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LAS VEGAS--I just got back from a backstage tour of Cirque du Soleil's Ka theater, and I'm still a little dumbstruck by the technology that's built into the show and the infrastructure that runs it.

The servers that control the lighting systems at Cirque du Soleil's Ka show in Las Vegas.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

I'll write much more about this--as well as some of the tech behind the Cirque's Love, as part of my Road Trip 2007 coverage--but one of the things that came out of my tour that I thought warranted a quick blog was when Keith Wright, the operations production manager for Ka, mentioned to me in an aside that he's in need of some new network-savvy technicians.

Ka is a pretty advanced show--and it should be, given that the theater alone cost $165 million to create. Behind it all are lots of different systems, many of which work together in some way.

But in particular, Wright said he needs folks who can come in and understand and work with the network systems that run the show's lighting. After all, this is a huge theater--the second-largest of all the Cirque theaters, I was told--and it has 3,400 stationary lights and 47 moving lights. All to make it so the 1,951 guests can see exactly what they're supposed to see.

And running it all is an advanced computer system that controls everything and ensures that--usually--everything goes off exactly as it's supposed to.

A lighting console that is used to control the lighting effects during Ka.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

Now, I'm not saying Wright suggested I tell you, my dear readers, to send in their resumes. But he sounded pretty sincere about needing more help. So, if you're in Vegas or interested in being here, and you're a network guru, I would think a discreet inquiry into what jobs are open with Ka might well be worthwhile. Just don't tell them I sent you.

LAS VEGAS--I'm never surprised when I visit Sin City and find that the hotels here have come up with new and innovative ways to get my--and your--money.

But when I arrived here late Tuesday night for the first real stop on my Road Trip 2007 around the Southwest, I discovered a new one--new, at least, to me--that make me blink.

I've stayed in a million hotels and motels in the last few years, and even a few in Vegas. And in many places, I've used the in-room fridge to store a couple of drinks I brought in myself, or maybe some leftovers from dinner. That kind of thing.

But when I checked into my room at The Mirage last night, I was told that doing such a thing would be impossible. Why?

Because the fridges are now equipped with motion sensors, the helpful woman at registration told me. That is, if I move a drink to make room for something of my own, it'll charge me. If I accidentally knock something over, it'll charge me. If I put something of my own on top of something, it'll charge me.

Fridges in Vegas are now geared with weight sensors in order to charge you automatically if anything moves.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

She didn't say so, but I was convinced that if I even looked at the interior of the fridge funny, it would charge me.

And even if I somehow was OK with incurring a charge of, say, $12 for chocolate almonds, just so I could put my leftover sandwich in the fridge, the registration woman told me that the maid would remove my food anyway.

Now, maybe this technology has been around for awhile, in which case I'm naive to imagine it's new. But it sure seems novel to me. And cynical. I know Vegas wants every dime in my pocket, but this is a little over the top.

And looking at the fridge itself, part of me wonders if maybe the whole thing is a hoax. The sensors, if they're there, aren't obvious. Then again, I don't want to exhale in the wrong direction and incur an $11 charge because my breath hit the cashews.

GROVELAND, Calif.--I suppose I should read what my colleague Elinor Mills writes a little more closely.

If I had, I would already have known about a ridiculously useful new feature of Google Maps that lets you see a new route between two destinations simply by dragging an existing route line through another location.

A route from Groveland, Calif., to Las Vegas

(Credit: Google)

Instead, I had to discover it on my own. But luckily I did, and things will never be the same.

Last night, I was sitting in my hotel room in this tiny mountain town near the western entrance to Yosemite National Park, feeling fortunate simply to have found an open Wi-Fi connection. After all, Groveland has a population of only 3,663--and that's for the entire zip code, which comprises more than just this hamlet.

I was looking at Google Maps, trying to determine the route from here to Las Vegas, which is my stop tonight on Road Trip 2007, my three-week journey through the Southwest, and I noticed that the suggested roads didn't take me through Death Valley, but rather just around it.

That was no good, I thought, to be so close to such a noteworthy location, and not go through it. But I have a lot of driving to do, and didn't have any idea how long it would take to reroute through Death Valley.

Then I noticed this little square on the Google Maps route. I'd never seen it before--since I hadn't noticed Mills' blog entry of June 28--and it was a wonderful surprise.

By using a new feature, you can simply select an alternate route.

(Credit: Google)

Suddenly I was able to simply choose a route through Death Valley, and it told me, in a little box on the route, what the new driving time would be. Halelujah!

Technology. It never ceases to amaze me.