Lobby Bar – January 16: Thoughtful Automobiles, Emotional Furnishings, and Human-Grade Slingshots

By Jeremy Del Nero on 16 January 2015
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The Lobby Bar – A Down-the-Rabbit-Hole Summary of FBT News and Views

Lazy days. Christian Stampfer reports from the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where the wine flows free and the cars drive themselves. Now, if only the cars could also pick up groceries, we’d be making real progress.

Man and couch. Jonathan Spira checks into the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, where he falls in love with the hotel’s lounge. At 3 a.m., after trying to spend the night in the lounge, Spira was asked as kindly as possible to return to his room. “But we’re in love,” Spira said, caressing the lounge couch.

Exclusive content. Join us for cupcakes and an exciting inaugural ride on our Dream Girl. Errr, despite that teaser, we promise the linked article is rated PG.

Bring balloons. Join Paul Riegler in celebrating the iPhone’s eighth birthday. While most 8-year-olds are stubborn and annoying, the iPhone seems to have aged in dog years, reaching the mature age of 56. That said, Siri can be quite stubborn at times.

Charity Work. Join Robert Waldner in Savannah, Georgia for some straw-chewing adventures. Make sure you visit Old Fart Jackson – he just turned 207 and loves company.

Electronic envy. American Airlines will soon pay for Global Entry trusted traveler program memberships for its pilots and flight attendants. In other news, iPhones with fingerprint recognition are getting jealous that other machines may be seeing more fingertip action.

Close to home. Delta flight attendants may be voting on a new union. We hope they choose Union Square.

Budgeteer. Austrian low-cost carrier Niki plans to launch the world’s shortest international flight from Vienna, Austria to Bratislava, Slovakia. The trip is so short that the flight arrives before departure. On second thought, however, the company decided to build a human-grade trebuchet, which will effectively launch passengers the distance for a fraction of the cost.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

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