a study commissioned by the Post Office in the UK, 53% of people feel nervous when they are unable to stay in touch, either because they left their phone at home, lost their phone, are outside the network coverage area or because they ran out of call credit on their prepaid phone service.

While I should be laughing at this study, it actually does make more sense than you’d think; the mobile phone has become an integral part of our lives. In the past, we could walk up to a payphone or simply wait a few hours, but the urge to stay in touch with others has become so great that I’m probably a nomophobe myself. Great. I wonder if my health insurance covers this?

So, let me ask you; do you suffer from nomophobia?

%Poll-19887%

5 steps to smarter packing