17/12/14

[Maik]

Tourism bookings post 50 pct fall in recent period

The political turmoil of the last 10 days has led to a decline in new tourism bookings for next year by as much as 50 percent, said the head of the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE), Andreas Andreadis, on Tuesday.

Sources from Athens International Airport added that international airlines are delaying the submission of their final schedules for next year as they wait for political developments in the country. There is also uncertainty regarding international conferences which had been scheduled to take place in Greece in 2015.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_16/12/2014_545495

[Maik]

TUI Travel has completed its merger with TUI AG, it was announced to the London Stock Exchange this morning.

http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2014652&

Just *in case* that's of any relevance to anyone 

[Maik]

Smoking in cars carrying children set to become illegal in England next year
Subject to vote by MPs and peers, ban will criminalise smoking by parents, carers or other adults in a car with under-18s

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/17/smoking-cars-carrying-children-illegal-next-year

[Maik]

Charlie Higson’s Christmas pub quiz

Have a go at this fiendish, festive interactive brain-teaser

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/quiz/2014/dec/16/charlie-higson-december-pub-quiz-christmas-do-something


I've set a suitably low score of, ahem, 3/10 for everyone to beat 

[Maik]

The vaping trend seemingly knows no bounds as the first “cannabis” e-cigarette goes on sale in the UK tomorrow... but the Home Office has cast doubt on whether that would be legal, saying the product must be tested for controlled substances.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/kanavape-cannabis-ecigarette-to-go-on-sale-in-the-uk-9930443.html

[Maik]

Climate change: It turns out that squirrels did it

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/climate-change-it-turns-out-[/b]that-squirrels-did-it--gJTGc3yDYl

[Maik]

Greece: The Fraud of “Recovery”

https://hellenicnews.com/greece-the-fraud-of-recovery/

Reasonably brief, doesn't pull any punches

[Maik]

5 minute fix - How to use a password manager

Might be useful, especially if you've ever had your email a/c hijacked by a cracker. In the past I've found KeeFox/KeePass(for Firefox) to be pretty good.

[Maik]

Greece's Parliament failed to elect a new president for the financially struggling country in the first round of voting Wednesday, leaving another two tries before the government falls and early elections are called.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/17/greece-presidential-ballo_n_6339918.html

[Maik]

Possibility of a white Christmas in the UK so here's a 2012 vid clip from New Zealand showing what the *right* type of snow looks like:

[TonyKath]

Charlie Higson’s Christmas pub quiz

Have a go at this fiendish, festive interactive brain-teaser

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/quiz/2014/dec/16/charlie-higson-december-pub-quiz-christmas-do-something


I've set a suitably low score of, ahem, 3/10 for everyone to beat 

I scored a stunning..... 5 !! 

Question 7 is... er... interesting!

Tony

[TonyKath]

Greece: The Fraud of “Recovery”

https://hellenicnews.com/greece-the-fraud-of-recovery/

Reasonably brief, doesn't pull any punches

Not much Crimbo cheer, but sent to my Kindle for perusal.   

Tony

[acebinbabe]

Charlie Higson’s Christmas pub quiz

Have a go at this fiendish, festive interactive brain-teaser

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/quiz/2014/dec/16/charlie-higson-december-pub-quiz-christmas-do-something


I've set a suitably low score of, ahem, 3/10 for everyone to beat 

I scored a stunning..... 5 !! 

Question 7 is... er... interesting!

Tony

I got 6, mostly guesses.......... except No 7 which I knew!!  (Thank you QI  )
Liz

[Maik]