Ennui Blog

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This Video pretty much sums up why I’m not supporting this bozo.

The media was filled positive PR about a new search engine that is seeking to challenge Google called, Cuil (pronounced ‘cool’).

As a search professional, I’m not impressed.

In fact, the only thing that impressed me was their PR campaign. They managed to get into every major media outlet in the world. They were even featured on the front page of Drudgereport as well as Digg and all the other major social networking websites.

While their PR campaign was impressive, it was also their own undoing. Their new site could not handle the server load and it did not work for most of the day. Way to impress us guys.

What kind of company announces their ‘Google Killer’ to the world and doesn’t plan for the inevitable traffic from people wanting to try it out?

Well, eventually I was able to try it out and I was not impressed at all. The search results weren’t very relevant. I couldn’t even find some of my own websites. Hell, if you search for ‘Cuil,’ it returns nothing.

The layout of the search results also doesn’t really work from a perspective of trying to find what you’re looking for quickly. They claim they’ve indexed 192 billion webpages. But that is irrelevant unless they have the relevancy to match.

I also fail to see a business model, I don’t see ads anywhere or any way to monetize their search results. I’m glad to see someone step up and take on Google but these guys have a lot more work ahead of them before they can truly compete.

I was not wowed by the announcements and subsequent release of the new 3G iPhone.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m an Apple fanboy. But honestly I see no purpose to the 3G iPhone. The design is almost the same. It’s only redeeming feature is 3G internet access. But I don’t have 3G service where I live, so that feature is useless. Despite the lack of 3G access, one will still have to pay for 3G service, which is more expensive that the current package.

Really if you want most of the functionality of the 3G iPhone just download iPhone software 2.0. You’ll get access to all the awesome news apps and will have most of the same functionality.

I won’t be upgrading.

When I was a kid, I had a really cool book called “Free Stuff for Kids.” It was a great book that had loads of information on things that you could send away for and get that cost nothing except a stamp. It was great for learning how to write letters and request things in the mail, an art lost on many people these days.

My favorite thing to send away for was free road maps. I loved maps (still do). I could stand in front of a map for hours studying it and learning about it’s contents, learning where things are. Well, sending away for free maps was something I sort of forgot about.

Last week I was sitting in Barnes and Noble trying to decide on which map of the British Isles would suit me best and I realized, I probably didn’t have to pay for this map. In the age of the internet it’s now a lot easier to find and request free maps.

There is already a blog that wrote about how to get free roads maps of the 50 US states, so I’m not going to cover that. But the blog entry is a great place to find free road maps of the US. Basically you need to contact either the local state tourist board or highway department and they will be more than happy to send you a road map. Check out free US State Road Maps here.

Instead, I would like to focus on free road maps from international locales. These maps are generally harder to find and definitely more valuable.

Most countries with a tourist industry have a Tourist Office that helps advertise them abroad. Find the agency in your country and simply write or call them and request a map of the country. Tell them that you are planning a trip and would like a map to help plan your trip. Most of the time, they will be happy to oblige.

Below is a continually updated list of the countries I was able to find free tourist maps and free road maps. Some took a quite a bit of digging but I want to provide this information to everyone.

If you click a link and it’s dead, please let me know. If you come across a country that’s not listed that has a free road map, feel free to e-mail or write a comment suggesting it.

Without furhter ado, here’s the list of free international road maps.

Free New Zealand Road Tourist Map

Free Germany Road Map Autobahn Map

Free Anguilla Road Map

Free Israel Tourist Map Road Map Information

Free Ireland Tourist Map Road Map Ireland

Free Luxembourg Tourist Road Map

Free Belgium Tourist Map Road Map

Free France Road Map Tourist Map

Free Monaco Road Map Tourist Map

Free Japan Tourist Map Road Map

Free Tourist Map Road Maps Scandinavia - The Scandinavian Countries - Denmark, Norway, Sweden Finland and Iceland cooperate together on the same tourist site, you can request free maps all on the same page.

Free Portugal Tourist Map Road Map

Free Slovenia Tourist Map Road Map

Free Tourist and Road Map of Switzerland

Other Free United States - USA - Free Road Map Resources:

FreeRoadMaps - Bravehost -Another source of all 50 States and how to get free road and highway maps from them. They also have resources on how to get free roads maps of the Canadian Provinces in Canada.

Free Road Map of US - America - Interstate System - This site is run by the federal government and allows you to request a free map of the entire United States Interstate Road System.

If a country is not listed here, check out Rick Steve’s List of European Tourist Information agencies. You should be able to write or call them and ask for a free map if you can’t request one online.

Be sure to Bookmark this page and check back often for the latest updates!