The Great Pumpkin of Halloween roundups

I'd like to think of myself as a New Yorker. So when I heard about a new interactive public light sculpture in Madison Square Park that gives a visual shout out to the city's vitality, I rushed over to see it—and take part. Pulse Park, an installation by Mexican interactive art practitioner Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, uses the heart rates of two hundred visitors to activate theatrical spotlights across the central Oval Lawn. Every night after dusk until mid-November, Madison Square Park will be embellished with these interwoven rays of pulsing light as an expression of the vital signs of its inhabitants. When you enter the park, you measure your heart rate at the north or south end of the green. You place your hands on metal sensors for 15 seconds, and then let go to see your solitary spotlight pulse to the beat of your body's most vital organ. The remaining 199 are then activated; your beam of light will begin to move across the lawn sequentially as each participant measures his own heart rate. Late last week when I visited, I followed my heart rate while dodging visitors who were posing for pictures haphazardly. While the aerial view of the matrix of light (shown in the simulated image posted above) may be more dramatic, I was more than happy to be on the green, immersed in what was essentially this city's vibrant heart. The display marks the US public art debut of Lozano-Hemmer, who has exhibited his work in more than three dozen countries, including the Venice Biennale. The interactive exhibit will be viewable from dusk until 10 p.m. in the park, which is located between Madison and Fifth Avenues, and 23rd and 26th Streets. Exhibit ends November 17. EARLIER The free Times Square walking tour

Tomorrow (October 31) at noon Greenwich Time (7 a.m. ET), the Hoxton Hotel in London will put 1,000 rooms on sale—500 rooms will be available at £1 (or $1.64) and 500 will be at £29 ($47.52). The sale covers the period November 1, 2008, to January 31, 2009. Regular room rates at the Hoxton start at £59 ($96.81), so even though everyone really wants the £1 room, the £29 rate still represents a substantial savings. That means there will be a lot of people trying to get rooms, so you'll have to type fast on the reservations page. Each person can only book one room for one night, but still, if you manage to snag a London hotel room for under $2, the rest of your trip to the expensive city will feel a lot more manageable. If you aren't planning to be in London during that period, just remember this for the future: The Hoxton runs this sale every few months. Fun fact: The Hoxton is owned by Sinclair Beecham, cofounder of Pret A Manger, a British sandwich-shop chain that now has outlets in New York City and Hong Kong. EARLIER FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Hot Property: The Hoxton Hotel

Paris is known for its palace hotels—dens of luxury that conjure up an earlier empire and carry price tags upwards of €800 ($1000) per night. Of course, not everyone wants to roll like Marie Antoinette, and many travelers would rather have Google Talk (with Internet-based phone calls) than a gilded chandelier. In 2008, the hotels grabbing headlines don't have heated marble floors. They have iMacs, MP3 players, and graffiti artist design. They're also priced (gasp!) under €100 ($125). Here are two of my favorites: Hôtel AmourFun, funky and entirely free of frump, the twenty rooms at Hôtel Amour are among the most hyped in Paris. Each one has a unique design—there's a surreal storybook in 202, a sex-disco in 401, and 204 is entirely covered in leather. Graffiti artist (and hotel partner, along with nightlife scion Thierry Costes) has filled 405 with compromising images of Batman and Robin. This signature room is more expensive, at €150 ($186) per night, but other rooms start at only €90 ($112). In addition to eye-popping design, they all have the same comfy mattresses you'll find at the Hôtel Ritz. In trade, the hotel has ditched the TV and telephone, assuming that their clients have a Blackberry (or at least some mobile phone) and better things to do… like hanging on the fashion-haunted outdoor terrasse. 8 rue Navarin, 9th arrondissement, 011-33/1-48-78-31-80 Mama Shelter This hotel is the newborn love child of interior design star Philippe Starck, French philosopher Cyril Aouizerate, and the founder of Club Med. With its iMacs and Superman-shaped lamps, Mama Shelter appeals to a young and tech-savvy clientele. Rooms start at only €79 ($98), leaving plenty of cash for nocturnal fun. Just downstairs, the hotel bar is already pulling a crowd with its creative cocktails, and the neighboring Flèche d'Or is one of the city's best venues for live rock and electro. Hotel guests even get to jump to the front of their line for live shows. 109 rue de Bagnolet, 20th arrondissement, 011-33/1-43-48-48-48, mamashelter.com MORE FROM BUDGETTRAVEL.COM Paris at a Price That's Right

It looks like we're not the only fans of TripIt.com. LinkedIn.com, a networking site for professionals, has just launched a partnership with the free online travel organizer. As of this morning, LinkedIn members will be able to add a TripIt application to their profiles; anytime they want to share information about a trip they're taking, they can just add the info to the TripIt app. The advantage? Assuming a good chunk of your LinkedIn network adds the TripIt application, too, you'll be in tune with where and when everyone you're connected to is traveling. That way if you're planning a trip to, say, San Francisco, and you find that a few of your LinkedIn connections will be there at the same time, you can arrange to meet. Both TripIt and LinkedIn appeal to business professionals, so the companies see this primarily as a way to stay connected within your professional peers. But we think the application is just as valuable for leisure travel. Sure, your LinkedIn network might consist of people within your field, but chances are, a lot of those people are also your friends. As has always been the case with TripIt, when you upload a trip, you can choose whether or not to make it available to the public. In other words, if you don't want your colleagues knowing about your trip to Vegas this weekend, you can choose to keep that one under wraps. EARLIER Our earlier TripIt review