According to an American Hotel & Lodging Association study, half of all hotels now offer high-speed Internet access (in 1998, only 7 percent did). Well, that’s great–now can they provide it without charging an arm and a leg to use it?

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According to a Florida resident on the MIMlist listserv, who also supplied the link to this NOAA image, Floridians are already hunkering down for hurricane Frances, who’s practically stepping on Charley’s heels. I’m guessing lots of planners with meetings along the Southeast coast of the U.S. in the near future are dusting off their force majeure clauses so they don’t have to take the financial hit for any cancellations the hurricane may cause.

Us Northeasterners, who so far haven’t felt the brunt of the season’s storms, will will be sending our Southern friends lots of good thoughts in hopes they will get through this one relatively unscathed. She’s a big, scary monster of a storm, isn’t she?

Update 9/2: Click here for airline cancellations and policies now in place in preparation for Frances.

Also, it looks like the U.S. Virgin Islands were spared this time around.

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According to Fast Company Now, there’s a new search engine designed to find you the absolutely lowest fare, regardless of who’s issuing it (the airline, an online travel site, etc.). Called Mobissimo, FC Now says the gizmo is currently being beta-tested.

I think I’ll give it a try next time I fly to see if it can beat my corporate travel agency’s price–something Travelocity and Orbitz haven’t been able to do very often.

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

According to Fast Company Now, there’s a new search engine designed to find you the absolutely lowest fare, regardless of who’s issuing it (the airline, an online travel site, etc.). Called Mobissimo, FC Now says the gizmo is currently being beta-tested.

I think I’ll give it a try next time I fly to see if it can beat my corporate travel agency’s price–something Travelocity and Orbitz haven’t been able to do very often.

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

From the British chef who brought you “bacon-and-egg ice cream, snail porridge and a mousse “poached” in liquid nitrogen…Heston Blumenthal, owner and head chef of the three Michelin-star Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, believes hearing is the “forgotten sense” in eating and that sounds will add vastly to his customers’ gastronomic appreciation and understanding. Critics of Blumenthal’s new experience have, however, called it a “ridiculous” and “disgusting” gimmick.”

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Does your organization give out awards? One way to create some extra “buzz” about them might be to do what Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention, and the Glasgow School of Art are doing: “holding a public design competition for the base of the 2005 Hugo Award” open to any sci-fi fan and the school’s students. The winner gets free registration, a cash prize, and a place in the spotlight at the convention.

According to the article, the award, a silver rocket whose base varies from year to year “is usually inspired by the history and location of the city hosting the convention.”

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My sister-in-law, who works for a bus company, cracked me up recently with a story about a woman who left her teeth on the bus. The good news was that the driver found her teeth wedged in a seat; the bad news was her teeth were on their way out of state and wouldn’t return for three days!

So I thought it was interesting when I saw this article on the most common things hotel guests leave behind. While cell phone chargers came in first, “’They usually call back for their teeth,’ said Joe Towery, assistant controller at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront, where Towery says false teeth have been left on nightstands.”

Other often-left-behind items include “sex toys, canes, toothbrushes, camping cots, and full liquor bottles.”

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