Matt's Homepage

London to Venice – the old Orient Express

https://www.belmond.com/venice-simplon-orient-express/journeys/4_169373?date=29%20Oct%202017&cabinsAdults=1

 

The Royal Scotsman

https://www.belmond.com/royal-scotsman-train/journeys/4_177834?date=16%20Oct%202017&cabinsAdults=1

Amazing travel links:

• TheFlightDeal – Best site for getting the current super deals from your home city.
• Kiwi.com – not sure where you want to go? Check out a live map of cheap fares from anywhere to anywhere.
• Hitlistapp.com – If you’re destination- and/or date-agnostic and just want a great deal, use this. Works especially well on short notice.
• Skyscanner.net – If you’re not set on your destination, use the “everywhere” destination search to search … everywhere.
• Seatguru.com – Indispensable for previewing the indignities of your chosen seat on any specific flight.

Airport tools:

• Loungebuddy – Review, preview and purchase access to lounges at airports here and abroad — both members-only and those offering walk-up entry.
• Airgrub – Pay by app, then pick up your meal on the way to the gate — it’ll even apply discounts for alliance members where applicable.
• Mobile Passport – Skip the largely unliked MyTSA app and install this instead — it’ll get you through immigration a lot faster, as long as the airport you arrive at (there are 21) has a separate line handling Mobile Passport folks.
• GateGuru – From delay notifications to gate-proximate directions to the closest Starbucks, this aims to streamline your journey from airport entry to jetway.
• AirportParkingReservations – A fast and holistic way to book discounted parking near your airport of choice.

Finding something to do:

• Airbnb: Experiences – The room-booking behemoth’s next big play: Use it to plan outings and activities.
• Spotted by Locals – Travel guide apps are a dime a dozen, but a commitment to locals’ perspective guarantees a unique mix of picks.
• Party With a Local – Like meetup.com except only for parties. It might be the fastest way to connect with locals looking to mingle.

Maps/tools:

• Google Translate – Little known fact: Everybody’s favorite desktop translator offers downloadable packs in 52 languages, from Afrikaans to Welsh
• Citymapper – The indispensable tool for navigating a city and public transport — use it once and you’ll forget Google Maps ever existed.
• Google Trips – An easy, intuitive way to get recs for nearby restaurants and attractions — plus it’ll organize all your travel details in one place.
• Hotspot Shield – Free VPN – can help you watch shows overseas as in your own geo.
• WhatsApp – There are dozens of ways to connect with friends and locals, but this might be the most popular and most convenient — call home over a wifi connection and you might be surprised at the (high) quality of the reception.

Twitter account to follow for blooper fares and flash sales

Source

Did you know that Germany is the world’s #2 Tequila importer? A team there used ultrasonic humidifiers to create a tequila mist cloud that rained every time it rained in Berlin. And yes, people drank it by sticking their shot glasses into the fog.

TEQUILA CLOUD // Case from Rodrigo Cantalejo on Vimeo.

My brother and I went to London a few years back, and I realized I never really wrote about many of the cool things we saw and did there.

One of the cool things we did was going to a unique Japanese-style restaurant called Inamo. The food was very good, but the most memorable part was the dining experience itself.

After you are seated, your whole dining table becomes interactive. There are no waiters, just food delivery folks. Instead, you order everything from the tabletop itself.

The table is projection mapped and controlled by a small touchpad in the surface of the table. You can select different tabletop decorations instantly. Even more interesting is that while you browse the menu, the items you select appear on your plate so you have a great idea of what you’re ordering. You select everything you want and submit your order.

While you wait, you can play simple games against others at your table. You can also get live feeds of the kitchen and browse drink menus etc.

Soon enough, like magic, your food is delivered by a runner. Did you run out of a drink or want another side? Just order it from the tabletop. It was awesome because you could order drinks and refills without having to wait until you run out of your current one.

When you want to leave, the bill is instantly ready for you. You can even order a cab from the tabletop and wait at your table until it arrives.

Overall, I loved the experience. It was novel, fun, and much more efficient (IMHO). I’d do it again in a heartbeat, and it’s highly likely I will since I keep getting emails from them about their latest deals. 🙂

It’s always a good idea to keep your eye on opportunities being created by our increasingly globalized world.

These 12 well-rated companies are well known for both permanent outpost positions or just making a few annual business trips for those that like to travel and work.

1. kCura – Develops e-discovery software Relativity for managing large volumes of electronic evidence during litigation or investigations.
   Where Hiring: Chicago, IL; Hong Kong; Kraków, Poland; London, England; Reston, VA
2. Hubspot – HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.
   Where Hiring: Berlin, Germany; Boston, MA; Dublin, Ireland; Portsmouth, NH; Sydney, Australia; Tokyo, Japan
3. WeWork – WeWork transforms buildings into beautiful, collaborative workspaces.
   Where Hiring: Austin, TX; Buenos Aires, Argentina; London, England; Mexico City, Mexico; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Shanghai, China; Tel Aviv, Israel and many more
4. ACI Worldwide – ACI Worldwide delivers electronic banking and payment solutions for more than 5000 financial institutions, merchants, billers and processors around the world.
   Where Hiring: Auburn, AL; Bogotá, Colombia; Elkhorn, NE; Limerick, Ireland; Midrand, South Africa; Munich, Germany; Naples, FL; India; Timişoara, Romania; Watford, England and more
5. GovTech – Transform the delivery of Government digital services by taking an ‘outside-in’ view.
   Where Hiring: Singapore
6. Gett – [Enables] consumers and businesses to instantly book on-demand transportation, delivery and logistics.
   Where Hiring: London, England; New York, NY; Tel Aviv, Israel
7. DocuSign – Serving more than 250,000 companies and 100 million users in 188 countries to sign, send and manage documents anytime, anywhere, on any device, with confidence.
   Where Hiring: Bonn, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; Kōbe, Japan; Paris, France; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Tel Aviv, Israel; Tokyo, Japan; Warrenville, IL and more
8. Etsy – Marketplace of individual sellers/creators of handmade or vintage items, art, and supplies.
   Where Hiring: Berlin, Germany; Brooklyn, NY; Dublin, Ireland; Hudson, NY; London, England; Paris, France; San Francisco, CA; Toronto, Canada
9. ThoughtWorks – A global technology consultancy [that helps] you invent what’s next, and bring it to life with technology.
   Where Hiring: Barcelona, Spain; Beijing, China; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Chicago, IL; Cologne, Germany; Denver, CO; Hyderabad, India; London, England; San Francisco, CA; Singapore and more
10. Ancestry – Helps everyone, everywhere discover the story of what led to them.
    Where Hiring: Dublin, Ireland; Helena, MT; Lehi, UT; London, England; San Francisco, CA
11. Tenable – Transform your security program with continuous visibility and critical context, enabling decisive action.
    Where Hiring: Columbia, MD; Dublin, Ireland; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Paris, France; Singapore; Stockholm, Sweden; Sydney, Australia; Toronto, Canada; Uxbridge, England and more
12. Kronos – Offers the industry’s most powerful suite of tools and services to manage and engage your entire workforce.
    Where Hiring: Bracknell, England; Chelmsford, MA; Hong Kong; Lake Mary, FL; Melbourne, Australia; Mexico City, Mexico; Montreal, Canada; Noida, India; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Zellik, Belgium

 

From the original article on Glassdoor

In the early 1900’s, European explorers were making the first automotive forays into the Saharan desert. Their efforts sparked the imaginations of many explorers – to go further than any known travelers had ever gone before into this harsh terrain in search of fame, lost cities, and mysterious desert riches. The desert environment was brutal to these expeditions and many ended early in disappointment and some to tragedy.

In 1932, in one particularly desolate and inaccessible location, the explorer Patrick Clayton was making the first known forays into the brutal and windswept Saad Plateau south of the Great Sand Sea. As he was driving in one of the most hostile areas of the Sahara, he noticed something that shouldn’t be there. In a several kilometer area, he found chunks of yellow-green glass.

He collected some for the Egyptian Geological Survey. Clayton returned over the next couple years, collecting more samples until 1934 when he marked his last visit by leaving a whiskey bottle with a note inside

 

The Ancient Egyptians apparently found these glass objects as well, using them as decoration. One can even be found in a pendant worn by King Tutankhamun.

Many scientists today think the glass was a product of a meteor exploding in an aerial burst right before impact to the Earth, causing the surface temperature to reach 1,800 degrees Celsius/3,272 degrees Fahrenheit. Some geologists associate the glass formed from such a large areal burst as analogous to trinitite which was created from sand exposed to the thermal radiation of early nuclear explosion tests. It is estimated to have occurred around 26 million years ago since glass was found knapped and used to make tools during the Pleistocene era.

The image below is of the possible crater from the remaining debris left from the aerial explosion in the area.

References:

• The original publication of the finding by Patrick Clayton.
• https://forums.undeadlabs.com/threads/mystery-of-the-sahara-desert-glass.30210/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_desert_glass
• http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread960470/pg1
• Here is an interesting BBC documentary on the subject:

This looks fantastic!

John Thackwray set up a website where people post pictures of their bedrooms from all over the world. Fantastic, and definitely worth a look.