travel

Microsoft has updated its various Bing apps for Windows 8 in a move designed to make them quicker to use and easier to customize.

The News app now lets you manage the different news categories that appear in the app. You can add or remove categories for world news, technology, politics, business, and entertainment, and sort the order in which they appear. You can also add a particular news source or RSS feed to your featured sources and to the Windows Start screen so that you can more quickly access their stories.

The News app's app bar has also … Read more

There have been days recently when I would have liked to have been taken out of the present.

Anywhere would have done. Greece 2012. The moon 2034. The entrails of a whale, to chat with Jonah, the eighth century B.C.

Science seems to have been very slow to take us out of our place and time, despite the best efforts of Michael J. Fox.

I can reveal, however, that progress has finally been made. For an Iranian scientist has invented The Aryayek Time-Traveling Machine. Or, at least, he says he has.… Read more

Stephen Hawking, one of the world's greatest physicists and cosmologists, is once again warning his fellow humans that our extinction is on the horizon unless we figure out a way to live in space.

Not known for conspiracy theories, Hawking's rationale is that the Earth is far too delicate a planet to continue to withstand the barrage of human battering.

"We must continue to go into space for humanity," Hawking said today, according to the Los Angeles Times. "We won't survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet."… Read more

Google might have sold off its Frommer's division, but the company seemingly hasn't given up all of the social media accounts that were tied to the brand.

The folks over at PaidContent yesterday noticed that the former Twitter account, @FrommersTravel, has had its name changed to @ZagatTravel. Zagat is fully owned by Google. Frommer's Facebook, YouTube, Foursquare, Google+, and Pinterest accounts were also deleted with followers likely to be transferred to equivalent Zagat accounts.

Google acquired Frommer's from Wiley & Sons last year for an undisclosed price. Earlier this month, Google announced that it had sold the company to its former leader Arthur Frommer. … Read more

My hunt for a new laptop continues. I definitely want an ultrabook, even if it means paying a premium for a thinner, lighter design, but I'd really like to keep the price under $600. Given that most ultrabooks start at $700, I'm having to marshal all my cheapskate powers.

The latest candidate: Newegg has the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 13.3-inch touch-screen ultrabook (model 59365302) for $599.99 shipped, along with a $50 Newegg gift card.

Staples is also selling the U310 for $599.99 shipped, but you'll probably be on the hook for sales tax. Plus, no … Read more

If you were lamenting the loss of Arthur Frommer's travel guides, take heart: the travel expert has acquired the brand from Google and plans to resume publishing the books.

The search giant acquired the Frommer's brand last summer from Wiley & Sons, including its travel guides and hotel ratings, for an undisclosed price. However, last month, authors of the popular travel guides told travel news site Skift that Google had ceased publication of the print version.

Frommer sold the travel book line to Simon & Schuster in 1977. It changed hands a few more times and stayed with … Read more

Remember back on Monday when I said I was the victim of flaky hotel Wi-Fi? It's true: I couldn't publish my Cheapskate post because my room had a weak, inconsistent signal. It was incredibly frustrating, like trying to work using a dial-up modem.

The smart thing would have been to pack a mobile hot spot. Of course, I don't want to get stuck with a two-year contract and hefty monthly fees for a gizmo I need only occasionally. That's why today's deal is so appealing.

For a limited time, Virgin Mobile has the Overdrive Pro 3G/4G mobile hot spot for $83.99 shipped. … Read more

I haven't been in school for a looong time, but I still like to carry a backpack. To my thinking there's no better man-bag for traveling. And the pack I've carried for the last couple years is my all-time favorite: a Powerbag.

Though it looks like a regular backpack, the Powerbag (video) has places to stow a rechargeable battery and connectors for all my mobile gear. That not only saves me from having to pack a bunch of chargers and cables, but also lets me juice up on the run.

Today only, and while supplies last, Yugster … Read more

Quick update on the refurbished Apple EarPods deal I wrote about last week. Ordered: March 14. Arrived: March 18. Condition: indistinguishable from new. If you're interested, they're still available, though now priced a buck higher at $14.99 shipped.

In other news, I've decided life is too short -- and my eyes are too old -- to waste on an 11.6-inch screen, which is why I'm officially in the market for a new laptop. My HP Pavilion dm1z has served me fairly well, but it's just too small.

On the other hand, I don'… Read more