Fellow passengers tip train to free trapped man

With all the death and destruction in the news of late, it's all the more encouraging to see things like this. In the video, fellow passengers in Perth, Western Australia, work together to free a man who became trapped between the train and platform:


Always remember: mind the gap!

Private toll road solves a major problem for British commuters

Free enterprise tends to be much more reliable than government bureaucracy, and you can usually count the former when the latter breaks down—which happens more often than not. In this case, the solution to a seemingly insurmountable traffic problem was a private toll road:


I would love to see more stories like this.

(via 22 Words)

Around the world in 360° degrees

Filmed in 36 countries over three years, this is the ultimate selfie:


Discover more at ModernMotoDiaries.com.

Stunning timelapse video of Yosemite National Park

Photographers Colin Delehanty and Sheldon Neill backpacked over 200 miles through Yosemite National Park, filming over the course of 10 months. They spent a total of 45 days in the park capturing the images in this video.


Read more about the project at ProjectYose.com.

Amazing 360° panoramic view of Paris from above the Eiffel Tower

From Gilles Vidal Photography. See it here.

Guy videos himself dancing across China

Jake Gaba spent 100 days in China as part of a school program to study Mandarin. Rather than simply snap a few pictures and post them on Facebook, he decided on a very unique way to share his travel experience...

Satellite image of erupting Russian volcano

Click here for high-res image. (Photo: NASA / Earth Observatory / Robert Simmon)

Yes, there are active volcanoes in Russia. NASA's Landsat 8 satellite captures 16,000-ft. Klyuchevskaya Sopka in the act.

(via Yahoo, Slate)

Romania's brilliant response to British anti-Romanian immigrant campaign

Back in January, officials in (Not-So-)Great Britain were considering running a negative advertising campaign in Romania and Bulgaria designed to discourage immigration from those countries.The Guardian reported:

The plan, which would focus on the downsides of British life, is one of a range of potential measures to stem immigration to Britain next year when curbs imposed on both country's citizens living and working in the UK will expire.

A report over the weekend quoted one minister saying that such a negative advert would "correct the impression that the streets here are paved with gold".

There was no word on how any advert might look or whether it would use the strategy of making Britain look as horrible as possible or try to encourage would-be migrants to wake up to the joys of their own countries whether Romania's Carpathian mountains or Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts. With governments around the world spending millions on hiring London-based consultants to undertake "reputation laundering" there would be a peculiar irony if Britain chose to trash its own image perhaps by highlighting winter flooding of homes or the carnage of a Saturday night A&E ward.

The people of Romania responded with a campaign of their own. A rather brilliant one, too:


(via The Tea Party Economist)

Would you board Flight 666 to HEL on Friday the 13th?

I would, if I had to. In fact, many passengers take the daily Finnair flight AY666 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. And as luck would have it, that particular flight falls on Friday the 13th twice in 2013. No big deal.

Universal Studios opens 'The Simpsons' Fast Food Boulevard

Universal Studios Florida has expanded The Simpsons Ride area to include some of the more iconic locations from the popular TV show. Hungry customers can visit formerly fictional eateries like Krusty Burger, Cletus' Chicken Shack, the Frying Dutchman, and Luigi's Pizza. They can even stop by Moe's Tavern for a cold Duff Beer.

Coming attractions include the Duff Brewery, Lard Lad, a statue of Jebediah Springfield, and Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl ride. They are still under construction and are set to open within the next couple of months.

Amazing hyper-lapse video made with Google Street View

Everyone is familiar with time-lapse video, in which a stationary camera shoots frames at a slower speed and then strings those images together to create a scene that seems to fly by. A hyper-lapse video is very similar, but it takes the process one step further by adding camera movements, usually focusing on a particular point of interest.

A hyper-lapse video system utilizing Google Street View has been developed byTeehan+Lax, and it is definitely one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Check it out!


(via Kottke)

Tour New Zealand with Google Sheep View

I'm surprised this sort of thing isn't seen more often on Google Street View in New Zealand.

View in Google Maps here.

(Google Sightseeing)

Tour the Grand Canyon with Google Maps

Visit Google Sightseeing and take the tour.

Winter arrives in Norway without any warning

Ah! There's nothing like strolling along the fjord on a warm, summer afternoon.

Hmmmm. Is it suddenly getting a little nippy out here, or is it just me?

(from Google Sightseeing)

Google Streetview in South Africa

This is a pretty typical scene at the Addo Elephant National Park.

(from Google Sightseeing)

Airport X-ray discovers drunk tourist asleep on baggage belt

An unnamed airline passenger arrived at Italy's international airport to check in for a flight to Oslo. When he found no one at the counter to help him, he decided to help himself to a nap...on the baggage belt.

Beer in hand, the slumbering Norwegian moved through the secure baggage area for about 15 minutes before officials spotted him in an X-ray image on their monitors.

He was probably just pining for the fjords.

The South Pole on Google Street View

If you're ever find yourself down at the South Pole, you can now use Google Street View to help you get around. Of course, all the streets look the same.

New travel hoodie has it all

What's the most uncomfortable and inconvenient part of commercial airline travel (besides being irradiated by nude body scanners and groped by sweaty perverts)? Not having a stylish, cozy hoodie that comes with a built-in inflatable neck pillow and sleep mask.

Well, worry no more. You can now relax (after clearing "security," of course) and travel in complete comfort thanks to the Wings Flying Hoodie:

5 worst traffic cities in the world

Everybody hates a traffic jam. And every American driver seems to think traffic in his or her home city is the worst in the world. But when we consider the awful commutes drivers in other countries are forced to endure, we really can't complain.

According to an IBM survey of 20 cities, "The daily commute in some of the world's most economically important international cities is longer and more grueling than before imagined, reflecting the failure of transportation infrastructure to keep pace with economic activity." Believe it or not, Los Angeles and New York weren't even among the top ten worst.

Google Sightseeing gives us a brief glimpse of the five worst traffic cities in the world:

1. New Delhi
   
2. Moscow
   
3. Johannesburg
   
4. Mexico City
   
5. Beijing

Yes, traffic in Beijing is really is that bad. The city once saw a traffic jam that stretched for 62 miles...and lasted for nine days! I don't know about you, but I can't think of many jobs that would inspire me to start my commute nine days early.

Are flying cars FINALLY within our reach?

PAL-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle), a company in the Netherlands, has introduced a flying car prototype that has successfully completed several test flights in the past two weeks. Still in its development phase, the PAL-V1 is expected to sell for around $300,000.


The introduction of the PAL-V1 came within a week of U.S. flying car company Terrafugia announcing the successful test flight of its $279,000 Transition.


Not exactly the Jetsons, but it's closer than we've ever been before.