Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Visit any bookstore and it’s easy to find a dozen or more guidebooks for any one of the world’s major cities. Dopplr’s Social Atlas is a guidebook unlike any other – the information within it has been compiled by the smart travellers who share their trips with others on Dopplr.
In addition to trips, they can share the discoveries they make along the way. They are able to add travel tips about places to eat, stay, and explore that might not have caught the attention of the publishers of printed guidebooks.
Dopplr travellers add hundreds of new places every week, and we aggregate and anonymise the information they send in. Looking at the data as a whole, we can start to see patterns emerging – and that’s the true power of the Social Atlas.
It means we can pinpoint the cool cafes, hip shopping streets, gourmet restaurants and fashionable bars that people have discovered in the last few months. We can see where people are choosing to spend a night, be it in a tiny backstreet guest house or in the grandest of five-star hotels.
The explore category can mean taking in the traditional tourist attractions, but it might also mean walking the back streets of an up-and-coming city district, nosing around the shops and soaking up the atmosphere. It might mean browsing dusty bookshops or modern art galleries, or simply sipping a coffee and people-watching in a busy market square. Whatever travel tips Dopplr travellers have shared, it’s all available to everyone in the Social Atlas.
And we can do all this much quicker than traditional print publishing allows. The Social Atlas is constantly changing as people’s opinions change and new recommendations are added to our database. Whatever’s happening in the world’s big cities, our travellers are likely to spot it. The Social Atlas is always bang up-to-date.
The Social Atlas is built entirely using the recommendations from smart travellers, and this is what makes it unique. We know, for example, where Dopplr travellers are based and also what travel planning they’ve been doing. We can look at an overview of the data and spot interesting trends, such as where Londoners tend to go when they visit New York (and, in contrast, where New Yorkers go in their home town).
These trends and patterns are central to the value of the Social Atlas in the long term. It allows us to take snapshots of cities not just as places, but also as moments in time. The snapshot for London in January will differ from London six months later, as seasons and fashions change people’s habits.
Dopplr is a service for smart travellers. Dopplr members share travel plans privately with people they trust, and exchange travel tips on places to stay, eat and explore in cities around the world. Dopplr aggregates this collective intelligence – travel advice from world’s most frequent travellers – as the Social Atlas.
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Friday, November 27th, 2009
All about Malaga Car Hire
Malaga needs no introduction to the seasoned traveller. It’s the dream holiday destination with the perfect weather and more than perfect tourist facilities. There is nothing you can’t enjoy in Malaga. But Malaga is more famous for its museums, its rich historical and cultural atmosphere, its monuments and beaches.
The Picasso Museum: It honours this city’s most famous resident. Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga. The museum is dedicated to the life and works of the artist. There are two museums located on the site of the Alcazaba Castle. The Archaeological Museum contains a variety of Greek and Gothic artefacts. Also on the site is the Museo de la Ceramica. This museum is dedicated to pottery and has a variety of pottery from many historical periods. The city museum is located in the old part of town. The Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions is an interesting place to visit. This museum contains art from local artists of different periods including modern art.
The castles of Malaga are also famous, amongst them the Alcazaba and the Castillo de Gibralfaro. The Alcazaba is one of the largest fortresses in Andalucia and is very well conserved. Gibralfaro was constructed in the 14th century and it enjoys a fantastic view of the rest of the city of Malaga. Another landmark of Malaga is the cathedral, which was built back in 1528. The cathedral of Malaga has different architectural styles due to the construction being started and stopped so often over several years.
Malaga beaches are the highlight of Malaga holidays. The beaches are humming with activity and excitement during the summer months. The beaches are surrounded with all kinds of entertainment and sports facilities like horseback riding, gliding, windsurfing and lots more. There are restaurants, tapas bars, pubs surrounding the beaches. The fun on the beaches continues well beyond sundown.
You will be spoilt for choice when it comes to shopping and eating out in Malaga. All major international fashion brands have a presence in Malaga. The local markets are also quite popular where you can buy the traditional artefacts and handicrafts of Andalucia. You can sample the famous cuisine of Andalucia along with popular dishes from around the world.
Nightlife in Malaga has never been lacking in its vibrancy and you will find yourself dancing away to the music well into the wee morning hours. There is no end to the discos, bars and pubs here. The port area of Malaga is especially famous for its exciting nightlife.
You need the freedom to explore Malaga to enjoy so many aspects of this fascinating city. Car hire in Malaga is the best option as it is cheap, convenient and easy. You can easily hire a car for your Malaga travels over the internet. The car hire companies arrange a car hire right at the Malaga airport. You can choose a top condition car according to your requirements, budget, and book it online. Many people chose to book their cars in advance to avoid last minute hassles and because that way you can settle for the best price as in the high season car hire prices tend to go up.
For further information log on to
malaga cars
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Monday, May 18th, 2009
History of making oil paint from plants
Oil paint is a type of paint which consists of color pigments suspended in a drying oil. A drying oil is one which hardens to a tough, solid film after it’s exposed to air. The oil hardens because of a chemical reaction between the components and the presence of oxygen. Drying oils are a key component of oil paint for painting. This oil comes from different kinds of plants.
What plants were used in the past to make oil paint?
There are many kinds of oils that were used in the past for oil paint. A few examples of oils that were used by the artists are linseed oil, frankincense oil, Tung oil, perilla oil, poppyseed oil, walnut oil and safflower oil.
Linseed Oil
The plant Linaceae is the source of linseed oil. Linseed oil is extracted from the Linaceae plant and a clear to yellowish colored oil is obtained. Sometimes certain solvents are added to it in order to decrease the drying time of the oil. In the field of oil painting, the usage of linseed oil was a giant leap. But as time has passed and new techniques have been found, the usage of linseed oil has dropped. Mainly, because of the artificial materials introduced which have the ability to resist yellowing. In Modern & Abstract Oil Paintings, they still use linseed oil.
Frankincense Oil
Frankincense is a scented resin. This is obtained from the genus Boswellia trees. The bark of the tree is peeled off and a milky white liquid is exuded from it which hardens on its contact with air. Oil is then extracted from these hardened resins by steam distillation. Due to the difference in soil and climate conditions, many different kinds of species are found. Among all the species, the opaque resins are believed to be the best kind. These are found in Oman, Yemen and the North coast of Somalia.
Poppyseed Oil
Poppyseed oil is obtained form the small, dark seeds of opium poppy, commonly known as the poppy flower. Although the poppyseed oil is used for many purposes like cooking oil and moisturizers, the foremost usage is in the production of paints. Poppyseed oil takes more time to dry as compared to linseed oil. That is the reason why poppyseed oil is not used as a ground layer for painting.
Walnut Oil
As the name indicates, walnut oil comes from walnuts. Walnut oil dries very quickly and it also does not give a yellow shade. For this reason, it was very popular amongst the Renaissance painters. It is considered to be a good oil paint thinner cleaning brushes for the same reason. Now the demand of walnut oil has decreased with the passage of time. This is because, walnut oil is considered to be of lesser quality than that of linseed oil by some people and also, the stock of walnut oil may go bad if not kept by care.
Safflower Oil
Safflower is a plant having spiny leaves and bears red or yellowish flowers on an upright and stiff stem. The height of the plant is between 30 to 150 cm. Safflower has been used for edible oil extracted from its seeds, coloring and flavoring of foods, and medicines. The safflower oil, used as edible oil, is also used for painting and is sometimes used instead of linseed oil mainly because it does not give the yellow shade as that of linseed oil.
All the above mentioned oils have been used in the past by artists for oil paintings. Now, these oil paints are being used in modern abstract oil paintings and decorative modern paintings. Considering the different properties of these oils and the desired effect for the painting, different oil paints may be used in the same painting.
This article is written by Nanine Masclee. Art Gallery Nanyna is an online modern art gallery with a unique collection of original oil paintings, Modern and Abstract Oil Paintings, Flower Paintings, Modern Seescapes, Animals, Africa, Sports, Dance, People and Children Paintings.
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Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
In this article you will provide you the possible details of your engagement ring. At your home before going to a jewelry shop you can have a detail about an engagement ring. This knowledge is the early stage of your perfect engagement ring. You may have a range of choices but we are here to help you with this information. So start your first step towards a beginning of a new life with the tiny details of this article. As it is always good to have a handy knowledge about the particular object before buying that very article. Enjoy your journey to discover your perfect engagement ring.
There are lots of things that you should know before the final choice. It is not required to have a concrete idea about the rings details but an idea is necessary. These are the things that you need to know. These objective affairs are color of the element, cut of the diamond, the weight, the durability and the cost value Shapes, styles, settings, profile choices, metal types, finishing, engraving through to stone cuts etc. are common among other various things. As for example you should know about the diamond that is engraved in your engagement ring. The facts like whether the diamond or other precious stones are certified or not, whether the diamond is a conflict diamond or not etc. you should have an idea on those facts. You can buy your diamond. To buy a gemstone you need to know about the whereabouts of the gem store. Beautiful and rare gem stones especially the demand of antique diamonds and stones are increasing nowadays. There are lots of wrong beliefs regarding stones and diamonds and about other jewelry objects that should be corrected. Myths should be dispelled from your mind before zeroing in on your perfect choice. Again a basic knowledge about carats and karats, about the conversation of carat to millimeter etc. everything is important to be gainer.
To tell about styles there is a big chart to choose your option. Classic, classic/modern, modern, art deco, antique, medieval and Celtic are some of them. For shapes you can have rounded shape, oval shape, rectangular shape etc. It can be round cut oval shaped, square cut like princess cut gems, marquise cut or an emerald cut. Choose the one which one seems to you the loveliest and good looking. It is all about your taste.
All these depend on your personal choice. Color of diamond is also vital. Some names of colored diamonds are pure hope diamond of 200-carat diamond, D stone, E diamonds, F diamonds, G diamonds, H diamonds, I and J diamonds, K and M diamonds. Among these diamonds G-H, I-J, and K-M diamonds are colored. K M diamonds are colored and the color is detectable. For engraving there are number of variations like pearl, Safire, diamond and ruby, emerald etc. now big stones are having a craze. Always gold and diamond have been a foremost option for any wedding couple but platinum and titanium are being popular because of their durability and natural shine.
The professional wedding ring, wedding rings and wedding bands you can get here with attractive price.
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