Group items tagged

Switching to the cloud from a client server platform pays off with a big drop in both the initial capital outlay and the ongoing operating costs for the property management and other systems.

pects of a franchisee’s business, from guest check-ins and housekeeping services to billing and finances. Over time new features have been rolled into the software platform making it more robust and useful for hotel owners—it’s currently distributed in eight countries and available in four languages. And while plenty of cloud-based PMS packages are now available from third-party vendors like Micros, Maestro, and RoomKey, Choice’s internal solution has garnered its fair share of attention. “We had been getting knocks on the door from IT vendors at other hotel companies and individual Choice franchisees that own other brands, saying they were interested in our product,” says Pacious, “So we set up a new division so we could take a look at other opportunities we could develop.” This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles attachment-3

his led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles Hotel Market Insight: Cleveland a

This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system.

All the world’s economies continue to face big challenges in using energy-the lifeblood of the industrial age-while maintaining environmental quality.

Reductions in both by 70-80 percent since 1977 would not have been possible without substantial innovations in, most notably, electronics.

In the United States, the energy sector accounts for more than 85 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, with energy-related carbon dioxide alone responsible for about 80 percent.

Local generation by smaller plants can not only reduce transmission losses, but also improve air quality since they can be fueled by hydrogen and natural gas-much cleaner than coal on a per kilowatt hour basis

Industrial and vehicular emissions, particularly of nitrogen oxides, are also detrimental to water quality.

Technology and policy are now beginning to address runoff pollution, but it is hard to measure, much less control, because it stems from widely scattered, “nonpoint” sources.

the tools of geographic information systems (GIS) using remotely sensed data have offered new ways to identify and observe these sources

The technologies raise some privacy concerns, for instance, that could lead polluters to cloak or hide their polluting activities, further inhibiting pollution monitoring and cleanup

Bioremediation treats about 5-10 percent of all toxic chemicals and other hazardous waste; has successfully treated oil, gasoline, toluene, naphthalene, pentachlorophenol (a fungicide and wood preservative), and agricultural waste; and is being used at more than 30 munitions test areas across the United States.

These benefits must be balanced against what some critics view as potentially large drawbacks. One concern is that bioremediation may largely immobilize rather than fully remediate contamination. Another is that instead of reverting to its original state, the site will be transformed in some unexpected way. A third concern is that the potential risks of adding genetically altered organisms to the environment, or even redistributing naturally occurring ones, may not be fully understood. The Information Revolution

The Information Revolution

The WHO Initiative on E-waste and Child Health, launched in 2013, aims to increase access to evidence, knowledge and awareness of the health impacts of e-waste; improve health sector capacity to manage and prevent risks, track progress and promote e-waste policies that better protect child health; and improve monitoring of exposure to e-waste and the facilitation of interventions that protect public health.

One of the most important issues facing the world today is poverty and how to alleviate it. The MDGs aim to eradicate extreme poverty and halve the number of workers living on less than one US dollar a day, among other aims. Tourism creates economic opportunity through employment business linkages, and other income-generating possibilities -and therefore has the potential to reduce poverty

This needs to be addressed so that traditions and local culture are carried through the generations and not watered down or commercialised

Despite its potential for negative impacts, tourism by its very nature also offers a mechanism through which to address issues and achieve positive outcomes.

No industry is more customer-focused than tourism -satisfying people’s needs, desires and dreams. But as well as ensuring the well-being of its clients there are others whose well-being is fundamental to the sustainability of any tourism enterprise:

Tourism can seriously damage the environment at both global and local level if it is not developed and operated responsibly:

The negative effects of poorly-planned hotel and tourism infrastructure development can place an intolerable strain upon natural systems, particularly in terms of demand for water and the effect of its treatment and disposal.

Too many tourists visiting fragile archaeological and architectural sites of historic and cultural significance

Various types of partnership have been formed to address the issues relating to sustainable tourism development and are supported by the case studies on these and the following pages:

To be successful, partnerships need:

appropriate stakeholders

organisations or individuals

mutually agreed goals and processes

sensitivity to the power balance between members

the ability to accept compromise

The studies and statistics coalesce to indicate that saving energy matters for a business, financially and in other ways.

"The issue of electronic waste is overlooked, as electronic items that could be fixed easily go to waste instead, contributing to pollution and increasing the demand for components like rare earth elements, which can have a damaging impact on the environment when sourced."

But e-waste from discarded electrical and electronic products is only part of the problem. A significant contributor to e-waste is the release of toxins from mining and manufacturing.

"But the truth is that one in five people - at best - are going to be motivated to do that, so for the remaining four out of five, we need to put systems in place that are convenient, that match their lifestyles and enable us to get the electronic equipment back... into the next item."

"This project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault," he says.

By far the biggest contributors to the level of e-waste are household appliances such as irons, vacuum cleaners, washing machines and fridges.

There are rules on the management of e-waste. Sellers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) within the European Union must provide ways for customers to dispose of their old household device when they sell them a new version of the same product.

"There is the high risk that the pollutants are not taken care of properly, or they are taken care of by an informal sector and recycled without properly protecting the workers, while emitting the toxins contained in e-waste," Prof Williams says.

world-wide collections are stagnating or even decreasing

In countries where there is no national e-waste legislation in place, e-waste is likely treated as other or general waste. This is either land-filled or recycled, along with other metal or plastic wastes

the rapidly-growing "Internet of things" - internet-connected gadgets - is expected to generate e-waste at a faster rate, as connectivity becomes embedded into everyday items

“If such a significant issue were to exist in a car, customers would likely expect a complete recall at the expense of the manufacturer,” Brocious adds. “I can’t help but feel that Onity has the same responsibility to their customers, and to customers staying in hotels protected by Onity locks.

But since then, two hackers who asked not to have their names revealed have claimed in emails to me that they independently replicated the exploit and refined it, so that it now works on any Onity hotel room lock. Brocious tells me he’s spoken with eight or nine hackers who have all been able to replicate his work to some degree.

“We want to assure you that Onity is working on providing you with a solution that will address any potential risks related to the alleged vulnerability of these locks,”

Onity isn’t the only one to come under fire in wake of its security flap: Brocious has also been criticized for failing to warn Onity ahead of his Black Hat demonstration and for selling a licence to use his Onity-hacking trick to a locksmith training firm for $20,000 long before he made his findings public.

Onity issued a statement responding to last month’s presentation at the Black Hat security conference by Cody Brocious, a Mozilla developer who showed that he was able to insert a device he built for less than $50 into the data port on the underside of Onity’s locks, read their memory to find a decryption key, and use it to gain access to the lock’s firmware and trigger its open command in a matter of seconds.

Onity will offer its customers new circuit boards and firmware that ostensibly fix the problems Brocious demonstrated–But Onity is asking owners of some models of its locks of some to pay a “nominal fee” for the fix, while offering others “special pricing programs” to cover the cost of replacing components.

Exclusive In-house services and the drive for value

Technology: A blessed curse

Demographic changes promise new tensions

Restaurants account for 296,100 jobs in the state — 10 percent of the work force.