Planet GeoSpatial

UDBloggen

Sweden's Foreign Ministry has started a website of blogs by ministry employees. By hosting a number of personal blogs written by people working in the ministry the department hopes it will reach out to individuals and the media and keep them better informed about Swedish foreign policy. The hope is that the ministry's bloggers will lead to a more informal and faster communication of daily foreign policy work.

The new website includes a prominent Google Map of current content that is linked to a geographic area. The map shows the location of the ministry's bloggers who have recently posted,the location of embassies and any current advice about travelling to specific countries.

The content shown on the map can be refined by clicking on one of the tabs above the map. You can select to view the bloggers' posts, current travel advice or embassies. If you click on a map marker you are shown the title of the blog post, the date posted and a link to read the entry in full.

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Nile Guide

Nile Guide is a great trip planner and personal travel guide. The site lets you explore areas you might like to visit for hotels, restaurants and other points of interest and create your own personalised travel itinerary.

To start planning your trip with Nile Guide you just need to enter your destination. Nile Guide will then give you an overview of your destination and allow you to view Hotels, Things to Do, Restaurants, Nightlife and Events. The points of interest are even displayed on a Google Map.

To add a place you want to visit you just need to click on the 'Add to List' link and it will be added to your 'My Guide'. Once you have added a number of destinations to your travel itinerary you can then organise your guide. You can drag and drop your different picks on to different days of your trip and you can view the locations of your choices on a Google Map.

When you have completed your personal travel guide if you press 'Print my guide to go' Nile Guide will create a printable version of your very own travel itinerary.

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