10 World's Craziest Hotels

1. Ice Hotel (Sweden): 6,000 Square Feet of Ice and Snow



Made up of over 6,000 square feet of ice and snow, it's the largest - and the original - ice hotel in the world. Guests sleep in a thermal sleeping bag on a special bed built of snow and ice, on reindeer skins. In the morning, a cup of hot lingonberry juice is brought to their bedside. After enjoying a good (?) night's sleep on a bed of snow, that morning delivery should be quite a delight. With an average temperature of 17 degrees Fahrenheit, bring lots of layers, or just visit the Absolut ICE bar and drink some vodka to stay toasty - in more ways than one.

2. Gamirasu Cave Hotel (Turkey): a cave on a volcanic rock



Sleeping in a cave, according to the management of Gamirasu Cave Hotel, is surprisingly comfortable. The volcanic rock that insulates the cave keeps the temperature at a comfortable level, between 63 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, year round. The cave itself used to be a Byzantine monastic retreat, dated at about 1,000 years old. Until recently, part of this retreat was used by Christian monks, and some of the individual rooms were used as cells.

3. Old Jail Mount (Australia): an actual prision



If you've ever spent a night in jail you probably don't want to go back. However, for the do-gooders that may never get there - The Jail in Australia is just the place to get locked up for the night, sans the legal fees and court appearance. This old prison in Mount Gambier has been transformed into a lodging aimed at budget travelers. Considering guests will have to eat in the mess hall and sleep next to a toilet, it's pretty safe to say that anyone with more than budget needs should steer clear of The Jail.

4. Poseidon Undersea Resort (Fiji): an Underwater Hotel



By early 2009, travelers will have the opportunity to stay at the grandiose Poseidon Undersea Resort. Nestled forty feet below the surface of the clear blue Fijian Lagoon, the underwater suites will be accessible by elevator. 70 percent of each suite is enveloped in Acrylic walls that allow for spectacular views of the ocean. Guests are invited to interact with the surroundings. At the push of a button the fish are fed, and a flip of a switch turns on the sparkling underwater lights.

5. Capsule Inn (Tokio): capsules instead of rooms



The Capsule Inn provides more a capsule, than a room. While the Inn provides a public lounge space, including bathrooms, guests stay in a capsule unit. These capsules, which are made of reinforced plastic, have all the required amenities, like TV, radio, lighting, and alarm clock access. While you may be asking, required amenities for who? a quick stay in the Capsule Inn just might make you long for an all access capsule of your own.

6. Green Magic Treehouses (India): built in trees 90 feet high




If you longed for a tree house getaway as a child, the Green Magic Treehouses in Kerela, India may be a long awaited dream come true. The houses are built in trees 90 feet high, and nestled in a tropical rainforest. They come complete with running water in private baths, telephones, and if you're feeling extra adventurous - access to a hanging bridge. All of the houses are made of Eco- friendly materials, and run by alternate energy sources, avoiding conventional electricity power. This, coupled with the beautiful abundance of flora and fauna, make for a beautiful and unique place to stay.

7. Exploranter (Brazil): a hotel on wheels



The Exploranter -- a hotel on wheels -- was certainly designed for the adventure traveler. Though the digs are modest, Exploranter is fully equipped with facilities that include a kitchen, hot showers and 28 beds. The Exploranter is based in Sao Paulo and tours through Brazil, Chile and Argentina. The hotel even caters to themed private parties, such as hot-air ballooning, horseback riding, rafting, or visiting vineyards. Keep an open mind when you're traveling with the Exploranter gang: the chef on board wants guests to sample international cuisine and might surprise you with a snack of crispy red ants.

8. Woodlyn Park Motels (NZ): a railcar and a plane



Planes, Trains, and Hobbit Motels? Woodlyn Park in Waitomo, NZ offers three unique lodging options. A 1950's railcar and a Bristol Fighter plane have been refurbished and transformed into small self-contained motel units. The Hobbit Motel resembles an authentic hobbit hole built into the side of the mountain. The entertainment provided at any of the 3 Woodlyn Park motels is equally bizarre. Guests are invited to enjoy a sheep shearing and fun with bush animals, such as the kiwi bird or the dancing pig.

9. McMenemins Kennedy School Hotel (USA): back to school



Have you ever experienced the went to school in your underwear nightmare? At McMenemins Kennedy School hotel, that nightmare becomes a reality. The Kennedy School, a historic elementary school, has been converted into a delightful little place to stay while visiting the Portland area. Each room, fashioned from original schoolrooms, contains a chalkboard and comes fitted with a phone, Internet connection, and even a private bath.

10. Woodpecker Hotel (Sweden): on a park, for a single guest



The Woodpecker Hotel is among the smallest in the world. It only accommodates a single guest or a couple, which makes perfect sense considering that the digs at the Woodpecker are located in a tree house about 42 feet above a Swedish park. Your tree house is not completely rustic -- it comes complete with a veranda, hammock and toilet.[Source]

10 Coolest Cell Phones

Nokia 888: the Bendable Phone

You can roll it, bend it, put on your clothes like a clip. It also makes some form changes that makes it more ergonomical: when you want to talk on the phone, the body form turns into the form of the good old telephone. You can personalize these forms and record them, so it fits you the best in the way that you have chosen. It is powered by liquid battery, and it uses a touchscreen display.

Hyundai MP-280: the Perfume Phone



For woman, or man who care about their body smell, Hyundai presents the MP 280 cell phone, a clamshell phone with a built-in perfume container! Upon opening the phone to make or receive a call, the scent will be released. Once it's not as smelly as before or in other words, the perfume has almost empty, you can refill it.

Furthermore, MP280 comes with a syringe which you can fill with your favorite perfume. The butterfly object at the centre of the phone is where you "inject" the perfume into the handset. About 2 drops of the concentrate are enough to last about 8 hours. Apart from the perfume thing, the phone has a changeable cover panels which make it more attractive to customers.

Telson TWC 1150: the Camera Phone Watch



The Watch Phone weighs only 98 grams. Telson TWC 1150 packs in a lot of features including loudspeaker, voice recording and voice recognition capability, infrared earpiece and polyphonic ring tones. It also has a speakerphone facility along with infrared "Finger-Ring" type earpiece. The high performance battery of the phone enables talk time up to 100 minutes and standby time up to 150 hours.

Telson TWC 1150 is equipped with a plug-in high-resolution 330,000 pixel digital camera that is included in the handset kit. It has a capacity to save up to 80 pictures which can be attached to the unique phone book. The Phone Book has a facility to store up to 200 entries with 4 numbers, email id and URL and Photo caller id so that whenever you receive calls the photo of the caller will be displayed on the screen. One can even set up to seven blinking colours depending on the caller's group.

SparkFun Port-O-Rotary: the Portable Rotary Phone



a fully functional GSM cell phone stuffed into an old rotary phone. It makes an interesting conversation piece to say the least. All you have to do is open the phone, insert your SIM card, and turn the unit on. The unit will utilize your phone number and account minutes. Phone can dial out using the rotary and will ring with the original metal bells with an incoming call.

The GM862 cellular module from Telit works within any country that has one of the 900MHz/1800MHz/1900MHz cellular bands (90% of the world). Each phone is specially built to customer needs. The battery can run the phone for 4-5 days and is charged by unscrewing two screws on the bottom of the phone, opening it, and attaching the charger.

NOKIA SURV1: the Waterproof and Outdoorsy Phone



The SURV1 concept features a rugged and waterproof frame based design for cellphone, The concept is targeted at users who spend a lot of time outdoors. The phone can be worn as a belt clip or a big sized pendant and uses only touchscreen without any buttons (except for emergency).

The scratch resistance high resolution screen can also be used as a flashlight. The concept also includes GPS capabilities and MP3 player for music enthusiasts.

Vodafone 904SH: the Phone With Face Recognition



The Sharp 904SH available with Vodafone Japan is probably the most secure phone as it uses Face recognition. The phone can be programmed to recognise the face of the user and it will remain locked and keep anyone from accessing its memory / functions until the handset verifies that the face is that of its user. You also get a "Motion Sensor" that allows you to use your phone in a similar way to the Nintendo Revolution controller. with Bluetooth enabled on 2 similar phones and a fighting game, you can pull a Darth Vader on your opponent. There's also a Java Messenger-clone... and, oh yes, you can also make calls with it.

Dbtel M50: the iPod-Like Phone



Love the iPod dial pad? This phone can really give you the feel of it with phone integration. The 4 button let you open the phone menu, anwer calls, cancel action and end your calls. The dial pad is the one which detect your motion. Around the dial pad has also 4 music player functions. Once you confirm your music song, you can click the center round button to play it.

The display screen doesn't come cheap. It's a touch screen where you can activate the number pad by just one touch on the screen. Also incldes: a 2.0 Megapixel Camera, GPRS, USB, Mini-SD, IrDA, Pen-base, and more.

BenQ Qube Z2: Little Cube-Shaped Phone



The keypad is vertically aligned in two rows on the right of the screen, while navigational buttons reside along the bottom. It comes with full-function MP3 player with lyrics display, voice recorder, FM radio and 3D surround sound. Packed with 60MB embedded memory to store pictures taken with its 1.3 megapixel camera, and a mini SD card slot for expanded memory.

Nokia Colores: the Virtual Hard Drive



The concept device features the first "virtual" hard drive that provides local and remote access to all your essential information and converges the features of multiple devices into a single device, with an innovative UI. It also includes GPS, GPRS, recording device that transforms speech into text, biometric scanner for fingerprint recognition, 3G CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, Google Earth, carbon fiber structure.

Samsung Serene: the Elegant Phone



This phone is unique not because Samsung builds it, but because Bang & Olufsen has designed it. If you take a look at the phone it's a completely unique design: that the screen is intended to be the bottom of the phone with the keypad representing the top half. Why flip the screen? Because by placing the screen on the bottom the user no longer places his or her ear onto the screen causing it to become greasy. Bang and Olufsen's minimalism is present throughout the design. There is no screen on the outside, the keypad is circular like b&o remote, and the ring tones are noticeable yet unobtrusive pings which make the phone all the more elegant. The Serene's unique design comes in a small package. The price? €1100

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10 Amazing Skate Parks from Around the World

Skating, inline blading and BMX biking are enjoyed by people from every country in the world. Skate parks are like playgrounds to skaters, and fans of the sport are always on the lookout for the biggest, wildest, craziest courses to conquer! From America’s West Coast to City of France, skate parks come in all styles and each offers its own unique twist. Here are the world’s ten largest and most well-known skate parks!SkateLab, Atlantic Beach Florida





(images via skatelab)

Part indoor, part outdoor, the Atlantic Beach Skate Lab is a cornucopia of rails, verts, ramps and jumps. Unlike many strictly outdoor parks, weather does not affect your experience, as the inside area is just as expansive and enjoyable as the outdoor sector. As one of the most expansive skate parks on the east coast, riders from the southern states can enjoy total skating merriment!


Black Pearl Skate Park, Cayman Islands





(images via skateboardpark, concretedisciples)

Located in the gorgeous Cayman Islands, Black Pearl is the world’s largest outdoor concrete skate park. This massive park covers over 52,000 square feet and features courses for beginner, intermediate and expert skaters. Not big into skating? Located right next to the skate park is the world’s largest wave pool, producing a constant 11 foot swell to surf until your heart is content!

Louisville Extreme Park







(images via skateboardparks, louisvilleextremepark)

Boasting a 24 foot full pipe, Extreme Park never falls short of its name! This enormous concrete playground spans 40,000 square feet and ranks as one of the largest skate parks in the nation. Among the unique features of the park are its hours of operation. The park is actually open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing skating, biking or inline bliss on demand!


SMP Skatepark, Shanghai China




(images via smpskatepark, vitalbmx)

SMP Skate Park is an enormous outdoor spans 44,936 square feet and represents China’s largest skate park. Each year SMP holds an international skate competition known as “The Showdown.” If you’re a skater, its hard to think of a more fitting place to compete. Not a skater, not a problem! Enjoy the activities from a 12,300 square foot viewing deck and plaza!


Marseille Skatepark, France





(images via mareseilleskatepark, allosurf)

An urban skatepark covered in graffiti art work, Marseilles skate park is both beautiful and expansive. As France’s largest outdoor skate park, skaters from all over europe stop by to grind on the various painted bowls and verts. It’s unique style sets Marseilles apart from other parks around the world and offers a new experience unlike the usual terrain of outdoor parks.


Stoke Plaza, Stoke-On-Trent, England



(images via sketchyskateboarding)

Stoke Plaza is England’s premiere skate park, spanning 34,000 square feet. The park cost over $500,000 to create and features a unique design. If you don’t want to partake in the skating, there are quite a few designated “safe zones” where bystanders can hang out and observe!


VANS Skatepark, California





This enormous indoor/outdoor skate park was created by Vans Shoe Company, a prominent skating shoe brand. Made for inline skating and skateboarding, the slick wood allows for a smooth and controlled ride through the course’s ramps, rails and verts. Outside, riders can delight in concrete bowls and pools covering over 20,000 square feet of skateable area.


Kona Skate Park, Jacksonville, Florida




(images via flickr, skateboardpark)

The world-famous Kona skate park offers one of the world’s most unique skating experiences. Smooth, pastel colored concrete has helped make Kona a favorite among professionals and hobbyists, and has earned it a spot in several popular skating video games. New to the world of skating? No problem! Kona USA offers a skate camp with professional instructions to have you skating like a pro in no time!


Amazing Square Skate Park, Japan



(image via biglobe, willyharbs)

Amazing Square is a Japanese monster of a skate park! Featuring all the amenities of a good park, including a massive half pipe, the park is open 24 hours a day for total skating rapture! Enjoy street skating courses, rails, stairs and more as you skate around Tokyo’s most memorable park.


Lake Cunningham Regional Skate Park, California






(image via sjparks, skateparks)

Quite possibly one of the most unique skate parks, LCRSP is in a league all its own! Riders enjoy a 70 foot long, 22 foot wide full pipe, bowls, pools, thimbles, cradles, a mega wall and a street course! Spectators can watch the action for free but must sign a waiver at the door. Bikers can join in the fun and make use of the course, however the pools are off limits!

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