Garfield 01.06.10
Panoramio is a Google-owned service where anyone can upload photos of places where they have been to.
Unlike Flickr and other photo sharing websites, photos uploaded to Panoramio need to be approved by the community and only pictures that illustrate places are added to the site. For instance, if you capture a picture of the Taj Mahal, it makes a good candidate for Panoramio but if your friends are also posing in that same picture, the community is less likely to approve it.
Panoramio is therefore a decent, if not perfect, way to measure the relatively popularity of different regions /cities of the world as far as tourism is concerned. The higher the picture count from a region, the more popular that place should be among tourists.
Using a similar logic, Ahti Heinla has created an interesting heat map on Google Maps that shows how popular different parts of the world are among tourists. The underlying data for the heat map is sourced entirely from Panoramio.
The color yellow on the world map indicates high density of tourists (most of Europe), red indicates medium activity (see Japan) while blue means that destination is less popular with tourists. Places that had no Panoramio photos, and therefore nil tourist activity, are in grey color. [via]
Also see: 3D Tourist Maps of Important Cities
Heatmap of the Most Popular Tourist Destinations
See the original article here:
Afghanistan, May, 2010
Apple has just trotted out its latest sales milestone for the iPad: two million devices have now been sold since the slate’s launch on April 3. We promise we won’t bother you with sales figures every time another million gets rounded, but it’s notable that the company has managed to maintain the rapid pace it achieved with its hero tablet during its first month on the market. Of course, that big international launch just a couple of days ago would surely have had something to do with it as well. Ah well, good for them.
Continue reading Apple sells two million iPads, international launch likely the main culprit
Apple sells two million iPads, international launch likely the main culprit originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 May 2010 08:51:00 EDT.
What turned into a pretty frenzied rumor this afternoon ended up being much ado about nothing, but there is something noteworthy. As the story goes, TechCrunch reported that Microsoft was going to completely replace Google with Bing as the search engine of choice for the iPhone once OS 4 launches next month.
Enter All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher, who has a pretty strong track record on all things Redmond. According to her sources, what’s being discussed isn’t a full swap — instead, Bing is being considered for an “option” that users can decide between. None of this is what we’d call brand new gossip, and in fact, it sounds exactly like what we heard back in January.
So, discussions still seem to be ongoing four months later, which is pretty interesting. For its part, the original TC article has been amended to say the issue is “more complicated” than originally presented. Hey June 7th? You really can’t get here fast enough.
Microsoft and Apple still in talks for Bing iPhone search option, Google is not on notice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 22:24:00 EDT.
Color might still be out of the question — both now and far into the future — but Amazon seems fit to take out some of the Kindle‘s fat. Bloomberg has it on word that the company will debut a thinner version of its e-book reader in August, and the new workout regiment will also enhance its screen sharpness and responsiveness. No word on if this’ll apply to current models or be an entirely different variant, but in addition to no color, we do hear it lacks a touch screen. Bummer, but if the price is right, we’ll bite.
Amazon Kindle slimming down in August? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 22:41:00 EDT.
Don’t expect to ride it on solid ground — much less water — but what you see above is indeed a hoverboard that floats. Using electromagnets embedded in the podium and a laser system to measure its position, artist Nils Guadagnin has managed to keep a familiar-looking pink plank aloft, a full five years and five months before the real deal supposedly sees common use. Give the man a pair of kicks, a car and a flux capacitor, and he’ll be all set. Video after the break.
Continue reading Artist creates Back to the Future hoverboard — that actually hovers (video)
Artist creates Back to the Future hoverboard — that actually hovers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 17:14:00 EDT. P
See the original article here:
Lighter than air
How desperate are you to get Netflix running on your iPhone? Desperate enough to jailbreak, grab frameworks from your iPad, and do some plist hacking? If the answer to those questions is “yes,” then the folks at ModMyi have something they’d like to show you. According to the site, a tipster has been able to get the video streaming service up and playing on an iPhone by making what appears to be fairly simple changes to his device; namely, boosting the iPad’s MediaPlayer.framework and altering plist settings once the app was installed on his phone. It’s not all wine and roses, as using Netflix where it’s not supposed to be used causes a massive battery drain (go figure), and there are issues with crashing and 3G playback (two more unsurprising problems). Still, it can be done, and this is just the start — so if you want to get in on the party (and maybe even help out a little bit), hit the read link and see what it’s all about.
Thanks, Cody
Netflix for iPad hacked and running on iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 May 2010 13:58:00 EDT.
This week several ultra-efficient transportation stories got Inhabitat’s engines running as we watched a custom built Daihatsu Mira EV travel a record-breaking 623 miles on a single charge. Unfortunately we don’t expect to see that hypermiler hitting the states anytime soon, but at least we won’t have to wait long to get behind the wheel of Toyota’s Prius Alpha MPV, which is set to launch next year. And if air travel is more your speed, why not take to the skies aboard this zero-emission Elektra airplane, which spends its downtime soaking up the suns rays in a solar hangar.
While the iPad and its kin are making waves today, we can’t wait to see the next generation of devices that implement Sony’s new energy-efficient OLED displays, which are thinner than a strand of human hair.
This week Inhabitat also showcased an incredible spectrum of eco-efficient repurposed designs as we unveiled 23 finalists in our Spring Greening DIY Design Contest. Perhaps you recycle your cardboard and Coke cans, but if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration from master design-recyclers check out this pendant lamp made from hundreds of soda tabs, this Cone Light made from repurposed traffic cones, and this chandelier composed almost entirely of six-pack rings. We were also wowed by these garments made from recycled video tape that showcase an analogue take on high-tech couture and this stunning lamp made from strips of old film.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: electric cars, solar planes, and really sweet lights originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 May 2010 20:35:00 EDT.
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