Anyone else heard anything? And while I’m talking travel, a number of online travel services have come under fire from my spies. InfoUSA received a blast from one, who complained that the site couldn’t accurately provide a map to a major hotel in Rosemont, Ill. In response, all InfoUSA could do was blame partner Mapquest. Another spy claims a registration page leading to “IMPORTANT Account information” at EarthLink is highly suspicious. After being directed to enter his user name and password, my friend thought he found a case of Cold War espionage. The Web site was served from a strange URL that contained links to Russian-language pages. Finally, a frustrated Google user claims the popular site is losing its edge and failing to return responses for all his usual searches. He needs emotional support, so e-mail me if you’ve had similar search-engine troubles and I’ll play therapist. If you can’t fire ’em, make ’em figure out how to save the company money. My diggings have uncovered a confidential e-mail, sent last Monday, from Scott McNealy to all Sun employees thanking them for responses to a request for money-saving tips. So here’s the lowdown on changes at Sun, straight from the horse’s mouth. U.S. employees will be required to take vacation the first week in July, as either paid vacation or time off without pay. Salary reviews for U.S. 2002 will be pushed back at least one quarter. Salary reviews for international employees will also be deferred subject to local practices. “I’LL BE BACK real soon,” Randi explained in her note. Hmm, sounds like famous last words from a fired dot-com exec to me. Like all good rumors, there has to be a dark side somewhere.
Large Action Models: The Future of LLMs? A large action model is a form of AI technology designed to process information and execute actions based on that information. Unlike large language models (LLMs), which primarily focus on understanding and generating language-based outputs, Large action models (LAMs) are capable of performing tangible actions in the real world. It is a shift from passive processing to active execution that marks a significant evolution in AI capabilities. How Do Large Action Models Work? Large action models rely on a foundation of data and advanced machine learning techniques to perform their functions. Similar to AI agents, they’re designed to understand complex data inputs and take appropriate actions, making them highly effective across various real-world applications. LAM AI technology, such as the xLAM series developed by Salesforce AI Research, is designed to enhance the capabilities of AI agents across a variety of tasks. These models incorporate both dense and mixture-of-experts architectures, ranging from 1B to 8x22B parameters.
A travel agency supports a team of travel advisors who sell, curate and book travel. Travel advisors consult with clients on where to go, what to do and where to stay. In addition to planning and booking trips, advisors communicate with hotels and other partners (tour companies, cruises, etc.) to ensure each trip goes smoothly. What is the difference between a travel advisor and a travel agent? The terms travel agent and travel advisor are used interchangeably. The original term was ‘travel agent,’ but the industry has gone through a bit of a rebrand to showcase the breadth of work that a travel advisor does. We use both, but typically refer to our network of travel advisors simply as Fora Advisors. Fora Advisors (a.k.a. travel advisors / agents) work with clients to understand their travel needs and handle all the travel arrangements, from booking a hotel for a long weekend to planning a honeymoon to securing a room block for a corporate conference.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, that’s practically the TripAdvisor motto. But I hate one-sided arguments, so I’m going to give you all three sides since I have experienced TripAdvisor over the past 15 years as a professional travel writer, as a business owner of a tour company, and as an independent traveler. While TripAdvisor may have started as a sort of consumer watchdog site empowering hotel guests, I’ve watched it turn into a greedy travel monopoly profiting at the expense of both travelers and small businesses. Let’s start with the most benign issues of reliability before working up to the ethical ones of transparency and outright lies. No Filter for Ignorance. I was just beginning my career as a freelance travel journalist in France when TripAdvisor first appeared on the scene, and I clearly remember the novelty of its user-generated reviews in those early years. But the more I learned as a hotel reviewer visiting hundreds of Paris hotels every year for Expedia and Fodor’s Guides, the more I found TripAdvisor reviews to be dominated by travelers lacking the perspective or experience that would make their reviews useful.
Have you ever stood behind someone in line at the store and watched them shuffle through a stack of credit cards? Consumers with this many cards are in the minority, but experts say that the majority of U.S. It’s true that credit cards have become important sources of identification. If you want to rent a car, for example, you really need a major credit card. And used wisely, a credit card can provide convenience and allow you to make purchases with nearly a month to pay for them before finance charges kick in. But in reality, many consumers are unable to take advantage of these benefits because they carry a balance on their credit card from month to month, paying finance charges that average nearly 18 percent, but can go up to a whopping 30 percent or more. Many find it hard to resist using the old “plastic” for impulse purchases or things they really can’t afford.
