Beneath Da Surface

The future is astonishing as it is mysterious, but the best thing to do is to not know our future before we get to experience it, or else we fall prey to living only to the pretext of the future. But it is nice to know a few things, especially the technology and other things the future holds for humanity. Here are some of them I read from popular mechanics.

1. Language
The US’ DARPA and Internet giant Google is continuing efforts to bring the famous translation service from web browsers to application with smartphones and microphones. You could use your phone as a personal translator, especially in travels where the native language is difficult to understand.

2. Climate Controlled Jackets
It’s hot or cold, and when it’s hot, we take off jackets. Now a climate-controlled jacket allows you to look cool while feeling cool on a hot weather. If you think this is just a novelty, its applications on military operations will help soldiers stay afoot longer. It will even help them become comfortable.

3. Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology, while remaining a big, ethical concern, could be used in medicine and surgical operations that require precision. It can help deliver medication directly to the troubled cells. It could also help destroy malignant cells and even viruses through external controls, should the technology become developed.

I am not about to sales talk you into travelling using my services. As I have said before, I’d like to keep this blog mine, and my job as it is. I’m a travel agent, and I myself find it lovely to travel. I say it to all my clients, not just because I can get commission, but because travelling is enjoyable for these personal reasons.

1. Skills
Traveling is not just about finding leisure; it is also about enjoying the new routine and place presented before you. Just like how you were when you first got a job, travelling makes you adjust to a new routine while you are in location. You will learn a new skill every single day, especially if you’re spending your vacation skiing, or snorkelling deep into waters.

2. Sights
Many people also like to know the history behind the country they are visiting. The sights and sounds of places in the world are different from one another. Museums are a great place to start, but I would recommend going for the natural treasures, namely lands, that the country has. Those sights make it more memorable and enjoyable to remain in-country.

3. Culture
You will learn a new language if you want to know more about the history of your vacation spot. Knowing about the vacation spot and its culture takes knowing how to respect the culture, observe their customs and live as the locals would while you are staying.

Tesla zoomed its way up the ranks of great automakers after it introduced an original Nikola-Tesla designed engine into their new Tesla Model S series. It had become all the rage in the car industry today, changing consumer views regarding mileage and battery storage. In the northeast of the United States, Superchargers, which Tesla announced will become a free service, ensures that your 260 miles will continue forward. They will be like catapults bouncing you off towards your destination.

According to a creative review of the Tesla Model S by The Oatmeal’s very own artist, the Tesla Model S is a car that had crushed a machine intended to destroy it. The safety of the vehicle is impeccable. The Oatmeal described the vehicle as being built “like a tank.”

One of the main innovations of the vehicle is the total redesign of the dashboard into a touchscreen menu. Reviewers highlighted this as similar to what a futuristic vehicle would feel and do like. According to them it is also innovative because it handles the fusion of cars and computers effectively.

It also has an ultra-quiet, zero-emission driving system. At virtually $89,650 (£53,267), you get a vehicle that will not just save the earth, but save you money, and potentially save your life from the dangers of the road.

A regulatory loophole called “Alternative Redress” allows banks to recompense their consumers by taking a single-premium PPI policy, paid in full by consumers, as a regular-premium PPI policy. Regular-premium policies cost less than a single-premium policies, which means if you received £2,870 it might not be the actual total for your compensation.

The Guardian had exposed the Lloyds Banking Group’s exploitation of this loophole, allowing them to save millions of pounds in refunding PPI to consumers. According to Cliff D’Arcy, a journalist who specializes in financial services, it is a new scandal “coming out of a scandal”, which is the mis sold PPI troubling millions of UK consumers.

The Financial Ombudsman even acknowledged the existence of alternative redress complaints. The FOS described it as a small number of complaints that progressively increased in number.

According to The Mirror, Barclays, Lloyds and RBS have exploited the loophole as well in different dates. Those who had claimed from Lloyds since February 2013 may be short-changed, for Barclays, October 2012-2013, for RBS, since January 2013.

According to claims handling company Payment Protection Insurance Claims Co, if your letter contained phrases such as “alternative redress” or “comparative redress”, you could process your refund further as these are evidences that you have received a lesser refund.

Couponing is not just for supermarkets and malls, it is also for travellers looking for an affordable vacation. But some wonder how resorts can afford to provide 70% to even 90% discounts despite the luxurious services they offer. As a travel agent, I can offer an explanation.

Vacation spots are commonly seasonal. If there is no snow in Europe, skiing resorts will have to close down and offer new services, which they do not conventionally offer, which will often cost less. Whatever these activities may be, I do not know, but they will not par the experience of skiing and snow sports.

Another reason is that it helps with their upkeep. Every business expects a certain number of consumers for their services. With a specific number of people who bought the coupons for a vacation in their resorts, businesses can rest easy and advertise more or less to profit better during the peak season.

Coupons are also a form of advertisements. With low prices, people can try out the resort’s services and should they find the services compelling, they may even want to do so even without coupons, which helps the business flourish.

However, most resorts will only provide a limited number of coupons for consumers because it could cost them their business.

Now I know you might think a travel agent is not reliable to give you tips about making pleasure your income because it is a form of a corporate occupation, but we have many ideas regarding making pleasures earn you the income you want while doing what you want. Why we aren’t doing these is because we are already finding pleasures in our occupation, at least that’s how I look at it.

Travelling is a pleasure and is particularly the easiest to earn income. We all recognize the internet as a highway of information and a larger spotlight that anybody could get for him or herself. By starting your own website or blog, you could gain many followers to read about your stories, share your experiences and ideas, just like what I’m doing. Except, you get to travel to earn your income.

For example, if your pleasure is riding a cruise ship, you could start investing to get to trying out the five-star service a cruise liner has to offer. Then you could write your remarks online. If your readers love what you wrote, then they could follow your advice for themselves.

As your popularity gains, companies will start noticing you and inviting you into new cruises and even new vacationing methods. In this way, your pleasures earn income for you because of your influence in writing. This is how you see popular blogs end up with capital, banner advertisements and sponsors.

So, why not try it? It might work for you. Here’s a primer to help you start.

I’ve always loved cars and I’ve had picture books of cars and storybooks dedicated to four-wheeled vehicles in my childhood. My interest in vehicles had not waned for the longest time and it is still growing as we speak. Today’s technology had enthralled me with the fact that self-driving vehicles, which I only read in books I had, will be entering reality in a decade.

Experts estimate that self-driving vehicles could be arriving at the world’s doorsteps by 2025. Automakers recently announced that the race for the self-driving car evolution begins this year, 2014.

Why I’m excited is that all the benefits of modern vehicles are already efficient, except for its gas usage (but we have electric cars and hybrid cars for those). Traffic is tiring, which is why you have several distractions, such as internet connections or even games in your car, to keep you awake in traffic. But the best option is sleep, and a self-driving car will allow you to have extra sleeping time going to work, or going home.

That feature alone is helpful, but what’s more is that these vehicles will likely eliminate possible road accidents caused by human error. Connected car technology and today’s already existing sensor technology ensures safety from collisions.

So, cheers to the waves of the future!

-M

Couponing is a great service for people looking for great getaways while paying for a lower sum at an earlier time the coupon is offered. The internet has allowed many couponing companies and consumers to purchase products and services at lower prices. But couponing is not always as advantageous as it seems.

In my experience, consumers buying a coupon have to follow the schedule given in the coupon. They will present the coupon, show it to our department and the discount will be confirmed once the coupon is recorded. Coupons cannot be re-used once its expiration date is reached.

It is advantageous because some coupons can afford you 50% to even 80% discounts on some products and services. You could pay less for a travel ticket. Some even provide fares for airplanes that cost nil.

However, you must consider that these tickets, products and services are sold for a lower price for a reason. Some of these products have no warranties. Some of these travel coupons do not provide you with onboard travel insurance and you must pay for that by yourself.

Travel agencies such as where I work at warn consumers about certain coupons lacking the necessary medical precautions for travel. Remember, when you pay for something, regardless how expensive, you might be paying for quality and for your safety as well.

Connected car technologies have your vehicle make use of the Internet to “communicate” with other vehicles and through the use of an artificial intelligence, even drive your vehicle for you and choose the best path by “talking” to other vehicles about traffic jams and the safest route for users. With connection to the Internet, connected car technologies will also use cloud technology for storing data about your vehicle. The best features of connected car technologies, according to me, include the following.

1. User-Independent
Connected car technologies still allow you to be the man of the vehicle and not the passenger. The vehicle will instead inform you of temporary road blocks, approaching emergency vehicles and other information that will help you make driving decisions early before such events arrive at your location, increasing your safety twentyfold on the road.

2. Car Manufacturer Design
I’ll admit it; I almost crashed into other vehicles making use of my smartphone’s GPS services that help me navigate to my client’s location instantly. You could put your smartphone on your lap or through a makeshift accessory that allows you to place your smartphone under the rear mirror view of your vehicle. With an integrated car manufacturer design, this GPS feature, along with a plethora of good heads-up displays, will greatly help you avoid accidents by ensuring a smooth interfacing with your vehicle.

3. Car Crash Detection
The capability of your car to “communicate” with other cars enables it to limit your speed when approaching other vehicles. When a driver is operating a vehicle possibly under the influence of substances, the vehicle could still protect other drivers in the road by having its own emergency mechanism for any kind of danger.

Most feedback I get from my recent customers in my day job is that they find it troublesome to go abroad, especially in the nether regions of countries with beautiful sights and resorts is that they could not communicate properly with the locals. I advised them to take a crash course in studying languages. Yes, I know it’s a big hassle to study languages, but they help you greatly, even if you’re just carrying a book of the usual phrases of such countries.

1. Language Barrier
The most obvious reason to bring along a small book of common phrases is that it helps you transcend the language barrier. Customers usually tell me they find it difficult to ask where the bathroom is, often resort to pointing at items in the menu without any idea what to try and so on. For obvious reasons, carry a language translator app on your smartphone or a book.

2. Culture
If you take at least 2 months to study the language of where you’re staying in, you could actually reap benefits by knowing more about the culture of your vacation location. Culture is an important thing to know during your vacations. I myself once travelled to South Korea and studied a bit of Korean and I enjoyed conversing with the locals, who explained to me with pride the history and culture of their country.

3. Respect
Respect from foreigners is a big thing, even if here in London we encounter different races knowing how to speak the language to show respect for us locals. When you speak their language, locals feel respect from you and they give you plus points for effort, and a few more surprises sometimes. Trust me on this.