Wikipedia Takes On Travel Industry With Wikivoyage
Wired
A dog-eared copy of the MTV Italy travel book hardly left my side during a 2007 trip to the boot-shaped country. It provided the context and the basics I needed, but the downside was that it was six months out of date as soon as it was printed. So that fabulous trattoria was now formerly fabulous.
Six years later, and I am better off tapping a Google map on my smartphone or firing up TripAdivisor to find a nice hotel or meal while abroad. The information is instantly available and up to date (mostly), but here the downside is that it lacks the context and the broader backdrop that printed travel guides offer. What I want is something that offers both, instant information and a broader education on the place I am traveling.
That is exactly where the Wikipedia gang thinks it can help with a new travel-focused wiki, which aims to offer in-depth travel information that’s updated as quickly as the internet.
Greek police beat up another ‘illegal immigrant’ who’s actually a tourist
Washington Post
Even after Greek police handcuffed him without giving cause, took his passport and beat him on three separate occasions as they dragged him to the station, South Korean tourist Hyun Young Jung insisted on being sympathetic. ”I can understand them asking me for ID and I even understand that there may have been a case to justify them hitting me in the first instance,” he told BBC News. “But why did they continue beating me after I was handcuffed?”
In August, Greece instituted a new law enforcement strategy, termed “Operation Xenios Zeus,” to detain and export illegal immigrants. It’s hard to qualify the program as a success. Of the 60,000 people detained, only 4,200 have ultimately been arrested. But it’s also produced shocking stories like Hyun Young Jung’s, of well-meaning tourists who come to spend money and are rewarded with detention and, sometimes, a beating. Ironically, though the harsh anti-immigration law behind their treatment is purportedly meant to protect Greece’s economy, it could end up doing the opposite.
Airlines Extract $6 Billion in Fees From Americans
The Atlantic
What’s the true price of flying? It’s much more than the price of a ticket. And it has been for a long time.
Last year, Americans likely spent more than $6 billion in baggage, cancellation, and change fees, on top of their ticket price, in 2012. The Bureau of Transportation only has data through the first nine months of last year, but total fees are up about 4 percent over previous years.
New museum to honor Swedish supergroup Abba
USA Today
Among Sweden’s contributions to civilization: dynamite, the zipper, IKEA and … Abba.
But only the ’70s-era supergroup rates its own museum. Tickets forAbba The Museum, opening May 7 in Stockholm, are now available online.
The tribute to the blow-dried, Spandex-wrapped pop quartet whose harmonies (earworm alert!) likeWaterloo andDancing Queen enjoyed a huge stage and screen revival withMamma Mia!, is part of a new Swedish Music Hall of Fame. (And no, we can’t name a single other Swedish act, pop or otherwise, but 400 or so will get a nod in the Hall of Fame, though Abba gets the lion’s share of space).
Who am I? I am a typical Gen-Xer and recovering cubicle-dweller who has a passion for all things travel. My site brings a unique perspective that is hard to find online. I am not a backpacker, nor am I...
