The Hawaiian islands are known far and wide for the quality of their beaches. From narrow strips of volcanic black sand with dramatic jungle backdrops, to crowded beaches full of the who's who of the world, Hawaii has a beach for everyone. Maui has just as much diversity as the entire island chain with over 30 miles of beaches. The most easily accessible beaches are located on the west and south or leeward sides of the island. Conversely, the north sees quite a bit of wind and waves while the eastern or windward side harbors more remote beaches in the inlets and bays.

With so many options of beaches to choose it's hard to pick just ten, but we'll pick our favorites for you below:

Napili Beach

This crescent shaped beach is tucked into a bay holding several smaller resorts north of Lahaina in west Maui. Gain access to this beach on Hui Drive after you pass north of Lahaina and beyond a few of the larger resorts on your left. Napili is a perfect place to plant your beach gear and drop in the water for some body boarding. To take part, body boards can be purchased at any of the local water sports shops and can even be picked up at many of the convenience stores.

Napili is a steep beach with plenty of sand. Children are fine here when the waters are calm, but be aware that the waves can get rough; there can be a strong undertow so test the waters before sending younger kids in. Another tip: shade is sporadic and usually taken by the wee morning hours so arrive early. Parking is free on the street but is a pain in the rear to find. Keep driving around and something usually opens up near the beach access due to rotating traffic from the grocery across the street.

Kapalua Beach

With sounds of swaying palms and gently crashing waves, Kapalua has a reputation for good swimming -- and rightly so: it's perfect for families and children as the undertow is rarely a problem and the water seldom gets too unruly for little ones. Besides the calm swimming waters the beach is a beautiful backdrop for a picnic and the coconut tree grove and lava points at the ends of the beach make for a great photo op, so don't forget the camera. If you need quick access to the beach, The Sea House restaurant offers a great way to get in.

This photo by narinnr from Kagoshima, Japan (the Naples of the East, says Wikipedia) captures a Ferris wheel built atop a shopping center next to the train station. How fun is that? Imagine if you could kill time between trains at Penn Station riding high above New York?! I'm partial to the Gravitron when choosing an amusement ride, although spinning around against centrifugal force is probably not so fun before a long train ride.

Even more interesting are the statues in front of the Ferris wheel, part of the Satuma students' monument, dedicated to 19 Japanese students smuggled into Britain in 1865 to learn Western technology. Imagine being the first in your country to study abroad and being responsible for the start of the industrial revolution. Kinda makes a semester abroad in Prague drinking as much beer as humanly possible seem a little weak.

Do you have a photo that will inspire many Google and Wikipedia searches? Or maybe an interesting monument or an unusually-located amusement ride in your travels? Upload it to Gadling's Flickr group and we might use it for a future Photo of the Day.

Regular (and not-so-regular) travelers can stay one step ahead of the airline by keeping a close eye on their flight status. In most cases, airlines will wait as long as they can to alert you to any changes in your flight, which is where FlightView can help.

This app is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch, Palm Pre, Blackberry and Android devices. FlightView uses realtime FAA flight data to keep you informed about any changes, delays or cancellations. Once you enter your airline and flight number, FlightView displays the current status of your flight, along with a map showing its location. If you have more than one trip, you can add them to "My Trips."

Once added, you can even share your flights through email, text message, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Another handy feature inside FlightView is its real time airport delay map, once again harnessing data from the FAA. When following the status of a flight, you can even view weather reports for the departure and arrival airports.

Now for the best part - FlightView is free for Android devices, $1.99 for the iPhone and $4.99 for other devices, making it one of the cheapest flight status apps available. In a perfect world, the app would support syncing with TripIt, but other than that, this is a well designed and easy to use application, and one that is in a category of "must haves" for any traveler with a mobile device. When push comes to shove, you really are on your own when you travel.

You'll find FlightView in the Apple App store, the Palm Pre app catalog, Blackberry Appworld and the Android Marketplace. Android users can scan the bar code on the right to access the app.

Gallery: FlightView

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at the finest Napa Valley wineries? Destination Cellars, the wine club for luxury palettes, is offering its club members a "backstage pass" to meet the rock stars of the wine world.

The event is being held Sept. 23-26 and is limited to only 10 couples, so you'll have to act fast if you're interested. You'll get:

• Room at The Carneros Inn - rated the "Top Romantic Getaway" by Travel & Leisure Magazine
• A meet and greet with Destination Cellars Estate Sommelier Sean Meyer, who will serve as your guide throughout the tour.
• Welcome Reception at Signorello Estate, complete with Neapolitan style pizzas from the wood-fired oven.
• Lunch and a behind the scenes tour of Vineyard 29 with Chef Sarah Heller, formerly of Bouchon and The French Laundry
• Dinner at Ma(i)sonry, a 1904 stone manor home covered in priceless art and surrounded by the exceptional wines of Blackbird, one of the most coveted wineries in the region.
• And so much more.

The backstage pass main event is sponsored by Hourglass Wine Company. In its sixth annual event, the company aims to raise $500,000 for the St. Helena Unified School District.

Total cost of this pampering: $6,000 per couple. A chance to taste some of the rarest wines in the region: Priceless (and delicious!)

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

Visitors flock to Paris for its romance and light, to London for its influence and renown, and to Rome for its ancient roots and history. But Prague, unlike other major European cities, has something even more to offer: authenticity.

Since its beginnings in the 9th century, Prague has survived architecturally for more than 800 years unscathed by the ravages of war. Early-on holding the status of Center to the Holy Roman Empire, and serving for centuries as a European cultural and business hub, Prague has much to offer visitors today.

Thriving in a laid-back atmosphere, Prague straddles the Vltava River in modern day Czech Republic, shrouded in alluring mystique and shining with rich history. What follows is a rundown of five "must-see places" in Prague, and the authentic experiences to go with them.

1.) Old Town Square: The open cobblestone square began as an 11th century marketplace for merchants from all over Europe. A place of King's processionals and elaborate palaces, public executions and widespread rallies, every nook and cobblestone in this Great Square has a story to tell. The great Astronomical Clock built in 1410 tells more about the stars than the time of day, and chimes somewhat humorously on the hour with a performance of figurine characters. At Christmas and Easter and other special times of the year, market stalls dot the Square with merchants selling traditional crafts and foods like Trdlo (warm cinnamon pastries) and roast pork pulled from an open-air spit, and drinks like the famously Czech beer and mulled wine.

What to do: Venture up the Old Town Hall belfry for a fantastic rooftop view over Prague's Old Town.

An eight-year-old kid suffering from muscular dystrophy had a simple dream: to race through Central Park in a tutu surrounded by a group of supporters. After a tweet-a-thon, anchored on the hashtag #TutusForTanner (the kid's name is Tanner) resulted in $25,000, he hopped a plane for New York. The trip ended with the discovery that his $15,000 wheelchair had been ruined during the flight.

Tanner was stranded. He couldn't go anywhere without a replacement.

Air Canada promised an immediate remedy – who wouldn't? – but hours passed and no wheelchair materialized at LaGuardia. And, the airline has said it can't fix the situation until Monday. Tanner is not in Central Park. Rather, he's stuck in a hotel bed, possibly for up to five days. Until Air Canada comes through, Tanner isn't going anywhere.


Needless to say, Twitter is upset – well, specifically the people on Twitter. The folks who tweeted to send Tanner to Manhattan are now livid that Air Canada, according to TechEye.net, "has dashed the hopes of a dying child and ruined what could have been a joyous moment in his last remaining days."

New York has been scrambling for tax revenues, and no stone has been left unturned (including my beloved cigars, which are now costing me more than they did a week ago). Well, the Empire State looks like it's now going after my second passion: travel. Visitors who book hotel rooms on sites like Expedia or Orbitz could get slapped with a higher total price if a proposed tax on lodging booked online goes through.

For a local, it's pretty tempting to support this measure. I don't spend a whole lot of time in hotel rooms here, unsurprisingly, because I already have a roof over my head. And, the notion of making out-of-staters shell out for the services I consume is pretty attractive. After all, it's a net gain for the state – and for me. But, there are two aspects of this proposed travel tax that disturb me.

The first is the usual: higher prices for one sector of the travel booking business create a skewed competitive landscape, imperiling the abilities of several companies to compete and effectively destroying wealth. It's hard for me to be in favor of that, as a general rule. Also, the higher prices, due to the proposed taxes, could constrain demand and lead to less tourist revenue coming into the city. Like taxes paid by people from out of state, money spent by these people is also a net gain for the state ... and it's ultimately more productive.

So, taxes = bad, spending = good. I know; this isn't tough stuff.

Talk about a sweet deal (and a wild ride).

Porsche cars and the Gansevoort Hotel Group in New York City have partnered in an exclusive new transportation arrangement for hotel guests.

Starting Aug. 15, guests at both the Gansevoort Hotel in Manhattan's Meatpacking District and the newest location on Park Avenue South can take the 2011 Porsche Panamera 4S for a little joy ride around the city.

Both Gansevoort hotels will pick up and drop off guests at the airport for free, and cart them around to specific city hot spots, upon request. While this baby glides, we can't promise it will get you through New York traffic any faster. But we can assure you you'll look better in the back seat of this car than in a yellow cab.

The feds are keeping an archive of under-the-flesh security shots. Though the TSA has said in the past that airport body scans can't be stored or recorded, some agencies are now revealing archives of the revealing. Well, that isn't true after all, according to CNET:

Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all. The U.S. Marshals Service admitted this week that it had surreptitiously saved tens of thousands of images recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a single Florida courthouse.

The TSA, it seems, requires all airport body scanners to be able to store images and transmit them – strange for a device that is supposed to do neither for "testing, training, and evaluation purposes." Don't worry, though. The TSA says these capabilities aren't "normally activated when the devices are installed at airports," reports CNET.

Translation: "Trust us. We could do something bad ... but we won't."

So, next time you fly and fear that images of your privates may end up being stored somewhere, consider sticking some "Flying Pasties" to your unmentionables.

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Thursday August 5, 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is for a 100 watt Xantrex power inverter. This device turns the 12 volts from your car into 110 volts AC. Its capacity should be enough for most low powered gadgets, including mobile phone chargers and power adapters for small laptops. On sale at Yugster for $9.99.

Next up is a ultra-high-power WiFi adapter with detachable antenna. If you've ever had trouble picking up a WiFi signal, then this is one product you may want to invest in. On sale for $14.99 at 1saleaday.

Today's third deal is for the TomTom XL 340-S refurbished GPS unit. This navigator features spoken street names, "IQ routes", lane assist and 7 million points of interest. On sale for just $79.99. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup is a budget friendly luggage set. For $43.99, you get a rolling case, carry-on bag and toiletries bag. Reviews appear to be very good, but remember that in the world of luggage, you get what you pay for. Click here for this deal.