Airbnb has biggest night ever – while guests stay on private islands, in castles, & on boats

Last Saturday Airbnb had a pretty amazing night:   Not long ago, we told you about the 10 million guest nights booked on our site. Little did we know that our community was just getting warmed up…After a few massive weeks of travel, plus a bit of excitement in London, we saw our biggest night in history take …

Google Maps update – bicycle legend now shows bike lanes, shared lanes, and bike-friendly roads

If you’re looking for new ways to get around for fun or to work, or might be trying to live a greener lifestyle in 2012, why not try biking? In March 2010 we introduced biking directions and since then Google Maps has been sharing biking directions with cyclists across the U.S and Canada. Since no bike path is the …

U.S. adds more Predator drones to search for drugs in the Caribbean

After quietly testing Predator drones over the Bahamas for more than 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand the unmanned surveillance flights into the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to fight drug smuggling, according to U.S. officials. The move would dramatically increase U.S. drone flights in the Western Hemisphere, more than doubling the number of square miles …

The most visited countries in the world

France – 77 million United States – 61 million China – 56 million Spain – 53 million Italy – 43 million United Kingdom – 28 million Turkey – 27 million Germany – 27 million Malaysia – 25 million Mexico – 22 million   Interesting to note that both France and Spain receive more visitors than …

What guide books tell foreign visitors to America

The United States is the second greatest tourist draw in the world, with 60-million-plus visitors in 2010 alone (France, number one, attracted almost 80 million). Flipping through a few of the many English-language tourist guides provides a fascinating, if non-scientific and narrow, window into how people from the outside world perceive America, Americans, and the …

Progress in the Middle East – if you measure by the number of Facebook users

There are growing signs of progress in the Middle East, if you measure by the total number of Facebook users. That number has skyrocketed since 2010, going from 15 million to near 40 million. Of those users, a growing number are starting to prefer using the site in their own native language, Arabic. Of the …

Housing recovery hits some areas – top growth in U.S. cities

Metros with the Most Construction Permits in 2011 Houston, TX – 31,271 Dallas, TX – 18,686 Washington, DC – 16,501 New York, NY – 13,973 Austin, TX – 10,239 Los Angeles, CA – 9,895 Phoenix, AZ – 9,081 Seattle, WA – 8,664 Atlanta, GA – 8,634 San Antonio, TX – 7,127 More permits were issued …

Why is Cinco De Mayo not celebrated in Mexico, only the U.S.?

UCLA professor David Hayes-Bautista stumbled upon the answer to a question that for years had puzzled scholars and amateur historians alike: Why is Cinco de Mayo so widely celebrated in California and the United States, when it is scarcely observed in Mexico? As Hayes-Bautista explains in “El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition,” his new …

Unemployment rate at 8.1% – job growth seen in manufacturing, architecture, engineering, and computers

Hiring continued its slow pace in April as employers added a modest 115,000 jobs to their payrolls. The jobless rate inched down to 8.1% last month, the Labor Department said Friday, but that wasn’t because more people were employed. Rather, the rate fell as more workers dropped out of the labor force (about 342,000 workers). …

Soon cars will be ultra-light-weight and made out of carbon-fibre composites

The race is on to replace steel cars with carbon-fibre cars. All of the major automakers have inked deals to make the switch. The reason being that carbon-fibre is: “10 times stronger than regular-grade steel and one-quarter of steel’s weight.” “Using carbon fiber in lieu of conventional steel can lower the weight of a vehicle …