Weird Hotel You Have To See

I found a list of hotels today that are probably the coolest in the world. Some are simple, some are incredibly complex and expensive - but they are all extremely unique.

The first is an Ice Hotel, built every winter in Sweden. There are hot and cold rooms, the website has tips on sleeping comfortably in -5 Celcius and they even have an ice garage for your car.

I hope the ridiculous Ice Hotel in the James Bond movie didn't ruin this places reputation because it looks fantastic.

I can imagine snuggling up to a sweetheart under the furs on a bed. It would be very romantic - but probably not nice for a long term stay.

Does Anyone Care?

I came across a marketing 2.0 posting today on blogs. They said, "don't talk about your company because no one cares".

I tried to think about the types of blogs I read. Do I read company blogs? Once in a while. Google has some interesting things in their blog. I like that they have ground breaking technology some times, and other times the social impact of new tech.

Well, we have some groundbreaking technology. Our interface is a completely different way of shopping for travel. It's more like a video game then Expedia or Travelocity. We call it "Visual Travel".

Maybe in my blog I've been writing about the wrong things. I should probably focus on how great our site is - and how it can affect your life.

My last posting talked about using "trips" on our site to be useful. Now, that's relevant isn't it? That's saying hey, here's something you didn't think of that our site can do that you might appreciate.

We are still working on some bugs in the system but it's coming along nicely, it is a great tool for a lot of things and we're going to make it great.

A Useful Feature: Trips

Ok, here's an example of a great use of Oistr.  I'm working in my office.  My stomach growls.  Where am I going to go for lunch?  Ah, I did McDonalds yesterday and Ricky's the day before, I want to go somewhere I haven't been in a while.  Somewhere I know.

Luckily, as I've found restaurants or bars that I enjoy for lunch in my neighborhood, I've added them to a trip on Oistr.  That's the screen shot above.

The trip is open so anyone can add to it, play with it, or whatever, here. If you live or work in the neighborhood, please contribute.

So now I can browse the map and immediatley weigh my options based on how far away they are from me.  I find it very useful.  When I find a new restaurant I snap a couple pictures with my camera phone, throw them up on Oistr and call it a day.

Pictures And Privacy

I had a friend today and she asked me about privacy.  We've seen plenty of news articles about Google getting in  trouble over street view.  I think Google is already blurring people's faces but there are still many complaints about pictures of private property.  Some people are saying that they're afraid of burglars or terrorists getting information from street view to plan attacks or burglaries.  

Of course, everyone is afraid of terrorists - all the time, brought to you by the terrorist channel.  Side note - terrorists actually did use google maps to attack troops in Iraq.

As Oistr uses maps and lets people put pictures on the map, this friend was saying are you worried about these issues?

I had three responses.  

One, we didn't capture the map images, Yahoo did and they're freely accessible on yahoo.com.

Two, we don't take the pictures ourselves and we let people report pins that they find offensive and want taken down.  How are we going to know if someone is bothered by something unless they tells us?

Three, though not quite the same thing we're protected as a common carrier.  In the states especially it's like suing AT&T because someone phoned up your wife and told her you were sleeping around.  We're just providing a service that is meant to be used for good, but like many other things in the world (I can think of cars for vehicular homicide and fire for burning down buildings) could be used for evil.

Big Bus Stops

We are currently working on a url embed function that we want to use to partner with Big Bus Tours here in Vancouver.

The embed is very easy to find - a part of making our site as smooth as possible to share with others. On the site every pin and group of pins has a share option that lets you copy the direct URL for hyperlinks or you can insert the embed code into blogs or web pages and you'll see the map as you do above.

The implication for tour companies is vast - make your own list of pins or add material and then display it quickly and easily on your own site.

The implication for bloggers is that now they can show people exactly where they've been and let their readers browse pictures and blog entries on the map, in their blog!

Espcially for bloggers I know that readers often don't understand the scale of the travelling they've done, for instance the distance it is to travel from London to Barcelona is vast at 927 miles (or just under 1600 kms) and Oistr lets you show that distance with an interactive map.

I hope you guys check it out, the help videos can be found here.

My Favorite Hotel Location Today

This is the Hyatt Regency Churchill London.

This hotel is where I would like to stay in London when I go there next. Of course, I don't think I can afford a 5 star hotel but here's dreaming.

As long as I'm dreaming, I'll think of swimming in the massive pool, relaxing in the hot tub, and of course enjoying the vacation that invariably goes with it all. Getting away from work - isn't that what we all dream of?

Alaska Trip, Snowball Fights, Glaciers, Swimming

So I've never uploaded photos from any of my trips. But, being as how I believe it to be a very useful thing and I now help operate a website specifically designed for such a task I thought I might try it out.

Luckily in September of 2007 I visited Alaska.

I was cold most of the time, not just regular cold but that I'm damp and I can't get dry kind of cold.

I got seasick. I threw myself at the side of the boat so as not to puke inside so hard one time, coupled with the 5 foot swells, I almost went into the ocean where I surely would have drowned.

I almost fell off a cliff that I was climbing.

I almost slipped on a glacier and plunged 500 feet down the worlds most deadly type of sledhill, you know, the one that is entirely hard unforgiving ice and has jagged rocks at the bottom.

And for all that, it was probably the coolest trip I've taken, ever.

I met a girl there, yes, in Alaska that I went on to have first semi-long distance relationship with, then moved in with.

I hiked up that glacier, and took part in a snowball fight on it.

I did not swim in the ocean like some of the people I was with.

I got drunk off of rum and coke cooled by glacier ice I carved off myself.

We saw some of the most stunning scenery this world has to offer.

It was great spending time with a couple of Germans and two Italians that were experienced sailors and really wanted to see the world.

It's hard to describe the feeling of being out on the water for 2 weeks, touching land here and there but spending most of your time on the boat socializing and watching the scenery. Spending every night playing some cards or just talking about what to do next. Hiking on the trails in a park, or making our own trails and climbing part of a mountain. The entire experience was fantastic back to nature, amazing camaraderie and the freshest air I've ever had.

The whole trip from Juneau up into Glacier bay is here. These pictures are courtesy of Thomas Seidel and Christian Heger, both of Germany and smarter than I was to bring high quality waterproof cameras that shoot video.

I encourage everyone to go have a look and enjoy the pictures and video. Also to Lucio, Luca, Thomas, Christian and Chris, thanks for the memories.