Things To Do In SW Florida

Orange County commissioners are expected to discuss Tuesday a revised contract with destination-marketing agency Visit Orlando that addresses a scathing July audit of its use of taxpayer money — but not everyone is certain the revisions will do the trick.

An amended pact was yanked from the commission agenda last month after some commissioners protested they hadn’t had sufficient time to look over the proposed changes hammered out by county staff and Visit Orlando, which primarily operates on tourist-tax revenue.

Since then, the proposed revisions have been revised some more.

But Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad protested again last week — noting that as of Thursday she hadn’t seen a final draft. She sent an email to County Administrator Byron Brooks asking to delay the discussion, which he mostly rebuffed.

The tension underscores the high stakes surrounding the Visit Orlando contract, which funnels a staggering $100 million annually to the agency to promote Central Florida’s tourism industry. read more

While Royal Caribbean ships can be seen in Nassau almost daily, the company has a new land-based offering aimed at increasing the port’s desirability and attracting new guests.

The Royal Beach Club Paradise Island opened to cruise passengers in late December, giving guests an all-inclusive shore excursion with 17 acres of pristine oceanfront property to enjoy. A day pass, which has dynamic pricing, allows visitors to access two beaches and three pools, unlimited food, Wi-Fi, towels and roundtrip transportation. The more expensive pass includes alcohol.

With three “neighborhoods” — Family Beach, Chill Beach and Party Cove — the beach club aims to have something for everyone.

“With any port of call, people ask, ‘What’s something good to do there that’s safe, and fun, that my kids and parents will like?’” said Matt Hochberg, the owner and editor of Royal Caribbean Blog. “It’s basically the easy button for Nassau, and I love that.”

Enhancing guest satisfaction

The product gives guests something new to explore in Nassau, said Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean’s chief product innovation officer. read more

The 7,500 s’mores toasted at fire pits in front of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts this winter might not be the most consequential statistic from the inaugural Frontyard Holiday Festival.

But as an indicator of the fest’s popularity with the public, those sweet and gooey treats hit the spot. The marshmallows will be melting again this December.

“The community can expect the Holiday Festival to return with even more opportunities to gather, celebrate and experience the arts in new ways,” said Kathy Ramsberger, president and CEO of the downtown Orlando arts center. “We are continuing to find ways to expand the festival due to the positive reaction and need of our community.”

New outdoor music spot in downtown Orlando moves forward

That “positive reaction” manifested itself through 154,333 visitors to the outdoor extravaganza that ran Dec. 4-Jan. 4. Among its attractions: Live performances by 87 artists, family-friendly games, nightly “snowfall,” visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus and an array of food stands, bars and boutiques. read more

By KAITLYN HUAMANI

You are not invited to join the latest social media platform that has the internet talking. In fact, no humans are, unless you can hijack the site and roleplay as AI, as some appear to be doing.

Moltbook is a new “social network” built exclusively for AI agents to make posts and interact with each other, and humans are invited to observe.

Elon Musk said its launch ushered in the “very early stages of the singularity ” — or when artificial intelligence could surpass human intelligence. Prominent AI researcher Andrej Karpathy said it’s “the most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing” he’s recently seen, but later backtracked his enthusiasm, calling it a “dumpster fire.” While the platform has been unsurprisingly dividing the tech world between excitement and skepticism — and sending some people into a dystopian panic — it’s been deemed, at least by British software developer Simon Willison, to be the “most interesting place on the internet.” read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — NASA was in a position it had not been for more than half a century with both the Artemis II and Crew-12 astronauts preparing for potential launches this month.

“It’s a pretty exciting time in human spaceflight. For the first time in over 60 years, we have two crews in quarantine,” said NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich during a preview press conference last week.

With a delay in Artemis II to no earlier than March because of problems with the rocket’s wet dress rehearsal, though, its crew postponed the preparation and the SpaceX commercial crew mission to the International Space Station now has first dibs on getting to space.

Commanded by NASA astronaut Jessica Meir making her second spaceflight, Crew-12 includes fellow NASA astronaut and pilot Jack Hathaway on his first flight, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, also a first-time flyer, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, making his second trip to space.

“We love this kind of balance that we have of two veterans and two rookies to hit the ground running when we get aboard,” said Meir, a member of NASA’s 2013 class of astronauts who flew to the station in 2019 aboard a Soyuz spending 204 days in space. read more