tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102991782024-03-07T07:19:18.053+00:00Travelling OfflineOff-topic ramblings of an online travel editorAlastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.comBlogger444125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-62913584254992145692023-04-28T11:45:00.003+00:002023-04-29T12:37:51.409+00:00More Movies to Attract Tourists to the CanariesTenerife & Gran Canaria in the distanceThere's news from the Canary Islands that Disney will soon be filming the next instalment of Star Wars in Fuerteventura, while the second season of The Rings of Power, based on Tolkien's Middle Earth, is being filmed in Tenerife. An opportunity for local DMOs to promote their movie locations and for movie fans to fire up their SetJetters app.This won't Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-63312674390862714492022-11-21T14:33:00.026+00:002022-11-21T15:38:13.399+00:00Golden Globe Race 2022 - Tapio Lehtinen sinking: nobody has mentioned the whale in the room!GGR 2022 Departure Press ConferenceA few days ago, while sailing solo in the Southern Ocean, GGR2022 racer Tapio Lehtinen was woken by a bang at 8.30am. By the time he had got out of his bunk, seawater was up to his knees. It was pouring in from the engine compartment and there must have been a catastrophic breach because within the 5 minutes - just enough time to get into his survival suit, grabAlastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-63351562544420830952018-04-14T11:17:00.004+00:002018-04-14T11:17:54.684+00:00Idiot Bank!
Image: CC BY-SA 3.0 Nick Youngson / Alpha Stock Images
Spoiler alert: Rant coming up...
This is a regular nightmare every three years when the bank debit card has to be renewed.
My idiot bank must have tens of thousands of customers doing the same each month, so why do they still get it so wrong?
All my Google accounts (Pay, Play movies, Adwords, & cloud Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-74695053905439870122015-04-26T14:33:00.000+00:002015-04-26T15:16:58.216+00:00Lib Dems - Pioneers, Victims and Heroes
I know I'm pretty much the only Lib Dem supporter left in the western hemisphere, but I'm not surprised.
It's not their fault but I don't think the general public have really understood the significance of the last election. It was the first in living memory to end up in deadlock and result in a coalition.
For us, the voters, it was new and interesting - even, possibly, exhilarating.
For Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-4472972591108354712014-09-10T12:46:00.000+00:002014-09-10T12:46:32.540+00:00Hell hath no fury like 59m people scorned
So, it turns out there is a chance that 5.3 million Scots (well, technically if the referendum is close, somewhere around 2.7m Scots) may tell the rest of the UK that the marriage is over.
I wonder if they have any idea how that will play out in the short term?
Like any marriage, when one partner suddenly announces they want a divorce, there is real shock and hurt. Multiplied by 59m people, Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-21612418011653163772013-03-17T14:00:00.000+00:002013-03-17T14:00:39.161+00:00Customer Services as it should be
People are always quick, because they are frustrated and motivated, to write & post about the times when companies and organisation get it wrong, so I thought I'd try and redress a little balance by highlighting when it goes right.
In this case the mighty Sony UK.
A week ago my 17-year-old son's Sony Viao laptop broke. The screen went blank and refused to display anything - a bit of a Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-24016341125535304832012-12-29T11:08:00.000+00:002012-12-29T11:10:41.099+00:00And so, the Age of the West declines & the Age of the East dawns
Sorry, indulge me. I'm headlining in portentous MMO gamespeak!
I've been reading the 2013 predictions for the online MMO game industry in 2013 from Massively staff, and it highlights a trend that I've been aware off for some time.
In the 20th century, America was the hub of English language culture through Hollywood, TV and the media, and from its dominant position, it's been the hub for muchAlastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-2728415104116280962012-12-15T14:07:00.000+00:002012-12-15T14:07:48.324+00:00In Future Your Car Won't Work If Its Paperwork Is Out Of Date
I'm just indulging in some blue skies thinking, knowing full well that somebody on an advisory panel at the Dept of Transport will have already been here!
I got my car back from its MOT test at the garage yesterday (it passed), and I was noticing that the Vehicle & Operator Services Agency (VOSA) which operates the annual MOT system now puts the mileage history (last 4 odometer readings) Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-84166664909615579722012-12-09T11:13:00.000+00:002012-12-09T11:19:27.055+00:00"Space Tourism" - Closer, but still no cigar
I've long been irritated by the way thrill rides into space are dressed up as "Space Tourism" and disseminated to the travel media as if it has something to do with the travel & tourism industry.
I know it's sheer pedantry, but I can't help it! (See this rant in 2006 and this in 2008)
It's partly come about through Richard Branson's involvement and the fact that he has an airline (and a Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-6199174500088619812012-09-20T11:06:00.000+00:002012-09-20T11:06:00.931+00:00ebuggy Trailer Concept Allows Electric Cars to Travel Any Distance
This seems like an interesting piece of transitional tech. It's not an 'ideal
world' solution but until the science of battery storage goes through some
step-changes (probably not that far off; superconductors, nano-tech, man-made
materials, Moore's Law, blah blah) this could be a practical way to deal with
the issue of long-distance travel for electric vehicles.
A Stuttgart-based Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-61904135295372240902012-06-28T09:42:00.000+00:002012-06-28T11:11:52.546+00:00Bang up the Bankers!
I really don't agree with BBC Radio 4 Reith Lecturer, Niall Fergusen's laissez faire view of financial market regulation.
In his second lecture (on Monday) he used historical analysis to argue for lightweight, simple and clear regulations - but with tough penalties.
That's the bit I do agree with.
Frankly, an apology from Barclays boss, Bob Diamond, for the LIBOR scam, and turning down this Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-41062167443114163012012-06-12T17:11:00.000+00:002012-06-12T17:11:03.177+00:00Good grief! Look at the size of these things!
Siemens send me press photos from time to time because I sometimes write about new trains/rail tracks and other transport tech. They've just sent me these shots of their new 75 metre wind turbine blades (they've just produced the first batch).
They will be installed on the second prototype of Siemens’ 6-MW offshore wind turbine, which will be erected in the second half of the year in Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-69076769015416404912012-05-19T14:52:00.000+00:002012-05-19T14:53:30.162+00:00It's not an "aircraft carrier" if you can't fly one of these from it
... it's just a 'Landing Support Ship'.
Since WW2 we've rarely given our armed forces the equipment they needed. Just the duff gear that provided heaps of money for BAE in return for a few, often short-lived, jobs in MPs' constituencies.
Some years ago there was an idea that we should build some proper aircraft carriers for the Navy, to replace the toy ones we used to have. Of Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-19430968742489577482012-05-19T09:09:00.000+00:002012-05-19T12:54:51.954+00:00It's this kind of stuff that should be powering the good ship 'Britain'
I love this kind of news about a small manufacturer (I couldn't give a stuff about royal pageants).
It turns out the Gloriana - that £1million, 94ft royal rowbarge built for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant (3 June) - will have help from a marine drive system supplied by British high performance DC motor company LMC Ltd, based down in Honiton, Devon.
Despite being a "rowbarge", the motors Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-72147232469441824412011-11-02T08:30:00.002+00:002011-11-02T08:48:35.630+00:00Thank God for the Archbishop of Canterbury... and the Vatican.
Now there is something I truthfully never ever expected to hear come from my lips!
But they get it. They understand the two TOTALLY CRUCIAL changes that have to be made to our financial system in order to avoid another full-scale global financial meltdown and all that might come with it (including conflict, which is why I expect they are so concerned).
At least I think Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-65043345786355973392011-08-13T16:30:00.001+00:002011-08-13T16:33:05.491+00:00SPICE - Sunday Papers in Crouch End
Sharing the news in Addis Ababa (Photo: Terje S. Skjerdal)
I did something last week I haven't done for two or three years - I bought a newspaper.
It was the Sunday Times. These days, with Murdoch's asinine firewall in place, I don't even see The Times or Sunday Times.
I really rather enjoyed it. I went to the pub and enjoyed a pint and a read. It reminded me that Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-13957856193443092212011-06-12T10:33:00.000+00:002011-06-12T10:33:57.297+00:00Can't be Arsed with the Adverts[I'll soon be moving to a new blog in my new Travel-Lists website. Rather than simply close this blog, I'm intending to change the title and use it for occasional off-topic posts. Consider this as the first of those.]
I started watching the new drama series Camelot last night. It looked quite promising.
Then, 15 mins in came an ad break, and I gave up on it. Pity.
It's not that I don't watchAlastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-31242985011248410022011-06-06T10:08:00.000+00:002011-06-06T10:08:06.052+00:00Shall we rent our holiday villa, darling? Or buy it?
The Istana's swimming pool
Well there's something I've not seen before - a real estate press release, distributed to travel journos.
You can sort of see the thinking though.
The Istana is a luxurious villa in Bali, available for holiday lets and has apparantly been regularly featured in the likes of Conde Naste Traveller and the New York Times... and it's up for sale.
What does the spec say?Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-278811303617727802011-06-02T14:28:00.000+00:002011-06-02T14:28:01.785+00:00Visiting Friends & 'Rellies' is risky for someThis is a bit startling.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is launching a campaign to try and convince British nationals (they estimate there are 12m of them) who might be planning to visit friends and family abroad - what we used to call "the VFR market" (Visiting Friend and Relatives) in the old days - to take travel insurance with them as well as teabags.
They've been doing some Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-59439588846388042872011-05-20T11:00:00.000+00:002011-05-20T11:00:01.127+00:00Your first encounter with a destination icon
(Photo: flickr/geoftheref)
RunawayJuno has written an excellent post today about a child's excitement on their first flight. She asks the question "do you remember your first time?"
I don't, but it reminded me of a couple of other travelling firsts. I remember both having a huge impact on me.
My first time in America. It was Boston and I remember walking out of the hotel and seeing a Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-8016913594770767952011-05-16T08:36:00.000+00:002011-05-16T08:36:41.905+00:00Target attribute - what's the thinking?
How many new windows can you open?
Ok you programmers & developers out there, what's the latest thinking on this?
Site wide external links should open in a new tab/window (target="_blank") or the current tab?
The purists always used to say 'current', but that's not the way I like to work so I've always made my links open in new tabs.
That's because when I'm browsing I ALWAYS open Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-47902087702824504582011-05-10T13:28:00.005+00:002011-05-10T13:42:50.116+00:00Dreamliner represents something more than just an evolutionary airliner I was talking to Yoshimi Ogura from ANA - All Nippon Airways, last night at the APRO (Airline Public Relations Organisation) event.We were discussing the Boeing 737 Dreamliner, for which ANA is the launch customer.As you probably know the Dreamliner has had a less than perfect development with endless delays. Since 2007 the delivery date (originally scheduled for May 2008) has been postponed at Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-28721056127148457732011-05-10T12:41:00.007+00:002011-05-10T13:04:26.511+00:00The Best Airline in the World* (Oops! Long gap since last post. I've been a bit buried recently, working on a new home for Travel-Lists and for this blog. Watch this space)I had an interesting time at the APRO (Airline Public Relations Organisation) evening last night - sponsored by Qatar Airways (thank you, guys) who are, not just the *'Best Airline in the World', but are also expanding like crazy at the moment.Last year Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-24751851960376280132011-04-18T09:23:00.008+00:002011-04-18T10:41:58.767+00:00Blogtrip AsturiasIt's been an interesting few days here in the Asturias region of northern Spain. It's not my first visit to the region, but the last time was very brief. On this trip I've been travelling with a group of blogger friends through an incredible range of landscapes from sandy beach resorts on the coast to remote pastures high in the mountains, en route I've learned how unique shellfish are harvested,Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10299178.post-5199683819621658892011-04-11T10:48:00.009+00:002011-05-20T08:26:47.809+00:00Wave your hands in the air
I have a prediction for you.
Nothing very momentous.
In around five years you are going to be sitting on a long haul flight. At some point en route you'll turn to your companion and say something like "That's the third or fourth person I've seen stick their hand up and wave it. Why don't they use their button to attract the cabin attendents? ... Who, I notice, are ignoring them anyway!"
"Re-cogsAlastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10902040076973941233noreply@blogger.com1