Do you have a message you’d like to share with the world, or at least New York’s Times Square revelers, on New Year’s Eve? This year, you can get your message printed on a piece of confetti by typing in your wish on “Wishing Wall Online.” I just sent a few.

Here’s a guideline to tipping in foreign countries from FlyerTalk that could come in handy. Just keep in mind that it is list of guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules (read the comments for objections). Still, I think it’s well worth checking out.

Thanks to Jim Lewis of the wondrous MeCo listserv for the pointer!

Brought to you courtesy of TripAdvisor: Funniest traveler comments of 2007. My favorite:

“Time could be spent pondering over the meaning of some of the many safety signs around the complex. Out of the several we managed to identify, the two we found to be of greatest use were 1. Not to step on any crocodiles whilst bare foot, and 2. No ugly, or spotty children to frequent the pool.”

This is so off-topic, but I just ran across this 404 site (you know, the page you land on when the server can’t find the site you clicked on) and had to share. What a crack-up!

This sounds like a bad Mainer joke, but it’s true according to this article: Lobster serves as role model for new x-ray device. From the article:

The lobster is at the forefront of the next new weapon in the war on terror: a handheld device that could help Homeland Security agents see through wood, concrete and steel.

Technology based on the crustacean’s uncanny ability to see through dark, cloudy, deep sea water is guiding scientists funded by the government in the early stages of developing a ray that one day could be used by border agents, airport screeners and the Coast Guard.

Phew. When I first ran across this one, I had a horrible image of TSA agents waving lobster claws to hand-scan air passengers…

From Phil Dourado:

“A Harvard Business School study looked at job satisfaction. Orchestra players came just below prison guards. Chamber musicians came in at number 1. What’s the difference? The presence of a conductor.”
Boston Philharmonic Conductor Ben Zander, speaking at Leaders in London 2007

Something to ponder not just when it comes to leadership, but also to how you conduct your meetings (pun intended&@8212;sorry about that). Satisfaction, not to mention learning, may be coming from something other than great keynoters and well-orchestrated events (oops, did it again). Another argument for open-space meetings?

Thanks to Johnnie Moore for the pointer.

and they’re not all that great. Take this one from CNet News, which starts like this:

The biggest problem with JetBlue’s inaugural “BetaBlue” flight, equipped with Yahoo and BlackBerry e-mail and instant messaging, was the fact that there aren’t power outlets on board the aircraft.

I’m with Jason over at InFlightHQ on this one:

If I were running an airline, I’d be approaching my service offerings by asking myself a question: if someone put me in a room for six hours and allowed me to bring only what I could easily carry on my person, what would I want in that room?

The list is pretty short, and in order of importance:

* A bathroom
* A power outlet
* The internet
* Snacks

You got that, I’m happy.

I’d put snacks above power outlets and the Internet in the hierarchy, and add a book, but that does pretty much nail it. Oh, and getting there safely.

to share a couple of great bits from one of my favorite sites, Indexed:

That’s according to Associated Press-Ipsos poll. Only FEMA is less popular with the public, it seems.

A review of complaints the traveling public lodged with TSA in September helps explain the low standing. While passengers generally understand TSA’s mission, they could do without certain parts of the pre-boarding experience.

Take, for example, a mother and daughter traveling out of the Dallas/Fort Worth airport on Sept. 4. In an e-mailed complaint to TSA, the mother said the TSA screener was rude and inconsiderate. While she was in secondary screening, the mother was made to face away from her daughter. “Someone could have taken my daughter,” the woman wrote. “I understand you have to have security, but your people don’t need to be rude!!!”

On Sept. 3, a man leaving Orlando, filed a lengthy complaint because he said a screener touched him “like no man ever has — not even my doctor.” “This type of bodily inspection, privately or publicly, is undignified,” he wrote. “Have terrorists succeeded in making us that scared of each other?”

While some cities are pulling back on their convention center expansion plans, Corporate Planners Unlimited has no such qualms—at least not in cyberspace.

Pictured: Dan Parks and Joan Eisenstodt breaking virtual ground

In January Dan Parks of Corporate Planners Unlimited will launch the Virtualis Convention Center in the online world Second Life. (This is in addition to the MeCo mansion, a Second Life gathering place Parks helped to launch for the MeCo listserv that has so many interesting nooks, crannies, and meetings-related information that it’s worth saddling up your avatar and taking a gander around.) From the press release:

Virtualis is the largest public convention center in Second Life and boasts state-of-the art virtual facilities with educational breakout rooms, a grand ballroom, exhibition hall and the Eisenstodt Learning and Community Matters Center…

[Virtualis creator Dan Parks, CPU President/Creative Director, says,] “When our society is full of security and cost issues in the world of travel, this is the optimum time to expand into the safe and exciting new world of Virtualis. Virtual technology is not new to our younger generation and the transition of learning modules into the Second Life setting will be natural and expected.”

Click here for the specs, and more about the center. Sounds very cool to me!

P.S. This post has been updated: Shame on me for not paying closer attention when I read the release. I initially thought this was another MeCo endeavor a la the Mansion, but it’s Dan and his company flying solo on this one. The energy this guy is putting into Second Life just amazes me.