Until yesterday, I had never been to Las Vegas. Tonja and I don't gamble, can't stand cigarette smoke, find the whole atmosphere of casinos rather unpleasant, and we generally hit the sack by 10:30 PM. It just has never appealed to us. But I was asked to meet with a delegation of officials from the Abu Dhabi Police, so we just decided to bite the bullet and see what this was all about.
Fortunately, a colleague gave me a good hotel recommendation: Vdara, a new non-smoking, non-gaming high rise right next door to the Bellagio. It proved to be a very nice place to stay, with plenty of interesting people watching nearby. We walked around City Center Thursday, wondering who actually shops at a Hermes or Tiffany store, and then had an excellent dinner. No lack of restaurants around here, that's for sure.
The meeting with the Abu Dhabi Police today was very interesting. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, winners of a recent award for their GIS work, was the primary reason this delegation had come to town. Abu Dhabi is in the process of improving their GIS and crime analysis systems. I had a small role on the agenda, speaking about lessons learned in implementing geographic crime analysis, and to specifically highlight the promise of location-based applications for policing.
All in all, it's was a nice trip, but Las Vegas still isn't quite my cup of tea. I would prefer a seashore, lake front, or a genuine City, over the fake version. When I was using Google maps to get the lay of the land in advance of our trip, this mobile billboard was the first StreetView image that popped up when I dropped a pin on Las Vegas Boulevard. Sort of says it all, don't you think?
Friday, July 13, 2012
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13 comments:
any encounters with the porn slappers? I love how they sell the shirts that they wear too!
You can probably guess my favorite casino.
6:28,
Very weird.
ARRRR!!!!,
Headed down there to see the show last night after the Bellagio fountain thing. I thought I saw you!
I assume impersonating The King is not considered identity theft in Sin City.
Tom, Sometimes it's just nice to get away! Hope you and the wife had a much deserved good time. Have never been there myself and can't really say it's on the top of my list. I would like to see some of the shows, not the billboard one though. ;)
Tom,
Sometimes it's just nice to get away. Hope the two of you had a well deserved time away from Lincoln, NE. I have never been also, but would love to see some of the shows I've heard about...not the billboard advertised one though, BAD for marriage. :)
My trip through Vegas lasted about30 minutes: non-stop, ride down the strip, with stop at a gas station to un-fuel my tank. I'm not a gambler either, nor a smoke lover. At least, I can say I've been there, though I don't know that it's anything to brag about. I did stay in Reno that night, though I still didn't risk even nickle on gambling (can you even bet a nickel anymore?).
They have crime in Abu Dhabi?
PBUH-The theft of one Bentley turbo would be the equivalent to all thefts in Lincoln in any given month. Probably makes for easy tracking of trends. Only one dot on the map.
D256
That you would get that billboard just pulling up maps struck me as hilarious! I'm still chuckling! Guess that's why I've never had much desire to visit that area. However, I'm glad you had a good time! ...still laughing...
Did you ask them how many female officers they have on the AD police force?
3:24,
No need to ask.
In fact, for Gulf nations, UAE and esp Abu Dhabi are relatively progressive:
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/abu-dhabis-female-police-officers-receive-honours
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