Category: Travel

Syracuse is Sicily at its charming and eccentric best

Sigmund Freud described Sicily as ‘the loveliest region of Italy: a stunning orgy of colours, scents, and lightsa a great delight’, and Siracusa in the south east of the island has been inspiring people for ever. Local inventor and mathematician Archimedes was famously moved to run naked into its streets shouting ‘Eureka’ after his discovery about volume upon stepping into the bath and Cicero said it was ‘the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all’.

Turning Protests Into Action With Technology

Tweet by tweet, post upon post, and petition after petition, Americans are voicing their views of government with the most powerful amplifier ever known: the Internet. Although we have lived with this tool for decades, the combined and continued acceleration of globalization and technology has opened the doors to government – while enabling fabricators of fake news – in ways that were inconceivable in the age of AOL dial-up.

Mother City is e-commerce hub of SA, says deputy mayor

Although South Africa may attribute a small proportion of total retail sales to e-commerce the industry is growing quickly and Cape Town can increasingly lay claim to being the e-commerce hub of the country, deputy mayor Ian Neilson said on Sunday. According to the City of Cape Town’s economic performance indicators report for the third quarter of 2016, to benefit fully from the shift toward online retail in Africa, cities needed to establish themselves as seedbeds for emerging e-commerce companies, he said.

LoanCirrus gets Angel backing

LoanCurrus Limited and FirstAngels Jamaica signed a financing agreement on January 17, 2017. Standing are Desmond Campbell, Sandra Glasgow, Karey Powell and George Henry, while seated are investor Melanie Subratie and LoanCirrus CEO Michael Claire.

At 2017 CES, LG expands IOT ecosystem with robot solutions

At the just concluded Consumer Electronic, CES, show held in Las Vegas the United States of America, LG Electronics showcased lineup of intelligent robots, as part of the company’s innovations in artificial intelligence and developments in the internet of a thing, IoT, ecosystem. The lineup included a home robot that doubles as a smart home gateway and intelligent home notification center, enhancing convenience in users’ day-to-day lives.

Subway shutdown is chance to try new transportation strategies

New York has always been congested, but lately, worsening transit delays and gridlock on streets have left New Yorkers fed up. Transportation has gotten so unreliable that when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently installed Wi-Fi in subway stations, instead of being excited, riders took the opportunity to complain about the trains.

Arkansas bill aimed at forcing Amazon to collect sales taxes

Forcing Amazon and other e-commerce companies to collect Arkansas sales taxes could generate up to $100 million annually in extra revenue, a senator said Wednesday, arguing his plan would put the state in a better position to enact deeper tax cuts in two years. The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on Wednesday advanced a proposal that would require out-of-state companies with no physical presence in the state to collect the tax if they sell more than $100,000 worth of products or make at least 200 transactions.

With this photo-based VR, you are (almost) there

Jim Schoonmaker had rented the place with his family last June, and by taking a few 360-degree digital photos inside, then linking them together, he had created a tour that included the roof deck, the bathroom, and the expansive living room with three big windows overlooking the Grand Canal not far from Piazza San Marco. It was a sunny day in the Italian city, and I wanted to walk out the front door and head for the closest gelateria.

Skyscanner reveals Top 10 Emerging Domestic and International Destinations Favored by Thais in 2016

Skyscanner, the leading online travel search engine, has put together data to show emerging destinations gaining popularity among Thai travellers in 2016. Japan is Thai’s favorite travel destination with 4 Japanese cities dominating the top 10 emerging international destinations list; Searches to Fukuoka has grown 93.3%, Nagoya at 50%, Sapporo at 41%, and Osaka at 33.4%.

Alibaba Raises Forecast as Chinese Consumers Continue to Spend

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. raised its full-year sales forecast after quarterly results beat estimates, as Chinese spending stays strong and the company wrings revenue from fledgling areas such as cloud computing, entertainment and search. China’s biggest e-commerce company increased its projection for fiscal 2017 revenue growth to 53 percent, from 48 percent previously. That may help assuage investors concerned that a deceleration in the world’s second-largest economy is curtailing Alibaba’s main online commerce business.

Amazon launches Aussie jobs bonanza

Amazon is setting up shop Down Under, with local warehouses set to open in September, allowing customers to get items delivered in lightening speed. The company is officially on a hiring spree, with more than 100 roles advertised in IT, marketing, sales and HR – and that’s just the beginning.

United Lifts Grounding of Domestic Flights After Computer Disruption

United Continental Holdings Inc. halted flights to U.S. destinations because of a computer issue, in the latest example of a system fault leading to travel disruptions at a U.S. airline. “We have issued a ground stop for all domestic mainline flights due to an IT issue,” Maddie King, a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based carrier, said in an e-mailed statement.

Sneak a peek at some fantastic hotels of the future

Tired of the usual hotels and dreaming of newer and better ones? Dreaming is actually one of the what futurists think will be part of your hotel experience in 25 years and beyond. And some even in the very near future! Yes, we’re talking about the hotels of the future and the experiences you find within.

At 2017 CES, LG expands IOT ecosystem with robot solutions

At the just concluded Computer Electronic, CES, show held in Las Vegas the United States of America, LG Electronics showcased lineup of intelligent robots, as part of the company’s innovations in artificial intelligence and developments in the internet of a thing, IoT, ecosystem. The lineup included a home robot that doubles as a smart home gateway and intelligent home notification center, enhancing convenience in users’ day-to-day lives.

India’s first personalised proximity-based shopping platform to be launched by PinCarts

New Delhi , Jan 20 : PinCarts, a Mumbai-based startup will soon be launching its proximity-based discovery and targeting platform to create a compelling shopping experience for consumers at shopping malls and physical stores in India. This unique one-of-a-kind mobile platform will be focused on providing the smart retailing experience for shoppers from both the worlds, online and offline, starting with virtual catalog discovery to engaging them with location-based personalized targeting in real-time and indoor navigation to post-purchase retargeting and analytics.

Thailand Wants Rich Chinese Tourists, Not Budget Groups

Thailand is nursing a slide in Chinese holidaymakers after cracking down on low-budget tours from the world’s most-populous country, muddying the Southeast Asian nation’s economic growth outlook. Arrivals fell 16 percent in December from a year ago, extending a slide that began after Thailand in September clamped down on operators bringing in large groups from China on cut-price holidays.

Ireland’s Favourite Airline: Our readers reveal their No.1

Short-haul, long-haul, frills, no-frills – airlines can impress in any number of ways, but which is your favourite? Short-haul, long-haul, frills, no-frills – airlines can impress in any number of ways, but which is your favourite? Short-haul, long-haul, frills, no-frills – airlines can impress in any number of ways, but which is your favourite? Aer Lingus got more than twice as many nominations as its closest rival , highlighting our emotional attachment to an airline and brand that remains deeply Irisha despite its recent acquisition by IAG. “It’s that sense of being cared for by our own, the friendly welcome and attention of the staff,” you said.

Amazon commits to hiring 100,000 U.S. workers

While many of the jobs will be in warehouses, Amazon said the company will be looking for engineers and software developers in such areas as cloud computing and machine learning. “Innovation is one of our guiding principles at Amazon, and it’s created hundreds of thousands of American jobs,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, in a statement .

Insider guide to San Francisco’s Exploratorium

The Exploratorium on Pier 15 in San Francisco is a wonderland of experiment and investigation – and quite a bit of play – exploring science, art and human perception. Attempting to offer a guide to the Exploratorium is like herding kinetic molecules in a swirling vortex of mechanics, magnetics, chaotic pendulums and gravity wells, which is probably one of the museum’s exhibits.

Singapore’s Garena Said to Pick Goldman for $1 Billion IPO

Garena, Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup, picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to lead a planned initial public offering that could fetch about $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Singapore-based online gaming portal and e-commerce provider plans to select additional banks as soon as this month, the people said.

Alibaba leads $2.6bn bid for store chain

Hong Kong/Shanghai: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is leading a bid to take department store chain Intime Retail Group Co private for as much as $2.6 billion, as China’s largest online retailer deepens its integration with brick-and-mortar stores. The deal to buy out Intime adds to Alibaba’s burgeoning foothold in physical retail as it pursues growth beyond a slowing online business.

Jane Bradley: Handwriting has all but disappeared

On this day 141 years ago, an article published in the Portobello Advertiser revealed the writer’s consternation at a new-fangled invention which had recently made its way into the consciousness of citizens of the United Kingdom. “If the use of the machine becomes general, handwriting will be as completely superseded as handsewing and the value of our present elementary teaching will be much modified,” the columnist warned.

Macy’s, Kohl’s plunge after weak holiday sales

Macy’s Inc. said it will slash more than 10,000 jobs and detailed plans to close dozens of stores after another holiday season of weak sales, providing more evidence that department stores have lost their once-central place in American retailing. Like its rival, Kohl’s Corp., which also warned Wednesday of lackluster holiday results, Macy’s hasn’t been able to solve consumers’ shift to online shopping.