City and Country Resources

by Kelly Amabile on

During my web surfing this week I came across two useful geography
resources loaded with data. These may be useful when researching a city or country for travel planning purposes:

City-Data.com

This one reminds me of ePodunk, and although it may not be as strong a product
(based on quick comparisons searches only), I do like the photos feature on city-data. Look up a small town you know,
maybe your hometown — see if there are photos for it. If not, you could possibly win something for submitting a few
pixs during a limited time-promo they are running. Other features: their
random city photos and
top 100 lists.

Country Profiles

This Library of Congress site lists detailed profiles on selected countries, completed for the Federal Research
program. I have not yet figured out why all countries are not included, but they do code the profiles so you know which
have been updated recently. Maybe they will just keep adding and updating profiles till they are all there? I pulled up
the PDF on Romania — 22 pages of info on Romania’s politics, geography, history and infrastructure, updated in July
2005. Bingo.

Time Zones Make You Mad

by Erik Olsen on

I’ve been working with a person in China on a project and every time I have an idea or need
something I get on email or the phone and try to reach her. Being occasionally scatter-brained, or at least blinded by
the incandescent brilliance of my idea (note to erik: Feed tuna mayonnaise!), I always forget that when it’s three
pm here, it’s, well, some other time someplace else for someone else. And usually it’s a very bad time for that
person. That’s how God made the world, you see. Well, these days I look before I leap…or at least before I dial.

I now check out worldtimezone.com, which has got every city and spot on
the map broken out by time zone. And if I’m feeling Phoenician, well, then I use the handy
sunclock feature that lets me see if it is light or dark on
some spot on the globe. Then I know whether my good idea is a literal wake up call to my client.

The Glory of Carniola

by Dave (Blogsmith Old) on

I’m especially excited about visiting Slovenia next year when I’m backpacking through Europe. For some unexplainable reason I’m really drawn to this tiny European nation. Maybe because it borders Italy, where all my ancestors are from? Or because I just keep reading such great things about it. So I’ve started to gather bookmarks, links and blogs to learn more. My favorite resource so far is Michael Manske’s blog, The Glory of Carniola. Michael has lived in Slovenia since 2001 and provides daily glimpses of life in Slovenia on his blog. He just wrote a short piece for the San Diego Reader that tells more about his background, plus sheds light on the never-ending confusion between Slovenia and Slovakia. Great place to learn more and fun to read along.

World Holiday Quiz

by Adrienne Wilson on

Here’s a quiz I thought was
particularly neat, not to mention useful with so many holidays and celebrations among us.
This could be a great culture cross-check if you plan on traveling abroad in countries like
India, Brazil or even the U.K. Though some cultural slip-ups may be forgivable, raining on the natives festivities
with ignorance might not be forgotten. No one likes to have their cheery spirits
dampened. The fairly easy ten question quiz can be found at
Nat Geo Traveler (I scored an
A+) and touches on celebrations such as Diwali,
Day of the Dead, and
Akwasidae. If you’re a little
nervous about not getting a perfect score – worry not. Clicking on the links will take you into worlds of Gods,
traditions and rituals unlike your own. 

Venice: History Unwired Tour

by Kelly Amabile on

This is not the first time I’ve mentioned a Wired article
about tourism in Venice. Last month Momus pondered the future
of Venice. This month Bernhard Warner teaches us
about a tour of some of the lesser known (and sometimes seedier sides) of the canal city. The multimedia tour,
called History Unwired, was unveiled at the Venice Film Festival in September.
It was developed by graduates of MIT and the University of Architecture in Venice, and takes tourists on a wireless
walking tour through neighborhoods, like Castello, that are rarely visited by outsiders. The tour uses PDAs to guide
folks around for two hours. Here’s more info from
one of the students involved with creating the project and a
Metropolis Mag piece about the from earlier this
year.