Calling all art sleuths and geography buffs! There's a new game in town that will test your knowledge of both the artistic and the actual world. Buckle up, because Backdrop is here to take you on a virtual journey through the works of the world's most famous artists.Inspired by the wildly popular GeoGuessr, Backdrop throws you into the heart of stunning landscapes and iconic cityscapes, all ..read more

Over the last few days my Twitter feed has been lit up by people sharing the songs that they have created on Udio. For the one or two cave dwellers out there who have only just installed spelunking wi-fi, Udio is an AI-powered music generation tool which allows users to create songs from a text prompt. The tool allows you to create tunes with customized lyrics, vocal styles, and musical ..read more

Every year the telecommunications company Telegeography releases a new, updated version of its Submarine Cable map. This map shows all the undersea telecommunication cables which carry data around the world.The 2024 Submarine Cable Map is now available. Subsea cables carry telecommunication signals under the oceans, communicating information between different countries and regions of the ..read more

The idea of the 15 Minute City is that urban living is much more enjoyable and sustainable when all our essential needs are close by. These essential needs include such things as grocery stores, health care facilities, cultural attractions, transit stops, educational facilities and leisure activities. Individuals living in a 15 Minute neighborhood should be able to access all these essential ..read more

The Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland has been experiencing a period of heightened volcanic activity since December 2023. This follows an increase in seismic activity that began in late 2019. The most recent eruption started on March 16th in Sundhnúkur near the town of Grindavík.You can view a live webcam of volcanic activity in Sundhnúkur on Live from Iceland.  This webcam shows a live ..read more

KilRoyTrip is an interactive map of World War II memorials in Normandy. It provides a fantastic guide to anyone visiting the region who is interested in the D-Day landings and the liberation of France.The Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day Tuesday, 6 June 1944 was the largest seaborne invasion in history. On D-Day the Allied forces from the United States, Britain, Canada, and other countries ..read more

The US government's Foreign Assistance website provides detailed information and data on U.S. foreign assistance programs. The website serves as a central platform for transparency and accountability in U.S. foreign aid efforts. It also provides a fascinating insight into the shifting geo-political ambitions of the United States over the last 75 years.The Foreign Assistance Dashboard reveals ..read more

Cocaine use has been increasing rapidly in Europe over the last seven years. Europeans are also taking more MDMA and ketamine. Every year the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) undertakes an annual wastewater drug survey in order to evaluate trends in the consumption of 'recreational' drugs. By analyzing residues of different recreational drugs in sewage the EMCDDA ..read more

OpenGuessr I am a huge fan of GeoGuessr, but unfortunately without becoming a paid subscriber it is now a very limited game. I don't blame GeoGuessr for developing its subscription model. The Google Maps API isn't cheap and I'm sure Google sends GeoGuesssr huge invoices every month. However that does mean there is a huge potential market for a free Street View game. A market that OpenGuessr ..read more

The British Placenames Mapper is an interactive map which allows you to search for patterns in British placenames. The map uses 'regular expressions' to find defined text patterns within placenames. These text patterns could be prefixes used at the beginning of a name (eg 'Great' or 'Little'), suffixes used at the end of a name (eg 'ford' or 'mouth'), or even patterns that occur anywhere within a ..read more