Souvenir Photos
“Souvenirs” is an ongoing book project by Hughes Photography in which toy replicas of famous landmarks are held up and photographed in front of the real thing. Check out this interesting collection of 95 souvenir photos from all over the world.
Fantasy Islands You Cannot Afford
WebUrbanist has compiled a list of 10 incredible private islands that serve as tropical getaways to the rich and famous. While private islands have always been the mark of the uber-rich, many people don’t realize that some islands can be bought for as little as $100,000 or even rented for a weekend.
But most islands are outrageously expensive. For example, Cerralvo Island is a former volcano located in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of Baja Mexico. The large private island contains 60 square miles of undeveloped terrain, except for a few massive mansions. The sandy beaches get plenty of warm Mexican sunshine, offer lots of privacy, yet is only 30 miles from the mainland. The island can be yours for a cool $35 million.
Microsoft Launches WorldWide Telescope
From the world of competitive astronomical websites (isn’t the Internet grand?) comes this new offering from Microsoft, WorldWide Telescope. Like others before it Microsoft’s new offering allows users to explore planets and other celestial objects. You can also view/track objects from any place on earth and in any point in time. Of course as you might expect from Microsoft there’s more going on than that. There is a lot of imagery from NASA including the Mars rovers, Hubble telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. There are also ‘tours’ set up by expert astronomers or you can even save your own ‘5 year missions’.
Like with Google’s ‘The Sky’ or the open source Stellarium users must first download the free WorldWide Telescope software from Microsoft (windows only).
WorldWide Telescope (via BBC News)
Beautiful Islands
National Geographic has assembled a collection of gorgeous photographs of small islands. The photo at left shows a dramatic collar of coral reefs ringing Mondriki Island (in the foreground) and Monu Island (background), two of Melanesia’s Fiji Islands. The Fiji Islands are made up of 333 islands in the South Pacific, known for their sparkling beaches, coral gardens, and lush rain forests.
Interactive 360 Degree Panoramas
Interactive Panoramas (or VR Photography) is a relatively new media that creates a panoramic view that immerse the viewer ‘inside’ the image. This is far far more advanced than the kinds of panoramas you can make with your digital camera and stitching software. Using your mouse you can view from side to side or top to bottom and all points in between of some fantastic imagery taking by Interactive Panorama photographers from all over the world and collected and displayed by Hans Nyberg a commercial photographer in Denmark.
There are over 400 stunning interaftive images of every thing from the Oslo Opera House to Death Valley, from the Oscars to Carnival In Rio. A truly stunning collection in a format that’s as close as you can get to being there from your PC.
