The Daily Valet. - 11/1/23, Wednesday
✔️ The Robots Stealing Your Reservations
Wednesday, November 1st Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Boy, November kinda came out of nowhere, right?
Today’s Big Story
Robots Are Stealing Your Reservations
You're now competing against a bot for that 7:30 table and if you want it, you're gonna have to pay for it
You could say that we are in the gold age of digital reservations. It's seemingly never been easier to book a table at a restaurant, right? Tap around a few times on Resy, OpenTable or Tock, and you're set. At least, that's the implicit promise. But, in reality, it's not that simple. And if you've ever tried to score some seats any talked-about spot on a “Best of” list recently, you know what I'm talking about. And you're not alone.All over the country, people in search of reservations are getting stymied because someone—or rather something—already booked them. And it's making dining out (and the restaurant industry as a whole) a lot less fun. You see, just like popular concert tickets, the hottest restaurant bookings get snatched up instantly by bots as soon as they're posted.And like those tickets, these bots are not interested in Carbone's spicy rigatoni vodka at a choice seating time. They're the work of companies picking up fast cash for almost no effort. As The Takeout points out, people's clicking fingers are no match for the speed of a programmed bot, and those prime dinner seats at buzzy establishments are then flipped on resale sites like Appointment Trader and Cita, where they can be sold for a hefty sum. This means you're not only shelling out for a nice dinner, but you're paying extra just to secure the time.And we're not talking about a little markup here. A dinner reservation at Ralph Lauren's Polo Bar next Friday would cost me about $410 on Appointment Trader. As a person who generally makes reservations for zero dollars, I thought this seemed like a lot. Grub Street calls the whole cottage industry that's sprung up, “semi-illicit.” The founder of Appointment Trader specifically tells a reporter that the site has never sold a restaurant reservation—because it's not a store but a marketplace, like Etsy but for dinner: It facilitates other people selling their reservations. Who is selling these reservations, and under what circumstances, is not Appointment Trader's concern.For more frugal diners, ResX is free to use and feels, at least a little, more egalitarian. Users can exchange reservations for tokens, which can be put toward a new booking. A $10 monthly subscription lets users access “premium” restaurants. But the whole thing might not last much longer. Eateries are fighting back. Some are painstakingly combing through reservations to confirm that they've been booked by a human, while others are saving more spots for walk-ins. And Resy has been fighting back by “deleting confirmed bot profiles” and by following up with emails to brokers telling them to stop.
Meanwhile:
Wendy's, IHOP, Chipotle, Sweetgreen and other quick-serve restaurant chains are rapidly adding AI to their front- and back-of-house operations.
Israeli Airstrike Hits Gaza's Largest Refugee Camp
The Israeli military said it killed a senior Hamas commander who helped plot the Oct. 7 terrorist attack
An Israeli strike targeting a Hamas commander in the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza has left catastrophic damage and killed a large number of people, reports CNN. The Israeli military confirmed it was targeting the area, which it says is a Hamas “stronghold.” It also said the strike severely damaged Hamas' underground infrastructure, including tunnels and a command center.The Israeli military said the strike killed senior Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari, who they said was an architect of the Oct. 7 terror attack. “His elimination was carried out as part of a wide-scale strike on terrorists and terror infrastructure belonging to the Central Jabaliya Battalion, which had taken control over civilian buildings in Gaza City.” As of this morning, NBC News has not independently verified Biari's death. But footage of the aftermath of the attack showed hundreds of anguished people clambering in and out of what appears to be several giant craters and struggling to find buried victims.NPR reports that even before the current war displaced masses of people, Jabalia was the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians have taken refuge there since 1948—the year Israel was created—according to the U.N. Palestine refugee agency, or UNRWA. Jabalia is the name of both the camp and a nearby village. Humanitarian officials have warned that Palestinian civilians face a growing catastrophe as Israel steps up its aerial bombardment, along with an expanded ground offensive, as part of its operation that officials say is aimed at “destroying Hamas.”
Meanwhile:
Israeli public opinion is shifting to favor liberating hostages, even if it requires a prisoner swap or a pause in military aggression.
A Home-School Boom
Teaching your kids at home went from fringe to the fastest-growing form of education in the United States
A pandemic-era boom has fundamentally changed the face of American home-schooling, transforming a group that has for decades been dominated by conservative Christians into one that is more racially and ideologically diverse, a Washington Post-Schar School poll finds.Across the country, more than 2 million students are now home-schooled, according to the Coalition for Responsible Home Education. And researchers discovered that rather than religion, home-schoolers today are likely to be motivated by fear of school shootings, anxiety over bullying and anger with the perceived encroachment of politics into public schools.The Post was able to collect reliable data from 32 states and the District of Columbia, representing more than 60% of the country's school-age population. And the data shows that modern home-schooling conforms “less and less to the stereotype of mom working one-on-one with her children at the kitchen table.” In the poll, conducted Aug. 1-10, about half of home-school parents said their children would receive at least some instruction from a teacher or tutor this year, much higher than the 22% who said the same in 2019. Nearly six in 10 said their kids would take live online classes, and about one in five plan to participate in a home-school co-op.
FYI:
Home-schooling is estimated to account for more than 26% of the 1.2 million drop in student enrollment at public schools nationwide, while private schools account for about 14%.
What Does a ‘Worldwide Travel Advisory’ Mean?
The U.S. government has sent out a rare global travel warning. But what should you know about it?
In October, the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel advisory urging American citizens to “exercise increased caution” while overseas, “due to increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, [and] demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.”The alert comes as the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas escalates in the Middle East. According to the New York Times, the advisory is also in response to protests worldwide that have, in some cases, led to “violent clashes at U.S. diplomatic compounds.” Todd Brown, a retired senior State Department official who worked in diplomatic security for more than 30 years, told CNN that the threat of escalation “isn't just confined to the Middle East,” but could also spread to Europe as anger over the Israeli government's actions towards Gaza grows.But what does the State Department's warning mean for anyone currently traveling, or with an upcoming trip? And does it actually suggest that you shouldn't travel… at all? According to experts who spoke to Conde Nast Traveler, the short answer is no. But the advisory is a fair reminder to do exactly as it instructs, which is, for the time being, to be cautious while in environments unfamiliar to you.
FYI:
The State Dept. suggests enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, a free service that allows U.S. citizens traveling and living abroad to connect with the nearest embassy or consulate.
In Other News
From auto production lines to Hollywood, the power of labor unions is back in the national spotlight.
Have you heard about ...
The Long Read
Rosa Lowinger, an art conservator and the author of “Dwell Time,” is salvaging an artist-designed amusement park
She walked past a Ferris wheel—a Basquiat. The gondolas, shaped like skulls, were painted with phrases like “Skeezix” and “Rid of You.” Hanging from the rafters was a gigantic Keith Haring banner of dancing figures with dogs’ heads, which Lowinger had carefully de-grimed; it accompanied a Haring merry-go-round. In the back corner, there were screen-printed panels by Joseph Beuys. When Lowinger first saw them, they were besmirched with orange gunk: “I said, ‘Well, let me just try and see if I can clean it.’ ” She did.”
- By Dana Goodyear
Read It:
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Shopping
What We’re Buying
A v-neck sweater
It was only a matter of time. Fashion, as we know, moves in waves and continually cycles back around. We also know that man has a tendency to push a good thing so far, he pushes it right off a cliff. Such was the case with the V-neck sweater. There was a time, maybe in the late ’90s, when the chunky V-neck was the choice for a stylish guy to pull on. But in the early aughts the reliable V-neck sweater just kind of became uncool. It was never out of style, exactly, just not what any stylish guy was interested in. The style was pushed to the back of our collective closet, but not forgotten. And after loads of classic crewnecks and relaxed, vintage sweatshirts, the V-neck now feels like an antidote to more of the same. This fall, as all things ’90s return with a slightly neo-prep spin, a new crop of V-neck sweaters has swaggered back into style, feeling both nostalgic and fresh. So we’ve pulled together some of our current favorites in a range of prices, styles and patterns.
Back to basics:
Morning Motto
The storm will pass.
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