asolo italy

asolo italy

Palladian villa tour in Italy is magnificent If Americans have heard the proper noun Asolo, they think of it as an Italian brand of athletic shoes and mountaineering boots. Veteran travelers in northern Italy know better. Asolo, as I discovered with my wife, Rosalie, during a weeklong visit in early July, is a small, heavenly Italian hill town (population, 1,500). It perches above wooded slopes on the edge of the agricultural and industrial plain, or pianura, which extends north and west from Venice and the Adriatic Sea to the foothills of the Dolomites, the towering limestone peaks that form the eastern buttress of the Italian Alps. Beloved by the English poet Robert Browning and the early-20th-century travel writer Freya Stark, Asolo has superb restaurants, arcaded streets lined with shops, great bars and sidewalk cafes, a lively main piazza and a beautiful church installed with religious paintings by the important Renaissance artists Lorenzo Lotto and Jacopo Bassano.

For lovers of Renaissance architecture, Asolo also makes an excellent base for day trips to the world famous Renaissance villas of Andrea Palladio in and around nearby cities, such as Vicenza, Palladio's home town. From Asolo, we found great destinations in every direction. When we returned each day, we left behind the busy gas stations, factories and shopping strips that line the main arteries nearby and ascended the quiet, fragrant, tree-covered slopes that led to Asolo's cozy, cobbled streets. There, we plotted the next day's expedition over a plate of local cheeses washed down with glasses of amarone, the robust red wine of the Veneto, the region that arcs around Venice. If it was hot, we sipped flutes of chilled prosecco, a light, sparkling wine produced in nearby Valdobbiadene, before dining on a regional dishes such as baccala, or salted cod.

Palladio (1508-1580) revolutionized architecture by adapting ancient Greek and Roman architectural motifs to churches, government buildings and country villas of his day. Through his "Four Books of Architecture," he influenced everyone from Sir Christopher Wren to Thomas Jefferson to itinerant carpenters on the American frontier. A cruise along Shaker Boulevard in Shaker Heights is all that's needed to see Palladio's reach. Just about every other house features a simplified version of the classical temple facades Palladio perfected for his Venetian clients.

google squared

google squared

Google boosted its Google Squared search service. When Squared launched in June, users would receive up to 30 fact squares. As of today, Squared now displays up to 120 facts per query. Users can also now sort columns, letting users rank, group and compare items, with Squared converting units in the background. Users can also now export data from Squared to a Google Spreadsheet or a CSV file. Meanwhile, Google's mobile search team formally released the Quick Search Box for Android smartphones. Google Oct. 9 rolled out several improvements to its experimental Google Squared search service, including more facts, better relevance, sort and rank capabilities, and the ability to extract data to Google Spreadsheets.

Demoed at Google's May Searchology event and launched in June from Google Labs, Google Squared extracts facts from all over the Internet and presents them in a spreadsheet-type interface, bringing structure to normally unstructured data. Typical Web search today from Google, Microsoft and Yahoo lets users enter a query and see links from multiple Web sites that may or may not adequately answer the query. If a query proves complex, users often have to click through multiple links to find satisfactory answers. What this kind of search doesn't do is adequately answer more complex research questions, for which the answers reside on multiple Web sites instead of one.

That's the problem Google Squared, as well as Wolfram Alpha's search engine, seeks to address. Rather than returning a list of Web site links, Squared spits out a table of facts culled from the Web. When Squared launched in June, users would receive up to 30 fact squares. As of today, Squared now displays up to 120 facts per query. See this example of a Squared query for "U.S. presidents" here. Users can also now sort columns, letting users rank, group and compare items, with Squared converting units in the background. For example, users can sort by tallest buildings in the U.S., or group restaurants by neighborhood. These are key parameters for boosting relevance.

baltimore marathon

baltimore marathon

The Baltimore Marathon 2009 is underway this morning and there will be winners streaming in to the finish line throughout the day. Also known as The Baltimore Running Festival, there are an estimated 20,000 people running through the streets of Baltimore today with crowds cheering them on. Runners from 44 countries and every state will run, including five Olympians. Results from the 2009 Baltimore Marathon will be easy to access, thanks to the Internet. Race updates will be provided on Twitter throughout the day as The Baltimore Sun newspaper keeps track of results and current happenings at this annual event. Results for individual runners can be accessed on Active.com by simply entering the runner's name or bib number.

The Baltimore Marathon is more than just a running event. Thousands of city residents will participate in the festivities and be there to cheer on the winners as they cross the finish line. Celebration Village is set up near the finish line and will feature live music, interactive games, food and drink until 3 PM. The Village is free there will be plenty of activities for children, as well. Not only is this a day for runners hoping to win The Baltimore Marathon, it is also a great day for the economy in Baltimore. The size of the event means big business for local businesses. Research done by Towson University revealed that each marathoner brings two people with them and spends about $200 by staying in Baltimore hotels and eating in local restaurants.

Baltimore Business Journal's Heather Harlan stated, "Last year, in the throes of a recession, it generated $22 million. So, the hope is that this year it will go up at least another $4 million, so we will see a $25 million or upwards impact for the businesses that desperately need it right now." As the 2009 Baltimore Marathon runners race to the finish line, it will prove to be a day full of festivities, goodwill and economic stimulation for the Baltimore area. Results will be streaming in as the runners and the crowds enjoy a exciting day in Baltimore.