Guardian’s 2007 Travel Awards winners

by Abha Malpani on

More than 13,500 readers voted for the 21st edition of Guardian’s Travel Awards that were recently held in Seville.

The Guardian is one of my favorite newspapers, and although I couldn’t take part in the survey (UK only!), I was curious to see what was on other readers hit-lists.

Here are some of the internationally interesting results:

Best Online Booking Service: www.i-escape.com

Best Long-Haul Airline: Singapore Airlines (expected – they are fantastic)

Best Short-Haul Airline: www.jet2.com

Best Business Airline: Emirates Airlines (expected — it’s a great airline but also there are over 100,000 British Expats living in Dubai)

Best Overseas City: Hong Kong (didn’t expect that!)

Best European City: Berlin (yeah…I understand this choice)

Best European Country: Switzerland (huh!?)

Best Long Haul Country: Cambodia (huh!?) — what does Long-Haul Country mean anyway?

I think such country based surveys say a lot about the general travel-mind of the country — and honestly some of the results surprised me.

Flickr photo maps

by Neil Woodburn on

Flickr just keep getting better and better.

The latest addition to the photo sharing site is the ability to click on a map and view all the photos in the database that are geo-tagged with the particular place you’ve clicked.

The world map can zoom down to city levels where a small circle indicates the number of photographs available for viewing.

This feature is of particular importance for travelers in the planning process of their trips. Not sure where else to visit while staying in Stavanger, Norway? Just check the map for nearby photos and you’ll get a pretty decent idea of what the surrounding area has to offer.

Very cool!

Sex, dolly buster, Britney Spears and burrito: which country Googles what the most?

by Jamie Rhein on

Big Brother named Google is watching and there’s a tally of the number of people in countries who search certain key words. It’s a fun little tally, though, although I’m not sure what the findings mean. Are these people’s obsessions or just musings? I think another interesting tally would be words that countries don’t Google. For example, “sex.” This wins top place as the word typed in the most in Egypt, India and Turkey. I think in some countries Googling sex might find that person in a world of trouble. I also want to know what a Dolly Buster is. Is it a beer? A buxom blond? I could look it up, but I’d rather ask you all.

Here’s more of the top searched words and the countries where the people are Googling them. I say this list also indicates where Internet access is more easily available–and perhaps who has desk jobs.

  • “Jihad” – Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan
  • “Terrorism” – Pakistan, Philippines, Australia
  • “Hangover” – Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
  • “Burrito” – United States, Argentina, Canada
  • “Iraq” – United States, Australia, Canada
  • “Taliban” – Pakistan, Australia, Canada
  • “Tom Cruise” – Canada, United States, Australia
  • “Britney Spears” – Mexico, Venezuela, Canada
  • “Homosexual” – Philippines, Chile, Venezuela
  • “Love” – Philippines, Australia, United States
  • “Botox” – Australia, United States, United Kingdom
  • “Viagra” – Italy, United Kingdom, Germany
  • “David Beckham” – Venezuela, United Kingdom, Mexico
  • “Kate Moss” – Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden
  • “Dolly Buster” – Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia
  • “Car bomb” – Australia, United States, Canada
  • “Marijuana” – Canada, United States, Australia
  • “IAEA” – Austria, Pakistan, Iran

Ellen DeGenere’s Wish You Were Here tribute to towns. Add yours.

by Jamie Rhein on

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Web site has an AOL feature called Wish You Were Here. This is where people can enter details about the towns where they live. Sure, you can add in the best places to eat, scenic attractions and best activities, but to add some extra flavoring, there are catagories like unusual talents, facinating characters and most talented pets. There are also photos.

I did some poking around on the site and here’s what I found out so far, there are 25 states that have a town or city called Columbus. Columbus, Ohio is listed first which makes sense since it’s the only one that’s a state capital and also the largest of them. After typing in Columbus, Ohio to see what came up, I tried Hindman, Kentucky, my mom’s hometown–a small place in southeastern Kentucky. This brought me to Kentucky’s page. (There’s also a Hindman, Texas.) Nothing is on Hindman, Kentucky’s page, but a map showing where it is. On the Kentucky page there are 10 different listings in Kentucky. (Ohioans have been busier filling in details I have to say) One person, though waxes poetic about Northern Kentucky where I have two aunts. Once you get past the malls and suburban sprawl of Northern Kentucky, I’d say there are some interesting places to go. One of my most favorite is the Dinsmore Homestead.

With some further link clicking, I also found out that Morro Bay, California has an man with an unusual talent. He stands by the ocean every day trying to fly pieces of trash as if they were kites. Napkins, soda cans, whatever he can find, gets attached to a stick with string.

In a way this site reminds me of a gigantic scrapbook photo album which is probably the point. As people from around the U.S. add to it, it has the potential to make the U.S. look like an engaging, diverse place that is more than just the latest McDonald’s that’s opening. Clever idea. I like it.

National Geographic Encourages Making of Wild Animal Videos

by Abha Malpani on

I have a vlog now (come on, you don’t!?), and now I can dub myself to bark, chirp or roar if I want. I can even drag and click to have a pet penguin appear in my video. Finally, all my animal fetishes can surface and be recorded in the privacy of my own home!

Not quite what National Geographic might have had in mind with the recent launch of Wildlife Filmmaker, a creator amateur nature-loving filmmakers to make, urrm, nature-loving films!

Perhaps that’s why it doesn’t seem to have the rocking popularity (or abuse) it might have had in today’s freaky vlogger world. That’s where all the video-production junkies muck around giving reality television new meaning; Wildlife Filmmaker doesn’t allow you to mesh any of the features with your own ‘animal instinct’ videos.

When you try to find Wildlife Filmmaker, the link takes you to the National Geographic homepage. Perhaps they’re going to fix the program, that’s why access to the link doesn’t exist anymore (?).

Oh well. I was I am quite excited to have animals featured in some of my productions.

UPDATE: The link works now. Check it out!