Hotels

MPAA Tries Out Its New 'Up Is Down, Day Is Night' Strategy — The MPAA has been pushing the FCC to allow it to basically add a kind of DRM to broadcasts. As it stands, the FCC blocks broadcasters from using "selectable output control" (SOC) to stop people from recording shows broadcast on television. They do this realizing that recording for the purposes of time or place shifting is perfectly legal, and allowing broadcasters to block consumer rights would be tremendously undesirable. The movie studios, however, are trying to figure out yet another way to get money, and they want to rejigger release windows for movies. The way they're done now, movies are... [Tags: airplanes, broadcasters, broadcasts, cable companies, drm]

Unlock doors with your cellphone — Ever lose your hotel keycard? Ever have it get de-magnetized? Both of these are simple to resolve - just go to the front desk - but wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t need to worry so much about the darn things? Nokia is working with VingCard to allow you to use your cellphone to open your hotel door. As described in the video above, the goal is to allow frequent guests to bypass the front desk for check-in altogether. The guest can register online and get an SMS sent to their phone from which they install a small... [Tags: cards, cell phones, cellphone, doors, field communication]

Congrats to Sam Shank and DealBase — My prolific travel entrepreneur friend Sam Shank just launched his latest venture - DealBase! They're trying to aggregate travel deals - over 11,000 at last count i'm told - and shed some light on the opaque world of hotel pricing. Some deals they get directly from hotels - others sourced through a variety of sources but all legit. They use a combo of algorithm and editors. Right now focused on US, Mexico and Caribbean.... [Tags: algorithm, caribbean, editors, entrepreneur, friend sam]

Why you should not trust — … the hotels’ ads over the net… Funny photo (shopped??), sent by Torint. Thank you. @ haha.nu... [Tags: funny photo, hotels]

Acid attacks: terror that's personal — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Terrorism in this part of the world usually means bombs exploding or hotels burning, as the latest horrific scenes from Mumbai attest. Yet alongside the brutal public terrorism that fills the television screens, there is an equally cruel form of terrorism that gets almost no attention and thrives as a result: flinging acid on a woman's face to leave her hideously deformed...... [Tags: acid attacks, bombs, horrific scenes, hotels, islamabad pakistan]

In Mumbai, Bloggers and Twitter Offer Help to Relatives (PC World) — PC World - Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.... [Tags: bloggers, commandos, hotels, indian police, pc world]

US Warned India In October About Mumbai-Style Terror Attack — U.S. intelligence agencies warned their Indian counterparts in mid-October of a potential attack "from the sea against hotels and business centers in Mumbai," a U.S. intelligence official tells ABCNews.com. A second government source say specific locations, including the Taj hotel, were listed in the U.S. warning. One month later, Nov. 18, Indian intelligence also intercepted a satellite phone call to a number in Pakistan known to be used by a leader of the terror group, Lashkar e Taiba, believed responsible for the weekend attack, Indian intelligence officials say. The Indian intercept also revealed a possible sea-borne attack, the officials say.... [Tags: business centers, government source, hotels, india, indian counterparts]

Mobile Ad Spend, Marketing On Hold for '09? — The day after Thanksgiving, J.C. Penney customers were roused with a wake-up call. The service one might find at most high-end hotels was provided free of charge as part of a Black Friday mobile marketing push. Consumers were invited to go to JCP.com and sign up for the call, along with SMS shopping tips and sales alerts.... [Tags: black friday, consumers, day after thanksgiving, hotels, j c penney]

What's New in San Francisco Area Hotels — The city and neighboring wine country offer California luxury though a mix of high-tech high-rises and down-home villas.... [Tags: california luxury, high rises, hotels, san francisco area, wine country]

In Mumbai, Bloggers and Twitter Offer Help to Relatives (PC World) — PC World - Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.... [Tags: bloggers, commandos, hotels, indian police, pc world]

Mumbai Terrorists Watch World React With Horror Using BlackBerrys [BlackBerry] — The terrorists in Mumbai might have committed inhuman acts, but in at least one way, they are just like you and me. When authorities cut the cable feeds to the hotels where the terrorists held over 200 hostages, they relied on another piece technology to monitor the police response and the world's reaction to the attacks: BlackBerrys. Commandos were not only surprised to find the devices in the terrorists' rucksacks, but that they used the internet to look beyond local Indian media for information, watching the global reaction in real-time as well. It's somewhat striking that the terrorists' use of... [Tags: acts, authorities, blackberry, caves, cellphones]

In Mumbai, Bloggers and Twitter Offer Help to Relatives (PC World) — PC World - Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.... [Tags: bloggers, commandos, hotels, indian police, pc world]

Hotels offer stars secret cheap deals — WHEN 50 Cent, the world’s biggest rap star, checks in to the five-star May Fair hotel in London’s West End this week he is likely to discover his bill has been cut by at least 50%.... [Tags: 50 cent, cheap deals, checks, five star, hotel in london]

Indian troops raid hotels — Rabbi among hostages; Some hostages freed; Pakistani boat searched.... [Tags: hostages, hotels, indian troops, rabbi]

Water, Water, Everywhere, nor Any a Drop to Drink — Photo by Pete Oxford The Trouble with Water in the Galapagos Please Use Only as Much Water as You Need. Conserve Water. In the Galapagos, slogans like these are ubiquitous in tourist-heavy zones—the messages these appear on door-hangers in hotels, introductory speeches on cruise ships, and travel pamphlets all over the islands. And though the plea is inserted into lightly worded tourist literature, the problem with water is among the most severe and urgent issues facing the Galapagos Islands. ...... [Tags: cruise ships, door hangers, galapagos islands, hotels, introductory speeches]

NYPD on alert for Mumbai-like attacks — A Brooklyn rabbi and his wife were found among the dead in a series of terrorist attacks in India that have claimed more than 150 lives. In response to the attacks, the NYPD beefed up patrols around large hotels and Jewish centers, including the Lubavitch headquarters, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.... [Tags: brooklyn, hotels, jewish centers, mumbai, nypd]

In Mumbai, Bloggers and Twitter Offer Help to Relatives (PC World) — PC World - Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.... [Tags: bloggers, commandos, hotels, indian police, pc world]

Late Wednesday night, Mumbai, India found itself the target of a ferocious terrorist attack, and the situation remains unresolved even now, three days later. According to reports, upwards of 60 young men entered Mumbai in small inflatable boats on Wednesday night, carrying bags filled with weapons and ammunition, and spread out to nine locations to begin their attacks. Lobbing grenades and firing their weapons, they entered hotels, a railway station and several other buildings, killing scores and wounding even more. As of this moment, the identity of the attackers has yet to be definitively determined, though there are reports indicating... [Tags: ammunition, arko datta, attackers, grenades, gunmen]

New foreclosures to hit retail — (CBS/AP) Black Friday's retail shoppers hunting for holiday bargains won't be enough to stave off what's likely to become the next economic crisis. Malls from Michigan to Georgia are entering foreclosure, commercial victims of the same events poisoning the housing market. Hotels in Tucson, Ariz., and Hilton Head, S.C., also are about to default on their mortgages.... [Tags: black friday, cbs, economic crisis, foreclosure, foreclosures]

In Mumbai, Bloggers and Twitter Offer Help to Relatives (PC World) — PC World - Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.... [Tags: bloggers, commandos, hotels, indian police, pc world]