If at first you don't succeed, try and try again...

That's clearly the new campaign motto for Sarah Palin, Alaska's most famous face. First it was the announcement that she'll join Fox News as an on-camera contributor and now, according to the Hollywood trade journal Variety, Palin's next gig is host of her own travel show [queue the Russia jokes].

This Discovery 'travelogue' will take the public in and around Alaska with Palin as the host.

"'Sarah Palin's 'Alaska' will center on interesting characters, traditions and attractions in the 49th state -- with the ex-VP candidate as a guide," Variety reported in its online edition Tuesday.

Palin is certainly no stranger to the camera, but... travel?

Well, she did have a brief cameo in the Discovery Channel's 2008 documentary on Iditarod -- a sled race in which her husband Todd competes - and few people know the sites of Alaska better than Palin [queue the second round of Russia jokes].

Whether you love her or loathe her, there's no disputing that Palin can draw a crowd. While those of us in the travel industry sit scratching our heads wondering how this happened, the reality is that we'll all tune in to see what transpires as Palin takes us through the Last Frontier.

So, put on your pig's lipstick, grab your moose tracks and gun racks and let's go see Alaska, Sarah Palin-style. If we're lucky, we might be able to see Russia, too.

Well, that didn't take long did it? A mere month after London Heathrow introduced full body scanners, the first harassment case is already being investigated by the authorities.

When 29 year old Jo Margetson accidentally walked through the scanner, an airport security guard thought it would be hilarious to mention how he "loved those gigantic tits". This was of course the situation everyone feared - I'm just surprised it took this long to happen.

The security guard has been issued a warning for sexual harassment, which will no doubt be the first of many to be issued to people that have access to the scanner images.

Miss Margetson is furious about the incident - 'I can't bear to think about the body scanner thing,' she said. 'I'm totally traumatised by it.". She spoke to the police after the incident, and they in turn reported the case to BAA, the airport operator.

In the United States, the full body imagers are monitored by staff in a remote location, and we have been assured that images will never be shared - even though the purchase requests made by the government requested scanners that have storage and sending capabilities. In other words - it is only a matter of time till US airports are faced with similar cases.

The problem with this equipment is not the technology - which has been proven to work just fine - humans are the real issue, and knowing that some of the operators manning the checkpoints are going to be on the lookout for "big tits" won't help the public's attitude towards them one bit.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Kimpton's new Hotel Palomar Chicago welcomes its first guests today to the 261-room art-themed hotel.

The pièce de résistance of this 4-star-caliber hotel is the green roof, which helps promote Chicago's city-wide eco-friendly initiative. The roof is covered with grass and vegetation and helps improve air quality, clean and retain rainwater, and helps promote Kimpton's brand-wide EarthCare program.

Located in Chicago's River North district, the Hotel Palomar Chicago features an indoor rooftop pool, 23 suites on higher floors and like its sister property is a pet-friendly hotel.

To celebrate the launch of the new Windy City digs, the hotel is hosting a "Hot Sexy City" promotion good for weekend stays through April 28, 2010. Book a room Thursdays through Sundays and get overnight valet parking and two in-room signature cocktails for $139 per room, per night. (The cocktail, for those who need a little convincing is called the Chelsea, and consists of Death's Door white whisky, pink port, basil and strawberry-allspice bitters.)

Have you ever looked at a travel blog and thought to yourself, "Boy, I could do that!"? Well, now's your chance to "do that"!

Introducing Gadling's brand new, 100% reader-generated feature, "100 words or less." In "100 words or less," YOU -- the expert traveler -- get to share your expert travel tips with Gadling and all our readers. Know a sure-fire way to score a cheap hotel room? Confident you know a trick to get an airline upgrade? Share it with us!

To submit your own tips, sign up for a free account at Seed, filter the assignment list by the category "travel" and look for assignment requests with the words "100 words or less." (And yes: if your tip is published, you will be paid!)

Anticipating questions, here's a quick FAQs:

Last Saturday, the 105-foot long, tri-hulled sailing vessel Groupama 3, captained by French skipper Franck Cammas, completed an around the world cruise that resulted in a new speed record for circumnavigating the globe. The journey took 48 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes and 52 seconds to complete, beating the old record, set in 2005, by more than two days.

Cammas and his nine man crew set out from Brest, France back on January 31st. Their route took them south around the capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, covering more than 28,523 miles along the way. The high tech, specially designed ship averaged 24.6 knots per hour over the length of the voyage, or nearly 30 mphs.

Despite the impressive time for the circumnavigation, Captain Cammas believes the new record can be bested. He blamed foul weather at certain stages of the journey for slowing the Groupama 3 down, but calmer conditions would have allowed the crew to shave even more time off the existing record.

By completing the circumnavigation in record time, Cammas and his men have won the Jules Verne Trophy, a prize given to a yacht of any size and crew that earns a speed record for circling the globe. The award was initially given to the first ship to make that journey in less than 80 days. That was first accomplished in 1994 and now, 15 years later, we're on the verge of cutting that time in half.

Congratulations to the crew of the Groupama 3 on a job well done.

The roaming Gnome has found a new way to book hotels: Travelocity announced it will offer unpublished - or 'opaque' - hotel deals as part of their hotel offerings.

The concept is familiar: Find deeply discounted hotel rates based on preferred location, star-rating and amenities, but you won't know the name of the hotel until you book. Here's the twist: there's no bidding, and you can see both the available hotels by name and the opaque hotels in one window.

The Top Secret Hotels tab above the general hotel listings will show users unpublished rates at participating hotels, if available. As of now, these opaque hotels include major U.S. cities, and popular cities in Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Mississauga), Mexico (Cancun, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Riveria Maya, San Jose Cabo), the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Jamaica) and South America (Buenos Aires, San Jose, Sao Paolo).

Unlike Priceline and Hotwire, where users bid on a specific hotel, Travelocity's opaque hotels are a set price but in some cases up to 45% off the regularly published hotel room rate. Choose the opaque option and you'll be able to filter based on the hotel's star rating and general location, and hotel amenities and user ratings, but you won't know the name of the hotel until you book.

Of the big four OTA's - Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and Priceline - Travelocity is the first to offer one search that pulls up general hotel results and opaque results in the same window. Why the change? It's a new way to put the power of purchase in the consumers hands. I took the new site for a spin and here's what I found:

My search included 3- to 5-star hotels in Boston for this weekend, March 27-28, between $50 and $200 night.

Travelocity returned six hotels - three in the downtown Boston area; three in neighboring suburbs. I choose the 4-star hotel located in Boston's downtown/waterfront district, with a pool and free Internet access, a user rating of 4/5 and a lowest price per night of $105. My total came to $121.39 (nightly room rate plus taxes).

Did you enjoy watching the bobsledding in Vancouver this year? Well, why not make the bobsled part of your next island vacation?

Rainforest Bobsled Jamaica at Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, should be high on your list. You don't need snow to bobsled, and they've got the 3,280-foot track to prove it. Not only will your need for speed be satisfied, but you also get to ride the SkyExplorer chairlift (yes, that's a chairlift through the rainforest) and you can enjoy some fine Caribbean cuisine at Mystic Dining at 700 feet. Feel like a swim up there? There's an infinity pool on the edge of the mountain overlooking the lush rainforest below. Usain Bolt, a Jamaican sprinter and three-time Olympic gold medalist and World Champion gold medalist, is a regular.

Furthermore, in case you're interested, the whole Mystic Mountain complex is eco-friendly. Even the chairlift foundations were installed via helicopter to minimize the environmental impact of the project.

Adults and children can ride the gravity-driven bobsled track for $62 apiece. Your SkyExplorer ride is included in the price.

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.

The Eye-Fi wireless SD memory cards we love so much here at Gadling just got a whole lot better. Previous cards were limited to a fairly slow 4GB version, which didn't work too well in all the nice new HD capable cameras.

The new Explore X2 card offers up to 8GB of storage in a class 6 memory card - with an upgrade to 802.11n Wi-Fi. The new storage and wireless speeds mean they'll work nicely with large photo formats and (HD) video.

Better yet - hotspot enabled Eye-Fi cards can now also use AT&T Wi-Fi, which means connectivity at your local Starbucks and McDonalds.

The new lineup offers three different cards:

• Eye-Fi Connect X2 – 4GB capacity - MSRP: $49.99.
  
• Eye-Fi Explore X2 – 8GB of capacity, lifetime automatic geotagging and one year of hotspot access for uploading away from home at more 21,000 AT&T and Harborlink locations across the Unites States and through open hotspots. MSRP: $99.99.
  
• Eye-Fi Pro X2 – 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 will automatically upload JPEG and RAW photos and videos to the home computer, and will send them to one of more than 25 online sharing sites. It also allows users to create an ad hoc connection directly to their computer to wirelessly upload photos and videos while away from a wireless router. Like Explore X2, Pro X2 offers lifetime geotagging and one-year of hotspot access to enable uploads away from home at more than 21,000 AT&T and Harborlink hotspots and open hotspots. MSRP: $149.99.

The new cards are available for (pre) order from Best Buy, Amazon.com, Adorama, B&H and J&R.

(Via: Engadget)

Mapping and navigation aids are nothing special on smartphones - I've been using a map application since the late 90's. Thankfully, there is still plenty of room to innovate in this market, and Point Inside shows how it is done.

Point Inside is a smartphone application available on the iPhone and Android. The app provides indoor maps of 100's of shopping malls around the country - covering over 100,000 different stores.

Now, I know we target travelers here on Gadling, but I'm sure many of us have walked into a mall looking for an ATM or bathroom, or even just tried to locate a map to help locate something else.

With Point Inside, you can use the location aware feature of your phone to determine where you are, then within seconds, you'll be able to find what you are looking for.

The application lets you manually select stores by name, but also features quick links to dining and services (ATM's, drinking fountains, parking, restrooms and more).

I took Point Inside for a spin a the local mega-mall, and its maps were spot on. My only minor gripe is that it is hard to determine distances on the maps, so what looks like a short walk, may actually be longer than you think.

Other than that, Point Inside is a great tool for shoppers - especially if you are at a mall you've never ventured through.

Point Inside is free of charge, and is available for the iPhone and Android (search for Point inside in the Market).

Gallery: Point Inside - smartphone shopping mall maps

As full-time traveling photographers, my husband and I have traveled all over the U.S. in search of the most beautiful cities and sites to photograph. From the vast open desert to towering urban skylines and raging river canyons, we've compiled the top 10 best places to visit for photographers. You'll find a few well-known favorites along with some unique photography hot spots where you'll find new inspiration. Grab your camera and let's get clicking!

10. Seattle, WA
From gorgeous harbor views to the dramatic Mount Rainier, Seattle is city with plenty of photographic appeal. Wake up early and head down to Pike Place Market as the vendors stand claim their booths for the day. From photos of vibrant street life to stunning views of the waterway, Pike Place Market is the place to start your photo adventure in Seattle. If you are lucky enough to be in Seattle during the month of June, the Freemont Summer Solstice Parade is a photographer's dream come true! Watch as thousands of people parade down one of Seattle's most eclectic streets, leaving little to the imagination with colorful painted bodies and wild parade floats. It's a blizzard of color and activity not to be missed.

Of course no trip to Seattle is complete without a trip to the Space Needle. We highly recommend shooting this famous structure at night. Behind the Space Needle is a museum designed by Frank Gehry, another beautiful structure to photograph. If you're into architecture, continue on to Seattle's Public Library for a few more shots. Walk along the waterfront for more camera opportunities, visit the Sculpture Gardens and if you have time, and be sure to venture out on one of the giant Ferry Boats to enjoy a ride to one of the Port cities, taking in Seattle's majestic harbor along the way.