Here are some of the news stories, opinions, and updates to useful tools that are relevant to the evolution of the travel trade for Monday 31 August:
GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE
It's safe for startup founders to be nice. There's even a mathematical formula that proves why, says Paul Graham, the investor behind the Y Combinator accelerator that jump-started Airbnb, Hipmunk, and hundreds of other companies.
No Email. No IM. Why you should have a Snapchat-only day. A report by Sam Shank, CEO of HotelTonight, on his startup's Snapchat-only experiment.
Why emotions are key to impactful websites. Lots of buzz this past week around this example-laden piece by Zack Rutherford, a widely-published UX design writer.
To regulate or not? EU to launch a study of Uber.Potentially big story, first reported on Re/Code.
Who chooses the movies that get shown on your flight? More often than not, it's one company: Cinesky Pictures.
Where in the world is Uber? A fun interactive from El Tiempo.
A lovely, sad obituary for Keith Bellows, the longtime editor of National Geographic Traveler. He championed authentic travel and "a sense of place" long before it was hip. Far too young.
TNOOZ QUOTED ELSEWHERE
Forget selfies! The latest holiday accessory is a professional photographer. So says The Guardian, with a quote from Tnooz editor Linda Fox.
Airbnb: Budget luxury for business travelers? A nice CNN.com article, and not just because Tnooz is quoted.
PASSENGER EXPERIENCE NEWS
Next year, British Airways and Air France plan to debut permanent digital bag tags on select routes.
The tags were pioneered by Qantas Airways years ago, and are being tested by Brussels Airlines and Turkish Airlines. Two unnamed companies also intend to start selling permanent tags with airline partners this year, says the WSJ.
Self-tagging luggage has run into problems in the European Union.
Regulations require a green stripe on tags issued inside of the EU, to distinguish them from ones coming from outside of the bloc, says Future Travel Experience. But many travelers don't have color printers at home. IATA is lobbying the EU to adjust the rule, reports the Australian Financial Review.
AsiaPay, the ePayment player in Asia, has signed up Hong Kong Airlines. It's a collaboration with FEXCO, the multi-currency tech provider.
TOOL UPDATES
If you make presentations or run a company blog, you may want to know about an update to SlideShare that lets you more easily clip and organize presentations and (individual!) slides on the slide-hosting platform that reaches 70 million people a month.
Cross-platform solutions tool Parallels launched Desktop 11 for Mac.
HUMOR
This is how self-driving cars would work at an intersection.
NOT HUMOR, BUT IT SHOULD BE
A startup has launched Tinder for French commuter trains.
HACKATHON NEWS
Tnooz led an excellent THack in Sâo Paulo this weekend. The winning idea had a clever idea of making an Airbnb for spare hotel rooms, or letting hotels shop out vacant rooms in a DayUse/co-working space sort of way. More details by the next Tnooz newsletter.
Our next hackathons are in Hangzhou in September and Hamburg in October.