Sir Richard Branson, the man who brought mood lighting to the air travel experience (thanks for that), will soon add hotelier to his ever-lengthening list of titles. Is there nothing the man can’t (or won’t) do? As this story reports, the bearded businessman has been asked to “virginize” several hotel brands in his time, but would prefer to strike out on his own. The brand will be officially announced in the next three months, with properties planned initially for New York, London and L.A.

This week, we had the pleasure of chatting with Veronica Belmont, Internet television It Girl and tech know-it-all extraordinaire who has captured the hearts of geeks and nerds everywhere in her current role as host of Revision3’s Tekzilla, and, before that, on Mahalo Daily and CNET. Of course, she wouldn’t describe herself that way. The 20-something San Francisco resident proved herself to be ultra down-to-earth, funny and personable when we caught up with her to pick her brain about some very important tech and travel topics. Like, for example, the reason my GPS is constantly hurting my feelings. Read on…

When was the last time you took a vacation and were totally “off the grid?” Does that notion even sound appealing – or totally nightmarish?

I’ll just say it’s been well over a year since the last time I truly unplugged. Honestly, I don’t even think it was on purpose. I went to Big Sur, and there just happened to be no cellular reception! My email went unanswered for a record 3 days. The Earth, shockingly, continued to turn.

How does it feel to be known as one of the sexiest geeks alive?

You’re embarrassing me! Do I have to answer? OK, well, I have to say that it’s a little odd, because I never thought of myself that way. It’s flattering that some people do! Next question!!

Favorite airline? (Is it Virgin America? We knew it!)

Oh man, do I really give off that vibe? Yes, Virgin America is my favorite, and I swear that it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they play Revision3 content. I fly a few times a month, so any steps that an airline takes to make the experience better means a whole lot to me. I’m pretty sure they have the best cocktails too.

Favorite hotel or hotel brand?

I’m a big Westin fan, when I get to stay there. I do not, however, appreciate paying $15 for a bottle of contact saline solution. Also, any hotel with a sand-bottom pool gets me every time.

You live in one of the best cities on the planet: San Francisco. (I’m a bit biased, considering that I live there, too.) What are three things any first-time visitor to San Francisco must, must, must do?

Definitely eat a burrito in the Mission, preferably at Taqueria Cancun and then bike in Golden Gate Park all the way down to Ocean Beach to burn it off!

Let’s talk about GPS devices. Which one is your current favorite?

My current favorite GPS device is the Dash. From a geek’s perspective it’s great, because you can send it addresses from your computer when you’re planning a trip, and the device will update wirelessly when you’re ready to go. The live traffic updating is really convenient too.

My Garmin says, “recalculating,” in a really condescending way. How can I stop taking it so personally? (Note that I’ve already tried changing the voice from the nasal American woman to the stuffy British man. It helped, but not much.)

Your GPS sounds like a jerk. I suggest selling it and going with a TomTom. That way you can have Mr. T or Tom Selleck reading your directions! If that’s not an option, just remind yourself that at the end of the day the voice in your GPS is trapped inside a little gadget, while you’re visiting interesting and wonderful places.

I’m a frequent traveler, but a pretty bad photographer. Still, I like to try. And cool gadgetry and features make me happy, even if I never actually RTFM and, consequently, never end up using them. What digital camera would you recommend for someone like me?

My favorite point-and-shoot camera is the Panasonic Lumix, and you can’t really mess up a picture too badly with that one. If you want something a little more high-end, I use the Canon G7 as my day-to-day camera, even if it’s not quite pocket-sized. But the pictures are great!

Do you have any strategies for making it through airport security efficiently with a bunch of tech gadgets in tow?

Despite the fact that I carry a small army of gadgets around with me, I’m shocked that I don’t get stopped more often. I keep all gadgets in my carry-on, because frankly I don’t trust airlines to not rifle through my stuff. My best tip is to invest in a bag that has lots of wonderful compartments of various sizes, so every gadget has its own home, and you always know where to find it.

When you travel, are there any rules that you live and die (or fly) by? Can you share them with us?

I never check luggage unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’ve gotten to the point where I can pack for a week or more just out of a carry-on case, which is no small feat for your average lady. If you must check luggage for an extended trip, bring a couple of days clothes with you on the plane just in case, as well as all gadgets and chargers. I also always keep my toiletries on the outermost compartment of my carry-on, for easy access through security and to prevent too much damage if anything leaks!

Want more Veronica? You can catch her dishing out tech advice and insight alongside co-host Patrick Norton every day on Tekzilla.

Kinda says something about our cultures, no? Today, Japan’s tourism ministry tapped snow-white, uber cutie Hello Kitty as its official tourism ambassador to China and Hong Kong. With the iconic cartoon character’s help, Japan hopes to boost annual international visitors numbers to 10 million, up from a record high 8.35 million last year.

And while her lack of vocal chords (or, for that matter, mouth) may hinder her ability to expound upon Japan’s many virtues, cultural sites and rich history, her ability to bridge economic and social barriers may make up for this. I mean, the girl is just as happy appearing on the side of an airplane as she is on a toaster.

But we do have other concerns about Hello Kitty’s ability to do her job. As this AP story points out, Hello Kitty may hail from Japan, but the button-nosed icon, in fact, lives in London. That may make her new job a little difficult. And as we learned in Hello Kitty’s official Sanrio profile, so might her enrollment in primary school and her habit of eating lots of yummy cookies baked by her sister Mimmy (you know how public figures need to, um, keep an eye on their very public figures).

These might be hurdles for Japan’s latest tourism ambassador, but at least her cartoon existence means she won’t cause an uproar every time she goes through a McDonald’s drive-through. Nor will she, we hope, be allowed to adopt orphaned kittens from less fortunate countries encountered during her travels around the world. She is, after all, still just a kitten herself.

(I was always a Badtz-Maru fan, myself. I mean, come on, the kid has a pet alligator. How cool is that?).

Or maybe it’s the other way around. But hey, either way, this much is clear: Google thinks Kayak.com has done a pretty kewl job of integrating the Google Maps API to enhance user experience. The proof? This video, which has forever immortalized key Kayakers like Paul, Drew and Jeff in the venerable YouTube format. Now that’s good entertainment.

Here’s a link: Google Maps Case Study - Kayak

For our part, we’re just amped that the Google Maps API is there to help us make Kayak.com a better site (um, it also saves us a boatload of development time, which we don’t mind, either).

Gasp! We hear that Paris Hilton lowered herself to normal people standards earlier this week by checking into a 2-star hotel in Liverpool on a jaunt to visit her rocker boyfriend Benji Madden. While the self-described budget hotel may have been good enough for the dudes from Good Charlotte, it apparently wasn’t up to heirhead standards. By midnight on the day she arrived, Paris had apparently had enough and checked out of the Lord Nelson Hotel. Below, one of the hotel’s superior rooms.

Yes yes yes! The occurrence of juicy celebrity travel news on a Friday always makes this blogger jump for joy. I dunno, there’s something about celebrity airport antics that gets me just like a nice, post-work week cocktail. The only difference is, I can justify indulging in celebrity travel scandals at 9 a.m. Gotta wait until at least 11 a.m. to start raking in the k’tails.

SO, yeah. The news. If you haven’t already heard, ev’body’s talking about Naomi Campbell’s reported rage yesterday at London Heathrow. While the accounts vary from news source to news source (did she spit? were fists involved? what is living underneath that ‘do?), it seems fairly safe to say that the notoriously cranky model had an old-fashioned rage-fest when she learned that one of her bags had not made it onto her flight. Her anger escalated until a police man escorted her off the plane. She was reportedly released today on bail.

Well, it looks like Campbell may have another chance to don Christian Louboutin stilettos while performing community service to avoid time in the slammer. Because if anything signals that girl, you crazy, it’s wearing a $900 pair of shoes to a sanitation facility.

Ah, it’s always nice to read about VIP perks you’ll probably never experience. In The Star Treatment: Flying Like Jennifer Aniston, Wall Street Journal columnist Scott McCartney (and you thought only blogs and vapid ‘bloids covered celebrity travel…) seeks to counter that crest-fallen feeling by getting the insider details on unadvertised airline VIP services. For example, the story reports that American Airlines offers a special “Five Star” concierge service upon request for passengers at LAX and JFK, while a Los Angeles-based company called LJR will usher travelers past check-in and security for around $110.

If it makes you feel any better, the story also reports that, along with the service perks that come with being a celebrity, A-listers also have the burden of being plagued by swarms of fans and paparazzi photogs, who are usually tipped off publicists and, sometimes, by the very airline employees who help them in the terminal.

In case you were wondering, the place to be in Punta Arenas, Chile this week was somewhere outside the entrance to the Hotel Finis Terrae, where Fall Out Boy and its most recognizable band member Pete Wentz were bunking in during a trip to the Patagonian region. A writer along for the ride recounted the effect of a rock star’s appearance on the small town:

In endless, tireless waves they crashed against the hotel doors, pouring into the lobby, ascending staircases, wandering the halls. They chanted the band’s name, sang FOB songs, tossed candy bars through open windows. They scaled fences, stuck notes on walls, pounded on the glass with closed fists. And they didn’t leave, not ever, because if they went home, there was the chance they’d miss the opportunity of their lifetime … and they’d never be able to get it back.

The hotel may have endured some Hollywood mayhem this week, but most of the time, it’s a small property offering relatively affordable rooms pretty darn close to the end of the earth. The best part about staying here? On the 6th floor, the hotel’s restaurant offers tables with views of the Strait of Magellan.

(Note to self: file this under favorite travel-related simile of the day.)

According to traveling celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, Romania’s House of Dracula hotel looks “as if a Motel 6 had sex with a Renaissance faire.”

You can read more about how much he loved his recent visit to Romania on his blog (trust me, it’s worth it). Love him or hate him, one thing you can say about Bourdain is that he’s never boring. Another good story about Bourdain is below:

Bad Boy Bourdain Makes Culinary Arts an Adventure

Former celebrity guests of the Four Seasons Chicago can rest easier knowing that the tell-all book Great Reservations, written by two former concierges at the hotel, has met its death at the hands of a pesky non-disclosure type of agreement the authors failed to mention to their publisher. Luckily for all of us who get all giddy over vapid and meaningless celebrity travel news, the publisher sent advance copies to the media before Four Seasons was able to put an end to the expose, which promised to “dish about outrageous requests, celebrity encounters and guests behaving badly at a luxury hotel.”

Until I can find one of the copies that will surely make its way onto eBay courtesy of some unscrupulous book reviewer, I’ll have to content myself with reading stories by advance copy recipients about the stories that were supposedly in the book. Among the tidbits I’ve gleaned from the internets:

- Gary Busey was obnoxious enough during his stay at the hotel to earn the nickname “Abuse-y”

- Demi Moore apparently fell for the time-honored Chicago empty gas tank con

- John Cusack apparently has “fetid, stained and incredibly smelly” dirty laundry.

- Jean-Claude Van Damme really, really wanted to sleep with Madonna. She wasn’t likin’ it.

- Michael Flatley wears mascara.

- Hank Azaria apparently really, really likes young concierges.

- Harrison Ford would prefer a root canal to dinner with Brice Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

- Bill Murray rules.

- Courtney Love is nuts.

I don’t know about you, but I personally may have to take a vacation just to recover from the shocking news about Michael Flatley’s mascara habits. Go figure.