Photographically preserving the UK

by Neil Woodburn on

The virtual craze to photograph every square inch of our planet and make it viewable online has really taken root in England.

The United Kingdom is the focus of Geograph, an ambitious online project which aims to photographically preserve the entire country. To do so, the site has sliced a map of the UK into thousands of grids which basically act as photo buckets. Users are then invited to upload photographs into the appropriate grid in which they were taken. The result is a panoply of images focusing on a small designated area. The shots are taken from a variety of angles and by a swath of different photographers.

It’s a cool idea, and a great way to discover everything which exists within an area you plan to visit. The site, however, is a little difficult to navigate and the photographs aren’t organized in any particular manner within each grid. It sure would be great, however, if the site could stitch all the photographs together into one seamless panoramic eternity. Let’s get on that, boys!

Get Google directions at the gas pump

by Justin Glow on

For those of us who are prone to getting lost (come on, admit it…) and do not have a handy GPS unit stuck to our windshield, Google has announced a partnership with gas stations across the United States to offer the ability to search Google Maps from the gas pump.

“The pumps, made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root, include an Internet connection and will display Google’s mapping service in color on a small screen. Motorists will be able to scroll through several categories to find local landmarks, hotels, restaurants and hospitals selected by the gas station’s owner.”

The pumps will also have the ability to print out directions, all for free. The only downside, it seems, is that the pump lacks a way of typing in a specific destination, which makes it tough to find where you’re going unless it happens to be a destination preselected by the gas station. Even so, cool.
Via Engadget

Dopplr: Social networking for travelers

by Grant Martin on

One of the biggest kicks I get out of traveling is in meeting up with or running into random friends while abroad. It’s always fun trading stories or roughing out adventure together and can be a great bonding experience — especially if everything was unplanned. Just this past Friday I was waiting for some girl Chelsea to get out of the bathroom in the LGA airport when Edward Norton walked up and stood right next to me. He took a look around then looked right at me (probably wondering if I was that famous blogger he knew). I smiled, and he turned and left.

Such is the idea behind Dopplr. This tool is a great way to figure out where your jet-setting friends are traveling when. And if you’re in the same place at the same time? What better reason to head out and get a beer?

Dopplr is still in the beta phase, so to get into the “inner circle” you need to be invited. If you haven’t got an invite, ask that one friend you’ve got that travels all the time; he or she can probably get you one.

More reasons to head to South Dakota: The Black Hills

by Jamie Rhein on

Catherine’s already told us about South Dakota having the geographical center of the United States. I thought of this last night when a friend was telling me about her road trip by herself to Montana from Ohio. There are many reasons to head here. My friend mentioned the Black Hills and the Badlands as high points. I’ve been through this part of the U.S. a few times myself and can say, it is truly spectacular and worth a trip or two. Both my friend and I said that this is a part of the U.S. to visit more than once. You can’t possibly take in all that’s fantastic in one sweep.

There’s a new blog to help travelers plan out their trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. It’s easy to remember the name of it. The Black Hills Travel Blog is one of those that shines. Here you’ll find info about the attractions, tips, traveler’s tale and features.

I remember after we left Mt. Rushmore (I recommend it. There’s a reason why it’s a National Park), I thought that the area around it would be a fine place to park for a few days of exploring. Nice to know there’s another resource to help plan a trip. This is a slick, well done Web site with lush photos and videos.

London street scenes

by Neil Woodburn on

The intrusive nature of the web to photograph, document, digitize and file away every square inch of the real world hasn’t yet becoming annoying, but I’m sure it will soon. In the meantime, yet another website is rushing to photo-log their little corner of the world. StreetSensation.co.uk has put together a rather cool site chronicling more than “3500 shops, bars and restaurants in the liveliest areas of London.”

The result is a series of panorama photographs detailing every single storefront along certain streets. The photos are disappointingly small, but they do include a section underneath each storefront that describes the name of the store and contact information.

There are some improvements, however, the site could make–such as stitching all the photos together throughout all of London–but in the meantime, StreetSensation is a great resource for travelers searching London for just the right place to go exploring.

(via Budget Travel)