I thought after living in Manhattan for over 40 years, nothing could impress me. That was the case until last night. Whitney and Fredrick arranged for all of us to celebrate Eliot’s birthday at Manhatta, Danny Meyer’s newest restaurant on the 60th floor of 28 Liberty St., formerly the Chase Manhattan office building.
It just took our breath away. We have all seen the sights from the World Trade Center, but that was nothing compared to this 360 degree advantage point. It’s just the right height to see every detail of what a map of the city looks like in real life. You see all airports, bridges, rivers, highways, roads, and every major building NYC is known for.
The food doesn’t take second place to the view. Every dish was remarkable, and much different from what you have ever experienced. Our BFF, Bonnie, was amazed about how delicious each course tasted. The service was also impeccable and the decor was in excellent classic design. By now you must be questioning the prices. All I can say is that it was extremely reasonable. No tipping allowed. That was tough to deal with because you always want to show your appreciation.
Trust me, when I tell you that this is an experience you don’t want to miss. A big thank you to Whitney and Fredrick for discovering this restaurant and nailing the reservation.
And a big happy birthday to Eliot who went home totally exhausted from eating one of the best meals ever, and snapping away more photos in an evening than most people take on a vacation. The photos posted here were taken on an iPhone by Whitney and Lois. Tomorrow we will get to see Eliot’s photographic eye.
For all you YouTube addicts, here is a new feature that can remind you just how long you have been watching your favorite videos. Facebook and Instagram will be offering monitor services as well.
I don’t know why anyone would want this service, but apparently social media platforms have been getting complaints from users that they are addicted to their programs. I guess the solution is to show users, in black-and-white, just how much time they are spending on their screens. This new feature helps folks develop a sense of digital well being.
I extend my complete admiration for anyone who has ever kissed the Blarney Stone. I could barely make it to the top. The narrow, winding, uneven surface staircase, was a challenge and then getting down was even worse. I just couldn’t stand looking straight down. Then on top it was so scary to have to walk around the narrow path. Mission accomplished. I will do anything for a DigiDame post.
For $25, you can give a child, or even an adult, an augmented reality T/shirt that reveals what’s going on inside the body. It’s really awesome because very few people have ever seen anything like this before.
It also makes a very powerful gift. All you have to do is point a smartphone, or a tablet at the Virtuali-Tee shirt when it is being worn, and you see the heart and digestive system. It works with a companion app. It was first introduced on Indiegogo.
Yes, it’s a little scary but it’s very educational. Watch the video. You are going to remember this forever.
Scenes from the town of Dingle, and the Dingle Peninsula, which are as far west as you can get in Europe. We could practically see the United States.
Tomorrow is our last day in Ireland. We fly to NY on Tuesday. It was a terrific trip. My eyes are smiling. Landscapes by Eliot Hess.
Spread the word. The next time you go to a hotel, ask to speak to the management. Tell them one of the best amenities they can give a guest is the free Travel Buddy from Handy.
I just found out about it when we check into Randall’s Court, Killarney, Ireland. All of the hotels rooms have a Travel Buddy smartphone. As long as you are a guest in the hotel, you get to use the international cell for free. You can call anywhere in the world, and for as many times as you want/need to. You can also make free local calls. If you are out-and -about, you now have the ability to call folks nearby.
I thought this was a bit generous so I questioned the the hotel staff. The concierge told me that they heard about the service from a hotel in Hong Kong, and decided that they wanted to offer it too. Since they started the service a year ago, hotel reservations have dramatically increased.
The Travel Buddy by Handy also offers guests navigation maps so they can learn how to walk around the neighborhood without getting lost, and a list of local restaurants, retail stores, events, hospitals, Churches/Synagogues, gas stations, etc.
The guests in my hotel love the Travel Buddy by Handy because they can call home for free. That is a huge bonus for people who travel without international telephone plans.
The only way to get more and more hotels to feature the Travel Buddy by Handy is to keep educating everyone in the hospitality business. Tell them to visit
Every tech publication is talking about the new robot dog Sony is introducing to the U.S. market in a few weeks. Bow wow. You can read about it by just Googling Aibo, but I’m prepared to tell you all you need to know.
It cost $2,899 and the battery only last two hours. I can justify the price for early adopters, but I don’t think two hours is enough time for any new gadget. You are just getting warmed up when the batteries run out. That doesn’t work for me, even though I would love to be one of the first to own a dog that I could leave home for days, or weeks, without any worries.
The other negative is that Aibo should only be used indoors.
Most tech folks who have played with Aibo say it is adorable and a lot of fun.
They also said that Aibo features artificial intelligence and sensor technology. I have posted several videos here that will explain all of the fancy features.
I love the fact that Aibo includes a companion app for picture taking, commands, and learning tricks and navigation.
The wonderful thing about Aibo is that you can develop a personal relationship with the doggie robot. Again, watch the videos.
This is a memorial building to those who lost their lives when the Titanic sank. It’s also a tribute to those who built the largest cruise liner of the time. The building is on the exact site where the ship was built on May 31, 1911 in Belfast. Unlike most tourist traps, this memorial felt like the real deal. The interactive displays made you feel like you were a member of the construction team or one of the millions who mourned this tremendous loss. This experience was an emotional reminder.
This Could Be Our New Summer Home
Kylemore Castle was built in 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London whose family was involved in textile manufacturing in Manchester, England. The Castle is located in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. The reason why we just can’t take it seriously is because there are only four bathrooms in the 40,000 square foot Castle.That doesn’t go well with 33 bedrooms. We pass.
Sticks And Stones
We visited the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland today. It is also among the country’s oldest with monuments from 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists have recorded over 60 tombs of which 30 are visible. It’s located in Carrowmore, Sligo.
Rainbows Galore
Today was a day filled with rainbows on our tour. It just made everyone so happy. Eliot took magnificent photos of many of them. These are two of his favorites.
A new era is about to dawn in the art world. Christie’s Prints and Multiples will be auctioning a series of paintings next month that were actually created by artificial intelligence.
The first piece will be a portrait of a fictional man named Edmond De Belamy. The other 11 portraits will feature members of the so called De Belamy family.
Christie’s said The De Belamy portraits were conceived by a group of artists called Obvious and the algorithm was created by Generative Adversarial Networks, also known as GANs.
The portrait of Edmond De Belamy could sell for $7,000 to $11,500. It’s going to be very interesting to see the reaction of folks attending the auction. Who will be the first person to make the AI purchase?
We had an amazing day today visiting the Giant’s Causeway, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in Northern Ireland. It’s a natural wonder of the world because of its geological formation. This is the stuff that legends and folklore are made of. It is certainly one of the most dramatic scenes that will ever grace your eyes. You can tell by the crowds that this is a worldwide destination not to be missed.
We met up with one of the 12 Irish Tenors who gave us a private performance.
This is Charlene, our tour guide in the town of Derry. She will probably be a big political figure in Ireland someday soon because she is extremely passionate about keeping the peace here. There are still small pockets of folks who try to cause disturbances from time to time. It’s young folks like Charlene who are working hard to integrate people and keep them involved in progressive projects.
DigiDame 