Travel

Astronauts aboard the ISS took some incredible shots of Alaska's Pavlof volcano, which began erupting on May 13, 2013, and has been disrupting air travel up near the Aleutian arc where it is situated, approximately 625 miles south of Anchorage. When photograph ISS036-E-2105 (top) was taken, the space station was about 475 miles south-southeast of the volcano (49.1° North latitude, 157.4° West longitude). The volcanic plume extended southeastward over the North Pacific Ocean. Two more shots, AFTER THE JUMP...

Dear allSo when I last put pen to paper sort of we were just getting ready to go on our Tundra Wilderness tour. We jumped on a bus and headed off into Denali national park. It39s 6 million acres and its one of the most impressive things we have ever seen. Alaskans have strict rules about how many people go in and out and it39s kept in its true wild form. That39s what we loved about it.

Fans of the vine-swinging, barrel-bashing, chest-thumping Wii favourite will be glad to hear that Donkey Kong Country Returns…returns? This time in 3D. On your 3DS, naturally. DKCR was a blast from the past in 2010 as Nintendo revitalised the SNES classic with travel between foreground and background, rich and vibrant level graphics, and a fun, vibrant style that collided retro sensibilities with modern production values. Now the update has been updated, with 3D graphics and new content for mobile gamers on the 3DS platform. The aptly named New Mode is…well, new, but aimed at first-time gamers to the platform genre, giving Donkey and Diddy an extra life heart each making the ease in a little better for newbies. Other helpful items include the ability to constantly switch between the two apes, Green Balloons to protect against falling off a cliff or a ledge, and Crash Guards, which render the cheeky chimps invulnerable during mine cart and rocket barrel areas. Veterans will be able to play the game as it was originally released. DKCR:3D also includes a whole new “Cloud” world complete with eight new stages available after players complete the main game, along with the facility for two local players to team up as Donkey and Diddy over wifi. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is released tomorrow on May 24th for 3DS, so go bananas! Check out the official site for more information.

Wanna travel like the jawaan deewanas?: Through this platform, MasterCard® curates benefits across travel, din...

Holiday travel: Gas cheaper; police watching roads, lakes: The AAA says 1.34 million Carolinas residents -- 89...

Here's one of the most interesting uses of retargeting technology we've seen in a while. For those who don't know, in a nutshell, retargeting allows marketers to, in essence, "tag" you when you visit a particular site (on which they have placed an ad banner) and then show you another banner (retarget you) on another. Most marketers simply show you the same banner over and over again. JWT Amsterdam approached retargeting a bit more intelligently and used the technology to tell a story. JWT client, Dutch Customs, wanted to inform travelers it's illegal to bring back fake designer bags and small knifes from holiday destinations around the world. The agency created re-targeting banners in which street vendors attempt to sell the travelers these products and placed them on travel websites. Using retargeting, the street vendors followed a person around as they visited various travel sites delivering ever more desperate pleas for people to buy their products each time. After several version of the banners were delivered across multiple site, the final message was delivered: it's not OK to bring these items back into the Netherlands. Check out the case video below. See? The ad banner may not yet be dead.

LONDON -- Dividend income accounts for around two-thirds of total returns, the actual rate of return taking into account both capital and income appreciation. Given that share prices are often volatile and unpredictable, the potential for plump dividends can give shareholders much-needed peace of mind for decent returns. I am currently looking at the dividend prospects of Direct Line Insurance Group  and assessing whether the company is an appetizing pick for income investors. How does Direct Line Insurance Group's dividend history stack up?  2009201020112012 FY Dividend Per Share - - - 8p DPS Growth - - - - Dividend Cover - - - 2.7x Source: Digital Look. Direct Line was listed on the London Stock Exchange in October, after Royal Bank of Scotland Group divested a 34.7% slice of the insurer. And the bank has since cut its stake by a further 15.3% in recent months. Direct Line thus cannot provide investors with a meaty track record with which to gauge future dividend potential. What are Direct Line Insurance Group's dividends expected to do?  20132014 FY Dividend Per Share 12.6p 14p DPS Growth 57.5% 11.1% Dividend Cover 1.5x 1.7x Dividend Yield 6% 6.7% Source: Digital Look. Still, an encouraging long-term earnings outlook is expected to underpin surging dividend growth, at least over the medium term, even though coverage is predicted to dip below the safety benchmark of two times projected earnings. City forecasters anticipate earnings per share to dip 14% this year, before rebounding 25% higher in 2014. The company announced in this month's interims that operating profit from continued operations rose 32.9% in quarter one to 107.5 million pounds, while its combined operating ratio fell to 98% from 104.5% in the corresponding 2011 quarter. However, gross written premiums slipped 4.5% to just over 1 billion pounds, illustrating rising competition across its key markets. However, Direct Line has its fingers in many pies, with significant exposure to the home and motor insurance markets and rising activity in other areas such as pet and travel insurance. This gives the firm tremendous flexibility and removes the reliance upon one sole market, while an ongoing commitment to competitive pricing is also helping it effectively lock horns with its rivals. How does Direct Line Insurance Group's dividend prospects rate against the competition?  Prospective Dividend YieldProspective P/E Ratio Non-life Insurance 4.7% 10.7 FTSE 250 3% 18.9 Source: Digital Look. Direct Line was recently trading on a P/E multiple of 11.4 for 2013, representing decent value compared with its FTSE 250 counterparts, although it does trade at a slight premium to its fellow non-life insurers. Still, the company offers a dividend yield some way north of that of its sector peers, and double that of the yield of Britain's 250 largest-quoted entities. In my opinion, Direct Line is a promising stock market pick for those seeking heady dividend growth. Combined with its diversified operations at home, the firm is also making solid headway in the international markets of Germany and Italy, while its cost-stripping programme should also boost profits moving forwards. I believe the insurer is well placed to enjoy solid earnings growth and thus healthy dividend prospects. The inside track to growth elsewhereIf you already hold shares in Direct Line Insurance Group and are looking to significantly boost your investment returns elsewhere, check out this special Fool report, which outlines the steps you might wish to take if you are hoping to become seriously rich from other shares. Our "Ten Steps to Making a Million in the Market" report highlights how fast-growth small-caps and beaten-down bargains are all fertile candidates to produce ten-fold returns. Click here NOW to enjoy this exclusive "wealth report" -- it's 100% free and comes with no obligation.

DAVIE, Fla. -- Dannell Ellerbe had to travel more than 1,100 miles south to escape Ray Lewis' large and overwhelming shadow. Coming off a Super Bowl victory, Ellerbe had a tough decision to make in free agency: He could either be heir apparent to Le

Riccardo Tisci cast what he calls his gang - a group of people including Carine Roitfeld that are "very faithful to my style, and faithful as human beings" - in Givenchy's Fall 2013 campaign. The black and white photos, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott and styled by Roitfeld, also feature Amanda Seyfried, models Mariano Ontañon and Dalianah Arekion, Spanish actor Quim Gutiérrez, and Roitfeld's daughter, Julia. "I think it is a moment of history for me in fashion for my own gang," Tisci said in a statement, adding that in the campaign, "there is a gypsy feeling because it is the inspiration of the collection. Again, the reality of someone like Carine with her daughter showing real love or Quim with Amanda is very special to me. All of them, including the models, are real gypsies in their own life. They are never in one place. They travel the world." A look inside Tisci's world, here in the gallery. Photo courtesy of Givenchy

Book: MousenetAuthor: Prudence BreitroseIllustrator: Stephanie YuePages: 416Age Range: 8 and up  Mousenet is a middle grade novel written by Prudence Breitrose and lightly illustrated by Stephanie Yue. The premise has oodles of kid-appeal. Mice have learned to read, and to use human computers (though it takes a whole team of mice to accomplish anything using a full-size PC). When a quirky inventor in Cleveland invents a teeny, tiny laptop (dubbed the Thumbtop), mice spring into action. They enlist the inventor's niece, Megan, in their quest to put "a Thumbtop in every mousehole" so that they can stand beside humans as the next intelligent species.   The mouse society and hierarchy in Mousenet is fully fleshed out, and quite entertaining. The mice have figured out a way to travel by Greyhound bus (though this remains rare). They use sign language to communicate. Because they have eyes everywhere, they are able to intervene with humans in surprising ways. They have their own, hidden internet (Mousenet). They are based in Silicon Valley, for a completely logical reason. This whole shadow society of secretly smart rodents calls to mind books like Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (which I now want to re-read) and Malcolm at Midnight.  The early part of the book is told from a third person (er, mouse) mouse perspective, which I particularly enjoyed. In fact, I found it a bit jarring when, in the middle of chapter two, things shifted to Megan's perspective. After that, things shift back and forth between mouse and human viewpoints. Here's an example of the mouse point of view: "The mice felt more hopeful about picking up clues to the megging's wildness later that afternoon, after the big female had spent some time doing things to food that they'd never seen happen in this kitchen--slicing, steaming, chopping, mixing. When the girl and her uncle came in to eat, the mice looked anxiously at their inventor to see how he'd react, because the dishes that the big female had put on the table didn't look at all like his usual dinner, which tended to be either delivered or thawed." (Chapter 2) I understand that it wouldn't have been possible to tell the entire story from the perspective of the mice (or certainly it would have been quite difficult), but I personally enjoyed the mouse point of view more than Megan's. Megan is a perfectly nice character, with passions and quirks of her own, but the mouse viewpoint is more unique.  Anyway, the plot in Mousenet moves along quickly. There isn't really a bad guy in the book, but Breitrose finds other sources of conflict (like the need to keep the existence of the mouse society hidden). I particularly liked the way the author developed the relationship between Megan and her step-cousin Joey, slowly and with friction along the way.  My one complaint, story-wise, is that I felt that the author's anti-global warming message came on a bit too strong at times. Not that there's anything wrong with the message itself, but towards the end of the book it comes perilously close to dominating the story. By making environmentalism a central trait of Megan's character, the author keeps things in hand, but only just barely. But I have admittedly very finely honed radar when it comes to messages inserted into fiction. Most young readers delving into Mousenet today will probably be fine with this aspect of the book.  Yue's black and white pencil illustrations are generally small in size, and are found about once per chapter. I found them helpful in visualizing Megan (who has unusual hair that's hard to describe), and of course in picturing the intrepid mice. There are also mouse silhouettes included atop the large-format first letter of each chapter. Emails integrated in with the text also add visual variety. Together, these visual elements of the book help make it non-intimidating to younger middle grade re