Heathrow unveils driverless personal transport pods

by Katie Hammel on

Buses and shuttles make up a large portion of an airport’s traffic. People need to be shuttled back and forth from parking lots, garages, terminals and rental car lots, and all those vehicles mean congestion and pollution. Heathrow Airport is working on a system that will address both of those issues. The new Personal Transport Pods, or PRTs will run on dedicated tracks and use 50% less energy than the buses they will replace.

Up to four passengers (and their luggage) at a time will enter the futuristic-looking pods and program their destination into a touch-screen. Then the pod does the work, zipping off to the destination at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. The pods are low-energy, battery powered and produce no emissions.

Right now the pods are in the operational testing stage and will only journey from Terminal 5 to the car park, a trip that will take around 5 minutes. According to airport officials, once the system is fully operational, passengers will board at one of three stations and ride in one of 21 total pods. As long as the £25 million project runs smoothly and more funding can be secured, the airport plans expand the service to other terminals.

The Real Fight Club

by Sean McLachlan on

An employee at a school for the mentally disabled in Texas has just been convicted of organizing his own version of Fight Club with the residents. He even filmed the fights with his mobile phone. Five other employees have already been charged with encouraging the fights. These guys are sick and I’m glad they’re being punished for exploiting vulnerable people. I’d like to see how these bastards deal with the fights in prison.

If you’d like to see some good, honest, wholesome violence between consenting adults, check out The Real Fight Club in London. Yes, someone got inspired by the movie and decided to do it for real, just without all the anarchic social upheaval.

I went to one of their events a few years ago and I have to say I loved every minute of it. What really blew me away was how normal most of the people looked. They could be your neighbors or coworkers. In fact, they probably are. Some guys looked like street toughs who went into it for the attention, but the majority looked like you or me, or a slightly beat up version of you or me.

Contestants don’t just walk in off the street and go at it. They’re members of a unique health club in London that offers boxing and martial arts training. Men and women get trained up and then compete in a series of special events. Unlike in the movie, members of Fight Club don’t have to compete, but that’s the goal for a lot of people. The club sponsors several public events every year, although they seem to have taken the summer off. I hope the recession hasn’t put Fight Club on the ropes! Check out their box office for details.

So if you want a true guilty pleasure the next time you’re in London, check out The Real Fight Club. But please, don’t steal fat from a liposuction clinic to make soap.

CitySounds.fm: the sound of the world

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Travelers often think of destinations in terms of what they see: the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, the gaudy neon of the Las Vegas Strip or the fiery pink of a sunset in Tahiti. Yet it’s our other senses – the smells, tastes and particularly for music fans, the sounds that can truly stick in our subconscious, evoking vivid memories of our journey. Those in search of some “sonic wanderlust” need look no further than CitySounds.fm. The new site promises an ever-changing catalog of the world’s constantly moving global beat.

On any given day, people in cities all over the world are listening and making all kinds of music. CitySounds pulls in this music from some of the world’s most populous capitals like Tokyo, New York, Sao Paulo and London, categorizing the tracks based on where they were uploaded. The result is a constantly evolving (and surprising) snapshot of what’s hot in what places. In Berlin, for instance, it might be some techno. Meanwhile in Buenos Aires, they’re bouncing around to ska (?!). Down in Atlanta though, they’re all about the newest hip hop remix.

While there are plenty of services that help you find new music, CitySounds is probably among the first to categorize based on location. And if you think about it, geography is the perfect way to organize for a generation of highly mobile, travel-hungry, music fans. Check out the site the next time you’re eager to hear the latest and greatest sounds from around the globe.

[Via PSFK]

Ryanair fumbles check-in, hundreds delayed

by Katie Hammel on

Hundreds of Ryanair passengers were left behind on Sunday, when a shortage of check-in desks caused them to miss their flights out of London’s Stansted Airport. The airline, which encourages passengers to check in online, only opened 11 check-in desks on one of the UK’s busiest travel weekends of the year, when 255 flights were scheduled to depart. 23 desks were open the previous weekend.

Over 500 passengers missed their flights. Ryanair issued an apology saying that their baggage handler, Swissport, (who also issued an apology statement) was short-staffed.

As of October, the point will be moot though, as Ryanair will no longer offer airport check-in. The airline has also announced that plans are in the works to eliminate baggage-handling as well. Passengers would need to carry their own bags up to the airplane doors.

Paying for the toilets, loading your own luggage, standing on flights. . .what’s next Ryanair? I’m guessing the planes won’t even bother to land, and we’ll just need to parachute out at our destination.

[via Breaking Travel News]

Cheap eats in London

by Sean McLachlan on

English food is no longer mushy peas and baked beans on toast. Cities like London have become culinary capitals thanks to large numbers of immigrants saving the English from themselves. Indian, Chinese, Thai, Moroccan, Ethiopian, and many other types of restaurants offer every kind of dish imaginable. There’s only one problem–eating out in England is bloody expensive!

Now there may be a solution, for London at least. A service called EPok offers two-for-one meal deals at selected London restaurants. EPok, which rather tortuously stands for “Eating Places OK”, offers a special London Pack waiting for you at your hotel with vouchers for twenty or more restaurants offering two-for-one deals, plus another two-for-one deal for theatre tickets. At only 27 pounds, this could add up to some serious savings.

There are a few limitations, though. Drinks and service aren’t included, and they pick the show and restaurants.

Despite these limitations this sounds like it could be a pretty good deal, but if you haven’t been around London much here’s a word of warning. The city is filled with people who have more money than taste and who will fork over piles of cash for any old tripe given an exotic name and presented well. Check out your restaurant with a good website like TimeOut London before going. EPok has started its own review page too.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has used this service. It could be good if you don’t know the city well and are just passing through.