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First some facts. Boulder is one of the five richest counties in the United States, but it has the lowest rate of charitable giving in Colorado. A decade ago, Tajikistan donated an ornately hand carved Russian Tea House to the city. It cost Tajikistan millions of dollars. In return, Boulder promised to give a cyber cafe to Tajikistan because this Third World city's inhabitants do not have Internet access. More than a decade later, Tajikistan still waits for Boulder to fulfill its promise. Inhabitants of this city take pride in the image of Boulder as utopia. Boulderites joke with a sly wink that Boulder is 20 square miles surrounded by reality. There is a meditation room on the third floor of the downtown Shambala Center which is open to anyone who would like to practice lunchtime reflection. Boulder has the second-highest grossing organic food market in the country. Trails run from back yards to serene mountain ranges. Boulder is one of only three counties in Colorado that did not vote for George Bush. But scratch the surface of the utopian bubble and you'll witness people punching each other in the organic market's parking lot over the last available space and you'll find yourself questioning why people who claim to be against the "oil war" didn't bring their bike anyway. The Boulder City Council voted in July to allow dogs off-leash on open space despite the fact that dogs regularly take down deer and other wildlife in the area. Boulderites fight like mad to protect the prairie dogs -- unless they want to build a mansion with a view on a prairie dog habitat. And when houses routinely start at more than a million dollars, the only hippies that can afford housing in Boulder are of the soft-palmed-check-of-the-month-trust-fund variety. Boulder is all about doing the right thing, as long as the right thing doesn't require making a sacrifice or a contribution. The "Free to Be You and Me" adage from 1967 prevails in Boulder and translates in 2006 to "I do what I want without any responsibility or consideration toward anyone else because you get to do the same." Other facts to add to the list. It's said that Boulder has the tallest average people in America with the second-highest average IQs. Boulder is a magnet for the "beautiful people." But despite the city's collective brains and good looks, Boulder didn't hire a district attorney or a police force that had the ability to root out the killer of JonBenet Ramsey for a decade. Boulder likes its government to run a little loose. It wouldn't be politically correct to give the impression that the rule of law prevailed here. |
TomTom launches online content-sharing platformNavigation device manufacturer TomTom today
launches the industry's first content-sharing platform for TomTom
devices that allows users to easily download, upload and share
navigation content with other users for free.
The platform will be made available from today on the latest version of TomTom HOME, which has been unveiled for both PC and MAC users. As of January 2008, the amount of registered TomTom HOME users has grown to 4.25 million. “TomTom HOME is a key tool to emphasize our commitment to the constantly growing TomTom community,” said Harold Goddijn chief executive officer at TomTom. “Our users tell us all the time how much they enjoy personalizing their devices with content they can get from one another. However, this content has always been spread out and unorganized across the web and on users' devices. With the new version of TomTom HOME, TomTom brings personalization and user-generated content together in an all-in-one, easy-to-use application unlike anything else in the navigation industry.” The full portfolio of content available to share and download includes personalized images (appearing when a TomTom device is turned on or shut down), vehicle icons, warning sounds, funny voices, colour schemes, Points of Interest and Routes.
Map overlays
TomTom also unveiled an unexpected feature which is map overlays. Indeed, drivers will be able to create their own maps and overlay them onto the map that comes with their TomTom device. Examples of overlays that people could create are walking routes, maps of large exhibition halls, or amusement parks. Building on its map Share feature, TomTom is willing to push the envelop on letting the user create its own map and add it to its device. Users can rate content via a star system, as well as sort it by how it is rated by the TomTom community. Additionally, TomTom HOME will automatically distribute any updates to existing content, for example if someone updates a POI set of favorite restaurants, their changes would automatically be sent out to TomTom HOME users who have previously downloaded that set. Wednesday 13th February 2008
Ludovic Privat
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