Big Toys #TitanicII

-
Clive Palmer must have a death wish. How many people do you know who would name their new venture after something that epitomises what a colossal disaster can be. But he has. Scheduled to set sail in 2016, the Titanic II is a replica of the Titanic. Its namesake sank after hitting a giant iceberg in 2012. Almost 1,500 of her 2,200 passengers perished. What better gimmick than to announce its recreation 101 years after.

The idea is novel. Seafarers will dress in period costume, and the tub will ply the Titanic’s original route from Southhampton to New York. The food, drink and entertainment are all supposed to give patrons an authentic experience of the original voyage. It is promised that there will be enough life boats. Hold your breath though because it gets better. This one has wifi. The excitement is palpable… not.

Mr. Palmer is using his own resources to have this ship built. He should be asking some serious questions before putting his money where his mouth is. The global cruise industry has been in consolidation mode over the last two decades. A few players have filed for bankruptcy, and others have merged.

The Allure of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean, is the largest cruise ship on the seas right now. With 6,296 passengers and 2,384 crew, it is a colossus. Size in this industry, allows a company to spread its costs, and take advantage of scale. Cruise Lines also have a well-established marketing and sales network catering to a diversity of routes and lines, that helps them keep their costs down. Mr. Clive’s venture will have to charge a rich price to deliver the same kind of service. Loyalty will also be hard to cultivate with the customers. How often do I plan to take a ship to travel the several, usually cold(er), grey (er) and WASP (ier) route from New York to London? Let me think- none. I wish him luck though. He may have something there.

And for you historicists out there, don’t get too excited. This one is going to be made in China.

Titanic II: Image courtesy webshots from Blue Star Lines

Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

Popular posts from this blog

Can I use the same network name for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi Networks?

-
I often wondered if I should give my 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency WiFi networks on the same WiFi router the same names or different names. The answer is YES! You can and you should. The advantage of this is that it shows as just a single WiFi connection in the entire space, and not two different ones. There is just one login as well. More importantly, your device (if it's not super-ancient) has the sense to figure out which signal/ frequency is the strongest and uses that. If you're close to your router it favours the 5 GHz (faster, but less range) network and if you're further, it switches automatically to the 2.4 GHz (slower, but greater range) network. So go ahead and log into your WiFi router (which for many of you may be integrated into a single box with your modem). If you don't know how, this page helps you to figure that out for most routers. In the settings, make sure the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks are on. Give them the same network names and password...
Read more

India Voted, and this is what the numbers really say...

-
Image
After five gruelling weeks, Friday's vote count marked a tremendous victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, under the leadership of its controversial Prime Minister in waiting, Narendra Modi. With almost all of the record-setting 550 million votes counted, the Country's once-dominant Congress Party , that has hobbled with its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies through the past five years, has been severely punished. This was a hard fought and fair battle, and Mr. Modi and the BJP deserve their victory. The BJP's strong showing in terms of seats won in India's 543 seat Lok Sabha (parliament), gives it an absolute legislative majority. When its NDA allies are included in the count, it has an even stronger mandate to make change. Even BJP-friendly psephologists failed to gauge the wide margin of the final tally. As the BJP prepares to take the reigns of government, they should do so with thought and caut...
Read more

How to allow Vonage services on Beanfield Metroconnect's Toronto network

-
Image
Most importantly, you can use Vonage Canada 's services on Beanfield Metroconnect 's network in Toronto. If you use Vonage 's services in Canada and are switching or have switched to Beanfield Metroconenct 's awesome service in Toronto, here's how to configure the router to allow Vonage's services to still work. Since Beanfield is a local service, Vonage's (helpful) tech support had no idea how to help me navigate the hardware, as they would have if I'd been with Bell or Rogers. Log into your Beanfield router. Beanfield uses a proprietary optical fibre router. If you don't know how to, call or email Beanfield's (helpful) support and they'll tell you. Once you log in, choose the "Zhone Router Rental" and click on it. Then choose the "Port Forwarding & Firewall" tab, and choose the "Add Rule" button on that page. Add a rule with information to get the outcome in the image below. Description: vonag...
Read more

My experience using the Switch Health RT LAMP Test Kit - Aeroplan COVID-19 test kit

-
Image
I used it. It worked as promised. In short, the RT LAMP Test Kit @ US$118 / CAD$149 (no taxes applicable) is what all Canadian travellers have been waiting for! Scroll straight to the end of this post for unboxing photos and my experience using the kit. With an overseas trip on the horizon, I researched the daylights out of the announcement from Air Canada and Switch Health that one could buy a molecular test kit in advance that met Canada's entry requirements and saved one the hassle of finding a lab overseas, spending a day getting tested and often waiting days for the result. Switch Health has a video of the LAMP Test Kit online too. The only review I could find left me with questions - it seemed to read like a sponsored endorsement and the reviewer's trip also seemed to have been sponsored. So I'm sharing my step by step journey using the kit, as well as researching and purchasing to help fellow travelers on their own journeys. See the end of this post for unboxing ph...
Read more

Of Heights and Hubris- Skyscrapers as Barometers of Economic Exuberance

-
Image
My eight-grade English teacher, Mrs. Isaacs, would often tell us “man is not condemned to repeat history, but to rhyme with it”. As much as we have progressed in science and art, in technology and medicine, we still do foolish things driven by base competitive instincts, and do not learn. The false strength of hubris is what empires have been lost to. The skyscraper may be the sword of our times on which we will fall. Read the full article here .
Read more

Which is the best online notary to use to notarize US documents, especially if you live abroad?

-
With COVID-19 restrictions, finding and going to a notary was out of the question, so I dipped my toes into the new world of 24/7 online notaries to try and find a good one. I tried a few out when I had to have an affidavit notarized for use in the United States. Here's my unbiased opinion, and top two choices plus a runner up. My top choice is far ahead of the other two. I was a bit skittish using an online service because one has to upload and submit copies of one's driver's licence, passport etc., all of which can be a recipe for hackers who want to steal your identity. I did a lot of research for a few days, to satisfy myself of their authenticity, including searching domain registrations and looking for newspaper articles and the LinkedIn profiles of their staff and management. #1 NotaryLive.com Notarylive.com based in the state of New York was heads and shoulders above the rest. Their online support was responsive and well informed, and answered most of my questions ...
Read more