Cindy was horrified and amused to find in a grocery store in Florence this package of Mokaflor espresso coffee, which depicts a frightening depiction of an African person with an insane smile carrying a cup of joe on a tray. The bow tie seems to imply that the person is supposed to be a waiter. …
Category: Travel
The future of tour guide technology, Part II
In my previous post, I blogged about how in the near future we might see the tour guide industry expand from a location-based vocation to one that might be expanded to include experts from around the world using ICTs. Beyond the use of distributed experts to serve as e-guides, there are many possible technologies that…
Pictures of bella Italia
Here’s some of my pictures of Italy, from Florence to Positano to Pompeii to Rome. I’ll spare you most of the boring tourist shots that everyone has and focus on what I think are the more interesting ones. Of course, I had to take the one of Cindy and I at the Trevi fountain, which…
The future of tour guide technology, Part I
I’m back from a lovely trip to Italy with my girl Cindy. It was a fantastic trip, from the magnificent art of Florence to fun and sun on the Amalfi Coast to the rich history and vibrant present of Rome. Visiting the ancient city of Pompeii a couple of days ago, it was obvious that…
The Simple Pleasures of Positano
Cindy and I are spending a few days away from the hubbub of urban Italy hanging out in the resort town of Positano, on the Amalfi Coast. Called the most photographed fishing village in the world, Positano is dominated by steep cliffs on which 4,000-ish Positanesi have built these pastel-colored homes leaning out dramatically into…
Ciao, Belli (Off to Italy)
I will be travelling in Italy for the next week with my girl Cindy. Cin is already there studying Italian in Florence, already near fluent I’m sure. Read her blog if you want to hear about skeevy Italian men and embarassing American students abroad. Don’t know how much internet access I will have. But I…
Vegas, Baby, Virtual Vegas!
I finally got a chance to visit the Second Life Las Vegas sim last night, launched not long ago. It’s a fun simulation of the real thing, at least in its current family-friendly incarnation. I.e. lots of opportunities for shopping, theme park rides, and photo ops rather than drinking, whoring and gambling. My first stop…
Real places in Second Life: the Seattle Space Needle
I visited today a tremendous recreation of the Seattle Space Needle in Second Life created by Mattias Faulkner. It’s clearly the result of a lot of work and planning on his part to get the design and scale just right. It’s a lovely structure in real life, and no less so in simulation. The difference…
A few pics from Barcelona
I just uploaded a few pictures I took in Barcelona in February 2006. Barcelona is officially one of my favorite cities in the world — beautiful architecture, warm people, amazing food and lots of culture. The buildings and interiors designed by Antoni Gaudi — from the unfunished cathedral the Sagrada Familia to Casa Milla and…
Touring Manhattan from my web browser
Just found out about the “Virtual NYC Tour” website, created with obvious love and attention by Taher Baderkhan. Using Google maps, a GPS and a digital camera, Taher has created a cool way of exploring the Greatest City on Earth via the web. A Jordanian who came to New York in 1999, Taher has painstakingly…