Sure you could grab the oversize, all-encompassing city map for your next trip, but then you're doomed to look like the biggest tourist ever as you struggle with folding and unfolding it in the middle of the street. Alternatively, you can get one of those pocket-sized, laminated "downtown" maps--but they always end just where the city starts getting interesting.

With the new website Mapufacture, you can define the borders of your own map, plot your points of interest and then print out an easily foldable pocket-sized map.

You can also browse through the city, country and world maps others have already created, from green roofs around the world, to California State Parks and Prisons--great combo!--or even Beijing air quality during the Olympics. Of course the coolest map is the one you make for yourself.

Related Stories:
· Mapufacture [Official Site]
· Maps coverage [Jaunted]]]> BS 2008-08-15T10:00:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/5/7510/44228

Online mapping programs have made traveling foolproof--for the most part. But there's always a time or two when you wish you could just type in a particular neighborhood instead of a specific venue. If you're planning a trip to Toronto anytime soon, you're all set.

BlogTO has gone the extra mile and offers maps and tips that offer directions as well as the vibe of the city's many neighborhoods. Available at hotels and other local establishments, the maps can also be ordered online and be shipped direct to you as long as you chip in for a small shipping cost.]]> kjb 2008-08-05T12:00:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/28/161358/074

One of the great things about Google's pantheon of services is that you can access them from any computer, anytime, anywhere. But Google Earth has always been an exception to the rule--until now.

The search company has just announced that 3D, pan-planet maps will be coming to a browser near you via a Java plug-in. (For now, it's only available for Windows machines.)

You probably already know why we're so excited about it: Now we can virtually fly around our Kid Rock Fight Venues Map!

Related Stories:
· Google Earth, Meet the Browser [Google Lat Long Blog]
· Google Earth Software [Official Site]
· Google Earth coverage [Jaunted]
· Google Maps coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-05-28T17:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/9/30/223547/063

Cold, rainy fall days make for the best museum visits. So over the next few weeks we're mapping the latest shows worth seeing--and a nearby spot to nurse your art hangover.

The The Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival in Vancouver is a week-long celebration of the joy of reading (with a bit of French Canadian joie de lire thrown in, too). The festival is celebrating 20 years of presenting authors to their loyal followers. This year, more than 12,000 people are expected to attend. The event takes place on Granville Island, the high rise-filled plot of land located along False Creek across from downtown Vancouver's peninsula. In addition to the festival, organizers put together regular reading events. In November, they will bring in former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to the Granville Island Stage to talk about his (painfully titled) new memoir, A Passion for Politics.

After learning all about Chrétien's passions, you can cool down by grabbing a drink and maybe a bite along the waterfront at Bridges Seafood Restaurant. Until the Canadian cold makes it too unbearable, diners pack onto the deck at tables covered by bright yellow umbrellas. The most popular item on the outdoor bistro menu is the chilled seafood platter, a shareable plate that includes prawns (that's British for shrimp), crab, smoked salmon, tuna tartare, ceviche, oysters, pepper crusted tuna and mussels.

Related Stories:
· Vancouver Writers Festival [Official Site]
· Bridges Seafood Restaurant [Official Site]
· Fall Culture Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Vancouver Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Hayward Photo]]]> ced138 2007-10-01T10:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/9/26/173110/027

Cold, rainy fall days make for the best museum visits. So over the next few weeks we're mapping the latest shows worth seeing--and a nearby spot to nurse your art hangover.

The All Roads Film Festival will be held this weekend at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. The event includes film, a photography exhibition, a live music concert, panels and workshops.

While Beverly Hills is known for its famous zip code and mass-market films, for one weekend, the town strips off its consumerism when National Geographic gives a forum to the voices of indigenous people and the underprivileged. Directors and their subjects in this NG-hosted event do the talking. The nationalities represented in this year's festival include many tribes of native Canadians and Americans, as well as Finnish, Aboriginal Australian, Iranian, Kurdish, Ethiopian, Indian, Mexican and Maori people.

High on newly-broadened horizons and wishing you weren't on Team Oppressor, head over to Uzbekistan (the restaurant, not the country). It's down Sunset Boulevard on the corner of La Brea underneath a big purple sign. It has authentic Uzbek cuisine, including vegetable salad with dill, lagman (a homemade noodle and stir fry dish with lamb or chicken) and potato dumplings in a tomato sauce. Live bands perform on weekend nights. Even better: In the afternoons you can watch Russian soap operas while you eat.

Related Stories:
· All Roads Festival [Official Site]
· Los Angeles Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Polaris]]]> ced138 2007-09-28T10:00:01-05:00 34.101557 -118.33671 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/9/26/143825/779

Cold, rainy fall days make for the best museum visits. So over the next few weeks we're mapping the latest shows worth seeing--and a nearby spot to nurse your art hangover.

Some of the most interesting exhibits often come to the smallest of places, which is definitely the case with Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan at The Powerhouse Arena in DUMBO, Brooklyn. This exhibit for social justice features heartbreaking and tragic images of the 2.5 million people who have been displaced by violence in Sudan. Powerhouse may not be the nation's premier art venue, but with exhibit backers like Media for Social Justice, Amnesty International, and the Holocaust Museum of Houston, it's definitely worth a look before it closes this weekend.

Since this photographic display will probably leave you and your friends with a lot to ponder, head over to nearby Rebar, at 68 Jay St., which opened its doors late last year. Fans of the coffee house and wine bar say it feels intimate, but never cramped, which makes it perfect for post-Powerhouse chats.

Related Stories:
· Powerhouse Arena [Official Site]
· Fall Culture Travel Map [Jaunted]
· Fall Culture Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Powerhouse Arena]]]> jnaw 2007-09-27T11:05:01-05:00 40.703126 -73.990674 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/9/25/163824/436

Cold, rainy fall days make for the best museum visits. So over the next few weeks we're mapping the latest shows worth seeing--and a nearby spot to nurse your art hangover.

What better place to catch an art show in the US capital than the National Gallery of Art? Until early next year, the museum has a show featuring a load of paintings from iconic American artist Edward Hopper. And, yes, one of the paintings is Nighthawks, that scene you totally had a poster of in your dorm room. It's worth seeing the show just to check out the real thing.

To make like the lonely man in the painting--only, we hope, with a little less lonely--head to the Waffle Shop, near the gallery at 522 10th St., NW. This old-school diner has a nice little counter and a big menu of greasy-spoon options. But get there fast: neighborhood development plans have the diner, like Hopper's paintings, set to fade into history.

Related Stories:
· National Gallery [Official Site]
· Fall Culture Travel Map [Jaunted]
· Fall Culture Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: The Art Institute of Chicago]]]> pbb 2007-09-25T16:45:01-05:00 38.892096 -77.017517 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/