Tuesday, September 11, 2012

CNNGo.com

CNNGo.com

Cutest job in the world? Chengdu seeks panda ambassadors

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 07:54 PM PDT

by CNNGo staff

Here is your chance to spend 365 days with some of the world's most adorable animals.

The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (aka the Chengdu Panda Base) has kicked off a three-month campaign to search for global panda ambassadors, or Pambassadors. 

Dubbed "PandaQuest -- Be the Next Chengdu Pambassador," the program aims to recruit three panda lovers to look after and raise global awareness of China's most iconic animal species for one year. Application is open to everybody in the world.

Final winners will serve as Chengdu Pambassadors from January 2013.

More on CNN: What's cuter than a giant panda? Two giant pandas

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Gallery: Thailand's 'longneck' women, a controversial tourist attraction

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 06:59 PM PDT

by CNNGo staff

Described by many as "human zoos," northern Thailand's Padaung Karen hill tribe villages are among the country's most controversial tourist attractions.

Inaccurately referred to as "longneck" women, girls as young as five-years-old are fitted with brass rings around their necks. Longer rings are added as they grow older, in effect deforming the chest and shoulders to give the illusion that their necks are abnormally long.  

For a fee, travel companies take tourists to see these artifical hill tribe villages -- set up purely for tourism purposes -- many of which have been issued friendly-sounding names by government authorities like "hilltribe cultural preservation center."

But while some say the villages give Thailand's hill tribe people a paid opportunity to retain their culture, global rights groups condemn them for exploiting stateless women and children, many of them Burmese refugees who do not have full rights as Thai citizens, in exchange for tourist dollars. 

Documentaries like "Silent Hopes" highlight their plight, reporting that while many of the women choose to wear the rings out of a genuine desire to carry on with the tradition, some of these villages have no access to electricity, roads, healthcare and schools. 

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Pilots now using iPads to assist their flights

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 04:05 PM PDT

by CNNGo staff

pilots ipad A great tool for pilots, or the first step toward pilotless aircraft? Back in April, we wrote about the trend of tablet remote control for luxury yachts.

The latest super cool tech news in the travel industry? Pilots can now use an iPad to calculate ideal speeds and engine settings while they're flying. 

Boeing announced last week that pilots will be using the company's Onboard Performance Tool (OPT) on iPad by the end of 2012.

According to the company's official brochure, OPT is an application that allows flight crews to make real-time calculations for takeoffs and landings in any type of weather condition on any type of runway.

"We have been very successful in the marketplace with our existing OPT application, but our customers told us they wanted a version for iPad," John Maggiore, Boeing's director of Airline Performance Management, said in a press release. 

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Is Mavalli Tiffin Rooms the best South Indian restaurant in the world?

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 03:05 PM PDT

by Olivia Greenway

I'm in the waiting hall of the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, or MTR, as it is commonly known.

Sitting on a hard wooden bench under ceiling fans, I'm reminded of train stations in old black-and-white movies.

Why would anyone want to go to a restaurant where you have to wait for up to an hour before you can get a seat in the dining room? 

There is a no reservations policy and you pay for your meal  -- usually no more than a mere Rs 150 (US$3) per head -- before eating. Mavalli Tiffin Rooms feels like an overcrowded cafeteria. 

And yet, more than 1,500 customers visit each day for a taste of South Indian cooking.

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Heaven and hell on two wheels: Australia's epic bike adventures

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:05 PM PDT

by Candice Ward

Australia: a wide, brown land. Like, really wide. The world's sixth-largest country gives the adventurous cyclist endless ground to cover.

Whether you're mountain-biking the dustbowls of the desert interior, or spiraling up alpine roads on your road bike, you'll find that Australia's rides are among the best on the planet.

Australia enjoys a population density of just three people per square kilometer: almost the lowest in the world.

There's no such thing as a beaten track here -- just a sprawling network of fresh trails ready for the pedal.

Add the Aussies' impassioned pride for their latest sporting hero, 2011's Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, and you have an invigorating destination for your next riding adventure. So lace up your shoes, grab your Camelbak and get out there.

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at 9:13 AM