Gadlinks for Friday 11.20.09

by Brenda Yun on

We’re less than a week away from Thanksgiving (gasp!). One thing I’m thankful for: Thanksgiving doesn’t involve giving gifts. I still have another month to thinking about gifts (thank God!). Here are some other things to be thankful for.

‘Til Monday, have a great weekend!

More Gadlinks HERE.

Gadlinks for Wednesday 11.18.09

by Brenda Yun on

We’re halfway through November. For those of you living in the northern hemisphere, if you haven’t felt winter yet, you will soon! Here in Hawaii, winter is rainier but the waves are bigger and better. I guess that goes for most parts of the world: the weather may stink, but there’s always a bright side. Here are some semi-bright travel reads for today’s installment of Gadlinks. Enjoy!

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks HERE.

7,000 gold-digging Chinese women apply for a matchmaking cruise

by Annie Scott on

The JiaYuan matchmaking service in China is hosting a modern-day Cinderella ball. And friends, it’s a juicy one.

Basically, they’re taking applications to fill 80 spaces: 40 men and 40 women. The men must be worth over $7 million, and the women, well … “they will be stringently screened for their looks, physique and intellect, with marriage counselors on hand to judge whether they are ‘kind, gentle and tasteful,'” organizer Cheng Yongsheng told the Xinhua news agency, according to Reuters.

Apparently, after last year’s event (which includes a banquet, a ball, a five-star hotel and a cruise, all over the course of just two days), ten couples began dating and one couple has even gotten married. It’s like a reality show without the cameras.

Over 7,000 women in China have reportedly applied. Seven thousand! If you’re “kind, gentle and tasteful,” maybe you should, too. But you’re going to have to speak Chinese to navigate the website, and you’re also going to have to admit to yourself that you’re a gold-digger.

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If you’re into this, you should also check out Mike Barish’s article on Air New Zealand’s matchmaking flight.
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Going to Yosemite? Don’t take the minivan!

by Katie Hammel on

One of the great draws of visiting a National Park like Yosemite in California is that you can get very close to nature and see animals in their own habitat. But there is a limit to just how close you want to get to certain animals, especially black bears, which can be dangerous to both humans and cars as they look for food.

There are several ways to reduce your risk of having an unpleasant encounter with a black bear, and as it turns out, not driving a mini van may be one of them.

A study done by the Journal Mammology over a 7 year period in Yosemite has shown that black bears in the region seem to prefer minivans as their vehicle of choice when looking for a snack. But, the study reveals, it’s not actually the car style and size the bears are attracted to (and no, they don’t care about the car’s crash safety ratings either), it’s more about fuel efficiency. And by “fuel efficiency”, they mean which cars provide the most food for the bears.

It seems that minivan drivers are more likely to be traveling with a family and toting around small children – children who inevitably leave open snack containers in the car or who leave a trail of chips and cookies behind them.

The researchers also hypothesized that minivans that often carry small children may have stronger food odors even when there is no food inside, because kids are likely to spill, and that minivans may be more likely to contain a cooler of food, because they are larger and can accommodate one more easily. The researchers also wondered if minivans were just easier for the bears to break into.

Out of 908 cars broken into in the 7 year period, 22% were minivans, 22.5% were SUVs, 17% were small cars and 13.7% were sedans.

Shanghai to get a Disney theme park: Does it need one?

by Jamie Rhein on

In five to six years, Shanghai will have joined Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris as a city out of the U.S. with a Disney theme park. China may or may not need a Disney theme park, but Disney’s aim is that the Shanghai location will help create a mighty want for Disney products among the country’s population.

With 1.5 billion people in China, Disney is hoping that the big bucks it will cost to dazzle the multitudes will pay off in other avenues. As anyone who has ever been to a Disney property knows, the theme park is not just a way to be wowed for a day or two; it’s a gateway into other Disney habits. The hope is that the wow moments are enough to make you crave more.

For example, not only is the Pirates of the Caribbean ride now one more place to get a Johnny Depp fix as Captain Jack Sparrow, it’s a marketing tool for all things having to do with the movie. As Depp, aka, Captain Jack Sparrow makes appearances throughout the ride, and then talks so provocatively right before the end, the connection to the movie is not subliminal advertising–the type where an image triggers off our subconscious.

Nope, by the time we climb out of the ride at the gift shop, it’s no surprise to see shelves laced with every sort of Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise that has ever been cranked out. (Ironically, most of it is probably cranked out in China.) There’s no other way to end this particular ride but to push on through the gift shop, not the easiest thing to do without a purchase when one has a child in tow who now has Captain Jack Sparrow on the brain.

Disney is hoping that the Chinese families who fork out the money to enter its theme park will leave wanting more Disney. DVDs, video games, touring musicals and more are the perfect Disney fix for creating some of Disney’s magic back at home.

For the Chinese government, the hope is that Disney in Shanghai will provide tens of thousands of jobs for people who are in need of viable employment.

Because it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks sometimes, this Disney park will incorporate Chinese history and stories into some of its attractions. Many classic Disney rides will be included. I bet Captain Jack Sparrow will be speaking Chinese. Ni hao, Johnny!