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Monday, November 8, 2010

Make Your Own Scratch-and-Sniff Map

Nicola Twilley explains how to make your own scratch-and-sniff map. “The first step, of course, is to decide what smells you are mapping.” Oh dear.

Post originale: http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2010/11/make_your_own_s.php

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Style your own OpenStreetMap

For all its data richness, the default style of OpenStreetMap on the main web site might not be for everyone. Of course, you can create your own tile server – there’s some very good tutorials for that by OpenStreetMap veteran Richard Weait – and work your way to complex mapnik style sheets, but that is not for the faint of heart, really.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Set up your own routing web application using OpenStreetMap data and open source software

Did I mention that I love OpenStreetMap? It’s not just the map that looks more beautiful and complete every day, but also all the neat things it allows people to do with the raw data which is free for anyone to pick up and use. This is not usually something I engage in myself – suum quique – but it does feel good to get your hands dirty with some open data and open source software once in a while.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Vancouver now has its own custom city page on, yes, Gowalla (Five Live Links)

http://gowalla.com/in/vancouver (I'm obsessed.)

Source : Five Live Links

Post originale: http://wik.io/info/US/224460146

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Make Your Own Stamps in Bhutan

Writer Lisa TE Sonne has reported for IT on synchronous fireflies in Malaysia, hunting for the northern Llghts, and catching herself while fly-fishing. Today, she tells us about make-your-own postage stamps in happy Bhutan.

In Bhutan, the Himalayan "Kingdom of Happiness," even going to the post office offers an opportunity for self-expression. At the post office in Bhutan's capital Thimphu (which may be the only world capital to boast no traffic signals), while a larger-than-life poster of the king looks on, you can have your own image added to a set of official stamps. Or, if you don't want your face to be postmarked in ports around the world, you can choose from an attractive array of botanical and historic stamps.

As getting my mug on a stamp cost no more than regular stamps, I chose to pose with my wonderful driver and guide from tour operator Bridges to Bhutan. The men--Karma and Tshering (whose name translates as "long life and prosperity")--were dressed in their national costumes, part of this new democracy's efforts to preserve traditions while creatively engaging in the 21st century.

Stamps made, if I wanted to write my letters in luxury, Karma and Tshering were prepared to take me to nearby Taj Tashi, part of an upscale Indian collection of global resorts and palaces. Or we could drive to Paro, where the Uma Paro Resort offers healthy pampering with soothing in-suite massages in their forest villas, and where Hotel Zhiwa Ling's artistic comforts are part of the first Bhutanese-owned high-end retreat.

My creativity surged as I scribbled "Wish you were here!" on postcards featuring beautiful Buddhist temples and waterfalls. And there was a lot to write home about--Bhutan's royal family, the enticing experiment of GNH ("Gross National Happiness") to balance the Gross National Product, seeing the "newest democracy on the planet" in action, the kindness of the people, the giant phallic symbols painted on homes, and the great aesthetics of the old Dzong monastery/fortresses posed at vantage points, inviting climbers to ascend.

If you time it right, you can also pen some superlatives about the colorful tshechus, the annual religious festivals, before affixing your newly created 5, 10, and 15 ngultums stamps on your envelope. Postcards sent, head to an outdoor hot-stone bath with blessed stones to fix the body and envelope yourself in serenity.

Want to learn more about Bhutan and its Gross National Happiness? Check out Boyd Matson's "Unbound" column
on the world's eighth happiest nation from our July/August 2010 issue.

Post originale: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/10/make-your-own-stamps-in-bhutan.html

Monday, October 18, 2010

REMINDER: If You're Not Willing To Own Apple Shares Today, Then Exit The Stock Market Now

Polite reminder: Nothing really matters today except whether or not Apple can impress investors with its latest earnings, set to be released after the market close.

Remember September 28th?

That was when a mini flash-crash in Apple shares alone appeared to cause a mini flash-crash in the entire Nasdaq. Once rumors of Apple COO Tim Cook's departure were quashed, Apple investors cheered and the Nasdaq recovered, as shown by the reproduced September 28th charts below.

Chart

As previously highlighted, many believe the outsized effects of Apple on the market are likely caused by the company's near-20% weighting in the Powershares QQQ Trust ETF (QQQQ).

Yet to make things a bit more complicated, Apple likely has to beat not just its stated guidance, which it frequently low-balls on purpose, but also its implied real earnings expectations (including the assumption that official guidance has been low-balled) which Dan Frommer has calculated here.

So really it's probably this simple -- If you're not comfortable to hold AAPL shares ahead of this afternoon's earnings, then you shouldn't be comfortable trading the market into tomorrow. And vice versa.

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