Photo of the day – Buenos Aires overpass

This vibrant Buenos Aires overpass can’t help but grab viewers’ attention. Situated in the neighborhood of Recoleta, it looks as if it were inspired by a fancy silk scarf. (As an aside, why does super colorful public art crop up so infrequently in cities much grayer than Buenos Aires? One glance at colors like these and a minor case of Seasonal Affective Disorder might just vaporize.)

Flickr user Guillermo Esteves took this photograph. We just featured another of Esteves’ photos as this past Wednesday’s Photo of the Day. We like his work.

Want greater fame? Do what Mr. Esteves did and upload your favorite images to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Make sure you’ve enabled downloading while you’re at it. We feature our favorite images as Photos of the Day several times a week.

New budget travel magazine debuts: Off Track Planet moves into print

Off Track Planet, a Brooklyn-based online budget travel publication, takes its f-bomb dropping idiom into print today with the debut of an eponymous magazine.

Off Track Planet, for the uninitiated, is geared toward the 18-30 set and is particularly focused on undergraduates.

Accordingly, the publication directs its attention to several subjects of primary interest to college kids; among these: partying, volunteering, and hostels. This online article, which claims to have located a Buenos Aires “party hostel” that is also “clean and comfy,” ensnares two of these themes simultaneously.

Sample articles at the Off Track Planet webzine include an overview of Mumbai volunteerships, a guide to culturally-specific insults, a Berlin club primer, and tips for getting stoned in Vancouver.

This is, in other words, one publication that knows its market.

It is a tough time to launch a print magazine, though Off Track Planet sets off into print with a built-in audience and ambition to boot. The Off Track Planet empire is also developing a trip planning mobile web platform to debut later this year.

[Image: Flickr | frontlinefreddie]

Photo of the Day: San Telmo antiques

Few things make me happier than flea market shopping in foreign cities. Perusing the gorgeous antiques, handcrafted jewelry, and other treasures at the weekly Feria de San Telmo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was pretty close to a heavenly experience. This photo, from Flickr user Guillermo Esteves, captures one of the market’s beautiful arrays of antique seltzer bottles and was taken with an Olympus XZ-1.

Does your photo belong here? Upload your favorite travel shots to the Gadling Group Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.

iPhone app sees language barriers as opportunities

Potential language barriers have international travelers learning the basics of communication before arriving in a foreign land, just to make their way around. Knowing common terms, even with a limited vocabulary, can go a long way to fulfilling needs. But what about making friends during travel and communicating with them later at home? A new iPhone app has the answer and is available now.

Transfire XP brings the first chat and instant-messaging app with real-time, translated text. The free application features a user-friendly interface, fast message delivery, and supports over 50 languages.

Say for example, your new Argentinian friend, Javier, speaks only Spanish. With Transfire XP, you can now chat with each other in real-time, without any language barrier. Send a message wishing Javier a “Happy Birthday!”, and he will read “Feliz Cumpleaños!” on his phone. Javier then responds, “Gracias,” and you read, “Thank you.””The use of chat applications continues to grow as a replacement for text messaging. Transfire is on it’s way to becoming the gold-standard in instant messaging and translation for your iPhone. We hope Transfire will improve communication barriers on a global scale,” explained Elik Topolosky, co-founder of TNT Creations, Transfire XP’s creator.

The Transfire XP app finds contacts on your local phone or device, and supports contacts from gchat and Yahoo Messenger. Support for more chat platforms will soon be added, including Facebook, ICQ, Baidu and others.

“Transfire isn’t just meant to overcome language barriers; it’s a slick social networking app that sees barriers as opportunities,” adds Jonathan Topolosky, TNT co-founder

Flickr photo by avlxyz

Photo of the day – Argentine salt carver

It’s not enough that this Argentine salt carver works in a blindingly white salt desert under richly blue skies. He also drives a blue car and wears a blue-and-white striped shirt. This striking image was snapped by Flickr user megansnedden at Las Salinas Grandes, a salt desert in central Argentina. It is hereby dedicated to everyone currently inhabiting a dark, candle-lit, potpourri-scented Christmas space.

Got a color-popping image you’d like to share with a broader audience? Upload it to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Our favorites from the pool are selected to be Photos of the Day.