Category Archives: Tech

Detour for Free This Summer

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The very popular location-aware travel guide app Detour usually cost $5, but for the rest of this summer it’s absolutely free. With 16 U.S. and international cities currently covered, including NYC, Boston, San Francisco, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona, and Paris, the audio walking … Continue reading →

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Really Big Books

Posted on June 22, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Thanks to the British Library, bibliophiles and map geeks can now view the second largest atlas in the world online. The colossal book was a gift from Dutch merchant Johannes Klencke in 1660 to King Charles II of Great Britain. The massive … Continue reading →

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Poetry on the Shore

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Poetry on the Shore is an extraordinary project created by Edinburgh Scotland-based multidisciplinary designer Yuxi Liu. Her AI driven autonomous robot travels beaches leaving poems in the sand. Equipped with sensors that allow it to navigate independently, the robot translates its … Continue reading →

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Tangerine Mussolini Is Scaring Away Tourists

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

You may know the tech company Foursquare from its popular City Guide travel app, but it’s also in the data crunching business. Based on the firm’s analysis, the United States’ share of the International tourism market has been steadily declining … Continue reading →

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Take A Hike

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Many years ago, I set off on a four month camping and hiking trip in Europe with ridiculously poor gear. To be fair, back then light weight equipment was virtually nonexistent. I lugged around a tent, sleeping bag, cooking and … Continue reading →

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The Future of Travel

Posted on May 14, 2017 by Brian D. Butler
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Into The Unknown

Posted on May 13, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Along with the usual summer blockbuster sci-fi flicks, this year we can immerse ourselves in the entire historical genre. London’s Barbican Centre is presenting Into The Unknown: A Journey Through Science Fiction, a huge exhibition, which will take over the entire Brutalist … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Film, History, Libraries, movies, Museums, Music, Photography, Tech, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Free WiFi

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

One thing that most travelers want at the airport is free access to the internet. Well thanks to blogger Anil Polat we can all get free WiFi at airports around the world. The very clever computer security engineer has organized … Continue reading →

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That Old Book Smell

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

As a life-long book collector and a long-time bookseller, I have always loved that special woody, floral, dusky aroma that only emanates from books with age. But what precisely is “that old book smell”? The journal Heritage Science has published an … Continue reading →

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Is Terry Gilliam the Father of the Gif ?

Posted on April 15, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

h/t to Adam Koszary and the Bodleian Libraries.

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