Pól Ó Conghaile has just been named the Travel Extra Travel Journalist of the Year, awarded for “his exceptional body of work” including articles written for the Irish Examiner and the National Geographic.

TWO-thirds of Irish workers don’t take their full annual leave, according to a survey by Hotels.com. Respondents fail to take the holidays to which they are entitled “because they are too busy” or “they just don’t get around to taking them”.

This is at odds with how much we complain about stress. It can’t be entirely about the money, either. Surely, most of us can afford to take a day or two off to explore our own backyard?

Then, it struck me. Travel has changed over the recession. Because so many of us have been financially pinched, we haven’t kept up with those changes.

Thomas Cook’s decision to cease operating Irish charters, from April 30, demonstrates that traditional holidays are in flux.

‘Dynamic packaging’ is one of the travel buzzwords du jour, with licensed and bonded online companies, like budgetair.ie, clickandgo.com and lowcostholidays.ie, allowing consumers to package scheduled flights with accommodation into holidays that suit.

That means more midweek departures, a wider selection of readily accessible short breaks, and real savings — provided you travel off-peak

Faced with increasing competition online, not to mention the fact that Aer Lingus and Ryanair now fly directly to destinations like Malaga, Corfu and the Canary Islands, tour operators have had to get creative. That’s good news for holidaymakers, as anyone flicking through the special offers, package deals, and holiday suggestions in today’s Weekend travel special will see.

Thomas Cook is on the way out, but 2014 sees Falcon fly to Rhodes, direct Aer Lingus flights to San Francisco and Toronto, from April, double-daily services from Dublin to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and a host of new Ryanair routes from Shannon, and other airports.

I still advise talking to a travel expert before booking a holiday.

That applies particularly to families, and for big splashes, like honeymoons. Transfers, reps and free-hold baggage are incentives, too.

1) Get your timing right...
Travel will always change, but certain truths remain evergreen. Holidaymakers with the freedom to travel off-peak (i.e. outside of weekends and school holidays) score the biggest savings. Even changing your departure by a few days can make a difference. Going to press, for example, a week’s skiing with a four-star hotel booked through Topflight (topflight.ie) in Söll, Austria cost from €1,179pp over the mid-term break (February 16-22). A week later the same holiday was €831pp.

2) Save the date...
Ryanair is the surprise travel story of the decade, with customer service improvements now including allocated seating, lower airport baggage fees and free small carry-on bags. June 1 ushers in ‘high season’, which sees Ryanair boost fees for the first 15kg bag from €15 to €25 and Aer Lingus up its lowest rates on 15kg bags from €15 to €20. ‘Low season’ rates return on October 1. Limit fees by restricting yourself to carry-on allowance.

3) Take to the river...
River cruise ships are smaller than their oceangoing counterparts, making not just for a more intimate experience, but for unrivalled access to inland towns, cities and countryside. Excursions are a big feature of programmes by Uniworld (uniworld.ie) and AmaWaterways (sunway.ie), and this year sees Trailfinders (trailfinders.ie) publish its first river cruise brochure.


4) Try a luxury hostel...
2014 will be a breakthrough year for luxury hostels (or ‘poshtels’, if you prefer). They combine a more comfortable experience with the communal vibe and affordability of a hostel. Check budgettraveller.org for a list of the hottest properties in Europe, along with their en suite rooms, pools, saunas and more. The blog’s author, Kash Bhattacharya, is one of the experts in the area.

5) Value your time...
Experiential holidays will continue to grow in 2014, with niche offerings like foodie tours of Little Italy (New York) and cycling in the Dordogne (France) hooking into our increasing interest in memorable and shareable trips. Budget travellers will go to great lengths to save money, instead of spending two weeks on honeymoon in a four-star hotel, why not splurge on10 days in a five-star, or treat yourself to a direct flight?

6) Skip the queues...
Why do we persist in rocking up at the world’s biggest attractions without booking in advance? We book flights and hotel rooms ahead, and the same should apply for flagship attractions like the Vatican, Louvre or Rijksmuseum.

7) Pick a better airplane seat...
Flash new travel apps come and go — it’s the ones that stick around that matter.
Skyscanner is brilliant when it comes to comparing flight routes and prices, I’m predicting much more from Hotel Tonight in 2014, and SeatGuru.com is a good bet for getting the best possible seat on the plane.
Say I’m flying from Cork to Lanzarote with Aer Lingus next Saturday. By entering the airline, date and flight number (EI876) into SeatGuru’s app, I can pull up a map of the Airbus A320 on the route. There, I learn that not just the back rows (29) have limited recline, but so does Row 11 as well — due to the exit row behind.
Little things can go a long way — especially on long-haul flights.
If you’re travelling long-haul, check in online 24 hours ahead. “That’s when travellers with elite status often get upgraded,” says Wendy Perrin of Condé Nast Traveler. Eagle-eyed economy class passengers can pounce on the seats they leave vacant.


8) Do’s and don’ts for Disneyland Paris...
Disney’s current ‘Yes’ Days promotion offers up to two free days per family, so it’s certainly tempting to price up a trip. A successful visit depends on a few simple steps, however — namely using the Fastpass, reserving restaurants in advance, bringing the buggy and travelling midweek.

9) Shop around...
Before booking a holiday, check prices with several operators. Or better still, use sites like holidaysonline.ie — which provide results from several operators like Topflight, Sunway and Falcon.
The Irish Travel Agents’ Association (ITAA) posts weekly special offers from its members on itaa.ie offers too. It’s a great resource for holiday bargains hot off the press.

10) The kids are all right...
Finding a family-friendly property is easier said than done.
One of my favourite new family travel websites is kidandcoe.com. It not only selects cool, family-friendly properties in destinations all over the world, but lists the specific criteria that parents want to check — such as whether there’s a lift, dishwasher, changing table or high chair — as well as personal impressions and neighbourhood tips.


Source:
http://westhillconsultingtravel-tour.blogspot.com/2014/02/top-tips-for-travel-for-year-ahead.html

Folders are forgotten when sublime is closed without a document open. Please fix this, as it's getting really annoying to have to set up new folders every time I re-open sublime.

In the following snippet for PHP, the last function argument ($unhideNew) is not highlighted (unless followed by ")" on the same line)

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class test {

 private function importAbstract(

 $argv, $unhideNew

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Het WEF heeft opgeroepen tot nieuwe manier van denken over mondiale governance van het Internet, waarschuwing tegen een mogelijke "cybergeddon" in haar jaarlijkse risicobeoordeling.



Het World Economic Forum (WEF) heeft opgeroepen tot nieuwe manier van denken over mondiale governance van het Internet, waarschuwing tegen een mogelijke "cybergeddon" in haar jaarlijkse risicobeoordeling.

De studie, wereldwijde risico's 2014, merkt op dat terwijl cyberspace is gebleken grotendeels veerkrachtig aan aanvallen en andere verstoringen tot nu toe, het is de aanvallers hebben een gemakkelijkere tijd dan verdedigers.

Het internationale orgaan zegt, zijn er redenen om te geloven dat veerkracht "geleidelijk ondermijnd".

Het WEF wijst erop dat meer apparaten worden verbonden online "uitbreiding zowel de potentiële ingangspunten voor en de effecten van verstoring". Ook, er is ooit verdieping complexiteit van interacties tussen de vele aspecten van het leven die afhankelijk van aangesloten apparaten zijn, zodat deze gevolgen mogelijk moeilijker te voorspellen.

"Deze dubbele trends vraag samen, nieuwe manier van denken over mondiale governance van het Internet," het WEF zei.

Het waarschuwt dat dit vooruitzicht is ondermijnd door recente onthullingen over de mate waarin nationale veiligheidsorganisaties zijn cyber beleid vormgeven en uitvoeren van spionage en aanvallen, "ondermijnt het vertrouwen tussen de zeer belanghebbenden die samenwerking zullen we moeten wenden een denkbare cybergeddon".

Cyber incidenten, het WEF zegt, tot nu toe hebben neiging om effecten die wijdverspreid maar vluchtig, of persistent maar ternauwernood gericht zijn.

"Risico's voor het Internet blijven groeien meer ernstige om één belangrijke reden: anderen aanvallen in cyberspace is altijd geweest gemakkelijker dan ze te verdedigen. Het strafbare feit heeft het voordeel ten opzichte van de verdediging had,"zei de economische lichaam.

Potentiële bedreigingen?

Het WEF zegt dat cyber risico's vaak door het acroniem CHEW-criminaliteit, cyberoproer, spionage en oorlog samengevat zijn.

Het merkt echter op dat andere risico's in cyberspace systemische effecten met inbegrip van een scenario waar een grote wolk provider een Enron - of Lehman-stijl mislukking zou kunnen zijn beschoren zou kunnen hebben.

Milieu triggers kunnen ook gemakkelijk een rol spelen, met name gezien de inherente kwetsbaarheid van de onderliggende fysieke infrastructuur.

"Een super-zonne-storm kon veroorzaken aanzienlijke uitval van nationale rasters, satellieten, avionica of signalen van global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). Ook de groeiende massa van "ruimte voor ongewenste" in een baan rond de Aarde vormt een bedreiging voor GNSS,"zei het WEF.

Cybergeddon

"Een toekomst in welke aanvallers − of hackers, georganiseerde misdaadbendes of nationale legers − een overweldigende, dominante en duurzame voordeel ten opzichte van verdedigers hebben zou slechts een ontwrichtende technologie weg," het WEF waarschuwt, als een worst-case scenario.

Aanvallers in deze toekomst kunnen het bereiken van een breed scala aan effecten met weinig inbreng, waardoor verstoringen van grootschalige, Internet-wijd gemakkelijk en gemeenschappelijke, zegt het.

"Het Internet zou niet langer een vertrouwde medium voor communicatie of handel en steeds meer zou worden verlaten door consumenten en bedrijven. Cyberspace zou niet langer worden verdeeld tussen aanvallers en verdedigers maar tussen roofdieren en prooi."


Een "cybergeddon" zou de volgende generatie opgroeien met een cyberspace dat minder open, minder veerkrachtig en fundamenteel minder waardevol dan thans zien.

"De meest transformatieve technologie aangezien Gutenberg zou regressie, tot het verlies van samenlevingen, de economieën en de mensheid. Versnipperde, individuele oplossingen in het algemeen mislukken onderliggende systemische probleem aan te pakken: de wanverhouding tussen aanvallers en verdedigers. "

"De wereld zal niet zitten kundig gewoon veilig, risico-beheren of informatie-aandeel zijn uitweg uit deze situatie om het saldo van voordeel naar verdedigers tip," zei het WEF.

i like if sublime text have a menu icons (for save file -open file) becouse i need open menu and save in thetext menu , or with keyboard shortcut.regars

The Future of U.S.-Venezuelan Relations

The United States should leverage business interests in Venezuela to open diplomatic engagement and repair U.S.-Venezuela relations.

By Clay Moran

Contributor
October 28, 2013

“Yankees, go home!”These were President Nicolas Maduro’s words on September 30th as he expelled three U.S. diplomats, including Chargé d'Affaires Kelly Keiderling, accusing them of plotting to sabotage Venezuela’s electrical grid. While news outlets worldwide briefly reported on this incident, most failed to analyze the diplomatic turmoil within the larger context of U.S.-Venezuelan relations and its potential impact on diplomatic cooperation.

Over five hundred American companies have operations in Venezuela. Over$12 billion was investedin Venezuelan in 2011, concentrated in the energy, financial, and manufacturing sectors. Venezuelan imports rose by 122 percent from 2000 to 2011,reaching $12.3 billion. Washington and Caracas have developed a trade relationship that both parties value: U.S. companies gain substantial profit from operations in Venezuela, while Venezuelans gain access to higher quality job opportunities.

Despite the large volume of trade, political relations remain fractured at best. The United States and Venezuela have each been without ambassadors since 2010, when then-President Hugo Chávez suspected the United States of sponsoring a coup to overthrow his regime. Each country has retaliated against the other through a series of diplomatic expulsions. Venezuela has also restricted commerce from leaving the country. Capital controls put corporations in a tricky situation,trapping an estimated $8 to $12 billion within the country. Current President Nicolás Maduro has no intentions of lifting these controls, although Venezuela continues to experience inflationrising over 45 percent per month, threatening to erode profits. As a temporary measure, corporations have begun reinvesting these profits into Venezuelan real estate.

Domestic politics add another dimension to the problem. Former President Chávez formed the Chavista coalition, which consists of an array of lower and middle class citizens aimed at empowering workers and the urban poor. The bottom line is that Chávez’s governing doctrine, Chavismo, has united unlikely groups into the Chavista coalition due to favorable economic conditions. However, the erosion of economic stability due to rising inflation over the past year is beginning to unravel the Chavista coalition, which is the very force that brought Maduro to power. This can be seen in the March 2013 special presidential elections, in which theopposition lost by a margin of 1.5 percent. Maduro’s response has been to consolidate power byundermining his political opponents.

Venezuela needs foreign firms to operate within the country, but expelling U.S. diplomats while restricting U.S. profits does not bode well for constructive bilateral relations. The best prospect for improving these relations is for Washington to send a diplomatic convoy to Venezuela to meet with President Maduro and administration officials and discuss interests in attaining greater domestic stability to maintain corporate operations. Furthermore, the United States must meet with European counterparts that conduct business operations in Venezuela in order to establish a joint approach to address the rising political instability. Since Venezuela controls the domestic climate for U.S. corporations, the U.S. should take the initiative in securing its business interests.

The Obama administration can also offer to negotiate the Iran Sanctions Act, which was enacted in 2011 against the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, because of Venezuela’s exports of reformate to Iran. These sanctions currently prohibit Venezuela from competing for U.S. government procurement contracts and receiving financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Washington should negotiate with Caracas, maintaining the position that if Venezuelan currency controls are completely removed, the portions of the Iran Sanctions Act pertaining to Venezuela could be lifted – an option that looks more plausible given the current U.S. – Iran rapprochement.

Unless domestic turmoil subsides enough to allow for secure business operations in Venezuela, the likelihood of U.S. companies minimizing their business operations increases. Coupled with desolate diplomatic relations, revamping U.S.-Venezuela relations proves to be a complex process that will take time, cooperation, and concessions from both sides. A key opportunity to improve relations does exist, but the United States must demonstrate to Maduro the vital role that U.S. companies continue to play for Venezuela’s economy. Securing Venezuela as a quasi-ally will not only secure longer-term U.S. business interests, but also give the U.S additional leverage in Latin America, a region that the Obama administration has neglected.

Clay Moran is an M.A. Candidate in International Affairs, with a concentration in Development Security, at the Elliott School of International Affairs. His research focuses on democracy and governance in developmental programs. Previously, he lived and studied in Argentina, and spent substantial time in Bolivia and Spain.

Read More: http://www.thecrownmanagement.com/category/diplomacy/

This is a really usefull feature.

With build 2181 (for windows 7 64bits), ST2 regularly (but not always) crash if I use regex in general search (ctrl+shift+f).

Build 2023.
Show layout 2 (vertical double pane). Add a folder to the project.
Now open the same file in scan mode (single click) in both panes. That is, click one pane, single click the file, then click the other pane and single click the file.
Bizarre behavior results. For example, I'll drag the left pane scrollbar, and the right pane actually scrolls. Eventually, the app quits unexpectedly.