Rants N’ Jibes

The American Orient Express is currently operated by GrandLuxe Rail Journeys. You can also book train tours of the national parks of the west, the Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and Napa Valley, as well as tours of the Antebellum South and Mexico’s Copper Canyon through this company.

These trips generally run 4 to 10 days and can be booked by calling 800-269-6044.

Various accomodations are available from a standard Pullman car with upper and lower berths to a Presedential Suite.

The attire is casual and it is also advisable to bring walking shoes for the tours at frequent stops. There is also a gourmet restaurant and a pianist to play in the background. The best part is that the meals and hotels are all included in the price of your journey.

You will not have to worry about driving and can spend your time looking out the windows. Unlike an airliner, you will be part of the landscape and not high above it. For scenery and enjoyment there is nothing like a train ride.

If you want to see the beauty of America there is nothing like riding a train through the mountains and plains. You will not have to worry about driving and can spend your time looking out the windows. Unlike an airliner, you will be part of the landscape, not high above it. For scenery and enjoyment there is nothing like a train ride.

You don’t really have to miss an important news or highlight if you subscribe to a podcast on the station web site. Offering a mix of traditional and new media sources.

For example, here are the top sources for online news, ranked by the number of visitors (from Ars Technica):

Yahoo News
MSNBC
CNN
AOL News
New York Times
Gannett
ABC News
Google News
USA Today
CBS News

While most of these sites are offering short video and/or audio clips, some media sites are now offering premium content that they normally reserve for television or radio (together with new advertising). Did anyone see the NCAA Basketball finals on CBS.com? Did you miss seeing who was eliminated from American Idol on Fox? (you can also see their recent performances on their web site)

Most of these sites are using Adobe Flash streaming technology (like YouTube), but others are starting to use HD video plugins such as those created by American Fork, Utah company, Move Networks, including ABC, Discovery, FOX, ESPN, and Oprah.com.

BYU Television, also using Move Networks’ HD video plugin, is one of the first stations that has around the clock broadcasting content on their site.

In comparison, the lds.org site will host transcripts, video, and audio downloads of LDS General Conference once they become available, but BYU.tv promises to include live HD video of for all morning and afternoon sessions. LDS Church members in Utah may not appreciate how rare it is to be able to watch Conference in your own home around the world as it is being broadcast.