More Than Just Parks

Hi All,

I came across a wonderful website yesterday. Its called 'More Than Just Parks' and is dedicated to 'a visually stunning trip through America's National Parks'.

The goal of the project is to 'share the wonders of the national parks with as many people as we can'. Quite an admirable goal that's for sure.

Using short films, 'engaging online interactions and imagery the authors plan on creating films covering each park.' 

Click on this link for the National Parks that the authors have already covered.

Click on this link to go to the formal National Park Service website hosted by the US Government. 

And since the whole idea of this project is for folks to visit the various national parks, click this link to learn more about making reservations and/or visiting the various national parks.

Enjoy the links and the sites and the visits to these national treasures!

Regards,
Stu

AAA Gas Prices

Hi All,

With all the ups and downs of the price of gasoline recently, I thought it would be interesting to post about gas prices...click here for a chart of gas prices for the last 5 years.  Info is from Zfacts.com.

More to the point is the current price of gas...click here for a map of gas prices across the United States. 

Note that on the left side of the page is a big red circle that says, 'Today's AAA National Average $2.251 - prices updated as of 10/14/16 3:38am ET'.  Wow - talk about timely information.

Note also that on the map you can hover over a particular state and you'll get the average price of gas for that state. Interesting.  But wait, there's more.  The map is color coded where the redder the state, the more expensive the gas.  The bluer the state, the less expensive the gas. 

Also on the page is a Gas Cost Calculator, News, Top Trends and a search box.

The Top Trends option needs a bit of explaining. Users can filter average price of gasoline by  the current day average, yesterday's average, a week ago average or a year ago average.  Users can further filter the information by region (option is either state or metro).

Finally users can filter by most expensive, least expensive, biggest change or smallest change of the price of gasoline.

Enjoy the site.

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

Are you going somewhere? Are you taking a plane? Are you flying overseas?  FlightAware is company that offers free flight tracking services for private and commercial air traffic. Its free!

The site provides live flight data, airport delays, fuel prices, weather maps, flight routes, oceanic tracks, navigation charts, aviation news and more on the website FlightAware.com and mobile apps.

Users can find flights by airport, browse by operator (airline), log in to discussion boards and more on the site.

Okay..okay..click on this link to get to the part of the page that everybody wants to see...Flight Tracker.  This particular link goes to JFK International Airport...

The link has a section for Arrivals and Departures and there are links on the Identifier column and Type of airplane.  Flight information is given (type of aircraft, speed, altitude, distance, average fare and route are listed as well.  A map of the flight is also included.  

Very cool information is you are an aviation buff - or if you want to see if you flight is late.

And....if you are interested in reading more about airplanes, aviation or flying, click on this link which connects you to the library card catalog.  The topic of the link is aviation and you'll find books in the Farmingdale Public Library on the topic.

Enjoy the flight information!

Regards,
Stu

Getting From Here to There: Mapping Websites

Hi All,

Just a quickie post today about mapping and direction (how-to-get-there) type websites.

Some quality sites that have good maps, easy-to-read directions and a few that have some extra 'perks' include:

Google Maps
Users can enter the address of where they are leaving from and the address of there destination. Users can click on the 'Direction' icon and a menu will appear when users can enter the starting point and the destination.   Once that information is entered a map appears and the route is traced in blue.  Trip length - both in time and distance (miles) appears on the screen.   The actual turn-by-turn directions are included as well.  Users can scroll in on the map to get a more detailed view of the trip.  Users can also scroll out on the map to get a more general - larger - view of the trip.  And, of course, the map can be printed so that you can use it when you are on the trip.   With Google Maps users can get an actual street view of that the street looks like.  Users can also get a satellite view of the map they are looking at.

A new feature that Google Maps has is the option to choose a travel route by mode of transportation. For example, users can see how to get from A to B by car, walking, bicycle or by bus.

Users can share maps, embed maps in documents, change search settings and save map search history for the future.
 


Mapquest.com
Mapquest is a competitor to Google Maps.  Some folks think it is better than Google Maps.  Others don't.  Take your pick.  But....Mapquest enables users to find charging stations for cards, lodging, restaurants, travel services, shopping, and more.  There is a MapQuest app available - just click the option 'App' and then enter your mobile phone number and the app will be sent to your phone.  Like Google Maps, users can print, email or link the map as well as scroll in and out of the map (once generated) to get the 'bigger' or 'smaller' picture of the map. Once a map is generated, estimate fuel cost is available.  Alternate routes are given as possible options for the user.  Live traffic can be seen by clicking on the Live Traffic option.  Also, traffic cameras are identified along a particular route.

So there ya have it...now there is no reason for you to be late or to get lost when you visit anybody, anywhere, anytime.

Hope the maps work well for you!

Regards,
Stu

City Travel Planner - Plnnr.com

 Hi All,

Just found out about this wonderfully odd, interesting travel planner website called Plnnr.com.

So, what does Plannr.com do for you? Plnnr automatically generates your free personalized ready-to-use itinerary in a few short seconds.

Clicking on the 'Get Started Now' icon on the Plnnr.com homepage takes you to the Plannr.com wizard.  There are five steps to get your itinerary:
1. Where to
2. Dates
3. Theme
4. Intensity
5. Luxury Level

Clicking on Where to leads you to a screen with  choices like Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, London, Milan, New York City, Paris, Rome, San Francisco and more.

Clicking on one of the options - I chose Rome - sends you to a page where you choose the date you intend to leave - and an option for you to select how long your trip will be.  Length of trip runs from 2-7 days.  I chose, a four day trip.

Next you come to a screen that asks you to select what your trip is going to be like?  With Kids, Outdoors, The Best of..., or a Culture based trip.  I chose Outdoors.

Users can make choices that vary from Light, Easygoing, Moderate, Vigorous and Extreme.  I chose a Moderate trip.

Users are then brought to a page where you can select the number of stars for your hotel (1-5).  I chose 3 stars for the hotel.

At this point the Plnnr wizard jumps into action and a new screen appears with the trip options that you've chosen.   Users can click on the orange dialog box to view the final results.  And oh, what results! Users can see the itinerary day by day. 

There is a list of sites to visit - and the length of time it should take to view the site.  Specific category of the particular site is listed as well (historic site, panorama, world heritage, history and culture and more). Users have the option to 'rank' the particular sites to either include them in their itinerary or not.

A map of all the sites is available as well.  Users can also book a hotel on Plnnr.com in order to actually make the trip a reality.

Finally, on the right side of the page are a few choices that users can use to further customize their trip. Most importantly is the 'Trip Profile' option which lets users change  the number of adults, the number of rooms, update the mode of preferred transportation and intensity of the trip.

There is also a 'word cloud' in which users can change each category weight to best match their trip preferences.  That is, users can add, delete or enlarge or shrink various categories - which will then be used to further customize the trip experience.

Hope you enjoy the site - Plnnr.com is a great way to get a customized trip if and when you want to go to some of the worlds greatest cities.

Regards,
Stu