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Friday, May 4, 2012

Top Stories from the last 24 hours


Hi David,

These are the top stories from The Next Web over the last 24 hours.

The Next Web

P.S. Want to be the first of your friends and followers to spread our breaking news stories? Now you can, with Spread.us.






20th Century Fox Executive Missing for Three Days


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Exclusive: Michael Arndt in Talks to Re-Write 'Hunger Games' Sequel 'Catching Fire'


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FiveBooks weekly newsletter

Links to all our original FiveBooks interviews of the week before, plus a pick of the best content on The Browser.
5 May 2012
Today on FiveBooks, exiled Chinese author Ma Jian picks five works of dissident Chinese literature, from the 3rd century BC to 2008. "I write about sensitive topics," he says, "precisely because I have the freedom to, and therefore the obligation."

Also on the site: Jules Evans considers ancient philosophy for modern life; Roland Chambers recommends books on revolutionary Russia; William St Clair talks to us about reading in the Romantic period; and more.

Finally, don't miss our brand new membership scheme, the perfect way to support The Browser. In return for a small annual fee, we're offering a great range of new functions and content. If you appreciate our service, please support us by joining today!

 FiveBooks News

Ma Jian on Chinese Dissident Literature

Friday May 4

Writers in China are afraid to criticise their state and society, says the London-based author. He picks five works of Chinese literature, from the 3rd century BC to 2008, which show how it’s done Continue reading…

Roland Chambers on Revolutionary Russia

Thursday May 3

The Russian revolution was the beginning of the modern age, says the award-winning author. He tells us what Solzhenitsyn imagined Lenin was like, and about the children’s author who led a double life as a spy in Bolshevik Russia Continue reading…

Ahmede Hussain on South Asian literature

Wednesday May 2

The acclaimed author recommends the most exciting new writing out of India and South Asia, from a Pakistani perspective of 9/11 to an emigré's return to an unfamiliar Bangladesh Continue reading…

Jules Evans on Ancient Philosophy for Modern Life

Tuesday May 1

The author explores philosophy lessons of the ancients relevant to our globalised, information age – by way of cognitive behavioural therapy, and government measures of happiness Continue reading…

William St Clair on Reading the Romantics

Monday April 30

Who read Byron in his time? How much did a copy of Wordsworth cost? The scholar guides us through the astonishing history of reading in the Romantic period of English literature Continue reading…

Miramax Co-Owner Ron Tutor Says He's Selling 'Movie Interests'


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The Browser weekly newsletter [4 May 2012]

4 May 2012

 Best of the Week

The True Lessons Of The Recession

Raghuram Rajan | Booth School of Business/Foreign Affairs | 30 April 2012

Excellent, authoritative and measured overview of today's economic ills. Much papering-over of cracks in past few decades. Status quo ante not a good place to return to. So here are some suggestions for ways forward (PDF) Comments

South Africa: The New Threat to Freedom

Nadine Gordimer | NYRB | 30 April 2012

"In the new South Africa that was reborn in the early 1990s, with its freedom hard-won from apartheid, we now have the imminent threat of updated versions of the suppression of freedom of expression that gagged us under apartheid" Comments

Why Google Isn’t Making Us Stupid…Or Smart

Chad Wellmon | Hedgehog Review | 27 April 2012

"Asking whether Google makes us stupid, as some cultural critics recently have, is the wrong question. It assumes sharp distinctions between humans and technology that are no longer, if they ever were, tenable." Here's why Comments

On Tiger Moms

Julie Park | The Point | 24 April 2012

Clever, nuanced essay reconsiders Amy Chua's parenting advice. "Precisely because I was raised in a Tiger Mom world, but rebelled against it, I understand where Chua is coming from, but I can also see what remains invisible to her" Comments

Ego Depletion

Anonymous | You Are Not So Smart | 17 April 2012

Fascinating essay on willpower. Tests suggest it's a finite resource, not a skill. "Every time you exert control over the giant system that is you, that control gets weaker." Why? It just might be as simple as a lack of glucose Comments

Leaving Wall Street

Alexis Goldstein | n+1 | 30 April 2012

Everyone who joins an investment bank plans to make a fortune, get out, and do something else. They rarely succeed. "The culture of Wall Street is pervasive and contagious. Before I occupied Wall Street, Wall Street occupied me" Comments

Against Chairs

Colin McSwiggen | Jacobin | 23 April 2012

"Chairs suck. All of them. No designer has ever made a good chair, because it is impossible. Some are better than others, but all are bad." They damage our bodies. And rose to popularity for worst of reasons — status, power, control Comments

Machine Politics

David Kushner | New Yorker | 30 April 2012

George Hotz started the hacker wars. The grungy teenager from New Jersey was the first person to unlock an iPhone. But it was when he defeated Sony's PS3 that things started getting really out of hand Comments

Automatically Score the Biggest Travel Savings (Without All the Hassle)

May 4th, 2012Top Story

Automatically Score the Biggest Travel Savings (Without All the Hassle)

By Melanie Pinola

Automatically Score the Biggest Travel Savings (Without All the Hassle)Booking a trip is always a bit of a gamble. No matter how carefully you time your purchase or comparison shop, travel prices fluctuate so often and wildly that you can never be sure they won't drop later (meaning, you overpaid). Now the good news: Whether you've booked a flight, made a hotel reservation, or rented a car, most allow you to take advantage of price fluctuations after you buy—as long as you know about them. Here are the free tools you can use to get the lowest travel prices—effortlessly and automatically.

AutoSlash: Automatic Price Reductions on Car Rentals

Automatically Score the Biggest Travel Savings (Without All the Hassle)Book your car rental at AutoSlash and the site will search for and apply any coupon codes it can find for you. Then, up until your pickup date, the free service continues to track multiple vendors' rental rates and discounts several times a day and re-books for you if it finds a better deal. According to a recent NY Times article, the service claims to successfully lower car rental prices 85 percent of the time, with roughly half of those price cuts due to applying discount codes (that you don't have to search for or dig up yourself). The average savings if you book at least a couple of weeks ahead? A not-too-shabby 25 percent. You can cancel your reservation at any time.

Unfortunately, not all car rental companies are keen on this idea. Both the Enterprise, National, and Alamo franchise and the Avis and Budget one refuse to let AutoSlash inventory their car rentals. Hertz and sister companies Dollar and Thrifty used to work with AutoSlash but recently pulled out. That leaves mostly the smaller/budget car rental chains, such as Fox Rent a Car, Payless, and a few others and makes the car rental search results more sparse. But if you don't care which car rental company you patronize and just want the best deal you can get without having to search for it yourself, give AutoSlash a try to see what's available where you're traveling.

Tingo: Automatic Refunds on Hotel Reservations

Automatically Score the Biggest Travel Savings (Without All the Hassle)Hotel booking site Tingo works similarly to AutoSlash. After booking a hotel room at the site, the service continues to monitor the hotel's rates. If the rates drop after you book, Tingo automatically re-books your reservation and automatically refunds your credit card the difference, with no need for you to actually fill in any forms or such. You can set the price drop threshold (e.g., re-book only if the savings are over $10), as well as cancel your reservation at any time.

Not all hotel rooms are eligible for the auto-re-booking and automatic refunds, because some hotels set their room rates as non-refundable (unlike most car rentals, where you can cancel at any time). When you book, you'll need to accept the hotel's own cancellation fees, if there are any.

If you don't want to book on Tingo, you can still use the service to just track hotel prices and be notified when a hotel's price drops. In the last month, according to the service, 476 hotels in Paris had price drops, 273 in London, and 214 in NYC—lots of savings travelers might have missed out on if they weren't tracking price drops.

Yapta: Refund Alerts and Claim Assistance for Airline Tickets

Automatically Score the Biggest Travel Savings (Without All the Hassle)Unlike AutoSlash and Tingo, previously featured airline ticket price tracker Yapta doesn't automatically re-book your flight. That's because once you buy a plane ticket, you typically face cancellation fees and penalties for any changes. Yapta, however, offers a kind of price drop protection that makes sure you get the best deal on your flight even after you purchase it. The service monitors your flight's price and, if it drops, notifies you so you can claim your airline refund and helps you submit your claim.

Alaska Airline and JetBlue offer refunds for any drop in price, while other airlines issue refunds depending on how much the price drops (for Virgin, it's $75 or more; United, American Airlines, Delta, and US Air, $150 or more). About 13 percent of Yapta-tracked fares were eligible for refunds in the first quarter of last year according to this MSN Money article. Since the service launched 5 years ago, average annual savings per Yapta member is $334.16.

(Orbitz offers a lowest price guarantee for flights and hotels with automatic refunds, but it's harder to ever get that, because the refund depends on another Orbitz customer booking the same exact itinerary. Likewise, Travelocity's price guarantee is less than ideal, since it requires you to find the lower competing rates yourself after you book your trip.)

In short, these three services together save you the time and hassle of hunting for the best prices for your next trip and possibly overpaying. Combine this with MySeatFinder's automatic upgrade to a better airline seat, and you've turned the web into a pretty sweet personal travel assistant.


Know of any other cool travel sites or tools for making saving easier? Share them with us in the comments.

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