So, how was Albuquerque? It was a unique community that I have never seen in my travels before. Most of the cities that I visit push strongly on design, fashion, and beauty. I felt that Albuquerque, NM relied more on their cultural heritage. It was really cool to see it!

Most of my time was spent resting and bowling, but there was a little time that I got to see other parts of the area. By the convention center was Central Ave. I only walked down a few blocks of it, but it looked like it had a lot of great places to visit. On this street was a pizzeria that I felt had a great atmosphere, and was just a lot of fun to hang out at! Further down the street were a few bars that I would have loved to have seen at night, but there was not time for that.

The local cuisine was a lot different than I am used to. I found it odd to have a burrito, and have everything but the meat on the outside of the tortilla...even the sauce! I asked one place to make it the way I am used to (everything inside), and it was one of the best burritos I have ever had.

I made sure to visit the casinos in the area. Is a vacation really a vacation without a little gambling? Their slot machines do not pay out very well (80%), so I spent more time with video poker and the tables. My favorite casino was by far the Route 66 Casino. It was a little more modern, had a great theme throughout the casino, and was just a great place.

Other than the bowling and gambling, Albuquerque was a very inexpensive place to visit. If other bowling tournaments come to the area again, I will make the trip...but next time I will make sure to voyage out a little more and also make sure to visit Nob Hill!

Today's map image: Albuquerque, NM

I feel that this section of a day blog has been neglected recently. The maps are fun to look at, but I have found they are getting harder to find and write about!

I saw on Flickr someone posted a map image that included the Vitruvian Man in it! It was cut out of a field in Germany. I have to say this one of the coolest things I have seen so far on Google Maps!

Today's map image: Vitruvian Man

I have never been very good at astrology. I remember a lot of evenings while we were camping that I would stare out in the sky and have to ask everyone to point things out to me. Most of the time I would just say "Oh, I see that" or some other phrase to make me sound not so dumb. Sadly, the truth is even with them pointing to constellations, I still had no clue what I was looking at!

I might get a little better at looking for things in the sky after I use Sky Maps in the Google Earth Application! Google has now added all of the stars and the sky to their application so people can explore all of the galaxies and worlds outside of ours. I have a feeling I will be using this application at nights while sitting outside trying to match things between the sky above me and my computer...this will be fun!

Today's website: Google Sky

I received an email this weekend telling me to get directions from Google Maps from New York, New York to Paris France and then read through the directions they give. The first odd thing that I noticed with the directions is that the trip will take 29 days and 7 hours? Hmm - I never knew you would need to take about 2.5-3 months off just to visit Paris. Then I saw why it takes so long...Google Doesn't believe in planes! Step 24 in the directions has you swim 3,462 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. I wonder if Google is going to set up little rest stops in the ocean so we can take breaks and grab a snack? Anyways, this is an awesome find on Google Maps, and I hope to find out about more like this "easter egg" soon!

Google map image: Does Google Believe in Planes?

I do not have any clue how she found it, but Nicole sent me today's interesting find in Google Maps. It looks like a cruise missile flying across Utah. I was really interested in the smoke trail that was captured behind the object.

Many sites on the web are already talking about this capture, and many people are stating that it is actually a jetliner (a MD-80 passenger jet to be more exact). Since I am not an expert in planes or missiles, I have no clue what it actually is! Any comments?

Google map image: Is it a Missile or a Plane?

When you think of the Bahamas, you usually think of paradise, but many people will soon be traveling there for more than the perfect weather, temperature and pristine water. The court case (and appeal) for where Anna Nicole Smith's body is finally over, and the ruling is that she will be buried in the Bahamas. I do not know the exact location yet, but I am sure many people will find out and start traveling to see her burial plot. It does not sound like a great vacation to me, but I know a lot of people that like to pay tribute to those who pass away.

Today's website: The Bahamas

It has been awhile since I have written about New Orleans, but recently it has been a major headline in the news. Why? Because Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are moving their family to the French Quarter of the City. Now why did I think this was noteworthy of writing about? I heard on television yesterday someone talking about this topic, and they said that they really like how Pitt and Jolie use the attention that they get from the press to bring up major concerns/issues from around the world. I never thought of it like this, but it is really true that they do this. They have done it for marriage, 3-world countries, and now this. I really cannot think of other actors in the world that are even closely devoted as these 2 are. I hope they enjoy their new house in New Orleans! The map image is of the entire French Quarter. I have not been able to find the actual house they found, but I will leave a comment if I get a better map image to show.

Google map image: New Orleans - French Quarter

Eric Willis sent me a link yesterday to today's map image, and I just had to show everyone else! I am sure this was computer generated, but it was too cool to not show. I mean seriously, who else could have done it...aliens?

Google map image: Firefox Crop Circle

Usually Map aDayBlog is solely for Google Map images, but I found a great resource that is utilizing Google Maps on their site to help the viewers see more of the world. Wikimapia is a combination of Google Maps and the idea of Wikis (like Wikipedia) to allow people to view the world and see different attractions on the map. Also, people can add new places to the map for others to see. Reader contribution is a great addition to the web, and this site is proof of that! When you visit the site, you will see an image of the world. Throughout the map image are little squares. You can either roll-over the squares or click on them. The click will zoom you into the area and show you more specific site-seeing spots. Rolling over a square will give you a name of the area you are looking at. I think I am going to start contributing a lot of my aDayBlog content to their maps! If you add any spots to the map, leave a comment so we can go check them out.

View this Map at: Wikimapia.org

I am so excited to talk about a new purchase I made, but I decided that there was something more important to write about! Mozilla Firefox has been my browser of choice ever since it came out. It looks nicer, more secure, better features, and it is more compliant with valid code (this is the most important to me since I am a web programmer). The 2.0 release of Firefox was just released, and to celebrate parties are popping up all over the world! I would love to spend some time talking about the new features of Firefox 2.0, but this post is geared more towards the parties...I will have to post again to talk about all of the new and cool stuff in Firefox.

The Mozilla group has setup a website that allows people to view details to all of the Firefox parties or to create their own party. Most of the parties will be held on the weekend of October 27, but the date is up to the creator of the party. There are already 521 parties around the world, and 4173 partygoers! I think that if you are throwing a halloween party already this weekend, you should just switch the theme and party with Mozilla. My favorite part of the site (why this article is found in the Map section) has to be the View Map page. They are using Google's resources perfectly! They have an interactive map image of the world, and have thumbnails showing details of all the parties. I was sad to see that both Buffalo and Rochester are party-less so far. If you decide to create a party in either of the areas, send me an invite! I hope everyone that can attend really enjoys their parties...and don't forget to leave a comment as to what party you will be attending and anything cool that happened at the parties.

Map Image: Firefox 2.0 Party