Pinterest connects businesses to an interactive map

29-11-2013

Pinterest has launched the new tool ‘Place Pins’ which makes the social media platform more interesting for small businesses. With Place Pins, users can add addresses and maps when they Pin an image. These are displayed on an interactive map. Make a Pinterest board with your favorite hotels and restaurants, for instance Paris and you can share this interactive map of Paris with other users. By clicking on ‘more information’ you will be directed to the Foursquare page or the hotel / restaurant website.

Nhow recruits staff in an accessible way

29-11-2013

Nhow Rotterdam hotel will open its doors on January 10, 2014. This is the third nhow hotel in the world after Milan and Berlin. The hotel has 278 rooms, conference- and meeting facilities, a skyline bar, food lounge and a rooftop terrace. To recruit staff for the hotel, nhow has organized a Pioneer Fest on November 18. The hotel sent three local scouts on the road to search for candidates and to invite them for the Pioneer Fest. While enjoying a drink and a snack, the hotel met the candidates. An accessible way to get to know the potential staff outside of a professional environment.

Christmas dinner of unwanted animals

29-11-2013

‘MOES eet- en drinklokaal’ and the ‘Keuken van het ongewenst dier’ (kitchen of the unwanted animal’ organize an special Christmas dinner of unwanted animals on Sunday, December 22. The six-course dinner is dedicated to animals that are unwanted. For example the Japanese oyster, racehorse meat, crayfish, goose and swan will be served. Hunters will provide an explanation of the dishes and explain why these animals are undesirable. The six-course dinner costs € 65,= per person.

Instagram marshmallows

28-11-2013

Now it is possible to print your favorite Instagram photos on marshmallows. Very simple, you choose nine of your favorite Instagram photos and Boomf delivers the pictures on 4cmx4cm vanilla marshmallows. The site advises to use relative simple pictures with a good contrast. At this moment, the marshmallows are only available in the United Kingdom for £ 12, but there are plans to introduce the marshmallows internationally next year. A nice gift for the holidays: a marshmallow with your favorite photo into a hot chocolate during the cold winter days.

Inhalable tea

28-11-2013

Camellia’s Tea House in London offers tea lovers a new special way to consume their favorite drink. During the ‘Experimental Food Society Spectacular 2013’, the teabar introduced the ‘Breathable Tea Room’ where visitors could inhale the tea through a straw. The tea is evaporated and served as a smoky gas that could be inhaled through a straw. Because the tea is evaporated, it contains no calories, you avoid a burnt tongue and the antioxidants in the tea are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. Earlier we spotted the Vaportini which alcoholic beverages are vaporized and can be inhaled using a straw.

Recyclable wrapping paper

28-11-2013

During Christmas a lot of wrapping paper is used and thrown away, certainly not environmentally friendly. Therefore you need to use the ‘Eden’s Paper’. This wrapping paper does not only looks cheerful, but you can grown carrots, broccoli, red peppers, onions and tomatoes with it. The seeds are hidden in layers of biodegradable paper. So when the presents are unwrapped, plant the wrapping paper, give it some water and a few week later you will have vegetable plants. ‘Eden’s Paper’ is a crowdfunding project, the paper has been developed but they are still looking for funds to start the production.

Five-star hotel educates local youth

27-11-2013

The Ritz-Carlton is the first five-star hotel at Aruba. Next to the 320 rooms and 450 local jobs the hotel brings education to the island as well. Together with maritime biologist Dr. Richard Murphy from the Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, the hotel developed an innovative environmental curriculum for primary school students. The education modules will be available on the Green Aruba website to learn about the island’s unique environmental assets and how to protect them. The youth is introduced to the ‘Ritz-Calton Succeed Through Service Program’ to enhance their leadership qualities. Though these and other collaborations Prime Minister Mike Eman and Bill Marriott agreed to a long-standing commitment to enriching education on the island and a Green Aruba.

Google Streetview from airports

27-11-2013

Traveling often brings along a fair amount of stress. Google relieves this a bit with the introduction of Google Streetview inside airports and other travel hubs. KLM already used Streetview technology to explore destinations and it is possible to feature 360 degrees photographs from restaurant interiors. In the near future it’s possible to ‘test-walk’ through your trip in Streetview.

Cooking shop and catering collaborate

27-11-2013

In Oosterbeek (the Netherlands) cooking shop ‘bij )O(dette’ and caterer Sedap Catering joined forces. Visitors can take away an Indonesian meal or dish every Thursday afternoon. With the collaboration both entrepreneurs provide cross-selling opportunities for each other and strengthen their passion for cooking.

Sander van Veenendaal drafts perfect beer

26-11-2013

To enhance the draft beer quality worldwide, Heineken introduced the Star Serve program. The goal of the program is to optimize the skills of bartenders and enhance customers’ expectations of draft beer. As a part of this optimalization, the brewer has challenged bar tenders around the world to draft the perfect beer. At the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam, Dutchman Sander van Veenendaal (Grand Café de Lindenhof, Soest) overclassed 19 bartenders from i.a. Malaysia, Ireland, Dubai, Brasil and Mexico and won the Global Bartender Final. Over 3000 locations worldwide participate in the Heineken Star Serve program, 300 of them are Dutch.

TOP Foodlab reintroduces forgotten veggies

26-11-2013

TOP Foodlab reintroduces forgotten vegetables through a new product range. With interesting names like ‘witches turnip’, ‘spine pumpkin’ and ‘kidney cabbage’ these vegetables get a second life. The witches turnip is bitter when it’s raw, but sweet if it’s done. The spine pumpkin has a sweet nutmeg-alike taste and the kidney cabbage has a spicy, mustard-alike taste. These old crops are not edible raw but pickled for conservation and consumption. 

Update: The article is a hoax by TOP Foodlab. With these ‘forgotten’ vegetables TOP Foodlab wants to raise awareness for the real forgotten vegetables; 40% of the vegetables that are wasted in the entire food chain from  producer to consumer.

See through desert house illusion

26-11-2013

American artist Philip K Smith III has added mirrors to a small house in the Californian desert. With his addition the construction, entitled Lucid Stead, appears to be a see through building. Combined with the desert landscape it provides a very photogenic environment.

The Manta Underwater Room

25-11-2013

The Manta Resort, located near Pemba Island (East coast of Africa) is surrounded by white beaches and clear blue water. In the middle of the ocean, The Manta Resort opened their 17th hotel room ‘The Manta Underwater Room’ on November 1, 2013. Guests can both above and below water enjoy the beautiful nature. ‘The Manta Underwater Room’ has three floors. The middle deck has a lounge area with a bathroom and via a ladder guests can go to the upper deck where they can sunbathe. Downstairs guests can immerse themselves in the world of the sea. The room has a double bed and the walls of glass give a 360 degrees view of the sea. During the evening hours when the spotlights are on, the magical underwater world will be visible. All kinds of fish, coral, octopus and perhaps dolphins are visible, it really makes you feel like you’re part of the underwater world. Copyright: Genberg Art UW Ltd and photography credits: Jesper Anhede.

Bar Restaurant Level serves mini version of famous burger

25-11-2013

Bar Restaurant Level Rotterdam will present their new sliders during Bubbles & Burgers on November 28. The sliders are a smaller version of the famous Level Burger which was voted as the best burger in Rotterdam. The burger is made of organic beef with bacon, cheddar and tartar sauce. The smaller variant is ideal as a snack that you can combine with bubbles. During the first edition of Bubbles & Burger the gin and tonics are provided by Gin and Tonic Club with jazzy music by a dj in a living room setting.

KLM shows current response time

25-11-2013

Nowadays you get quicker response to a question/problem by sending a message via Twitter or Facebook than using customers service by phone. KLM will show how long it will take before you get a response to your question. The airline introduced the current response time in the header of Twitter, on the customer support page of KLM.com and soon on Facebook. KLM receives approximately 30,000 messages per week and promises customers to respond within one hour. By showing the current response time, KLM will show if they really stick to the promise to respond within one hour.