Yelp Maps Show Where To Find Hipsters, Cheap Eats

by Libby Zay on

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Yelp, the go-to place for restaurant reviews, is now mapping trending topics in major cities. By pulling frequently used keywords from reviews, data visualizations show where the dim sum hotspots are in San Francisco and where hipsters congregate in New York (Williamsburg is a big red cluster, go figure!).

At first the maps seem to do little besides confirming stereotypes. But for travelers exploring new cities, the tool could come in handy. Filter locations by “cheap” and find hotbeds of budget dining in Los Angeles. Or use “view” and “romantic” to locate a neighborhood with some ambiance in Philly. Other helpful keywords include “kosher,” “brunch” and “espresso.” Yelp’s World Map site currently covers 16 cities, mostly in the U.S.

[via Gizmodo]

Virgin Australia Offers Frequent Flier Points To Pets

by Reena Ganga on

Air travel is getting better and better – if you’ve got four legs, that is. Just last month we told you about first class airline lounges that had been designed especially for pets – now airlines are offering award miles to furry fliers.

Virgin Australia announced this week that it will reward its frequent flier members with an extra 300 points when they book a domestic flight for their pet. For the time being, the program applies to cats and dogs only.

About 30,000 pets fly with Virgin Australia each year and the carrier’s CEO says the initiative is aimed at enhancing the airline’s image as a family-focused carrier.Virgin is the first airline in Australia to offer mileage points to pets, but the concept isn’t entirely new. In 2005, Virgin Atlantic offered various rewards through its Flying Paws program and a few years later, JetBlue began providing frequent flier miles through its JetPaws initiative.

New York City Installs Pedestrian Maps (Finally)

by Libby Zay on

New York is introducing wayfinding map kiosks throughout the city, a godsend for anyone who has ever emerged from a subway exit disoriented (don’t be ashamed, that’s pretty much everyone who has set foot in the city). The maps are not only helpful, but also match the graphic language established in the 1960s for the subway system, as Michael Bierut from design team Pentagram explains to Wired:

“All of this was deliberately echoing the way the subways look… We wanted people to be able to ride the subway, come out and orient themselves.”

The new monolith-style kiosks display two maps, a zoomed-in glimpse of what’s within a five-minute radius, and an overview of the location in relation to a larger patch of the city. The first kiosk was installed last week in Chinatown, with more to follow soon. In a city where an estimated 30 percent of all trips are made by foot, we can’t be the only ones excited this subway improvement is here. With the recent addition of free solar-powered cellphone charging stations, the city seems to be getting more tourist-friendly every day.

Sydney Monorail Closes, Will Either Be Sorely Missed Or Soon Forgotten

by Jess Moss on

Sydney’s monorail shut down on Sunday after 25 years of operation. The largely overlooked transit system ran between Darling Harbour and the Central Business District and drew some of its largest crowds on its last day.

Sydneysiders’ love-hate relationship with the retro monorail was evident on Twitter as the system shut down, with advocates mourning the loss of the landmark and opponents saying good riddance to the outdated train. The slideshow below highlights some of the best, the worst and the most absurd things people are saying about the monorail.

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Video: The North Pole: Where Exactly Is it?

by Elizabeth Seward on


Although you might not be planning a trip to the North Pole, it’s good to know that we don’t know exactly where it is. Well, it’s less like we don’t know where it is and more like where it is depends on what you care about. This handy video, which I found thanks to Laughing Squid, illustrates how the location of the North Pole changes depending on whether you think about it in terms of geographic, geomagnetic or magnetic terms. Henry Reich from MinutePhysics tackles this subject in the video and explains that each type of pole sits at a different place on our planet and their locations even within themselves are not fixed. Check out this video for a clear understanding of the location of the North (and South) Pole.