Thursday 13 July 2006 by Edward.

VisualBoxOffice™ software is original and revolutionary mapping technology that will forever change the way people buy event tickets online. Adeso technologies of California offers interactive, 3D maps that allow online ticket-buyers to see where seats are at the same time they buy them; and, on some maps, see an actual view from the seat section.

VisualBoxOffice™ also offers unique features like customized price selector and price comparison options. There are currently 36 maps in use for U.S. venues, including sports stadiums, concert halls and theaters. Adeso will complete the remaining U.S. maps by the end of 2006; with international venues to follow shortly. Here’s a link to the Dixie Chicks concert at the Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia, PA, USA, for Tuesday 25 July 2006.
VisualBoxOffice™ is currently installed at www.tickets3d.com, where you can purchase tickets for sports, concerts, theatre and a host of special events throughout the nation. The patent-pending software will soon be installed on additional websites and is destined to become the mapping standard for the online ticket industry.

Posted in BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Thursday 13 July 2006 by Edward.

Trip Planner is a new travel tool from Yahoo!They’re giving away two plane tickets a day to those who enter a trip into their database. You can explore trips, browse trips and create trips. A login to an Yahoo! account is needed. You can view existing, publicly-shared trips identified by tags placed on global Yahoo! Map. I viewed a one-month trip “Stockholm: World cup 2006″ created by Dave_Bohn, Sweden. The trip had photos, comments and the number of people who like the entry. There’s a lot of “drilling” that can be had with Yahoo!s Trip Planner — maybe too much for my liking. The more you drill the more you encounter advertising. Personally, I found Yahoo!s interface and navigation way too complex, with too much (unexpected) advertising. I think a re-design is required here. Is it about the trip or about the ads?

Have you seen Trip Tracker.net ? Now here’s a more intuitive, organic interface that is a pleasure to browse. I feel this website is more about the journey, about the people, about the photos and about the trip logs. I viewed a journey named Panamericana from PatetGuy, from Montréal to Panajachel, Honduras, and encountered, uncluttered, clear navigation — in spite of 53 trip entries and 284 photos. A bonus is that trips can also be viewed on Google Earth. Now, Trip Tracker has not yet introduced advertisements. If (when) they do, I recommend they appear at the bottom of each photo/trip entry — out of they way for much of the navigation, yet included where it counts most.

Posted in Website/Event, AFTER the visit | No Comments »

Thursday 13 July 2006 by Edward.

The Schmap Player is a small and easy-to-use piece of freeware that displays interactive Schmap Guides of selected locations around the world. Guides are searchable and customizable, with updatable content. These online guides allow you to dynamically explore an area, play virtual tours, custom print your own destination guides, find ‘top picks’, and read reviews of attractions, restaurants, bars, theatres, etc. A Schmap online store is due to open. It will sell travel books, travel tech, luggage and gear, and accessories.

Fourteen countries are available to date — Canada, not included.

Posted in BEFORE the visit | No Comments »