Apple’s Pages app. Image courtesy of Apple.com |
"Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they're going." ~ Paul Theroux
Friday, December 14, 2012
My Top iPad Apps: Part 1
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Apple Maps Vs. Google Maps
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Three Cheers For Google Maps
One of those great innovations is Google Maps.
Like thousands (millions?) of users around the world, I often use Google Maps to plot imaginary journeys, search for exact locations in far flung cities, and print maps of unfamiliar neighbourhoods.
I was thinking about this today, and remembering my first visit to
The flight from London was uneventful, long (but nowhere near as long as the 24 hours it took me to reach London from Adelaide), and bearable thanks to some classic movies (All The Presidents Men) on the in-flight movie channel.
Getting through US Customs and Border Protection was no problem, except that it took so long – close to an hour. This was due to the new heightened security measures then – and still – in place for foreigners like myself, where each index finger was scanned and a photograph of my face taken and added to what is no doubt a huge Customs and Border Patrol database.
By the time I got through Customs and to the baggage carousel to pick my luggage up, it was sitting on the floor with a bunch of others that had simply been off-loaded by (presumably) baggage handlers, and left there for anyone to pick up and walk away with. At least it hadn’t been destroyed in a controlled explosion by paranoid, over zealous security staff!
If getting through Customs seemed like a big pain, it was just a taster for the waiting that had to be endured as I lined up for a taxi outside in the late afternoon cold. That took another half hour before I could finally get a cab to the Greenpoint YMCA. I had to wait, not because there were no taxis, but because the queue was so long. As I patiently waited in line, I couldn’t help wondering if long queues where going to be a defining factor of my
Having scored myself a Yellow Cab, I told the driver where I wanted to go, and he seemed to be making good progress getting there by the quickest, most direct route – until he got lost in a warren of narrow, traffic laden streets close to my destination.
The driver knew the general location of Greenpoint, the
However, all was not lost. Thanks to Google, I had printed out a map of the area surrounding the YMCA. This map had just enough information on it for me to help the driver find the building. Once we were on
I thought it quite ironic that having just arrived in
The lesson here is to make use of these simple, cheap and incredibly useful online resources, whether provided by Google or other online mapping sites, and there are other mapping sites. They can save you a lot of time, stress, and money, and that can’t be a bad thing now, can it?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Research: The Travelers Best Friend
"My key research tools: books and a long list of websites.
As the Frugal Traveler, I’m on the road three to six months out of the year, and all that wandering takes not just stamina but organization as well. From researching destinations to booking flights and hotels to actually figuring out what to do when I arrive, I have a long list of Web sites and other resources – some well known, others less so – that I use to learn what’s new, interesting and inexpensive. Since so many are planning their summer vacations, I thought I’d share my tried-and-true process. It’s less about secret Web sites and exotic booking strategies than about sheer thoroughness.
Once my editors and I have decided on a destination, I head straight for an obscure little Web site to do research. It’s called Google, and mastering its nooks and crannies is a skill all travelers should develop. One of the first searches I perform is for my destination plus the words “frugal” and “affordable Seriously! When I went to Hawaii’s Big Island in 2007, the search immediately turned up the Pomaikai “Lucky” Farm B&B, an active tropical-fruit farm with comfy rooms for $80 a night – a steal in America’s most expensive vacation spot."
Highly recommended. You can read the rest of Matt’s article here...
IMAGE: Courtesy of the New York Times Online
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Wired Traveller
- Jack Kerouac
~ Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the wired world.
A couple of days ago I wrote about the Plugged in Traveller. Today let’s look at the Wired Traveller.
Actually, the plugged in traveller and the wired traveller are generally one and the same person. But first, let’s reminisce…(insert dreamy transition sequence as we flash back to the olden days…).
Dear reader, if you are as old as I am, you will still remember the days of ‘snail mail’ – that ancient and all but lost art of letter writing. When men (and women) of letters sent home detailed reports of their adventures as they crossed the globe encountering strange and exotic people, in lands they had previously only read about in geography class. You do remember geography class, don’t you?
If you didn’t have time to write extended reports you could always get away with a PAR AVION* letter.
Remember them? Bought from a local post office, these were light weight, pale blue, one page, prepaid sheets of paper with gummed edges, that had to be folded in a particular sequence before you could drop them into any post box you stumbled across (see image illustrating this entry).
The really lazy traveller always made do with Post Cards. At least post cards gave you the added bonus of including a picture of a famous landmark, or island sunset to make the folks back home envious of your exciting adventures.
You can still get post cards of course, but I haven’t seen an air mail letter in years, and as for long letters home, they too are pretty much a thing of the past. Because today, we are living in a wired world, and the wired traveller wants to work fast, cheap, and online.
Yes, the wired traveller is constantly plugged in, switched on, instant messaging, and uploading to their FaceBook, MySpace, Blogger, Twitter, WordPress, Flickr, YouTube or personal web sites. In fact, the truly wired traveller probably keeps in contact through all the above portals.
Now as you travel the world you can take photographs of the pyramids with your mobile phone and upload them instantly to any number of free websites. Or you could send them to everyone on your phone contact list, and really make your friends back home jealous as they sit, shackled to their work desks, dreaming of their own foreign escapades.
The wired traveller moves around the world with a GPS enabled phone and never has to worry about getting lost in a strange city. He can check his email on the move, and answer them while enjoying a cappuccino in London, a slice of pizza in New York, or a kebab within sight of the pyramids.
The wired traveller can pop into her nearest Internet CafĂ© and Google her favourite fashion chain, before heading out to try on the latest summer craze, whether she is in Paris, Milan or Rio. Come to think of it – she can do that from her phone.
If your mobile phone is up to the task, a new opt-in service being trialled by Google called, Google Latitude allows your friends and family to know exactly where you are in the world, at any time, at the touch of a button. While there are some privacy concerns, the security conscious among us will feel a lot happier knowing our movements can be tracked in real time as we travel the world in search of new experiences. Click on the video to watch a short demonstration of Google Latitude’s features.
It won’t be long before you are able to hit a special key on your phone, to send out an alarm to the nearest police station if you are caught up in an emergency, allowing law enforcement to know exactly where you are and track your movements while they close in on you and those threatening you – if it can’t be done already!
Welcome to the wired world, indeed.
*PAR AVION is French for ‘By Air’.