Secrets of Web Travel Sites

Booking a trip on an online travel siteis convenient, but comes with its own set of problems.

1 They who's on a Mac and who's on a PCand who's going to spend more.

Last year, US travel research companyOrbitz tracked people's online activities to test out whether Mac users spendmore on travel than PC users. On average, Mac users lay out US$20-30 more pernight on hotels and go for more stars. according to the Wall Street Journal. Asa result, online• travel sites show these users more expensive travel optionsfirst. To avoid inadvertently paying more, sort results by price.

 Their software doesn't always hook up to thehotel's system.

A guaranteed reservation is almostimpossible to come by anywhere — but the risk of your flight or hotel beingoverbooked increases with third-party providers. The middle-man's softwareisn't immune to system errors, so always call the hotel or airline to make sureyour booking was processed.

 Don't be fooled by packages: Often, they'relow-end items grouped together.

Ever notice how travel sites recommend ahotel, a rental car, and tour package all in one click? These deals usuallyfeature travel that no one wants, like flights with multiple layovers.

Check the fine print.

 You could miss out on loyalty points.

Third-party providers can get betweenyou and frequent flyer miles or points. Many hotel loyalty programmes don'trecognise external sites, others award only minimum points and exclude specialoffers, like double points on hotel stays.

 Once your trip is purchased, you're on yourown.

An online travel agency can't provideassistance the same way an agent can if a flight is cancelled or a room issubstandard. Basically, when you arrive at the airport or hotel, you're justanother client who booked at the lowest rate.

    Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family, and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck. I'm not going to say luck, talent, and circumstances don't come into play because they do. Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great intelligence, and that's just the reality of how life is.

    However, to succeed in life, one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical. And, in addition to that, in order to get really good at something, one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practicing. To become great at certain things, it'll require even more time, time that most people won't put in.

    This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don't enjoy what you do, it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.

    When you see people exhibiting some great skills or having achieved great success, you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost. It's sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent, but thinking that way does you no good, and there's a huge chance that you're wrong anyway.

    Whatever you do, if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out, almost to the point of addiction（沉迷）, and over a long period of time. If you're not willing to put in the time and work, don't expect to receive any rewards. Consistent, hard work won't guarantee you the level of success you may want, but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.

    Twelve years ago, I arrived in Central Florida from Puerto Rico. I had heard of a job opportunity and decided to pursue it. But it never became a reality. I quickly learned that being alone without resources in an unfamiliar city was not a comfortable situation to be in.

    Once my limited funds ran out I became homeless and spent a year and a half living on the streets of Orlando. Apart from feeling not being noticed and missing my family, I had to face another challenge—hunger.

    For the first time in my life, I, as a foreign man, who had lived my life in the relative comfort of the middle class, understood the desperation someone feels when they don't get enough to eat. I clearly remembered having run a distance of more than 7 miles on many occasions just to make it to a local feeding program before they closed at 7 pm.

    Once the need for food was met, the next challenge would arise—where to find a place to sleep for the night. Fortunately, local programs like the Coalition for the Homeless, Second Harvest Food Bank and the Wayne Densch Center were an important part of my ability to survive my painful experience.

    With the assistance of these programs, I was accepted by a college scholarship program through the Coalition and obtained two degrees from Valencia.

    My experience has helped me understand that devoting my life to helping others offers lasting rewards. Today, I am employed as Childhood Hunger Programs Manager at Second Harvest Food Bank and oversee the summer feeding, Hi-Five Kids Pack, and Kids Café programs. I am so proud to be able to distribute food resources to those wonderful programs and help hundreds more like me.

    Stephen Hawking was born in Oxford, England on 8th January, 1942. He went to school in St Allbans, a small city near London. Although he did well, he was never top of his class.

    After leaving school. Hawking went first to Oxford University where he studied physics and then went to Cambridge University where he studied cosmology(宇宙学）. As he himself admits, he didn't work hard. He was a very lazy student, and did very little work. However, he still got high marks.

    It was at the age of 20 that Hawking first noticed something was wrong with him. He started to bump into things. When he visited his family at Christmas time, his mother was so worried that she made him see a doctor. Hawking was sent to hospital for tests. Finally, the result came back. Hawking had motor neuron disease (运动神经元病）, an incurable illness which would make him unable to speak, breathe or move without the help of a machine. Doctors said they had no way to help him. He would die before 23.

    At first, Hawking became very depressed. After a while, though, he began to see his life in a different way. As he later wrote, "Before my illness was diagnosed(诊断), I had been very bored with life. There had not seemed to be anything worth doing. But shortly after I came out of hospital, I suddenly realised that there were a lot of worthwhile (值得做的）things I could do." Then Hawking got married and found a job at Cambridge University as a professor, He strongly believes that his story shows that nobody, how bad their situation is, should lose hope. "Life is not fair." He once said. "You just have to do the best you can in your own situation."

    It's a white Christmas in the United States today, with snow falling from Seattle to Maine.

    •Northeast

    Biting winds with snow swept the Northeast.

    Earlier, up to 15 inches of snow fell during a snow storm in Maine, while up to one foot fell in New Hampshire. Winds reached 76 mph on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while up to 61 mph winds tore through Long Island, New York. Falling snow collected on the runways at Boston's Logan International Airport, causing temporary flight delays.

    The wind was so severe in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that the annual (重演) of George Washington and his soldiers' crossing the Delaware River was canceled, the Washington Crossing Historic Park told ABC News.

    •Midwest

    Heavy lake effect snow fell in western Michigan.

    The National Weather Service has issued a wind-chill warning and advisory (公告) from Montana to Michigan. Bitter cold air in the Midwest produced wind chills Monday morning as low as minus 48 degrees in North Dakota and minus 47 in northern Minnesota.

    As this bitter cold made its way east overnight, it was expected to move over relatively mild Great Lakes, producing intense lake-effect snow bands capabie of producing 2 to 4 inches of snow in an hour.

    •West Coast

    That storm system moved overnight through the Rockies, bringing more snow and the threat of avalanches (雪崩). The National Weather Service has issued an avalanche warning for the Wasatch Range Mountains outside Salt Lake City.